kristapb

5 hours ago, CruisinShips said:

Say what?  Are you saying my AmEx Platinum card automatically provides me with the same type of insurance I purchase via Tripmate?  Or am I missing something?  Thanks

Some credit cards do offer trip insurance.  You can cancel for covered reasons only (illness, etc.) They also have PP limits which may not be very high.  Chase Sapphire has about the best one I have found.  AmEx no longer includes trip insurance (at least not my Delta AmEx).  You can find the specifics online or call them and they will mail you a brochure explaining their benefits, including trip ins.

Anecdotally, I have heard they can be pretty tough to deal with when making a claim, but it's sure better than nothing.

There are desks at the airport that will sell you a voucher for your trip.  I can't remember any of their names; there are more than one.  They are very reliable and a bit less expensive than cabs.

38 minutes ago, chriscruise said:

How do you purchase cruiseline gift cards at AARP? 

They're actually pretty hard to find.  You have to be logged in and I always have trouble finding the gift cards, although I eventually do.  Sorry to not be of more help.  But the main thing is you need to be logged in.

I used some AARP gift cards to book a Celebrity cruise; it was really convoluted and convinced me I never want to buy them again.  As opposed to HAL gift cards, which you can apply easily online to any cruise booking.  I really hope they loosen the crazy requirements for the AARP ones, which seemed to be more restrictive than the ones you buy direct from Royal.

Hi - have you gone to Ana's yet?  If so, how was it?  If not, when are you going?  It looks very nice

I googled scam pulse and read their reviews on trustpilot (which I have used before).  Personally, I think I'd take whet I read on scampulse with a grain of salt

Just now, Barwick Cruiser said:

Guess you won’t be traveling together again? 😉😂

Haha - Luckily we found a great deal on the Reflection, so the price made that decision.

Could you possibly try out an E class ship for a shorter, cheaper itinerary before commiting to a 20+ day cruise?  We cruised on the Beyond with another couple, in Infinite Veranda cabins next to each other.  Although I loved most things about the Beyond, especially the four main dining rooms, I would not cruise on an E class ship again because I really missed having a traditional balcony.  My friend, however, loved it and the E class became her first choice of ship for future cruises.  So people have definite, but differing opinions.  There is no one right answer.

Gratuities on extras like massages are not included in the "All Included" package.

Enjoy the Apex!  We loved having the four different main dining rooms.

We were on the 7 day sailing on the 16th, and really had a great time.  There were a few glitches - the late arrival at Ocean Cay, although since it was an overnight, we had plenty of island time.  They oddly ran out of eggs for breakfast for a day or two, but it seems they resupplied in Costa Maya. No idea how they managed that.  Our room steward was just adequate, but I think he was overworked, and wasn't terrible.  BUT - The ship is beautiful.  The public areas were all very clean and well kept. I thought the shows were great (except for a very lame magician/comedian). We had a standard balcony cabin that had a very comfortable bed.  And we thought the food in the main dining room was very good.  Maybe not as good as Celebrity, but very good and the wait staff was excellent.  Always kept our wine glasses full.  It's funny how different individual experiences can be on the same cruise!

most definitely Colon, Panama.  We took an excursion to see the locks from the land side (very interesting), and the driver threw in a free drive through the city.  It was the most dirty and grim place I've ever seen.  I would never walk outside the port area there. And we tend to wander around the cruise port areas most everywhere.

Thanks GA Dave and coscab.  And we'll do our best to dodge that nasty virus when we're on the Meraviglia in a couple weeks!

Sorry if this has already been discussed; I did search but had no luck in finding an answer to this.

The MSC websire says:

• Fully vaccinated guests must present their original vaccination card or certificate reflecting all required doses at embarkation prior to boarding. The vaccination card/certificate must be valid for the duration of the entire cruise. (bolded by me)

Does anyone know what they mean by the second sentence?  How would you know if your vaccination card is "valid" for the duration of the cruise?

Thanks to anyone who can shed some light on this!

Kristin

Madera and Kobra - was this a case of the airlines cancelling the flights, or HAL flight ease just somehow cancelling the itinerary?

We are flying to Athens before our Oosterdam Venice cruise on June 13.  Specifically, we had booked our flights for today (May 31) through Flight Ease.  SAS, through Copenhagen.  These flights were mysteriously cancelled once before (a couple of weeks ago) but after several hours on hold, a very nice Flight Ease agent reinstated them and ticketed them.  Theory was that FE had missed paying for them, but at that point, it all looked good and we got ticket numbers.  Yesterday we were driving to New Jersey from VT to catch our flight out of Newark the next evening.  Suddenly I get a notification from the SAS app that our itinerary has been cancelled.  Not the flight - that was still showing as going.  Just our itinerary.

The short story is, that FE answered the phone relatively quickly (10-15 minutes) and eventually sorted it our.  We are now on a Delta direct to Athens, which is great (no connections to worry about), but have to fly out of JFK instead of Newark. So it all worked out ok, but I really wonder what is going on with Flight Ease.

Moral of the story is - keep an eye on your reservations, so if anything happens, you can address it timely.

Thank you for the suggestion, VMax.  I just posted this question on our roll call.  Hopefully, someone there has been given this info!

We are looking forward to our 12 day cruise out of Trieste on the Oosterdam, June 13.  Since we booked a year ago, we are eligible for complimentary transfers to Trieste from Venice.  After many phone calls, HAL has agreed this is so, and assures me that we are on the mainfest for the 11:00 AM transfer.  However, the helpful gentleman who was able to confirm this was not able to tell me how to actually find the transfer, and said they weren't able to send me any kind of email confirmation.  He did tell me it is from that central arrival area, Tronchetto.  Has anyone taken this transfer yet who might be able to help me figure out where to look? Thanks for any guidance you can give me!

There is one big difference - you are limited to five gift card purchases per month on AARP.  So if you want more than five $500 cards, make sure to buy some in May and then you can get 5 more in June.

I just completed online checkin for my June 4 Athens to Ravenna (Venice) cruise, and a popup tells me we have to bring test results from a test within the last day, and ALSO take a complimentary test prior to boarding!  Has anyone else gotten this?  Nor a problem for us, but surprising.

It was accompanied by pictures, but I switched to plain text as it took up too much room.

Be ready to board

Review our health and safety protocols.

Vaccination Requirement

All guests must be fully vaccinated and boosted to sail with Azamara. Vaccinated guests must bring their original COVID-19 vaccination record card. Minors of any age who are not vaccinated will not be allowed to sail.

Health protocols

Pre-Arrival Testing Guests will be welcome to embark after presenting proof of a negative COVID-19 test at the embarkation port. Negative test results must be from a test laboratory or a licensed testing site. At-home or self-testing kits without a test certificate are not accepted. Guests without proof of a negative COVID-19 test may purchase an antigen test at the embarkation port for $59 USD or a PCR test for $85 USD. Be sure to look into local health authority or government travel advice regarding any requirements for the country/port of embarkation, as well as requirements for the return to your own home country. For more information, please use available travel platforms such as Travel Sherpa.

Departure Testing

All guests 6 months and older are required to take an antigen test 24 hours before debarkation conducted by the onboard medical staff. Registration details will be provided onboard.

Sail day testing

All guests must complete a complimentary antigen test for COVID-19 at the terminal prior to boarding. It's important to register for this test before you arrive. Registration details will be emailed in advance.

Thank you for posting this!!! I had checked this morning, and no go.  I just checked now, and I'm good to go.  Feeling like I won the lottery!

6 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

None of what I did online was asked for when we checked in in Monte Carlo for the Onward.  No one asked for our boarding passes.   Everything was done again at counter including credit cards.

Interesting.  I have been frustrated that Online checkin is still not available to me for our June 4 cruise from Athens.  Our TA checked with Azamara and was told "soon".  Maybe I shouldn't worry about it.  Although, I don't know where else to find our assigned boarding time.

Thanks for this post; I never would have found it otherwise.  I just signed up for the M&M on the June 4 cruise on Onward out of Athens.  The confirmation email I got said 18 people are registered.  Hopefully a few more people will find it thans to this thread!

Thanks all for the comments.  I guess I'll just wait a while and hope Princess gets their act together.  It's a long time until January.

I booked a Princess cruise for next January.  I haven't been on Princess for a while, and was unaware of the new Medallion gizmo.  I really enjoy anytime dining on cruises, and was concerned when reading about the Medallion that I will be required to make dining reservations every day, rather than just showing up when the mood strikes me.  What happens if I carry on like this, rather than making reservations?  I don't mind waiting for 20-30 minutes at busy times. If that no longer works on Princess, I guess I will cancel, although I was looking forward to sailing on Princess again.   

I'm pretty confused myself.  We're 28 days out from our cruise and my reservation on the Azamara site says checkin unavailable; I will be notified when it is available.  Has anyone else experienced this?