BullDawg91

We've done the Dream and have the Wonder scheduled.

One point I've seen people make is that there are a great deal fewer people at Castaway Cay when the classic ships stop.

For what it's worth, I got an answer on this by calling the proposed insurance company, TruTravel Insurance. The rep said that if you have a medical claim where Medicare is the primary insurance, you will have to file with Medicare and receive a denial. When you receive the denial, you then file with TruTravel, and they will pay.

She did recommend calling their assistance line as if they are primary if you need medical care.

I'm looking at a policy for my parents that has $75k medical secondary. They have Medicare. I am concerned about whether the travel insurance will pay if Medicare denies because of being outside the country.

With traditional health insurance, if the primary denies the claim, the secondary generally also denies.

Does anyone have experience with this?

The Avis office is next door to the Budget office downtown. Last week we dropped off our rental car pre-cruise at this Budget location without any problems. Needed some more gas and the agent instructed us to a station 3 minutes away.

 

After the cruise we had a reservation at this same office (less than 2 -3 minutes from the port). The agents are very friendly and there are no waiting lines.

Only negative point - the cab driver from PoM was very mad at us because the ride was so short ($8.40 total).

The Budget location you're talking about doesn't have a shuttle? The Budget website says that it does. I had read that the taxi drivers get mad over the short fares.

Heck no, no rain shower! Maybe we'll get lucky on our next cruise!

We were forward on our last cruise so I did go up and use the spa showers at least once on our last cruise. That was really nice!

Big Al, I don't know if you mentioned this and I missed it, but if so I apologize. Didn't the Disney balcony cabin just feel roomy even if you weren't outside because of the floor to ceiling glass?? It felt so open even if we had the door closed (chilly).

Please post if you find out more information. I was following another thread where the OP missed her cruise due to weather in TX, driving down from OK.

I wondered how that would have been handled by trip insurance if they were stuck on the highway for 14+ hours.

I also didn't appreciate the Crush AP show. I haven't seen the original show but hope on the Wonder soon. It was just way too much noise and we weren't sitting close to a screen. If I'm on a ship again with the Crush show, I'll absolutely skip it.

Big Al, I've often thought the same thing about all the reviews of the Palo chicken parm. How can something that seems so pedestrian be so good?? I guess I'll have to try it next time and find out!

Excellent Post!

Why, thank you!

Sorry for so many posts. I don't seem to be able to edit my posts.

I did think of something I wasn't thrilled with - the noise level in the MDRs. Each one was packed to the gills and noisy! Our servers were excellent, but you could tell they were rushed and the space between tables was small. I thought the Crush show in AP was just too much noise. I really wanted earplugs. I'm thrilled to to know there is a different show there if we get ever get AP twice.

We had early dining and never felt that they rushed us. We were often one of the last tables in the room because my parents like to relax over a meal. Our server Carlos took a few minutes to do a magic trick which all 11 of us enjoyed each night.

This year, we are trying late dining and doing Spring Break instead the week before Christmas so we'll see how the noise level compares.

TwinPrincessMermaid, I agree!

Back to the original topic, the Disney Dream looked like a luxury liner from the early 20th century. Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer would not have looked out of place. Anyone get that?

The Disney touches are subtle and not cartoony. If you are cruising for the cruise experience and not for a place to sleep between ports, you might appreciate it. I did, and enjoyed walking around making pictures, even of the public restrooms! The theming is everywhere and I mean Art Deco, not Disney.

It's like when we went to WDW and stayed at the Polynesian. I had thought why stay there when you stay in parks all day. Well, when we stayed there, we spent more time in the resort than normal. We also appreciated the monorail transport with a scooter. It was just a different experience and sometimes, I'll pay for that. Sometimes, I'll stay at a value resort and save a bundle.

I say try it and see what works for you.

I forgot a point. Everyone talks about how expensive Disney is but I wonder if it is if you price a comparably sized cabin and all the add-ons. Our Carnival cabin was TINY by any standard so I would have expected to pay much more for the Disney cabin.

Why is Disney my favorite? I've only cruised twice so far, one Carnival and one Disney and have a Disney scheduled for March '14.

As I read general cruise information on these forums, many people are asking if it is worth it to pay extra for soda cards and for priority this or that and discussing how to smuggle liquor. None of that is an issue on Disney. You aren't nickel & dimed to death.

I'll have to report in on things that could be done better after the next cruise. I was going to say have more adult activities, but that isn't fair because I didn't attend a lot of them last time. I only saw what was listed in the Navigator. We were too busy doing other things.

Questions, questions, questions!

We are cruising the Disney Wonder March 30th. We fly into West Palm Beach the day before and arrive at 2:00. There will be 9-11 of us, 4-6 adults and 5 kids.

I'm trying to decide if we should go on down toward Miami for a hotel or just stay closer to WPB. We'd like to stay closer to the port but don't really want to fork out big bucks for hotel rooms. We'll rent a car, and we know it will take about 1.5 hours to get to Miami. I don't want to be too freaked out about the drive on the 30th.

Recommendations?

If you wonder why WPB if I'm a worrywart, about $100 less per person in airfare is why! ;)

We are cruising on the Disney Wonder March 30th and have never been to Miami. We are flying in to West Palm Beach the day before and are planning to rent a car (or cars, there will be 9-11 of us) at PBI.

Do you have a favorite car rental with easy drop off in Miami? We'd like to avoid the airport if possible and of course a free shuttle for the drivers would be ideal. I'm sure we'll want to drop most our group and luggage at the port before returning the car(s). I'd hate to book the rental on price and find out they are the most inconvenient!

Thanks!

I wasn't arguing that they told you they had to take your mother to another facility. I'm just saying they may not have been right in refusing her request. They could have felt it would compromise her situation to travel to the requested facility or they could have not wanted to bother. I have a friend who runs an EMS service and I'll ask just so we'll know (for this area).

It's great news that you got reimbursed for the rest of your claims! Another reason to use a broker!

You are wrong, you most CERTAINLY can tell then what hospital you are going. And I completely understand this may not be a priority, just a fact.

 

It may be worthwhile, to recommend having the insurance numbers and paperwork always with you. My insurance also would have allowed me to select my health care. The sooner they are involved, the sooner they can take over. Just some ideas for the future.

Budget Queen is correct. You can request to be taken to a specific facility. Most of the time that you need an ambulance, you don't really care though. I live in a town with two competing hospitals so this is a hot topic.

It isn't really relevant to this situation, but still.

I'd be worried if I lived in Broward County.