Oceania Travel Protection Program

[WESTEAST]

We are starting to research Medical Travel Insurance and Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption Insurance policies for an upcoming cruise.  Now that Covid is a known event, most policies include Covid.  We have always taken these policies from an insurance company or bank (with some coverage from our credit card).  We had thought Canadians could not purchase Oceania's Travel Protection Program however, we did a guest online booking for our cruise and got a quote in Canadian funds. Curious to know if other cruisers have taken this Protection Plan with Oceania and related experiences?  

[LHT28]

Not sure about the O ins  but we have used  RSA  in the past that paid out  & also TIPS

 

we had to cancel the day before a cruise & also had to come home early from another cruise 

 

[Noxequifans]

We use O offered insurance. Excellent experience when I had surgery one week before trip and had to cancel. Insurance payment (minus cost of insurance) was prompt. 

[PSR]

After reading this post, I decided to look into the Oceania Travel Protection Program. We have a booking, but I could find nothing on the website nor in my booking information to find anything on it's availability. Do have to call guest services? The OP implied they got a quote online. Any suggestions on how to find it? Thank you.

[LHT28]

5 minutes ago, PSR said:

After reading this post, I decided to look into the Oceania Travel Protection Program. We have a booking, but I could find nothing on the website nor in my booking information to find anything on it's availability. Do have to call guest services? The OP implied they got a quote online. Any suggestions on how to find it? Thank you.

Found this  under the FAQ

Please contact the Oceania Cruises Insurance team at 1-800-457-7709 to ask general Insurance questions, create a new claim or check on the status of your claim.

 

Not sure if that is what you are looking for though

[PSR]

6 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Found this  under the FAQ

Please contact the Oceania Cruises Insurance team at 1-800-457-7709 to ask general Insurance questions, create a new claim or check on the status of your claim.

 

Not sure if that is what you are looking for though

 

Thank you. I did see that reference, but I am trying to do a price check or find out information about the coverage without using the phone. The latter really requires the ability to read the coverage details. 🤔

[PSR]

I was able to locate a "Description of Coverage" by searching the web. It is deep inside the Oceania website under something called "Value", which I could not find on the website main page. Anyway, while reading about it, I remembered it was offered before I made my deposit, but I skipped it then because I needed more info about the evacuation program. One page (Oceania's) said the amount was per person ($25,000 coverage) and the actual insurance company's page said $25,000 was the total per booking. I thought I could look into it further after deposit and then decide; but if you don't do it at booking deposit, you have to call Oceania. That's how the OP got the price quote. So I have apparently gotten the info I wanted. ☺️

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, PSR said:

I was able to locate a "Description of Coverage" by searching the web. It is deep inside the Oceania website under something called "Value", which I could not find on the website main page. Anyway, while reading about it, I remembered it was offered before I made my deposit, but I skipped it then because I needed more info about the evacuation program. One page (Oceania's) said the amount was per person ($25,000 coverage) and the actual insurance company's page said $25,000 was the total per booking. I thought I could look into it further after deposit and then decide; but if you don't do it at booking deposit, you have to call Oceania. That's how the OP got the price quote. So I have apparently gotten the info I wanted. ☺️

If you cruise a lot, get MedJet membership for MedEvac and that will allow you to opt for a less expensive comprehensive policy. If you’re a geezer like me (on Medicare), remember that MediCare is useless out of the US. So, make sure any Medicare supplement you select converts to regular insurance when you leave the US. Icing on the cake would be when the supplement is BlueCross and coordinates with Geo Blue for coverage in most major cities across the globe.

The above combo will allow you to concentrate on trip cancel/interrupt coverage which is hard to find as free-standing coverage (yes, there’s your CC coverage for purchased travel using the card. But the limits are woefully inadequate for long and/or big $ cruises.

[Vertygo]

2 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

If you cruise a lot, get MedJet membership for MedEvac and that will allow you to opt for a less expensive comprehensive policy. If you’re a geezer like me (on Medicare), remember that MediCare is useless out of the US. So, make sure any Medicare supplement you select converts to regular insurance when you leave the US. Icing on the cake would be when the supplement is BlueCross and coordinates with Geo Blue for coverage in most major cities across the globe.

The above combo will allow you to concentrate on trip cancel/interrupt coverage which is hard to find as free-standing coverage (yes, there’s your CC coverage for purchased travel using the card. But the limits are woefully inadequate for long and/or big $ cruises.

 

Kaiser Senior Advantage (their Medicare program) covers internationally, with same copays you have at home. Having that, you'd just need trip insurance for cancellation/delays.

[WESTEAST]

Some clarifications on where we found the Travel Protection Plan while doing an online booking.  Once on your selected cruise page, click on the blue button on upper right BOOK THIS CRUISE.  We do this to see the what suite we can choose from and then have our TA book the cruise.  

• On the Save Your Work pop-up scroll down to Sign In as Guest. Once you are in the booking:
• Cruise Itinerary page under Availabiity column for the Suite Category you want.  Click on the Available for the suite you want and it will display the suites available, choose one and follow the remaining pages with other choices e.g., air, amenities, etc. until you are on the Guest Info page where the Travel Protection is under Guest 1 and 2, it is here you will see Rate and if you click on View Terms, Conditions & Plan Sponsors it will give you their Plan with details. Screen shot below:

[WESTEAST]

Thanks everyone who posted with their alternate insurance providers. We never travel without Medical, Trip Cancellation and Interruption.  Just started to compare rates and coverages before we decide and we were curious if anyone had used Oceania's Program. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

And everyone keep in mind:  OP is from Canada.  Insurance and other rules are different there than in the US.

[LHT28]

7 minutes ago, WESTEAST said:

Thanks everyone who posted with their alternate insurance providers. We never travel without Medical, Trip Cancellation and Interruption.  Just started to compare rates and coverages before we decide and we were curious if anyone had used Oceania's Program. 

Just check if any US policies cover Canadians

On one cruise  (Not Oceania) we booked the ins only to find out 2 weeks prior to sailing they did not cover Canadians

We had booked the ins/cruise 1 year in advance  so it was not  short notice  for them

[Flatbush Flyer]

4 hours ago, Vertygo said:

 

Kaiser Senior Advantage (their Medicare program) covers internationally, with same copays you have at home. Having that, you'd just need trip insurance for cancellation/delays.

Try and find a free standing policy for just that.

Pretty much non-existent. Credit Card provided coverage is possible for trip cancel/interrupt but the CC claim limits are woefully inadequate for all but relatively short cruises on mass market ships. 
The other problem that may be of concern is that regular medical insurance whether Kaiser or certain Blue Cross/Blue Shield Medicare supplements that convert to a regular policy when you’re headed out of the country will cover ambulance services. BUT MedEvac is a very different thing than an ambulance and is usually not covered.

[ronrick1943]

Also don’t forget the time limits when buying—-you have only so many days after booking to cover pre-existing conditions.

 

[ohmark]

On 3/23/2022 at 2:58 AM, Flatbush Flyer said:

Try and find a free standing policy for just that.

Pretty much non-existent. Credit Card provided coverage is possible for trip cancel/interrupt but the CC claim limits are woefully inadequate for all but relatively short cruises on mass market ships. 

Chase Sapphire Reserve trip cancellation coverage:  $10K per person, $20K per trip. Card is not cheap, but benefits may make it worth it. Chase Sapphire Preferred is less expensive, fewer benefits, but last time I looked had the same trip cancellation coverage.   https://cdn.f9client.com/api3/file/1130287/inline/BGC10981_Sapphire_Reserve_CF57027.pdf?__gda__=exp=1648154717~acl=/api3/file/1130287/inline/BGC10981_Sapphire_Reserve_CF57027.pdf*~hmac=f0962fce0469b9a61868cb1f0ecb767b1dbb6714ea7a244c5016842672cf34c2

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by ohmark

[ORV]

I thought most insurance experts recommended not buying insurance through the cruise line, especially with the possibility of insolvency. But I know little about insurance, only take it out when booking a high dollar cruise. 

[GeezerCouple]

On 3/22/2022 at 12:44 PM, WESTEAST said:

We are starting to research Medical Travel Insurance and Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption Insurance policies for an upcoming cruise.  Now that Covid is a known event, most policies include Covid.  We have always taken these policies from an insurance company or bank (with some coverage from our credit card).  We had thought Canadians could not purchase Oceania's Travel Protection Program however, we did a guest online booking for our cruise and got a quote in Canadian funds. Curious to know if other cruisers have taken this Protection Plan with Oceania and related experiences?  

 

There is a CC sub-forum about travel insurance:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

 

You may well get more eyes there, and specifically eyes that are familiar with travel insurance.

I'd suggest putting "Canada" in the subject header to help make sure it gets the attention of those who are familiar with travel insurance for Canadians.

 

GC

[1985rz1]

@ohmarkYes, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card still has the same trip cancellation coverage.

Edited March 24, 2022 by 1985rz1

[Robjame]

Oceania insurance is handled by AON.

‘The policy:

https://www.affinitytravelcert.com/DOCS/NWEOCE01

They do insure Canadians but you may find a rep who does not know that.

‘The AON number listed above will give you info about the policy but they cannot sell to you. That is done by Oceania so you must call them (or do while booking online).

Must be purchased before final payment date listed on your booking. The cost varies with the cost of the cruise but works out to over 10% of the cruise - phoning Oceania will give you the exact amount to the penny in CAD if you booked in Canadian dollars.

When considering the value remember that for the first 30 days you really only have $350 CAD pp exposed as you only lose your booking amount and even that can be applied to a future cruise.

Between 150 - 180 days prior to cruise, you would only have 25% of your fare exposed as Oceania will refund 75%

ETC - see page 2 of Oceania statement for the increasing exposure AND you don’t get back that 10+% you paid for the insurance.

Need to be medically stable for 60 days prior to purchasing the policy.

only specified reasons for cancelling can be used but you can research that in the link above but it does cover Covid.

 

[WESTEAST]

Thank you and we are aware of the good points identified.  We have never taken O's Plan and will not be taking it for our future cruise. 

Edited March 25, 2022 by WESTEAST

[ronrick1943]

10 minutes ago, WESTEAST said:

Thank you and we are aware of the good points identified.  We have never taken O's Plan and will not be taking it for our future cruise. 

Just a note, if you go to a good travel Insurance Broker-they can look at many policy(s) that work for you at different price points and coverage.

[Roncairns]

We used Oceania program because every canadian insurer we tried wouldn’t cover Covid because the Canadian Govt rated the risk higher that the US CDC did.

[Jancruz]

On 3/22/2022 at 3:24 PM, LHT28 said:

Found this  under the FAQ

Please contact the Oceania Cruises Insurance team at 1-800-457-7709 to ask general Insurance questions, create a new claim or check on the status of your claim.

 

Not sure if that is what you are looking for though

Who did you book it with..they should send you all the info..

It is a new company with O and much better than Berkley Care from what I hear..

Jancruz1

[GeorgesGal]

On 3/22/2022 at 8:25 PM, Flatbush Flyer said:

If you cruise a lot, get MedJet membership for MedEvac and that will allow you to opt for a less expensive comprehensive policy. If you’re a geezer like me (on Medicare), remember that MediCare is useless out of the US. So, make sure any Medicare supplement you select converts to regular insurance when you leave the US. Icing on the cake would be when the supplement is BlueCross and coordinates with Geo Blue for coverage in most major cities across the globe.

The above combo will allow you to concentrate on trip cancel/interrupt coverage which is hard to find as free-standing coverage (yes, there’s your CC coverage for purchased travel using the card. But the limits are woefully inadequate for long and/or big $ cruises.

Yes, BC/BS Global is great.  I have it as a retiree that my previous employer provides us.  The main problem I have with it is that they REQUIRE you to file with Medicare even though they know it won't pay out of country or if cruising the ship is more than six hours from a US port.  I'm running into this problem as a result of an injury sustained while off the coast of Mexico.  I provided along with my claim  copies of the pertinent portion of Medicare's coverage from Medicare's on-line forum.  Nope, not good enough.  Still waiting for my infirmary stay on the ship of more than $12,000 to be paid.  My private insurer has already paid for my surgery and hospitalization in Panama which was about $27 grand.

Deep breath, Donna, patience!