All Veteran World Cruisers - Questions

[PCruzer]

My husband and I have booked our first world cruise for Jan 2019. We are trying to think of everything that we have to take care of on the homefront in order to be away from our house for 113 days. Things like our mail, paying our yearly taxes, etc. Can any of you veteran world cruisers tell us what you do with all the things that need to be done at home while you are on this long cruise? Thanks!

[dockman]

Set up all your credit cards and other payments for auto pay.

Put your cable tv and internet on seasonal pause to save $$.

Stop mail and newspaper deliveries.

Have fun.

[KroozNut]

Set up all your credit cards and other payments for auto pay.

Put your cable tv and internet on seasonal pause to save $$.

Stop mail and newspaper deliveries.

Have fun.

 

Is that it? ;):)

[PCruzer]

What about doing your tax return? Do you file for an extension?

[Fred321]

File for an extension. Not a big deal.

 

With mail; check your post office. They will only hold mail here in Fla. for 30 days. We have friends take in the mail and just throw it in a box till we get home.

[PCruzer]

With mail; check your post office. They will only hold mail here in Fla. for 30 days. We have friends take in the mail and just throw it in a box till we get home.

I believe that we can forward our mail to my sister’s house. What about paying our property taxes? I wonder if we can pay them prior to receiving the tax bill?

[oceanmom]

https://www.usps.com/manage/welcome.htm

 

We have the option to sign up for something called "Informed Delivery" which each day sends an e-mail with images of most first class, letter size mail that is being delivered or held that day for our address. When we are traveling, it lets us know of important mail we might want to have opened and dealt with before we get home or via e-mail.

[PCruzer]

Yes, we are registered for Informed Delivery.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

My husband and I have booked our first world cruise for Jan 2019. We are trying to think of everything that we have to take care of on the homefront in order to be away from our house for 113 days. Things like our mail, paying our yearly taxes, etc. Can any of you veteran world cruisers tell us what you do with all the things that need to be done at home while you are on this long cruise? Thanks!

 

 

 

Here is a link to a website with some tips

 

http://www.theinsidecabin.com/2018-world-cruise-faq/

 

 

http://www.theinsidecabin.com

[Scrapnana]

If you take prescription meds you will have to work with your doctor and the prescription plan you have in order to get a four month supply.

[PCruzer]

Here is a link to a website with some tips

 

http://www.theinsidecabin.com/2018-world-cruise-faq/

 

 

www.theinsidecabin.com

Great info! Thanks!

[PCruzer]

If you take prescription meds you will have to work with your doctor and the prescription plan you have in order to get a four month supply.

I did not think of medications. Very good tip! Thanks!

[oofroggie]

Remember that there is not a drug store on every cornor so bring otc drugs that might be needed during cruise also enough toothpaste deoderant etc needed as if you do find it can be costly. I plan on being sulf sufficant so i do not have to spend valuable port time searching for what i might need. See you on board.

[boze9999]

Have your doctors write out each of your prescriptions. (They'll gladly do so) That way if you need emergency refills, you have an original written physician prescription.

[PCruzer]

Remember that there is not a drug store on every cornor so bring otc drugs that might be needed during cruise also enough toothpaste deoderant etc needed as if you do find it can be costly. I plan on being sulf sufficant so i do not have to spend valuable port time searching for what i might need. See you on board.

Yes, I plan to stock up on all the essentials and those items we might need. Have plenty of time to plan. Look forward to meeting you.

[PCruzer]

Have your doctors write out each of your prescriptions. (They'll gladly do so) That way if you need emergency refills, you have an original written physician prescription.

Great tip! Thank you!

[Harry1954]

Regarding tax extension, each time we did a WC we have had our CPAs estimate the tax due in April and we prepay a 'safe harbor' amount prior to leaving for the trip. This is the big issue one must strive to resolve so that when they finally file tax return, they don't pay a penalty for late payment.Upon return we then have the CPAs prepare our tax return. No big deal there.

 

The other item is that we alway pack for a three week cruise as laundry is what resolves the need for clean clothes - and the ship does a great job with both regular clothes and dry cleaning.

 

Looking forward to sailing with you on WC 2019 - we are excited about the itinerary.

 

harry

[Tampa Girl]

I believe that we can forward our mail to my sister’s house. What about paying our property taxes? I wonder if we can pay them prior to receiving the tax bill?

 

Have your sister open the tax notice and scan the notice to you - or e-mail you the necessary info to pay through online banking.

[PCruzer]

Regarding tax extension, each time we did a WC we have had our CPAs estimate the tax due in April and we prepay a 'safe harbor' amount prior to leaving for the trip. This is the big issue one must strive to resolve so that when they finally file tax return, they don't pay a penalty for late payment.Upon return we then have the CPAs prepare our tax return. No big deal there.

 

The other item is that we alway pack for a three week cruise as laundry is what resolves the need for clean clothes - and the ship does a great job with both regular clothes and dry cleaning.

 

Looking forward to sailing with you on WC 2019 - we are excited about the itinerary.

 

harry

Thanks for the tips about the taxes. We will talk to our accountant about it when we see him in the next couple months.

 

As far as clothing goes, we figured on 3 weeks worth of clothes and using the laundry, like you mentioned.

 

BTW, do you know anything about the visas necessary?

[PCruzer]

Have your sister open the tax notice and scan the notice to you - or e-mail you the necessary info to pay through online banking.

I’m going to have to give this some thought. Your idea is great, but I’m concerned about online security. What do you think? Is it safe to do banking on a ship?

[rkacruiser]

Thanks for the tips about the taxes. We will talk to our accountant about it when we see him in the next couple months.

 

As far as clothing goes, we figured on 3 weeks worth of clothes and using the laundry, like you mentioned.

 

BTW, do you know anything about the visas necessary?

 

Regarding your visa question: you would be wise to obtain official information about the requirements from your travel agent, if the cruise is so booked. If not, HAL will provide the necessary visa information and that should be very accurate. But, I would also check with the individual countries websites as to information needed for visitors to be admitted. If one sees differences between what you are learning, being proactive to make clear what visa requirements exist would be wise, I think.

[Cruise NH]

I’m going to have to give this some thought. Your idea is great, but I’m concerned about online security. What do you think? Is it safe to do banking on a ship?

 

You are wise to consider ship board online security. We were on this past year's world cruise and we would NOT ever do anything with banking or investments while aboard ship. We did use data on our cell phone to access accounts as I consider that to be safer (except in China where we didn't take the chance).

 

Where do you have your cell phone service? If it's T-Mobile then you'll have unlimited access in many of the countries you visit. If it's Verizon or others you can sign up through them to get access in foreign countries. For example, Verizon has a program called Travel Pass (I think that's the name) where you pay $10 for each day you use your phone in a foreign country. So that's $10 for the whole day to make calls access data or text up to the limit of your domestic plan. Of course that adds up if you do it at every port, but that might not be necessary.

 

You should be able to prepay many of your bills including your property tax, talk to your town clerk (or similar entity) now so you have one less thing to worry about.

 

As to Visa's...I can't remember what countries the 2019 cruise is going to but your travel agent or HAL should be able to tell you which need visa's or other entry requirements..for example Australia's 'visa' is done online so no big deal. Just don't be too anxious to get them too early. I don't know if India is on your itinerary but you have to remember they decide how long a visa to give you. I got a 10 year visa while my husband's was only for one year. It covered us but I heard others who applied too early had to reapply when it ran out before their trip even began!

 

Good luck.

[KroozNut]

After reading this thread, it all sounds way too complicated (and risky) to me; so I think we'll stick to the shorter 7-21 day sailings... thank you very much!;)

[The-Inside-Cabin]

I’m going to have to give this some thought. Your idea is great, but I’m concerned about online security. What do you think? Is it safe to do banking on a ship?

 

 

As long as your financial institution uses appropriate security for their website, my assessment of the risk using the ships Internet is low. I routinely use my laptop to access my finances while cruising. A few tips.

 

Use your own lap top, not the public computers. It is unlikely, but remotely possible someone could install a "key logger" or similar hacking tool to steal your passwords.

 

When you log on to the web site, make sure it's address is preceded by https....not just http. You need to see the "s". This ensures your data is secure.

 

There is always a chance someone on the ship could create a fake HAL website and trick passengers into using this website vice the real HAL website . While anything is possible, I consider this risk very low.

 

Everyone has to assess there own risk tolerance. I consider the risk of online banking from the ship using my own laptop to be low. Here is a US government website with more details.

 

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0014-tips-using-public-wi-fi-networks

Edited November 27, 2017 by The-Inside-Cabin

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Thanks for the tips about the taxes. We will talk to our accountant about it when we see him in the next couple months.

 

 

 

As far as clothing goes, we figured on 3 weeks worth of clothes and using the laundry, like you mentioned.

 

 

 

BTW, do you know anything about the visas necessary?

 

 

 

For the 2019 itinerary, the ship will be able to get all your visas during the cruise except for India. India issues 10 year visas, so you can get one anytime, but waiting till next year will give you more time on your visa. HAL will send you a letter next Sept 2018 that lists all the visa requirements for your cruise. My advice is for USA residents only. Visa rules do change from time to time, so always check the HAL letter for the latest guidance.

 

You can also check the requirements yourself by researching the requirements on each countries website.

 

Here is a copy of the letter we got for the 2018 cruise.

 

http://www.theinsidecabin.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/HAL-2018-WC-Letter-Visas.pdf

 

Yours will be different, since the countries are different, but this will give you an idea of what to expect.