Carnival Canellation Policy

[july2012]

Speaking to a CVS (?) today and was offered the cancellation policy for $49 for a 4 day cruise.

 

Said it covers cancel for any reason, flight delays, if delayed flight, pay for flight to next port etc,,,

 

Also said I can book now and add this policy later..but kinda vauge about how much later I could add it?

 

Anyway, is it worth it and how late have you added it after booking if you used it?

 

The CVS or CSV was very nice and helpful.

 

Trying to figure out if we want to add it and how late we can wait to add it on.

[LHP]

Speaking to a CVS (?) today and was offered the cancellation policy for $49 for a 4 day cruise.

 

Said it covers cancel for any reason, flight delays, if delayed flight, pay for flight to next port etc,,,

 

Also said I can book now and add this policy later..but kinda vauge about how much later I could add it?

 

Anyway, is it worth it and how late have you added it after booking if you used it?

 

The CVS or CSV was very nice and helpful.

 

Trying to figure out if we want to add it and how late we can wait to add it on.

 

 

Just verify that the "cancellation for any reason" is 100% back and not 75% back...

[Ken076]

Speaking to a CVS (?) today and was offered the cancellation policy for $49 for a 4 day cruise.

 

Said it covers cancel for any reason, flight delays, if delayed flight, pay for flight to next port etc,,,

 

Also said I can book now and add this policy later..but kinda vauge about how much later I could add it?

 

Anyway, is it worth it and how late have you added it after booking if you used it?

 

The CVS or CSV was very nice and helpful.

 

Trying to figure out if we want to add it and how late we can wait to add it on.

 

Carnival's Vacation Protection Plan is very pricey (you can generally get a much less expensive Policy thru 3rd party insurers like Travel Insured, TravelEx, CSA....) and has the real disadvantage of very low Medical Coverage and marginal MedEvac coverage and no "waiver of pre-existing conditions" coverage. It DOES include some nice perks like cancellation for Storm Warning and Cancel for Any Reason (but be aware that's a 75% future cruise CREDIT, not a cash refund.

 

The 3rd party policies are much less expensive (especially if you're "younger") and generally higher coverages. Recommend that you purchase them w/in 14-21 days (depending on which insurer) of cruise booking so that you get included "Waiver of Pre-Existing Conditions" and the ability to purchase "Cancel for Any REason" option usually 50% extra. Most of these Insurers have "lite" policies that are pretty affordable.

 

You can purchase the Carnival policy up to 14 days before sailing.

 

Having said all the above - If your Health insurance covers Medical and medial transport out of the country, and your credit card (used to purchase the cruise) has (minimal) cancellation and baggage coverage, you might be OK.

 

ken

Edited August 13, 2012 by Ken076

[ccruisequeen]

We booked in may for a nov cruise. Just added the insurance today. If you expect llness may cause delay order before 90 days or they will not cover due to "preexisting condition".

[july2012]

Great,

 

I will check my cc company to see what they offer for cancellation of flight and cruise coverage.

 

We are flying in day of, we have someone in our party with medical issues. Leaving Ohio in March,,,which could be a spring day or winter blizzard,,so could see flight delays...

 

So cancel for any reason, and coverage to get a flight to next port to meet the ship etc,,sall sounds great to have.

 

Good to know the carnival policy is not a cash refund but a credit towards another cruise.

 

Was not aware I could purchase travel insurance coverage from a 3rd party, ..do I just research a company then call them after I've booked and purchased fligth,,,then purchase the ins. If you can and know of a good 3rf party ins that offers cancel for any reason and get money refunded,,,please let me know.

[firefly333]

insuremytrip.com is a site a lot use

[Ken076]

Great,

 

I will check my cc company to see what they offer for cancellation of flight and cruise coverage.

 

We are flying in day of, we have someone in our party with medical issues. Leaving Ohio in March,,,which could be a spring day or winter blizzard,,so could see flight delays...

 

So cancel for any reason, and coverage to get a flight to next port to meet the ship etc,,sall sounds great to have.

 

Good to know the carnival policy is not a cash refund but a credit towards another cruise.

 

Was not aware I could purchase travel insurance coverage from a 3rd party, ..do I just research a company then call them after I've booked and purchased fligth,,,then purchase the ins. If you can and know of a good 3rf party ins that offers cancel for any reason and get money refunded,,,please let me know.

 

Checkout the TravelInsured Policies coverages against the "scenarios" that you're especially concerned about. If you have anyone with medical issues you really should purchase a 3rd party Policy within that insurers 14-21 day purchase window in order to get "waiver of pre-existing conditions" (such that any claims you make would not be denied as associated with a "pre-existing medical condition") and so you can purchase "Cancel for Any Reason" option, usually for 50% added premium.

 

You have to carefully read the policy wrt "Cancel for Any Reason" coverage - this is usually not 100% refund, and can vary by Insurer from 50% to 80% and in some situations 100%. Many of the policies refund a smaller and smaller percentage the later (closer to sailaway) that you cancel.

 

Those who have personal Health Insurance (other than Medicare) might want a "primary" policy that pays your claims without "coordination of benefits" with your health policy.

 

You want to cover expenses that are non-refundable if you cancel them, including flights. The Premium is based on the total cost of the items your insuring and the age of those on the policy.

 

I'd suggest making sure the Policy covers Cancellation, Trip Interruption, Missed Connection, and Trip Delay. I'd suggest nothing less than $25K(to $50K) Medical and $50K (to $100K) Medical Evacuation coverage.

 

I'm partial to TravelInsured WorldWide Trip Protector ; I'll check and post the "Cancel for Any Reason" coverages for these.

 

ken

Edited August 13, 2012 by Ken076

[july2012]

Great thanks

[Holders3]

The Carnival policy does include a waiver of pre existing conditions.

[Ken076]

....continuing:

 

TravelInsured WorldWide Trip Protector:

Cancel for Any Reason: purchase w/in 14 days of cruise booking .

Covers 75% of the non-refunded payments you made.

Must cancel up to 48 hours prior to departure.

50% extra premium.

Read their definitions of "any reason".

Missed Connection: $750 (3+ hours)

$50K Medical ($50 deductible) Secondary

$500K Medical Evacuation

Kids insured free with insured adults

If you're military qualified can purchase thru USAA slightly less expensive and some expanded coverages.

[Premium Examples: 8-day cruise only $1300 for 34 year-old with Cancel for Any Reason - Premium $72

8-day cruise-only $1300 for 42 year-old with Cancel for any Reason - Premium $95]

TravelEx TravelLite

"All Events Cancellation": purchase w/in 21 days of cruise booking .

Covers 95% of the non-refunded payments you made, BUT you can't cancel for any events that were known at booking and you can't cancel for "discretionary" reasons (e.g., I was afraid of the impending hurricane".

Must cancel up to ?? hours prior to departure.

50% extra premium.

Missed Connection: $750 (2+ hours)

$50K Medical PRIMARY

$250K Medical Evacuation + $5000 Hospital Advance

Kids insured free with insured adults

 

CSA Freestyle Luxe

Some of the coverages including Medical are "per Policy" so you might want to get separate "Policy" per person!!

Cancel for Any Reason: purchase w/in 24 hours of cruise booking .

Covers 100% if you cancel far out to 75% if you cancel at the last minute, of the non-refunded payments you made.

Must cancel up to 48 hours prior to departure.

50% extra premium.

Read their definitions of "any reason".

Missed Connection: $1000

$250K Medical + $1000 Physician Guarantee Secondary

$1M Medical Evacuation

 

You need to read each Policy carefully to compare to the scenarios you want to cover and how the policy covers (and doesn't cover) each.

Edited August 13, 2012 by Ken076

[Ken076]

The Carnival policy does include a waiver of pre existing conditions.

 

There's no waiver with the Carnival Policy - it specifically has a 60 day lookback window for pre-existing conditions. ken

[QLUVS2CRUZ]

Apparently the Carnival travel protection price has gone down...got a call to add it for our upcoming cruise and it was much less than when we initially booked a year ago. Supposedly they "reworked the policies" and now offer them at lower rates. We actually purchased insurance from someone else (which Carnival wouldn't have record of), so we didn't need it, but it definitely was a much better price than has been offered to us before. Maybe they just didn't have enough takers and had to make some changes.

[adjburch]

Just booked and went with Carnival's insurance. No health issues for me or DH. But my grandmother is in her 90's (bless her heart) and having some issues and I asked if there was a family ER or a death, what was the policy NOW with Carnival.

 

She said,"Berkley was the underwriter and it was 100% money back." I asked her that God forbid something like that happen on our cruise how would I get off the ship. She said, "go on our website and print off the phone number for Burkley" I have not found any info for Burkley yet.

[Ken076]

Just booked and went with Carnival's insurance. No health issues for me or DH. But my grandmother is in her 90's (bless her heart) and having some issues and I asked if there was a family ER or a death, what was the policy NOW with Carnival.

 

She said,"Berkley was the underwriter and it was 100% money back." I asked her that God forbid something like that happen on our cruise how would I get off the ship. She said, "go on our website and print off the phone number for Burkley" I have not found any info for Burkley yet.

 

The Plan Description is at http://www.carnival.com/~/media/CCLUS/Images/pdf/Vacation-Protection-201205pdf.ashx Contact info is on page 13 or so - 1-800-331-2796. Coverage for getting off the ship and flying home for Illness/Death of covered relative would fall under the "Trip Interruption" coverage.

 

ken

[ibcnusoon]

Just bought travel insurance last week for our upcoming cruise in November. Travelling with dad who is 81, has pre-existing medical issues, so I purchased the CSA plan for him with pre-existing coverage, he has medical coverage and medivac. He can also cancel for medical reasons.

 

I then purchased a plan for my stepmom. She had a basic plan (does not need pre-existing medical).

 

Finally, I purchased a family plan for the rest of us (me, DH and 2 DDS). The total came out to less than $175 for all 4 of us (much cheaper than direct from the cruise line), and includes cancelling for medical reasons (or in case my father or any family member has a medical issue) among other things.

[GradUT]

I would never recommend buying travel insurance from the cruise line for all the reasons (and more) given by Ken076. Should you decide to do so, make sure you read the policy before buying, i.e. don't rely on what someone TELLS you.

 

Your best bet for locating a policy that fits your needs will be on such sites as:

InsureMyTrip.com

SquareMouth.com

 

 

I have used InsureMyTrip for several cruises. You can do side-by-side comparisons of the policies to find those that meet your needs best, e.g. "Cancel for any reason", pre-existing condition waivers, etc. (Remember, that you generally must purchase the insurance within 10 - 15 days after paying for your cruise in order for the pre-existing condition waivers to be in effect.)

 

Other good features of InsureMyTrip are: 1) On-line consultants, 2) Live consultants you can call, 3) Policy cancellation within a few days of purchase for a small (or no) fee. I have found the consultants to be good at answering my questions and I had no problem getting re-imbursed for a policy cancellation I made with a day or two of purchase. (After closely reading the policy, I found it did not really cover the situation I thought that it did. That's why it's good to read the policy!)

[ibcnusoon]

 

 

I have used InsureMyTrip for several cruises. You can do side-by-side comparisons of the policies to find those that meet your needs best, e.g. "Cancel for any reason", pre-existing condition waivers, etc. (Remember, that you generally must purchase the insurance within 10 - 15 days after paying for your cruise in order for the pre-existing condition waivers to be in effect.)

 

The CSA luxe policy allows for pre-existing conditions, providing that you pay within 24 hours of your final payment.

[adjburch]

Ken, I saw that 75% part and read that after I had booked but that was not what I was told. At this point I have no clue what insurance I have. She said a new company and a whole new coverage. I guess today I will be on the phone.

[Ken076]

Ken, I saw that 75% part and read that after I had booked but that was not what I was told. At this point I have no clue what insurance I have. She said a new company and a whole new coverage. I guess today I will be on the phone.

 

If you do have the "Carnival Protection Plan" you're covered "100%" if you're cancelling for reasons specifically covered in the Policy; if you're cancelling for reasons not covered in the Policy then you get the 75% Future Cruise Credit. If you booked direct with Carnival (on-line or PVP) I'm sure you have the Carnival Protection Plan and the Plan Description is at the links I showed above.

 

You CAN cancel the Policy up to Cruise Final Payment Deadline. The downsides of the Carnival Policy are the very low Medical coverage, the barely adequate Medical Evacuation Coverage and no "Waiver of Pre-Existing Conditions". On the Upside, there are a number of nice coverage items(cancellation for Layoff, ancellation for NOAA alert....), coverage of independently booked airfare is included in the premium, and the "Cancel for Any Reason" 75% cruise credit.

 

The Carnival Plan HAS been modified somewhat and is now apparently administered by Aon. The coverages are as I described above. I'm thinking that the girl you spoke to was indicating that the Cancellation coverage is "100%" for the scenario (emergency or death of Grandma back home) you described, which would be the case.

 

Post the results of your calls???

 

ken

Edited August 15, 2012 by Ken076

[Ken076]

Ken, I saw that 75% part and read that after I had booked but that was not what I was told. At this point I have no clue what insurance I have. She said a new company and a whole new coverage. I guess today I will be on the phone.

 

Also...........

 

There are two different coverages for your scenario:

 

Trip CANCELLATION (as for death/illlness of a Family Member):

1. On all Policies Cancellation means cancelling your cruise prior to Departure of your cruise (not during the cruise).
   
2. If you're cancelling your cruise for a cancellation reason specified in the Policy then you get a 100% "cash" refund (up to the limit of the Policy). IMO this would include refund for Independently booked airfare.
   
3. If you're cancelling your cruise for ANY reason NOT specified in the Policy, then you are covered by "Cancel for Any Reason" coverage and you then receive the 75% Future cruise credit (up to the limit of the Policy). IMO this might NOT include independently booked airfare.
   
4. I don't like that the Carnival Policy doesn't specifically state how ill the non-traveling family member must be; other Policies have words to the effect that they have to be ill enough that you have to remain home to care for them.
   

Trip INTERRUPTION (as to return home for death/illness of a Family Member during your cruise):

1. This applies to problems that occur once you've begun the cruise; "Cancel for any Reason" does not apply once you've begun the cruise! there's no 75% future cruise credit if you interrupt your Cruise to return home for reasons NOT covered in the Policy.
   
2. If you Interrupt your trip to return Home for a reason stated in the Policy, I interpret that you'd be reimbursed in "Cash" for the pro-rated unused remainder of the cruise and for a economy return ticket to the Port of Departure.
   
3. If you Interrupt your trip to return Home for a reason NOT stated in the Policy, there's no compensation and no future cruise credit.
   
4. I don't like that the Carnival Policy doesn't specifically state how ill the non-traveling family member must be.
   

It looks like you have to purchase the Carnival Vacation Plan by your Cruise Final Payment Deadline to get the "Cancel for Any Reason" coverage; most other Policies require that you purchase the Policy within 7-21 days (depending on which insurer) of Cruise Deposit to be allowed to purchase the optional "Cancel for Any Reason" coverage.

 

It looks like you can cancel pretty much up to Departure with the Carnival Vacation Plan; most other policies only allow you to cancel up to 2 days before departure.

 

ken

[jenny368]

My daughter had surgery in 1/18. I booked a cruise shortly thereafter for 4/18 to celebrate her recovery. In 3/18 she was no better and they are talking about doing another surgery so I cancelled her cruise ticket. Carnival refunded most and then I filed a claim with Aon for the balance. They rejected my claim. Anyone know why? I haven't received their letter in the mail yet explaining why.