Cruise Line financial obligations when ship is put under quarantine

[ghstudio]

What is the cruise line's financial obligation if a ship is quarantined by a government.  There are two major cost areas....the quarantined ship and the support of those on the ship....and the "next" cruise which can't be taken because the ship is under quarantine.

 

1) Is Celebrity legally required to refund your payments if the ship is unable to sail due to a government action?

 

2) Who pays for the "room and board" for the folks on the cruise ship during the quarantine?

 

3) Who pays for alternate transportation home after the quarantine ends since the original flights have long passed and likely were non-refundable?

 

4) How do the folks booked on the "next cruise" get refunds on both cruise and air?

 

Which is Celebrity, which is Travel Insurance and which is yours and mine?  Perhaps one has to read their travel insurance policy small print.....how is this covered???

[Fouremco]

Those are but a few of the many questions arising from this outbreak, and I wager that there will be more than a few court cases before all of them will be answered. A Canadian passenger on an American ship quarantined in an Asian port by a foreign government... the international litigation could take years to play out.

[grandgeezer]

There was a snippet on this on one of the national news stations. The passengers aren't living the "good life". They are quarantined in their cabins and all meals our delivered, so far mostly soup, salads, and sandwiches. The one passenger that was interviewed said their rooms haven't been cleaned or sanitized in two days. I wonder who's doing this as the crew must be quarantined too, They have been given free internet and some phone time to communicate with people back home. They were told two weeks. They are also anchored off shore, not docked. 

[wrk2cruise]

I looked at the insurance plan which comes with my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card.

 

I would expect that return transportation after they are released from quarantine would be covered by the trip interruption.  This is listed under "Covered Events"

 

Quarantine of You or Your Traveling Companion imposed by a Physician or by a competent governmental authority having jurisdiction, due to health reasons

 

I don't believe that any of the other things called out by OP would be covered by standard travel insurance.

 

I would expect the cruise line would provide some sort of compensation either refund or FCC for the cruise fare as they are unable to provide the product purchased.   If you bought air via the cruise line that should be handled by them as well.

 

As far a air for a cancelled cruise you are probably going to eat it even with standard travel insurance.

 

These are just my opinions.

 

 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

For what it's worth, I received an email from Med Jet today which said, in part

 

"Please be aware that due to restrictions resulting from the Coronavirus, we regret that MedjetAssist and MedjetHorizon services must be suspended in the following countries:

China

Hong Kong

Taiwan

Macau..."

 

We are not cruising until December and it is in the Caribbean.

[Swordfish1949]

Looking at this subject with regard to Chase Sapphire Reserve, I found the following on ThePointsGuy.com:

 

Various Chase credit cards offer trip cancellation and interruption protection, including the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred. To get coverage on these cards, you must charge all or a portion of the trip to your credit card account and/or the rewards program associated with the account.

The trip cancellation and trip interruption benefit provided by both cards may provide reimbursement for eligible travel expenses charged to the cardholder’s account up to $10,000 per covered person and up to $20,000 per trip if a loss results in cancellation or interruption of the travel arrangements. The benefit provided by both cards explicitly covers “quarantine of you or your traveling companion imposed by a physician or by a competent governmental authority having jurisdiction, due to health reasons” but explicitly excludes “your disinclination to travel due to an epidemic or pandemic.”

So, you won’t be covered by Chase credit cards if you decide not to travel because of an epidemic or pandemic.

 

For what it's worth.....

[hcat]

On 2/5/2020 at 8:02 PM, CHEZMARYLOU said:

For what it's worth, I received an email from Med Jet today which said, in part

 

"Please be aware that due to restrictions resulting from the Coronavirus, we regret that MedjetAssist and MedjetHorizon services must be suspended in the following countries:

China

Hong Kong

Taiwan

Macau..."

 

We are not cruising until December and it is in the Caribbean.

So that policy  could be a waste!

No evac...med coverage? And no repatriation of remains...heaven forbid anyone needs it.

[Silkroad]

2 hours ago, hcat said:

So that policy  could be a waste!

No evac...med coverage? And no repatriation of remains...heaven forbid anyone needs it.

We also received a letter from Medjet, but none of our trips are affected (though further suspensions are possible). We have an annual policy, so even if one of our trips should be affected by future Medjet service suspensions, our policy would cover the rest. I have a lot of sympathy for any Medjet policy holders who were already stuck in the affected regions when various travel restrictions went into effect, but I can see that Medjet would find it difficult or impossible to arrange evacuations in a region with flight restrictions. It will be interesting to see how the cruise lines and airlines handle this ongoing crisis. It will also be interesting , and educational, to learn how well various travel insurance companies covered their policy holders' disruptions, medical issues, and financial losses. I hope all the infected people get better, and I hope this virus is contained very soon.

Edited February 8, 2020 by Silkroad