klfrodo

Written a letter? No

I have posted a question on his Facebook page. He responded the same day.

Headed on my second cruise - to Alaska for the first time! There are a lot of moving parts - flying from Detroit, layover in Toronto, landing in Vancouver. Spending a night in Vancouver before embarking. Lots of planning for independent tours and car rentals at all ports. A long day in Anchorage at the end of the cruise, with the flight home leaving at 11:57pm, a layover in Denver and finally arriving in Detroit at 3pm the next day.

Starting to get anxious about all of the planning and keeping it all together!

Sjm,

You mention that you are renting cars at ports. Everyone is free to choose what they do, but are there any particular reasons?

Just going from my experience traveling to and working at all of the port stops, I can tell you that you may find the expense and experience not worth the money or hassle. Cabs are cheaper, faster, and more friendly.

I remember that on one of my first trips, I rented a car. I drove all over the place site seeing. Turned in the car the next day,,,,,I had gone 12 miles. Hell, Juneau only has 50 miles of paved road.

Just sharing my experience

Kotzebue?! In April. Wow, that will be an adventure. That will officially make you one of a very few who has seen "real" Alaska.

Have fun. :)

I've had the pleasure to work in Bethel, Nome, Barrow, Fairbanks, and up and down all of SE Alaska. Even better, it's usually for just a couple of days, week max.

If I were to do an Alaska cruise, I might as well take my tools with me and get the company to pay for it. I've actually suggested it and was shot down. Even though it would save them about $3- $5K in airfare/hotels/meals/ and rental cars.

Flying up Sunday for work.

Seattle, Anchorage, Kotzbou (sp?), Anchorage, Juneau, Sitka, Juneau, Wrangell, Juneau, then back to Seattle.

Is H82SeaUGo back? Just registered under another login name? :eek:

horrible idea

RJ2002

Unless I'm reading it wrong, there seems to be some changes in the max limits.

I'm reading that the max limits are $5K per instance and a $10K max/annualy.

As you noted, the is no pre existing condition coverage, and I also noted that the Trip Delay kicks in after 12 hours.

I see some decent coverage, but not enough to deter me from continuing to purchase additional travel insurance. I would consider what coverage you are proded with this card as a nice supplimental coverage program.

Unless things have changed, it's not going to be a "crib". It's going to be more in the line of a pak-n-play.

Thanks. What travel insurance agency or agent did you use???

Jaddy

Shallwe is from the UK. Completly different set of laws and rules than what you're looking for being from the US.

Our daughter was 20, her hubby was 19 when they got married.

Got married on a Saturday, boarded the ship on Sunday.

Yes, proof of marriage documentation was required. No, it wasn't a big deal.

With the caveat that the Mrs. is taking her husbands last name after marriage,,, I'm hoping you booked the cruise and listed her under her maiden name? Makes life a lot easier with identifications until she can get back from the honeymoon, then start the name change process on all her documentation.

But they are biased;):D!

Too funny :D

I'll add my 2 cents coming from a past 11 Carnival cruises and now trying Royal Freedom for the first time.

Sailed on the Breeze last summer.

I find I'm paying 1.5 to 2 times more to sail on Freedom vs. Breeze.

For the kids on Breeze.

Pools, waterslides, hot tubs, rope course, mini golf, basketball,video arcade, 5D Theatre, and the age appropriate kids club.

Foods that are FREE. Guys Burgers (put Johnny Rockets to shame), soft serve ice cream stations, Burrito bar, C-Side BBQ on sea days (fabulous), room service sandwiches (small tip for the delivery) 24 hour pizza, deli. Along with the regular buffet, MDR, and anytime dining.

I'm looking forward to sailing on the Freedom, but asking about a Carnival ship on the Royal board is like asking a Mac user about Windows.

Read the fine print.

If you are requesting rider coverage for Pre-existing Conditions or Cancel For Any Reason, then some/most/all policies require you to cover the entire trip.

If all you want is medical and evacuation, then put the trip cost at $0

If you read Carnivals FAQ's, they answer the question.

The answer is that Carnival will pick up any fees regarding PVSA violation.

so what do people do for clothes for the cruise??? I am not sure I would be able to buy a new wardrobe for everyone in the family!?!?!?!

First of all, the chances of the airline "losing" any piece of your luggage is less than 1%. The chances of them them losing ALL of your families luggage would be 0.001% maybe.

Second. Never pack all of your clothes in one bag. In other words don't pack "his" clothes in 1 bag, "her" clothes in one bag, and sons clothes in one bag. Always cross pack.

Third. Your insurance max payable is only going to be around $500 TOTAL. Not per bag. You're not expected to buy a whole new wardrobe for the entire family.

If you don't have all of your fancy clothes, those who care will understand, those who don't understand, don't matter.

Private Oasis?

The one for large groups?

As John H. would say,,, Brilliant

We had about 14 people. ALL drinks are included, food was cooked right there, an iHome setup so you could plug in your own music. Rafts, fins, snorkle gear, water slide, jacuzzi.

ONLY issue is that sometimes, non guests will come by and try to take off with mats and stuff or try to take over the water slide area. The attendants will run them off though.

The second situation would not be a violation, as the two cruises are on different ships from different companies (even though Carnival and HAL are owned by the same parent).

Thanks for the clarification :D

She can check in with passport card, enhanced DL, Global Entry card, etc.

However, if she is flying back home after the cruise, the passport book is required. The above mentioned ID cards are only good for cruises or land border crossings.

Hello fellow cruisers.

 

OK, I have a pretty good grasp on the PVSA and MOST of the nuances. What I have not found a definitive answer on yet is how long between getting off the ship and getting back on is allowed.

 

SO, does anyone have experience with this? Has anyone been allowed to board the ship a day later and it not been considered a continuation? 2 days? a week?

 

I really don't know if there is a definitive answer as the PVSA doesn't define continuous (nor do recent additions and addendums). But if anyone has knowledge on this subject I would appreciate hearing it.

 

Thanks,

 

Bob

Let's say for example you wanted to do

LA to Vancouver

Then follow that up with Vancouver to Anchorage

That would be back to back and ??could be?? a PVSA violation.

The 24 hour cloclk would be in affect here.

Arrive in Vancouver on Saturday, get off the ship, spend the night in a hotel.

Get up Sunday morning, check in and board the ship,,, not in violation of PVSA

On the other hand

Same trip

LA to Vancouver on Carnival. Arrive on Saturday, get off the ship, walk over to HAL, board the ship to Anchorage, while technically a violation,,, not sure it would be caught especially if you were to purchase the trips on different days from different vendors.

Before I even knew about anything like this, my daughter flew out for a 2 week stay.

We decided to take a day trip into Canada across a ferry. This was pre passport requirement days. Got off the ferry, was walking through Immigration and they stopped us. They asked where mom was. We told them in Missouri. They asked for prrof that I had permission to bring my daughter into Canada. At that time I was :eek: We were not allowed into Canada.

With joint custody, it kind of irks me that the other parent has to give their persmission to travel outside the country - I think when you have the kids, it should be your rules. If you don't trust the other parent, then you should seek sole custody, I think. I probably should have done that, but I didn't quite understand how seriously mentally ill my ex-husband actually is.

It's an international thing to stop kidnapping your own kid and taking them out of the country perminatly.

Without that required permission, how hard would it be for your ex to have taken the kids to Mexico (or wherever) and never coming back.

The only thing I can add that I have not seen covered is that YOU are responsible for their behaviour.

I have read posts on here over the years where a family took a friend of their kids. That friend ended up being a terror and the entire family was removed from the ship in a foreign port.

Even after 11 cruises, just never RCCL.

So here's the back story

Sailing on the Freedom of the Seas.

Wifes meds cause allergic reaction to the sun. Yes, but she still loves to cruise. (no, the reaction is not life threatening. Just high sensitivity. Plus, we're from Washington State. We rust, not burn :D )

We purposely purchased a GS cabin for the additional perks.

We will be stopping at Coco Cay. I also see that there is another ship there that day.

To help with wifes condition,,, we really really desire a cabana.

Question

I understand that one of the perks of a GS is that we are assigned a consierge. From my research, the consierge contacts us before the cruise to assist us? Is this correct?

Or should I contact the concierge?

Thanks! I'll have to get a magnifying glass to read my cord - but I know I need to order a new one, so I'll check for that when I buy one.

 

We'll both have kindles, my laptop, camera, and hopefully a battery charger for the bigger camera. I realize it can be rotated - but I bet both kindles and the camera will die at the same time!!

 

Just realized - I won't be using the cell phone on board - maybe just in port, so I probably don't need to worry about it. Just want to be prepared if I need to order. I don't know what else my friend will be taking, but she's not as addicted to tech as I seem to be!!

All of these items will work properly whether plugged into 110 or 220. You'll just need the adapters for the 220.

You can go to Walgreens, RadioShack, wherever and buy an assortment for only $5. It will have every adaptor needed for wherever you travel in the world.

1. Pack in checked luggage

2. Google your airport. Maybe there is someplace past security where you can buy what you want. Then you can carry on airplane.

3. Bon Voyage.

Since you say your friend has to connect for work purposes,,,, if for work security purposes your friend has to connect via VPN (Virtual Private Network) to connect to her companies intranet,,,, the ships wifi may not work.

I've had instances where I could log on and perform personal tasks, but when I tried to log into work via VPN, the speed and bandwidth of the available connection would not connect to my VPN server.