brentp

I am confused by this post.

 

HAL has an email for post cruise issues. That's what I used and had an answer in 2 days. I think you can call too, but I didn't bother I just used the email.

 

If the OP didn't get an answer then it would do no good. Same thing could happen on any cruise line, no? Including the board you referenced.

 

in fact, right now there is an open letter on the Oceania board (which is well reputed to take care of passenger concerns) and his issues have gone unanswered.

 

Anyone can fall through the cracks. We might not like it but it can happen - on any cruise line.

no worries :) You were clear. I probably wasn't!

 

if you go to HAL's contact us - you have two choices. If you click the email option there is a post cruise spot - that's what I used and had an answer and a copy of the final mini bar bill for the last day within two days of my email with the offer to reverse if it was wrong. It seems that is handled differently than other areas.

 

I suspect if you just use the comment option with HAL that goes to the Office of the President and takes the standard 4 - 6 weeks to get an answer.

 

while HAL does not have a specific number to call (and there you are correct), if you want to phone and state you have an issue you do get transferred to a special department. They did actually give me a direct line in their email reply with an option to call but sadly, I didn't keep it so I can't quote it here.

As the OP, I too followed the process for past cruisers with issues on HAL's website and submitted the issue via EMAIL. I received a canned EMAIL response they would look into it and respond within 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, additional EMAILs and a voice message (I actually found guest relation's phone number after a detailed search as the phone number in the canned response is for future cruise bookings and not for guest relations) all had no response. Basically, I got no response until I decided to escalate this and disputed the charged through the bank, post here, . . . or possibly as a result of the last voice message I left. Not really sure which resulted in the issue getting addressed, but it took 4 weeks to get the first non-canned response.

While you had great success, . . . others have confirmed here they too are having problems and delays in getting their issues resolved using their published process. Hence the title of the thread!

Not sure which of our experiences is the rule and which might be the exception, however, hearing others have had delays and issues too, the cracks you refer too with resolving issues, unfortunately, might be fairly wide openings.

A specialized trip report focused on our wildlife viewing results during our 7 day cruise and 2 weeks in an RV.

Hope you enjoy. :)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=47081970#post47081970

Wildlife viewing was a high priority for us for our recent 3 week Alaska trip (1 week cruise, 2 weeks RVing). We got great advice prior to leaving on where and how to see wildlife, especially from BudgetQueen & Mapleleaves. We thought we would post our results so others can gain from our experience as a specialized ‘trip report’.

High priority ‘targets’ for us; bear, dall sheep, sea otter, & caribou. Whales and moose we can view locally so not as high on the list, and of course, we hoped to see a bald eagle our two. Happy to report we saw all of these and more.

Best advice received and to give: look, look, & look!

Look#1; it takes effort, and you need to go looking for wildlife and dedicate time if you want it to happen. Listen to the captain’s reports, park rangers, guides, and others – you are not alone.

Look #2; always start looking with a scan of the horizon for ‘anomalies’ with just your eyes (not using binoculars). Anomalies would be for things that don’t fit with the rest of the background (dark spots in green fields, blow spouts on the water, movement, etc.). Zoom in with the binoculars once/if you think you see something.

Look #3; be aware that if you see others looking at something on the side of the ship or road, . . . they are probably looking at wildlife so go figure out what it might be or go ask.

Binoculars: This is well discussed here, but, of course you need them. We took a pair each (smart choice, no sharing on this trip), both from Celestron (Outland X 10x42 & Nature DX 10x32). They worked great for us.

And Our Results:

Bears: we saw 5. First viewing was at Emerald lake where a mom brown bear and her 2nd year cubs were out. Per Look#2 above, I scanned the horizon getting out of the car and saw some very dark spots through some vegetation way on the other side, and the spots were moving. We watched the bears through our binoculars (probably ¼ to ½ mile away at first), and they proceeded up the hill to the right of the turn out on the road, and proceeded to walk along the ridge towards the Hwy before going over and out of sight. In the end, they were close enough to have a very good view with binoculars, and a few pictures that would confirm we saw the bears. Others on tour buses only got a few minutes at Emerald lake, so a rental car paid hugely here as we could stay and watch. Second sighting was along the Richardson Hwy going into Valdez where a black bear crossed the road directly in front of us, darted down the bank and out of sight. No time for pictures. :(

The last bear sighting was the best, leaving Denali NorthView RV Camp one morning and driving south on the Park’s Hwy, we saw a car stopped in the middle of the road (Look #3). We slowed down and I caught a dash of brown darting into the woods and out of sight. “I think I just saw a bear”. The other car drove away and we started to. Not wanting to give up so soon (Look #1), I turned the RV around, nothing seen on the way back. So, we turned around again, drove very slowly back and when we got to where we thought it was, my wife hollered out “there it is”. Sure enough, 50 feet from us, down in the ditch, eating vegetation. We pulled into the break down lane and watched for 10 – 15 minutes. Interestingly, each time a car passed by, the bear would pick its head up and we would capture a picture. Coolest wildlife experience of the trip (actually, of my life!). No need of the special bear viewing flight trip we were considering at the end of the trip after this!

Dall Sheep: Driving along the road to Whitehorse from Skagway, we came upon a turnout with a bus pulled over. At first, we thought it was simply one of their many photo op stops, so we only slowed down. However, looking closing, half of the people were looking up towards the top of one of the mountains (remember Look #3). So, we pulled in, got our binoculars, and sure enough, lots of sheep on the mountain. Pretty cool. This happened again later in our trip.

Sea Otters: we saw a number of singles in Resurrection Bay. However, during a Prince William Sound cruise, we saw many in what is referred to as rafts where there are many otters linked together doing what they do. This is pretty cool.

Caribou: Our only sighting was within Denali (which we day tripped and drove to the stop at mile ~ 15 on our own). Again, while driving, I caught a glimpse of a light colored object (Look #2) out in the vast fields. On driving a bit further, a car was pulled over looking at something (Look #3), so, we stopped. Sure enough, 2 caribou were in the field so we watched for some time. We finally continued, and the funny thing is, around the corner at the spot where we were to turn around, there were ~ 12 or so out in the field much much closer.

Whales: First night on the cruise, we went out to look (Look #1). After a few minutes, my wife saw a blow (Look #2). We watched with binoculars for only a couple of minutes and then it dove. Next afternoon, the captain informed everyone that we would be going through ‘Snow Pass’ at a given time and that there had been reports of whales in the area. So, off we went prior at the appointed time. What was amazing, on approach and climbing the stairs to one of the many observation spots, I saw a big splash and thought it might be a breach, but is was so far in the distance, I was not sure and there wasn’t any oohing or aaahing by passengers. As we got closer, it happened again and this time, there was no question what ½ of the folks just saw as a very loud cheer and applause went up after the big splash. Unfortunately, the other ½ of the passengers ran to the other side of the ship after the fact. Yes, there is luck involved in wildlife viewing too. We saw a couple of more whales later in our trip on our PWS day cruise out of Whittier.

Moose: With 700,000+ moose in Alaska, you would think it would be easy to see one, and if you are looking, I guess it is. We saw maybe 6 or so (all singles) as we were driving around. Two were very close, but hard to get a picture during a drive by or they darted back into the woods. We finally saw one across a field, and were able to observe for some time.

Eagles (Bald): I didn’t mention them, for I now realize that if you go to Alaska and return without seeing a bald eagle, well, you likely spent 100% of your time in your cabin. :) Seriously, there are so many and all over the place that I think they would be hard to miss.

Here are a few pictures of our luck – and would be happy to try to answer any questions.

First, for those making assumptions this might have been for a can or two of soda/water, the quantity or amount does not matter, but this is not the case. We requested that ALL items be removed from our room on Day 1. For the Zaandam, in our cabin at least as there was no frig, all items were on the counter using up space we wanted for other needs. This said, as I pointed out in my original post, I am making an assumption it might be for the mini-bar items we had removed given others have had similar issues with HAL.

What really matters, to us at least, is that we left the ship with a final bill that we were in agreement with, and then were charged a higher amount by them and without any follow up communication that a higher amount needed to be processed or why. Adding to the frustrations, there was zero response on HAL's part after repeated attempts. Up through yesterday, the only communication received was a single canned EMAIL response that they would look into it and it might take up to 2 weeks (which was 4 weeks ago).

I know many here are very loyal to HAL. However, I am concerned and to me, what they are doing is not a good business practice - period. Can issues be resolved, sure, . . . but a good business relationship should start with trust and when that is lost, things tend to go south very quickly.

And now for the update, . . .

I finally got a new EMAIL from HAL today. Whether this was the result of this post, disputing the charge through our bank (yesterday), or finally responding to the last voice message I left for them, I don't know. What I received from them stated that they would provide a credit for the difference between our final bill and what we were charged. No updated room statement was provided as originally requested, nor was their any indication on what this issue was or what they are doing to fix it. At least, I have now been informed that a credit will be processed (another "2" weeks according to the EMAIL).

Thanks to those that have shared your stories and experiences and for those still working issues, I wish you the best.

The OP did mention that... not sure if they realize that in many cases that can take a couple/few weeks as well. Wonder if that will make the credit card company an accessory to fraud or officially mean they are in cahoots with HAL :rolleyes:

No need to continue to redirect the topic with your meanness. We disagree - at least, I can respect that others may not share my opinion, . . .

An open comment to the OP...

 

However, as for the "fraudulently" portion of your letter... with all due respect... get a grip.

 

Per http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fraud :

"the crime of using dishonest methods to take something valuable from another person"

 

InTheWASide - Thank you very much - feel free to jump all over me as the OP in defense of HAL and by redirecting the topic at hand into a topic of definitions. At the end of the day, HAL is the one that has customer service issues that I am simply trying to highlight here.

I think I have a grip of the situation. :)

As for my use of the word fraud (as a secondary statement mind you, and only because they have not responded in 4 weeks), let's look at the facts: a business produces a bill for X and the customers leaves the business believing they agreed and settled on X as the final payment. The business then submits a charge of Y to the customer's bank for payment which is more than X . Well, value has been taken by one from the other, and the means could be considered dishonest in that there was absolutely no follow up communications as to why more was taken than originally agreed to and the business refuses to responds to the customer's inquiries. To me, this meets the definition you quoted so I'm comfortable still in using that word. You might also be interested to know that this appears to be a repeating issue given the data I have found.

A mistake, in my opinion, should be resolved quickly and without herculean efforts to get it resolved. Had this been resolved within the last 4 weeks, this post and would not have been made and we would not be having this discussion.

Maybe our tolerances for the time one should allow for the correction of a mistake is really where are difference are?

An open note to HAL, . . .

As of right now, we will no longer sail with HAL again for a very simply error on your part that you appear you can neither respond to or get fixed.

We sailed the Zaandam on May 31st. Our final bill was checked the day before debarkation - no issues. The final bill on our door was verified to be the same amount as the day before departure. We left the ship thinking all was good.

To our surprise, our credit card was billed a higher amount with no follow up communications. Also, there has been no communications from you or any attempt to resolve this even after repeated requests over the last 4 weeks via both EMAIL and phone to do so.

We can not even obtain an updated statement to verify what the error might be. We are guessing, but not 100% sure, that we were incorrectly (fraudulently is a stronger word that should be used) charge to restock the "mini-bar" items on the room counter removed from our room at our request on Day 1 of the sailing.

Shame, losing future customers because 1) your on-board accounting dept can't keep simply books and 2) your on-shore customer service dept. can't investigate and respond to inquiries in a timely manor (4 weeks is way way too much time for this).

So, the charge has now been disputed and you can deal with the bank directly. From us, there will be no further communications with HAL including any future bookings.

We would like to tell people we had a great sailing with you to Alaska, . . . but unfortunately, we need to tell them the truth on how poor a company HAL is and why we would choose not to cruise with you again. Your loss.

Having recently returned, I want to provide my update on Juneau Car Rental. Summary: all is good and we would recommend them in a heartbeat. :)

We really liked JCR. The car may have been bit older as it did have 125K miles on it. But, it was clean, functional, and got us where we wanted to go. The 'paper work' only took a few minutes as everything was ready when we arrived. When asked what to do if we had any issues, we were told to call the number on the paperwork and then would send someone out if needed right way. Didn't need to, but was very confident they would be there if needed.

One other topic to update: we were at the cruise terminal (CT) dock about a mile away for the AJ dock. Having heard there was a shuttle for those that were at the AJ dock, we walked outside and asked where the bus picked people up to go to the AJ dock. When the bus arrived, we and a number of folks got on and no questions were asked by the driver. I did hear the driver tell one Princess passenger that they didn't need to show their tickets to get on 'his' bus, and I think some of the others were workers that he knew needed a ride out. Of course, upon return, the Princess ship had departed and so to had the shuttle buses, but at least we avoided the hike in one direction. :)

Car or no car? That is up to you. Let me share our story. It was an off/on rainy day when we were in Juneau. When it came time for us to want to go to Mendenhall, we drove up the access road to the parking lot and it was foggy and poring out. So, we decided to head back down the access road and get some lunch first. After lunch, things cleared up so we headed back up the access road. Wow, you could now see everything from the access road, we didn't even know that the first time. :) We had about a hour to do everything we wanted in clear skys. A bus that was unloading on the first trip, was loading back up when we came back - those folks didn't seek much.

Moral - a car will give you more flexibility than you could get with other means. This happened in Skagway too at Emerald lake. We arrived, and instantly spotted 3 brown bear off in the distance. We watched for over 30 minutes. Meanwhile, bus after bus was stopping, unloading, and then the drivers were saying sorry, we need to move on and loading back up.

Just be aware, if you do ask this over on the HAL board, you will get lots of responses (some flaming) if you want to wear anything other than a tux or evening gown. Many of the 'regulars' there tend to be very old school, trying to convince everyone it is mandatory to go above and beyond and you will impact the quality of their cruise if you do anything less. :)

A search of the forum might be best, as that will avoid the flames and you can find posts from folks that have recently traveled sharing their observations about what is actually allowed and prevalent in the MDR on formal nights (hint, it is a much lower standard, especially on Alaska itineraries). And yes, as stated above, it was recently confirmed by HAL that goods jeans are OK on non formal nights.

Enjoy the cruise!

As Putterdude said, this gets asked a lot. And, there are lots of different opinions as there is no straight forward answer to what will be best for a particular need or person.

There are lots of different numbers that one needs to know about, as well as different design techniques, manufacturing quality, and each can make binoculars unique and different. Here is a tutorial that might help understand things (magnification, objective lens, exit pupil, field of view, minimum focal distance, design types, etc.). It starts on page 2, so keep paging around to get the full info.

Behind Binocular Numbers (Page 2)

I would start there, and then typically with binoculars, the more you pay, the better the quality of the optics. Figure out what you want to do, figure out what your budget is, find some that fit within that budget, and then highly recommend if possible, go try them locally so you can find what works best for you. I like this website for reviews of mid to high end Binoculars.

Best Binocular Reviews

For handheld use, typically most people can only use 8x or 10x, and a smaller number are OK with 12x. Higher power than that the shake gets annoying. Larger field of view and objective lens (exit pupil) can offset this a bit, but not much.

For us, we set a lower budget as our use outside of travel is limited. We selected a set of binoculars from Celestron, the Nature DX 10x32 and the Outland X 10x42. A good compromise on size, cost, quality, etc. and each have slight differences that should allow us to view most everything we hope for.

Good Luck!

Funny you should ask. I have always used a 25% DEET product or better - it works. My wife, wanted to look into alternatives many because she didn't want to use DEET on our grandkids out in the yard. She bought a lemon eucalyptus spray at Target this spring, tried it out, and she felt it works just as good as the DEET stuff.

I was skeptical, but the consumer report tests were very timely. This and picaridin based products were rated very high. Is it safer than DEET, CR says it is, but I don't think anyone has a definitive answer to that yet. Anyway, this lemon eucalyptus oil product will be in our bag headed to Alaska in a few weeks.

I'm on the Radiance of the Seas. I stayed across the street at the Pinnacle Hotel Harbor front. This is an easy walk with luggage on wheels. I dropped my luggage off early at 10:30 and did some final touring of Vancouver. I had 2 suitcases on wheels and a back pack.

TeeChi - how did you like the Pinnacle Harbourfront?

Interesting write up - thanks for sharing the details.

This got me to go look at the port schedule, and as luck would have it, we are a one ship embarkation. :)

Hopefully, we will not experience too much of a delay as we plan to spend a good portion of the day seeing Vancouver prior to boarding.

We are departing on the Celebrity Millennium from the Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle. What are the options for getting to the port?

Walk, . . . or taxis I guess if you have a lot of luggage but it is not very far away, (~1/3 of a mile/600m, or a 7 minute walk). Not sure if they offer luggage service, but might be worth a call. We are staying across the street at the Pinnacle Harbourfront and are planning to walk our large pieces of luggage over in the morning and drop off (I believe you can drop early), . . . and then tour the city, return to the hotel, and then walk back with our carry-ons just before check-in. Here is a map.

Marriott to Canada Place.

Sorry if I misunderstood the Amtrak rep and for creating all the hoopla.

No worries, . . . I'm sure most of us have been on the receiving end of incorrect information from CSRs. Just happy we can all still enjoy the train ride before or after our cruises. :)

The aren't four trains a day from Vancouver to Seattle - there are only two - one in the morning and one in the evening - the other trips on the Amtrak schedule are buses.

 

The repair work on that trestle has been ongoing for some time - with the increase in freight and coal shipments from the US that is going out of Roberts Bank BNSF is finally spending some money on fixing that trestle which has caused a slowdown on the trip for many years.

 

Most of the work can be done between trains - both passenger and freight but just like on highway improvement projects it is sometimes necessary to completely close a highway to do certain work.

 

Cheers!

 

Dennis

Very true there are only 2 Southbound, . . . however, plus the 2 Northbound = 4 trains scheduled on that route per day across the tracks. Only 2 (1 Southbound & 1 Northbound) of the trains are listed as impacted by Amtrak's PSAs on the closure days. :)

This was a critical piece of information to the original discussion on an extended cancellation of service, for it would have been more probable that all 4 trains would be affected if the tracks were out of service for an extended period. Of course, we now know this is not the case and the trains are still running, with the only possible cancellation still pending being on May 19th per the original PSA link in post #9.

Only putting what I was told by "Jean" the Amtrak agent told me Sunday night. I hope everyone that is involved has been contacted and have made other arrangements.

Deborahjo - Understood, but I personally feel that there was a miscommunication (or misunderstanding) of the situation and how the Amtrak schedule is being impacted.

Clearly there is bridge work taking place. As for how that impacts service, I feel the PSAs are likely accurate in showing the disruption is limited to certain days (May 12th being one of them), and on those days only 2 of the 4 Seattle/Vancouver Amtrak trains are being affected. The other 2 are still schedule to run.

Perhaps "Jean" was indicating that the bridge work would take another few months this summer to be completed and either implied or it was assumed that service would be disrupted for the full duration of the project. If it were, I believe the PSA would show that, the booking engine would show it, and all 4 of the trains would be impacted versus just 2 of the 4.

I am not going to worry any more for our trip. Feel pretty good that on May 30th, given no other incidents between now and then, that we will be on the 7:45am #510 train out of King Street Station headed towards Vancouver. :)

The agent said they HOPE it should be done within 3 months. I just don't see how they can charge the same thing for a train ride and a bus ride. One is 2 hours longer.

 

I don't believe I said "until further notice" anywhere in my post. Actually my post reads exactly as you posted.

Not quite. I posted a cut and paste from Amtrak's service announcement. This says cancelled on May 12th (which indicates a 1 day event). Adding to this, if you try to book a train on May 12th, the booking engine says cancelled. On May 13th and beyond, it is still allowing booking of trains.

My "until further notice" comment was in regards to Amtrak's official service announcement and not your post.

Your information might be correct, . . . the CSR might have more information on this than what has been posted on their website. Then again, the CSR might be have provide incorrect information (not the first time that would have occurred). Hence, I think there is still confusion. :)

We leave end of May, so if this is cancelled for the next few months, I need to scramble. :(

Ouch, . . . one more thing to check out.

Update - they are still booking tickets, however, I did find this in the Service Announcements section which adds confusion, for it indicates the cancellation is for May 12th. It doesn't say until further notice.

Amtrak Cascades Trains 510 and 517 Canceled: Bus Service Provided

Effective Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Due to bridge work being performed by BNSF Railway, Trains 510 and 517 will be canceled on May 12, 2015. Passengers will be provided bus service at all stations on the route.

Thank you for traveling aboard Amtrak Cascades. We appreciate your patronage and apologize for any inconvenience. For reservations, train status information or to plan a trip, visit AmtrakCascades.com, use the free Amtrak mobile apps or call 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245).

Well, . . . if you can be patient, I could let you know in June. :)

I recently 'purchased' this Hotel via Hotwire Hot Rate and will be staying there the end of May. We wont be back until mid-June however, so wont be able to post an update until then.

As has been pointed out, this use to be the Renaissance until ~ end of last year. The recent 2015 reviews on Trip Adviser are mostly positive. As usual, few of the negative ones are for specific issues that a particular guest had that they felt wasn't addressed to their satisfaction, . . . you can read the details to decide if you agree or not. One thing I did note while reading them, that the current GM responds to some of the posts (both positive and negative). In my experience, properties where management takes an active role in responding to reviews are very involved of the quality of the product their guests experience, and usually this is a positive sign as it trickles down through the staff. On that note, most all the reviews were very complimentary of the staff. None of this translates to how the property is today, but I felt comfortable after this research.

Other things to note, the hotel is within walking distance of the Seawall & Canada Place, yea!, . . . and through Hotwire when I got it, the price was very very very good! :)

Anyway, my 2 cents.

this is the same location. They may be in another room at the Westmark? Either way, simple to find and there will be a sign.

 

I rather suspect, since the Westmark closes in the winter, that is location "change" is only from their winter location. The lot is still going to be on Spring.

I got the same EMAIL yesterday and came to the same conclusion. The original reservation indicated our pick up location would be at 3rd Ave & Spring St., so the only 'change' contained in the EMAIL was a notation of a room number at the Hotel.

The attachment to the EMAIL was nice to get.

Please, tell more on the AJ Dock Shuttles. We are renting a car from JCR, and were planning to walk the mile to the AJ Dock as we are scheduled to dock right next to the tram station (Cruise Terminal [CT] Dock).

Is the Shuttle free? Where is the pick-up/drop-off on the town side? Is it restricted to only the lines that are using the AJ Dock?

Might be an option for us to save a mile walk each way. Then again, we are on a cruise and the extra steps might do some good. :)

I've done Crow Creek Mine before. It was fun.

http://www.crowcreekmine.com/Crow_Creek_Mine/History_of_a_Gold_Mine.html

Thanks for the tip, looks like fun!

 

Anyone have experience with Alamo in Juneau and their pick up/drop off policy -- in 2015, since these things change every year? They don't seem to have a kiosk at AJ Dock anymore. (And I'm one step ahead of you if you're going to suggest Juneau Car Rentals. They appear to be at the airport now and also don't pick up anymore.)

 

I have a rental with Juneau Car Rental for this June. Pickup will be at AJ Dock. I made the reservation in February via the phone, and confirmed pickup location, got a map, and a list of suggested areas to go see. Very nice person on the other end that took the reservation - you can only do this on the phone.

Like mentioned, you might want to call, because I am 99.999% sure they will be there (or I will have a long walk for nothing). :)

Just a suggestion, but you might be focused too much on the negative reviews. Every car rental company will collect some negative reviews as that is a tough business model. I expect it is even tougher in a land locked city with 10,000+ visitors every day that are in a hurry to get their days in. You might want to balance them with the positive ones too. By the way, city buses can break down too. :)

For those using insuremytrip dot com to find comparison pricing, you may also want to do the insurance pricing dance to get the optimal option for you!

To do that, add up the 'at risk' cost for a cancellation. This is not simply the total cost of the trip, it is only what would be non-returnable to you. In the case of most cruiselines, if you cancel prior to the cruise, taxes and port fees are refunded, so the 'at risk' cost is less. Airfares depends on the carrier. Southwest for instance offers a credit for a future trip which may or may not be useful to you.

Most of the insurance options have various base coverages that are independent of the trip costs (medical, evac, baggage, etc.). Look at the options with the 'at risk' trip amount and find the underwriter and option you feel best meets your needs.

Then, the pricing dance is done by trying different trip cost scenarios as many of the insurance options are priced in tiers (usually either at $500. or $1000 total trip cost points). You need to find the price points for that underwriter & option. You can insure for any coverage amount you want, the insurance company will only payout for claims what you can support with documentation up to the insured amount for the issued policy.

For instance, if there is a price break $50 less than your 'at risk' total, most times it will make sense to insure at the top of the lower tier and self-insure the $50. (as the insurance cost will be lower and in some cases may even cover the $50.). The flip side, if we are near the middle of the tier, we usually bump to the top of that tier for it doesn't cost anymore and gives us flexibility (like if we later decide to switch to pre-paid hotel bookings that are non-refundable).

Anyway, I wanted to point this out, for I don't think it is obvious at first.

In answer to the OP's question - we always insure our cruise vacations, but not for cancel for any reason (if we decide to book, we are going). We purchase for two reasons; medical/evac in foreign countries/sea and to cover for family emergencies that might require us to cancel or leave the trip early. Cost for us is ~3.5%. which is quite small for the piece of mind.