Do you ever NOT get travel insurance for your cruise?

[Mura]

Getting back to the original question, there is a couple on the Nov 10-20 Marina cruise (BCN-BCN) and another on the Nov 20-Dec 8 Marina cruise (BCN-Rio) that had to cancel after final payment who didn't have insurance.

 

They are out a lot of money ...

 

One of the couples is saying that if O doesn't give them credit for another cruise (they had to cancel because of the husband's medical problems) they won't be sailing on O any more. But I myself doubt that any other cruise line would do any different. (They have my sympathies BUT!)

 

Mura

[Paulchili]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rallydave

Laraine, think I may not have explained my plan very well as I do think it fits what was told you by the reps.

 

We book a trip at $20K per person and each of my DW and I have our own UAL card. I pay for my trip with my card so I am covered for the $10K and my DW is covered by the $10K spouse benefit. My DW pays for her trip with her UAL Explorer so she is covered for the $10K of her trip and $10K for me thus we are each covered for the full $20K of our trips, half on each card. Could also pay only $10K with the UAL card and DW as well and then put the other $10K on Sapphire thus getting double points but, full coverage on each of our trips.

 

As you said, won't really know until we have a claim but, thought if we pay the $10 for our trip, we then get the $20K total for husband and wife on each card??

 

Think this is similar to Paul's thoughts as well. Thanks for all your leg work and information.

 

 

No

The spouse benefit only works when YOU pay for the spouse with YOUR card. If each of you pays for your own trip only there is no spouse benefit at all.

 

So then, in Dave's example you do need to "split" the cost.

As his theoretical trip is $20K/pp, and if each person would just charge the whole $20K on their respective cards, they would only be covered for $10K/pp (as this is the max/occurrence -$20K is max for 12 months).

So each person would put $10K +$10K for spouse on each of their cards to be covered for $20K each for this ONE trip.

I think :D

[pacheco18]

Getting back to the original question, there is a couple on the Nov 10-20 Marina cruise (BCN-BCN) and another on the Nov 20-Dec 8 Marina cruise (BCN-Rio) that had to cancel after final payment who didn't have insurance.

 

They are out a lot of money ...

 

One of the couples is saying that if O doesn't give them credit for another cruise (they had to cancel because of the husband's medical problems) they won't be sailing on O any more. But I myself doubt that any other cruise line would do any different. (They have my sympathies BUT!)

 

Mura

 

I am really unsympathetic. They took the risk. They could have gotten insurance and chose not to. Not O's fault. It's THEIR fault. O is not their insurer.

[pacheco18]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rallydave

Laraine, think I may not have explained my plan very well as I do think it fits what was told you by the reps.

 

We book a trip at $20K per person and each of my DW and I have our own UAL card. I pay for my trip with my card so I am covered for the $10K and my DW is covered by the $10K spouse benefit. My DW pays for her trip with her UAL Explorer so she is covered for the $10K of her trip and $10K for me thus we are each covered for the full $20K of our trips, half on each card. Could also pay only $10K with the UAL card and DW as well and then put the other $10K on Sapphire thus getting double points but, full coverage on each of our trips.

 

As you said, won't really know until we have a claim but, thought if we pay the $10 for our trip, we then get the $20K total for husband and wife on each card??

 

Think this is similar to Paul's thoughts as well. Thanks for all your leg work and information.

 

 

 

 

So then, in Dave's example you do need to "split" the cost.

As his theoretical trip is $20K/pp, and if each person would just charge the whole $20K on their respective cards, they would only be covered for $10K/pp (as this is the max/occurrence -$20K is max for 12 months).

So each person would put $10K +$10K for spouse on each of their cards to be covered for $20K each for this ONE trip.

I think :D

 

My head is spinning

 

The only way to get your spouse covered on your card is to pay for it with your card. If you do that, there is nothing for your spouse to pay for.

 

Now, assuming your credit limit is less than the cost of the entire trip, you might then charge to two different cards or stack. But bottom line, the insurance only kicks in when the trip (yours and your spouse's) is charged to the card and you can't do that more than once.

[Mura]

I am really unsympathetic. They took the risk. They could have gotten insurance and chose not to. Not O's fault. It's THEIR fault. O is not their insurer.

 

Agreed. At least one of those couples just "forgot". (I had a personal letter from them, I just heard about the other couple.) And then they had an unanticipated medical problem. But that is NOT O's fault. If O made an exception for these people, they'd have to make an exception for everyone. And they cannot.

 

But still, I do sympathize with them because I could see myself forgetting ... although I never have!

 

However, saying "if they don't give us a credit our future cruises will we elsewhere" ... well, that doesn't fly either. Any other cruise line would take the same approach that O is.

 

Mura

[pacheco18]

Agreed. At least one of those couples just "forgot". (I had a personal letter from them, I just heard about the other couple.) And then they had an unanticipated medical problem. But that is NOT O's fault. If O made an exception for these people, they'd have to make an exception for everyone. And they cannot.

 

But still, I do sympathize with them because I could see myself forgetting ... although I never have!

 

However, saying "if they don't give us a credit our future cruises will we elsewhere" ... well, that doesn't fly either. Any other cruise line would take the same approach that O is.

 

Mura

 

They "forgot?" Aw, come on.

[rallydave]

My head is spinning

 

The only way to get your spouse covered on your card is to pay for it with your card. If you do that, there is nothing for your spouse to pay for.

 

Now, assuming your credit limit is less than the cost of the entire trip, you might then charge to two different cards or stack. But bottom line, the insurance only kicks in when the trip (yours and your spouse's) is charged to the card and you can't do that more than once.

 

Think I've got it now. Think Paul and I misinterpreted one of your earlier posts. We can get up to $10K per person coverage with UAL Explorer and in order to get higher coverage, need to pay the $10K X 2 on UAL and then $5K per person on Sapphire or on multiple Sapphire cards to go above $15K per person.

 

Not sure where the credit limit comes in as I can move credit limits among all of my and my DW's Chase cards as long as we are each on each of the cards. Simply takes a quick phone call to Chase to increase the credit limit on one and decrease it an equal amount on another. Does not have any effect on your credit score as it is all internal with Chase.

 

And as to the paying on different cards to get more than the $10K per person, that appears to be questionable at best and won't know until someone tries it and has to cancel.

 

Thanks again,

[LHT28]

Getting back to the original question, there is a couple on the Nov 10-20 Marina cruise (BCN-BCN) and another on the Nov 20-Dec 8 Marina cruise (BCN-Rio) that had to cancel after final payment who didn't have insurance.

 

They are out a lot of money ...

 

One of the couples is saying that if O doesn't give them credit for another cruise (they had to cancel because of the husband's medical problems) they won't be sailing on O any more. But I myself doubt that any other cruise line would do any different. (They have my sympathies BUT!)

 

Mura

That is unfortunate for them

We had to cancel the day before our cruise ...if I did not have ins that would be me screaming & crying at myself ...no one else

 

Fortunately I ALWAYS buy ins

 

It is a tough way to learn an expensive lesson

Hope they will recover from their medical problem

 

No sympathy here either for the loss of the money

They played the "I saved money" game & lost this time round

 

Lyn

Edited November 8, 2013 by LHT28

[pacheco18]

Think I've got it now. Think Paul and I misinterpreted one of your earlier posts. We can get up to $10K per person coverage with UAL Explorer and in order to get higher coverage, need to pay the $10K X 2 on UAL and then $5K per person on Sapphire or on multiple Sapphire cards to go above $15K per person.

 

Not sure where the credit limit comes in as I can move credit limits among all of my and my DW's Chase cards as long as we are each on each of the cards. Simply takes a quick phone call to Chase to increase the credit limit on one and decrease it an equal amount on another. Does not have any effect on your credit score as it is all internal with Chase.

 

And as to the paying on different cards to get more than the $10K per person, that appears to be questionable at best and won't know until someone tries it and has to cancel.

 

Thanks again,

 

On the money

 

Hasn't this been fun?

 

I am going to get Medjet Assist, a cheap annual medical policy, use the credit cards for as much coverage as I can get and, where necessary, buy a small additional cancellation policy.

I am charting this all out now. Cruising is a lot of work LOL

Edited November 8, 2013 by pacheco18

[wristband]

A very informative and thought provoking thread. Thank you so much Laraine for taking the time to investigate and to patiently answer the many questions we have peppered you with. Very much appreciated.

 

This discussion highlights what a valuable resource CC - and its posters - can be once we wander away from the silliness of "my favorite appetizer on Riviera" or "why can't cabin stewards fold hand towels in the shape of elephants for turndown?"

[pacheco18]

This discussion highlights what a valuable resource CC - and its posters - can be once we wander away from the silliness of "my favorite appetizer on Riviera" or "why can't cabin stewards fold hand towels in the shape of elephants for turndown?"

 

Happy to do it -- a little self interest involved LOL

 

Elephants? I prefer bunnies

[Cancun01]

They "forgot?" Aw, come on.

 

I am not looking for sympathy...just setting the facts straight :).

So yes, it appears that we have lost approximately $15,000 plus for the two cruises that Mura mentioned. I have been trying to mitigate our losses though the executive of Oceania but I am certainly not trying to get them to underwrite our losses or refund our money. Nor am I trying to get a full credit without promising Oceania some return on their end. I have been trying to turn it into a "win -win"; however I will be approaching the credit card company and other avenues early next week. I even tried to give the trip away so someone could benefit but Oceania maintains that at least one person on the original booking must travel.

In August 2012, I booked the TA portion of the trip directly through Oceania. The agent at the time required a $750 deposit which was fully refundable or could be moved to another cruise. We discussed insurance that could wait until final payment. This was the last time insurance was discussed.

Early in 2013, we received an email that the original agent was replaced by someone else. We booked the second cruise in June 2013. No discussion of insurance. We have always been truly blessed but this year has not been our year as we have had many situations of dealing with elderly parents including the illness and passing of my dad and my mother’s difficulty of dealing with the loss of my dad to whom she was married for 62 years etc. At the time of final payment, my 86 year old mother-in-law was in a life threatening car accident, was in the trauma unit and needed several surgeries to two broken legs, feet etc. We were at our vacation homes in Florida/Mexico and trying to get home at the same time and then my husband started to feel ill. We thought it was from “tourista”. Final payment was due. I called the agent quickly and told her to put the balance of the first cruise on the previously used credit card. We arrived home and were spending all of our time at the hospital. Second final payment was due and I followed the same process of payment. A quick call. Insurance was the last thing on my mind. The agent never asked, as I have now discovered because the first agent had marked “declined” on our file on August 13, 2012, a year before final payment. We are seasoned travelers and should know better but because our priorities were elsewhere it never occurred to us. We took cancelation insurance for our Brazilian and Alaskan cruises with Princess earlier this year.

Long story short, it turned out that my otherwise well husband had developed ulcers from taking preventative low-dose aspirin. It required an ambulance ride and a week in hospital to get him on the mend but he was given antibiotics and approval to travel. On October 15, he was rushed to hospital with stroke-like symptoms. It turned out to be Metronidazole (flagyl) toxicity and required a ten day stay in hospital. He is still suffering peripheral neuropathy in his hands and feet which is expected to dissipate in the next 2 months with a full recovery.

The reason that I have stated that I will never book with Oceania has nothing to do with the loss of money; but rather Oceania’s arrogant “buzz-off” response (or lack thereof) when I tried to mitigate our loss while recognizing that Oceania has sold inventory to protect. I have not been rude. We are not bad people and I do not like being treated like “dirt” on the bottom of their Gucci’s when they add insult to injury. My first response from the supervisor of the call centre (received 4 minutes after I wrote) was a standard “cut and paste” paragraph that basically said “too bad, so sad, hope you sail Oceania in the future”. That got my back up. I then sent a business but friendly letter by email (followed up by Fed-Ex hard copy) to FDR and KK explaining the situation and asking them to consider a proposal that they give us 50% of a full fare credit and we will top it up with an additional 50%. This would earn them an additional $15,000 and it would be a win-win situation and keep good will. I also mentioned that we would be open to any other proposals that would allow us to retain some of our $15,000 +. I am not looking for full credit. After a friendly reminder, I received an email with a PDF attachment of a letter was sent to me dated October 25 by G O’Neill Sr. director of guest relations and risk management. To date I have not received the hard copy. In reading his response, I noticed a glaring error and it became again apparent that we had been sent a form letter and that Oceania had either not read or they did not understand our proposal. A follow-up response has not been received. I am not stating that they have to accept anything but at least treat us with some respect. BTW I did find out through my sources that the stateroom has now been filled.

Oceania have made a small deposit on the credit card. My understanding from the Federal Securities and Exchange/Federal Maritime Commission(s) that one is entitled to various government and port taxes. Our Tuesday night flight was canceled by the airline so I am also waiting for a response from Oceania regarding a potential flight credit; not the deviation but the flight differential of $500 to London to see our son for which we paid the extra $800. I am not sure about that but they at could at least respond.

Moral of the story: a) make sure you get cancellation insurance b)use an outside TA who knows your spending pattern and who will hound you until you confirm your insurance c) this can happen to anyone and this is a demonstration as to how Oceania will treat you – your money their way J.

PS contrary to popular opinion my research has shown me that other cruise lines will make exceptions and attempt to ameliorate the situation in circumstances such as ours. Someone at Oceania missed their MBA 100 course.

Stay tuned for the credit card adventure J

Edited November 8, 2013 by Cancun01

[SedonaJoel]

For the last several years we have used:

 

http://www.geobluetravelinsurance.com/products/multi-trip/trekker-5-overview.cfm

 

for multi-trip medical. For two people it costs less than $200 per year total. We cruise at least 3 times oer year and have made a claim on each of the last 3 cruises. The last claim was for the ship's doctor which cost $1850 (total rip-off) including meds.

 

GeoBlue - paid all of the claims in full with no hassle.

 

You can buy the policy directly or through:

 

http://www.insuremytrip.com

 

Joel

Sedona, AZ :)

[LHT28]

I am not looking for sympathy...just setting the facts straight :).

 

So yes, it appears that we have lost approximately $15,000 plus for the two cruises that Mura mentioned. I have been trying to mitigate our losses though the executive of Oceania but I am certainly not trying to get them to underwrite our losses or refund our money.

 

Sorry to hear you lost your cruise/money

Hope your husband will be fit to travel again soon

 

I buy my ins the same day my TA reminds me of final payment ..I also write on my calendar

It is not really up to any TA to hound you about insurance

 

I would not hold out much hope for reimbursement from the CC either

Unfortunate circumstances

hope you can move forward

[highscar]

If you have had a loved one pass away at sea you would never travel without repatriation included in medical travel insurance.

[ibfishing2]

can't tell you how many times I have seen patients end up in the hospital before, in transit or on their way home from a cruise or vacation, as the hospital where I work is close to a major airport.

 

Travel Ins. is a MUST.

 

I have seen critical patients flown home via Medical Transport and I have seen patients transfered to a county hospital due to lack of funds. I'm not saying that County Hospitals offer inferior medical care, but a flight home with a Physician or Critical Care Team is so much better. I have also seen the impact that the medical emergency has had on the patient's family. (lodging, etc) You don't need the added stress of the financial impact on top of a life or death situation.

 

The situations that I have witnessed have prompted me to ensure that my medical amounts meet our needs and I also purchase it to meet "pre-existing conditions" requirements.

 

I live in California so I get Automobile Club of America. (AAA). Medical only, (this also covers trip delay, lost luggage but not cancellation and cost less than $200, age, trip duration and cost of trip determine the premium) within 14 days of my trip deposit, which covers us for pre-existing condition. I call this peace of mind insurance. I am not interested in the lost luggage, but it is just part of that policy.

 

I then get the trip cancellation ins and medical with my last payment (to meet pre-existing cond. requirement) which also has a moderate amount for medical. My policy coverage amounts are determined by the itinerary. Between the two policies, I feel that the medical is covered, because,,,,, If I don't take care of my husband and myself, that refund really won't matter.

__________________

[LuAnn]

For the last several years we have used:

 

http://www.geobluetravelinsurance.com/products/multi-trip/trekker-5-overview.cfm

 

for multi-trip medical. For two people it costs less than $200 per year total. We cruise at least 3 times oer year and have made a claim on each of the last 3 cruises. The last claim was for the ship's doctor which cost $1850 (total rip-off) including meds.

 

GeoBlue - paid all of the claims in full with no hassle.

 

You can buy the policy directly or through:

 

www.insuremytrip.com

 

Joel

Sedona, AZ :)

 

I just purchased this coverage 2 days ago!! LuAnn

[pacheco18]

Depends on the state in which you live.

 

Geoblue happens to be available in Arizona e.g. but not everywhere

 

You have to go on line to see your options.

 

I like Squaremouth.com

 

I just completed the paperwork for Medjetassist with the AARP discount.

It is the ONLY plan that flies you to the hospital of your choice. All the other plans that include emergency evacuation fly you to the nearest hospital that they deem adequate. IF I add a cheap medical policy such as globlue I have decent coverage.

[Cancun01]

Sorry to hear you lost your cruise/money

Hope your husband will be fit to travel again soon

 

I buy my ins the same day my TA reminds me of final payment ..I also write on my calendar

It is not really up to any TA to hound you about insurance

 

I would not hold out much hope for reimbursement from the CC either

Unfortunate circumstances

hope you can move forward

 

Thank you.

 

The final payment reminder from Oceania does not mention insurance. I will take your "tip" to write it on the calendar with great certainty. I know it is not up to any agent to hound one about insurance however if I had used my usual TA, on a balance of probabilities we would not be in this situation. The Oceania agent never mentioned it because she tells me that the previous agent on August 13, 2012, one year before final payment, marked on my file that I declined insurance which is not the case.

 

I will let you know the results of the credit card insurance. We paid with a Bank of Montreal MasterCard. The terms and conditions indicate that we should be able to recover $5000; however I will not spend the money just yet. ;)

 

We will be fine and we will be able to move forward however it will not be with Oceania because their handling of the issue is below my expected standards of a luxury-lite cruise line. Maybe my standards are too high to expect a response to my polite emails/letter(s)without a reminder. I got the impression that they hoped that I would just go away. My understanding that the stateroom is booked, so it has theoretically been paid for twice. For my $15,000 they did not even offer a PR gesture of voucher for a cheap glass of wine or a small OBC. Regardless of the insurance issue, client service when there is a real problem tells a lot about a company.

 

Thank you again for the calendar "tip"; I am sure that all of your travels with Oceania will be great.(this is sincere and not meant to sound sarcastic)

Edited November 9, 2013 by Cancun01

[Cancun01]

If you have had a loved one pass away at sea you would never travel without repatriation included in medical travel insurance.

 

I am sorry if this happened to you. It must have been devastating. We have several million in multi-trip medical travel insurance which also covers repatriation ...we just did not have cancellation.

[Cancun01]

can't tell you how many times I have seen patients end up in the hospital before, in transit or on their way home from a cruise or vacation, as the hospital where I work is close to a major airport.

 

Travel Ins. is a MUST.

 

I have seen critical patients flown home via Medical Transport and I have seen patients transfered to a county hospital due to lack of funds. I'm not saying that County Hospitals offer inferior medical care, but a flight home with a Physician or Critical Care Team is so much better. I have also seen the impact that the medical emergency has had on the patient's family. (lodging, etc) You don't need the added stress of the financial impact on top of a life or death situation.

 

The situations that I have witnessed have prompted me to ensure that my medical amounts meet our needs and I also purchase it to meet "pre-existing conditions" requirements.

 

I live in California so I get Automobile Club of America. (AAA). Medical only, (this also covers trip delay, lost luggage but not cancellation and cost less than $200, age, trip duration and cost of trip determine the premium) within 14 days of my trip deposit, which covers us for pre-existing condition. I call this peace of mind insurance. I am not interested in the lost luggage, but it is just part of that policy.

 

I then get the trip cancellation ins and medical with my last payment (to meet pre-existing cond. requirement) which also has a moderate amount for medical. My policy coverage amounts are determined by the itinerary. Between the two policies, I feel that the medical is covered, because,,,,, If I don't take care of my husband and myself, that refund really won't matter.

__________________

My SIL who is a kidney specialist at a major hospital has told us the same thing about medical insurance. Many people who have medical insurance do not have the right medical insurance or do not have enough coverage. She sees it all of the time.

Edited November 9, 2013 by Cancun01

[pacheco18]

One more bit of information I gleaned today

 

I wanted to find out if all 4 of my Chase cards that provide cancellation insurance (Explorer, Ink, Sapphire, Marriott) have the same benefit administrator and the same insurer. I had someone do the research for me at Chase and they all have the same administrator and Chubb is the insurer for all of them. I "think" this will make it easier if I decide to do some stacking.

[titong]

One more bit of information I gleaned today

 

I wanted to find out if all 4 of my Chase cards that provide cancellation insurance (Explorer, Ink, Sapphire, Marriott) have the same benefit administrator and the same insurer. I had someone do the research for me at Chase and they all have the same administrator and Chubb is the insurer for all of them. I "think" this will make it easier if I decide to do some stacking.

 

I just got the Chase United Airlines card which the brochure states covers cancellation insurance. The brochure also states that it does not cover pre-existing conditions. Does anyone know what that means? For example, I have never had a heart attack. However, about 7 months ago. I had an angioplasty with stents. Now I feel fine. Does that mean that if I have to cancel a cruise because of heart problems, like a heart attack, that Chase would not reimburse me, and instead would call that a pre-existing condition?

Edited November 9, 2013 by titong

[pacheco18]

You need to ask THEM -- not us.

Call the benefit administrator

[titong]

You need to ask THEM -- not us.

Call the benefit administrator

 

I did ask them, but I got a run around instead of a straight answer. Perhaps I should re phrase my question and ask the following: Has anyone used the Chase United Airlines credit card. If so, have you had to cancel your cruise? What has been your experience in collecting from Chase or their administrator?