volcano interruption for insignia cruise apr 18th

[beavers2760]

We are sitting in Oregon having missed this cruise as well.:( All I can say is that from reading these posts I will need to trust my TA to work with the Insurance Company. We jumped through lots of hoops over the weekend to make sure we have all the correct documentation of not being able to make it to Spain. Oceania told one in our party that they were holding the ship and we needed to do whatever it took to get there. We all know that isn't true and wouldn't have gotten there until Thursday, if at all. I am keeping the faith for as long as it takes to figure this all out. Good luck to all in our same situation and to all who made it we hope they enjoy the trip of a lifetime. :)

[happy cruzer]

Alot of the cruiselines sell Berkley policies. Berkley is not most travellers first choice if reading, pricing and doing the research themselves. Perhaps the cruise lines need to pick a better insurer to offer. But they are no more at fault than using certain air carriers or excursion providers.

[LHT28]

We are sitting in Oregon having missed this cruise as well.:( All I can say is that from reading these posts I will need to trust my TA to work with the Insurance Company. We jumped through lots of hoops over the weekend to make sure we have all the correct documentation of not being able to make it to Spain.

 

It is too bad you missed your cruise & could not have gotten into one of the airports further down that were still open over the weekend EG:Rome.

 

Apparently they did hold the ship until Monday evening and will pick up passengers along the route that can make it to those ports.

Not ideal but under the circumstances I think a lot of people will be affected by the fallout (excuse the pun)

 

Hope you get to cruise again under more favourable circumstances

 

Lyn

[digby]

I wonder how many other trip insurance companies have the same natural disaster clause? It doesn't seem to me that Berkeley would be the only one who dies.

 

I had a positive experience with Berkeley in 2001. I had to cancel a cruise the day before I was to fly to London because of a foot injury. A month after filing my claim and paper work a check arrived for the full $7000.

[sondi 14]

We bought a policy from RBC - in Canada - and it specifically mentions volcanic eruptions as one of the things that is covered. I had my Travel Agent check with them this morning to be sure that we would be covered as it says that it's covered in the event your carrier isn't operating. They said they do cover it if the policy is issued for the date you are leaving the country for your trip.

[WesW]

nice cruiseline story on how they are dealing with the Ash Crises, published

today..Presige Cruise Holdings (Oceania/Regent) featured prominently:

 

http://www.cruise-community.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=910:featuredstories&layout=blog&Itemid=69

[Fetchpeople]

I got off Insignia on 4-18. I can assure you that O made very substantial efforts to reroute departing passengers who had flights out of BCN canceled. They also provided days of hotels for delayed passengers. Additionally, I noted numerous O representatives trying to assist outbound passengers. Unfortunately, there were NO incoming passengers due to bCN closing all day on 4-18 and flights being canceled in the US.

 

Before you condemn O, give some thought to the efforts and expense they are bearing and to the thought that maybe the insured can recover thru their carrier before O needs to participate.

[gr'aunt]

Very interesting thread! Our next O cruise isn't until summer 2011. We bought travel insurance (not through the ship) on 4-11-10 in order that pre-existing medical conditions will be covered. I just sent off an email to my TA reminding her that I need a copy of the policy and exclusions, not just the cover page with the comic book version of the policy.

 

To those who are encouraging CC members that "missed the boat" to challenge any denials issued by their travel insurance carriers, you are absolutely right that the squeeky wheel gets the grease. I worked for many years as an Arbitrator for an insurance company. A denial doesn't always mean a denial. Sometimes a denial means 1) letters, 2) phone calls, 3) threats of legal action, 4) more letters, 5) more phone calls, 6) involving your State Insurance Commisioner if you have one, and hopefully 7) resolution.

 

Now, of course, those who DIDN'T purchase travel insurance will be the biggest whiners and complainers.

[happy cruzer]

I got off Insignia on 4-18. I can assure you that O made very substantial efforts to reroute departing passengers who had flights out of BCN canceled. They also provided days of hotels for delayed passengers. Additionally, I noted numerous O representatives trying to assist outbound passengers. Unfortunately, there were NO incoming passengers due to bCN closing all day on 4-18 and flights being canceled in the US.

 

Before you condemn O, give some thought to the efforts and expense they are bearing and to the thought that maybe the insured can recover thru their carrier before O needs to participate.

 

Who paid for the "days of hotels"? If the cruise line did, that is amazing.

[XTEACH281]

Who paid for the "days of hotels"? If the cruise line did, that is amazing.

 

Oceania paid for our hotel and the ride to the airport the next morning....they also had a help desk in the hotel lobby.....that's where we found out about the rebooked flights......

[StanandJim]

Who paid for the "days of hotels"? If the cruise line did, that is amazing.

 

 

This is Seatrade quoting Tim Rubacky of Oceania (he is speaking for both Oceania and Regent) :

 

"The company is putting up air-sea customers, the majority of passengers from both ships, in hotels at its own expense, and has assisted cruise-only passengers with accommodations."

[digby]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36664156/ns/travel-tips/

[happy cruzer]

So they paid for air-sea folks, that's great. I believe RCI did the same.

 

Very interesting!

[XTEACH281]

So they paid for air-sea folks, that's great. I believe RCI did the same.

 

Very interesting!

 

 

....and what was kind of strange ...but ...considering the overall bizarro circumstances ....pax who had paid for transfers were either: sent on a bus right to the hotel---or sent on a bus to the airport , and then put on a bus to the hotel .....:) (we didn't have transfers and did the taxi to the airport---then got the bus to the hotel )......

[orchestrapal]

I got off Insignia on 4-18. I can assure you that O made very substantial efforts to reroute departing passengers who had flights out of BCN canceled. They also provided days of hotels for delayed passengers. Additionally, I noted numerous O representatives trying to assist outbound passengers. Unfortunately, there were NO incoming passengers due to bCN closing all day on 4-18 and flights being canceled in the US.

Before you condemn O, give some thought to the efforts and expense they are bearing and to the thought that maybe the insured can recover thru their carrier before O needs to participate.

 

There WERE many passengers who embarked on 4/18 - we're all lucky and love our experiences on the ship!!!:D

[caribbeansun]

VERY impressive!

 

Oceania paid for our hotel and the ride to the airport the next morning....they also had a help desk in the hotel lobby.....that's where we found out about the rebooked flights......

[Fetchpeople]

I should have said that no passengers could arrive in BCN on 4/18 after about 8 AM, when the entire airport closed for fear of ash, not because there was actually any ash in the area. Accordingly, the numerous O representatives had no one inbound passengers to greet but they did help many who were stuck in the airport due to cancelled outbound flights.

[burm]

We bought a policy from RBC - in Canada - and it specifically mentions volcanic eruptions as one of the things that is covered. I had my Travel Agent check with them this morning to be sure that we would be covered as it says that it's covered in the event your carrier isn't operating. They said they do cover it if the policy is issued for the date you are leaving the country for your trip.

 

I have heard before that RBC offers excellent coverage. Thanks for the tip. I will be sure to check them out for our next cruise.

[thunderbird56]

For those of you who suffered through the travel disruptions of the past few week, this website has posted some great photos of the eruption in Iceland and it's aftermath/Dennis

 

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/more_from_eyjafjallajokull.html

[judymol]

As so many of the posts said, natural diasters are usually not covered in any type of insurance policy. But there is a phrase used in the industry "if it is not excluded, it is included". So, check your policy carefully and there may be a loophole somewhere.

I was in the commercial insurance field for over 20 years.... Judy

[Nuka]

I called RBC here in Canada and they said they would only provide trip cancellation coverage for the 'volcanic disruption' (which they called a natural disaster) if the policy was purchased prior to April 18th. After that date, the consider it a 'known event' and don't provide coverage for natural disasters. They weren't sure when/if they would consider it 'unknown' for the purposes of insurance coverage since these volcanos can erupt for many months.

 

I also called BMO MasterCard who I get travel coverage on my credit card with and they were very vague on their trip cancellation coverage: they provide coverage for 'weather', but not for 'natural disasters.' They said that they consider claims on a case-by-case basis so could not say that there would be coverage in the event that flights are cancelled and one cannot get onto their cruise due to ash particulate in the air. Not a satisfactory explanation I thought so I will cancel that policy since I didn't like what I thought was a lame non-answer.

 

I guess one needs to carefully read their policy to ensure that the desired coverages are in place.

[LHT28]

I also called BMO MasterCard who I get travel coverage on my credit card with and they were very vague on their trip cancellation coverage: they provide coverage for 'weather', but not for 'natural disasters.' They said that they consider claims on a case-by-case basis so could not say that there would be coverage in the event that flights are cancelled and one cannot get onto their cruise due to ash particulate in the air. Not a satisfactory explanation I thought so I will cancel that policy since I didn't like what I thought was a lame non-answer.

 

I guess one needs to carefully read their policy to ensure that the desired coverages are in place.

 

I would be careful about cancelling an existing policy no insurance company seems to be covering problem relating to Volcanos if purchased after April 15th.

We bought through PCFinancial & it did cover problem related to WEATHER including the volcano

 

I would check out new policies before you cancel

Lyn

[sondi 14]

Our policy, with RBC, was purchased before April 18th. The policy does say that you are covered for volcanic eruptions and the agent that my TA spoke with told her we were covered as well.

[piccolo1]

We also disembarked Inisignia on April 18. The day before, a disembarkation briefing was held and we were told that O was working to rebook flights and in the interim anyone who had booked air through them would be accomodated. This was actually the first time we had booked our air through Oceania, and we are thankful that we did. What really surprised us (pleasantly) was that they paid for accomodation for passengers like ourselves who had purchased a post stay hotel in Barcelona, independent of Oceania. In our case, we had booked 2 nights post cruise (which we paid for) and then on Tuesday (the day we were due to fly) we were moved to one of the Oceania hotels. The only unfortunate aspect was that the hotel was quite a distance from the city centre. We found Oceania's ground handlers to be very helpful. Our flight was eventually rebooked for Saturday, by which time O had been able to rebook most passengers. Overall, we were impressed with the way they handled the situation for disembarking passengers.

[shebabear]

We also disembarked Insignia April 18th in Barcelona. Great help from all Oceania staff. They did a wonderful job to help passengers with their travel arrangements and accommodation. Unfortunately passengers that booked their air flights independently were not looked after by Oceania but those that had booked their cruise with air were provided hotel at Oceania's expense and flights rebooked.