cancel for any reason

[klh720]

I'm sure this has been asked before, but when would you use this as opposed to cancelling for a covered reason, such as illness?  I'm hesitant to buy Viking insurance, since the only reimbursement is for vouchers.

[zalusky]

12 minutes ago, klh720 said:

I'm sure this has been asked before, but when would you use this as opposed to cancelling for a covered reason, such as illness?  I'm hesitant to buy Viking insurance, since the only reimbursement is for vouchers.

Viking insurance will reimburse for cash for covered reasons such as getting sick or a death, …. 
 

You just need to look at their list.   Vouchers come in to play when it’s not a covered reason.

 

The problem is they do not insure vouchers so if you used there vouchers on a subsequent cruise and used Tripmate you are at risk.  However if you used a different insurance that covered the vouchers you would be ok on that subsequent cruise.

 

I still prefer cash because you might want that subsequent cruise to be on a different line for whatever reason which turned out to be the case for us.

[klh720]

Thanks.  I'm inclined to buy third party insurance.  Can you explain what circumstances would be "cancel for any reason?"  I can only imagine cancelling for illness or death, which are usually covered reasons.  So I'm not sure how useful a cfar provision would be.

[TayanaLorna]

11 minutes ago, klh720 said:

I'm sure this has been asked before, but when would you use this as opposed to cancelling for a covered reason, such as illness?  I'm hesitant to buy Viking insurance, since the only reimbursement is for vouchers.

Trip Mate insurance through Viking is 2 part.  The insurance underwriter covers the cancellation, interruption, lost baggage, missed flights, medical needs, emergency evacuation etc all with very specific parameters that must be met for any cash refund as well as providing them with all and any documentation they require within their stated time frame.  Viking covers you for the cancellation for any reason but only with a voucher to be used for a future cruise within a specific time frame and not a cash refund.  When you cancel the cruise you have a certain time frame within which you must decide which part you are going to use - a claim to the insurance underwriter for cash refund or a claim to Viking for a future cruise voucher.  When you decide on one path, you cannot switch to the other.  If you go for the cash refund from the insurance underwriter, they decide if your reason is "covered" and tell you what documentation, reports etc they require from you.  Whether or not you claim to the insurance underwriter or Viking, the cost of your insurance is not refunded or included in the value of the voucher.  Also, if you take the voucher and book another cruise with Viking, the cost of that cruise has no cash value to insure through Trip Mate again.  Although cruisers are saying the value of the voucher can be insured through other companies.

[klh720]

Thank you!

[TayanaLorna]

36 minutes ago, klh720 said:

I'm sure this has been asked before, but when would you use this as opposed to cancelling for a covered reason, such as illness?  I'm hesitant to buy Viking insurance, since the only reimbursement is for vouchers.

You have a house and dog sitter lined up, they get sick and cannot make it and you cannot find anyone else.  Many policies do not cover for cancelling to do elective surgery.  Your house was flooded from a storm.  You can't get out because a landslide closed your road.

[klh720]

great answer! thanks.

[Babr]

https://www.tripmate.com/plan/print_certificate/51037F40-3FBF-4F09-9FE9-811768D45CFD
 

CFAR means cancellation for any reason other than the ones defined in the policy. That varies from policy to policy. Scroll down to the section on Trip Cancellation -about page 12 - to find the list of reasons covered by Viking.

 

 

[lackcreativity]

1 hour ago, TayanaLorna said:

You have a house and dog sitter lined up, they get sick and cannot make it and you cannot find anyone else.  Many policies do not cover for cancelling to do elective surgery.  Your house was flooded from a storm.  You can't get out because a landslide closed your road.

Some of those examples may actually be covered. In fact, if your house is made uninhabitable by flood or fire that is listed as a covered reason in my TripMate policy. (Not going to debate what exactly meets the standard of "uninhabitable", but you get my point.)

Since many of us book cruises so far in advance, there are other non-emergency things that come up which might lead you to change your mind. We recently welcomed our first grandson at a time when we would have been on a Viking cruise. At the time we booked that cruise, that was not expected! Viking allowed us to move that cruise forward a year without actually having to use the insurance, but we would have taken the vouchers if that had not happened.

 

[klh720]

Congratulations!  Our cruise is in 6 months, so I hope no grandbabies will arrive in that time period.  At least, we're not expecting any as of now.

[The Other Tom]

Note that CFAR polices only pay 75% of the insured cost (at least the ones I've seen).

[DrKoob]

Do NOT buy Viking's insurance. Grab it from another company and check the policy. Make sure it covers what you are after. Cancel for Any Reason is usually almost 50% of the trip cost. Spendy!

 

[Twitchly]

Highly recommend wandering over to the travel insurance forum here on CruiseCritic. Lots of good info over there. 
 

Steve, a travel insurance broker with https://tripinsurancestore.com, posts over there and does some great Q&A sessions. We’ve dealt with him and are very happy with his service.

[CDNPolar]

We have changed our thought process on insurance completely.

 

Unless I am missing something, we all pay Viking far before any penalty of cancellation kicks in.  For instance, we pay Viking typically about 6 months before sailing.  There are NO penalties to cancel until 120 days before or 4 months.  In that two months after full payment I can still get back all but $100 per person to fully cancel.

 

Anytime before that 120 days I can cancel for any reason that I want and lose $100 per person from my deposit or just move my sailing to another date and lose nothing.  (Which we have done several times)

 

Now, I don't know how air works with Viking and that cancel before penalty?  I think it is still ok since they don't ticket the air - unless you ask for tickets earlier - until about 75 days before sailing.  We however now typically buy our own air and we ensure that we are buying air that has no change fee and has a one or two year credit for cancellation.  

 

We have moved to never buying our cancelation and interruption insurance until a few days before the 120 day penalty period kicks in.  Why would you pay for insurance before any penalty is in place?  You are just giving Viking and the Insurance company money to make money with.  And I have heard negative things about moving a trip with Viking's insurance... you might lose the cost of your insurance.

 

 

[CurlerRob]

5 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

We have changed our thought process on insurance completely.

 

Unless I am missing something, we all pay Viking far before any penalty of cancellation kicks in.  For instance, we pay Viking typically about 6 months before sailing.  There are NO penalties to cancel until 120 days before or 4 months.  In that two months after full payment I can still get back all but $100 per person to fully cancel.

 

Anytime before that 120 days I can cancel for any reason that I want and lose $100 per person from my deposit or just move my sailing to another date and lose nothing.  (Which we have done several times)

 

Now, I don't know how air works with Viking and that cancel before penalty?  I think it is still ok since they don't ticket the air - unless you ask for tickets earlier - until about 75 days before sailing.  We however now typically buy our own air and we ensure that we are buying air that has no change fee and has a one or two year credit for cancellation.  

 

We have moved to never buying our cancelation and interruption insurance until a few days before the 120 day penalty period kicks in.  Why would you pay for insurance before any penalty is in place?  You are just giving Viking and the Insurance company money to make money with.  And I have heard negative things about moving a trip with Viking's insurance... you might lose the cost of your insurance.

 

 

 

Just in case you are not aware, or for new pax, longer Viking voyages are different. Your non-refundable will be $1000 pp and penalties will kick in six months prior. The specifics are always documented on your guest statement. 🍺🥌

[zalusky]

7 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

We have changed our thought process on insurance completely.

 

Unless I am missing something, we all pay Viking far before any penalty of cancellation kicks in.  For instance, we pay Viking typically about 6 months before sailing.  There are NO penalties to cancel until 120 days before or 4 months.  In that two months after full payment I can still get back all but $100 per person to fully cancel.

 

Anytime before that 120 days I can cancel for any reason that I want and lose $100 per person from my deposit or just move my sailing to another date and lose nothing.  (Which we have done several times)

 

Now, I don't know how air works with Viking and that cancel before penalty?  I think it is still ok since they don't ticket the air - unless you ask for tickets earlier - until about 75 days before sailing.  We however now typically buy our own air and we ensure that we are buying air that has no change fee and has a one or two year credit for cancellation.  

 

We have moved to never buying our cancelation and interruption insurance until a few days before the 120 day penalty period kicks in.  Why would you pay for insurance before any penalty is in place?  You are just giving Viking and the Insurance company money to make money with.  And I have heard negative things about moving a trip with Viking's insurance... you might lose the cost of your insurance.

 

 

I presume you have separate medical and evac insurance covering pre-existing conditions then.

[CDNPolar]

34 minutes ago, zalusky said:

I presume you have separate medical and evac insurance covering pre-existing conditions then.

We have medical and evac insurance through work that it better than we can purchase separately. 

[CCWineLover]

8 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

We have changed our thought process on insurance completely.

 

Unless I am missing something, we all pay Viking far before any penalty of cancellation kicks in.  For instance, we pay Viking typically about 6 months before sailing.  There are NO penalties to cancel until 120 days before or 4 months.  In that two months after full payment I can still get back all but $100 per person to fully cancel.

 

Anytime before that 120 days I can cancel for any reason that I want and lose $100 per person from my deposit or just move my sailing to another date and lose nothing.  (Which we have done several times)

 

Now, I don't know how air works with Viking and that cancel before penalty?  I think it is still ok since they don't ticket the air - unless you ask for tickets earlier - until about 75 days before sailing.  We however now typically buy our own air and we ensure that we are buying air that has no change fee and has a one or two year credit for cancellation.  

 

We have moved to never buying our cancelation and interruption insurance until a few days before the 120 day penalty period kicks in.  Why would you pay for insurance before any penalty is in place?  You are just giving Viking and the Insurance company money to make money with.  And I have heard negative things about moving a trip with Viking's insurance... you might lose the cost of your insurance.

 

 

The main reason is:  to get the waiver for pre-existing conditions, and/or to get "on the books" with insurance ahead of a birthday (prices rise on your birthdays).   See previous poster regarding Steve at The TripInsuranceStore - where I learned all I know about trip insurance.

 

All you need to do is insure the initial deposit coverage within the specified time (10-21 days usually, after first deposit).  That locks in the pre-existing condition waiver.  That protects you for very little cost the whole time before your cruise.   Note - we learned than even though we are relatively healthy, a simple thing like changing the amount or frequency of a simple blood pressure pill, for example, is considered a pre-existing condition being changed.  Big!

 

I would also never buy Viking Tripmate.  Steve educated me on the value of having insurance policies that 1. cover vouchers and 2. can be transferred to another cruise (something Tripmate doesn't do).

 

And since you have your own "better" insurance, which most of this crowd do not have, then you have yourself covered.  So again, why someone would buy insurance ahead of time is also because 3. they don't have insurance already through their work.

Edited November 21, 2022 by CCWineLover

[Babr]

10 minutes ago, zalusky said:

I presume you have separate medical and evac insurance covering pre-existing conditions then.

There are a number of comprehensive travel plans that allow a waiver for pre-existing conditions if purchased by final payment; however, they do exclude other time-sensitve benefits (CFAR and financial default) which can be purchased only during a period following initial deposit.

 

Since the insurance premium itself is nonrefundable, some people choose to wait until final payment or the date when cancellation penalties take effect. That way there is no risk except for a minimal cancellation fee.