FYI, Princess is providing credit for volcano-missed days

[sirwired]

I just peeked on the Princess website, and they mentioned that if you show up late, they will be providing a per-diem refund for the days of your cruise that you have missed. (They are not obligated to do so, and I think it is a generous offer.)

 

If you cancel entirely, you will be subject to normal cancellation policies.

 

There is no word yet on what happens if you miss your entire cruise; I suspect if you do so, they will be instructing you to file a travel insurance claim. I kinda think that if you aren't where you need to be by now, you're not getting over at all... the airlines first priority is going to be to get stranded pax home, not get you to your vacation.

 

SirWired

[moiragirl]

Yes you are correct about Princess paying per-diem refund for lost days of the cruise but surely if I am booked on a flight, the airline can't throw me to one side to let someone else on, the people missing out at present have to rebook as far as I am aware. I am booked to go on a cruise on Tuesday and my travel agent has already informed me of this plan.

[Coral]

This is similar to how they handled the Chilean earthquake and the Star Princess cruise.

[Colo Cruiser]

4/17/2010

 

 

Update on Flight Cancellations Due to Volcanic Eruption

11 am Pacific Standard Time/7 pm British Standard Time

 

The most recent announcement from the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) is that the airport closures across the UK and Europe will remain in effect until at least 7 am (British Standard Time) on Sunday, April 18. Many major airlines have cancelled all flights through Sunday, and have announced they do not expect to have flights operating until at least Monday. Updates from NATS can be accessed at the below link:

http://www.nats.co.uk

C009 -- SEA PRINCESS IN BARBADOS -- UK CHARTER CALLS ONLY

As previously advised, your charter flight to Barbados to join Sea Princess today will not be operating. Our current plan is to sail from Barbados today to St. Lucia as planned. The charter carriers now expect that the earliest they could re-route the aircraft is on Thursday to Aruba. Of course, these plans are fluid as we gather new information. Once we have confirmation of plans from the charter carriers, our UK office will contact all charter passengers. Based on this current plan we will maintain our original scheduled itinerary and will be in Aruba on April 21.

We will contact you with your specific flight date and time once it has been confirmed by our charter operator. Upon arrival to the ship you will receive a per diem refund for the number of days missed. This refund will be to your onboard account.

C009 -- SEA PRINCESS IN BARBADOS -- 17 APRIL -- CRUISE ONLY PASSENGERS

Our current plan is to sail from Barbados today on our regularly scheduled itinerary. Once you have rescheduled your flights to arrive at a later port, please contact us with your new travel plans. Upon arrival to the ship you will receive a per diem refund for the number of days missed. This refund will be to your onboard account.

Please be advised that all cancellations will be subject to normal cancellation policies. We recommend you contact your travel coverage provider for information on filing a claim.

ALL OTHER SHIPS IN FLEET -- EXCEPT C009 - CALLS REGARDING VOLCANO RELATED FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS FOR EMBARKING PASSENGERS

It may be possible for you to join in a port on your itinerary, but you must first contact us to confirm your request. Upon arrival to the ship you will receive a per diem refund for the number of days missed. This refund will be to your onboard account. Please understand we cannot guarantee our ports of call due to conditions outside our control, like adverse weather and seas.

We recommend you continue to monitor NATS and advise us of your revised travel plans. For UK passengers who have booked as part of a Princess package, Princess in the UK will be in contact with you to determine next steps.

[sirwired]

Yes you are correct about Princess paying per-diem refund for lost days of the cruise but surely if I am booked on a flight, the airline can't throw me to one side to let someone else on, the people missing out at present have to rebook as far as I am aware. I am booked to go on a cruise on Tuesday and my travel agent has already informed me of this plan.

 

I didn't mean they would likely bump you at the gate... I meant that if your flight is canceled, (and everyone is rebooked,) those that are trying to get home are going to get rebooked on earlier flights than outbound pax. As a result, if your flight gets canceled, you are probably not going to be able to join the cruise later in the journey.

 

But in case you were wondering, yes, they absolutely can bump you involuntarily at the gate if they are overbooked; the law makes no distinction between overbookings due to excess sales or overbookings due to rescheduled pax. However, they are unlikely to do so since involuntary bumping involves a cash payment to you. (They might choose to incur such an expense for a SuperMegaDiamondElite customer...)

 

SirWired

[moiragirl]

Well I hope to get away at least to meet the ship in Aruba on Saturday, if not I will just have to put it down to bad luck, I have to say I would rather be stranded here at home than in some other country just waiting for a flight. It will be very disappointing though not to get away. There does seem to be no end of this in sight.

[Andee]

My husband is in Germany, visiting our DS, DDIL, and three (including one new) granddaughters. On Friday afternoon, his flight home today was cancelled. The soonest the airline could re-book him was Wednesday.

[sedona1066]

Well I hope to get away at least to meet the ship in Aruba on Saturday, if not I will just have to put it down to bad luck, I have to say I would rather be stranded here at home than in some other country just waiting for a flight. It will be very disappointing though not to get away. There does seem to be no end of this in sight.

 

SEA PRINCESS CRUISE In response to the posts about the cabin credit, "Per Diem" for missed days once onboard if this actually occurs if the flight actually leaves for Aruba, for all booked passengers that have not cancelled. Please beware that normal circumstances are with Princess Cruises, is that any money left in the cruise account at the end of the trip is minused from the account. Princess operate a non refund policy of any cruise account positive balance at the end of the cruise, I would hope this would not occur with these particular circumstances, but if you do board read the small print before accepting the "Per Diem" credit to your onboard account". Would hate to think of people having a huge credit amount at the end of the cruise thinking the creditcard will be credited, to find the Princess "terms and conditions" that restrict this with the current non refunds policy. Would be interested to discover what this allowance is, as we have cancelled and received full refund from Princess for this actual cruise on Monday April 19, 2010. I sincerely hope that the passengers that are still going get this flight on Thurdsday. Regards Sedona1066

[Whitnee1]

Does the travel insurance cover an "act of god"?

[sirwired]

Does the travel insurance cover an "act of god"?

 

Making the bold assumption you are in the U.S., and your policy provides coverage for natural disaster and/or weather (most, if not all, do), then yes. TravelGuard has stated that 70% (or maybe it was 80%) of the policies they sell (by volume) cover the volcano, as long as the policy was sold prior to the eruption.

 

The words "Act of God" simply do not appear in U.S. travel insurance policies of which I am aware.

 

SirWired

[Pennyscandy]

Does the travel insurance cover an "act of god"?

 

My Travel Guard policy does cover volcano eruptions. I just called them today and was told since I bought my policy before the eruption, i was covered. Even though i did not get the Cancel for Any Reason coverage. My T/A recommends they, and now I know why. If you got Princess insurance they give a cruise credit, not a refund.

[Woobstr112G]

My Travel Guard policy does cover volcano eruptions. I just called them today and was told since I bought my policy before the eruption, i was covered. Even though i did not get the Cancel for Any Reason coverage. My T/A recommends they, and now I know why. If you got Princess insurance they give a cruise credit, not a refund.

 

Are you sure about this:confused::confused::confused: On our last cruise DW got sick about a month and a half out which caused us to almost cancel our cruise. When I called their insurance (Berkley) to find out some information, I was told that after I sent in all the reqquired paperwork, and it was approved, I would get a check. I may have misunderstood, but that is what gleened from my conversations with the insurance rep.....

 

Bob

[sirwired]

Are you sure about this:confused::confused::confused: On our last cruise DW got sick about a month and a half out which caused us to almost cancel our cruise. When I called their insurance (Berkley) to find out some information, I was told that after I sent in all the reqquired paperwork, and it was approved, I would get a check. I may have misunderstood, but that is what gleened from my conversations with the insurance rep.....

 

Bob

 

Princess cancellation coverage covers medical-reason cancellations with a cash refund. They do not cover weather/natural disaster with a refund. Instead, weather/natural disater refunds are slotted under "Cancel for Any Reason" which is paid with a credit instead of cash.

 

SirWired