OMG - What have I done?

[TigerB]

8 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

That's interesting, so not all r/h cabins have poles, I wonder if any l/h cabins have poles, though we have not seen one yet.

 

I wouldn't worry if you do find yourself in one; ours was at the foot of the bed and our lass could easily get past the other side in her wheelchair.

 

[Mollag]

39 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Yes I noticed that there were some itinerary changes from what the brochure states, but I didn’t know why. That particular change is good news for us as my wife can’t get off in tender ports. I see that we were originally due to call at St Lucia and Bonaire and these have been replaced with St Vincent and Martinique. St Lucia was a tender port and happens to be the only Caribbean island that we’ve been to so, again, those changes work in our favour. Yes, the TA mentioned Yellow Fever. 

No idea why they had St Lucia down as a tender port as only one other ship was showing there and there’s plenty of room. Personally not impressed with the alternatives but not much we can do about it. Still uncertain as to what will happen for the canal with the restrictions on movements in place 

[Peanut006]

10 hours ago, Selbourne said:

There are some tender ports, but not that many. Belize & Cayman Islands are definite tenders and there are possible tenders at Key West, Honduras, Cozumel and Jamaica. Not bad out of 28 ports though. 

We didn’t tender in Cozumel or Jamaica. Only been to both ports once so had no idea what to do at either port.
 

Reading recommendations from our roll call thread on CC we went to Nachi Cocom Beach Resort in Cozumel which was fabulous and accessible as I remember for me in a wheelchair. We went rafting down the Martha Brae River in Jamaica which requires you to step onto the raft to sit down but they did help you.

Hope you have a fabulous time

 

Michelle 

[terrierjohn]

6 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Well I guess my bubble had to burst and it has! You were spot on about the prices dropping today and they have. The Saver price for a balcony has dropped this morning from £16,400 to £9,995 😢. That’s obviously for the lowest grade, which we aren’t in, but I am now thinking that had we called today we would have saved well over another £1k from what we paid yesterday! Obviously I am extremely relieved that we didn’t book at the Select price of £20k, or when the Saver price was nearly £18k (as I had called back then to enquire and balconies were sold out) or even at the £16,400 that the website quoted yesterday when I called, as I think I’d be heartbroken, but none the less…… I shall just have to tell myself that there will be plenty of others paying a lot more than we have and, just possibly, had I left it until today the one accessible balcony cabin that had come up as a result of a cancellation would have gone. I’ll never know and mustn’t be greedy as we are extremely happy with the price we paid. 
 

I’m aware of the yellow fever requirement. Is there a minimum time that it’s needed before you travel? Had a quick look and didn’t notice. 
 

Yes, I can see that insurance is going to be very expensive. In the first instance I’m going to see how much it would be to add USA & Caribbean cover, plus extended stay (assuming that we need that) to our existing annual travel insurance policy with Aviva (which already covers my wife’s condition). That policy happens to expire on the last day of the cruise, which may be handy, although we don’t have missed port cover. I can live with that having never had it, but if I have to  get a brand new policy elsewhere I will try to get that included. I will also look at the Nationwide Flex Plus policy that @terrierjohn mentioned, although that will probably need add ons for extended stay as well as my wife’s condition. In the meantime I might just thoroughly depress myself and see how many thousands it would cost to buy a stand alone new policy in the market. From your extensive knowledge in this area, would you recommend anyone in particular?

 

On a brighter note, I had been worrying about how we would get to and from Southampton given that parking would presumably be prohibitive (it wasn’t even included in the Select fare). I’d been assuming taxis and £200-300 each way, given that trains aren’t an option. Miraculously, I have booked with CPS for just £160. I’m sure I’ve seen prices more than that for just a fortnight! 

Be prepared for a shock when you start looking for insurance quotes. I was astounded that Free Spirit wanted over £5000 for their super duper policy, which includes cruise cover for missed ports, and that was limited to 31 days and there are hefty add ons for extending. How NW manage to quote so low is a mystery, but I have not seen any horror stories from claimants, so I hope it will prove a good buy, and you also get free breakdown cover and free mobile cover as well.

 

[bobstheboy]

Absolutely the correct decision. We have Nationwide Plus account which is at least 50% cheaper for annual insurance.

.

[Kittyonions]

Well, your policy of £100 p.p.per night has certainly paid off this time Selbourne. Just be careful to avoid any Tiffany stores lurking in all those ports 😉

Hope you both have a wonderful cruise.

Kitty

[Selbourne]

16 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Be prepared for a shock when you start looking for insurance quotes. I was astounded that Free Spirit wanted over £5000 for their super duper policy, which includes cruise cover for missed ports, and that was limited to 31 days and there are hefty add ons for extending. How NW manage to quote so low is a mystery, but I have not seen any horror stories from claimants, so I hope it will prove a good buy, and you also get free breakdown cover and free mobile cover as well.

 

I am assuming that with NW we would need add-ons for cruise cover, my wife’s condition and for the length of stay. Presumably you have added the first two? Do you mind me asking what the extra cost was? Also, would you have any idea what the extended stay cover would be? Thanks. 

[TigerB]

13 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Well I guess my bubble had to burst and it has! You were spot on about the prices dropping today and they have. The Saver price for a balcony has dropped this morning from £16,400 to £9,995 😢. That’s obviously for the lowest grade, which we aren’t in, but I am now thinking that had we called today we would have saved well over another £1k from what we paid yesterday! Obviously I am extremely relieved that we didn’t book at the Select price of £20k, or when the Saver price was nearly £18k (as I had called back then to enquire and balconies were sold out) or even at the £16,400 that the website quoted yesterday when I called, as I think I’d be heartbroken, but none the less…… I shall just have to tell myself that there will be plenty of others paying a lot more than we have and, just possibly, had I left it until today the one accessible balcony cabin that had come up as a result of a cancellation would have gone. I’ll never know and mustn’t be greedy as we are extremely happy with the price we paid. 
 

I’m aware of the yellow fever requirement. Is there a minimum time that it’s needed before you travel? Had a quick look and didn’t notice. 
 

Yes, I can see that insurance is going to be very expensive. In the first instance I’m going to see how much it would be to add USA & Caribbean cover, plus extended stay (assuming that we need that) to our existing annual travel insurance policy with Aviva (which already covers my wife’s condition). That policy happens to expire on the last day of the cruise, which may be handy, although we don’t have missed port cover. I can live with that having never had it, but if I have to  get a brand new policy elsewhere I will try to get that included. I will also look at the Nationwide Flex Plus policy that @terrierjohn mentioned, although that will probably need add ons for extended stay as well as my wife’s condition. In the meantime I might just thoroughly depress myself and see how many thousands it would cost to buy a stand alone new policy in the market. From your extensive knowledge in this area, would you recommend anyone in particular?

 

On a brighter note, I had been worrying about how we would get to and from Southampton given that parking would presumably be prohibitive (it wasn’t even included in the Select fare). I’d been assuming taxis and £200-300 each way, given that trains aren’t an option. Miraculously, I have booked with CPS for just £160. I’m sure I’ve seen prices more than that for just a fortnight! 

 

Don't you just hate it when that happens?🙄

If I were in your shoes I would tell them to stuff it, and demand my money back and tell them to reinstate my Ventura cruise.

Seriously though, my policy is: I've paid a price I'm happy with and that's that; just like when booking air fares. Yes, you may have saved a further £15/night on the cabin, but what you have paid is an absolute bargain. And, if you had left it until today, you would risk missing out altogether if the cabin had sold in the meantime, or they didn't honour the extras that you got.

 

Just a thought on the insurance....

Ours is through my old job, and it carries on into my retirement. Years ago, although I paid the same premium as others, the excess for our lass was £3,000.  That meant I had to seek insurance elsewhere for the both of us, and it usually cost a pretty penny.  In the last eight years or so they changed underwriters, and now I pay the same premium as everyone else, with no exorbitant excess. All we have to do is have a letter to state that her condition is managed and she is fit to travel. Her MS nurse does one every year in time for the start of that year's policy.

My point is, I wonder if there is a policy out there available to the general public, where the premium is the same as anyone without medical needs would pay, subject to there being a fitness letter in place.

 

 

By the way, another cracking find with the parking!👍

 

 

[bobstheboy]

5 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I am assuming that with NW we would need add-ons for cruise cover, my wife’s condition and for the length of stay. Presumably you have added the first two? Do you mind me asking what the extra cost was? Also, would you have any idea what the extended stay cover would be? Thanks. 

You can contact the insurance company through the Nationwide web site and they will go through personal details and give you the cost before you commit to opening an account.

[Spike11]

11 hours ago, Selbourne said:

There are some tender ports, but not that many. Belize & Cayman Islands are definite tenders and there are possible tenders at Key West, Honduras, Cozumel and Jamaica. Not bad out of 28 ports though. 

The local authorities in Key West are now enforcing a limit of one cruise ship a day. So if you’re down to call there on the local port schedule (which you are) then you will be docking rather than tendering. We have had our Key West call cancelled for Venturas February 35 night cruise. Of course P&O tried to hold the line that we were still calling (even though we weren’t on the local port schedule, another ship was) until a fellow passenger contacted the port and they had absolutely no booking for Ventura - so P&O were forced to fess up! I seem to remember you had a similar saga with a Norway cruise some years ago??

[9265359]

14 hours ago, Selbourne said:

So, we are off on a 65 night adventure in less than 3 months time, and an adventure I’m sure it will be. I appreciate that it’s an extreme measure to cut down on the heating bills during the coldest two months at home, but we never know what the future will hold and at that price we can live with it not being perfect.

 

Enjoy. For the last few winters since I retired I have been spending January to March outside the UK, this year it will be a few months in Tenerife, and there is nothing to beat not having to deal with the UK's worst time of year.

 

One thing not to forget is your home insurance. Most policies have a limitation of 30 or 60 days, with very limited cover if you are away for longer than that (with the restriction kicking in when you *leave*, for that over 30 or 60 day trip and *not* at day 30 or 60) and most have clauses that mean that family popping in don't count even if they are staying overnight.

[purplesea]

Good for you! Go and have a fantastic time. 

[terrierjohn]

33 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I am assuming that with NW we would need add-ons for cruise cover, my wife’s condition and for the length of stay. Presumably you have added the first two? Do you mind me asking what the extra cost was? Also, would you have any idea what the extended stay cover would be? Thanks. 

The flex plus account is £13pm, there are add ons for age £65 total for over 70s, cruise cover is £40 total, then each medical condition has an individual charge, and Pauline's strike rates quite highly. The total including the monthly fee was only 10% of the free spirit quote, which is supposed to be one of the best for medical conditions. It does seem too good to be true, but the cover is equal to the FS cover with £10m pp medical expenses and £5000pp cancellation cover.

PS, sorry I forgot the extra days over the 31 norm, from memory I think our friend paid £1 per day, but that was only for a 35 night cruise, whether longer ones are more expensive  I dont know but as @bobstheboy said, you can check this as you get your quote.

Edited October 14, 2023 by terrierjohn

[Eddie99]

NW cruise cover is £40pa.  I don’t know the missed port compensation but the confined to cabin comp. is £100pppd up to a maximum of £1500pp

 

I don’t think there is an additional premium for worldwide

 

Cover also includes car breakdown and mobile phone insurance, so that makes it even more of a bargain

 

There are stipulations about the Flexplus a/c on which the UK Insurance policy is predicated.  You’ll need to do some jiggling (unless you actually switch your main bank account).  £1000 has to enter the account each month

 

As above - give them a ring via the number on the NW website.  They’ve always been very helpful to me, though the recorded spiel before you get to speak to a human is a bit of a trial

 

 

[bobstheboy]

5 minutes ago, Eddie99 said:

NW cruise cover is £40pa.  I don’t know the missed port compensation but the confined to cabin comp. is £100pppd up to a maximum of £1500pp

 

I don’t think there is an additional premium for worldwide

 

Cover also includes car breakdown and mobile phone insurance, so that makes it even more of a bargain

 

There are stipulations about the Flexplus a/c on which the UK Insurance policy is predicated.  You’ll need to do some jiggling (unless you actually switch your main bank account).  £1000 has to enter the account each month

 

As above - give them a ring via the number on the NW website.  They’ve always been very helpful to me, though the recorded spiel before you get to speak to a human is a bit of a trial

 

 

I have a Nationwide Flexiplus account. Opened with £100 and I top up to keep in credit. No stipulation to pay in any amount per month.

[Interestedcruisefan]

The space in those accessible rooms and bathrooms is amazing

[happy v]

At the moment Nationwide are giving £200 if you open an account. That would reduce your insurance quote from them

[Britboys]

Fantastic. I'm sure you will have a wonderful time.

[Selbourne]

3 hours ago, Beckett said:

Please do a 'Live From' if you can bear it. I for one loved your last one and it was my 'Go To' read every day. 

Thank you Jane 😂 We are a bit anxious about being out of touch for so long, especially as I won’t get the usual free included data that I get in Europe and I’ve no idea how easy it is to get free WiFi in the Caribbean, but I’ve just looked at the cost of the WiFi package 😱 Might have to do one of those Crowd Funding thingamys if a blog is going to be in demand 🤣 

[Cathygh]

 I noted the comment about Yellow Fever. My friends who were on the same cruise earlier tis year said lot sof people hadn't had their Yellow Fever vaccination and were turned away at Southampton. They had to go home, get the jab and then fly to Tenerife to join the ship there.

Also some people didn't get their Esta for the US. I am not sure if that was picked up at Southampton but they were allowed to board and had to get the Esta before they coud get off the ship in the US.

[Selbourne]

Sincere thanks to @terrierjohn @bobstheboy @Megabear2 and others for tips on insurance. I broke into a sweat earlier as the first few places I tried wouldn’t cover us, and takes of £5k and above were giving me a nervous twitch, but the tip about Nationwide FlexPlus account has been a life saver. 
 

Long story short (as I’ve been on the phone for hours sorting it all out) but I have now opened an account having first phoned their insurers to check the upgrade prices. The lady couldn’t have been more helpful.

 

Worldwide cover including everywhere that we go is included as standard. Cruise cover was, as you said John, £40. This is a result as I don’t have that at the moment, so we don’t get missed port compensation, which we now will for all our future cruises (starting in 2 weeks time). To extend the maximum time to 65 days was £86.40 (it’s actually cover for 69 days as that was the max for that price) and my wife’s MS is covered for an additional £109.49 so total for add ons is £235.89. Added to the £156 a year for the account that’s a grand total of £391.89. That’s £230 more than our current annual policy but that was for Europe only, excluded long holidays and didn’t have the specific cruise cover for missed ports etc. I think that’s a result. 
 

Still smarting at the £1,500 price drop (I know, that’s just plain greedy) but so relieved to get the insurance done and dusted at a sensible price and the CPS parking was another plus point today.

[bobstheboy]

Well done Selbourne, definitely a result !

[Selbourne]

4 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

 I noted the comment about Yellow Fever. My friends who were on the same cruise earlier tis year said lot sof people hadn't had their Yellow Fever vaccination and were turned away at Southampton. They had to go home, get the jab and then fly to Tenerife to join the ship there.

Also some people didn't get their Esta for the US. I am not sure if that was picked up at Southampton but they were allowed to board and had to get the Esta before they coud get off the ship in the US.

I’ve just booked us both in for a travel consultation (including vaccinations) for 13th November. This was the first day we could get as we are away for the two weeks preceding. Hopefully this will be OK as NHS says at least 10 days prior to holiday for Yellow Fever and that’s about 6 weeks.  They can do both Yellow Fever (mandatory) and malaria (advisory).
 

Annoyingly, I had a Yellow Fever jab around 35 years ago, so am technically covered, but I don’t have a certificate and as it was done privately it’s not on my NHS record, so I guess I’ll have to have it again. Thanks to the excellent advice from @Angel57 we will see if we can get an exemption certificate for my wife. Hopefully that will suffice, but I don’t know if that would mean that she cannot get off the ship in some ports?

 

I am aware of the ESTA requirement and will get on to that next. Blimey, this is all exhausting. This cruise had better be worth all this stress and anxiety 😂 

[gsmt47471015]

9 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

 I noted the comment about Yellow Fever. My friends who were on the same cruise earlier tis year said lot sof people hadn't had their Yellow Fever vaccination and were turned away at Southampton. They had to go home, get the jab and then fly to Tenerife to join the ship there.

Also some people didn't get their Esta for the US. I am not sure if that was picked up at Southampton but they were allowed to board and had to get the Esta before they coud get off the ship in the US.

Definitely check the yellow fever requirements', we were among the crowds of people who were not informed before travelling ,we count ourselves extremely lucky to have a marvelous g p practice who managed to e mail an exemption certificate to us fifteen minutes before our cases were due to be offloaded and our complete holiday lost, lots of people did indeed have to return home and then fly on to Tenerife ,some lost the whole holiday with no chance of claiming on insurance .

Its a situation we will never forget and in all honesty ruined the first few days of our cruise , still makes us shudder with how we were treated, just like naughty children 😡😡😡 

[gsmt47471015]

3 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I’ve just booked us both in for a travel consultation (including vaccinations) for 13th November. This was the first day we could get as we are away for the two weeks preceding. Hopefully this will be OK as NHS says at least 10 days prior to holiday for Yellow Fever and that’s about 6 weeks.  They can do both Yellow Fever (mandatory) and malaria (advisory).
 

Annoyingly, I had a Yellow Fever jab around 35 years ago, so am technically covered, but I don’t have a certificate and as it was done privately it’s not on my NHS record, so I guess I’ll have to have it again. Thanks to the excellent advice from @Angel57 we will see if we can get an exemption certificate for my wife. Hopefully that will suffice, but I don’t know if that would mean that she cannot get off the ship in some ports?

 

I am aware of the ESTA requirement and will get on to that next. Blimey, this is all exhausting. This cruise had better be worth all this stress and anxiety 😂 

Our exemption certificates did not stop us been allowed into any ports of call👍