Help! How to prove no way to make it to ship

We had to cancel our Carnival cruise on Jan. 6, 2018 because of the unprecedented snow blizzard that hit the east coast on 1/4/18. United Airlines cancelled our 1/5/18 flight and couldn't rebook us on anything that allowed us to make the cruise. The earliest flight we could take was on Monday, 1/8. We had the travel insurance that Carnival sells so felt it was ok to cancel - after all, our cruise ticket said we'd get 100% back in cash if we had to cancel - even for severe weather. So today we get an email that says Aon won't pay us at all. I called and was told I have to provide proof that United could not get us to the ship in time for our sailing ... and in the same breath, the agent said we have to show that we'd have missed 50% of the cruise. Anyone have the same problem? What documentation do I need to get from United Airlines (I guess) that shows what I need to get my $$ back?? Help!!

Most likely, you're up a creek without a paddle.

A couple of things went wrong here.

1. You insured the cruise. The cruise sailed on time. You just weren't on it. Not the cruise lines problem and not the insurance company's problem.

2. Your insurance provided a "Cancel For Any Reason" rider which would have given you a 75% credit to a future cruise. However, you had to cancel 48 hours before departure. You had time to cancel but didn't for whatever reason.

3. Your coverage had Trip Interruption coverage. In other words, had you taken the flight on Monday to the next port of call, you may have been able to salvage your cruise. Insurance would have reimbursed you for the cost of the airline tickets. You MUST make a good faith effort to catch up to the ship for this coverage to have any affect. However, if a passport was required and you don't have one to fly, that's null and void.

4. If due to the storm your primary residence is considered uninhabitable, that's a covered reason.

5. Maybe, just Maybe you can convince the insurance company that more than 50% of your planned cruise would have been completed prior to you being able to catch up to the ship.

Hopefully someone can provide you with positive suggestions on how to resolve your issue.

Have you read the insurance again and seen wording similar to what they are telling you? If not have them show you where you would have known that from.

You MUST make a good faith effort to catch up to the ship for this coverage to have any affect.

This post may have been entered by voice recognition. Please excuse any typographical errors.

We had the travel insurance that Carnival sells so felt it was ok to cancel - after all, our cruise ticket said we'd get 100% back in cash if we had to cancel - even for severe weather.

You "felt it was ok to cancel" but found there are issues with that. The right thing to do, and is with insurance a soon as you think there is a problem, to contact the insurance company. They can tell you what the cancellation windows are, and as in klfrodo's excellent post, that you might need to do things such as make best effort to not have the trip interrupted or otherwise mitigate damages

Some insurance providers include concierge services as an encouragement to call them right away. If there is a medical issue as soon as practically possible they need to be contacted to confirm they will cover the suggested process or offer something else. If not then they might not cover and the loss could be significant.

Thanks for the responses. First, we didn't cancel 48 hrs in advance because nothing in the forecast said the weather was going to be that bad. Plus we figured our flight was on Friday morning, the cruise left on Saturday, and if we were delayed we figured there was ample time to get to Galveston on another flight. We were wrong! Second, to be honest, we never even considered meeting the ship a few days into the cruise. We wanted to take the whole trip, not just a few days of it. And when we called Carnival, the agent did NOT tell us that we should try to make it to the ship even after we explained the situation and said we had the insurance. They certainly knew that the insurance coverage was iffy (I can't imagine this hasn't happened to other passengers) and they should have suggested we try to make it to another port. Lastly, we were also on the phone with the insurance company and they didn't say anything about trying to get to another port either. Talk about HORRIBLE customer service! It's the first time I've ever had a problem getting to a cruise, and even a slight hint that we should have gotten to any port at all would have been eye-opening. Yes, maybe that makes me short-sighted but my family planned for a week-long cruise and it never occurred to us to try and get to another port.

I can only speak for myself but I feel your frustration.

In my 20's and 30's I travelled and never gave Travel Insurance a thought. Well, okay, I gave it a thought, it was just a small flash of a burning brain cell. I was Young, Dumb, and Broke

In my 30's and 40's I was so proud of myself because I grew up and took responsibility. I bought Travel Insurance. No matter what went wrong, I had Travel Insurance and "they" would cover me. If I missed a flight "they" would pay for a new flight. If I got sick, "they" would pay all doctors and hospital bills. If I got stuck in another country, "they" would get me home. If I had to cancel my plans, "they" would give me money back.

In my early 40's I learned there was no "They". I started coming to CruiseCritic and reading this "Cruise/Travel Insurance" board. I learned so much from the earlier members here on this board. I still learn stuff about insurance and options from this group.

Its easy to try to blame the cruiseline or the insurance company. That's a normal reaction, At the end of the day though, it's on you. You have to take responsibility.

It's been pure luck that I never had to learn the hard way by finding out my claim is not a covered event.

Hopefully, there will be some way for you to recover something.

If not, take solice that you learned a life lesson and that the cost was only a couple of grand. Hey, you still got that couple of grand you were going to spend on drinks, casino, excursions, and souvineers. Could have been much worse like a medical evac cost from ship for emergency appendectomy and evac back home. We're talking 5 or 6 digits now.