happysnapper

I hope the man's family have been looked after by Princess. This is a real concern. Surely the ship's Engineer would be responsible to oversee the maintenance of these cylinders. As has been proven numerous times they can become lethal even at the backyard BBQ.

Thanks. Will not give up. Hoping Princess will come good in some way. Our case has gone to their "Solutions Department". Good thought about Office of Fair Trading, it may be necessary.

Not possible, it's Citibank and they don't have a branch where we live.

Have presented a case to Princess. They have had our substantial deposit for nearly 2 years. So hoping something comes out of that even if its a future cruise. CC Insurance through Allianz have said no...have to pay in full before a claim. Have written to MasterCard/Cardservices x 2 pointing out the short comings of the policy but they have never had to courtesy to reply.

IMO, having consideration to fellow travellers, passengers should present at or as near as possible to the time they are allocated. Having said that all sorts of things can happen to delay your arrival.

We spent Christmas 2015 holidaying in Port Vila and the drive around the island showed, at that stage, they where a long way from recovering the last big one. Australian & French construction crews had just arrived to plan rebuilding the waterfront near the markets.

We can cancel for full refund on Princess cruises I think 90 days out.

If the cruise is over 30 days cancellation for a deposit refund is 181 days. In the USA it is 109 days.

It is interesting to read Princess T&Cs as applied to other countries. Very generous conditions in Europe and USA regarding deposit % of cruise cost, and cancellation days prior to cruising. Once again discrimination toward Australian cruisers as their conditions are quiet harsh when compared.

NO for the various reasons given in most of the above posts.

Improve cruise terminals in our capital cities and other large regional coastal regions.

While I'm here may I suggest moving the navy our of our capital cities.

I am starting to believe the wording of insurance policies and other T&Cs are developed in a way that makes them so confusing and unfortunately people do not read the entire content and/or they don't really understand them fully. Even when you contact the company a few times you can get a different interpretation from each consultant.

That is a problem Gut...if you want a cabin in a specific part of the ship or are time restricted they can hold a huge deposit, in the 1000's, for nearly 2 years. If you are not that concerned where you park yourself or are lucky enough to be able to "pack and go" refer to the old adage book a flight early and a cruise late.

Noticed recently a major cruise travel company advertising a large number of Princess Cruises for 2018 with booking secured for a $1 deposit. Am I missing something here, probably in "conditions apply". Princess requires a 20% deposit when booking direct with them!!

As was pointed out by Goldie on talk back this morning...we are all at the mercy of the merchants when "conditions apply" and we just put up with it.

What do they mean by 'travel ticket?' Do they mean an airline or cruise line E ticket?:hearteyes:

From my limited understanding we have to had been issued with our tickets. They don't seem to acknowledge the fact booking an acquiring airline tickets is instant. Booking and paying for a cruise, especially a lengthy one, is rather different.

In a nutshell this is why I always suggest staying the night in Sydney when you return.

Totally agree GUT. As we live nearly 400 kms away from Sydney we always stay the night before and the night after plus a few more if we have any money left:D

And even if you read the T&Cs and PDS much of it seems subject to interpretation and the rest is unfathomable.

:confused:

If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

CC policies are fine if you don't have any problems. Even with my pre existing conditions, and having to pay additional premium for travel insurance it still comes down to a small part of the overall cost. Peace of mind is worth it.

As DFAT says if you can't afford insurance you can't afford to travel.

We can afford insurance. It was just that we have utilised this type of insurance cover a number of times and on 2 occasions we have made small claims without any problems. I submitted this post to warn people that CC travel Insurances are not all the same and to read every word of the product.

So if you pay the full amount now, you can claim the insurance if you choose to cancel closer to the date? :confused:

Exactly, If my husband's health became an issue after final payment in a months time I could have made a claim for $22,000!

Here in Australia I have just experienced the restrictions CC Complimentary Travel Insurance place on their policies. Using my Platinum MasterCard I paid a $4400 deposit on a lengthy cruise but unfortunately due to my husband suffering an unexpected health problem we have had to cancel our trip. As it was past the 181 days when we could get a refund from the cruise company (it was 133 days before the cruise) I contacted the Insurance Company. After a number of emails to and fro and going around in circles I was advised very briefly that according to their Product Disclosure Statement I was not eligible for any refund on my deposit as I had not obtain my overseas ticket! So beware and read every line in their product booklet if you can interpret it.

An update on this:

Citigroup Complimentary Insurance has refused any refund on my $4400 deposit paid with my Platinum MasterCard and I quote the following nice little one liner:-

"Because you have not obtained a travel ticket you are not eligible for the Complimentary Travel Insurance".

So be very wary of CC complimentary insurance and read every line of their Product Disclosure Statement.:mad:

I was going to fill those Yanks in with some serious inside information about Drop Bears. But why spoil the fun. Let them find out for themselves. It's all to do with fake media reports. Or is it!:evilsmile:

An interesting bit of information I discovered when I compared "Allianz Comprehensive Travel Insurance" product disclosure booklet with their product disclosure booklet produced for Citibank/MasterCard "Complimentary Travel Insurance". The former policy definitely covers cancellation fees and lost deposits that have been paid in advance. While the later definitely does not. The documents are similar but at the same time very different.To me this would indicate that the credit card company dictates the limitations on the policy they buy.

I am only posting this information as I delve deeper as I would hate to think other fellow cruises could get caught out in similar circumstances. As we all know things can change overnight.

Thanks for the support. I'm going to go as far as I can with this. But at the moment it's my second concern.

Have seen these pop up on other sites. They look very "scamie" to me.

I have spoken to Allianz and although sympathetic couldn't help. The consultant suggest I contact Citibank/Mastercard as they have the final say on what is covered in the policy. At this stage all I can say to fellow cruisers is be careful if you are relying on certain CC Complimentary Travel Insurances. They are OK if you buy a plane ticket as you pay the entire amount upfront. Not OK if you pay a deposit on a cruise then something unexpected happens before you pay the final payment.