RomanyUY

On 1/3/2024 at 8:22 PM, kwokpot said:

You should do that for your phone and any other electronics. 

After considering the options, I'm going to use some of the "weatherproof" mailing labels I've had for a couple of decades. I put one on the thermal bottle to see how it lasts (or doesn't) after several uses between now and the 20th.

On 12/3/2023 at 10:37 PM, scanditaly said:

Not only do I bring my water and morning coffee "contigo" bottles, I label them with my current cabin number, and even ship name and date.  I have lost them a few times on ship and off, and somehow they get back to me..............So, I feel a bit like an elementary school child, but if works for me.

I was thinking about labeling my trusty Camelbak thermal bottle with my cabin number. Sounds like a plan. Thanks!

On 12/30/2023 at 5:39 PM, Desert Steve said:

For buffet I use the seat to balance dishes albeit with a hand to steady them. But the seat bears the weight of the dish.

My late husband used his rollator that way. It was also helpful for me as I didn't have to carry around two plates.

We also booked wheelchair accessible cabins. Same price but they sell out early.

For getting on and off the ship, they put him in a wheelchair and I brought the rollator down.

When he first got the rollator, it took a few months to figure out what worked best for him.

Good luck!

UPDATE: I finally got a phone number to call (it's the emergency travel department) and the nice lady said "we do this all the time". Interestingly, they wanted the documents as JPEG or TIFF files, not PDF. I found an online app that converts things. Within minutes I got a Burial At Sea Request receipt with my name, cruise, cabin, etc. and the scheduled date for the tossing of the container.

Instructions are:

Ashes must be in an approved scattering or biodegradable urn and the entire urn must be tossed. A certificate proving the urn is biodegradable may also be required. 

Guest will need to provide the death certificate and cremation certificate.

Upon boarding, contact the Front Desk to set up a time and place for the this request.

Right - approved by whom? Do certificates from other countries need to be officially translated? Apostilled? So many questions and not much time.

On 2/27/2023 at 8:09 PM, 81Zoomie said:

I would just bring whatever documentation comes with the tubes.  The cremation papers should suffice.  All of our paperwork was collected and reviewed once on board.

Documentation with the tubes? I've got the Amazon page.
Cremation papers? I've got what looks like a copy of the cremation work order - in Spanish. It's on a form from the government of Montevideo (Uruguay), Departamento de Acondicionamiento Urbano, Servicio Funebre y Necropolis (Department of Urban Conditioning, Funeral Service and Necropolis). I'm trying to get a Certificate of Cremation and have it translated into English.
The death certificate was emailed to me - it's got a QR code and a bar code. That counts as "certified" here. Thankfully, I also have the Consular Report from the US Embassy.

I run into these issues often. The US wants some standard form that pretty much doesn't exist in Uruguay. Or vice versa.

On 6/24/2022 at 11:37 AM, OtherFigment said:

I had called the CC number and was told to email  emergencytravelteam@celebritycruises.com. i did get an email back after a couple weeks indicating it was possible. I had a follow up question that I never heard back on though, so definitely not the best communication.

I emailed them back on Feb 1 (it's now Feb 27) and haven't heard back from them. I attached copies of the paperwork I have and asked if I needed anything else. I'm in Uruguay so there is sometimes a communication issue with respect to what Party A calls something and what Party B is expecting. I ordered bamboo "scattering tubes" from Amazon which are supposed to be TSA friendly and biodegradable. I would have no idea how to get a Certificate for the tubes. I have cremation paperwork but I wouldn't call it a "certificate". The cruise is in May.

On 7/16/2021 at 8:06 PM, Fouremco said:

At one point I read a statement that Celebrity would accept any vaccination approved by a passenger's country of residence. I wish I had bookmarked it, although Celebrity may well have changed its policy.

First question I asked when cruise lines started planning to require vaccines. My Sinovac shot wasn't FDA authorized. I was told that it would be okay. Now that WHO has authorized it I'm breathing a bit easier.

On 7/28/2021 at 10:39 PM, mom says said:

Well here's a new wrinkle.  😞 According to a poster on the Princess board, Royal Caribbean has modified it's policy on vaccination. Now, if you have received either of the mRNA vaccines, if the second dose wasn't received within 6 weeks of the first, they will consider you unvaccinated. How many Canadians managed to get their second shot that soon? Not many I'll bet. I'm going to be watching closely to see if Celebrity adopts the same policy.

Thanks for posting this wrinkle. Sigh.

RCCL should read this as the six weeks is only a CDC guideline. The landscape keeps changing.

CDC saying the following (emphasis mine):
 

Interval between mRNA doses

The second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines should be administered as close to the recommended interval as possible, but not earlier than recommended (i.e., 3 weeks [Pfizer-BioNTech] or 1 month [Moderna]). However, individuals who receive the second dose up to 4 days before or at any time after the recommended date can be considered fully vaccinated.
 

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/clinical-considerations/covid-19-vaccines-us.html#Interchangeability

This is from Australia:
https://theconversation.com/what-if-i-cant-get-in-for-my-second-pfizer-dose-and-the-gap-is-longer-than-3-weeks-162857

My husband got two Pfizer shots seven weeks apart. One more thing for me to follow. All I need is a cruise that actually sails. 

On 7/16/2021 at 6:08 PM, MR_T said:

just seen this on the FB cruise critic page… 😱 no mixed vaccines allowed for US departures or arrivals… via cruise ships. 
 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/6302/ 

 

so far celebrity hasn’t announced anything but a few other lines have confirmed this. 

Just when it looked like I could actually sail....

I live in Uruguay and got two doses of Sinovac. Now the government is offering a dose of Pfizer as a booster shot and I've signed up for that. My husband (being over 70) has had two doses of Pfizer. Our digital certificates are great but some countries require them to be translated at least into English.

Since AstraZeneca is a two dose vaccine, I can sort of understand the issue - you basically haven't completed the two doses if you get something else. But I've done my two doses. More questions without answers beyond "you should be fine".

On 5/10/2021 at 3:21 PM, katisdale said:

Not only do you need to bring your own supplies for the ship you also cannot depend on port pharmacies having the size you need. I don't know about the rules in Uruguay but in the US you can carry a bag with ONLY medical supplies (diapers, medicines, c-pap, wheelchair repair kit, etc) and not be charged by the airline for transport.

No one has charged us for his rollator so we'll be okay. Besides, his regular "carry on" can fit inside the bag I have in mind. Mine is full of electronics and cameras. 

On 7/21/2021 at 1:47 PM, cb at sea said:

You also may want to speak with his doctor....some dementia patients don't do well outside of their "home" environment....they tend to get confused easily.

He's not that far gone, yet. He's been cruising before and is looking forward to doing it again. I was hoping to do the cruises we had booked but COVID changed all our plans. We'll see how he is later this year.

On 5/14/2021 at 4:57 AM, Bloodgem said:

 

We take our own bin/trash bags...

 

We also take Incontinence Bed Pads Disposable Absorbing Sheets with us to try to protect the skin of my DS and the bed.

 

 

Thanks for the tips. We will be bringing our own small trash bags and I'll need to scope out bed pads. The problem is DH moves around a LOT at night and whatever I use as a pad never stays put. I'm using a hospital sheet as part of the arrangement. I'll need to purchase a couple more. I don't think anything disposable will be big enough to stay put unless it's wrapped in something larger.

On 5/31/2021 at 8:47 PM, urcnpam said:

To help with space, you may want to look at belted undergarments and see if they are available in your country.  They are much smaller than bulky diapers, but cover front and back well.  My husband is paraplegic and wears these daily.  He will wear a diaper over it when we are flying, just for added protection.

Thanks for the suggestion. The situation changes from week to week so I'm just trying to work on my contingency plans.

On 6/12/2021 at 5:15 PM, Babr said:

With secondary coverage, you’ll have to file with your standard insurance first. The secondary will cover out-of-pocket or deductible costs left over. I don’t know how it works with yet another policy in addition to those two.

 

If you are thinking about getting trip insurance, which I take to mean a comprehensive plan that covers both medical and cancellation, just because of air fare consider that it may be difficult to collect on that. Most airlines issue vouchers for cancelled air, and the insurance company considers it to be compensation. No claim.

One thing I learned about vouchers that shocked me.

You would THINK that when they say "good for one year" it means one year from the date of cancellation. Nope. One year from the date that you BOOKED the tickets.

On 7/9/2021 at 8:35 PM, Hlitner said:

I was just reading back through this thread and noticed (for the first time) that you show Uruguay as your location.  If that is your legal residence I would assume it creates further issues when it comes to travel insurance.  So while I agree with Gail and Marty regarding GeoBlue and Medjetassist (if you want the best evacuation insurance) I think that would depend on you having a legal USA address.

 

Hank 

That has been the problem. Once they find out we live in Uruguay they have nothing for us.

I DID have a chat with InsureMyTrip the other day and was told that there were medical only plans to cover us:
1. You can only purchase them within six months of the trip - which is why nothing comes up when I search for coverage for next year.
2. They will cover up to $50K but you can buy $100K plans too.

So at least we have that we can rely upon. Celebrity allows us to cancel without penalty up to 48 hours before, so that's good. We have a gazillion frequent flyer miles with American that we will use for the trip so I'm not worried about flight cancellations.

I think we'll be okay this time.

 

13 hours ago, drakes2 said:

@Fouremcois there any news on Canadians who received Astrazeneca as their vaccines not being allowed into the US? I have both doses but heard some venues don't recognize that particular vaccine. Don't want to book and be turned away.

We're in Uruguay and I got Sinovac so I have the same question.

As far as I know, the current requirement allows for any vaccine approved by the US FDA, European EMA (which includes AstraZeneca) or WHO (which includes Sinovac).

These things change minute by minute though. By the time we get to cruise will they be up to some Omega Variant and have new rules on which vaccines are acceptable, which boosters you need?

I'm looking into annual plans as well but don't even know where to start. We are both over 65, US citizens living overseas. I dread trying to find enough insurance to cover us IN the US where we only have Medicare Part A (hospitalization).

I agree that $100K would be the minimum I would look for but we are sometimes unable to find any insurance for ANY price. I just want the medical coverage. If my $20K vacation goes belly up, we won't be bankrupt. Any uninsured medical bill may do that though.

Any suggestions? 

On 6/26/2021 at 12:51 PM, iamtrustworthy said:

Hi Gaye and Rich,

 

Do you have a mailing address in the USA?

 

Steve Dasseos

We have a PMB (Private Mail Box) with our mail forwarder. It is by no means a residential address.
 

Some have suggested that we use that but I worry that would make our "home country" the US and that's as far as they would take us if we had to be evacuated or something.

The obvious question - would it be legal to use that?

We are US citizens living in Uruguay. In the past we have had no problem getting travel insurance for trips to the US (or anywhere else) but one by one our then-current US based insurance company has changed their corporate policy and will not cover us for trips TO the US. Anywhere else in the world - no problem.

We've contacted some Uruguayan companies and they won't cover us either because we are US citizens going TO the US. They also seem to have trouble with the concept of free cancellation. They want us to buy insurance when we "book" the trip even if the trip is two years out, no plane tickets purchased yet, pre and post cruise plans not finalized, etc.

I'm trying to understand what is going on. How do we get covered when no one wants to cover us?

Thanks for any insight.

Gaye and Rich
Piriápolis, Uruguay

Specifically, I'm thinking about adult diapers, the pull up kind in particular. We've got a 14 day Celebrity cruise coming up in January with a lot of sea days, and port visit COVID protocols may or may not allow a pharmacy run to replenish. The way my DH is going, we would have to pack a separate zippered tote bag just for his diapers. I could probably cut down on the amount if I knew that such things were available onboard. Yes, I know it won't be cheap and I'm only planning on relying on ship's stores in case he uses more than our current estimate of two per day.

Any experience with this item?

Thanks in advance.

With a half dozen vaccines (so far) and all sorts of health systems in various nations with various official languages - what exactly will be required as proof of vaccination?

Iceland only accepts people who have gotten one of four vaccines, and the certificate must be in English or one of the Scandinavian languages - otherwise you need to have an official translation of that certificate.

As a US citizen living in Uruguay, I'm curious about what Celebrity will require this summer. I'm basically looking for a heads up on what we'll probably need when we go cruising in 2022. Our TA says it's currently only for 2021 and not 2022 (when we're booked) but I'm thinking it will be for 2022 as well.

Let's get through the first six months of the cruising restart first. Hoping for smooth sailing.

 

On 3/4/2021 at 5:44 PM, Dizzney9915 said:

lol. we can wave to them as our ship pulls away 

This includes the ones calling for boycotts of cruise lines that [ahem] violate their freedom of something or other, not sure what.

I won't miss them.

On 3/11/2020 at 8:05 PM, Fouremco said:

Annie, thanks for the catch, I inadvertently reversed genders. Still, the issue is the same, requiring men and not women to prove that they are healthy would never be acceptable.

 

This was my primary source: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30526-2/fulltext

One point that article brings up is that part of the gender difference may be due to smoking. Since the data is from China, and there is a significant gender difference with respect to smoker vs non-smokers in China, it makes sense to look at smoking more closely.

"This sex predisposition might be associated with the much higher smoking rate in men than in women in China (288 million men vs 12·6 million women were smokers in 2018)."

More details here:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(20)30117-X/fulltext

On 3/11/2020 at 1:56 PM, Fouremco said:

Fine. Just as long as CLIA ensures that it's members are prepared to provide anyone not getting a "go" note from their doctor with a 100% refund to their credit card, no FCC.

That's exactly what Norwegian is doing. I guess they don't understand what the "chronic" in chronic illness actually means.

"If you are 70 years of age and older, please bring the completed form with you as you will be required to present the form prior to embarkation. Those who do not present the form will be denied boarding and will be issued a future cruise certificate for the value of their cruise," Katty Byrd, vice president of guest services for Norwegian Cruise Line said in a copy of the email obtained by USA TODAY.

49 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

We will monitor the situation closely until we depart in early January.  We possibly would switch our hotel to San Antonio instead of Santiago and go there directly from the airport if necessary.

Exactly. Get those contingency plans scoped out.

Nearest airport to Santiago is Mendoza, Argentina. You can get there from Buenos Aires and there are private and public transportation options over the Andes to the Santiago area. That's contingency planning in the extreme.

From what I'm seeing, the only way to fly to Puerto Montt is through Santiago. Punta Arenas is having some unrest as well.