sparks1093

Yes, one must be mindful of what one purchases. I know that the duty free shops onboard cruise ships abound with jewelry and watches and on and on. You might be able to save some money, but if there is something wrong with the purchase what kind of hoops must you jump through to get it rectified?

That is true, medical emergencies certainly do happen but for most people that risk is low. One can still minimize risk by avoiding certain things.

If you use a drink calculator, like this one https://cruisespotlight.com/drink-package-calculator/ you might be surprised at what the breakeven point is for you. Yes, there are days in port but we don't typically spend all day ashore and end up coming back early. Just for grins I input 4 frozen drinks, 4 gourmet coffees and 3 waters into the calculator and having Cheers saved money.

Probably won't, it's a flash in the pan story that will quickly be replaced by another big flash. The media does a poor job of following up on stories to let us know the outcome. When I was in the Navy I can't count the number of people who rented some form of transportation in a port and got hurt because of it. Fortunately for them medical was available onboard the ship and if the injury was too serious the Navy took care of all of the transfer paperwork, etc. When I was an aviator our aircrew would usually spend a few days in Bermuda as an alert plane. So many guys were getting hurt renting scooters that the captain ordered us not to rent them or to be involved in any dangerous activity, since if a crewman got hurt the entire plane would end up grounded until they were replaced. So, there are activities one should avoid in port especially if one has chosen to forego a passport and travel insurance. When we used to travel without either of those we did everything we could to minimize any risk of having to leave the ship. BUT travel insurance by itself might not be sufficient, since they will only reimburse you once you've paid for treatment, so one still might be stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Maybe it's time to look at other vacations. I know that is what I would be doing if we were getting tired of cruising and the only answer was to switch to a premium cruise line. Fortunately the cruise is only the backdrop to spending time with family and friends for us, so it's not the main focus.

Thanks for this. Either this wasn't in the policies that I purchased or I missed it completely, but it is still great info to have.

And that is perfectly within the rules that state that all adults 21 and over in the same cabin must buy the package. I have read of families putting an adult in a cabin with a minor in order to have one buy Cheers where the other adult didn't want it, then on board they just stayed in the same cabin together. I have also read of two couples putting the drinkers in one cabin and the non-drinkers in another cabin.

We've cruised with kids of all ages and the kids club is very good. I can't remember the age where they are let in but I do know that if they aren't potty trained the parents/guardians will be given a pager so they can come change the child. We never had any issues.

Egads, too many to mention. They do exclude coverage for trip delay or cancellation if one is intoxicated but I've seen nothing that excludes medical care for injuries caused when one is intoxicated.

How would I know that I've never purchased a policy that specifically excluded injuries from being inebriated if I hadn't read the exclusions? 😉

I've never purchased a policy that specifically excluded injuries from being inebriated.

I don't believe there is a way to avoid signing the slip, you get one in any case.

There is no requirement per se of having bridging documents for a cruise but it is recommended. As long as her current married name is on her government ID I don't see the need for any documentation for the previous marriage. We always took our marriage certificate but never had to produce it and that is a common outcome for a large percentage of folks. Of course this is all assuming that you are cruising with a cruise line that doesn't require a passport for all sailings (normally the premium lines). I don't see why there would be an issue with a foreign marriage certificate. I was going to suggest applying for a passport card, but that would require sending your passport in so unless you have a window where expediting the card is an option it wouldn't help, but it might be an option worth exploring.

I had a touch of stomach bug on Glory this past April and I was confined to cabin. They didn't charge me for the medical visit, gave me some meds, refunded my excursion and gave me a future cruise credit for a pro rated share of the cruise fare that I "lost" by being confined to the cabin. Room service was also included but I was restricted to a bland diet for that. I was happy with Carnival's handling of the situation.

The other side of the coin is worrying about getting your money's worth out of the Cheers package (which is where my mind would go). The best of both worlds option is to set the amount of Cheers aside and apply it on your account. There is plenty of "down" time on the cruise where you are just sitting where you can keep an eye on things like this without losing any time enjoying the cruise.

REAL ID does not prove citizenship, so you need something that does that. A passport, passport card or enhanced driver's license does that in one document. A birth certificate, certificate of naturalization or consular report of birth abroad do that in conjunction with a government issued ID. This only applies to closed loop cruises. Should this thread get moved I will add that some cruise lines do require a passport on all itineraries, but Carnival is not one of them. (To get a REAL ID license you have to show proof that you are in the US legally and your birth certificate does that if you are a born in the US citizen and this is what confuses a lot of folks. Showing your birth certificate doesn't make the REAL ID acceptable for stand alone use on a closed loop cruise.)

To me $400 per person per day is a crazy amount of money. We could afford it, if we wanted to give up a lot of other things we do throughout the year or if we wanted to limit our cruises to one every several years. I do get the point that one should compare the all in price if possible (I booked a Celebrity cruise because what they included in the fare costs less than what we would pay on Carnival for a similar cruise), but sometimes that isn't possible (we typically book far in advance and at that time there are few cruise lines that have itineraries available). If we booked last minute cruises our strategy would be different. As for travel agents, if one is booking really expensive vacations then yes, discounts are given that can make a difference but when one is booking less expensive vacations the discounts aren't as lucrative. I could certainly do the research to try to find a reputable TA that might offer me a discount of some sort, but that involves time, so that becomes a big trade off. I do agree that my expectations of an experience are going to vary depending on how much I am spending on the experience. The more that I spend the higher my expectations are going to be. And at the end of the day, we don't need a lot of frills to keep us happy. We cruise to spend time with our family and friends and the cruise is simply a backdrop to that.

Another vote for buying a 12 pack from Fun Shops before sailing. We are fine with drinking the water onboard but like to have the bottles available to take ashore.

Excellent point. It might be worth spending the money for this.

I agree with the above. You can both stay together as you put your stuff on the conveyor and get in the same body scanner line. After you've gone through the scanner you can wait for your son on the other side, then retrieve your stuff. You'll only need to do this once unless you leave the secure area at the connecting flight. DW and I both go to the same ID checker at the same time and stay together throughout the process.

Maybe, maybe not. Since they have pay per search it may still be just a percentage that's done.

I agree that with a cruise on the line it does raise the stakes and it is good information to know but it's also good to know that the checks are random. If one is making a decision it helps to have as much info as possible.

I've lived 8 miles from the border for almost 30 years and this is one thing that I've never even thought about. I told DW that Cruise Critic was helpful about things other than cruises but I don't think she believed me. 🙂

Yes, this can be an issue but the checks at the border appear to be random, which means they don't run every visitor through the US database. I have a friend that frequently crossed without issues until they randomly ran him and an old charge was revealed. Of course now his Canadian record is flagged so future crossings aren't possible unless he goes through the process to have it dealt with.

I think they also have a small one tucked away in a corner on lido deck where they can make the specialty coffees but it's been a bit since I was on Pride.