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Terry and Mike- thank you so much for all that helpful information ! It sounds wonderful to me and especially if it’s $300 per person/ nt instead of $700+. we have done an inn -to- inn hiking trip in France and that is something I wouldn’t mind doing again.

Maybe we'd do it, if the biking is leisurely....Do you know about how many miles the barge goes each day?

Terry and Mike- this company looks interesting but are they all guided bike tours as well? In other words, if you aren't interested in biking, is this not for you?

I didn’t realize they were more ‘comfort’ level than ‘ luxury’. Because of the high cost I assumed the opposite. The price must be because there are so many fewer guests on board then.

Thank you. Their prices seem much more reasonable than the usual river cruise lines normally seen on these boards, with the possible exception of Gate 1 and Grand Circle.

I wasn't sure where a post about barges should go. I would really like to do a French Barge cruise (not a self-driving one) but really don't want to spend $600pp/nt. This year in January I got word of a sale from CroisieEurope for April sailings at $300/pp/nt. I'm assuming they were trying to fill unsold cabins. I wasn't able to go due to other plans but am hoping they do the same next year. Is anyone aware of other companies that do this?

There is a Danube cruise I was told about for next year on Amadeus Silver III. I can't seem to find that company and am wondering if it's the same as AMA (Amadeus) Waterways.

I don’t like the idea but I suppose it makes sense. They can’t be constantly brewing coffee, probably no way to keep up. I wonder if this is even true of river cruises that only have 140 passengers. That’s still a lot of people to brew coffee for!

Crown class

Caribill-I thought the coffee on Princess last year was real coffee . Did you think it was Instant? I usually find cruise ships don’t have real cream or Half & Half though.

Oh- I thought you were referring to the way Americans brew coffee. True, the only American coffee is from the Big Island/ Hawaii , Kona coffee, and it’s very pricey.

What’s wrong with American coffee?

I still prefer the microwave for heating water!

I thought they never wanted plug-ins in a cruise ship cabin -coffee pot , iron ….but maybe with an auto shut off it’s OK.

“…if one is going to purchase extra third party travel insurance, let IT pay for all of the costs. Why "waste" anyof the $50k Medicare-related coverage if one has another policy that would pay for "everything"...?“ But I’m not planning to get travel insurance this time. And it’s the opposite of what happens in the US -in this case it would be our supplemental policy with United Health Care paying for 80% of the cost & Medicare picking up the other 20% I was told.

I found out that overseas we are covered by our supplemental health insurance plan. We are on Medicare. We have a $ 250 annual deductible for emergency care and there's a maximum $50,000 lifetime benefit.

I’ve wondered the same thing. If you have osteoporosis and break a leg? Would that count? And what if you weren’t currently on meds for it?

I think our medical insurance may cover us. We'd have to pay but then we'd submit it to them later. And someone told me the airlines offers some medical coverage on a trip?

Are three or four itinerary changes ipretty typical on world cruise? Your pictures reminded me of the place where we had a Turkish massage in Kusadasi -loved it!

The cost does vary widely depending on age.

The only problem I see with doing it that way is IF you want pre-existing condition coverage, you have to insure all aspects of your trip- flight , hotel , cruise, whatever. With GeoBlue you don’t need to.

Thank you. Through them I found GeoBlue.

I usually get trip insurance if I've booked a non-cancellable cruise. But this summer we'll be on our own for a month in Europe. We don't really want or need trip cancellation or Trip delay insurance-just want the medical part. Has anyone done this or have some companies you could recommend?

Wonderful post! I only found it yesterday and am half though it. We were supposed to be on this cruise (our 1st WC) but cancelled. Good thing because my sister-in-law passed away in January. BTW, Margaret Mead's books put American Samoa on the map....I chuckled when i read what you said about American soldiers in New Zealand because my father-in-law was one of those who went there for R & R. ... I had the pronunciation of Pago Pago wrong too, because I thought it was Pah-go Pah-go.

Thank you!