Jersey42

I believe all of the Allianz plans and the Travel Guard plan is available in NY, although some of the terms and conditions may be different for NY residents. Most annual plans exclude NY and WA residents. Some have other state exclusions as well. That said, I always caution people about the annual comprehensive travel insurance policies. Be sure to read the policy details. Unless you already have good medical insurance that covers you outside of the USA pay particular attention to: Maximum annual and maximum per trip medical coverage Pre existing condition coverage. Definition, lookback period and waivers. Also, what coverages (medical, cancelation interruption etc.) have pre-existing condition exclusions. Primary or secondary medical coverage. There are holes in all of the annual policies. Unless none of the critical holes affect you, be aware of the risks. The one annual plan I like is GeoBlue Trekker. It is primarily medical and medical evacuation with no trip cancelation/interruption coverage. But it is excellent for what it covers. Unfortunately, as you probably know, it is not available in NY.

In addition to GeoBlue Trekker, we have one of the Chase Sapphire cards that provides travel insurance. While it is a little more restrictive than comprehensive travel insurance, it saves a lot of insurance premiums. The biggest downside for us with the Chase card is it has a 60 day lookback on pre-existing conditions for both travelers and non-traveling family members. Most of the Chase coverage (including trip cancellation) excludes any reasons due to a pre-existing condition. Most of the time we purchase no other insurance as we often take relative inexpensive last-minute cruises where we can drive to the port. If the Chase card did not cover us, it would not be the worst thing. Occasionally we purchase a trip specific travel insurance policy. This is usually for more expensive trips when we know we have a pre-existing condition (such as a medication change) in the 60 days before making a trip deposit.

TO UPDATE THIS LIST: DO NOT push the "Quote" button. It creates a copy that the next person cannot properly update. DO select and copy ALL of the text (including the instructions and the list) up to COPY TO THIS LINE . . . from the most up-to-date list (the most recent reply with the list).  Go to the bottom of the latest post, to the "Reply to this Topic..." box to create a new post. Paste your copied text into that box. Make your modifications to the list. Add change notes at the bottom. Click the "Submit Reply" button just below the list you are modifying. Confirm that everything is correct! You can edit for up to 20 minutes. SHIP CAPTAIN CRUISE DIRECTOR ENTERTAINMENT DIRECTOR DIR, RESTAURANT OP's Caribbean Princess Steve Holland Kristoff Greyling Madison Adams George Drugan Coral Princess Diego Perra Kevin Tugwell Joachim Rothe Crown Princess Vincenzo Lembo Olivia Guthrie Kelvin Joy ? Diamond Princess Stephano Ravera Aaron Hawkins Duke Christopher Discovery Princess Tim Stringer Marcus Prince Juanta Frenchie Desbuquois Emerald Princess Christopher Lye Steven Campbell Martyn Moss Rui Manoele Enchanted Princess Nick Nash Aaron Hawkins Daniel Falconer Silvio Zampieri Grand Princess Michele Bartolomei Aaron McCarthy Callie Smit Paul Ciobanu Island Princess Andi Sanders Daniele Rosafio (until Sept 11) Majestic Princess Michele Tuvo Armando Merin Ben Powney Neville Saldanha Regal Princess Aldo Traverso Dan France Neil Rose Nicola Furlan Royal Princess Craig Street Natalie Costa Ruth Sandell Claudio Giuliani Ruby Princess Stephen Lewis Michael Reitano Bernie Fuentes Jacques Ghennai Sapphire Princess Not In Service Not In Service Not In Service Not In Service Sky Princess Marco Fortezze Paul Chandler-Burns Matt Thompson Francesco Clorfito <COPY TO THIS LINE SO THERE IS SPACE TO TYPE CHANGE NOTES AFTER THE CHART> Martyn Moss - ED on Emerald

Thanks to @BlerkOne who is currently on the Emerald Princess.

Thanks @BlerkOneOn most ships there is a similar screen off of the piazza on the starboard side on deck 6 or 7. This one is a month old.

Chrome on windows.

Is this still accurate? SHIP CAPTAIN CRUISE DIRECTOR ENTERTAINMENT DIRECTOR DIR, RESTAURANT OP's Emerald Princess Christopher Lye Steven Campbell Michael Kujawsky Rui Manoele

Please provide any updates when you get a chance. SHIP CAPTAIN CRUISE DIRECTOR ENTERTAINMENT DIRECTOR DIR, RESTAURANT OP's Crown Princess Vincenzo Lembo Olivia Guthrie Kelvin Joy ????

I totally agree that it is an excellent plan and the best one that I have seen for those that qualify. Once you reach 70, the medical coverage is 1/5 or 1/10 of what you get if you are under age 70. So the value is better if you are under 70. That said, $100K of coverage (ages 70 and above) should be more than adequate for any trip.

From GeoBlue: "The GeoBlue Trekker plans are secondary insurance. However, GeoBlue will process and pay overseas claims as a primary payor and reserves the right, where applicable, to contact your primary insurance company to coordinate benefits." While GeoBlue could contact your primary plan for coordination of benefits, Steve at TripInsuranceStore (highly recommended) confirmed to me recently that he has never seen this happen with any of his customers. He has never given me bad information, and I trust his advice. We have had only one claim and they did not go back to the primary insurance. Others, including a frequent poster with a large medical claim have had the same experience.

In this case, if you have a medical claim you must first file with your Medicare Advantage plan. If it does not pay everything, then you can file with Celebrity. Celebrity's plan pays a maximum of $25K for medical. If your MA plan offers some foreign travel coverage with an out-of-pocket maximum of less than $25K, a GeoBlue plan would not have provided you with any significant benefit.

Yes, you are correct on both accounts. @Hlitner's advice is all spot on. I will add the following for a medical claim: If you have GeoBlue, Medicare Advantage and Celebrity Cruise Care you file with GeoBlue and they will take care of all (covered) expenses - less the deductible if applicable. Celebrity is secondary coverage, so the best you could reasonably expect from them is the GeoBlue deductible. I guess if GeoBlue denies coverage for a portion of the claim or they pay a reduced amount, you could file with Celebrity for the balance. But I would not expect anything more than the deductible. Medicare Advantage (MA) plans are all different. I assume if you are purchasing a GeoBlue plan, your MA plan does not give you complete or good foreign travel coverage. So you will probably never need to file anything with them. From GeoBlue: "The GeoBlue Trekker plans are secondary insurance. However, GeoBlue will process and pay overseas claims as a primary payor and reserves the right, where applicable, to contact your primary insurance company to coordinate benefits." While GoBlue could contact your MA plan for coordination of benefits, Steve at TripInsuranceStore (highly recommended) confirmed recently that he has never seen this happen with any of his customers.

Try the latest chart. The formatting changes I made should show the full table on an iPad or iPhone. On a phone in portrait mode, some of the long words may break in the middle, but it should still be readable. At least the last column should no longer be chopped off. YMMV, but it worked for me when I tested on Chrome and Safari on both an iPhone and an iPad.

What makes you think they really mean 12:00 PM when they use 12:00 AM in multiple places? My thought was HAL might be trying to make it easier for people to meet the 72 hour requirement. This would make it equivalent to the three day requirement that HAL currently requires (until Sept 5) in the US. Obviously no one can be boarding at anywhere close to midnight, so Canadian officials might have a problem with HAL declaring an impossible "scheduled boarding time" if it is to circumvent the 72 hour rule. Do you know who checks the COVID test results? Is it HAL employees like in the US, or is it Canadian officials? Have you heard any rumors (or facts) that Canada might eliminate the negative COVID test requirement like they have in the US and most other countries? For other reasons, we may end up changing our flight to Canada from Wed afternoon to Thursday, so non of this may matter for us.

Does anyone know how the 72 hour rule for PCR test works - i.e. what is considered "your scheduled boarding time" and how is it monitored? Here is why I ask. We have a cruise that departs Quebec City at 4:00 PM on a Sunday. We board some time on Saturday for an overnight stay. No boarding times have been assigned yet, but the Holland America website states check-in starts at 12:00 AM (midnight) on Saturday. If I can use Saturday at 12:00 AM for my 72 hour window, I can get tested at home before I fly to Canada. If I have to use a more realistic time of 12:30 PM (only a guess), then I need to find a way to tested after I arrive in Canada.

TO UPDATE THIS LIST: DO NOT push the "Quote" button. It creates a copy that the next person cannot properly update. DO select and copy ALL of the text (including the instructions and the list) up to COPY TO THIS LINE . . . from the most up-to-date list (the most recent reply with the list).  Go to the bottom of the latest post, to the "Reply to this Topic..." box to create a new post. Paste your copied text into that box. Make your modifications to the list. Add change notes at the bottom. Click the "Submit Reply" button just below the list you are modifying. Confirm that everything is correct! You can edit for up to 20 minutes. SHIP CAPTAIN CRUISE DIRECTOR ENTERTAINMENT DIRECTOR DIR, RESTAURANT OP's Caribbean Princess Steve Holland Kristoff Greyling Madison Adams George Drugan Coral Princess Diego Perra Kevin Tugwell Joachim Rothe Crown Princess Vincenzo Lembo Olivia Guthrie Kelvin Joy Mariusz Czemarmazowicz Diamond Princess Stephano Ravera Aaron Hawkins Duke Christopher Discovery Princess Tim Stringer Marcus Prince Juanta Frenchie Desbuquois Emerald Princess Christopher Lye Steven Campbell Michael Kujawsky Rui Manoele Enchanted Princess Nick Nash Aaron Hawkins Daniel Falconer Silvio Zampieri Grand Princess Michele Bartolomei Aaron McCarthy Callie Smit Paul Ciobanu Island Princess Andi Sanders Daniele Rosafio (until Sept 11) Majestic Princess Michele Tuvo Armando Merin Ben Powney Neville Saldanha Regal Princess Aldo Traverso Dan France Neil Rose Nicola Furlan Royal Princess Craig Street Natalie Costa Ruth Sandell Claudio Giuliani Ruby Princess Stephen Lewis Michael Reitano Bernie Fuentes Jacques Ghennai Sapphire Princess Not In Service Not In Service Not In Service Not In Service Sky Princess Marco Fortezze Paul Chandler-Burns Matt Thompson Francesco Clorfito <COPY TO THIS LINE SO THERE IS SPACE TO TYPE CHANGE NOTES AFTER THE CHART> Moved Madison Adams from Coral to Caribbean as per live thread. Fixed spelling of DRO on Crown. Cleaned up formatting. Other minor cosmetic fixes.

I continue to buy GeoBlue Trekker for the following reasons: The possibility of a potentially large medical bill is my primary reason for purchasing insurance. It is nice to have insurance for a sore throat or some bumps and bruises. But I don't want to face a large unreimbursed bill. $20K (per trip) of coverage would not interest me unless I had other good medical coverage. I want insurance that pays primary (Allianz is secondary). My primary medical insurance offers some foreign emergency travel coverage, but it has a $50K lifetime maximum, so I need primary to avoid using up the lifetime max. Plus, the claims process is simplerwith primary. Other reasons I like GeoBlue, but Allianz would be ok: I want it to cover pre-existing conditions - just in case. Both GeoBlue and Allianz do this, although Allianz does have a very minor time constraint. I want medical evacuation coverage. GeoBlue provides much more, but for my typical trips, Allianz's coverage is probably adequate. Yes the GeoBlue premiums have gone up a little and the small annual deductible has changed slightly, but in the whole scheme of things it is still a great value - especially for people under age 70.

Are you a Massachusetts resident? I believe that is the only place you can get a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policy that works that way. Everywhere else has a $250 deductible and then an 80%/20% cost share with a lifetime maximum of $50K. Wisconsin and Minnesota also have some different rules, but neither cover foreign emergency travel like Massachusetts. Not if you are a NY, CA or NV resident. You may have a United Healthcare/AARP Medicare Supplement but it follows federal regulations. The three states I mentioned are the only ones with state specific laws. Massachusetts is the only one that offers plans that fully cover foreign emergency travel with no deducible, cost share or lifetime limit.

Let's ignore the philosophical question of tipping. There clearly are cultural differences and no one is correct, it's just a difference in how things are done in different countries. Based on some of your wording I just want to be sure you understand how things will work onboard. This is all based on post 4 that says the Princess Plus fare is part of your holiday package. All of your drinks up to $12 are included (maximum of 15 alcoholic drinks per day). No additional 18% gratuity will be added to each drink. Most drinks are $12 or less. Wi-fi is included. It may or may not work well, but you will not see a charge for it. You will not see any charge for tips/gratuity/crew appreciation. This includes tips for your room steward, waiters or anyone else. You are not expected to add any tips onboard. That said guest services will not refund you any portion of your cruise fare including amounts going to the crew. So you may not agree how your cruise fare is being allocated, but I wanted to be sure you realize that you will not be paying any any extra for the above items (including tips) once you get onboard. By the way, on the land portion of your trip if you go to any restaurants that are not included in your package, you are expected to leave an 18-20% tip for your server.

Even on lines that permit extension cords, someone knowingly or unknowingly tries to bring a surge protector onboard. If you keep your eyes and ears open you will usually find one of the offenders complaining 😁

From a recent Ruby post. All drinks that were posted had a $12 price. About eight drinks from the previously posted menu were not on the list. • Gin & Tonic Ultima Hendrick’s Gin, lime wheel, lemon peel, juniper & tonic 12.00 • Azul Blanco Silver Tequila, lime, Blue Curacao, pineapple, elderflower foam 12.00 • Grappa Peach Grappa, lemon, honey, Peach Schnapps, Champagne 12.00 • Bangkok Mule Whiskey, basil, lemongrass & ginger syrup, ginger beer 12.00 • Apples Delight Calvados, fresh lemon juice, honey syrup, St. Germain, apples, Port 12.00 • Sandia en Fuego Don Julio Reposado Tequila, serrano pepper, watermelon, lime, agave 12.00 • The Great Pumpkin Bacardi 8, egg white, pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon 12.00 • Vanilla Sky Vanilla Vodka, pineapple, Orjeat syrup, Orange Curacao, lime 12.00 • The Cartagena Cool Appleton Rum, Cinnamon, orange and chocolate bitters, cinnamon syrup and orange peel 12.00 • Coco Café Rum, espresso, coconut cream, kosher salt garnish, grated nutmeg & chocolate 12.00 • The Butterfly Gin, lemon juice, Cointreau, simple syrup 12.00

Who knows whether this was one mushroom (by mistake) or if it was actually a mushroom at all. There is too much sauce covering the object in the video to tell if is a mushroom or a snail. We got real escargot on the Sky in February and on the Caribbean in July. The menu in the video indicates mushrooms are part of the preparation with garlic butter. That is the same description we have seen before. So my take is you should get real escargot with small bits of mushrooms in the garlic herb butter. Enjoy. Here is an old menu. Sorry for the quality:

This one takes a different approach from all of the others I have looked it. In certain circumstances it could be a good policy and in others, there are better options. Here is why. This policy (Travel Insured Annual Multi-Trip Protector) offers a fairly low annual premium for base benefits such as medical, evacuation, delay, baggage and missed tours and connections. Then you can optionally insure each trip for benefits such as cancellation and interruption. The medical is decent at $100k per trip and it pays primary. It does have a waiver of the pre-existing conditions clause but it is not clear if you must purchase the optional benefits for each trip to get the waiver. The biggest downside is the cost if you want to insure all of your trips. Premiums vary by trip and your age but I tried purchasing the optional trip specific coverage for several hypothetical trips. In most cases the premium was slightly higher than what it would have cost me to purchase a good trip specific plan. So over the cost of a year I would pay the annual premium plus the cost for each trip. I could just purchase a plan for each trip with better medical and evac coverage and save some money. Each person needs to do the comparison to see how the costs work for their situation. When might this policy be a good option: You are positive you do not need pre-existing conditions coverage OR you get something in writing that states the pre-existing conditions exclusion is waived for the entire year if you purchase the policy within 21 days of making the initial deposit on your first trip. AND You want the base coverage and will only purchase the trip cancelation/interruption coverage for some of the trips. (in this case the costs may make sense) Like with all travel insurance, the devil is in the details. It is always better to understand them before you have to make a claim. We have chosen to get an annual GeoBlue-Trekker medical and evacuation policy. Then we rely on our Chase card or self insure for some trips. For others (more expensive and pre-existing conditions might be an issue) we purchase a trip specific policy.

We are still considering one in November but we have decided to wait and see what happens. The decision was probably easier for us than most. There are lots of suitable cabins available. No flights would be involved. Plus, there are a number of other November cruises that have plenty of availability. We will decide in September after the Volendam is expected to resume sailing.

I don't think I can answer all of your questions, but here are some thoughts that might help with some of them. All cruise line insurance that I am aware of (including Celebrity's) pays medical claims as secondary, so you have to file with other insurance first before and get the explanation of benefits before you can file with the cruise line insurance carrier. If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, it provides $2,500 of medical coverage, but it is also secondary coverage so that won't help you. If you have the Preferred card, they do not cover any medical expenses, so no help there either. All Medicare Supplement plans (like your United Healthcare plan F) that cover foreign emergency travel work the same way. There is a $250 annual deductible, then they pay 80% of covered charges up to a $50K lifetime maximum. So assuming this is your first claim this year and the claim was for exactly $1000 of covered expenses, UHC should pay $600 - i.e. 80% of ($1000 - $250). AON should pay the remaining $400. What I do not know is your process for filing the initial claim. Is it like a claim in the US where you first file with Medicare and then UHC takes it after they receive the Medicare denial? Or can you directly file with UHC, because they know Medicare will deny it? I assume you have talked with UHC and they told you how to do it. Only UHC can then tell you how long they take to process these claims, but if I read your response correctly it sounds like they should be getting to yours shortly. Too long in my opinion, but not surprising today. Then you will have to wait perhaps another 6-8+ weeks after filing with AON. But eventually you should get paid. In the future you might want to look at third party travel insurance that pays medical claims as primary. Then you won't have to file with Medicare or UHC, and you won't use up any more of your $50K lifetime maximum.