GeezerCouple

By all means start looking into awards travel, and start accumulating points asap! With the bonus points, it doesn't take forever. We started with a ton of points that DH had accumulated because he had had significant work travel and was allowed to charge all the hotel and restaurant bills to our personal card and get reimbursed. (That was when he became a "million miler" on one airline program, but it was ALL from spending, and hardly any from actual travel miles. He was among the last to do that before they changed the program so that only "travel miles/points" counted.) So when we started our "real" travel, we could spend those points a bit recklessly, like Monopoly Money, sort of. 😉 We went to Japan First Class on JAL, then to Hong Kong, and home First Class on Cathay Pacific. Did we ever get spoiled! So we started the bonus point game. First, we focus on two airline networks: American Airlines (AAdvantage) and their airline partners, and also American Express's Membership Rewards, which has another network of airline partners. There is minimal overlap in those two networks; between the two of them, almost all airlines of interest to us are included (not all, but most). We wait for "big bonus" offers, such as 100k miles to sign up. I did that , and then got 20k more miles to "refer" DH. By then the 100k offer was over (not fast enough - drat!), but he snagged 60k plus my 20k. Not bad at all. So every year or two, we sign up for new cards. We'll get those that have low annual fees, such as $95/year. A year or two of that, and we either cancel (Note caution below) or drop to a freebie level card. IF we are going to cancel, we only do that if we can transfer the points to another card or airline, so we do not lose those points. Next hint: We use an "awards service" to help us get the actual awards tickets. There are lists on FrequentFlyer.com; read the reviews carefully; they are *not* all the same. We are able to be flexible with our actual travel dates, and if it's not for a cruise, then there is even more flexibility. We don't mind spending an extra night or two in a new town at the beginning or end of a trip! Right now, Chase is, I think, the only card/awards program that will allow spouses to combine points, so that made it easier to drop one of the cards, of course. When we flew home from HK on Cathay First, I would have been *delighted* to stay on the plane and go back and forth again! Yes, really. Those seats/beds are almost as wide as a regular twin bed! And we were pampered like crazy... when we were awake! Traveling ultra-long-haul on Singapore, the time literally disappeared. And the food! They have a "Book The Cook". I had something like braised short ribs, and I would have been pleased with that at the best restaurant in town, it was soooo good. My "lunch" was a second dinner (what I selected), and that was *excellent* as well. And then... we slept. And ate. And slept. And arrived so rested, it was amazing. But the Business class (shorthand "J", although there are other letters for "business") on the top international carriers is more than "fine", too! F is getting harder and harder to get with awards, but J is getting closer and closer to what F was not too long ago anyway. So start collecting those points. Time flies! (No pun intended, argh!) Get those bonus points. The bonus points usually require spending $X,000 within the first 3, 4, or 6 months, etc., so we wait until there is a big bill coming up: home insurance, tuition, a hotel bill, etc., and get the best use of that. (We *never* buy something "just to get the points"; that defeats the entire purpose. If we ever had to, we could top off the points needed by purchasing points, if, say, we were just barely short for a trip, but we haven't needed to do that yet. It would be worth a few hundred dollars if that what stood between us and a luxurious trip around the globe...) It may seem overwhelming at first. Start now/soon by getting those points started. Try to charge *everything* on one card or another. It really adds up. AND get those bonus points. Sooner than you might expect, you'll have enough points for a wonderful trip. (We'd NEVER use points for domestic travel. The best "value" is with top international airlines on long-haul trips.) The airlines are not equal. Read up on FT (also here on CC) for tips about the best airlines and also specific aircraft. Enjoy! GC [sorry to have run so long! I ended up with memories of lots of trips! 🙂 ]

Welcome to CruiseCritic! First, for privacy on a public website like this, you might want to ask the moderators to delete your actual name (unless you didn't use your real name in the example). It might still be possible to edit your post, but that limited time may have passed already. But 6-12 months for a name change!? Where did you hear that? Did Carnival tell you that when you tried to get the spelling corrected? Asking about this on the Carnival Cruise Line section of CC would be best. But unless it was Carnival (the company) who told you that, they are the ones to contact, or better, your travel agent if you used one. What does "trying so hard to get it changed" actually mean? GC

If you purchase travel insurance from a separate 3rd party insurer, then there is no issue about whether it covers "cruise only" or not. Those typically cover from the time you walk out your door until you walk back in again after your trip. There is usually better coverage, too, but that depends upon what particular coverages are important to each traveler. You might want to ask www.TripInsuranceStore.com next time before making a decision. Timing can be important in terms of which coverages are possible. To get the best choices, one should start the coverage within 10-20 days (state dependent) of the *first* payment, refundable or not. GC

Only 5 vacation days? How are you going to work that even with only POA? That's 7 days for the cruise alone, and with the distance from any mainland, there are going to be some travel days, too. GC

We've done this, and just gotten extra key cards so our family members could get into our suite even if we weren't there. No reason was needed; just our permission. The extra cards are ONLY for door access, so they are pretty much blank (at least on other cruise lines). We just used permanent marker and wrote something like "Grandma's suite" (no room numbers for safety in case card got lost) on all "extra cards". In our case, we also had a Pack N Play set up in the toddler's room and another one in our suite in case of nap time. This isn't college in the 1950's... no bed checks! 😱 There might be a problem if young children were left alone in a cabin, but other than that situation, no problem. GC

We learned about www.TripInsuranceStore.com here on CC almost 10 years ago. And thank goodness! We were planning a big (and very expensive for us, back then) cruise, business air, and extra hotel nights, all prepaid. Two weeks before our planned departure, DH had a medical emergency, and the only "traveling" we did was to and from medical appointments. But we got every cent back! (If we hadn't, we'd probably have been so shell shocked $$$ in addition to the medical scare, that we may never have planned another "nice" trip again. Instead, we planned more trips, including some even more special (=$$$$!) trips, and we have been having the time of our lives. In addition to that first big claim, we've had several other claims, unfortunately, but at least all of our money has been paid in those claims, too. I wish we hadn't needed to make those claims, but alas, "life happened"... We worked through TIS and purchased policies from Travel Insured, and they have been very easy to work with come claims time, and that's what matters, after all... TIS will ask you some questions as well as answer your questions, to try to help you get the best policy for *your* needs. They don't oversell. (Once, Steve, the owner, actually talked us out of buying a policy for one specific trip - that was quite a surprise. He had learned enough about us from our claims, so he asked a few questions and then pointed out *why* we did NOT need a special travel policy for this one trip. I never forgot that. He could so easily have just sold us another policy, and we'd never have realized why we didn't need that specific one...) They'll also help with claims, in case that is ever needed. GC

THIS is our main concern now, along with the fact that as we get older, there are more frequent reasons that we need to "see our doctor". Now, Covid has changed a lot of that to be via Zoom/etc., which has been a game changer. And previously, our physicians have sometimes given us extra "just in case" meds, sometimes such that we'll know when to take it, other times with the understanding that we will NOT take it without calling/emailing and discussing it first, but at least we'd have the med on hand IF it were decided that yes, we should start taking it. I have no idea how travel insurance would work for a trip of this length, however. MedJetAssist should be okay, as that's just annual, although for those above 75, it does require modest medical underwriting to get/renew a policy. IF we could figure it all out, I think we'd LOVE it. But at those prices... how can the food be any good, along with service and fuel, etc.? I noticed that the "suites" are also very small, not what we'd consider a "suite", and smaller than most plain "cabins" that we'd want for a long trip, although that would *not* be the limiting factor in our case. If everything else was okay, we'd just make it work in tight quarters. (I think...!) It seems that the people who are most likely to have such extended time periods for something like this are also likely to be retired, and thus older, and thus... meds and medical concerns. They say all medical care is included. What, exactly, is included in the "included"? It would be a dream, but will never come true for us, for a variety of reasons. 😞 GC

There is no *need* to leave a letter or note. However, just think of a Butler that first day, with *all* new passengers (most likely)... New Passenger in Suite 1: "My child is allergic to X, so please don't bring any snacks containing that to us. We can't have *any* X in the room AT ALL! Thanks so much!!" Suite 2: "We always appreciate extra bath linens. [Note: This one bit is verbatim from our own Butler letter 😉] And my kids love gummy bears, M&Ms, and that kind of thing! Oh, and could we have a pitcher of iced tea kept in our mini-fridge all the time?" 3: "So nice to meet you. We are Dick and Jane, and we're from AnyCity, and this is our first Haven suite, so please let us know what choices we have. We are soooo excited to be here! We sleep late on vacations, so could you please tell our steward not to come in to make up the room too early? Thanks! Oh, we understand there are snacks. Could you please explain what's available? And do you have any suggestions about excursions at each of the places this boat goes? What are your favorite places to visit?" 4: "Hi. Nice to meet you!" 5: "Could I please get a photo of you and your name tag so we can remember it? And what is the name of our steward? Could you write that down for me please? Thanks!" 6: [can't be found, must be exploring ship, will need to keep checking for introduction...] 7: "Thanks in advance for your help. We *MUST NOT* have ANY gluten. Mr.Suite7 has very serious celiac disease! He was hospitalized twice recently, too, so it's really important. And cross contamination IS a real problem for him, so please be sure there are no mistakes! And I hate any kind of nuts, so don't bother to bring any please. I can't even stand the sight of them! Thanks. We are SO excited to be on vacation finally! Don't forget, NO GLUTEN! Oh, and NO NUTS, also! But maybe if there are cashews. Those are okay, actually." 8: "We really don't need anything and prefer not to be disturbed at all! Thank you." 9. "We'd really love towel animals if possible..." 10. "Please don't bother with towel animals. We don't want to take up your time." 11. [Much like #7, but diabetes and sugar...] 12. "Could you get this suit and dress pressed for us for dinner tonight? It's our anniversary, so we want it to be special! Thanks so much!" And yet, they still remember names! Amazing! Some hospitality people (land and sea) have a remarkable ability to keep names straight. I have no idea how they do it. I tend to manage to forget a name about 30 seconds after being introduced. Very embarrassing, time and time again. 😞 *Every* time we've handed our Butler a letter, they have spoken about it later and thanked us, and almost always asked a question or two. *They* have said how helpful it is. Yes, I realize they may just be saying that to be polite, but the note doesn't hurt. OTOH, there's no need for a detailed essay... And if they didn't find it helpful, I'm sure they are usually too busy to make a special visit to discuss any questions they may have or ask about any choices, etc. And we have a header on the page with our suite number and our names. Don't forget that part! 😉 And they can always just toss it, sooner rather than later, as they see fit... I can't imagine how crazed things must be for them that first afternoon/evening. That's why we tell them that they can read the letter later or tomorrow... no hurry. And we also offer part of the tip upfront, much like CDR Benson. We've had all but one truly wonderful Butlers. That one misfit was the first, so we didn't realize what we were missing. The others have really made the cruise *much* more special! GC

So why doesn't NCL recommend this explicitly when "making" those reservations? Oh, I guess they think those passengers are only amateur cruisers... 😡 GC

It's seeming to come to this. Yes, their terms and conditions state that they can make changes, etc. That is VERY different than "changing" the product to be something other than what is advertised when purchased. Okay, allow some time for adjustments. This is way past that... GC

We stayed one night (the first night after the cruise) at the then brand new Hotel *IN* the Sydney Zoo. We were up and down much of the night, watching the koala right outside our window, in its treetop perch. It moved around occasionally. Very nice. Expensive, however. But for us, that trip was probably a "once ever", so we didn't want to plan any "maybe we'll do that next time..." The next morning, DH was at the main ticket office before it opened, to get 2 of the 4 daily "Meerkat Experience" tickets. We got to go inside their huge outdoor "cage", with a zookeeper and a zoo photographer. They put waterproof tarps on our laps, and pretty soon, some meerkats started jumping around, and on our laps. We've got one priceless photo of a meerkat in "classic meerkat sentinel position", standing on DH's lap. That was quite a special experience. (The zoo has a few different "experiences", and in some cases, they differed by day of the week.) We were in Sydney during those horrible wildfires, so that cramped our style. A lot. The hotel kept all but one door locked. At times, we could barely see the big building across the street from our hotel... in downtown Sydney. But we mostly felt so bad about what was going on, and it continued for way too long. Just devastating, literally. And it was just after our cruise that the White Island volcano erupted in NZ, killing too many and injuring more. That put a damper on our mood. I don't think our cruise had offered that excursion (?), but we still had just sailed right by the area a few days earlier. Unfortunately, we had to cancel our tour of that amazing Opera House. The smoke was getting to us. (And when we arrived home, on the other side of the planet, about 2 days later, it turned out that I was carried off the plane and then in hospital for 10 days on oxygen. I had caught RSV, something we'd never heard of before. Now everyone knows about Covid, flu, *and* RSV. 😱 ) We'd love to go back, but the way things are going, we are very glad we were at least able to do what we did while we were in NZ, Australia, and on the cruise during that trip. One of our best memories was in Hobart, at an animal sanctuary. The animals are rescues, and have been determined not to be safe to return to the wild. The were a bunch of kangaroos hopping off in the distance while we turned our attention to a koala "up close and personal" (before the zoo in Sydney). Suddenly, DH was whispering in my ear, "<name>, you are *surrounded* by kangaroos!" Indeed! There were about 5 or 6 right around me. Our guide then gave me some approved food to offer them, and they gobbled it up from my hand. That was unreal! They were smaller than I was expecting, although full grown. One had a very little joey in her pouch, peering out. That really "made the day!" 🙂 There was also an oddball activity, hidden away in a large but basic shopping mall (!). It was a "Flight Experience" and they have a *real* Boeing 737 flight simulator (without movement, but all the controls and visual simulations). I got DH the long version (90 minutes, I think), so in addition to learning the basics of some of the controls work (there are just too, too many switches to learn a lot of it in one session, of course), he then got to select several airports of his choice for simulated take-offs and landings. We had always been leary of flying into Aspen (so we would drive from Denver), so we chose that as one of them. Um, right... glad we drove. There is no good "second chance there", and there are occasional crashes (but not usually with the specially trained commercial pilots). Not as bad as some in the Himalayas, where the runway ends in an X,000 foot sheer drop, but still... We also did our home airport, Washington National, etc. I sat in the "jump seat". I was offered a few minutes to have a turn, but... I actually found those controls VERY intimidating! Perhaps I'm starting to lose some marbles, but I may well have felt the same way 20 years ago. There were buttons and switches *everywhere*. It was a bit nervewracking, even knowing we were on the ground, in a simulator. He/we only "ran off the runway" once upon landing; at least it was at a "safe airport", so "we just ended up on the grassy area near the very end of the runway". 😉 But it does represent the actual airport conditions and location, etc. At least we didn't "smack into a mountain when trying to land at Aspen" or whatever! Enjoy! GC

Thanks very much. This is interesting. Do you know what size plane they use to Ilulissat? And this idea could probably work with any cruise that either begins or ends in Iceland (or RT, obviously). Or is that only a charter for the cruise? Given you mentioned adding more time if one wishes, it seems like it's not just a charter. That opens up a lot of choices 🙂 depending upon the plane size, ahem. 😞 And allowing an extra day or two, etc., would be nice in case of really bad weather or some other "happening" the one day one is in port. (That's obviously a concern at most port stops, but this one is more out of the way than many.) Thanks again! GC

I'm guessing it *will* become much more widespread. Think about it: They get to save money *and* cloak it all in "environmental" and "climate change" terminology. Win/win! GC

This is worrisome... IF the cruiselines start to drop the scenic sail-by routes, one might almost want to fly. Well, not quite... There's still the "just unpack/pack once" aspect, which is very relaxing. But a LOT of cruising IS the scenery, those scenic vistas. One doesn't get off the ship at Hubbard Glacier, yet that was one of the highlights ever of our cruising. (We must have had a very active calving day. Amazing!) Even the general Alaska Coast, from Glacier Bay to Seward, with the snow-topped mountains in the view almost the entire time, but no port stops: beautiful! Some of the New Zealand Fjords!! And of course, all of the Antarctic "drive-by itineraries". Etc. I hope this isn't the beginning of the end, but perhaps a change is coming, and especially given the financial problems most cruiselines are having, sitting in port is less expensive than keeping the same systems going *plus* moving all of that weight long distances. GC

We have the "Butler letter" (and a shorter letter for the Steward) folded with us in our suite so that when the Butler comes to introduce him/herself that first afternoon/evening, we just hand it over personally. We'll say something like, "Here is some information about us, including food allergies. Please don't bother reading it right now; we know this is a very busy time. If you have any questions, let us know tomorrow. Thanks so much!" Invariably, they return, either later that evening or the next morning, with our letter and a pen, with some questions, and they have also always said how helpful this is. (Of course, being as polite as they are, I'm sure they'd say that even if they didn't think so! 😉 ) GC

Do "authorities" occasionally bring sniffer dogs on board in other, intermediate ports? GC

What did YOU have for breakfast? We don't even use any cruiseline air program so knock it off. I had a simple question about "how something works", in this case so I could better understand what might be happening to some others who are encountering difficulties. (Or, it would have been simple for someone interested in answer a question.) If you object to that, then just sit it out! So easy. (or not, apparently) GC

Thanks. Does NCL have something more like what was described for Princess (and??) *other* than the "Premium Air"? (Again, sorry, we just have had zero experience with cruise-line arranged air or hotel. I hadn't realized 'til now [duh!?] how different "premium air" is from some - all/most/?? - other arrangements that *do* help if things go sideways... And of course, I'm not really sure how the other plans, from other lines, *really* work anyway.) GC

Are other cruiseline "air" policies really like the above describe for Princess? Given that we *never* get cruiseline air, we never compare support policies, or lack thereof. (For foreign travel, we always use points and fly premium class, usually business/J, but occasionally F when possible. What a difference for long haul, for our aging bodies!) IF other lines have similar support for air travel purchased as part of the full cruise package, then NCL certainly seems... uh... utterly lacking. I had no idea. No wonder folks are so upset. It's still "on them" to read the T&C's, but the upset makes a lot more sense, for those who didn't read them *and* for those who did! Is NCL alone with this extreme "we'll buy cheap [??] air tickets for you, but once we do, good bye and good luck"? GC

Not a chance in the world we'd do anything other than arrange our OWN air and any hotels, etc. AND arrive at LEAST one day early. If winter weather might be a problem anywhere along the way, we'll arrive at *least* 2 days early. As for insurance, was AON insurance through NCL? If so, that's another huge mistake. A *good* third-party travel insurance policy is likely to be better. (We've had quite a few claims paid by Travel Insured, including some biggies. We get those policies through www.TripInsuranceStore.com (no extra cost to traveler). We learned about them here on CC about 10 years ago and that turned out to be really critical a few times. TIS will also help with claims if necessary or even "what to do" when stranded overseas (once, due to hospitalization). But the bottom line is NO cruise line can guarantee to wait for you. Full stop. They may try, as a courtesy, and perhaps try harder if a larger group is involved. However, if the tides require a ship sail at a certain time, they're going to said if it is at all possible. If another ship is arriving, scheduled to dock at the same place... guess what... Or if a group is truly stranded somewhere due to flooding (has happened!)...? What if they are delayed for several days (has happened!). And read the FULL terms and conditions of the NCL contract. It's very clear and it doesn't matter what someone told you. However, as far as "all the warnings and complaints here on CC", an incredibly small percentage of cruisers are CC participants. A few more may read without registering. That leaves a *huge* number of passengers who have no idea what is being discussed here. I don't even remember how we discovered CC, but thank goodness we did! 🙂 GC

I don't remember which year it was (not too long before Covid hit), but there was at least one cruise that planned to do the full northern passage and it couldn't go all the way because of ice. Passengers were flown from some midpoint back to a large airport/city somewhere (Canada? Northern USA?). It sounded like it would be a spectacular itinerary. Maybe some other time... GC

I would double check if there is any required minimum time allowance, even if it's covered in general. There is no way we'd schedule that tightly when arriving at a final port with customs/immigration (or is this strictly a UK cruise?) when heading to an airport. Unless there's plenty of time to catch a later bus (and also allow for traffic, etc.). GC

I also went on a work related cruise (someone has to do it, right? 😉 ) circa 2003 that I forgot about in this context. I think that was still with "early" and "late" dining. So we had a very long table on one side of the MDR always set for "all of us" at whichever seating it was. Very convenient. We could sit anywhere, but we quickly ended up with little "grouplets" who tended to sit in the same general area each evening. It worked fine. I was thinking more of open seating in my comment above, given that's what DH and I strongly prefer. So we are either on ships that don't have assigned dining times (e.g., Oceania) or we select the "anytime" dining when there is a choice (e.g., HAL). GC

We are very eager to get to Ilulissat and Disko Bay, Greenland, and would love to include Iceland. We just saw a Hurtigruten cruise, the first I've noticed for a major cruise ship to get that far north (although I admit, I haven't been looking much since TheBeforeTimes). Previously, what I had found were very small, basic people ferries, where most of the accommodations were large bunk rooms... not quite what we are looking for. Also, food service looked very limited. It obviously wasn't intended for "cruising", but for "transportation. (Hurtigruten manages a nice combo, and we loved our Norwegian Coastal round trip, so we were delighted to see a Hurtigruten ship heading to Ilulissat... until we looked more carefully at the precise route.) Unfortunately, although it departs and returns to Iceland, it spends the 2+ weeks with lots of stops along Greenland, before and after Ilulissat. Does anyone have any suggestions, probably for 2024 or 2025, for a cruise that gets to Ilulissat and Disko Bay but also spends much/most of its time around Iceland? Or even not much time there, but a shorter trip to Ilulissat, and we could do some land travel in Iceland. What we don't want is 2 weeks up and down the Greenland coast, stopping very frequently. With the Hurtigruten coastal cruises, they were also also genuine "transportation" ferries, so that was understandable. But that's not the case with the Hurtigruten cruise that we saw; there were something like 3 or 4 in each of the summers, hardly a reliable transportation service! Many thanks! GC

If you are able to eat early, when the DR first opens, it would probably be MUCH easier for them to set aside a certain set of tables (per evening or all the time, etc.). Once there are other diners seated, everyone will be finishing at different times, so keeping several adjacent/etc., tables open for you means holding some tables open while others may be waiting. IF they have private dining areas, ask about that. Who knows, they may prefer that, as it would mean less disruption to their regular DR procedures. But also ask the maitre d' at each restaurant, at the start of the cruise. And then, I'd double check each day with the appropriate maitre d' to make sure... That tends to minimize disappointments and snafus, etc. And ask about the special cakes, for the appropriate evenings, at dinner. That shouldn't be a problem. Enjoy, and Happy Celebrations! GC