the penguins

A pleasure.

Which is why we have stuck to Nationwide . Several claims including one for over 💲20,000, which included hospital, extra meds, extra hotel and rearranged flights LA to Auckland. All due to illness on days 2 to 4 of a 90 day trip which included 5 x B2B on Solstice in the middle. We completed the trip without further incident and there was no increase in premiums on renewal.

Very straight forward in the UK - the trip must start and end here. If you have Annual Insurance and you do B2B with each part starting out of say Southampton it counts as 2 trips.

On the Royal Caribbean site make sure you put UK as the conditions vary.

There are no guarantees on even cruises departing next month let alone next year. We are booked TA on Princess in March 23. Just book it and relax.

Private excursions depend on the supplier. We always useToursbylocals - their standard (free) conditions include: full refund if the ship doesn't dock, full cost of getting you to the next port if you miss the ship. We have used TBL in Europe, Japan, China, South America, the Gulf etc and have never had a bad guide. You book direct with the Guide, pay via TBL in Canada and the Guide only gets paid when they have successfully completed the tour.

There are in UK, but for me the "added benefits" don't justify the cost.

Different for you in the US, poster is in the UK hence my reply.

Sounds odd to me. Some UK insurance policies specifically exclude cruises but yours doesn't. A few years ago a few companies started to add a premium for missed ports etc but frankly it never made sense as ships automatically refunded these. Your booking is bound by Royal Caribbean's booking conditions (clause 1.12 ) and from what you describe the insurance you have meets those conditions. If you are still worried give your Travel Agent the policy details and ask them to confirm in writing what is not acceptable. We use Nationwide's insurance without the added "cruise benefits" and have never had an issue. Good luck, Geoff

Relax, just wait until you board by which time the information will be accurate.

Back to the heat. When ships first started to do "cruises" as opposed to being Liners the Caronia was painted green to give the impression of it being cool. Of course it didn't work. Passengers also paid their cabin stewards to move their bedding up on to the deck. Interestingly there were very few complaints about the heat which was accepted as "part of the cruise experience".

Not quiet the full story. At the time no "lady" would have a tan. Only working class women exposed their skin to the sun. So the object was to ensure that "ladies" kept their skin perfect i.e. untanned.

You are both right. For the vast majority of people vaccines stopped serious illness and death. In a programme broadcast last week a London teaching hospital gave the following statistics covering a 1 month period in December/January: Number of patients admitted with Covid 500. (That's patients just with Covid and those admitted for other reasons who were found to have Covid) Number of those patients needing treatment in intensive care: 27 Number out of 27 who were unvaccinated 26. Number out of the 27 who died:7 Number out of the 7 who died who were vaccinated: Zero.

One reason we like private tours - we choose a start time to avoid the early rush and come back a little earlier to avoid the last minute panics.

Treat yourself to the best magic show we have ever seen - The Magic of Polynesia. Don't book the show and meal option, the food was awful, the magic sensational.

Exactly what the vaccines were designed to do - prevent serious illness and reduce the death rates. Anything else was/is a bonus.

Pics got a bit mixed - last 2 are also from the ship in the canal

Go down as soon as you board, be friendly, polite and blame yourself for not pre booking. Ask if there is any possible way they can help especially as you are a group of 7. Remember you catch more with sugar than salt.

Clearly not the same as booking into a large hotel in fact better as on the ship you know that everyone has been vaccinated and tested negative just prior to boarding.

If your trip was 2017 on Constellation our friends John and Sue were on the same excursion as they too had the culinary College experience.

Do any of your bank's checking accounts (our current accounts) have similar deals? Although we use Nationwide there are other banks here that offer similar deals. It's just that because we travel the Nationwide deal works for us, if we didn't we would look at some of the alternatives. Even if the deals you have a more they must be cheaper than insuring each trip individually.

One big difference ours (UK) adds medical, cancellation etc into 1 policy. However, as I said, friends in the US have said that there are similar annual insurances available in the US and hopefully other CC members will be willing to post details.

Not an issue with ours all Covid costs covered.

Sorry I thought I had, it's Nationwide (not the same as the Nationwide in the US). However it's only available to UK residents but I understand from friends in the US and on other posts there are similar products available in the US. The value is outstanding, our policy runs June to June and at present that will cover 4 vacations including 4 cruises and flights to/from the US. Our biggest claim so far was for 💲20,000 which covered a 2 night stay for both of us in the Marina del Rae Hospital in LA, new flights LA to Auckland, additional meds and 2 nights extra hotel. Our next year's premium was not increased. With the exception of the meds and hotel (the room had to be kept while we were in hospital as our bags were in it) all the other costs were paid direct by the Insurance company and we claimed back the other bits (about 💲300) on our return. Hopefully another CC member will be able to point you in the right direction for a similar policy in the US.