karl_nj

Bummer. I had always wanted to visit Key West, but never got around to it. I figured visiting via cruise ship would have been my best bet; i don't really envision myself flying to Florida, renting a car, and driving all the way down to Key West. Oh well, plenty of other places to visit and spend money.

Is this really any different then airlines asking their passengers to wear masks? There have been a few news reports of people being banned from flying due to not wearing masks, but it seems like most people are following the guidelines.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/from-other-countries.html Kinda crazy that China is still on the "no entry list", since they are one of the few countries that have managed to control the virus. Reminds me of when NY/NJ was still on the quarantine list for Florida, even though the north-east had better COVID-19 numbers (at the time).

My understanding is that Canadians can fly to the US for any reason, including tourism, but American's are only permitted to fly to Canada for "Essential Travel", and not tourism: Essential refers to travel for reasons that are non-discretionary and non-optional. The emergency orders under the Quarantine Act do not allow people to travel to Canada for optional or discretionary reasons, such as for tourism, recreation or entertainment. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/coronavirus-covid19/travel-restrictions-exemptions.html

I've cut and pasted the top of the page I linked to. Note the bit in red: COVID-19 Notification FOR POLICIES PURCHASED ON OR AFTER MARCH 11 Travel Insurance, at least in the United States, usually covers 2 things. Trip Cancellation/Interruption and Emergency Medical coverage (though some annual policies only cover medical.) Trip Cancellation/Interruption almost never covers a "known event" For example, once a storm becomes a named hurricane, it's too late to buy coverage that will cover that specific hurricane. You can still buy travel insurance, and you would be covered for everything else that the policy covers, but you wouldn't get any coverage for losses due to the hurricane. This travel insurance company, and many others, are saying that even though this is a "known event", your medical expenses will still be covered if you come down with COVID-19. Not only that, but they will even cover trip cancellation/interruption if you come down with COVID-19. Even though everyone knows that there is a worldwide COIVD-19 Pandemic going on. So if you go on a trip and come down with COVID-19, you will still have medical coverage. The post I was replying to said that in the UK you can't get travel medical coverage in this case. I'm just pointing out that in the US, there are polices that would cover you. Of course, the devil is in the details. They don't say they will cover losses due to testing positive on a COVID-19 test. I'm not aware of any travel insurance policy that does. If your travel plans require a negative COVID-19 test, then you are out of luck. Potentially this is a very large risk to be undertaking, depending on the refund policies from the travel providers. And that other link you mentioned also points out that they won't cover any losses due to having to be in quarantine after your trip, since the pandemic is now a known event. So yes, I agree that buying travel insurance at this point would have less coverage for COVID-19 related losses. But my point is that some losses would still be covered, even if you buy the policy today.

In the US it likely depends on the insurance company. Here is an example of a vendor that would still cover you if you caught COVID-19: https://www.travelguard.com/o/covid19notification On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Coronavirus (COVID-19) a pandemic... However, this does not affect any Medical Benefits available under the insurance policy.

Yes, another vote for the Kimpton Epic. We stayed there August 2019, before our cruise on Symphony. The room had a small balcony with a fun view of the Miami River; I enjoyed watching all the traffic on the river. Whenever a drawbridge opened, it causes chaos on the roads. We got upgraded to a junior suite, so we had a nice sitting area to relax. If you have an Amex Platinum card, they do participate in the FHR program, so we also got breakfast included and a $100 F&B credit.

I think you bring up some great points, but Holland America already does this, so it’s not completely unheard of. 10 years ago most cruise line loyalty programs were based on cruises sailed (or sometimes either or cruises or nights.) Moving towards nights only is fairly recent, and still limited to the major brands. I wouldn’t be surprised if a move to onboard spend being a factor was more widespread in the future.

Thanks for the heads up on this. Due to the pandemic, my commute to work now just involves walking to my basement, so I'm a bit behind on my podcast queue. But when I saw the alert on this one being released, I knew to make sure to check it out immediately. I really enjoyed the episode! I totally agree that the staff on Anthem really go our of their way to make sure any issues are rectified. Before one of my Anthem cruises I was a little annoyed because the pub beer menu looked like it changed for the worse. Out of all the mass market lines RCL tends to have the worst selection of "interesting" beers, but Anthem was a bit of an exception when it was branded as Michaels Genuine. Still not the best choices at sea, but better then the rest of the RCL ships. Right before my cruise, they rebranded it to be more like the non "celebrity chef" pubs on the other ships, and early reports made it seem like the beer choices were pretty limited. So I sent an email to corporate with some suggestions, got a reply thanking me for my comments and I figured that was it. But no, one day onboard I get back to my room and I see they left me a bucket of several of the more interesting beers available onboard, which was a very nice surprise. I really enjoyed them on my balcony, I thought it was a very nice gesture. But, much like you found, that was not it. Eventually my wife, daughter, and I decided to try the food at the pub and buy a couple of beers. Once our card was scanned for our first round, it must have triggered an alert to the assistant food and beverage manager that ran the pub, since he appeared out of nowhere to come and chat for a bit. We had a nice chat and I recommended some other beers and beer styles that might be good to stock onboard (I don't think anything ever came of that, but it was nice that he asked), and then he left. But when we asked for our check for our food, it turns out that he comped our meal. Sometimes enough little things go wrong in a row, and it can put a bit of a damper on ones enthusiasm. It's nice that the staff on some ships try to do their best to turn those situations around. It certainly helps to have the "right" attitude, but giving staff the power to also try to fix things can also go a long way.

@ryman1980 It can't hurt to call and ask. But keep in mind, it can't be combined with the C&A balcony discount. Also, you have to pay both the deposit and the final payment with an american express card. If you already paid the deposit with a different card, you are probably out of luck.

No, it's only for the Amex Platinum Charge Card, with the $550 annual fee, not their credit cards.

The CityMD urgent care center in Teterboro offers the antibody test. My wife and I got tested last week.

You can't sail Oasis class out of NJ in the middle of winter. You would kill all the plants in Central Park.

Taxes and port fees are supposed to be refunded to your credit card. That being said, I'm still waiting for mine. My cruise was in the first wave of cancellations (early April).

It does seem like they made a mistake in the calculations. Based on your invoice, I would expect an amount closer to what you already calculated. I'm sure your TA will get it resolved.

United, Delta and American Airlines have each gone through Chapter 11 twice, and everyone kept their frequent flyer miles.

Cape Liberty isn’t that big of a terminal. It’s certainly no Terminal A Miami. But apparently it can handle Oasis.

Anything more about that bullet point re: Anthem?

Yes, I received the FCC's, but still waiting for refund of Taxes. But I did receive refunds of Cruise Planner purchases.

That is pretty interesting. I wonder when they were thinking that would be. Would they cancel the currently scheduled Anthem cruises in late 2021/early 2022, or would it be May 2022+ (when the ship might have went back to the UK for the summer)?

I would just hold off on doing anything and revisit in late May. It's quite possible Cruise With Confidence is extended at that point.

I would think opening the border between the US and Canada would be one of the first phases, even before cruising resumes.

Yes, I received mine this afternoon.

On cruise critic people are reporting that the 1 FCC per cruise limitation is now being lifted. However, I have no first hand knowledge of this.

Slight mutations of the virus. The virus all over NYC is more similar to the one found in Europe, vs the west coast cases which are more similar to the ones found in China.