volcano interruption for insignia cruise apr 18th

[traveler2001]

We were scheduled to fly into Barcelona today to be there for embarkation on april 18th. Our flight was cxl due to the volcanic ash. In calling Oceania they are not willing to reimburse, stating that we must contact our trip insurance co that we got through them, ie Berkley. We spoke with them and they do not cover natural disasters, but only trip delays and will give us $500 per person. Continental did refund our flight tickets. We did cxl our excursions, but are still out about $4000 from the cruise that we now can't take. This is very disappointing as we have had these reservations since last August and was to be our trip of a life time. Any ideas from anyone would be most welcome.

[PaulMCO]

I would check to see if you have a weather clause in your policy.

Natural disaster is in Iceland. The weather is blowing the dust to Spain.

[~Fianna]

We were scheduled to fly into Barcelona today to be there for embarkation on april 18th. Our flight was cxl due to the volcanic ash. In calling Oceania they are not willing to reimburse, stating that we must contact our trip insurance co that we got through them, ie Berkley. We spoke with them and they do not cover natural disasters, but only trip delays and will give us $500 per person. Continental did refund our flight tickets. We did cxl our excursions, but are still out about $4000 from the cruise that we now can't take. This is very disappointing as we have had these reservations since last August and was to be our trip of a life time. Any ideas from anyone would be most welcome.

 

Can you rebook to anywhere else on the other side of the Atlantic?

 

Try maybe flying in to Morocco and taking a ferry/train to BCN, Palma or Marseilles?

[happy cruzer]

Many policies do not cover natural disasters. Wow, many will be out alot of money.

 

Let us know if any consider this weather causing the cancellation.

[pacheco18]

There are two little words that no insurance company likes to hear:

 

Bad Faith

 

 

Look at the policy very carefully.

[LHT28]

Would CO not book you into another airport on your route?

Maybe you could pick up the ship at a more southern port on the route where flights are still able to fly into

 

It is too bad to miss out on the whole cruise

 

I wonder how many others will miss the ship?

 

Lyn

[susiesan]

I looked at the travel policy I took out for a trip to Peru in September with TruTravel (Nationwide). Under cancellation it covers "weather that causes complete cessation of services of the common carrier for 24 hours" and "natural disaster at the site of your destination that renders the destination accommodations uninhabitable".

 

Contact your state attorney general and insurance commissioner if they won't pay. You should be able to make the weather claim if your policy reads like mine. These travel insurance companies always deny your claim on the first first try. You have to fight with them to get them to pay.

 

Boy am I glad I'm not going to Europe this year like the 2 European ones I took last year. Next cruise is on regatta in the Caribbean.

[threeedogmedia]

On April 9th, we had to cancel our trip because of my husband's current heart rhythm problems and complications from some procedures. His cardiologist told him he should not travel. We did however have insurance this time. Imagine my surprise when I woke up the morning we should have departed and found out about the volcano. We were to go from Seattle to Heathrow and on to Barcelona. The flights from here have not resumed at all so I would imagine we would have been in the same predicament as the original poster. It killed me to have to cancel this cruise but I would imagine that the stress of not being able to get to the ship would have put me over the top.

I also was surprised tonight when I received an email from British Airways asking for medical proof for our flight cancellation. This was after I called the airlines on the 9th and cancelled and was told we would be penalized $500 per person for the cancellation. Not sure why they require a RX/doctor's note when I cancelled a week before our flight departure. I'll send them what they want but don't understand why they need it. I was told my refund was being processed and would have a credit to my AmEx in 7 to 10 days.

I expected something like this from the insurance company because I have a horrible distrust of them but didn't expect this from the airline when they were keeping $1000 of our air payment.

I would be interested in knowing how many people were unable to make it to the ship.

What rotten luck for everyone.

Karen

[pacheco18]

Most, not all, insurance companies, will make you jump through a few unnecessary rings to get paid.

 

When we were stuck in Atlanta (February snow cancelled flights to South America for 4 days) and missed our cruise, the insurance company was ridiculous. The cancelled flights were a matter of record (front page news). We filled out the forms and gave them the documentation, but they still tried to question or delay reimbursement.

 

I am an attorney. I called the insurance company. They would not let me speak with anyone except the person to takes the calls. I quickly told them BAD FAITH and that I would post on cc that they did not honor their policies. Then I had the agency that booked the cruise for me and sold me the insurance policy call them (would be sad if they lost all that business!).

 

End of story. I received full reimbursement in 3 days.

 

Not all carriers behave like this one did - but if you are having hard time, you have to play hard ball.

[PaulMCO]

As someone said -- you need to play HARDBALL. Most of the policies (I have three in front of me from different companies for my future cruises) all read the same -- "inclement weather" -- "ANY severe weather condition that delays the scheduled arrival or departure of a common carrier".

[jeanrtco]

here is a good link at the bottom it tells how some of the big insurance co are handling it

 

http://www.tripinsurancestore.com/blog/ but still indicates you should call the company also so credit card companies have some travel insurance if you purchased using their card, ie AMEX? I would check.

 

I bought thru CSA the Custom Luxe plan, it says volcano weather related and my policy says it covers it. I spent 1300 on policy to cover $35,000 (it is for 7 people) I haven't phoned them as our trip is May 25th flying thru London to Venice, so hopefully it will clear up!

 

I feel bad for those people who didn't purchase insurance, or if the insurance they have won't cover it or gives them a hard time about it.

 

 

An interesting thread would be to see hear what insurance co covered and what ones didn't make you go thru hoops to do so. That way when purchasing we will know who the good guys are. From April 15th on they are not covering this incident.

 

jean

[szdiver]

Can you fly to Barbados and then on to Europe anywhere? You might be able to meet up with the ship at the second day....good luck whatever you decide to do. A vacation interrupted like this is no fun, I agree.

[traveler2001]

Thank you to all who responded. My husband and I called our credit card company, MasterCard, and they will not cover expenses related to a missed cruise due to weather, it seems the only way to obtain reimbursement from them is if one of us got sick or died! Oceania's insurance company, ie BerkelyCare, cost us about $500 to buy and will only reimburse up to $500 per person for a "trip delay", even though it is actually a trip cancellation as we can't get to Barcelona to get on the ship. That means they are reimbursing us only $500. Next time we book something like this, we will do a better job of understanding the insurance coverage. Oceania, because they are able to sail the ship out of Barcelona with or without passengers, will not help us at all. We are out $4000 for "The Cruise Not Taken."

[Benita]

We have a land trip to Iceland scheduled in a few weeks with Vantage Travel. Right now, the only airports in Europe open to travelers from the US are in Iceland (kind of ironic, huh?). It will be interesting to see if the trip is canceled. It would be interesting to see the volcano, but I don't want to be immortalized as the people were in Pompeii. I did check with Travel Insured, the insurance policy I bought and they are considering the volcano adverse weather, so if you can't get to your destination in 24 hours, they will cover the cancellation. I hope other insurers follow suit.

[cruiseyguy]

According to the WSJ, few, if any, airline insurance policies cover this type of disaster so the airlines themselves are having to eat their substantial losses.

[Jancruz]

Thank you to all who responded. My husband and I called our credit card company, MasterCard, and they will not cover expenses related to a missed cruise due to weather, it seems the only way to obtain reimbursement from them is if one of us got sick or died! Oceania's insurance company, ie BerkelyCare, cost us about $500 to buy and will only reimburse up to $500 per person for a "trip delay", even though it is actually a trip cancellation as we can't get to Barcelona to get on the ship. That means they are reimbursing us only $500. Next time we book something like this, we will do a better job of understanding the insurance coverage. Oceania, because they are able to sail the ship out of Barcelona with or without passengers, will not help us at all. We are out $4000 for "The Cruise Not Taken."

 

People should be aware always to buy 3rd party insurance. The best website to check out different policies is Insuremytrip.com. Although NO ONE could have forecast a volcano in Iceland creating such havoc.

Jancruz1

[monorailmedic]

Barcelona's airport closed at 1000 EST and the Insignia will be skipping its first port, Maorrca and leaving Barcelona one day late to allow for more passengers to make it to the ship.

[Benita]

People should be aware always to buy 3rd party insurance. The best website to check out different policies is Insuremytrip.com. Although NO ONE could have forecast a volcano in Iceland creating such havoc.

Jancruz1

 

I was surprised that Berkely (the insurance that Oceania sells) would not cover the cruise. I think Oceania should rethink using them. I do agree with buying third party insurance - I don't think Berkely would cover in the event of a bankruptcy, and a third party insurer would, if bought in a timely fashion after the deposit.

[pacheco18]

I would be reluctant to buy the policy sold by the cruiseline.

I would also scrutinize policies sold by travel agencies.

They may be less costly but will they cover your specific needs?

 

Like any other policy, you need to read it and see what it does and does not cover. Too many people are learning that lesson the hard way.

 

 

Ask the cruiseline or travel agency to email you a copy of the policy so you can be sure you want it. If not, get your own insurance from the various websites mentioned on CC. The coverage issues are transparent on those sites and you can compare policies.

[Jancruz]

I would be reluctant to buy the policy sold by the cruiseline.

I would also scrutinize policies sold by travel agencies.

They may be less costly but will they cover your specific needs?

 

Like any other policy, you need to read it and see what it does and does not cover. Too many people are learning that lesson the hard way.

 

 

Ask the cruiseline or travel agency to email you a copy of the policy so you can be sure you want it. If not, get your own insurance from the various websites mentioned on CC. The coverage issues are transparent on those sites and you can compare policies.

 

You are absolutely correct, each person should read their policy before taking it out too make sure it has what you may need. As I said, no one could have predicted a volcano (I dont think) LOL

Jancruz1

[PaulMCO]

Yes you need to read your policy very carefully but for a volcano -- it is really open to interpretation.

 

1. Most insurers will not cover this type of event in the future (or it will be higher rates) so you will have to buy in the future "cancel for any reason" insurance which generally covers only 50 to 90% of the value.

 

2. Each insurer is treating this event differently -- some examples.

 

Travel Guard -- is paying with its natural disaster clause

Travelex - Inclement weather - meaning delay (treated as trip delay) - event over 24 hours (trip cancellation)

CSA - Adverse weather

Travel safe -- Weather related (no coverage on policies purchased after 13 April)

Travel Insured International - Weather related (no coverage on policies purchased after 15 April)

 

Others ---???

 

So in the future -- one is really going to have to be careful as to what is purchased and my guess rates will rise and or special coverages will be created to cover this.

 

In the insurance "racket" this is now a known event and therefore no coverage is available for policies after 13 to 15 April (depending on the carrier). So if you buy a policy for your cruise this summer now, you will not have coverage for a similar cloud of ash.

[digby]

If all else fails, I'd sue them in small claims court. The limit here is $7500.

[susiesan]

Post on all the travel related websites, TripAdvisor, Fodors, Flyertalk about Berkeley and Oceania's insurance company screwing you over. Give them both very bad advertising. You may then see Berkeley reconsider. And as I said before, contact your state Attorney General. It worked for me in a dispute I had with AIG Travelguard in Nov. 2008 related to the Bangkok airport closure and beings stranded in Thailand for 6 days with no way out. I did get Travelguard to pay my expenses after they got the letter from the Missouri AG. You have to be proactive and very diligent in pestering them until you get what you want. Then never do business with them again. I will never ever use Travelguard for insurance even if they were the cheapest.

[cruzmaven]

If all else fails, I'd sue them in small claims court. The limit here is $7500.

 

Jurisdictional amounts for small claims court, or summary claims, will vary from state to state.

 

More importantly though, your insurance policy will most likely have a venue provision requiring that any action brought to enforce the policy be brought in their home jurisdiction, not yours, or require you to file mediation either before filing suit or in place of filing suit. Read your policy carefully and follow the procedure set out or you may be barred from seeking any recovery.

[PaulMCO]

Most of the policies have a mandatory arbitration clause.

So suing is a definite no way. In fact the clauses are so bad because you have to share the cost of paying the arbitrator.