Dining and other unrelated questions

[TexAggie10]

My husband and I are going on the Valor in march. This will be his first and my first one in over 10 years and had a few questions.

 

1. Right now we are scheduled for Early Dining, but I am going back and forth trying to decide if we want to switch to Anytime Dining. Any advice on which is better?

 

2. Is the Travel Insurance necessary?

 

3. Opinions on Prepaid gratuity vs pay on board?

 

4. Any other tips would be awesome!

 

Thanks!! [emoji4][emoji4]

 

 

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[hftmrock]

1. Right now we are scheduled for Early Dining, but I am going back and forth trying to decide if we want to switch to Anytime Dining. Any advice on which is better?

 

I prefer anytime dining because you get all the same benefits of early or late dining but you don't have to be there at any specific time. the only negative is you sometimes have to wait for a table.

 

2. Is the Travel Insurance necessary?

 

necessary... no. could it be a life saver... yes. This is a personal and financial decision. what time of year, health issues, piece of mind, money issues are all factors. I believe it getting insurance

 

3. Opinions on Prepaid gratuity vs pay on board?

 

no real difference. the take it out on your sign and sail either way. some people like to prepay to get it out of the way and not think about it on the cruise

[nchikk]

My husband and I are going on the Valor in march. This will be his first and my first one in over 10 years and had a few questions.

 

1. Right now we are scheduled for Early Dining, but I am going back and forth trying to decide if we want to switch to Anytime Dining. Any advice on which is better?

 

2. Is the Travel Insurance necessary?

 

3. Opinions on Prepaid gratuity vs pay on board?

 

4. Any other tips would be awesome!

 

Thanks!! [emoji4][emoji4]

 

 

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1. This like your other questions is a matter of opinion or personal preference. I would not say any one is "better". I prefer early seating because this is the time we normally have dinner at home and I like having the same staff each night. Also, I prefer to not have to wait for a table like at a restaurant, but rather just walk in and sit down.

 

2. Necessary? No. Recommended? That's another matter.

 

3. We prepay, mainly just to get it out of the way.

Edited January 13, 2017 by nchikk

[TexAggie10]

Thank you for the replies! Great advice.

 

Another question I had was: we are scheduled to get back in Galveston at 8am. How long does it usually take to get off the ship? We have a wedding (which we thought was going to be in the evening) at 2:30pm about 2.5 hours away the day we get back. So we would have to be on the road NLT 12pm. Is that possible?

 

 

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[momof1son]

Thank you for the replies! Great advice.

 

Another question I had was: we are scheduled to get back in Galveston at 8am. How long does it usually take to get off the ship? We have a wedding (which we thought was going to be in the evening) at 2:30pm about 2.5 hours away the day we get back. So we would have to be on the road NLT 12pm. Is that possible?

 

 

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Absolutely possible, IF your arrival isn't delayed by fog. That seems to happen relatively frequently in Galveston.

 

Good luck, and have fun!

[sanger727]

My husband and I are going on the Valor in march. This will be his first and my first one in over 10 years and had a few questions.

 

1. Right now we are scheduled for Early Dining, but I am going back and forth trying to decide if we want to switch to Anytime Dining. Any advice on which is better?

 

2. Is the Travel Insurance necessary?

 

3. Opinions on Prepaid gratuity vs pay on board?

 

4. Any other tips would be awesome!

 

Thanks!! [emoji4][emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

I like anytime dining. Find it convenient to be able to eat when you are hungry than to schedule my evening around the dinner time. But to each their own, some people really like to know they can show up at a certain time and know their table is waiting and the waiter knows what your preferences are.

 

Travel insurance is hotly debated and 100% a personal choice. Understand that travel insurance can cover as much or as little as you want and price will vary based on that.

1. Check if your personal medical coverage world in other countries and if it covers medical evacuation.... mine does, but requires payment upfront and reimburses after. I'm ok with that but many aren't. But if yours doesn't, no way am I traveling without any medical coverage at all. I have, on select trips, that I felt were higher risk than normal gotten medical/evacuation only insurance though.

2. You know what you and your families work/school/medical situation is. I don't insure personally. Me and my significant other work at the same employer and our jobs are union so jobs are very secure and our vacations are contractually guaranteed; not concerned about canceling due to work. We are both generally healthy and our families are generally healthy so feel the risk of canceling due to medical reasons or a death in the family is very small. We also always fly in a day ahead to mitigate trip interruption due to delayed/cancelled flights. We travel enough that by never insuring, we have saved enough to cover a trip so consider ourselves 'self insured', but only you know if you can live with losing the cost of the trip if an emergency comes up.

 

I like pre-paid grats. The gratuity adds up very quickly on your on board account and makes me feel like I've spent a lot of money when I've done hardly anything extra. Again, personal preference.

 

 

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[beachbum53]

My husband and I are going on the Valor in march. This will be his first and my first one in over 10 years and had a few questions.

 

1. Right now we are scheduled for Early Dining, but I am going back and forth trying to decide if we want to switch to Anytime Dining. Any advice on which is better?

 

2. Is the Travel Insurance necessary?

 

3. Opinions on Prepaid gratuity vs pay on board?

 

4. Any other tips would be awesome!

 

Thanks!! [emoji4][emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

We like the flexibility of Anytime Dining. I know a number of people prefer a fixed time because they like having the same wait staff each evening. With ATD, if you arrive at approximately the same time each evening, you can request to have the same wait staff. It may not always be the same table, but you'll have the same waiter. We always get traveler's insurance. It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. If you go to insuremytrip.com, you can do side-by-side comparisons of several policies, and choose the one that best suits you. Whether you prepay gratuities or not is a personal choice. Financially, there is no benefit to one over the other.

[serene56]

3. Opinions on Prepaid gratuity vs pay on board? ]

 

I prepay the cruise with as much possible.that includes prepaying tips

[cb at sea]

Whether you NEED insurance depends on how much loss you can absorb! If losing your fare, or paying out of pocket for unexpected expenses won't hurt you, then no...you don't NEED it.

 

The gratuities are the same whether in advance or on the ship. The staff doesn't actually GET those tips until the cruise is over, no matter when you pay.