Refund chances without insurance??

[campngrl]

Cruised on Sensation 9/4/11. We had a total of 5 that was supposed to travel with us but when we arrived in Port Canaveral the day before one of our guests got very ill. She had a fever and at that time we thought pneumonia. She was afraid to board the cruise ship Sunday afternoon thinking she was too sick to cruise so she called and arranged to fly back home to Georgia that morning instead. What are the chances that she could recoup any money for not making the cruise and then paying close to $280 for flight home. She did acquire a letter from her doctor stating that she should not have cruised as she did have a high fever and pneumonia. I know we did not purchase travel insurance for this 4 day cruise so I was not sure how Carnival would respond.

Any advice other than to get insurance on next trips.

[boaterette]

Her chances are zero just as they should be. Why buy insurance if they just give anyone the money back. She gambled and she lost.

[MDSue]

These questions usually create a lot of flack because the people who bought the insurance don't understand why those who didn't should be reimbursed. It is a calculated risk one takes when one travels- just like purchasing car insurance, etc.

I'm sorry your travel companion got sick.

[devinc]

Her chances are zero just as they should be. Why buy insurance if they just give anyone the money back. She gambled and she lost.

 

And that ladies and gentleman are are just the facts. Well stated. Sorry OP.

[B and C Blake]

CANCELLATION BY GUEST, REFUNDS

Reservations will be held until 30 minutes prior to departure. No refunds will be made in the event of "no shows", unused tickets, lost tickets, interruptions, partially used tickets, or cancellations received late or after the start of the cruise, or for Pack & Go program purchases. Carnival strongly recommends the purchase of trip cancellation insurance from your travel agent. Cancellation charges for individual bookings will be assessed as listed below. For cancellation charges related to group bookings, partial ship charters or full ship charters refer to your charter contract or group booking agreement for terms and conditions.

 

2, 3, 4 & 5 day cruises

DAYS PRIOR TO DEPARTURE DATE 14 days or less

CANCELLATION CHARGE(per guest) 100% of Total Fare

[PenguinLife]

Like was said above, chance of zero, which I personally don't think is fair, as it is obvious that Carnival saves money on no shows, at least the cost of food, etc. I feel they should at a minimum offer a discount of rebooking, etc. The alternative is to encourage people to get on board when they should not for medical reasons, we saw a perfect example of this on a cruise on the Conquest two or three years ago, a woman was in a car accident on the way to the ship, made it in time to board and did not tell anyone about her injuries until the ship left port. Once she did go to the ship's doctor it was discovered she had internal bleeding and a coast guard helicopter was sent to evacuate her back to land. I don't know exactly what the operating losses were for Carnival on this incident, the ship stopped and waited for the helicopter for about 3 hours delaying getting to international waters, and therefore delaying the shops and casino opening. As to travel insurance the one time I did try to use it, we ended up spending months trying to collect and eventually settled for a partial reimbursement. This was with a "cancel for any reason" trip insurance for my then early teenage son on a school trip to DC, this was the fall of 2001, and we did not feel comfortable with him going so soon after the events of Sept. 11th with all the unknowns of the time.

[firefly333]

Hey, it doesnt hurt to write. Lately Carnival has been more generous than usual and saying yes to things they might not have before.

 

Id say you have a 50/50 chance of them offering you some kind of discount or OBC on a future cruise. Maybe not much .. but they might offer her a little something.

 

Its worth writing to Carnival about.

 

I really do sense they have been more generous just lately than in the past.

[donaldsc]

She should get exactly what she deserves - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

 

DON

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Like was said above, chance of zero, which I personally don't think is fair, as it is obvious that Carnival saves money on no shows, at least the cost of food, etc. I feel they should at a minimum offer a discount of rebooking, etc. The alternative is to encourage people to get on board when they should not for medical reasons, we saw a perfect example of this on a cruise on the Conquest two or three years ago, a woman was in a car accident on the way to the ship, made it in time to board and did not tell anyone about her injuries until the ship left port. Once she did go to the ship's doctor it was discovered she had internal bleeding and a coast guard helicopter was sent to evacuate her back to land. I don't know exactly what the operating losses were for Carnival on this incident, the ship stopped and waited for the helicopter for about 3 hours delaying getting to international waters, and therefore delaying the shops and casino opening. As to travel insurance the one time I did try to use it, we ended up spending months trying to collect and eventually settled for a partial reimbursement. This was with a "cancel for any reason" trip insurance for my then early teenage son on a school trip to DC, this was the fall of 2001, and we did not feel comfortable with him going so soon after the events of Sept. 11th with all the unknowns of the time.

 

If the ship wasn't in International waters (isn't it 3 miles) why did the ship wait and not just turn around and go back?

 

Bill

[PenguinLife]

Good question, we were about 20-30 minutes away from the dock, still before the final buoy marker in the ship channel when the captain came on the PA system and announced the medical problem (the ship then pulled off to the side of the ship channel and waited) that was around 5:00 pm if I remember right, the helicopter did not arrive until about 6:30 pm at the end of sunset in late Feb., slowly circled for almost 45 minutes before lowering a crew member to the ship, and did not depart until after 8:00 pm well after dark. Nothing like the speed of such rescues on TV, everyone watched from the front half of the ship as the basket/harness/people would go up and down from the helicopter and it would then move out over the water and hover for about 5-10 minutes between each round, I was surprised I would have thought the helicopter pilot would want to get all this over with before dark instead of slowly circling the ship until the end of twilight.

 

Ike

 

p.s. thinking back on things it seems like the initial announcement said a coast guard boat would pick up the injured woman, a few minutes later it was announced to be a helicopter

 

If the ship wasn't in International waters (isn't it 3 miles) why did the ship wait and not just turn around and go back?

 

Bill

[6rugrats]

Back on topic; she should expect to receive nothing from the cruiseline, which is 100% fair.

[newcatintown]

These questions usually create a lot of flack because the people who bought the insurance don't understand why those who didn't should be reimbursed. It is a calculated risk one takes when one travels- just like purchasing car insurance, etc.

I'm sorry your travel companion got sick.

 

Nothing like car insurance, which is mandatory in this neck of the woods and probably yours too. Trip insurance is not mandatory. I could (not likely) end up in jail for no car insurance, not so with trip insurance.

[broberts]

Cruised on Sensation 9/4/11. We had a total of 5 that was supposed to travel with us but when we arrived in Port Canaveral the day before one of our guests got very ill. She had a fever and at that time we thought pneumonia. She was afraid to board the cruise ship Sunday afternoon thinking she was too sick to cruise so she called and arranged to fly back home to Georgia that morning instead. What are the chances that she could recoup any money for not making the cruise and then paying close to $280 for flight home. She did acquire a letter from her doctor stating that she should not have cruised as she did have a high fever and pneumonia. I know we did not purchase travel insurance for this 4 day cruise so I was not sure how Carnival would respond.

Any advice other than to get insurance on next trips.

 

No advice, it's been well given by others.

 

It's not clear to me why the person felt fine boarding a plane but too sick to board a ship. Especially since she though she might have pneumonia. Flying is not usually comfortable for those with any sort of breathing congestion.

 

My first thought though was how irresponsible this person was. Sitting in a busy airport and then on a plane while they potentially had a communicable disease.

[bplazo]

I would say no that without insurance she should receive nothing, however, I have heard where the cruisline has made exception so I guess it would not hurt to call Carnival.

[firefly333]

I would say no that without insurance she should receive nothing, however, I have heard where the cruisline has made exception so I guess it would not hurt to call Carnival.

 

Write .. I would never call, as you need the answer in writing and to state your case in writing with a paper trail. I read the travel section on sundays where people write in with travel problems .. and he says over and over and over again .. always write. "your first mistake was in calling".

[cruisecruisecruise2011]

Cruised on Sensation 9/4/11. We had a total of 5 that was supposed to travel with us but when we arrived in Port Canaveral the day before one of our guests got very ill. She had a fever and at that time we thought pneumonia. She was afraid to board the cruise ship Sunday afternoon thinking she was too sick to cruise so she called and arranged to fly back home to Georgia that morning instead. What are the chances that she could recoup any money for not making the cruise and then paying close to $280 for flight home. She did acquire a letter from her doctor stating that she should not have cruised as she did have a high fever and pneumonia. I know we did not purchase travel insurance for this 4 day cruise so I was not sure how Carnival would respond.

Any advice other than to get insurance on next trips.

 

I hope she gets nothing.I pay for insurance.

 

To stay on topic,my advise would be for herto accept the fact that she will get nothing so there is no shock later.

[bplazo]

Write .. I would never call, as you need the answer in writing and to state your case in writing with a paper trail. I read the travel section on sundays where people write in with travel problems .. and he says over and over and over again .. always write. "your first mistake was in calling".

 

Yes, you are right.

[vermonter16]

I have paid for trip insurance and a couple of times it has come in quite handy. Next time, just make it a part of your trip cost and be done with it. We have had good luck with getting reimbursement. As for the poster who said that he had cancel for any reason and only received 50%, I would look for another insurer.

 

To those that say Carnival is encouraging people to come aboard sick...NO, they are not! Take responsibility for yourself and the fact that you did not protect your vacation and also that you wouldn't appreciate someone else coming aboard sick and infecting you! It is your responsibility, not the responsibility of Carnival.

[BallFour4]

Telling someone they "get what they deserve" or "what they should be" is rude. Period.

The OP asked a question. You responded with the truth and then went off of them.

Is is possible they might have wanted to seek advice from a fellow cruiser that was successful in getting funds returned in the form of a future cruise credit or some other method? You might never know.

You do understand that Carnival and the other mass market cruise companies are in the people pleasing business, and policies are not always set in stone.

I can share from experience that we got a cruise credit for a future cruise due to my company changing a meeting that I was forced to attend. It was not worth loosing my career, so I gave up a vacation with my family.

A kindly written letter with the documentation about the change in dates from my company made for a very nice credit toward a future cruise, as long as it was made in the same calendar year. We did, and had a blast.

Scold your kids and your dog, treat the rest of us like fellow cruisers or how you would want us to treat you.

.

[BallFour4]

I hope she gets nothing.I pay for insurance.

To stay on topic,my advise would be for herto accept the fact that she will get nothing so there is no shock later.

Really? you can honestly say you hope nothing positive for the OP?

I hope you are wrong.

.

[marym933]

It is possible she may get something back. The cost of the cruise is lost, but the government fees and port charges are a maybe.

 

Contact Carnival to be sure.

[firefly333]

A kindly written letter with the documentation about the change in dates from my company made for a very nice credit toward a future cruise, as long as it was made in the same calendar year. We did, and had a blast.

 

.

 

I agree, and thats what I suggested above, a nicely written letter might get a future cruise credit or discount of some kind.

 

People went off on the OP, probably kick their dog at home and there is no help for them.

[kbmeow]

I think it depends on who you talk to. That being said, we get trip insurance because of medical not so much for the trip cost. It would suck but we could handle not going and just loosing what we put out. What would be bad if we got hurt and had the extra expense.

[BigDfromTN]

Hey, it doesnt hurt to write. Lately Carnival has been more generous than usual and saying yes to things they might not have before.

 

Id say you have a 50/50 chance of them offering you some kind of discount or OBC on a future cruise. Maybe not much .. but they might offer her a little something.

 

Its worth writing to Carnival about.

 

I really do sense they have been more generous just lately than in the past.

 

LOL, My GUESS would be less than that of anything meaningful!

 

They do offer travel insurance for a reason. After ALMOST missing the boat once.... I buy it EVERY time now.;)

 

If the ship wasn't in International waters (isn't it 3 miles) why did the ship wait and not just turn around and go back?

 

Bill

 

There must be something about returning to a dock that is very expensive???? I say this as you NEVER hear of a ship retuning to a port...

[BallFour4]

I agree, and thats what I suggested above, a nicely written letter might get a future cruise credit or discount of some kind.

 

People went off on the OP, probably kick their dog at home and there is no help for them.

 

I like this strategy.

 

See you on the Magic one-nighter perhaps? I'll be the guy in his 50's with the camera.

 

 

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