ONE STEP BACK, TWO STEPS FORWARD …

Travel: One Step Back - Ovation of the Seas

This week I was asked to give a quote to the Washington Post on how we are handling new travel bookings.

Here is my quote.

“I won’t work with any clients that aren’t vaccinated. I let my clients know they have to be flexible. And insurance used to be an option, now it’s mandatory.

I only work with tour operators that offer cancel for any reason insurance (CFAR), because these new variants definitely have rules and requirements evolving, sometimes daily. With cruise bookings, I explain if the cruise line cancels, the client will get a future cruise credit or a refund. If the client cancels they will have to pay a penalty. Clients are much more eager to understand each and every term now. People understand what they are up against.

I also now require everyone to get at least travel medical insurance and/or an air medical transport membership like Medjet. Travel insurance pays the hospital bill, but Medjet makes sure you are able to be transferred to a hospital at home, even for Covid. No one wants to get stuck in a hospital where English is not spoken, or services may be sub par.”

A few days after giving the above quote to the Washington Post, I was notified that a trip to Hawaii for the annual consortium meeting my agency is a member of was forced to cancel due to the surge of Covid cases in Hawaii. Remembering I the need to be flexible, I took a deep breath. I told my husband what I was most looking forward to was having someone cook for us for 7 nights. My plan was to dine out every night for a week pretending we were on a vacation. It wasn’t even a day later that I received an invitation from Royal Caribbean offering us a trip on their beautiful Ovation of the Seas to Alaska.

I purchased our travel insurance polices and Medjet transport policy. We are ready to board the ship on September 3rd for 7 nights.

This will be my first cruise in 2 years. I’m so excited and can’t wait to report next month on the new protocols of cruising again.

Everyone on board the ship must be vaccinated. Could cruising become the safest place to be?

I’ll let you know next month.

One step back, two steps forward.

Feature image courtesy of  Royal Caribbean International.