Robjame

Riviera:

I got confused with tunnel balconies, partial partitions and overhanging PH.

Is 7009 a goodie or not?

Thanks once again for your expert help.

2 hours ago, DirtyDawg said:

 

Already booked an AI with lots of social distancing for Christmas 2021. Summer of 2022 will likely be a cross Canada adventure.  I'll get back to vacationing  in a cruise ship sardine can after that.

Not having the ability to foresee the path of this pandemic for the next 18 months, we have booked multiple, fully-refundable cruises as we wait for the future to unfold. We love cruising.

29 minutes ago, MaddyandMax said:

We know Royal has announced they consider mixed doses fully vaccinated but I'd love to hear if anyone who is mixed vaccinated has actually traveled and had no problems.

The best suggestion I have seen is to print your watermarked proof of vaccine from the Ontario website. Print only the second vaccine sheet which says you have two vaccines and that the second one is Moderna. This would satisfy requirements as it is official and accesses your information so is more difficult to counterfeit.

Some questions about booking for La Reserve:

Paying for this now, before we are certain the cruise will go, seems foolish. If you add a date must it be paid for at this time or can it sit in your cart as a reservation?

What are the timings for cancellations and refunds?

There seems to be a lot of dates - do these tend to fill up quickly or can they be booked on the ship? Seems to me I recall the sommeliers asking for participants.

1 hour ago, Laszlo said:

I do think uploading photos of passengers is a smart thing to do.

...as long as you do not age too much in the next 18 months...😜

Regarding insurance, we are covered with the health part while on the cruise but I have been having difficulty finding a company that specifically covers your investment from final payment to cruise time.
 

If the medical problem is ours and is unexpected and there have been no Rx changes, etc we can find coverage.

However we have been told that the pandemic is not a valid reason for cancellation as this is treated as a pre-existing condition (just like personal medical). We would have known about it as it was in effect at the time of booking. (The example one insurer gave was if your brother is terminal and dies, this is not accepted for reason for cancellation). If the Canadian advisory is not to travel, then insurance is in question. 
The problem we see is if the US is open for cruising and Canada is closed or closes again. Asked our TA if the cruise line would refund in that case (Oceania) and she did not know but was going to ask the question.
My experience with insurance companies is you have to ask the specific question and even then, if it is not in writing ….

Regarding insurance, we are covered with the health part while on the cruise but I have been having difficulty finding a company that specifically covers your investment from final payment to cruise time.
 

If the medical problem is ours and is unexpected and there have been no Rx changes, etc we can find coverage.

However we have been told that the pandemic is not a valid reason for cancellation as this is treated as a pre-existing condition (just like personal medical). We would have known about it as it was in effect at the time of booking. (The example one insurer gave was if your brother is terminal and dies, this is not accepted for reason for cancellation). If the Canadian advisory is not to travel, then insurance is in question. 
The problem we see is if the US is open for cruising and Canada is closed or closes again. Asked our TA if the cruise line would refund in that case (Oceania) and she did not know but was going to ask the question.
My experience with insurance companies is you have to ask the specific question and even then, if it is not in writing ….

Question of how CDC will deal with cruisers returning to Miami, specifically b2b. There is a YouTube vlog of a couple who were taken out of line as they had been “out of the country” on another cruise. They reported that b2b cruisers were also targeted. They were required to wait while another COVID test was done. The solution might be not to disembark between legs of a b2b.

How will Canada (Ontario) handle us on return from Miami when we have been in other countries as well as the US? Quarantine? So many unknowns.

4 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

Yesterday I did check in for two cruises. One was our Oceania cruise in January 2022 the other is our NCL cruise in January 2023

Wow. That is so strange that NCL would ask for this 18 months out. We do not know what the protocols will be by 2023 and the requirement of a COVID booster or a different vaccine for variants are definite possibilities.

20 minutes ago, Harters said:

Here in Europe, we're experiencing a significant uptick in the infection rate. It is no surprise,  therefore,  that countries are (re)introducing controls.

Interesting as a Cruisecritic email just announced that Cunard had cancelled its July sailings. 

Cliff - thank you for that information! It is very surprising as italy (EU) is open for tourists this summer. Italy has been doing quite well lately with minimal COVID deaths. The effect on their tourist euro will be terrible if these visitors cannot arrange private tours - Rome, Vatican etc. Or maybe it is only cruise ships where the digital green certificate is not enforced. Wonder what  Spain is doing.

Many  Caribbean islands are already allowing private tours.

I would appreciate it if you could keep us informed to any changes as I have a cruise to Italy later than yours.

This is a very interesting thread and caused me to check on the effect of the July 1 price increase on our booked cruises.

The brochure fare for our 10 day Miami - Miami cruise in March has gone down $300 pp. Yet when you factor in the applicable early booking discounts and the decreased air allowance, the net effect is actually an increase of $50 pp. Nice bit of marketing when a cheaper price can actually be worse.

4 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Regarding the OP's post I would be more concerned about my own government then O...if I lived in Canada.  No telling what restrictions your PM will impose.  As to dealing with "O" I was not particularly happy making a final payment on a Dec cruise that may not happen, but that is the way of the new Covid world.  If "O" were to cancel our cruise I would simply request a refund. 

I think this gets to the heart of the matter. It is possible that travel restrictions might be still in effect at the time of final payment for Canadians or be reimposed if the pandemic were to worsen. Both would negate any insurance for us but might not affect our American friends. Oceania could still be a go. That is an answer for our TA to solve.

Our tolerance for the COVID risk is quite high. However, our ability and desire to accept a loss of $30 000 or a large portion of this, are less so. There are very few perks offered by our government for the fully vaccinated. The ‘universal good” subjugates individual rights and freedoms. Even the issuing of a COVID passport is seen as “divisive”. Universal healthcare does present some unique problems where political decisions can affect what risks insurance carriers are prepared to underwrite.

Thanks for hearing me out on what may be a Canadian problem not of interest or concern.

Thanks Flatbush Flyer - I really appreciate your expertise on these topics.

50 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

 

Basically, unless the use of terminology for insurance is really different in Canada (highly unlikely), it appears that you are confusing the terms “PEC” (personal health) and “exclusion” (policy limitation).

It would not be the first time I have confused things… lol

i only want insurance to protect my investment prior to the cruise,  not for health insurance during the cruise. That I have through extended (supplemental) health benefit insurance.

All I can tell you is that after 2 long telephone conversations the worsening of the pandemic is not a valid reason for cancelling:

AON - Oceania - discretion of the cruise operator as it is not a health related reason for cancellation

mcLennan Group - CARP - the pandemic is a pre-existing condition that I should be aware of and as such the risk is mine (example given was if brother is terminal and dies that is not valid to cancel trip as I was aware of the situation)

These are the risks, gambles, situations that I have to weigh and I still have time to see how things shake out.

‘Thanks for your input.

19 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Who is the CARP insurance underwritten by?

McLennan Group

15 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

22 minutes ago, Robjame said:

 

PECs as seen by insurers refer to your personal medical situation during the lookback period prior to the date you purchase the policy. It has nothing to do with Covid restrictions in effect or anticipated

I thought so too, until I phoned CARP (Canada’s AARP) and our extended health insurance provider. Their interpretation is that the condition (pandemic) existed at the time we booked so we were gambling that the situation would improve. If it didn’t then the risk is ours.

7 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Life is a gamble. If you want to go in the cruise: pay up. If you feel more comfortable staying at home hunkering: cancel. Easy Peasy. 
 

We’re departing for a cruise in Europe on Saturday. Certain Premium lines are sailing. Life is an adventure. Not everyone likes adventure. Do what makes you comfortable.

The gamble for us would be financial - wish we could say that money is no object but we save to take the occasional cruise. If the world pandemic situation were to worsen between final payment and cruise ….

We could not travel if it were against the advice of our country as that would void our health insurance - yet this would not be a valid reason as far as travel insurance is concerned as they treat this as a pre-existing condition in effect at the time we booked.

We are in the Oceanic age demographic so travelling now healthwise is less of a personal gamble.

“You haven’t said which cruise(s) in January-April of 2022 are your concern.”

We are presently booked in Miami - Miami - Caribbean early March (final payment due December)

and

Miami - Venice - March - April (payment due First of October

Lots of factors to consider before payment but we have been seriously considering cancelling as we have a similar itinerary and timing booked for 2023. 
 

Final payment for longer cruises is 181 days out and $350 penalty pp is 30 days before that.

Voyages January - April 2022, cancel or pay? Insurance is about 10% the cost of the voyage and companies in Canada exclude covid-related reasons are excluded, whether personal or industry-wide or country- or world-wide. When I asked the Oceania endorsed Insurance company they said for Covid reasons or cancellations, I would deal with Oceania re. refunds, cruise credit.

Is a future change of Oceania's stated vaccination policy, a valid reason to demand a refund?

Help. What do you do?

This link should take you to the proper roll call for your cruise:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2773586-atlantic-amber-gems-march-8-2022/page/2/

On 6/20/2021 at 2:18 PM, LHT28 said:

The big question is how much ?

 I seem to recall going from the USA to Europe for  a TA  the credit was not much  

I do not have any of my old invoices  to compare

 
‘Thanks for the advice to do the math for all these parts. We were able to roll out the YYZ - MIA portion of the air for a credit of $400 pp (CAD). 
We were able to book a fully flexible (refund or air credit or reschedule) business class ticket with AA, which was on their website for less than the equivalent economy ticket.

We want to arrive the day before the cruise. When we factor in  that we no longer have to pay the Oceania air deviation fee of $225 pp (CAD), it was a no brainer. A total plus of $1250 CAD which will more than pay for the business air tickets and our hotel.

Here is a copy of the guest statement from Oceania that shows the requirement

I think it may be some confusion on the statement - Oceania requires a proof of vaccine two weeks prior to the cruise - - it is the vaccine that has to be completed 2 weeks before, not the submission, as two weeks is the length of time it takes for a person to reach full immunity.
 

Did the deviation go up recently? It's been $175 pp for a long time. 

The price in Canadian dollars.😣