“Very interesting”

[Phantom of the Seas]

Just got an email from my TA (not Princess) reminding me my Final payment due September 29th for a January 7th cruise to Mexico aboard the Ruby. I called Princess last week and was told Final would be due November 7th. I am waiting out this pandemic thing like everyone else before cancelling and sent an email to my TA regarding Final payment. Took out Insurance (not Princess) which was a mistake on my part and will lose money if I cancel cruise. Anyone dealing with a similar situation and thoughts on this....

[Potstech]

Final payment is 60 days before departure. Would check with your TA as to why they want it this early.  Something does not seem right.

[pris993]

3 minutes ago, Phantom of the Seas said:

Just got an email from my TA (not Princess) reminding me my Final payment due September 29th for a January 7th cruise to Mexico aboard the Ruby. I called Princess last week and was told Final would be due November 7th. I am waiting out this pandemic thing like everyone else before cancelling and sent an email to my TA regarding Final payment. Took out Insurance (not Princess) which was a mistake on my part and will lose money if I cancel cruise. Anyone dealing with a similar situation and thoughts on this....

Sometimes TAs have different dates.  Sorry for your situation.  I $3200 tied up with United Airlines, that i have a credit that must be used by 10-15-21, non refundable ticket.  So I know how you can feel between a rock and hard place.    I am waiting on the virus situation to travel internationally too.

 

I would call the TA, advised of date given by Princess and see if  TA will push your due date back.

 

Don't know what kind of insurance you buy.  I buy a health and evacuation insurance from Travel Guard, can by just before we leave on a trip, is good for one year for any travel 100 miles away from home.  I am not trying insure the cost of our trip, just emergency health and evacuation coverage.  I also buy cruise direct from Princess.  Found it is easier to eliminate the middle man.

 

Good luck. 

 

 

[cherylandtk]

Many third-party insurance companies will allow you to cancel the existing policy and transfer it to a future trip.  Especially if the trip cancellation is due to Covid.

[leck57]

42 minutes ago, Phantom of the Seas said:

Just got an email from my TA (not Princess) reminding me my Final payment due September 29th for a January 7th cruise to Mexico aboard the Ruby. I called Princess last week and was told Final would be due November 7th. I am waiting out this pandemic thing like everyone else before cancelling and sent an email to my TA regarding Final payment. Took out Insurance (not Princess) which was a mistake on my part and will lose money if I cancel cruise. Anyone dealing with a similar situation and thoughts on this....

 

No way would I be making final payment - even if the payment date is November 7th. I just can't accept handing over more money for something that probably will not happen. Cut your losses or hope Princess let you have FCC for a later cruise.

[WAMarathoner]

I'm on that cruise.  Have heard nothing about cancellation, and they're still selling rooms for it.  We're planning on being there, and have plane and hotel booked. 

 

Do you have reason to believe it will be canceled?

[CineGraphic]

I'm sure many TAs didn't update their billing systems when the various cruise lines changed they final payment date policies.

I simply called my TA and he took care of it. Our agent's final payment date is usually 7 days before the actual one, which gives them 7 days to get a hold of you.

 

[Ombud]

56 minutes ago, pris993 said:

..... I buy a health and evacuation insurance from Travel Guard, can by just before we leave on a trip, .....

looking them up. I just canceled my AON Princess Platinum insurance as the policy now requires me to pay 8% of the full cruise fare (including amount covered by FCC but they don't cover FCC) and are cagey in responding to email inquiries.  Will compare Travel Guard to Travel Insured (USAA)

Edited September 21, 2020 by Ombud

[pris993]

19 minutes ago, Ombud said:

looking them up. I just canceled my AON Princess Platinum insurance as the policy now requires me to pay 8% of the full cruise fare (including amount covered by FCC but they don't cover FCC) and are cagey in responding to email inquiries.  Will compare Travel Guard to Travel Insured (USAA)

What I am buying from Travel Guard, is "business Travelers insurance", it is an annual policy, as I say I buy on line a week before leaving and it is good for one year.  For two it runs $518 for the year.  It basically covers emergency medical and evacuation, has some other travel related items, lost luggage, etc.    What I like it is not tied to a particular trip, so if i cancel a trip,  book another in a year no problem.    Hope you find something that works for you. 

[pcur]

Several thoughts:

 

Sounds like my Big Box TA with final payments:  they always want them 10 days before the cruise line, and what they reminded you of was the OLD 90 day in advance due date.  I agree you should contact them and have them confirm with Princess your due date is really 60 days before sail date, plus 10 days.

 

I have been shopping annual medevac insurance lately.  Most travel insurance companies bundle the evacuation benefit in with medical, trip cancellation, interruption, etc.  We don't need the medical, so I'm thinking I will get an annual evacuation only policy.  My credit card benefits no longer include it.

 

I'm on the other side of the final payment discussion:  I paid all but one of my booked cruises off  (except for port taxes) early with two cruise lines.  Princess is still offering more than 100% FCC for cruises they cancel, so I'm all for that.  RCCL will give me 100% FCC, plus no change or cancellation fees with a non-refundable deposit.  

 

Plus, by paying almost all the cruises off now, I get double Sapphire points that I can convert to a statement credit to cover part of the payments I just made.  The travel payments generate double points, which can be converted to statement credits. 

Edited September 22, 2020 by pcur

[rhblake]

Be aware that changes in final payment dates may not change the the day to cancel without penalty.

[RLK33853]

Two things - first is that if your agent wants the final payment now, transfer the booking to another agency or back to Princess. 

 

The second is that while we now also have an annual policy that covers all of our travel, prior to this we never purchased  travel insurance before final payment.  That way if circumstances changed, we just cancelled the cruise without any issues or penalties.  Of course the downside of doing so is that if you find out you have a health concern prior to final payment, then the cost of your travel insurance will increase.

[Northumberland]

14 hours ago, Phantom of the Seas said:

Just got an email from my TA (not Princess) reminding me my Final payment due September 29th for a January 7th cruise to Mexico aboard the Ruby. I called Princess last week and was told Final would be due November 7th. I am waiting out this pandemic thing like everyone else before cancelling and sent an email to my TA regarding Final payment. Took out Insurance (not Princess) which was a mistake on my part and will lose money if I cancel cruise. Anyone dealing with a similar situation and thoughts on this....

Yes, we were booked on the Star Princess for a 15 day cruise and received a phone call from our TA a few months ago saying that final payment was due by Sept. 23rd. We hadn't purchased insurance at the time and were told we had until final payment was made to do so. We waited until about a week ago to see how the pandemic was progressing and finally decided to cancel our cruise and wait until there is a safe way to travel. We had our deposit refunded and our FCC from a previously cancelled cruise reinstated on our Princess accounts.

Edited September 22, 2020 by Northumberland
Added a line.

[pcur]

1 hour ago, rhblake said:

Be aware that changes in final payment dates may not change the the day to cancel without penalty.

Current policy is 30 days before sail date, if booked before the end of this month.

[pcur]

53 minutes ago, pcur said:

Current policy is 30 days before sail date, if booked before the end of this month.

 

My bad:  this is RCCL's policy.  It's hard to keep up with all the changes with two cruise lines.

[maggie777]

9 hours ago, pcur said:

Several thoughts:

 

Sounds like my Big Box TA with final payments:  they always want them 10 days before the cruise line, and what they reminded you of was the OLD 90 day in advance due date.  I agree you should contact them and have them confirm with Princess your due date is really 60 days before sail date, plus 10 days.

 

I have been shopping annual medevac insurance lately.  Most travel insurance companies bundle the evacuation benefit in with medical, trip cancellation, interruption, etc.  We don't need the medical, so I'm thinking I will get an annual evacuation only policy.  My credit card benefits no longer include it.

 

I'm on the other side of the final payment discussion:  I paid all but one of my booked cruises off  (except for port taxes) early with two cruise lines.  Princess is still offering more than 100% FCC for cruises they cancel, so I'm all for that.  RCCL will give me 100% FCC, plus no change or cancellation fees with a non-refundable deposit.  

 

Plus, by paying almost all the cruises off now, I get double Sapphire points that I can convert to a statement credit to cover part of the payments I just made.  The travel payments generate double points, which can be converted to statement credits. 

When Princess refunded to my Chase Sapphire card the original double points awarded were removed from the total.

[pcur]

2 minutes ago, maggie777 said:

When Princess refunded to my Chase Sapphire card the original double points awarded were removed from the total.

Yes, Chase will do that.  If you end up with a negative balance your new charges offset the negative.  That's one of the reasons I prefer to get an FCC instead of a refund if I cancel a cruise where I've paid more than the deposit.

[nini]

In June, we booked a Mexico cruise which departs January 9, 2021.

Our final payment is November 10, 2020. This is through a Big Box

TA as with pcur. They also usually want it about 10 days before others.

[Ombud]

10 hours ago, pcur said:

Several thoughts:

 

We don't need the medical, so I'm thinking I will get an annual evacuation only policy.  My credit card benefits no longer include it.

 

3 hours ago, RLK33853 said:

The second is that while we now also have an annual policy that covers all of our travel, prior to this we never purchased  travel insurance before final payment.  That way if circumstances changed, we just cancelled the cruise without any issues or penalties.  

Thank you for addressing my issue. And I apologize for taking this off track but AON isn't responding / I was hit with AON Princess insurance charges of $39 on a coastal cruise booked in August but $471 on an Alaska cruise booked in September.  Both covered by FCC where only 1 port (Victoria) is outside USA. Neither insuring FCC. Considering no insurance or buying it from USAA. Their online quote was $41. Canceled AON. Looking at alternatives 

 

So @pcurthe credit card covers returning to hone port and @RLK33853 insurance can be booked on final payment date??

[RLK33853]

32 minutes ago, Ombud said:

 

Thank you for addressing my issue. And I apologize for taking this off track but AON isn't responding / I was hit with AON Princess insurance charges of $39 on a coastal cruise booked in August but $471 on an Alaska cruise booked in September.  Both covered by FCC where only 1 port (Victoria) is outside USA. Neither insuring FCC. Considering no insurance or buying it from USAA. Their online quote was $41. Canceled AON. Looking at alternatives 

 

So @pcurthe credit card covers returning to hone port and @RLK33853 insurance can be booked on final payment date??

We have never had any issue obtaining our travel insurance right up until final payment.  Not sure if this is the same with all companies though.  Either way it is worth checking.  I never want to give an insurance company any money before I need to.  For example, right now we have 5 cruises booked.  We are reasonably sure that the first three won't go.  Even if I had a penalty of say $30 per policy, this would mean I'm out $90 for me, and $90 for my wife.

[pcur]

33 minutes ago, Ombud said:

So @pcurthe credit card covers returning to hone port ??

 

My Chase Sapphire card benefits guide for 2020 is below.  The trip cancellation and interruption description starts around page 28:

 

Chase Sapphire Preferred Benefit Guide 2020.pdf

[Ombud]

AON would not / did not respond but the one through USAA did immediately 

Dear ××××

You can buy the insurance at time of final payment however pre-exiting medical conditions would not be covered and for the Plus the cancel for any reason would not be available. I hope this helps and let us know if you have any additional questions. Thank you and have a safe day.

Thank you,
Eric Greenleaf
Travel Insured Support Team
www.travelinsured.com