Insurance: I had anticipated that I would avail myself of the insurance offered by Holland America in which they had a policy including a feature called "cancellation for any reason". Strangely enough, the insurance was denied because my accommodation was too inexpensive. No matter, I could book insurance privately, so I thought. Thus I was launched into insuranceland. By the time it was all over I even considered to walk away from the booking and take the losses.
Basically, contrary to popular belief, Medicare does not cover anyone traveling abroad and so I felt that it is incumbent to take insurance. Holland America offers a policy which suited my personal needs, but it may not apply to everyone. In any event, I could not duplicate "the cancellation for any reason" except as an add-on, which made it unaffordable. The next best thing was insurance which provided a waiver of pre-existing conditions. Policies of this nature typically provide a window of 14 days after initial deposit on the cruise. Surprise, surprise, the 14 day window applies not only for cruise deposits but also airline tickets bought before the cruise departure date.
The airline ticket was purchased pre-dating the cruise ticket and accordingly the 14 day window was lost. I was referred by an agent, Insuremytrip, to Travelex which has a 21 day window. At the very last minute I was able to secure a policy which contained a waiver.