A Cautionary Tail - Buy Insurance....

[Steviewonder1]

I'm glad your wife is getting better. We always buy insurance and on one of our Alaska cruises my wife had a gall bladder attack on the ship. We were medivacuated off the ship and she spent 3 days in the hospital in Sitka. The bill was well into 5 digits by the time all was finished. We got a refund for 1/2 of the cruise plus catch up airfare back to Seattle to make our return flight home. When you have a PH Suite and fly across the country first class the premium is more than well worth it.

[gooch47]

It is important to have insurance for any expensive vacation. We just had to cancel a $6000 all inclusive resort vacation with included air fare because my husband's brother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had to have risky surgery.

 

Since we travel so much we are going to investigate full time travel insurance instead of paying separately for each trip.

[CI66774]

Pleased to hear that your wife is doing well. That is the most important thing.

 

We had a similar experience happen with us in the fall only with Oceania. If it is any consolation we lost double your loss. We fully intended to take out insurance at final payment, unfortunately my MIL had a serious car accident on the day of final payment so I simply gave Oceania my credit card number and they never mentioned insurance and as I was preoccupied it completely escaped me. I did did not worry about it because we had no reason to believe that we would not be going on our 28 day adventure. My husband took ill with ulcers from preventative low dose aspirin and subsequently developed a CNS toxicity to the antibiotic flagyl rendering him incapable of traveling. I certainly hope that Princess treated you better than Oceania treated us. Long story short they resold the cabin and so they benefited twice from the sale of the same b2b cruise. I put several proposals to them and all I received was a form letter stating they hoped we would cruise with them in the future. Letters to their CEO have not been answered. If they had not resold the cabin I would not be so annoyed. Yes, like you we have learned a valuable lesson. However I will never book with Oceania due to their arrogance.

There are actually several avenues of recourse that you can take to try to recoup some of your monies especially if your cabin is resold. If you do a search you will find the steps to follow as written by several well-respected travel experts.

A couple of cruise lines make exceptions. The passenger has to sign a non-disclosure agreement. I found this out from my research.

 

Cancun - it seems you haven't "learned" your "lesson." Buy insurance and you won't have this issue. It has nothing to do with Oceania's or any other cruise line's "arrogance." You enter into a contract when you pay for your fare. That contract reflects cancellation periods. If you gamble and lose - it's on you - not the cruise line. If you can finagle a credit or move your reservation to another - great! But don't count on it and don't blame the cruise line for your gamble.

[geoherb]

So glad to hear your wife will be OK. The reason we buy insurance is the lessons we learned from our parents. My step-father had bypass surgery a few weeks before they were to go to Alaska. The insurance reimbursed them, and they were able to go the next year.

 

My mother-in-law had to be hospitalized while on a Mediterranean cruise. The insurance company was wonderful. It took care of her bill, my father-in-law's hotel bill, and the changes to their flights when she was well enough to be released. It even hired a student nurse to accompany them on the flights back to the U.S. in case she needed medical assistance. A couple of months later, they received a refund for the days they missed.

[hllwdcruiser]

Thank you for posting. You have done a good service to all - especially those who are on the fence about purchasing insurance.

 

Thank goodness all will be well with your wife, of course good health supersedes all. :)It does stink that you don't get to go on your cruise and that you also have to deal with the loss of the fare. :(

[Thrak]

We have a 4 day (one way) SF / Vancouver scheduled in May. No insurance.

 

We have a 10 day (round trip) SF / Mexico scheduled in November. Definitely got insurance.

 

I figured we had a very small chance of missing the May trip and, if we did, I could eat the cost. Anything longer or more expensive I figured I'd rather buy insurance.

 

The May trip may well be the last time we do without insurance though. for one thing, a 4 day cruise seems awfully short to us so I don't know if we will be doing any more that short. (Maybe if we were in the LA area we might but we cruise out of SF - about a 3 hour drive - and the shorter cruises tend to be out of LA or Seattle.) For another, neither of us is all that young anymore (although we aren't all that old either!) so insurance makes sense and it's not really very expensive.

[GottaLuvCruising]

MrDavid, I'm sorry that you are going through this. Thank you for taking the time to present the reminder to others.

 

We always buy insurance. I learned that lesson, not from my own bookings, as I've never used the protection. But I've had to assist clients with so many claims for all kinds of things that you just never think will happen - sometimes an event prior to cruise that causes cancellation and sometimes illness, injury or worse during the cruise.

 

If you are going to travel, protect that vacation investment, but also your other resources in case something goes wrong.

[Weluv2cruise2007]

For those of you who travel at least once per year, check to see if your credit card offers travel insurance. We cruise at least twice per year and potentially other trips, and we pay a flat rate of less than $150 per year which insures ALL travel arrangements made with that credit card including flights, cruises, hotels...whatever - SIGNIFICANTLY less expensive than paying per person, per trip! It includes trip delay, lost luggage, trip cancellation (valid medical reasons) etc etc. It has already paid for itself several times over as we have experienced trip delays 3 times in the last 4 years (Go Canadian winter!). In fact I just received a cheque for $500 for our flight cancellation fiasco which occurred on our way home in January!

[alexspepa]

For those of you who travel at least once per year, check to see if your credit card offers travel insurance. We cruise at least twice per year and potentially other trips, and we pay a flat rate of less than $150 per year which insures ALL travel arrangements made with that credit card including flights, cruises, hotels...whatever - SIGNIFICANTLY less expensive than paying per person, per trip! It includes trip delay, lost luggage, trip cancellation (valid medical reasons) etc etc. It has already paid for itself several times over as we have experienced trip delays 3 times in the last 4 years (Go Canadian winter!). In fact I just received a cheque for $500 for our flight cancellation fiasco which occurred on our way home in January!

 

thanks for the tip...i will check that out!

[poolreader]

I know one of the passengers must remain on the booking, but I wonder if you could cancel one of you two, then add another name (of someone who could take the cruise). Then that new passenger simply takes the cruise solo, with the one of you two remaining on the booking becoming a no show. You might not get all of your money back but someone may be able to use the cabin.

[Cruise Junky]

We have the AMEX gold travel card too which is great. Medical us covered through work and would be our primary health insurance. Lots of great travel cards coming out

 

 

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[MsSoCalCruiser]

We have a 4 day (one way) SF / Vancouver scheduled in May. No insurance.

 

We have a 10 day (round trip) SF / Mexico scheduled in November. Definitely got insurance.

 

I figured we had a very small chance of missing the May trip and, if we did, I could eat the cost. Anything longer or more expensive I figured I'd rather buy insurance.

 

The May trip may well be the last time we do without insurance though. for one thing, a 4 day cruise seems awfully short to us so I don't know if we will be doing any more that short. (Maybe if we were in the LA area we might but we cruise out of SF - about a 3 hour drive - and the shorter cruises tend to be out of LA or Seattle.) For another, neither of us is all that young anymore (although we aren't all that old either!) so insurance makes sense and it's not really very expensive.

 

I didn't really have a reason to purchase insurance but I always thought what if. Because of this I have purchased the insurance for every single cruise, even for the short trips. Long story short, at a young age, one week to the day that I disembarked from a cruise, I had a heart attack. I missed having it in Mexico or at sea by 7 days.

 

I'm not so much worried about losing money from my cruise because they are usually short and low cost. I am healthy but I will always worry about having to be picked up and flown to shore because you just never know. I will always buy insurance. :)

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Well, I never thought I'd be writing this but my wife has taken ill, is hospitalized and we will not be going on our cruise. First and foremost, she is doing fine and will be released tomorrow but cannot travel for the foreseeable future. So... our 15 day cruise to Hawaii on the Star Princess on March 5th is a no-go. We had a Mini with our kids and we are within the 14 day window so we lose 100% of our cruise fare. In this case, over $8,000. So the lesson is, yes, ALWAYS buy trip cancellation insurance and, no, princess will not let you reschedule if you have to cancel under the circumstances described above. I know its just business and I did not buy insurance so that is how it goes. Just saying, the possibility of getting burned is real and, no, princess will not do anything extra to accommodate you - its just business. That's just the way it goes. Next time I will buy the insurance for sure.

 

OP... Sending good thoughts your way and I hope your wife is doing well.

 

I'm going to guess the answer is no but is there anyway Princess would apply the money as a credit towards a future cruise?

 

Take care.

[Tedferg]

Second the get well wishes of other posters.

 

You might check with your credit card company. We have Chase United Plus card and I believe it carries trip insurance for purchases with the card.

[travelplus]

Mr David,

 

I am so glad your wife will make a good recovery. Just be glad you had purchased insurance and that the medical situation happened here at home rather than on board in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

 

I know you will have many more chances to cruise. I hope you will plan another Hawaii Cruise with your kids when your wife is allowed to travel.

 

Too many people get so upset that they have to cancel their cruises due to health. But health does take precedence as evidenced by Maslow's Hierarchy before you can travel.

 

Please keep us posted on your wife's recovery. We're praying for her:D:

[SHayesShip]

Be careful because this varies between insurance policies. Verify with insurance carrier upon booking deposit of cruise. Some are as little as 7 or 10 days while others give you 14 days.

 

I am happy to hear your wife is doing well, and thanks for posting your experience.

 

also I believe it is important to book your insurance within two weeks of making your cruise deposit so that pre-existing conditions are covered.

Edited February 26, 2014 by SHayesShip

[gooch47]

For those of you who travel at least once per year, check to see if your credit card offers travel insurance. We cruise at least twice per year and potentially other trips, and we pay a flat rate of less than $150 per year which insures ALL travel arrangements made with that credit card including flights, cruises, hotels...whatever - SIGNIFICANTLY less expensive than paying per person, per trip! It includes trip delay, lost luggage, trip cancellation (valid medical reasons) etc etc. It has already paid for itself several times over as we have experienced trip delays 3 times in the last 4 years (Go Canadian winter!). In fact I just received a cheque for $500 for our flight cancellation fiasco which occurred on our way home in January!

 

You didn't mention medical evacuation. To me, that is an essential part of any policy.

[Cruise Junky]

My card specifically includes "emergency air transport". Would evacuation be listed under some other clause? Thanks

 

 

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[gooch47]

Same thing, or so it appears. How much coverage?

[Cruise Junky]

Million each. Our work coverage would be primary insurance though and that's unlimited. My card is the Scotiabank Gold Amex travel card if any Canadians are interested

 

 

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[PurpleHays]

We usually purchase insurance when we make a deposit. I book well in advance to get the cabin I want (hubby is just along for the ride) but don't do anything else until six month out when I can request the vacation time. Since we pay for airfare and hotel then, it just separates the costs.

 

Last year, a couple of months before my 50th birthday cruise, my lungs went crappy and the docs couldn't decide what it was. I thought we were going to have to cancel the cruise and we were relieved we had insurance because we were past final payment.

 

Finally figured the lungs out, just need to heal them now.

[FireStation46]

Best wishes for your wife's recovery. I always bought cruise insurance never thinking it could happen to me but you showed it can happen to anyone. I just came over this board to check info on R/T cruise info from SF to Alaska. I just thought about cruise insurance for my RCI cruises since I am close to port. Perhaps when I book through Princess I should let them do the flight if that would also be covered under the travel insurance?

Edited February 27, 2014 by FireStation46

[janetz]

So glad your wife is better! :)This is an excellent thread to re affirm the importance of trip insurance and a good read for first time cruisers.

[Cruise 11]

So glad you and your wife are OK. A very wise person once told me, " if you can't afford to loose the cost of something , you need insurance". I too always go with the phrase, "anything can happen to anyone at anytime". Thanks to everyone for all the posts. I hope this encourages our cc 's to take out insurance !

[Cruzin-K]

I am happy to hear your wife is doing well, and thanks for posting your experience.

 

also I believe it is important to book your insurance within two weeks of making your cruise deposit so that pre-existing conditions are covered.

 

Important if you actually have pre-existing conditions. For a trip I just booked for my Mom and myself for October 2015, I don't want to shell out $300 for trip insurance when final payment isn't due until a year from August. Neither of us have a "condition" that could result in a medical problem on the trip, so I'm going to wait until final payment date and get insurance then. The risk is much greater that we'll have to cancel the trip if my Dad (non-traveler) gets ill well before final payment date, and then we'll get our entire deposit back anyway, but would lose the $300 insurance premium.

 

Some policies don't require this. When I use my TA, i can book her 3rd party insurance (Allianz) at final payment and it covers pre-existing conditions. Though if you book this through some of the insurance vendors such as insuremytrip, you have to buy it near deposit time. So even the same company has different policy types. I much prefer Allianz through my TA compared to through insuremytrip.

 

To the OP, I am so glad your wife didn't become ill with all of those sea days while on the ship (and needing a hospital). That would have been awful. I wish her a speedy recovery.

 

Have you ever needed the trip insurance? Just curious how Allianz does with customer service. If I recall correctly, it costs a bit more than insurance I've found through insuremytrip, or squaremouth.