Should I take the cruise line (Viking) insurance or buy my own?

[OnTheJourney]

Hi Steve,

 

I have a rather unique situation. As part of a compensation package for having been on the Viking Sky last March (the cruise that was in a storm and had passengers evacuated), we were offered a complimentary non-public sailing on a new ship - to be done in January. Since we're booked on this but may decide not to go - even if the trip winds up going as scheduled - due to uncertainties surrounding the virus, etc. it raises some questions as to the best coverage. It was suggested to me by an agent at an insurance website to buy the Nationwide "luxury cruise" policy being that it offers CFAR. I'm told that if we would decide not to go, we'd get 75% back of any non-refundable expenses. Other people - here - have recently mentioned that this may not be the case since there are restrictions associated with COVID-19. So I'm a bit confused on that. I talked at length with the agent who suggested the Nationwide policy and she was very positive that I'd be able to successfully make a claim for canceling the trip. I don't typically think about CFAR since usually it is only available for a few days immediately after booking a trip. Here's where it gets more complicated. We booked another cruise immediately after the invitational, and so I'm told that cruise is automatically covered under Viking's "Risk-Free Gurantee", so all I'd really need to insure would be the value of the airfare if I decide to purchase my own. Initially, I was calculating a premium cost with Nationwide based on the cost of the 2nd cruise plus the air, but probably could figure on just insuring the air. One additional complication is that we were offered complimentary economy air by Viking but can upgrade (at my expense). If I do so, that brings up another aspect of either insuring it or having the amount go into part of a voucher. Yet another complication to all this is that the first leg of the airfare is associated with arriving for the invitational cruise, and the second leg of the air costs are associated with returning home after the 2nd (non-complimentary) cruise. 

 

Viking's guarantee is for any monies paid to them up until end of June, which are covered in terms of offering a voucher to use for future travel. So, the way I understand it, any costs for air I purchase through Viking becomes part of the total amount covered under their guarantee. So I'm not sure if it would be best to book my own air (and insure it) or go with Viking. One more point - Viking's policy offers $100,000 of emergency medical evacuation coverage. Is this enough? I usually by my own insurance and look for a policy that offers up to $1,000,000 in evacuation. Other than evac, the Nationwide and Viking coverages are very comparable. I could always still take out another policy - with zero trip costs - just to get the benefit of the additional evac coverage. 

 

Any suggestions? Thanks....

Edited June 12, 2020 by OnTheJourney

[iamtrustworthy]

43 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

Hi Steve,

 

I have a rather unique situation. As part of a compensation package for having been on the Viking Sky last March (the cruise that was in a storm and had passengers evacuated), we were offered a complimentary non-public sailing on a new ship - to be done in January. Since we're booked on this but may decide not to go - even if the trip winds up going as scheduled - due to uncertainties surrounding the virus, etc. it raises some questions as to the best coverage. It was suggested to me by an agent at an insurance website to buy the Nationwide "luxury cruise" policy being that it offers CFAR. I'm told that if we would decide not to go, we'd get 75% back of any non-refundable expenses. Other people - here - have recently mentioned that this may not be the case since there are restrictions associated with COVID-19. So I'm a bit confused on that. I talked at length with the agent who suggested the Nationwide policy and she was very positive that I'd be able to successfully make a claim for canceling the trip. I don't typically think about CFAR since usually it is only available for a few days immediately after booking a trip. Here's where it gets more complicated. We booked another cruise immediately after the invitational, and so I'm told that cruise is automatically covered under Viking's "Risk-Free Gurantee", so all I'd really need to insure would be the value of the airfare if I decide to purchase my own. Initially, I was calculating a premium cost with Nationwide based on the cost of the 2nd cruise plus the air, but probably could figure on just insuring the air. One additional complication is that we were offered complimentary economy air by Viking but can upgrade (at my expense). If I do so, that brings up another aspect of either insuring it or having the amount go into part of a voucher. Yet another complication to all this is that the first leg of the airfare is associated with arriving for the invitational cruise, and the second leg of the air costs are associated with returning home after the 2nd (non-complimentary) cruise. 

 

Viking's guarantee is for any monies paid to them up until end of June, which are covered in terms of offering a voucher to use for future travel. So, the way I understand it, any costs for air I purchase through Viking becomes part of the total amount covered under their guarantee. So I'm not sure if it would be best to book my own air (and insure it) or go with Viking. One more point - Viking's policy offers $100,000 of emergency medical evacuation coverage. Is this enough? I usually by my own insurance and look for a policy that offers up to $1,000,000 in evacuation. Other than evac, the Nationwide and Viking coverages are very comparable. I could always still take out another policy - with zero trip costs - just to get the benefit of the additional evac coverage. 

 

Any suggestions? Thanks....

Hi OnTheJourney,

 

You said "we were offered a complimentary non-public sailing on a new ship", so what financial loss will you incur if you had to cancel your trip?

 

What I want to know is how much money will each of you lose? You will have one complimentary economy air and potentially other prepaid expenses.

 

Steve Dasseos

Edited June 12, 2020 by iamtrustworthy
typo

[OnTheJourney]

There is no cost to us whatsoever associated with that non-public sailing; however, we added a 2nd cruise (back to back) immediately after that invitational cruise ends. We DID pay for that one. What I'd like to do, however, is to upgrade the complimentary economy air to business - which can be done through Viking. The cost of the 2nd cruise is roughly $5500. The cost I'm being quoted for air upgrade (including fees) is roughly $8000. The cost for the same class of air, purchased on my own, is only $5500. The 2nd cruise is already protected under Viking's "risk free guarantee", so what I'm primarily kicking around is what to do to most protect the cost of the flights. 

 

I just found out I'm wrong about the Nationwide policy. CFAR is only obtainable if the premium is purchased prior to final payment of the trip. In my case, the (2nd) cruise has already been fully paid for back in December already. So that takes out several of the options and questions I've been mulling over. 

Edited June 12, 2020 by OnTheJourney

[iamtrustworthy]

5 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

There is no cost to us whatsoever associated with that non-public sailing; however, we added a 2nd cruise (back to back) immediately after that invitational cruise ends. We DID pay for that one. What I'd like to do, however, is to upgrade the complimentary economy air to business - which can be done through Viking. The cost of the 2nd cruise is roughly $5500. The cost I'm being quoted for air upgrade (including fees) is roughly $8000. The cost for the same class of air, purchased on my own, is only $5500. The 2nd cruise is already protected under Viking's "risk free guarantee", so what I'm primarily kicking around is what to do to most protect the cost of the flights. 

 

I just found out I'm wrong about the Nationwide policy. CFAR is only obtainable if the premium is purchased prior to final payment of the trip. In my case, the (2nd) cruise has already been fully paid for back in December already. So that takes out several of the options and questions I've been mulling over. 

Does Viking's "risk free guarantee" cover the air if you buy from them?

[OnTheJourney]

Steve, the way it was explained to me is that any money paid to Viking up until June 30 qualifies as part of the risk free policy. https://www.vikingcruises.com/risk-free-guarantee.html   While this does not specifically mention air, I talked to an agent and he said it would include air. The costs for any airfare purchased through Viking goes towards the voucher. So I'm debating on what to do with air and also what to do in the way of insurance. I have my usual travel agent checking on all of it as well. The more I talk to people here, the more confusing it can become since this trip is sort of a unique situation. 

Edited June 12, 2020 by OnTheJourney

[iamtrustworthy]

19 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

Steve, the way it was explained to me is that any money paid to Viking up until June 30 qualifies as part of the risk free policy. https://www.vikingcruises.com/risk-free-guarantee.html   While this does not specifically mention air, I talked to an agent and he said it would include air. The costs for any airfare purchased through Viking goes towards the voucher. So I'm debating on what to do with air and also what to do in the way of insurance. I have my usual travel agent checking on all of it as well. The more I talk to people here, the more confusing it can become since this trip is sort of a unique situation. 

Hi OnTheJourney,

 

The insurablility of future cruise credits has gotten a lot more complicated because, in most cases, future cruise or travel credits are not insurable. Unless they were specifically issued due to the Coronavirus.

 

The reasons it's important to know about the insurablility of your future cruise credits that would be created through the risk free policy are these:

 

1) Your financial risk is transferred to the new trip if the credits are created. Those credits are not insurable with a 3rd party travel insurance, but are they insurable with with Viking? If not, then don't cancel that future trip or you'll lose everything.

2) If the credits are not insurable with Viking, it's worth looking at a 3rd party travel insurance plan because it will pay you in cash if you cancel or interrupt that trip for a covered reason.

 

I explain it on my Trip Cost (https://tripinsurancestore.com/what-is-your-trip-cost/) page like this:

 

Q. Are Frequent Flyer Miles, Future Cruise or Travel Credits, Credit Card Travel Awards Insurable?

 

A. Thanks to the Coronavirus, this has become a much more complicated answer. For all of our plans:

- If you have a trip that was cancelled due to the Coronavirus and you were issued a Future Cruise or Travel Credit that is equal to the amount of money you had prepaid for the cancelled trip and,

- The Future Cruise or Travel Credit is not for any additional bonus value (i.e. – the 100% not the 125% or 150% of the credit),

 

Those Future Cruise or Travel Credits are insurable if the Travel Credit was issued because your travel supplier canceled your trip due to the Coronavirus. Credits issued for other reasons are not insurable.

 

I hope that makes sense.

 

Steve Dasseos

[OnTheJourney]

This gets even more complicated - never even thought of insuring whatever credits (voucher amounts) we'd receive. We already have one from Viking that was part of the compensation package we got from the Viking Sky incident. Thanks for all that. I still, quite frankly, have no idea how to proceed. Virtually no other travel insurance plan will consider 'canceling due to not feeling comfortable about going' as a covered reason. Viking is really my only choice in that regard since they'd provide a voucher. So you're referring to actually insuring the value of a Viking travel voucher with another company's travel insurance plan. Most interesting. 

[iamtrustworthy]

23 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

This gets even more complicated - never even thought of insuring whatever credits (voucher amounts) we'd receive. We already have one from Viking that was part of the compensation package we got from the Viking Sky incident. Thanks for all that. I still, quite frankly, have no idea how to proceed. Virtually no other travel insurance plan will consider 'canceling due to not feeling comfortable about going' as a covered reason. Viking is really my only choice in that regard since they'd provide a voucher. So you're referring to actually insuring the value of a Viking travel voucher with another company's travel insurance plan. Most interesting. 

 

Unfortunately, in your case, you are way past the deadlines to get the Cancel for Any Reason coverage. You're right that Viking is your only choice.

 

What you need to find out is if Viking will let you insure that future voucher's value should you end up with one because no other travel insurance plan will insure it.

[OnTheJourney]

Thanks Steve. I appreciate your thoughts. 

[iamtrustworthy]

You're welcome OnTheJourney.