Megabear2

I did but got nowhere. Eventually the Canadians were threatening me with collection agencies so I paid it myself and went down the complaint route. Ironically my complaint was upheld and I was awarded compensation which came to more than the C$400 for the ambulance. They even went so far as to defend themselves by saying the Canadians had inflated the ambulance costs - they had because Canada charges tourists 4 times the normal cost for medical services including ambulances - but the Ombudsman told them you can't tell a foreign government how to charge!

The point oceanlad is making is that the cruise line will be holding your £60 or whatever daily spend and placing a pending charge. Unless you are actively looking to see you aren't going to know or bother about it because you have no need, particularly with a high limit. The amount of available credit is reduced daily and when you receive your statement you just see what you expect. In my case Princess took nearly £4,000 from my credit card to hold for my aunt's onboard medical bill which was not my liability and I was unaware of until 48 hours later I flew back to Italy and was required to start paying hospital costs to facilitate my aunt's treatment. It took a huge fight of over 18 months to sort all that so I now check every day my credit and debit card pending transactions. Unfortunately the five figure limit doesn't go far in a major health situation these days.

Cigna once refused to pay for an ambulance to hospital for me in Canada after I passed out at Montreal airport and Air Canada insisted I need to be checked before rebooking. They discussed in depth my cancer treatment from 20 years previously which had been declared and actually stated my overheating mentioned by the Canadian doctor may have been caused by that treatment!

I recall the very upset MIL who posted she had treated her son in law to a P&O cruise, that he budgeted perfectly within his preset and then found himself overdrawn at the bank for a month because P&O didn't release the hold for 30 days. She was upset because her treat had turned into a bit of a disaster for him. Yes, may not be typical but oceanlad is correct that not everyone can have their funds locked for no good reason.

Do you check your credit card account daily alongside checking your P&O account? Certainly if I check mine the daily amount is withheld from my credit limit every day and shows as a pending amount. This is Amex. I have a five figure credit limit and a zero balance at commencement of my cruise so until I had the cruise nightmare with Princess in 2022 I never even thought to look.

I notice you state you work for a bank so I assume you are fully conversant on the actual rules about holding funds on credit and debit cards. There have been countless threads on this topic over the years here and I for one have searched everywhere I can think of for a copy of the regulations and rules to no avail. I have found the Visa regulations for the US which were pretty clear that after settlement had been made any pre authorisation should by their regulations be removed in 48 hours. So my question to you is where can the customer of Visa, Mastercard etc actually find the rules applicable to merchants/banks for UK issued cards? Unless we can actually see these for ourselves we are pretty much having to accept the batch processing method the cruise lines use as gospel and this is why very few replying to you will accept your position - incidentally as a former lawyer I do!

You are underwritten by Aviva too. I believe it used to be Cigna but they left the market so your problem may have been under them. Cancer is a strange one, obviously it's a critical illness at the start of treatment but insurers are aware that proper treatment actually reduces the risk. Basically not many holidaymakers are going to have major issues or die on their holiday as a result of their cancer whereas those with other more common issues such as high cholesterol and blood pressure are. Underwriting looks at risk not causation and anyone with cancer reduces in risk quite rapidly for them. As a recovered cancer patient I find it odd that some insurers insist on a declaration of any cancer in a lifetime yet others only collate medical conditions for 5 years, 3 years, 2 years or in the case of Allianz and Nationwide policies only 12 months.

There has been a huge increase in the cost of travel insurance across the board, in fact in any insurance related product. Presently insurance underwriters are changing how they offer third party cover which is also resulting in withdrawal from the market and reducing the available pool. Three of the biggest have gone since 2021. Basically individuals will now need to weigh up how much they value their cruise/holidays and if paying for something they may not need (such as a packaged bank account) is a good use of their money or not. In our case it was a no brainer for many years via Lloyd's /Halifax and then the underwriters changed, much the same as is happening with Nationwide and the cover deteriorated. At that point moving into the open market was a massive financial shock, what had been costing a hundred pounds or so suddenly multiplied by five. In 2021/2 with all the covid requirements still in place lots of offers were going on to encourage people back. Once the pandemic became a distant memory the prices rose in 2022/3, for instance my husband's policy nearly doubled from £600 to £1,100, my own staying at around £350 so a total of around £1,450 As a result we dropped back into the Halifax packaged banking world in January 2023 where his medical add ons were a lump sum payment of £223, no extra for me and £18 a month for the bank account. Grand total £439 for the year, worldwide annual travel insurance covering winter sports and cruising, not the missed ports stuff but good solid cover for the vital stuff. This year because I'm rapidly approaching 70 and the cut off for many insurers, I've shopped the market and found that the package bank account still wins hands down both for cost and level of cover. Nationwide under UK insurance actually means a price reduction in our case for fuller cover so a bit of juggling and opening another account has been necessary but overall the £13 per month plus the £216 add ons for my husband's 5 major illnesses means its still worth the £156 a year for the bank account as we are now at a third of the cost for his policy alone, never mind me. We have cruises booked well into 2026 including trips to the US and Caribbean and a QM2 world cruise for me. We are budgeting that if we re--enter the open market we need to look at around £2,000 minimum for my OH alone on insurance, Staysure and Avanti quoting £1,500 for him alone in January this year. I guess what I'm saying is every single one of us will need to work a lot harder on finding a suitable cover, may find ourselves buying something we only want to use a part of and sadly some of us may decide it's just not worth the difficulty and extra expense.

The £100 is to cover the fuel cost because of drive offs. Certainly Morrisons and Sainsbury's release it immediately, can't say about the others but it's the merchant releasing that money not the bank. As you cannot leave the ship unless your account is at zero there's really no need for a preventative hold. I can say for certain if the cruise line doesn't want you off, you aren't going Never forget Princess improve for my aunts nill.

I hope he wasn't got white ears!

That was probably the thinking originally, however it hasn't materialised as they expected. Arvia has "lost" an MDR to a paid for food based restaurant but it is very rarely full from my experience. The food is good but far more expensive than the other paid restaurants - my meal there was almost double the Epicurean one. Many consider it to be living on borrowed time as a bit of a white element. Unfortunately the negatives of vegetarianism have been long known. I'm 68 years old and from the age of 11 to 23 I would not eat anything other than a veg based diet following a very major illness and a year in hospital. At the age of 21 my doctors were pushing me to add some meat/fish to my diet for health reasons - I was developing major vitamin and other deficiencies that supplements were not helping. After I married at 23 I wanted to take part in sports alongside my new husband and had little choice but to eat fish and other meats in small quantities. I note you are a new poster. A lot of the negative comments you mentioned implying vegans shouldn't be catered for are actually very tongue in cheek. Put simply this menu cutting since the restart is emotive!

Same procedure on the credit card, it's just a lot don't realise it's the case unless they are very near their credit limit or have a small one. I had a massive argument with Cunard when my mother paid cash to clear her onboard account and they did not release her funds for 30 days, particularly as she then got charged foreign transaction fees. It is the merchant who has to clear it as you say but the fact is like a lot of things the cruise line wants to do everything for their convenience.

Yes, that's my take on it too. It's a Nationwide policy underwritten by Aviva not an Aviva policy. Aviva are one of the biggest providers of third party underwriting, doing policies for companies like M&S amongst others and every one has different terms of cover. Unless Nationwide are deliberately trying to reduce the number having their Flexplus account for this perk they presumably have no intention to lose those customers.

Thank you. Just did a dummy and it did accept myocardial bridge, now to see if Aviva will on 1 May. Nationwide have said they negotiated the nearest contract to the one they currently offer. It will get interesting if they dump all their loyal customers if Aviva narrow who they'll cover. Incidentally All Clear cover my aunt for heart failure and she obtained that cover only 6 months after her disastrous Rome escapade. She ha a full year for all regions save US/Caribbean for £570 including companion insurance and no excess. They have been excellent.

It isn't the vegan options alone that cause the discussion though. It's the overall menu reducing to accommodate vegans, vegetarian all things in-between. Basically the discussion is that choice for everyone is actually very limited compared with when vegetarian dishes were on one menu, vegan on another, various diet for medical needs on another and so on. The vegan/vegetarian bashing as people see it isn't really directed at those who eat those options. It is a general observation everyone is now getting a very reduced choice. We have a regular poster on the boards who complains regularly about a roast being offered every day. At first look you might laugh but actually she has a valid point. It's lazy menu planning not one type of food or another that prompts the discussion.

Sorry to be thick but to check Nationwide cover not Aviva is their a portal you used to check? Nationwide and Aviva direct policies will be different as Aviva is acting as third party underwriter. Only the Nationwide medical check will say if Aviva will cover. If Avril is buying now she will get a year with UK direct. She needs to do the check/open the account before 30 April.

Thanks. So you didn't actually check with Nationwide on their own line? Currently they are still selling the old company before 1 May. It's the agreement on their behalf I was looking for.

Is that Aviva? If so do you have their details as I do have their cover currently until January next year for my OH but wanted to see what their position is on myocardial bridging.

Difference between 2022 and 2019? The rubbish strike was over and it smelt far sweeter. On the other hand they're still trying to build a new underground line under the Colosseum ...

That's good to hear! I'm on Aurora on 26 August and have never been to any of these ports, in fact my only venture into Scandinavia was to Stockholm 15 years ago to run the marathon there. Any recommendations of what we should see in Visby or anywhere else much appreciated! At present we have one P&O excursion booked as a family which is in Skagen. Apart from that I'm lost!!

Absolutely wonderful. I love the walrus! Still on my bucket list to see a wild one and a polar bear but currently Churchill isn't on my radar due to rather busy cruise diary until April 2026. Hopefully I'll get there some time, I've far too much ski gear left over from my 2016 Canadian trip when I stayed in the Ice Hotel in Quebec on my way home.

With all this talk of medical matters, has anyone else been asked to sign up for Our Future Health? A very large mobile unit arrived in our Tesco car park a few weeks back and after receiving a letter from the NHS inviting me to take part I'm told I have to attend there next Thursday for a half hour appointment. Sounds very interesting. Sending good luck and best wishes for everyone having tests, check ups and appointments today.

With the "new" room choosing system the prices change the second you click the choose room button, sometimes by a few pounds but by several hundred on others - when looking at cabins for my recently booked Aurora cruise one outside cabin on deck E changed by £375pp making it dearer than a balcony cabin on deck C. The sceptic in me says P&O allocate the first choice cabin they recommend based on they aren’t the very worst on sale at that time but are not necessarily the most desirable. Good old deck 15 on Britannia tends to be a point in question. Some of the deluxe balcony cabins up there are diabolical for noise, never mind movement, and the ones mid forward are not far from your allocated inside cabin. After a particularly nightmare Caribbean experience with late night deck parties and the clean up early morning I vowed no more deck 15 as a result. I appreciate on a round Britain cruise the chances are slim for these to occur but I would err on the side of caution if noise can be an issue as early morning cleaning of the deck area and lavatories will have to occur regardless of where in the world the ship is. Personally I'd consider if it's possible to change room if there's little or no cost involved, not because of movement worries but more due to potential noise.

The point being I suppose that to have a private balcony on Fred you cannot get a true comparison. If the passenger is only booking to acquire a private balcony he cannot get a true comparison as it simply doesn't exist, suites being the only way to get that balcony on FO. The same applied to my aunt's Princess -v- FO cruise as Regal Princess does not have any outside cabins. I guess real comparison is only possible on insides as everyone has them in the "normal" lines, but obviously not the more luxury ones. FO is difficult to compare due to it's odd fleet.

I travelled in June last year. This link is to Marseille Tourism site - the shuttle details are half way down. I used it last year to by pass the P&O queue as I knew it existed and followed the MSC and Costa guests to the bus stop. It was about 6 minutes walk from our berth but could be more/less depending on where the ship is berthed. The boats were hired by P&O and docked in the area of the university, about 10 minutes walk to the harbour and centre. The queue for the return buses was horrendous that day and a number of white shirts were on hand at the bus stop to escort people to the boat which carried three times the number of passengers the bus could. https://www.marseille-tourisme.com/en/organize-your-stay/practical-information/access-to-marseille-cruise-port/