It is possible? Dream or nightmare?

[saxmangeoff]

I can't imagine it changes much. If buying used, I'd just make sure it includes the map.

 

[cruiser21]

With 4 people you can rent a car from the airport for about $150 (each way $350 total) and drop if off near the port. Find the cheapest option for a hotel somewhere near the airport or port. Coming back, book a flight back home in the evening and a rent a car from a company near the port and return it to the airport. Get someone to drop you guys off at the airport at home to save on parking. Even if you spend $300 on a hotel the night before the cruise you're around $650 in with about $1850 left.

Car? A taxi is 30.00 usd. The sky train is less.

 

[cruiser21]

The only time we have ever made a claim with our travel insurance was when our cruise was fogged in, we could not debark for hours, we missed our flight and our car to the airport, we had to pay for a hotel room that night because we could not get on another flight, and it paid for all that and the changes to the air. So the only time we've ever used travel insurance was not for the cruise but for the associated travel costs with interrupted trip.

I bought just the medical for our last cruise. It was about 40.00 for all 4 of us. They certainly don't need comprehensive.

 

[cjbcam]

Keep in mind in Canada your American money stretches a lot farther. So your hotel and food and travel while in Canada should seem a lot cheaper.

 

[OhKenada]

Keep in mind in Canada your American money stretches a lot farther. So your hotel and food and travel while in Canada should seem a lot cheaper.

Very true...this hurts me so much

 

[xlxo]

Thoughts...

• I would say skip the Nexus suggestion. You need a passport to get a Nexus. If you don't cross the border often, it's not worth spending money and time getting it, especially for the whole family.
• Arriving in Vancouver airport.... take the taxi. You might save $10 when you factor in the $15 airport subway surcharge, but with luggage and young children.... the door to door service of the cab is preferred. The taxi may even expose you to the cherry blossoms in the city.
• choosing a hotel near a subway station? Most value hotels are a significant distance from the subway stations. With very young children and luggage.... the taxi is much easier. The YWCA for example is a significant walk from the subway station.
• first 2018 Wonder sailing? Is that a long weekend? Hotel rates will be higher for a pre-cruise on May 21st. I would have chosen the week after to save on the hotel rates.

 

[xlxo]

Hotel rates for 2018 are not set yet for May 20, 2018. So looking at booking.com for a similar date in 2017 in USD for comparison shopping. May 21, 2017 for 2 adults and 2 children.

• $141 Barclay
• $163 Best Western Sands
• $186 Blue Horizon » Forum fav for value travelers
• $216 Rosedale » Suites!
• $224 Days Inn » 3 blocks from cruise terminal, but you want to check online for potential issues
• $232 Holiday Inn
• $261 Hampton Inn
• $514 Pan Pacific » you sleep above the cruise terminal

I realize the Pan Pacific is not in your budget, but I want to illustrate how much of a savings you get by staying away from the cruise terminal.

My fav airport suburb hotel is $167 (Raddison Vancouver airport), but the Accent Inn is $126.

YWCA is $100 USD for a pre-cruise room with two double beds and a private bathroom. I think this is your best choice with a $31 cab ride ($24 USD). The YWCA is not taking May 2018 reservations at this time.
https://ywcavan.org/hotel

I say check again for 2018 rates in the Fall and Christmas.

 

[Ravenne]

I really could use some help from you guys. Last week my family won a contest, the prize is a Disney Cruise to Alaska!!!

Unfortunately it's not as great as it seems, nothing is included except the cruise itself (up to 4 people in a single porthole room) and the taxes/tips (up to $6000).

I interpret this as one oceanview stateroom. There may be some confusion as to whether by "single" you mean one porthole or one stateroom. There are oceanview rooms with two portholes, but any room on the ship is better than my bedroom at home for a week. We spend very little time in the stateroom anyway. Category 11 staterooms on opening day for 2017 were under the $6000 value mentioned, including taxes and tips; if this prize is offered directly through DCL, it likely is valued at opening-day rates and not current fares (which have increased considerably in the past year).

That was my exact thought when I first read it. I don't know what the fine print of the contest is, but $6k for Alaska booking now for 2017 isn't going to go very far. 2018 opening day for a 10A deluxe inside room for 4 was over $6k before tax and tips. Maybe the administrator of the contest has some sort of deal that would make $6k for an oceanview possible. I don't know. It's been said that winning contests isn't always a blessing. There are a lot of ramifications involved.

Either way, OP, best wishes and good luck in making your decision. I would ask for more info from the contest administrator, and fine tooth comb through the fine print. You need to know what costs you're on the hook for if the cruise exceeds $6000.

 

[havaneselover]

I'm cruising Alaska on DCL next summer on a tight budget (single mom). I'm offsetting excursions and other expenses by doing swagbucks (I make about $100/month and do it mainly before work or on the weekends), opening an spg Amex to cover the hotel stay in Vancouver, and buying Disney gift cards at a discount and putting them in my DVA. I did swagbucks last year for the Fantasy and paid with gift cards in my DVA and these two things alone saved me about $2500.

 

[RedSox68]

Another great cruise book is Alaska by Cruise Ship: The Complete Guide to Cruising Alaska - Includes Inside Passage and Glacier Cruises Paperback – May 15, 2017
by Anne Vipond (Author)

We have used her cruise guide books for the Caribbean and Europe also.

Gotta ask -- what are swagbucks?

 

[gilsan]

That's what dh was anticipating in England. But it didn't work that way. While he had no scans done, he was thoroughly checked out by staff at both the urgent care and hospital. He had his work cc out, ready to pay, but nope.

(My browser was being a pain. Editing in more of my post)

Have you had American friends who had to pay at urgent care for a basic sort of triage type of visit? Truly curious.

Here in Quebec, even us Quebecers have to pay if we don't present our card!

In my town's hospital, there is a sign before triage saying that from the moment you are seen by the triage at the emergency, they will charge you fees if you don't present your card.

Here is what our government says:

Canada does not pay for hospital or medical services for visitors. You should get health insurance to cover any medical costs before you come to Canada.

Source: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=424&top=16

I work at our local hospital and I can tell you for a fact that you have to pay before you would get any type scan. We have a large number of Americans in our area and they can not be checked in until they pay the bill. It might be different in an emergency situation, but you should expect a bill. I think in the past it may have been easy for an American to slip in, but all provinces now require your health card to get healthcare.

 

[Flossbolna]

Not sure how things work in Canada, but my husband fell and hit his head while in England, and was able to go to an urgent care AND a hospital to get checked out, and incurred NO costs.

Healthcare works differenty in every country, so it makes sense to check out the rules that apply to you when you travel to the specific country. Assuming that your husband is not a citizen of one of the countries that are a member of the European Economic Area (EEA), those are the rules that applied to him:

Visitors from outside the EEA

Unplanned treatment on a temporary visit to England

If you are visiting England from a non-EEA country, even if you are a former UK resident, you need to ensure you are covered for healthcare through personal medical or travel insurance for the duration of your visit. If you need NHS treatment and you have not arranged insurance, you will be charged at 150% of the standard NHS rate, unless an exemption category applies to either you or the treatment.

If you are a non-EEA national, failure to pay this charge may have an effect on any future immigration application you make, and you risk being turned down.

Some services or treatments carried out in an NHS hospital are exempt from charges, so that they are free to all. These include:

• accident and emergency services – not including emergency treatment if admitted to hospital
• family planning services – this does not include termination of pregnancy or infertility treatment
• treatment for most infectious diseases, including sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
• treatment required for a physical or mental condition caused by torture, female genital mutilation (FGM), domestic violence or sexual violence – this does not apply if you have come to England for the purpose of seeking that treatment

Furthermore, there are certain categories of people who are exempt from charges. View the exemption categories.

Source: http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutN...land/Pages/visitors-from-outside-the-eea.aspx

I added the bold to the text from where you see that because it was an accident, your husband was covered. Even a bad case of the flu would be covered it seems (treatment for most infectious diseases). But I would still not advise to travel to the UK without any medical insurance. Especially because medical travel insurance would also cover things like bringing you home for treatment.

 

[havaneselover]

Another great cruise book is Alaska by Cruise Ship: The Complete Guide to Cruising Alaska - Includes Inside Passage and Glacier Cruises Paperback – May 15, 2017
by Anne Vipond (Author)

We have used her cruise guide books for the Caribbean and Europe also.

Gotta ask -- what are swagbucks?

Website to do various tasks like watching videos or taking surveys (there are also several apps) to earn money. It's a bit of a pain but it helps me afford a cruise every other year (doesn't pay for the cruise but covers the extras for me). Since June 2015, I've earned about $2,500 in Target and PayPal gift cards. There's a great thread on the budget forum that taught me most of what I know about it.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

I don't mean to hijack this thread for a question, but it looks like that has already happened.

DH has flat out missed flights before and wasn't charged extra money for getting on another flight. You were charged?

@bumbershoot When our cruise could not come into the port in Galveston bc of fog and we were waiting for many hours to disembark, we missed our private car to the airport and missed our flight, so we had to book a new car, book a new hotel that night, and new flight the next day. As I said, our travel insurance paid for all of this (trip interruption). Are you saying the airlines would have put us on another flight for free? I don't recall that being an option. We would have requested all 5 of us be on the same flight obviously, since our daughters were very young at the time. I recall very clearly the $200 change fee per ticket applied, and our travel insurance paid for that. Our travel insurance pays for trip delay, interruption, medical, all that good stuff. I'm just curious, why would we have been charged $200 do you think for new flights since your husband never was? Do you think the airline agent who was helping us was incorrect? Or was it because we were requesting all to be on the same flight? I'm asking bc since we are able to specify the dollar amount for coverage for our insurance, maybe I would change the amount in the future to not include the flights.

 

[jhoannam]

If only we could pay the mortgage with a credit card....

When I got the Disney Visa, my promotion was $200 Disney Gift card as long I spent $500 within 3 months. That's totally doable, gas and groceries would get you there.

 

[RedSox68]

When I got the Disney Visa, my promotion was $200 Disney Gift card as long I spent $500 within 3 months. That's totally doable, gas and groceries would get you there.

 

[xlxo]

as long I spent $500 within 3 months. That's totally doable, gas and groceries would get you there.

don't need 3 months....

• home insurance
• restaurant meals
• cellphone bill
• weekend getaway at a hotel
• property taxes
• parking and speeding tickets (love the rebate!)

 

[jhoannam]

don't need 3 months....

• home insurance
• restaurant meals
• cellphone bill
• weekend getaway at a hotel
• property taxes
• parking and speeding tickets (love the rebate!)

 

[darnheather]

Congratulations! I really think you can make this happen. Your children may even remember some of it as it will be a big event.

You can continue to save for Disneyland in a few years. I took my youngest to WDW when she was 7 and the magic was still very much alive for her and she has lovely memories. My oldest was 5 when we went to Disney Paris and she too has lovely memories of that time. No need to take them the same year as the cruise.

I honestly wish I was in the position to gift you and your husband a night in one of the pay restaurants as I understand what it is like to scrimp and save for that dream vacation!

Thrift store luggage may hold up better than today's cheaply made stuff but be careful about weights for the flight.

As for any threads that said if you can't afford x you shouldn't go on a cruise all I can say is what a loud of baloney.

 

[WishingStar78]

Congratulations! I really think you can make this happen. Your children may even remember some of it as it will be a big event.

You can continue to save for Disneyland in a few years. I took my youngest to WDW when she was 7 and the magic was still very much alive for her and she has lovely memories. My oldest was 5 when we went to Disney Paris and she too has lovely memories of that time. No need to take them the same year as the cruise.

I honestly wish I was in the position to gift you and your husband a night in one of the pay restaurants as I understand what it is like to scrimp and save for that dream vacation!

Thrift store luggage may hold up better than today's cheaply made stuff but be careful about weights for the flight.

As for any threads that said if you can't afford x you shouldn't go on a cruise all I can say is what a loud of baloney.

Thank you so much! I love the good nature that I usually find with Disney people such as yourself. I knew what I was getting into when I decided not to work with young children, and I'm happy with that decision about 95% of the time.