Before the Cruise
This post emphasizes the importance of:
purchasing travel insurance,
making sure that you have all required Visas,
double checking requirements for Covid vaccines and boosters (to be considered "fully vaccinated"), and
obtaining Covid testing within the required window.
Making extensive lists has been the most important strategy in making sure that we are well prepared for our World Cruise. During the last few days before the cruise, we are double checking carefully to insure that we have done everything required, because after a year of planning, the last thing we want is to be turned away at boarding. We are double checking completion of the Princess Medallion requirements to be in the "Green Lane," uploading required documents, and making selections, such as a set time each evening for the main dining room.
Insurance
For such a long cruise, we believe that travel insurance is critically important. You may have your favorite company, as we did for prior travel; however, we decided, after comparing coverage and prices with outside vendors, that the standard Princess coverage would work best for us. We did hear that purchasing the insurance through the cruise line, could result in fewer hassles in an emergency. One reason for choosing the standard coverage was discovering that our particular Plan F supplemental medicare insurance plan provides coverage overseas. We recommend that you check with your own health insurance to determine coverage before you choose a travel insurance plan.
Visas
It is important to read all of the small print at the bottom of the itinerary that is posted online. Pay special attention to which Visas you must acquire yourself and which ones the cruise line will help provide. For our cruise, we were required to purchase Visas for New Zealand, Australia, and Sri Lanka. These Visas ranged in price from $50 to $75 per person.
The process was very easy to complete online using our smart phones, and the Visas were approved right away. Initially, we considered not purchasing the Visas for Sri Lanka because of political and economic upheaval . We thought we might not get off at that port. However, we heard that if you lack a required Visa, even if you don't plan to disembark at that port, you won't be allowed to embark on the cruise at all. We did not want to take any chances.
Vaccines
Don't rely on the cruise line to provide vaccine information.
Princess provided no information about vaccines needed other than COVID. Even a phone call to the cruise lines revealed nothing more. Cruise lines should MORE explicitly inform potential passengers of the importance of checking with their local health departments regarding recommended vaccinations other than Covid.
Check with your local Health Department.
A friend who had previously traveled to South America told us about Passport Health, which is a division of the Manatee County Health Department. We scheduled an initial consultation after completing forms online with our medical information and all of the travel destinations. The nurse practitioner researched everything for us ahead of time and printed extensive recommendations for each country. We paid out of pocket for this service.
Because pharmacies submit vaccine charges to our Medicare insurance, we used Publix Pharmacy for vaccines such as Hepatitis, Flu, Pneumonia, and Tetanus/Diptheria/ Pertussis. We discussed whether we should take the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine, which was quite expensive. In the end, we agreed to use plenty of powerful insect repellants. Typhoid shots were available from Publix, but the health department nurse confided that those are only recommended if you are in affected countries at least two weeks. All of the days at all of those particular countries combined are fewer than days. Furthermore, we will only be visiting the port cities, not going out into the countryside or villages. Nor would we be drinking or eating in these countries. We decided that we had completed so many vaccines in such a short window, we would skip this one as well. Hopefully, all will go well.
We returned to Passport Health for the yellow fever vaccinations, and were issued yellow cards to provide as evidence. This vaccine was not available at any pharmacies within our three county area. Therefore, we had to pay out of pocket, which was $630 for the two of us.
Malaria prevention medication could have been issued, but you must start taking the medication before visiting that country, during the visit, and for a specific number of days afterward. We will be visiting so many countries where we could get malaria, there was no way to provide that much medication to us, and it would definitely not be healthful to take it continuously. Also, a vaccine for malaria is not available. Therefore, we really stocked up on those recommended insect repellants!
Are you "Fully Vaccinated" for COVID?
Within two weeks of the World Cruise, Princess changed its definition of "fully vaccinated" to two Covid vaccines and one booster. Fortunately, we qualified. Be sure to read every communication very carefully that the cruise lines send out, especially days before the cruise. Don't skip the small print!
COVID Testing
We received inconsistent messages from Princess about COVID testing. One document said we needed the PCR test within 48 hours of boarding, then another document closer to the cruise date stated that it could be within 72 hours. By that time, we had already made an appointment at CVS for our Covid PCR. Other options, such as a medically observed antigen test within 48 hours, are also accepted. Requirements differ among cruises and cruise lines. We just reminded ourselves about how COVID not only changed our world, but continues to cause shifting requirements as time goes by.
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