Federal govt says not to travel internationally for min 4 weeks

[ljtinney]

1 minute ago, Prismanet said:

Same here as this was the first time we purchased insurance from the cruise line + the COVID-19 medical insurance as we were going on a cruise where none of our existing insurance would apply.

Yes, I had also purchased the Covid19 Medical insurance with Manulife. 

 

I am not disappointed at all. So I guess it was the right decision to cancel

[Prismanet]

17 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

The cruise lines are in business to make money.  Only you can protect yourself.  Sadly no one else will care.

I agree that cruise lines are there to make money. However, they also need to take customer service in order as well. If they say that you can book with confidence then they should.

 

We also took additional protection from NCL so at least we wouldn't be losing everything but still as the saying goes "put your money where your mouth is".

[Florida_gal_50]

23 minutes ago, ljtinney said:

We have made the decision last yesterday to cancel our HAL cruise for this coming weekend. I had purchased platinum cruise line insurance and was able to get the 90% refund. I did discuss an FCC with them and it was offered but decided to take the refund and put the $ somewhere else. In all our years of cruising this was the first time we took the cruise line insurance and glad we did. 

 

AC flight cancelled with a future credit which I am quite happy with as we will most certainly use it at some point.

 

We will see how the travel situation is in a few weeks and for now I am looking at a land based vacation for us instead. 

I would do the same.  I’d rather have the cash.  I’m also booking my air through hal so it all gets canceled and refunded at once without any extra time from me.  Their air costs me no more than I could book on my own.

[Florida_gal_50]

10 minutes ago, Prismanet said:

I agree that cruise lines are there to make money. However, they also need to take customer service in order as well. If they say that you can book with confidence then they should.

 

We also took additional protection from NCL so at least we wouldn't be losing everything but still as the saying goes "put your money where your mouth is".

So what is ncl not offering that they promised? If they promised to give money back for ANY reason I could understand the anger.  My guess is that there is no such thing.  I think people get confused by good customer service and not getting what they want.  I’ve gotten disappointed many, many times in my life so I do understand that the only one I can rely on is myself.

[Prismanet]

13 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

So what is ncl not offering that they promised? If they promised to give money back for ANY reason I could understand the anger.  My guess is that there is no such thing.  I think people get confused by good customer service and not getting what they want.  I’ve gotten disappointed many, many times in my life so I do understand that the only one I can rely on is myself.

NCL has a Book with Confidence policy marketed to make sure that cruisers will still book a cruise being confident that they could change their minds. I agree with the conditions set forth and that would entitle me to receive a full cruise credit that I'd be willing to apply when things settle down a bit more. I don't want more than just get a full credit as the rules changed in Canada.

Anyhow, we are waiting for next steps from NCL as we are trying to escalate our request right now. We'll see.

[Florida_gal_50]

3 minutes ago, Prismanet said:

NCL has a Book with Confidence policy marketed to make sure that cruisers will still book a cruise being confident that they could change their minds. I agree with the conditions set forth and that would entitle me to receive a full cruise credit that I'd be willing to apply when things settle down a bit more. I don't want more than just get a full credit as the rules changed in Canada.

Anyhow, we are waiting for next steps from NCL as we are trying to escalate our request right now. We'll see.

You posted a link in another thread with ncl’s policy.  I’ll be the first one to admit I’ve never sailed with ncl so I know very little about them.  I briefly read that if the government PROHIBITS travel that ncl will issue a cruise credit.  Travel is not prohibited so that won’t work.   I must be missing something else I guess.  Just speaking for myself I’d rather be overly covered then count on something that could that the cruise line will try to back out of.  Good luck to you.  I hope you are successful in getting ncl to change its mind.  It sounds like you’ve got nothing to lose by asking the question.

[Prismanet]

1 minute ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

You posted a link in another thread with ncl’s policy.  

Yes. I started a thread to see if specifically others have had success with the Book with Confidence policy. This one says that: your local government changes the travel restrictions to the destination you are travelling to at the time of your sailing and as a result you are required to quarantine upon your return home;

As the GoC added testing at airport for international travelers on Dec 15th, I consider this changed the rules as it requires us to be quarantined 24-72 hours waiting for the result. We had not planned for this on our way back when the cruise was purchased initially. Anyhow, we'll see how it goes and keep posted here.

[jean163]

I have always believed 'cancel for any reason' insurance wasn't offered in Canada.  Is everyone that's mentioned it here talking about cruise line insurance policies or is there an outside company that provides it?  Oceania (which is part of NCL) doesn't sell their own insurance to other than their US passengers so I had looked far and wide and couldn't find any company offering it at any price.

[Ginnyfyr]

11 minutes ago, jean163 said:

I have always believed 'cancel for any reason' insurance wasn't offered in Canada.  Is everyone that's mentioned it here talking about cruise line insurance policies or is there an outside company that provides it?  Oceania (which is part of NCL) doesn't sell their own insurance to other than their US passengers so I had looked far and wide and couldn't find any company offering it at any price.

Here in Ontario, you can buy Manulife's Premium Protection Plan (PPP) which includes CFAR coverage. I just looked on their "cover me" website and didn't see it there but it's available through travel agents. 

[mom says]

33 minutes ago, Prismanet said:

Yes. I started a thread to see if specifically others have had success with the Book with Confidence policy. This one says that: your local government changes the travel restrictions to the destination you are travelling to at the time of your sailing and as a result you are required to quarantine upon your return home;

As the GoC added testing at airport for international travelers on Dec 15th, I consider this changed the rules as it requires us to be quarantined 24-72 hours waiting for the result. We had not planned for this on our way back when the cruise was purchased initially. Anyhow, we'll see how it goes and keep posted here.

But in practice you only need to be quarantined pending results IF you are tested on arrival, or are given a test to do at home. Currently only random people are being selected. So thats a huge loophole for them to dance through. 

[jean163]

27 minutes ago, Ginnyfyr said:

Here in Ontario, you can buy Manulife's Premium Protection Plan (PPP) which includes CFAR coverage. I just looked on their "cover me" website and didn't see it there but it's available through travel agents. 

Oh thank you for that Ginnyfyr.  I did look into it and it's only up to age 74 so not for us oldsters.  You also have to buy it within 3 days of first deposit so that doesn't work for us either as we never take out our cancellation insurance until we're more sure we're actually going.

[Prismanet]

49 minutes ago, mom says said:

But in practice you only need to be quarantined pending results IF you are tested on arrival, or are given a test to do at home. Currently only random people are being selected. So thats a huge loophole for them to dance through. 

Exactly. IF you are selected on arrival but remember that the first government announcement was that they wanted to test every travelers but they failed to as they did not have enough resources and saw the light when they figured out it would be hardly possible. Nevertheless IF you are selected, you need to quarantine while waiting for the results. That's just plainrisk management like insurance is about 😉 

[bennybear]

I guess I just wonder why with a continuing level 4 warning against cruise travel, people are surprised that this is problematic.  I followed  closely the early impact of Covid and now with omicron the risks are very high. 
We recently cancelled a land trip because of the new advisory, and are out thousands of dollars. But we knew that was a risk when we booked.  Just didn’t expect this new advisory that negates our medical coverage.  Disappointing you bet, but not life changing nor life threatening like proceeding could be. That old saying better safe than sorry, has never been more apropos. 

[ljtinney]

3 hours ago, jean163 said:

I have always believed 'cancel for any reason' insurance wasn't offered in Canada.  Is everyone that's mentioned it here talking about cruise line insurance policies or is there an outside company that provides it?  Oceania (which is part of NCL) doesn't sell their own insurance to other than their US passengers so I had looked far and wide and couldn't find any company offering it at any price.

Both HAL and Princess insurance has a "cancel for any reason" along with other benefits and is available for Canadians, except for residents of Quebec. It is a good investment especially now. 

When I booked and paid for our HAL cruise a couple months ago, we felt pretty confident that we would be cruising the first week of January. But, just in case I took their insurance.  This craziness with Omicron hit and we cancelled as we just don't feel comfortable in travelling.... yet. We are taking the refund

[ljtinney]

4 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Unfortunate, but very understandable. Our decision has to be made by Thursday.

It was a pretty easy decision to make. Seeing that almost three quarters of the ships are now in yellow status also made us think twice about going. 

I will sit here and watch the webcam as the Rotterdam sails out of FLL on Sunday and dream. 

 

Good luck with your decision. When is your cruise? 

[gnome12]

CAA Cancellation and interruption insurance (either stand alone, as part of a non-medical package, or as part of a vacation package) includes CFAR, subject to the following conditions:

Cancel for Any Reason benefit(s) a. and b. are covered only if you purchase your policy within 72 hours of booking your travel arrangements or before cancellation penalties come into effect. Subject only to the General Exclusions and Conditions described on page 5 and 6.
a. reimbursement of 75% of the nonrefundable portion of your fully prepaid travel arrangements booked through CAA (Canadian Automobile Association), if you elect to cancel your trip 3 hours or more prior to the scheduled departure date and time for any reason; or
b. reimbursement of 50% of the nonrefundable portion of your fully prepaid travel arrangements, if you elect to cancel your trip 3 hours or more prior to the scheduled departure date and time for any reason;

 

[GeriatricNurse]

7 hours ago, ljtinney said:

It was a pretty easy decision to make. Seeing that almost three quarters of the ships are now in yellow status also made us think twice about going. 

I will sit here and watch the webcam as the Rotterdam sails out of FLL on Sunday and dream. 

 

Good luck with your decision. When is your cruise? 

I believe that Fouremco had posted that their cruise is, (would have been) in April, (but I have no doubt that he will return here soon to respond to your question directly once he has returned home from his early morning walk with his dog, but before he has enjoyed a good solid breakfast to include a large bowl of hot, oatmeal porridge, etc.) 😀

[powderhorn]

13 hours ago, jean163 said:

I have always believed 'cancel for any reason' insurance wasn't offered in Canada.  Is everyone that's mentioned it here talking about cruise line insurance policies or is there an outside company that provides it?  Oceania (which is part of NCL) doesn't sell their own insurance to other than their US passengers so I had looked far and wide and couldn't find any company offering it at any price.

Before we booked our Viking cruise for February, I researched to identify a workable exit strategy in case something (like omicron)  came up that would compel us to cancel our trip. Viking's CFAR coverage was available only to US clients....however, their cruise with confidence promotion offered a CFAR option up to 2 weeks prior to embarkation. That was good enough for me as I figured, 2 weeks out, I'll know what the travel and Covid situation is like, so will make my decision then whether to go or wait for another day.....doesn't look good at the moment....:-)

P.S. at the time I booked the cruise, Manulife was offering travle insurance with CFAR, but only applied to trips greater than 30 days in duration, so wasn't an option.... if we decide to go, We'll get conventional cancellation insurance for the 2 weeks leading up to the cruise to cover non Covid related emergency cancellations...Viking will handle any positive Covid test issues on our way to the ship and during the cruise.....

Edited December 28, 2021 by powderhorn

[Florida_gal_50]

Well this has opened my eyes.  I generally only travel with hal and Princess although I have cruised with celebrity and carnival as well.  There is no way I’ll sail with any company that doesn’t sell cfar insurance unless I get a free cruise.

[Fouremco]

13 hours ago, ljtinney said:

It was a pretty easy decision to make. Seeing that almost three quarters of the ships are now in yellow status also made us think twice about going. 

I will sit here and watch the webcam as the Rotterdam sails out of FLL on Sunday and dream. 

 

Good luck with your decision. When is your cruise? 

Not until mid-March, which is part of the problem. If the cruise was in January or even February, we'd have no hesitation cancelling. But by mid-March, the Omicron wave may well have peaked and the level of cases on cruise ships fallen back to near zero. I'm reading everything I can get my hands on in terms of medical experts' forecasts on COVID's likely progress over the next couple of months, but just as Omicron came out of the blue, who knows what nasty little variant might come along next month! 

 

Barring some breaking news story today that firmly supports keeping the cruise, I'm fairly certain that when we sit down tomorrow to make our final decision, DW and I will opt on the side of caution. 

[katiecat]

18 hours ago, Prismanet said:

Yes. I started a thread to see if specifically others have had success with the Book with Confidence policy. This one says that: your local government changes the travel restrictions to the destination you are travelling to at the time of your sailing and as a result you are required to quarantine upon your return home;

As the GoC added testing at airport for international travelers on Dec 15th, I consider this changed the rules as it requires us to be quarantined 24-72 hours waiting for the result. We had not planned for this on our way back when the cruise was purchased initially. Anyhow, we'll see how it goes and keep posted here.

NCL also added mask policy since paid in full.

[darren42]

On 12/27/2021 at 5:04 PM, bennybear said:

I guess I just wonder why with a continuing level 4 warning against cruise travel, people are surprised that this is problematic.  I followed  closely the early impact of Covid and now with omicron the risks are very high. 
We recently cancelled a land trip because of the new advisory, and are out thousands of dollars. But we knew that was a risk when we booked.  Just didn’t expect this new advisory that negates our medical coverage.  Disappointing you bet, but not life changing nor life threatening like proceeding could be. That old saying better safe than sorry, has never been more apropos. 

There are insurance companies :TUGO: that cover you so theses new advisories  don't negate your medical coverage

[iancal]

  On 12/27/2021 at 2:28 PM, Florida_gal_50 said:

The cruise lines are in business to make money.  Only you can protect yourself.  Sadly no one else will care.

 

 

Absolutely agree!    And if you think otherwise then perhaps you might be drinking a little too much of that cruise line  Kool-Aid.

[bennybear]

11 hours ago, darren42 said:

There are insurance companies :TUGO: that cover you so theses new advisories  don't negate your medical coverage

Thanks, I am aware of this but with the extra cost  for this additional insurance for a very long stay and the added risk it’s not worth it to us.   

[iancal]

We used TUGO for a seven month extended trip a number of years ago.  At that time they had a very good product offering that included a substantial discount for $5K deductable  out of country medica;/evac policy.  

 

We required a custom policy that kicked in after our  60 day out of country pension expired.  Tugo put it together for us at the right price.  They were much more flexible than other firms we contacted at the time.

 

We needed a five day extension at the expiration of  our policy.  Wee decided to remain in HNL for a few days between our flight from Sydney and our flight home to Canada.  We did not want to be without insurance in the US.  They waved the admin costs and charged us a nominal amount for the extra five days. It was all done on line and completed in less that 24 hours notwithstanding the time zone difference between Oz and Vancouver.

Edited December 29, 2021 by iancal