Princess Insurance Question

Morning! I just e-mailed my TA that we will be cancelling our cruise. Mother in law is in the hospital. She was diagnosed with dementia and my husband (her son) is applying for conservatorship. Also, my sister in law is in Intensive Care Unit. Not sure what the future will bring with her. Our cruise is scheduled for January 29th. Does anyone know if we will get a cruise credit or a refund?

Did you buy cancellation insurance?

Yes, we have Princess Insurance

Yes, we have Princess Insurance

I would hope a refund given your situation.

So sorry for your circumstances.

I've never bought insurance thru a cruise line, but with the private insurance that I purchase, the hospitalization or death of a first degree relative is a covered cause for cancelation. That means that the hospitalization of your husband's mother will would count. The SIL would not as she is not a first degree relative. You'll need some paperwork--either a letter from her doctor or a copy of the admission/discharge papers. It can't hurt to mention the SIL as well. If SIL is husband's sister, she'll qualify. If she is the wife of your brother, likely not.

Bottom line, it will depend on the fine print in the insurance contract. So sorry for the situation.

Morning! I just e-mailed my TA that we will be cancelling our cruise. Mother in law is in the hospital. She was diagnosed with dementia and my husband (her son) is applying for conservatorship. Also, my sister in law is in Intensive Care Unit. Not sure what the future will bring with her. Our cruise is scheduled for January 29th. Does anyone know if we will get a cruise credit or a refund?

According to that document (page 3), you will receive a cash refund if you cancel because of "sickness, injury or death to yourself, a traveling companion, or members of either of your immediate families which is diagnosed and treated by a physician at the time your cruise vacation is terminated."

Immediate family is defined fairly broadly as follows (page 7): "mmedite Famiy Member includes you or the Traveling Companion's spouse, child, spouse's child, son-daughter-in law, parent(s), sibling(s), grandparent(s), grandchild, step brother-sister, step-parent(s), parent(s)-in-law, brother-sister-in-law, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, Domestic Partner or ward." So either monther-in-law or sister-in-law would be covered.

However, there is one potential problem - the pre-existing conditions exclusion (page 3). Princes ill not give a cash refund for "a condition that first present, worsens, becomes acute, or symptoms causing a person to seek diagnosis, care or treatment, or promotes a chane in medication, during the 60 days before the Cancellation Fee Waiver Prgram is purchased." This is the date when you a actually paid for the PVP - not the date you signed up for it wiour travel agent or on their website. If you paid only the deposit before final payment, thenyou purchased the Cancellation FeeWaiver Program at final payment.

If anything changed in both your mother-in-law's and your sister-in-law's condition within the 60 days prior to purchase (probably the final payment date), then the PVP would not provide a cash refund. Note that you only need one of their conditions to qualify in order to get the cash refund.

This is why I normally purchase PVP well before final payment. When I have a 60-day window with no changes in any family members medical status, then I all Princess to purchase the PVP.

We had a very similar situation year before last. We had Princess Platinum insurance and had to cancel 5 days before cruise due to In-law admission to Hospice. We used "cancel for any reason" clause and received EZ-Air cash refund to credit card and 100% of Cruise fare as future cruise credit (good until December of following year). Just followed instructions in Insurance Policy document. Both refunds completed within 2 weeks. Very satisfied with Princess Platinum Insurance.

Morning! I just e-mailed my TA that we will be cancelling our cruise. Mother in law is in the hospital. She was diagnosed with dementia and my husband (her son) is applying for conservatorship. Also, my sister in law is in Intensive Care Unit. Not sure what the future will bring with her. Our cruise is scheduled for January 29th. Does anyone know if we will get a cruise credit or a refund?

You should get a refund. The best and most accurate way to know for sure is to call Princess Insurance.

So sorry to hear this news and will hope things improve.

Honestly - Princess's pre-existing clause is so confusing when it relates to relatives. I called once and they did say it related to relatives back home. Others have called and say it doesn't. For this reason, I always book with a 3rd party where I know pre-existing conditions are covered.

Hopefully if the one relative isn't covered, the other one will be. I hope the OP comes back and let us know what their experience is.

I agree - best answer will come direct from the insurance company.

We used "cancel for any reason" clause and received EZ-Air cash refund to credit card

That is a change from the past. It used to be that the airfare would be treated by the airline's normal practice which is usually a credit that must be used within one year from date of purchase.

I thought I would give an update on what happened with our insurance claim. It took awhile but we did get a refund. 2 checks came in the mail yesterday. We provided a copy of the conservatorship paperwork that went to probate court, along with power of attorney paperwork. My mother in law's doctor refused to complete the paperwork that the insurance company wanted signed. We have no idea why he wouldn't sign because he did sign the conservatorship paperwork, which had a diagnosis, date of admission, etc. Once the paperwork was submitted to the insurance company, we had to call the insurance company 3 times because no one would give us an update....just that it was in process. We finally sent them an e-mail last week explaining how we have not heard anything and all of a sudden, we got an e-mail that said we would get a refund.

Update on my sister in law. She is now in rehab and the doctors are saying she will probably go home in a few weeks. When I first posted, we thought we were going to a funeral. She still has medical issues but she is doing fantastic.

Thank you all for posting.

Good to hear the outcome and that your daughter in law is okay. We've had to cancel one Princess cruise with Princess insurance and one river cruise with independent insurance. We were very impressed with the Princess insurance, not so much with the independent insurance. But insurance is a wonderful thing! Never (plan) to leave home without it!

Glad it all worked out for you.

In reference to the previous post, not all independent insurance is equal. We use a company recommended by my TA, and while we've never had to cancel a cruise, we've had two small claims. Both were handled quickly and efficiently.

I thought I would give an update on what happened with our insurance claim. It took awhile but we did get a refund. 2 checks came in the mail yesterday. We provided a copy of the conservatorship paperwork that went to probate court, along with power of attorney paperwork. My mother in law's doctor refused to complete the paperwork that the insurance company wanted signed. We have no idea why he wouldn't sign because he did sign the conservatorship paperwork, which had a diagnosis, date of admission, etc. Once the paperwork was submitted to the insurance company, we had to call the insurance company 3 times because no one would give us an update....just that it was in process. We finally sent them an e-mail last week explaining how we have not heard anything and all of a sudden, we got an e-mail that said we would get a refund.

 

Update on my sister in law. She is now in rehab and the doctors are saying she will probably go home in a few weeks. When I first posted, we thought we were going to a funeral. She still has medical issues but she is doing fantastic.

 

Thank you all for posting.

Thanks for giving an update....weird about the Dr., glad the other paperwork sufficed.....Happy to hear about your SIL's progress....what a wonderful support u have been to your DH......hope u are able to plan a short get away in the near future.

Thanks for the update!

Frightening situation!! Glad things turned out ok for you.

Tony