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I've had a few cruising embarrassments; 1. My 1st cruise, I tried to evacuate the ship during the Cruise Staff Safety Drill. My family reminds me of it every cruise when you hear those short and long blasts during the Safety Drill. 2. My dress flew completely over my head on the top deck during Sail Away. 3. My hairdryer in my room caught on fire in my hands... twice! 4. I got locked in a bathroom stall that WOULD NOT open and needed the staff to let me out. 5. I got wiped out by a big breaking wave near the shore on a beach excursion, pulling my swimsuit bottom to my knees and my top completely sideways. I have more.... no one is better at embarrassing themselves than me. And I still love cruising and can't wait to go again. My husband is used to me; he says "she's here to provide the entertainment".
You are so knowledgable, detailed, and on top of things. So it’s very refreshing to see you admit your mistakes and it’s a reminder that no one is perfect. It’s also an inspiration because no matter our level of experience, knowledge or insight in anything, sometimes we still can get it wrong. Thank you!
Sorry Ilana, but I couldn’t help laughing at that cruise embarkation fall. 😂 That is TOTALLY the sort of thing I would do! I can literally trip over air molecules so tripping over a bag while filming would be a breeze. ☺️ Glad you weren’t hurt. 💞
@@LifeWellCruised Topic idea: Perhaps you could do a video on favorite Private Islands you've visited (i.e. Coco Cay, etc). We don't ever get off the ship at the private islands and I'm wondering if we've been missing out! Thanks Ilana!
Gosh, sometimes when I use my blow dryer brush, the steam comes off of it and so it’s out. Hope I don’t set off the fire alarm in my cruise cabins from Mark! L O L! I’m glad that you were OK with all of these mishaps, and that you didn’t get hurt, and that your sweet daddy is feeling so much better!
Forty years ago we went on the Big Red Boat out of Port Canaveral as part of a 2 week Florida vacation. We were halfway done and had stopped at a Laundromat to wash clothes. My plan to put the freshly laundered clothes in our suitcases once we parked at the terminal...but we were not aware the terminal had valet parking. We walked in clutching our net laundry bag full of undies and shorts. We looked like hicks from the sticks for sure!
My husband broke 4 ribs on a zipline excursion in Antigua and got medical attention on the ship. Fortunately, he was able to wait to be medically evacuated on St. Thomas where Medicare is accepted. Thank goodness for great medical travel insurance 😊
@sarao8074 it had been raining and the steps on the hill to the next tree were slippery. He slipped and fell backwards onto a boulder on the side of the hill. 5 other people walked back to the start while we walked up the hill for safety concerns. We should have followed them.
The last cruise my husband and I went on was a mess. First, I fell and ended up dislocating my wrist and I had a small fracture. They put my wrist back in place and gave me a splint to keep on. Thankfully it took the pain away and I waited until we got home to see my dr. A few days later on the cruise, my husband ended up getting the stomach bug that’s famous on cruise ships. So he was down and out for a few days. Thankfully, I didn’t get sick. It was like we weren’t meant to go on that cruise!
Going with your gut is great advice. I had a similar experience in Venice when I was in the Navy. This was in the mid 90’s so a long time before you could just look up reviews on your phone and someone directed us to this one restaurant. However me & one of my friends looked at each other and was like I don’t think so as soon as we walked in. Something just seemed off and I didn’t want to stay so we found somewhere else & it was great.
Regarding pre-cruise reservations, I set reminders to myself at six months and three months out from the cruise date to double-check that I made my flight and hotel reservations. Though, I don’t have nearly as many cruises scheduled as you do! My biggest embarrassment from a cruise: My room number was 10168. However, later in the day on embarkation day, when I couldn’t get in “my cabin,” and I heard people inside, I banged on the door and told them to get out of “my cabin” and I’m calling security! They opened the door looking confused and kind of apologized but we compared sign and sail cards, and I was at cabin 10186!! Of course, I apologized profusely, and now for the first day or two, if the cabin number is on the S&S card, I’ll be sure to check if I’m at the right cabin, or have my reservation with my cabin number because not all cruise lines place the cabin number on those cards.
I appreciate you sharing the fails. Going on first one in January, & I am so worried 😟 about something going wrong. Sometimes, you just see the greener side of things, & some people make things look like nothing ever goes wrong for them. I hope your father is doing better!
I went on an excursion in Puerto Vallarta where we were zip lining. The excursion was promoted as having 19 lines, which I assumed could handle 19 people zip lining in parallel for some reason. I'm 68 years old and in reasonable shape for my age, but my huge mistake was *not* paying attention to the difficulty guide. I assumed that we would be bussed to the top of the hill where we would zip line once down a long line. But no... this was you climb up a mountain jungle path with awkward stone stairs and no hand rails up maybe 20 flights, then zip line down..... go up another couple flights of stairs then zip line down again. All this in 92 degree humid jungle weather. I got to the third zip line and I began to have heat exhaustion (leading to stroke). My vision clouded, everything started having a purple hue, I broke out in a cold sweat and I had trouble breathing. We were up so high that the there were no roads for a motor vehicle to escort me down. The ONLY way down was to take the remaining zip lines. Fortunately, the guide stayed with me for over an hour while they brought me ice and drinks and helped me get back to normal enough for me to continue on the remaining zip lines. When we finally got down to the bottom, I drank copious amounts of iced tea and sat in the shade...missing the other two remaining events in the excursion. I did not realize until we got back that it was a "severe difficulty" excursion rating. From here on out, I will carefully read the difficulty rating!
Oh I'm so sorry this happened to you. Had a similar zip line experience off ship in Amber Cove, Dominican Republic...lots of climbing/stairs between zip lines. I thought I wasnt going to make it. Had done one in Jamaica years before and it was all downhill with no climbing at all. A month again decided to risk it again and zip lined from port in Limon, Costa Rica. It was wonderful...took us to top, all downhill, they picked us up at the bottom. We are age 66 and 76. There were people in their 80's with us!! Don't give us, just research ahead of time.
My husband had an issue and he had to spend about 6 hours on a ship. Being a paramedic he is critical for ER care and he said he was SO impressed and he told them. Definitely medical travel insurance.
Thank you for sharing ur stories and embarrassing ones ur so sweet and brave and well done 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️
Last month I was rushing through the parking lot at the Galveston cruise port when all of a sudden I was flying through the air. My luggage got caught in a hole and came to a sudden stop. I just kept going. I landed on a curb face down. My husband was mortified. Lucky for me I only broke the screen on my phone and scraped up my hands. I never told my son how I broke my phone. So glad you also were ok after your fall
On my honeymoon in Aruba we went on a snorkeling cruise. I thought it would be fine because the boat we were on never went too far from shore. Unfortunately I got the worst seasickness and my husband and I had to be returned to shore in a dingy and they just dropped us off by the road and we had to hail a cab back to the hotel. I didn’t care because I just needed off the boat. But I’ll never forget to take Bonine again! Ended up spending the rest of the day in our room but was fortunately fine the next day!
Love this video! Last month I was in our local airport with my son and daughter-in-law. We were leaving for my first cruise which they had given me. I had my personal bag on top of my carryon, which made it top-heavy. It tipped over, I tripped, and fell on the suitcase. I think I got up faster than I went down. I was fine except for a bruised knee, but boy was I embarrassed. I just wanted to get out of there. 😂
My roller bag did the same, going from one surface to another, through a doorway. And the staff did assist me up quickly. I didn't even inspect where I hurt until I got off the ship.
I have been on 29 cruises. And I just learned a huge lessen that I was never aware of before. We had a cruise booked, but the final payment date had not come yet. We had put down a $600 deposit. It became evident, we had to cancel this cruise and found out that it was considered a Non-refundable deposit. We had put insurance on our cruise and there again assumed it would kick in when we made our final payment, but it didn't. It was paid up front from the $600, so the cruise line travel agent informed us that we were only going to get back a $162. Because our insurance was part of our deposit. Would only pay back 20% of the non-refundable deposit? I had never ever heard of a non-refundable deposit. I will certainly be on the lookout in the future. So I suppose you could say that was a costly fail.
I was on the Sun Princess and had just finished blow drying my hair when the alarm went off. My hair dryer was fine so it had to have been the heat. I got a call on the phone about the alarm and I told them what happened. After that, I always turned down the air conditioner before I dried my hair. That way, the air vents on the ceiling could cool down the air before the air from my brush could travel 10 feet to set off the alarm.
There was one thing that I would have thought about if I'd had the time but when I went to the Bahamas, I had an excursion in Nassau through a park with tropical birds and such that sounded just heavenly. Well, thank you Hurricane Matthew that year! So the park was trashed and they offered either cancellation of the excursion or through the aquarium at the big resort (Atlantis?). I figured I would want to get out and look around so I took the re-book. The reason I'm careful about planning is that I can't do stairs that well, so the park was a great choice. The aquarium, on the other hand, if you're not going up stairs, you're going down stairs. It was lovely but I never thought about asking about the stair situation.
When I was at Eidfjord, I saw people kayaking by the ship. It looked so cool but it wasn’t for my party of three. None of us has kayaking experience and there’s no way my mom will attempt it. We visited the areas near where the ship was docked, it was gorgeous and we had an excursion booked for the spectacular falls.
That's why you need to book your flights when you book your cruise as you could get better prices if booked out of the main holiday seasons where the prices can go up by double or triple the price of the flight .
I had a foot problem on Holland America ship in Caribbean. The medical center aboard was terrific. My US Medicare policy reimbursed most or all of the expense.
OMG! Flashback! I fell like that on my way to my cabin for the first time. I landed on my Level8 carry-on 😂. I'm clumsy and used to falling. No one was there to see me, but I'm sure it was caught on camera 😅
I had an embarrassing time on a Sun Princess cruise in Nov 2024 - I was an avid scuba driver until I was in my 50s so even though I have not dived OR snorkeled for many years and are now 81 I decided to snorkel at the private island. It was awful : my equipment didn't work well and the surf was rough and I was a miserable failure with a lot of people watching me struggle. 😢I ended up covered in sand too.
I’m sorry to hear that, but the important thing is that you were ok in the end. Usually we feel embarrassed, but others really aren’t thinking badly of us
My husband has Type 2 diabetes which is generally well controlled, but on embarkation day, he didn't eat enough protein. During the night, he got up to use the bathroom and fell between the bed and slider. He could not get up and I couldn't do much to help him. To complicate things, he has only one arm after a battle with flesh eating bacteria a few years ago, which makes getting up off the floor challenging to begin with. I wondered if we were going to have to call for help, but eventually he was able to work his way back up onto the bed. We opted to get a high protein breakfast with room service the next morning to avoid him having to walk to a restaurant. No harm, no foul in the end, but a few scary moments there.
My first cruise in January 2024, we went to Megan’s Bay in St. Thomas. Of course, I went in the beautiful water, but as I coming out of the water, the current was a little unexpected for me (I’m 63) and over I went!!! I could not believe how many nice people came to my aid ❤ I was fine, just my ego hurt a bit 😁
Right after we checked in at our muster station my wife had a similar fall to yours. Crew members were at her side immediately, helped her get up and to a chair. Fortunately no more than a bruise or two.
I'm sure you've heard this alot but my family and I (5 adults) took an Hawaii cruise from December 7th to the 14th. Your videos were helpful for us as we were first time cruisers. The only hiccup was pearl harbor. We booked an excursion but it wasn't the one we wanted and only got to see the Arizona memorial then a tour of downtown which I didn't care about. We were able to go back on our own after we got of the ship and checked into our hotel but it was a quick visit and still missed items. So thanks for the videos. Our next one will be Alaska.
About 15 years ago we booked a limo from the airport to the Ft. Lauderdale cruise port... There were 6 of us traveling and none of us realized until we were almost at the Miami port that the driver was taking us to the wrong port. Thankfully we still got to the right port in time. Every cruise since I have made sure to double check that the driver knows what port we are going to.
Great stories. My husband and I once did kayaking in the Bahamas and it was extremely rough. There were 6 kayaks to start. We were the only ones that made it back. The rest needed assistance. I was never so proud of myself in my life because I have spine disease and arthritis, so to get through that was a huge triumph. It's something I'll never forget.
The water bikes are hard to maneuver, the island was windy and it took more strength than We had. it was so embarrassing getting stuck on the net and having to have someone help us out. It seems easy but not for out of shape 50'ish people.
Ilana, I'm glad it turned out alright. Falls can be serious (I left a trail of bloody pillows through the ER and imaging departments from my last bad fall). I hope all your falls result in nothing but bruised knees and pride.
Howdy Ilana, Am subscribed and already hit like button. Windows can't be opened on a cruise ship. Most times anyplace on a main street are tourist traps. I like to go to out of the way places. Takes longer to get there, but, it is worth it. Good picture to show folks what not to do. One time we were on our way to the cruise port and on the highway the taxi had a blown tire.
I took an Alaskan cruise from Vancouver this year. I live in Abbotsford, BC about 90 minute drive from the cruise terminal in Vancouver, so I drove and parked there for the week. Not cheap, but convenient. Unfortunately, I forgot to unplug my dashcam before leaving the car because I was excited to get on the cruise ship. When I got back, my car battery was nearly dead. It had enough power to let me unlock the doors and put the luggage in the car, but not enough to start the car. I had to call BCAA (BC version of CAA or AAA) and the showed up within an hour to boost my car. Could have been a lot worse!
My husband and my first cruise was our honeymoon. We flew to Miami the day of embarkation and the first leg of our flight was delayed, which made our connection very tight. While we made it on the connecting flight to Miami, our luggage did not. We had plenty of time to get on the cruise ship, but we had no luggage other than my carry-on the entire five days. Luckily Delta agreed to reimburse us for any clothing we had to buy on the trip so we went shopping on the ship and got some new shirts, shorts, bathing, suits, shoes… It all worked out!
Thank you so much! I’m a solo traveler and often thought about a kayak excursion but always worried I will be by myself in the kayak and I’m a smaller woman. Plus never done it before. This confirms my instinct to avoid those excursions lol
Thanks for sharing your stories. I don't use a blow dryer. I don't kayak. I have forgotten to book EarlyBird on a flight to/from a cruise, but never a complete flight. I didn't have any medical situations on any of my cruises this year. I don't drive to my cruises.
My most embarrassing moment...I had on a sheer black dress for one of our elegant dinners, and I wore my black bra underneath (of course). What I didn't realize is that the bra had a shimmery fabric which "glowed" through the dress fabric, and I wondered why several men were smiling at me (I just thought they liked the dress) until I saw my pictures from that evening!!! LESSON LEARNED!🙄
In October 2023 I was on a 10-day cruise from Vancouver to Hawaii. By day 8 I became ill with some kind of flu: Fever, aches, pains. Etc. It ruined my entire Hawaii experience as we were there for four days. This was the one vacation I wish I didn’t get sick. This was not something that Dayquil was going to fix either. I NEVER get seasick. With this flu the seasick feeling lasted even though I was no longer on the ship. And the month before that I brought Covid home from WDW. I have not been sick since then. Go figure.
Not on a cruise ship, but on a Mosel ( Germany ) 2 hour river boat trip. As I was waiting to get off, my elbow accidentally bumped the fire alarm and set it off.
I know all about medical emergencies on a cruise. One thing thatI will share is not to use AON Travel Insurance. They are the worst. I’m still waiting on receiving a reimbursement on $16,0000 for an evacuation flight from Coco Cay to Ft. Lauderdale while on a Royal Caribbean cruise in October,2023. You have to pay up front and then file a claim to get reimbursed. 😡🥴
I once forgot to book my flight, I realized about 2 weeks beforehand. Thank goodness i found a special that was going on. I just had so much booked this year that I thought that I had booked it as well.
Last year, 1st night of a cruise, I was leaving the main dining room. About 100 people were lined up for my time dining on either side, when a blind woman walking slightly behind me tripped to me with her walking stick at which time I went flying forward and landed flat on my face. Very embarrassing! Luckily I didn't break any bones. ( I probably should have checked with security and taped the footage for future comic relief, i am sure it wasn't graceful).
I set off the smoke alarm in a hotel in Australia while ironing my clothes. It didn’t catch fire or even smoke, but the heat alone was enough to set it off. Embarrassing!
Then there was the recent story about a woman on an unnamed RC ship who needed a Benadryl, and the medical center tried to charge her $390. Fortunately she went around asking other passengers and someone gave her one.
We blew a tire with a rental car on the way to the cruise and my poor husband had to change the tire on the one close to oncoming traffic so we would get there in time. Once we got there the rental company switched rental cars for us and we made the cruise on time. Another time we were in San Juan PR and spent the day before and day of at the beach thinking we didn't need to board till 6pm and were having so much fun! We got there at 3:45pm think g we still had 2 hours, they were screaming at us to hurry up because all aboard was 4pm not 6! I still have chills thinking about how stupid we were and we had my son and his friend with us. That would have been devastating.
A cruise fail for me was the Carnival Liberty. Never ever ever ever again will I get on that ship. It was so rocky that it was dangerous to take a shower. And that was only one thing....many other issues. As for an embarrassing moment....my husband and I were going to be one of the people on the love and marriage show on the Carnival Magic when we first got married. But unfortunately I couldn't continue.....I was walking up on stage and fell flat in my face and broke my nose. Blood was everywhere. Needless to say...they picked another couple and our honeymoon pictures were horrible because it looked like my husband had punched me. Blue and purple face for a week. 😋
On our recent cruise that I know I have complained to you about 1 million times… my sister woke up in the middle of the night to somebody banging on her door. They said her room was flooded. She stepped into about 3 inches of cold water! Thankfully it was the last night of the Cruise
My biggest fail was just a few weeks back. As a Canadian travelling abroad, I was without internet. I arrived at LAX and discovered at the counter that Air Canada had cancelled my flight home and had rebooked me on United. I went to United who set me up for the trip home, but when I logged into LAX Wi-Fi, my VPN told my phone I was in Toronto and set my phone's clock back 3 hours. Naturally, I missed that flight and ended up on a redeye through San Francisco.
That's so funny with the hair dying incident! The same thing happened to my wife on Carnival Victory a couple years ago. She says she got a call from the bridge right away before the orange jumpsuits came knocking at the door😂 I was already out and about at the time so I didn't get to witness the embarrassing moment 😅
I had a bad knee that needed surgery. When I was walking down into the pool, my foot slipped and it bent my knee more than I was able to bend it on my own, but it didn’t seem too bad. Then I did a stupid thing. Instead of icing it, I got into the hot tub. It must have swollen my knee because after that I couldn’t walk on my leg. We actually had to change to an accommodated cabin. Even though the ship was only half full and they didn’t have a pair of crutches on board, they wouldn’t let me use a wheelchair because they said they were just for emergencies. I had to spend the last two full days in my cabin.
HELP So I don't have a fail too. Lol. We're trying to go for spring break and I can't decide. Unfortunately, Royal has priced us out. I've only been on Royal years ago. So I have found a Carnival Celebration cruise to Nassau, Amber Cove and Grand Turk and an MSC Seascape to Grand Cayman, Jamaica ( can't remember which port), Cozumel and Ocean Cay about the same price. Which would be best for kids? I'm worried they will be overcrowded. There are a couple of others that are higher in price on Norwegian and Celebrity that might work too.
We landed in Seattle at 8pm the night before our last Alaska cruise and looking at the app to get the hotel address for uber. I realized I never booked the hotel that I told all our other family members to stay at. So while taxiing to our gate I was frantically trying to get a room and lucked out.
My sister slept through the ‘emergency drill’ training announcement / heads up … woke up to ‘alarms’ … bolted to the muster station thinking it was a legit emergency … lucky no jumping onto lifeboats was actually needed as she was sans undergarments 😩staff may have needed counselling 😮
Well there is always the crying meltdowns that are in the hallway because you don’t have your key card to get in your room and don’t have cell service and can’t find any of your family members and it’s been forever. This happened to me 2 times lol but the room attendant nicely let me in with his key and I tried to avoid him for the rest of the cruise it was that embarrassing. Pay the extra for cell service especially when with a large family.
The stumbling isn't funny. Just glad you weren't injured. My wife slipped on the steps at a hot tub, last week, and fractured her wrist. It'll be a while until surgery. The ship personnel were attentive and concerned.
Assuming your Dad is also Canadian, which medical travel insurance did he use? It's good to know the companies that treat customers right whenever they actually need it. Fortunately, I haven't had to use mine yet, but I never know if I really can count on them.
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I've had a few cruising embarrassments;
1. My 1st cruise, I tried to evacuate the ship during the Cruise Staff Safety Drill. My family reminds me of it every cruise when you hear those short and long blasts during the Safety Drill.
2. My dress flew completely over my head on the top deck during Sail Away.
3. My hairdryer in my room caught on fire in my hands... twice!
4. I got locked in a bathroom stall that WOULD NOT open and needed the staff to let me out.
5. I got wiped out by a big breaking wave near the shore on a beach excursion, pulling my swimsuit bottom to my knees and my top completely sideways.
I have more.... no one is better at embarrassing themselves than me. And I still love cruising and can't wait to go again. My husband is used to me; he says "she's here to provide the entertainment".
You've had some great "cruise stories"! 😂
You are so knowledgable, detailed, and on top of things. So it’s very refreshing to see you admit your mistakes and it’s a reminder that no one is perfect. It’s also an inspiration because no matter our level of experience, knowledge or insight in anything, sometimes we still can get it wrong. Thank you!
I'm glad you liked the video and appreciate your kind words!
That fall was made to be shared! A film director could not have staged it better. Thank you! ❤
lol we need to laugh at ourselves, right? 😂
Moments like that entrance keep us humble and human , glad that you only hurt your pride , lol
lol right? 😂
Sorry Ilana, but I couldn’t help laughing at that cruise embarkation fall. 😂 That is TOTALLY the sort of thing I would do! I can literally trip over air molecules so tripping over a bag while filming would be a breeze. ☺️ Glad you weren’t hurt. 💞
lol I could laugh after too 😂
Loved this video and I feel for you on all counts! You're such a good sport and a wonderful cruise expert/UA-camr. Thanks for all you do.
lol I’m glad you enjoyed the video! I appreciate your kind words 🛳️😂👏
@@LifeWellCruised Topic idea: Perhaps you could do a video on favorite Private Islands you've visited (i.e. Coco Cay, etc). We don't ever get off the ship at the private islands and I'm wondering if we've been missing out! Thanks Ilana!
I think for dramatic effect, you should have rewound the fall for a second view. Like, I need to watch that hockey goal again, eh!
😂
That fall is totally something I would do, so I think people falling cracks me up so much because it’s so relatable.
Gotta make that grand entrance! Now I don't feel so bad about doing the same thing at a hotel. LOL! Glad you weren't hurt.
Oh my!! lol seems we had a similar experience
Kudos to you for sharing these stories!
Ditto!
Thanks for watching & for your kindness
Thanks for sharing, it takes a lot to share these personal moments.
Thanks for watching! I appreciate your kind words. 😊
OMG 😨 Love the reaction of the crew that saw you fall when boarding MSC. Good that all was well ;-)
They were great 😂
The way you pronounce "pasta;" so Canadian!
lol sometimes I don’t realize
Ilana you’re the best!! Thankyou for work this year!
Thank you so much for your support! I appreciate your kind words :)
Oh no! All of the other kayaks excursions I've seen the single person went with a guide. The poor girl.
Gosh, sometimes when I use my blow dryer brush, the steam comes off of it and so it’s out. Hope I don’t set off the fire alarm in my cruise cabins from Mark! L O L! I’m glad that you were OK with all of these mishaps, and that you didn’t get hurt, and that your sweet daddy is feeling so much better!
Love your videos, so informative, so personal, and humorous !!!
@@harryjones8824 awe I appreciate that! Thanks for watching
Forty years ago we went on the Big Red Boat out of Port Canaveral as part of a 2 week Florida vacation. We were halfway done and had stopped at a Laundromat to wash clothes. My plan to put the freshly laundered clothes in our suitcases once we parked at the terminal...but we were not aware the terminal had valet parking. We walked in clutching our net laundry bag full of undies and shorts. We looked like hicks from the sticks for sure!
lol love this story
My husband broke 4 ribs on a zipline excursion in Antigua and got medical attention on the ship. Fortunately, he was able to wait to be medically evacuated on St. Thomas where Medicare is accepted. Thank goodness for great medical travel insurance 😊
How did that happen? Did he fall from the line? Was the equipment faulty?
@sarao8074 it had been raining and the steps on the hill to the next tree were slippery. He slipped and fell backwards onto a boulder on the side of the hill. 5 other people walked back to the start while we walked up the hill for safety concerns. We should have followed them.
Wow, glad he’s ok
@LifeWellCruised many thanks, no more strenuous excursions for us.
The last cruise my husband and I went on was a mess. First, I fell and ended up dislocating my wrist and I had a small fracture. They put my wrist back in place and gave me a splint to keep on. Thankfully it took the pain away and I waited until we got home to see my dr. A few days later on the cruise, my husband ended up getting the stomach bug that’s famous on cruise ships. So he was down and out for a few days. Thankfully, I didn’t get sick. It was like we weren’t meant to go on that cruise!
Oh no!! That really was a “disaster” cruise. Hopefully the only “bad” one
@ Thankfully, with all of the cruises we’ve been on, it’s been the only bad one. Lol
I appreciate your honesty. We all make mistakes, but they are opportunities for learning
Going with your gut is great advice. I had a similar experience in Venice when I was in the Navy. This was in the mid 90’s so a long time before you could just look up reviews on your phone and someone directed us to this one restaurant. However me & one of my friends looked at each other and was like I don’t think so as soon as we walked in. Something just seemed off and I didn’t want to stay so we found somewhere else & it was great.
That’s a great story- sometimes our instincts are our best guide!
Thanks for sharing. I too have fallen spectacularly on a cruise ship...no injuries but my how embarrassing 😂
I forgot our passports in the hotel safe. The wonderful woman directing traffic got me back to the hotel with plenty of time.
@@annasteiger7817 oh my!!
Regarding pre-cruise reservations, I set reminders to myself at six months and three months out from the cruise date to double-check that I made my flight and hotel reservations. Though, I don’t have nearly as many cruises scheduled as you do!
My biggest embarrassment from a cruise: My room number was 10168. However, later in the day on embarkation day, when I couldn’t get in “my cabin,” and I heard people inside, I banged on the door and told them to get out of “my cabin” and I’m calling security! They opened the door looking confused and kind of apologized but we compared sign and sail cards, and I was at cabin 10186!! Of course, I apologized profusely, and now for the first day or two, if the cabin number is on the S&S card, I’ll be sure to check if I’m at the right cabin, or have my reservation with my cabin number because not all cruise lines place the cabin number on those cards.
Love your information!!!
I appreciate you sharing the fails. Going on first one in January, & I am so worried 😟 about something going wrong. Sometimes, you just see the greener side of things, & some people make things look like nothing ever goes wrong for them. I hope your father is doing better!
@@adrianakessler384 I’m sure it’s going to go well, but true things aren’t always exactly as we plan :)
I went on an excursion in Puerto Vallarta where we were zip lining. The excursion was promoted as having 19 lines, which I assumed could handle 19 people zip lining in parallel for some reason. I'm 68 years old and in reasonable shape for my age, but my huge mistake was *not* paying attention to the difficulty guide. I assumed that we would be bussed to the top of the hill where we would zip line once down a long line. But no... this was you climb up a mountain jungle path with awkward stone stairs and no hand rails up maybe 20 flights, then zip line down..... go up another couple flights of stairs then zip line down again. All this in 92 degree humid jungle weather. I got to the third zip line and I began to have heat exhaustion (leading to stroke). My vision clouded, everything started having a purple hue, I broke out in a cold sweat and I had trouble breathing. We were up so high that the there were no roads for a motor vehicle to escort me down. The ONLY way down was to take the remaining zip lines. Fortunately, the guide stayed with me for over an hour while they brought me ice and drinks and helped me get back to normal enough for me to continue on the remaining zip lines. When we finally got down to the bottom, I drank copious amounts of iced tea and sat in the shade...missing the other two remaining events in the excursion. I did not realize until we got back that it was a "severe difficulty" excursion rating. From here on out, I will carefully read the difficulty rating!
Oh I'm so sorry this happened to you. Had a similar zip line experience off ship in Amber Cove, Dominican Republic...lots of climbing/stairs between zip lines. I thought I wasnt going to make it. Had done one in Jamaica years before and it was all downhill with no climbing at all. A month again decided to risk it again and zip lined from port in Limon, Costa Rica. It was wonderful...took us to top, all downhill, they picked us up at the bottom. We are age 66 and 76. There were people in their 80's with us!! Don't give us, just research ahead of time.
Oh my!! Thanks for sharing this and I’m glad you were ok
My husband had an issue and he had to spend about 6 hours on a ship. Being a paramedic he is critical for ER care and he said he was SO impressed and he told them. Definitely medical travel insurance.
I’m glad to hear he had a positive experience
Thanks for sharing. It's easy for viewers to assume that all travel experiences are flawless 😅
Thank you for sharing ur stories and embarrassing ones ur so sweet and brave and well done 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️
Thanks so much for your kind words! 😊
Great Video. Made me smile, I have had a similar incident.
Glad to hear you can relate! 😂
Last month I was rushing through the parking lot at the Galveston cruise port when all of a sudden I was flying through the air. My luggage got caught in a hole and came to a sudden stop. I just kept going. I landed on a curb face down. My husband was mortified. Lucky for me I only broke the screen on my phone and scraped up my hands. I never told my son how I broke my phone. So glad you also were ok after your fall
On my honeymoon in Aruba we went on a snorkeling cruise. I thought it would be fine because the boat we were on never went too far from shore. Unfortunately I got the worst seasickness and my husband and I had to be returned to shore in a dingy and they just dropped us off by the road and we had to hail a cab back to the hotel. I didn’t care because I just needed off the boat. But I’ll never forget to take Bonine again! Ended up spending the rest of the day in our room but was fortunately fine the next day!
Oh no!!!
Your posts are really informative thank you.
Glad you like them! Thanks for watching 😊
Thank you for your fails, we are all dealing with stuff and your honesty is helpful.
Thanks for watching! I appreciate your kind words. 😊
OMG, that fall is SO funny! Glad you weren't hurt and can laugh at yourself.❤
lol I figure I can either laugh or cry 😂
Love this video! Last month I was in our local airport with my son and daughter-in-law. We were leaving for my first cruise which they had given me. I had my personal bag on top of my carryon, which made it top-heavy. It tipped over, I tripped, and fell on the suitcase. I think I got up faster than I went down. I was fine except for a bruised knee, but boy was I embarrassed. I just wanted to get out of there. 😂
Oh no!! lol what a way to start. Thankfully you were ok :)
My roller bag did the same, going from one surface to another, through a doorway. And the staff did assist me up quickly. I didn't even inspect where I hurt until I got off the ship.
I hope you were ok! It’s amazing it happens quickly
I have been on 29 cruises. And I just learned a huge lessen that I was never aware of before. We had a cruise booked, but the final payment date had not come yet. We had put down a $600 deposit. It became evident, we had to cancel this cruise and found out that it was considered a Non-refundable deposit.
We had put insurance on our cruise and there again assumed it would kick in when we made our final payment, but it didn't. It was paid up front from the $600, so the cruise line travel agent informed us that we were only going to get back a $162. Because our insurance was part of our deposit.
Would only pay back 20% of the non-refundable deposit? I had never ever heard of a non-refundable deposit. I will certainly be on the lookout in the future. So I suppose you could say that was a costly fail.
I was on the Sun Princess and had just finished blow drying my hair when the alarm went off. My hair dryer was fine so it had to have been the heat. I got a call on the phone about the alarm and I told them what happened. After that, I always turned down the air conditioner before I dried my hair. That way, the air vents on the ceiling could cool down the air before the air from my brush could travel 10 feet to set off the alarm.
That's a great tip! I’ll have to remember that for future cruise trips. 😂
There was one thing that I would have thought about if I'd had the time but when I went to the Bahamas, I had an excursion in Nassau through a park with tropical birds and such that sounded just heavenly. Well, thank you Hurricane Matthew that year! So the park was trashed and they offered either cancellation of the excursion or through the aquarium at the big resort (Atlantis?). I figured I would want to get out and look around so I took the re-book. The reason I'm careful about planning is that I can't do stairs that well, so the park was a great choice. The aquarium, on the other hand, if you're not going up stairs, you're going down stairs. It was lovely but I never thought about asking about the stair situation.
Oh no! That's too bad
Thank you so much for sharing so much information about cruises and your experiences ❤
Thanks for watching! I appreciate your kind words. 😊
@ ❤️
When I was at Eidfjord, I saw people kayaking by the ship. It looked so cool but it wasn’t for my party of three. None of us has kayaking experience and there’s no way my mom will attempt it. We visited the areas near where the ship was docked, it was gorgeous and we had an excursion booked for the spectacular falls.
So beautiful there!
That's why you need to book your flights when you book your cruise as you could get better prices if booked out of the main holiday seasons where the prices can go up by double or triple the price of the flight .
lol I fall all the time too and I just crack up about it 😅
I had a foot problem on Holland America ship in Caribbean. The medical center aboard was terrific. My US Medicare policy reimbursed most or all of the expense.
Great video, everything is always so perfect in videos, nice to see I am not the only one who messes up, lol
We all have our moments! 😄
OMG! Flashback! I fell like that on my way to my cabin for the first time. I landed on my Level8 carry-on 😂. I'm clumsy and used to falling. No one was there to see me, but I'm sure it was caught on camera 😅
I had an embarrassing time on a Sun Princess cruise in Nov 2024 - I was an avid scuba driver until I was in my 50s so even though I have not dived OR snorkeled for many years and are now 81 I decided to snorkel at the private island. It was awful : my equipment didn't work well and the surf was rough and I was a miserable failure with a lot of people watching me struggle. 😢I ended up covered in sand too.
I’m sorry to hear that, but the important thing is that you were ok in the end. Usually we feel embarrassed, but others really aren’t thinking badly of us
My husband has Type 2 diabetes which is generally well controlled, but on embarkation day, he didn't eat enough protein. During the night, he got up to use the bathroom and fell between the bed and slider. He could not get up and I couldn't do much to help him. To complicate things, he has only one arm after a battle with flesh eating bacteria a few years ago, which makes getting up off the floor challenging to begin with. I wondered if we were going to have to call for help, but eventually he was able to work his way back up onto the bed. We opted to get a high protein breakfast with room service the next morning to avoid him having to walk to a restaurant. No harm, no foul in the end, but a few scary moments there.
Oh my!! What a difficult situation. Glad he was ok
I tend to fall a lot. How embarrassing for you! You really made an entrance!
lol yup
My first cruise in January 2024, we went to Megan’s Bay in St. Thomas. Of course, I went in the beautiful water, but as I coming out of the water, the current was a little unexpected for me (I’m 63) and over I went!!! I could not believe how many nice people came to my aid ❤ I was fine, just my ego hurt a bit 😁
Oh, I know that feeling! The ego bruises 😂
My daughter in law did that same fall getting off the ship on the last day, but she broke her foot , she got up and kept walking 😮
Right after we checked in at our muster station my wife had a similar fall to yours. Crew members were at her side immediately, helped her get up and to a chair. Fortunately no more than a bruise or two.
Glad she was ok!
I'm sure you've heard this alot but my family and I (5 adults) took an Hawaii cruise from December 7th to the 14th. Your videos were helpful for us as we were first time cruisers. The only hiccup was pearl harbor. We booked an excursion but it wasn't the one we wanted and only got to see the Arizona memorial then a tour of downtown which I didn't care about. We were able to go back on our own after we got of the ship and checked into our hotel but it was a quick visit and still missed items. So thanks for the videos. Our next one will be Alaska.
About 15 years ago we booked a limo from the airport to the Ft. Lauderdale cruise port... There were 6 of us traveling and none of us realized until we were almost at the Miami port that the driver was taking us to the wrong port. Thankfully we still got to the right port in time. Every cruise since I have made sure to double check that the driver knows what port we are going to.
Oh no!! Good thing you realized
hope you have a great New's Year
You too!
Great stories. My husband and I once did kayaking in the Bahamas and it was extremely rough. There were 6 kayaks to start. We were the only ones that made it back. The rest needed assistance. I was never so proud of myself in my life because I have spine disease and arthritis, so to get through that was a huge triumph. It's something I'll never forget.
Wow!! It can be more strenuous than we’d think
The water bikes are hard to maneuver, the island was windy and it took more strength than We had. it was so embarrassing getting stuck on the net and having to have someone help us out. It seems easy but not for out of shape 50'ish people.
I can relate :)
Thank you for this vulnerable video. I appreciate your honesty 😊
I appreciate your kind words, and I’m glad you enjoyed the video! 😊
Ilana, I'm glad it turned out alright. Falls can be serious (I left a trail of bloody pillows through the ER and imaging departments from my last bad fall). I hope all your falls result in nothing but bruised knees and pride.
Poor you!!
@@LifeWellCruised Cruising is the reward for surviving concussions!
Howdy Ilana, Am subscribed and already hit like button. Windows can't be opened on a cruise ship. Most times anyplace on a main street are tourist traps. I like to go to out of the way places. Takes longer to get there, but, it is worth it. Good picture to show folks what not to do. One time we were on our way to the cruise port and on the highway the taxi had a blown tire.
Oh no!!
Your hair looks great.
Thank you!
I took an Alaskan cruise from Vancouver this year. I live in Abbotsford, BC about 90 minute drive from the cruise terminal in Vancouver, so I drove and parked there for the week. Not cheap, but convenient. Unfortunately, I forgot to unplug my dashcam before leaving the car because I was excited to get on the cruise ship. When I got back, my car battery was nearly dead. It had enough power to let me unlock the doors and put the luggage in the car, but not enough to start the car. I had to call BCAA (BC version of CAA or AAA) and the showed up within an hour to boost my car. Could have been a lot worse!
That sounds like a stressful situation - glad it wasn't worse!
My husband and my first cruise was our honeymoon. We flew to Miami the day of embarkation and the first leg of our flight was delayed, which made our connection very tight. While we made it on the connecting flight to Miami, our luggage did not. We had plenty of time to get on the cruise ship, but we had no luggage other than my carry-on the entire five days. Luckily Delta agreed to reimburse us for any clothing we had to buy on the trip so we went shopping on the ship and got some new shirts, shorts, bathing, suits, shoes… It all worked out!
That is so stressful! It’s good that you guys still had a good time!
Thank you so much! I’m a solo traveler and often thought about a kayak excursion but always worried I will be by myself in the kayak and I’m a smaller woman. Plus never done it before. This confirms my instinct to avoid those excursions lol
I think if you let them know, you could either join someone else or go with a guide. I definitely wouldn’t go in alone 😬
Thanks for sharing your stories. I don't use a blow dryer. I don't kayak. I have forgotten to book EarlyBird on a flight to/from a cruise, but never a complete flight. I didn't have any medical situations on any of my cruises this year. I don't drive to my cruises.
I book flights twice because I forgot I’d already booked them!
I totally agree always go with ur gut instinct 🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
My most embarrassing moment...I had on a sheer black dress for one of our elegant dinners, and I wore my black bra underneath (of course). What I didn't realize is that the bra had a shimmery fabric which "glowed" through the dress fabric, and I wondered why several men were smiling at me (I just thought they liked the dress) until I saw my pictures from that evening!!! LESSON LEARNED!🙄
In October 2023 I was on a 10-day cruise from Vancouver to Hawaii. By day 8 I became ill with some kind of flu: Fever, aches, pains. Etc. It ruined my entire Hawaii experience as we were there for four days. This was the one vacation I wish I didn’t get sick. This was not something that Dayquil was going to fix either. I NEVER get seasick. With this flu the seasick feeling lasted even though I was no longer on the ship. And the month before that I brought Covid home from WDW. I have not been sick since then. Go figure.
That’s really too bad!! Sorry to hear
Not on a cruise ship, but on a Mosel ( Germany ) 2 hour river boat trip. As I was waiting to get off, my elbow accidentally bumped the fire alarm and set it off.
I know all about medical emergencies on a cruise. One thing thatI will share is not to use AON Travel Insurance. They are the worst. I’m still waiting on receiving a reimbursement on $16,0000 for an evacuation flight from Coco Cay to Ft. Lauderdale while on a Royal Caribbean cruise in October,2023. You have to pay up front and then file a claim to get reimbursed. 😡🥴
Is it wrong for me to laugh at Ilana for the tumble boarding the ship. 😊 I only laugh because I have stumbled leaving Paradise Beach 😂
lol I laugh too! Poor you! Hope you were ok 🏖️😂
@@LifeWellCruised I was good. Just missed a high step. I laugh about it now.
I once forgot to book my flight, I realized about 2 weeks beforehand. Thank goodness i found a special that was going on. I just had so much booked this year that I thought that I had booked it as well.
I can totally relate
Last year, 1st night of a cruise, I was leaving the main dining room. About 100 people were lined up for my time dining on either side,
when a blind woman
walking slightly behind me tripped to me with her walking stick at which time I went flying forward and landed flat on my face. Very embarrassing! Luckily I didn't break any bones.
( I probably should have checked with security and taped the footage for future comic relief, i am sure it wasn't graceful).
I set off the smoke alarm in a hotel in Australia while ironing my clothes. It didn’t catch fire or even smoke, but the heat alone was enough to set it off. Embarrassing!
lol relatable
Your trip/fall reminds me of myself! Glad you weren’t hurt but I swear sometimes a hand reaches up and grabs my foot/ankle causing me to fall/trip!!!
I know that feeling! The universe has a sense of humor sometimes
My only fail was that I was still swaying off the ship at the McDonald’s in the Lockyer Valley
And I nearly stacked an e scooter on two of the shore days
Wow Ilana, have not had any fails, yet! but you have an amazing spirit through all your ‘fails’ thanks for alerting us to the possibilities 🚢🙂
lol, at least we can laugh 😂
I got a sinus infection on a transatlantic last month. :(. However, the medical staff on the MSC Seaside were awesome! :)
Glad to hear that
Then there was the recent story about a woman on an unnamed RC ship who needed a Benadryl, and the medical center tried to charge her $390. Fortunately she went around asking other passengers and someone gave her one.
I heard, honestly Benadryl was always on my medical/first aid packing list when mg kids were young, but it’s good to bring at any age
We blew a tire with a rental car on the way to the cruise and my poor husband had to change the tire on the one close to oncoming traffic so we would get there in time. Once we got there the rental company switched rental cars for us and we made the cruise on time. Another time we were in San Juan PR and spent the day before and day of at the beach thinking we didn't need to board till 6pm and were having so much fun! We got there at 3:45pm think g we still had 2 hours, they were screaming at us to hurry up because all aboard was 4pm not 6! I still have chills thinking about how stupid we were and we had my son and his friend with us. That would have been devastating.
A cruise fail for me was the Carnival Liberty. Never ever ever ever again will I get on that ship. It was so rocky that it was dangerous to take a shower. And that was only one thing....many other issues. As for an embarrassing moment....my husband and I were going to be one of the people on the love and marriage show on the Carnival Magic when we first got married. But unfortunately I couldn't continue.....I was walking up on stage and fell flat in my face and broke my nose. Blood was everywhere. Needless to say...they picked another couple and our honeymoon pictures were horrible because it looked like my husband had punched me. Blue and purple face for a week. 😋
Oh no!! Poor you
On our recent cruise that I know I have complained to you about 1 million times… my sister woke up in the middle of the night to somebody banging on her door. They said her room was flooded. She stepped into about 3 inches of cold water! Thankfully it was the last night of the Cruise
Eek
As Benny Hill would say "here are some of those awful moments when things don't go as planneb" Enjoy your trip see you in the fall (:
My biggest fail was just a few weeks back. As a Canadian travelling abroad, I was without internet. I arrived at LAX and discovered at the counter that Air Canada had cancelled my flight home and had rebooked me on United. I went to United who set me up for the trip home, but when I logged into LAX Wi-Fi, my VPN told my phone I was in Toronto and set my phone's clock back 3 hours. Naturally, I missed that flight and ended up on a redeye through San Francisco.
Oh no!! That sounds like a nightmare!! 😬
@@LifeWellCruised I'm 6'2" and have issues with my knees, hips and back. The nightmare is just being in coach.
You "fell for MSC!" Haha 😂
lol gotta laugh 😂
I’m going on the Seascape this coming year and looking forward to it! Hoping not to make the entrance that you did 😘
lol as long as it’s less eventful 😂
That's so funny with the hair dying incident! The same thing happened to my wife on Carnival Victory a couple years ago. She says she got a call from the bridge right away before the orange jumpsuits came knocking at the door😂 I was already out and about at the time so I didn't get to witness the embarrassing moment 😅
lol they are definitely equipped 😂
I had a bad knee that needed surgery. When I was walking down into the pool, my foot slipped and it bent my knee more than I was able to bend it on my own, but it didn’t seem too bad. Then I did a stupid thing. Instead of icing it, I got into the hot tub. It must have swollen my knee because after that I couldn’t walk on my leg. We actually had to change to an accommodated cabin. Even though the ship was only half full and they didn’t have a pair of crutches on board, they wouldn’t let me use a wheelchair because they said they were just for emergencies. I had to spend the last two full days in my cabin.
HELP So I don't have a fail too. Lol. We're trying to go for spring break and I can't decide. Unfortunately, Royal has priced us out. I've only been on Royal years ago. So I have found a Carnival Celebration cruise to Nassau, Amber Cove and Grand Turk and an MSC Seascape to Grand Cayman, Jamaica ( can't remember which port), Cozumel and Ocean Cay about the same price. Which would be best for kids? I'm worried they will be overcrowded. There are a couple of others that are higher in price on Norwegian and Celebrity that might work too.
We landed in Seattle at 8pm the night before our last Alaska cruise and looking at the app to get the hotel address for uber. I realized I never booked the hotel that I told all our other family members to stay at. So while taxiing to our gate I was frantically trying to get a room and lucked out.
Oh no!! Glad you were able to find a room - that would have been a nightmare
My sister slept through the ‘emergency drill’ training announcement / heads up … woke up to ‘alarms’ … bolted to the muster station thinking it was a legit emergency … lucky no jumping onto lifeboats was actually needed as she was sans undergarments 😩staff may have needed counselling 😮
Well there is always the crying meltdowns that are in the hallway because you don’t have your key card to get in your room and don’t have cell service and can’t find any of your family members and it’s been forever. This happened to me 2 times lol but the room attendant nicely let me in with his key and I tried to avoid him for the rest of the cruise it was that embarrassing. Pay the extra for cell service especially when with a large family.
The stumbling isn't funny. Just glad you weren't injured.
My wife slipped on the steps at a hot tub, last week, and fractured her wrist. It'll be a while until surgery. The ship personnel were attentive and concerned.
I’m so sorry to hear this happened to her! I hope her recovery is as quick as possible
Assuming your Dad is also Canadian, which medical travel insurance did he use? It's good to know the companies that treat customers right whenever they actually need it. Fortunately, I haven't had to use mine yet, but I never know if I really can count on them.
You did end up making an Ilana blooper video. ;)
I'm so glad you enjoyed the bloopers! 😉
So glad your dad is okay and went to the medical center 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️
We were very grateful
I think someone you know sells a really good cruise planner.