klfrodo

As a fellow Washingtonian, I feel your frustration. I agree that sometimes insurance companies do try to wear you down and hope you go away. I have had some luck by reaching out to the Washington State Insurance Commission for assistance. Maybe give them an opportunity to help. Here's a link. File a complaint or check your complaint status | Washington state Office of the Insurance Commissioner

I'm quite sure that is true but let me share my experience. There is/may be a huge difference in some countries with lower health care costs and that could be attributed to how patients are treated and by what lengths and means are used. My wife tripped and fell in Cancun. Possible fracture and severe lacerations on her head. She definitely needed stitches. She received excellent care in the local emergency department. For the lacerations, they actually called in a plastic surgeon to apply the sutures. That raised the costs by a ton. (Not nearly as much as it would have here in the States though). That would never have had happened to someone from the local population. Especially someone who was seen at one of the local free clinics. I verified this by asking a local tour guide the next day. Basically, what I'm getting at is although healthcare is much less expensive in other countries for the general population, your privilege and assumed wealth may get you into a higher level of care if available, thus more expensive. To get back to the original question, my policy max will vary on where I'm traveling. For me? $100K primary minimum.

The Global Entry card is WHTI compliant though, right?

If you're a US citizen and take a cruise that begins in Seattle and returns to Seattle, then you don't need a passport. You just need a Govt. issued photo ID and a birth certificate. You can even get off the ship in Canada for a port visit if you choose. Now, if there issues regarding your citizenship or you're concerned about having a felony on your record that wasn't disclosed in your initial post,,,, then that might change things.

I've been following closely ever since I made the initial awards purchase for my One World flights thru AS for SEA to LHR for 2 seats. I'm now about 90 days out from travel. There have been no award seats made available for 2 seats in Business or First that fit my needs since the initial purchase. If better options did become available, I could make a phone call and get them switched. But, by grabbing the flights and the seats at 330 days, I was secure in the knowledge that I had something that would work. Best redemption rates are not the only measuring stick in the tool box.

I book 330 days out so I can get business or first award mileage. (But I also expect routing changes, equipment changes, and flight time changes. The seats and destination are the important parts)

Have you considered private or semi-private excursions? These people are very easy to work with, they do a fabulous job, and in Europe, who cares if you should happen to miss the ship. The next port is a train ride away and enhances the experience. ItalyTours.EU

I understand completely what you are saying. Let's look at it from a different direction though. Let's say all 3000 or 6000 passengers took an additional 2 minutes to check-in. That's 6000 to 12,000 additional minutes to board the ship.

A simple google search indicates otherwise

Do people really think there was no fighting on cruise ships in the 70's 80's, or 90's? Or is it possible there were fights, but they just weren't recorded by 3000 guests having cell phones to record and then blast away on social media like FB, twitter, TikTok, and YouTube?

I'm just tickled pink nobody had cameras or access to social media when I was in my 20's. In other words, I don't think things have changed as much as we'd like to think they have. WE (those of us who grew up in the 60's, 70's, 80's etc.) just didn't get immortalized on the internet. We still did stupid crap. 🤯

Here's a YouTube video for familiarization. Was posted 7 mos ago

This is a GREAT question that maybe @iamtrustworthy can help with. To OP, iamtrustworthy because he is a subject matter expert for travel insurance and may be able to help. Your situation is very unique since travel insurance is very specific to residency and heavily regulated by Countries, and here is the US, by individual States.

To the OP, thanks for sharing the information. I'll withhold any further comment just based on the fact that I barely passed chemistry in high school and couldn't build a house with Lincoln Logs in kindergarten. So, unlike others, my expertise is limited. However, there might be one expert able to share their opinion. Calling @chengkp75 to the white courtesy phone please!

This is said in the spirit of love, respect, and very glad it worked out for the OP. What would Red Foreman from That 70's Show say? 😁

Here are my concerns Trinidad and Tobago is a country with laws. I would think that should you get off the ship "without" anyone's permission and spend the night, you have now entered the country illegally. You haven't entered the country properly thru official immigrations and overstayed your "cruiser" visa or whatever it may be called. You could possibly fake that you returned to the port late (shortly after the ship departs) and cry to the port agent (who is the CruiseLine representative and in constant contact with the company). The immigrations people will be there with the port agent to properly process you. They can communicate with the ship that you will now rejoin the next day and immigrations is satisfied.

Are they cheaper? Yes they can be. Then you have to ask why are they cheaper. These are consolidator tickets. They are NOT the exact same tickets that you would buy direct from the airlines. The cruiselines and the airlines negotiated the terms, conditions, and restrictions for these tickets to achieve a lower price. If all things go well, you may not notice any difference. If operations go bad, you may find yourself with sad faces with unrealistic expectations. That said, 99% of the time, things go well. Over on the Cruise Air board there is a good thread stickied to page 1 that explains how Cruise Air and Deviation works.

How many meals did this "person" miss? With all the various options and places to eat on the ship, I would imagine that answer to be none. Everybody on the ship has challenges in life. Some, a little more than others. I would think that all of these people have to manage their accommodations. If someone got ill, or worse, because they didn't eat at a specific time, cause a family was taking up a table for some family together time, there's bigger issues. I mean really? There's 3000 people on the ship and 0.2% of the ship (1 family) is occupying a table, you're going to blame that table because someone missed their eating schedule. I would counter that the 1 person not eating on time is showing a higher level of entitlement than the people playing cards.

Have you contacted the pharmaceutical company that manufactures the drug? I take Enbrel for RA. On their website, they offer a tote bag to keep my medication cool while on vacation/holiday. (With further research, I discovered that, even though they indicate my injectors need to be refrigerated at all times, Enbrel says it's good for 30 days without refrigeration)

After more than 20 years on this board, it seems to work like this. (NOTE: fingers crossed, I've never had to seek medical attention while on the ship) If you go to medical for some reason on your own, upset stomach, cold/flu/norovirus/covid, stubbed toe, chest pains,etc., they will bill your on board account. You pay the bill before you leave the ship, then you file a claim for reimbursement. (Get copies of all documentation, patient notes etc. before you leave the ship) If you are involved in a slip and fall, the wind blows a door into you, the ship safety team has to get involved, etc, then most likely the ship will absorb the expenses and you will not see a bill. Ships DO NOT direct bill an insurance company.

If you call Special Needs, they will provide a medical fridge in your stateroom. my wife gets one every cruise

I see it differently. The groups that do this are usually hard working families who when they get together at home, it’s around a table playing games with food and drinks nearby, out of the sun, with the kids outside playing. Transferring these activities to a cruise ship is just the norm. Inconvenient for some? Yes Worth thinking the world is coming to an end? No Now the many keyboard warriors might be sounding upset but they would never voice their opinion directly.

and hoping that his passing wasn't due to a pre-existing condition, if in fact the insurance policy had a waiver of pre-existing condition for non-traveling family members.

Pot meet kettle?

"Has anyone used Royal insurance?" That answer would be a resounding YES. Hundreds of passengers buy it every day. I'm going to assume the next question would be something like, is it any good? That answer would be more complicated in that insurance is like a pair of pants. If they fit your needs, they're a good pair of jeans. However, many people can't fit in that one size fits all pair of jeans. "I am comparing policies." Sounds like a good plan. The important part is that, like the above-mentioned pair of jeans, each policy is going to fit differently. Travel insurance is a matter of risk tolerance vs. shared risk. No policy is going to cover every possible scenario. The trick is to determine what is important to you and to choose a policy that minimizes the risk of financial ruin. For example: If I were to miss embarking on my 7 day cruise to the Caribbean, I won't be financially ruined. For a 30 day trip to Europe, I have more exposure, so I may adjust what I'm able to risk. On the other hand, a $50K medical bill could put me in a world of hurt no matter where I travel. Therefore I look for that coverage. Hope this helps.