Desperately need your opinion

[mlymd]

Thank you so much for all your responses. I have already checked with my VISA card and they do not cover this situation. Also, I booked directly with Princess. I'm not sure yet if I will pursue the issue but I truly appreciate all of help.

[moki'smommy]

Deleted as above post discusses the points I made.

[voljeep]

directly with Princess - does that mean you DIY online?, called them?, PVP?

 

and is the same way you have done it numerous times in the past??

[WVBill]

I just did a mock booking to check my facts. If you book online with Princess you must specifically DECLINE Princess Vacation Protection coverage. Hard to justify any compensation once you've done that.

[anthonyy7]

I just did a mock booking to check my facts. If you book online with Princess you must specifically DECLINE Princess Vacation Protection coverage. Hard to justify any compensation once you've done that.

 

I was about to make a similar comment. Regardless of how the booking is made, at some point you have to decline insurance coverage because you will be asked.

[whatcruiseisnext]

You gambled by not taking insurance and you lost. Let it go and in the future always buy insurance.

 

Not sure why you think that because your are Elite, Princess should make an exception to their policy for you. Cancellation penalties and amounts are clearly spelled out in the cruise contract. Do you think that if you decided to let your homeowners policy lapse and then your house burned down that the company should still replace your home because you were a loyal customer in the past?

 

Just look at it as an expensive lesson learned and move on. In the scheme of things ... your husbands life is priceless as compared to the loss of cruise dollars.

 

 

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[Micahs Grandad]

Sorry but you know you have no case so why pursue it.

 

Concentrate on getting hubby better for next cruise

[GKR]

Delete

Edited February 12, 2018 by GKR
Operator error

[land lover]

I will try to keep this as short as possible. I made a huge mistake and did not purchase vacation protection for our cruise of 1/14/18. We have been on 23 Princess cruises and I have never forgotten to take out coverage. Needless to say, 4 days before our cruise we were informed that my husband needed emergency open heart surgery. We cancelled our trip immediately. We already have another cruise booked for 2/18/2019. We have pleaded with Princess to transfer our cost of the cruise to the next cruise we have booked. We sent Princess a letter from the surgeon and a letter direct from us. We have been turned down twice. We were hoping that Princess would have some compassion for our situation since we have been such loyal customers and are Elite card holders. We are not asking for any cash back. We just want to go on another cruise. Everybody makes mistakes and I admit I made a big one. Please let me know if you think we should pursue this with Princess or we should just let it go and lose all are money. Thanks for your help:loudcry:.:(

 

Hope things are going well with your DH.

As u said you made a mistake...be thankful as I know you are, that he did not have to be airlifted from the ship... ....disappointing for sure of some cash loss. However, you will not lose all you money.......... you will get a few dollars back from fees and taxes and not paying for insurance in the first place saved you probably a few hundred..take the loss and move on.....

 

If you really feel you must pursue it...I would ask just for a few hundred in OBC as a "good will" credit....because the books are pretty much shut on your case. But a future OBC might be doable on your next cruise.

 

BTW...In the future....I would book your cruises with a credit card that does have some trip insurance, many cover up to 5,000 or more.

Edited February 12, 2018 by land lover

[Woobstr112G]

Thank you so much for all your responses. I have already checked with my VISA card and they do not cover this situation. Also, I booked directly with Princess. I'm not sure yet if I will pursue the issue but I truly appreciate all of help.

 

Best of luck. Hope your DH makes a complete recovery.....:):):)

Bob

[MRSCOACH]

I will try to keep this as short as possible. I made a huge mistake and did not purchase vacation protection for our cruise of 1/14/18. We have been on 23 Princess cruises and I have never forgotten to take out coverage. Needless to say, 4 days before our cruise we were informed that my husband needed emergency open heart surgery. We cancelled our trip immediately. We already have another cruise booked for 2/18/2019. We have pleaded with Princess to transfer our cost of the cruise to the next cruise we have booked. We sent Princess a letter from the surgeon and a letter direct from us. We have been turned down twice. We were hoping that Princess would have some compassion for our situation since we have been such loyal customers and are Elite card holders. We are not asking for any cash back. We just want to go on another cruise. Everybody makes mistakes and I admit I made a big one. Please let me know if you think we should pursue this with Princess or we should just let it go and lose all are money. Thanks for your help:loudcry:.:(

 

 

 

It won’t hurt to pursue with Princess.

You have everything to gain. I’m sure if you are able to get to the top Supervisor, they would be willing to work with you.

Best of luck, and hope your husband is feeling better.

 

 

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[yags]

I find it sad that a lot of bitter souls on here take great glee in telling you to suck it up and walk away a loser. Never walk away without giving it the best you got. There are things Princess can do to retain your business, as mentioned in above posts. Keep fighting no matter what these sorry souls say. 23 plus cruises, no cruise line wants to lose that kind of customer. They have the power to, at least, restore some of what you lost. don't let these nay sayers convince you to give up. good luck.

[cruiseintoheaven]

I find it sad that a lot of bitter souls on here take great glee in telling you to suck it up and walk away a loser. Never walk away without giving it the best you got. There are things Princess can do to retain your business, as mentioned in above posts. Keep fighting no matter what these sorry souls say. 23 plus cruises, no cruise line wants to lose that kind of customer. They have the power to, at least, restore some of what you lost. don't let these nay sayers convince you to give up. good luck.

 

 

 

I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but from my perspective, no one replying (including myself) is coming across as bitter, or implying the OP is walking away a “loser” etc. We all make mistakes, which the OP owned. Almost everyone has expressed concern for her husband’s health and simply stated the obvious - that Princess has no duty to cover the loss as there was no contract - that’s just a fact. Several people have encouraged looking into coverage through the credit card company. And probably most important, how fortunate it was that her husband’s stroke did not occur while onboard, where the lack of insurance could have created an avalanche of trouble.

 

 

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[huskerdan25]

I’m a bit baffled by the suggestions to keep pressing or escalating with Princess. Play the logic out - say for some reason Princess agrees to give the OP credit for their future cruise. Now, everyone who didn’t get insurance will expect to be treated as though they HAD insurance because of the precedent set in this example. It’s a financial paradigm that no business would (or should) employ. If you can’t afford to “self-insure” your vacation then the math is clear: no insurance = your financial loss, not Princess. If your house burned down, and you didn’t have homeowner’s insurance, would you file a claim and expect to be covered? Again, apologies if this sounds harsh.

 

Not harsh.....reality! Particularly since the OP has purchased insurance in the past, I doubt Princess will have sympathy. Once they start making exceptions, they open up a can of worms. A tough lesson to learn for sure.

 

Hoping for a successful surgery and full recovery for your husband!

[huskerdan25]

I find it sad that a lot of bitter souls on here take great glee in telling you to suck it up and walk away a loser. Never walk away without giving it the best you got. There are things Princess can do to retain your business, as mentioned in above posts. Keep fighting no matter what these sorry souls say. 23 plus cruises, no cruise line wants to lose that kind of customer. They have the power to, at least, restore some of what you lost. don't let these nay sayers convince you to give up. good luck.

 

Bitter souls, taking great glee.....wow, you have problems!

[Cruise Raider]

Please do not take this advice. As soon as the tone becomes threatening the rep you are speaking with will completely tune you out, just rotely saying no to any further requests and then becoming silent until you hang up.

 

Even appealing by name-dropping your Elite status and emphasizing that you have always taken the Vacation Protection in the past (a fact so easily verified that you better be darn certain your claim of 100% past purchase is absolutely true) is probably going to fall on deaf ears. An inexperienced cruiser is actually more likely (though still very small odds) to generate corporate sympathy--witness the well-debated NCL case from a few weeks ago.

 

Have you checked with the credit card you used to pay Princess? Many have built-in travel interruption coverage, which may offer some compensation for completely missing your vacation due to a medical emergency.

 

I second this ...

And I fully back up checking with your credit card that you used to pay for the cruise. I've read that you must pay for the entire cruise with one card for this to work ... not sure how true this is but makes sense. I see on here that oftentimes, people don't book insurance because their credit card company covers them, especially for cancellation so you may be in luck. Keeping my fingers crossed for you and hope your husband is doing much better now.

[Funkat]

I agree and this is whom I would contact. Here is his list of Princess contacts http://www.elliott.org/company-contacts/princess/

 

 

Contact his people here: http://www.elliott.org/help/

 

Good luck!

 

Thank you so much for all your responses. I have already checked with my VISA card and they do not cover this situation. Also, I booked directly with Princess. I'm not sure yet if I will pursue the issue but I truly appreciate all of help.

 

Not surprising that your credit card did not cover your situation. We have numerous credit cards that we use for specific purposes. Of all our cards, our American Airlines Citibank MC is the only one that offers trip cancellation/interruption insurance.

 

I would definitely try the contacts that Orlando Vic mentioned before giving up. They may not help, but what do you have to lose other than a little time.

 

Wishing you luck with at least some sort of compensation, anything would be better than nothing at this point. Like some mentioned, some OBC would be a nice gesture in appreciation for your loyalty.

 

And last but not least, I hope your husband is doing well.

[Woobstr112G]

Deleted.....

[Skai]

What exactly are you hoping to receive? Surely not a full refund.

 

The best you could hope for is a complimentary $100($50 pp) on your next booking -- As a generous goodwill effort by Princess(despite no wrongdoing on their part).

 

If your time and effort to persist is worth it, you could try for that.

 

Otherwise, it's often best if one simply chalks up a loss and moves on. The key is to hopefully chalk up more wins than losses in life.

[yags]

You have two differing opinions here. There are those who think you made a huge error in not getting the insurance and you should just learn from it and move on. Then there are those who think that given your frequency of travel that Princess should make an exception. Both groups are right each to a limited point. Some feel that if Princess makes an exception it is going to be printed somewhere and floodgates will open and everyone will want special treatment. I am not one of those persons. It is not whether you were in error for not buying the insurance, you were. The real question is (giving you longevity with princess) is the company going to make any concessions as a company to retain your business deserving or not.

 

I have been on many cruises but only 2 with Princess. Based on that I would not expect any consideration at all. But if I had in excess of 20 cruises with the cruise line there are things they can and should do to minimize the loss. Post #44 asked the question "Surely you don't expect a full refund." That is not a reasonable expectation but some consideration based on your longevity would surely ease the distress. I had suggested in an earlier thread to be prepared to let them know that you would be willing to cancel your next cruise and all further cruises which met an outcry of don't threaten the company. That is not a tool you pull out of your arsenal until everything else has failed and you are about to hang up the phone. But they are right the courteous and civil discourse is the way to work the system but you already knew that.

 

The cruise business is so competitive that Princess may be willing to make considerations to a long term client. The money spent ON the cruise can sometimes equal or better the money spent FOR the cruise. So the question for Princess is CAN they and WILL they. There is so much on a cruise that costs the cruise line nothing. By giving you some minor considerations they have cemented a relationship that could go on for another 20+ cruises.

 

Be sure they know they check on your longevity but your class status should already tell them that. You wont get refunded the cost of your cruise but why walk away empty handed. Talk to the right person and become their friend but do not be afraid to claim the status you earned over so many cruises.

 

Because I so strongly believe that loyalty is a two way street I have been told by those who told you to forget it and learn from your mistake that I have a serious problem. I never believe in just walking away because someone else cannot see the bigger point. I have rambled on enough. The very best of luck to you and hope your husband is getting better every day. See you on the high seas.

[rockdoctor]

First of all I hope your husband is doing well. We have insurance to protect from loss. House, car, cruise .... If you choose to be self insured, that’s your decision.

[banksia3]

Herein Aus most banks offer travel insurance for overseas through Insurance Companies at the moment it is Chubb Insurance so long as you pay a certain percentage of your cost on that credit car (and some certain conditions).We have had a couple of unfortunate incidents illness and death where we have had to cancel and have never had a problem only cost $250 for claim.Good luck and hope hubby is doing well.Pauline

[land lover]

Hope things are going well with your DH.

As u said you made a mistake...be thankful as I know you are, that he did not have to be airlifted from the ship... ....disappointing for sure of some cash loss. However, you will not lose all you money.......... you will get a few dollars back from fees and taxes and not paying for insurance in the first place saved you probably a few hundred..take the loss and move on.....

 

If you really feel you must pursue it...I would ask just for a few hundred in OBC as a "good will" credit....because the books are pretty much shut on your case. But a future OBC might be doable on your next cruise.

 

BTW...In the future....I would book your cruises with a credit card that does have some trip insurance, many cover up to 5,000 or more.

 

You have two differing opinions here. There are those who think you made a huge error in not getting the insurance and you should just learn from it and move on. Then there are those who think that given your frequency of travel that Princess should make an exception. Both groups are right each to a limited point. Some feel that if Princess makes an exception it is going to be printed somewhere and floodgates will open and everyone will want special treatment. I am not one of those persons. It is not whether you were in error for not buying the insurance, you were. The real question is (giving you longevity with princess) is the company going to make any concessions as a company to retain your business deserving or not.

 

I have been on many cruises but only 2 with Princess. Based on that I would not expect any consideration at all. But if I had in excess of 20 cruises with the cruise line there are things they can and should do to minimize the loss. Post #44 asked the question "Surely you don't expect a full refund." That is not a reasonable expectation but some consideration based on your longevity would surely ease the distress. I had suggested in an earlier thread to be prepared to let them know that you would be willing to cancel your next cruise and all further cruises which met an outcry of don't threaten the company. That is not a tool you pull out of your arsenal until everything else has failed and you are about to hang up the phone. But they are right the courteous and civil discourse is the way to work the system but you already knew that.

 

The cruise business is so competitive that Princess may be willing to make considerations to a long term client. The money spent ON the cruise can sometimes equal or better the money spent FOR the cruise. So the question for Princess is CAN they and WILL they. There is so much on a cruise that costs the cruise line nothing. By giving you some minor considerations they have cemented a relationship that could go on for another 20+ cruises.

 

Be sure they know they check on your longevity but your class status should already tell them that. You wont get refunded the cost of your cruise but why walk away empty handed. Talk to the right person and become their friend but do not be afraid to claim the status you earned over so many cruises.

 

Because I so strongly believe that loyalty is a two way street I have been told by those who told you to forget it and learn from your mistake that I have a serious problem. I never believe in just walking away because someone else cannot see the bigger point. I have rambled on enough. The very best of luck to you and hope your husband is getting better every day. See you on the high seas.

 

 

I did not respond to your 1st post, but was surprised at what and how you stated your opinion.

 

 

If you are interested, you can see from my quote above post how I responded to the OP.

 

And Why did I post this way, because I have had recent experiences with princess and know their MO...my first cruise was my honeymoon in '83 so let's just say I have been around prior to loyalty really being a driver...in the "travel world." However, when loyalty programs became big business, due to past patronage I was fortunate enough to receive some great benefits...from airlines, hotels, cruise lines...etc....but alas...people became toooooooooo demanding and abused the systems(MHO)......so today I believe my loyalty and my value to these corporations is worth far less....and so when I have conversed to upper management...I never mention status or loyalty or go on about an unfortunate situation...I just mention what I want and why....each situation is unique and every year it seems companies change policies.

 

Re: insurance as the OP states it was an over-site.. my thoughts as I am sure other posters were too, would be her lost is minimal, that is why insurance was not a priority in her trip plans in the first place.

 

I am one who on every trip/cruise decides my options when it comes to insurance....and options continuously change in the "trip insurance" industry. I only take Princess cruise lines if I think I might need to cancel for any reason, otherwise I tailor an insurance plan to my trip, which leads one to learn a lot about insurance.

 

In my opinion those that said "let it go" have had experiences, like I have with Princess....and have determined it is not worth their time.....

Edited February 14, 2018 by land lover

[heddyjan]

Just a thought. Did you pay for the trip with a credit card that offers FREE insurance. You may actually have cover (as long as it’s not a pre-existing condition)

 

 

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[Shmoo here]

Just a thought. Did you pay for the trip with a credit card that offers FREE insurance. You may actually have cover (as long as it’s not a pre-existing condition)

 

 

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Answered in post #26.