Itinerary Change benefit on cruise insurance policy

it's my understanding that the Nationwide policies don't include coverage for flight delays

That is not the case.

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I believe the policy we bought was called Choice Cruise.

Make sure that you compare the features in those policies to other companies' offerings. The itinerary change benefit is nice, but it's my understanding that the Nationwide policies don't include coverage for flight delays, so it's not a good choice if you are flying in the same day as the cruise. I used it when I sailed out of a local port that I just drove to.

That is not the case..

I found this review on the Insuremytrip website. This was for the Nationwide Universal Cruise policy.

Mechanical difficulties by US Airways delayed my plane 4.5 hours, forcing me to miss the departure of my 3-day cruise. It turns out, mechanical difficulties is not a covered reason, which is absolutely insane not to have that as a covered reason. I lost out on the entire cruise fare due to this. There was no way to know in advance this was a real possibility to have recognized that it was not a covered reason. The policy was useless.

Here is the reply from IMT:

Thank you for your feedback on the policy. We are sorry to learn that you were prevented from cruising. Unfortunately, the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Cruise plans do not cover mechanical breakdown for trip cancellation or missed connection. There is Travel Delay coverage due to any delay of a Common Carrier, provided that the delay is at-least 6 consecutive hours. We apologize for any confusion regarding the policy terms and conditions. We recommend that customers review the policy certificate to familiarize themselves with covered reasons and exclusions. In addition, InsureMyTrip's licensed insurance agents are available 7 days a week to answer questions about our products. In the future, please consider calling us prior to purchasing a policy. Other comprehensive policies offered on our website, cover trip cancellation and/or missed connection due to mechanical breakdown of a common carrier.

Also worth noting that the itinerary change and some other coverage is not available in some states:

• Ports of call changed prior to departure (not available to residents of FL, MN, MO, NH, NY, OR, PA, VA, WA)
  
• Fire, mechanical, other covered issue impacting cruise experience after departure (not available to residents of FL, MN, MO, NH, NY, OR, PA, VA, WA)
  

I found this review on the Insuremytrip website. This was for the Nationwide Universal Cruise policy.

 

Mechanical difficulties by US Airways delayed my plane 4.5 hours, forcing me to miss the departure of my 3-day cruise. It turns out, mechanical difficulties is not a covered reason, which is absolutely insane not to have that as a covered reason.

The issue here is not that mechanical reasons aren't covered, but that the delay was not sufficient. Most insurance doesn't kick in until after 5-6 hours has elapsed (this can be as much as 12 hours with some providers). Had the delay been 6+ hours, then this person would have been covered under the any reason common carrier clause in the policy.

And, by the way, we also need to recognize, yet again, the foolishness of booking what appears to be same day air travel to a port of embarkation. This person almost deserves to lose their money.

Well, I wouldn't say anyone deserves to lose their money, but given the uncertainty of air travel these days, we always fly in the day before when we are cruising.

Well, I wouldn't say anyone deserves to lose their money, but given the uncertainty of air travel these days, we always fly in the day before when we are cruising.

Yeah, maybe that was a bit strong. But I did say "almost". LOL!

I guess the thing that bothers me about that complaint is there doesn't appear to be any sense of personal responsibility - it's the fault of the airline for having a bad plane and it's the insurers fault for having a crappy insurance policy. At what point does this person recognize that it's THEIR fault for planning poorly and not understanding what they were and weren't insured for? My guess is probably never.