New cancellation policy

[susiesan]

On 8/19/2023 at 9:51 PM, AMHuntFerry said:

I think most "avid O lovers" purchase onboard and get a price guarantee so upgrades. sales, and the like are a given (mostly). I will keep my on whether this policy continues.

You would be wrong. I am an avid Oceania lover, about to embark on my 6th O cruise on Sept. 2. I have never booked onboard. 

[MEFIowa]

2 minutes ago, susiesan said:

You would be wrong. I am an avid Oceania lover, about to embark on my 6th O cruise on Sept. 2. I have never booked onboard. 

Yep, similar for us. We booked our own cruises thru O by phone for 5 of our 6 taken/booked cruises. We did book on Riviera 12/2021 for Sirena 11/2022, the one cruise that never went on sale! The other 4--we've got 2 later this year and 2 more in 2024--booked off sales! Two from the ESS and one from the Summer Sale.

[CJANDH]

I think that many lines are getting tougher on cancelation fees. I just noticed that a Regent cruise I have booked for summer 2024 has a 25% of cruise fare cancelation cost for 151 days or more out from sailing. That is pretty steep. If I cancel a full year out it costs me 25% of the full fare. Wow!!

[pinotlover]

We typically book upon new cruise release. Only aboard once when that occurred and ended up booking through our Travel Agent because of massive computer problems aboard ship. 
 

Our TA  got us prebooked and the cabin we wanted. The OCA couldn’t get the cruise requests in time for all aboard ship. It was a disaster. Some of the cruises sold out before the OCA could input the cruise requests . 

[osandomir]

29 minutes ago, susiesan said:

You would be wrong. I am an avid Oceania lover, about to embark on my 6th O cruise on Sept. 2. I have never booked onboard. 

So, you have been missing on the great benefits that Oceania is offering for their booking onboard program. We always booked a cruise or at least bought onboard booking certificates to keep our deposits low and gain more flexibility. And under the new cancellation policies we’ll be even more keen to do so.

[MEFIowa]

Just now, osandomir said:

So, you have been missing on the great benefits that Oceania is offering for their booking onboard program. We always booked a cruise or at least bought onboard booking certificates to keep our deposits low and gain more flexibility....

Though I've learned YOU MAY PAY A LOT MORE DOING THAT. Since it is really hit or miss if you're on board during a SALE. See, for example, the Extraordinary Savings Sale earlier this year. Got 10 nights on Riviera in a B3 for $1749 PP and another 10 nights on Riviera in an A3 for $1899 PP. I paid $2349 PP for booking Sirena (11/2022) while on Riviera (12/2021) and that cruise never went on sale. O SALES are to be studied carefully. I just wish I was on board during a serious cabin-upgrade sale! But I've got 20 nights later this year and 20 more in later 2024. Fingers crossed!

[babydrum]

On 8/19/2023 at 5:55 AM, Vineyard View said:

Not necessarily so. Once you put a deposit on a trip, if you do not book insurance in X amount of days (usually 14-21) then you cannot have pre-existing conditions waived. We always make sure we book a policy that allows you to only pay up front for the money you have on deposit, then when you pay more, you are able to Increase the money you pay on your insurance. It’s the devil in the details in making sure you have chosen a policy/company that allows this. At the end of the day, the total cost of the policy is not more than if we were to pay in full for it up front. 

I didn't know such a policy existed.  Is there a specific insurance company that you use?

[babydrum]

On 8/19/2023 at 8:12 AM, ORV said:

Not necessarily so, there are companies that allow you to have pre-existing conditions covered, as long as you purchase them by the Final Payment date. 

Would you mind sharing the name of one or two?  We haven't insured our trip and would like to if we could get pre-existing conditions covered.  We don't have any that we would anticipate causing problems but it's my understanding that they include things that they think you should have known about even if you didn't.

[Vineyard View]

7 minutes ago, babydrum said:

I didn't know such a policy existed.  Is there a specific insurance company that you use?

I have used a couple different companies. I always ‘live chat’ with an agent so that I have record of the dialogue we have insuring me that the company I book allows for this. The one I used this year for next cruise is IMG and this time I purchased it through insuremytrip.com. 
This is regarding insuring our deposit with preexisting conditions and adding to the policy as you incur more costs. 

Edited August 21, 2023 by Vineyard View

[osandomir]

21 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

Though I've learned YOU MAY PAY A LOT MORE DOING THAT. Since it is really hit or miss if you're on board during a SALE. See, for example, the Extraordinary Savings Sale earlier this year. Got 10 nights on Riviera in a B3 for $1749 PP and another 10 nights on Riviera in an A3 for $1899 PP. I paid $2349 PP for booking Sirena (11/2022) while on Riviera (12/2021) and that cruise never went on sale. O SALES are to be studied carefully. I just wish I was on board during a serious cabin-upgrade sale! But I've got 20 nights later this year and 20 more in later 2024. Fingers crossed!

And by booking onboard we’re eligible to take an advantage of any of the sales later on up to the sailing day. That being said, the cruises that we choose rarely go on sale anyway.

[Babr]

5 minutes ago, babydrum said:

Would you mind sharing the name of one or two?  We haven't insured our trip and would like to if we could get pre-existing conditions covered.  We don't have any that we would anticipate causing problems but it's my understanding that they include things that they think you should have known about even if you didn't.

You’re right. They look for anything that contributed to the reason for cancellation. It could be something as innocuous as a prescription change or a reported symptom.
 

 The IMG LX policy allows a pre-existing conditions waiver if the policy is purchased within 24 hours of final payment. CSA and Generali are also companies that have such policies.

 

If you need assistance sorting through the various options, many on CC forums recommend The Trip Insurance Store. Steve or one of his associates can guide you to the best policy for you, and it will not cost any more than buying elsewhere because insurance is regulated.

[MEFIowa]

2 minutes ago, osandomir said:

And by booking onboard we’re eligible to take an advantage of any of the sales later on up to the sailing day. That being said, the cruises that we choose rarely go on sale anyway.

Yet it is the sale that gets you the sale price, not booking on board. Yes, reduced deposit is nice, but I intend to go on any cruise I book, so not much of an issue. I don't book unless I know I full well intend on going on a specific cruise. Was fascinating to listen to O cruisers on Riviera (12/2021) complain about how they had to use or loss their FCC, some of which they acquired while on board a previous cruise. No FCC is of any value to me. Unless there is a specific itinerary, I'll wait for a sale.

[EJL2023]

22 minutes ago, Babr said:

You’re right. They look for anything that contributed to the reason for cancellation. It could be something as innocuous as a prescription change or a reported symptom.
 

 The IMG LX policy allows a pre-existing conditions waiver if the policy is purchased within 24 hours of final payment. CSA and Generali are also companies that have such policies.

 

If you need assistance sorting through the various options, many on CC forums recommend The Trip Insurance Store. Steve or one of his associates can guide you to the best policy for you, and it will not cost any more than buying elsewhere because insurance is regulated.

It is important also to look at the definition of a pre existing condition for your specific company as they can be different from company to company. The one I typically use only considers it a preexisting condition of there was a change in the 60 days prior to the purchase of the insurance 

[osandomir]

33 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

Yet it is the sale that gets you the sale price, not booking on board. Yes, reduced deposit is nice, but I intend to go on any cruise I book, so not much of an issue. I don't book unless I know I full well intend on going on a specific cruise. Was fascinating to listen to O cruisers on Riviera (12/2021) complain about how they had to use or loss their FCC, some of which they acquired while on board a previous cruise. No FCC is of any value to me. Unless there is a specific itinerary, I'll wait for a sale.

Well, many of our cruises were sold out way before any of the sales was showing up.

[Babr]

11 minutes ago, EJL2023 said:

It is important also to look at the definition of a pre existing condition for your specific company as they can be different from company to company. The one I typically use only considers it a preexisting condition of there was a change in the 60 days prior to the purchase of the insurance 

The definition is the same, but the look-back period varies. Sixty days is fairly common; however, some can go back as far as 180 days. Obviously, shorter is better if you don’t have a waiver.

 

Also, some policies extend the exclusion to non-traveling family members which can be a problem if you have aging parents who may need your assistance if their health takes a turn.

[AMHuntFerry]

2 hours ago, susiesan said:

You would be wrong. I am an avid Oceania lover, about to embark on my 6th O cruise on Sept. 2. I have never booked onboard. 

I think we have different definitions of "most" and "avid".

[AMHuntFerry]

2 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

Yep, similar for us. We booked our own cruises thru O by phone for 5 of our 6 taken/booked cruises. We did book on Riviera 12/2021 for Sirena 11/2022, the one cruise that never went on sale! The other 4--we've got 2 later this year and 2 more in 2024--booked off sales! Two from the ESS and one from the Summer Sale.

Again, definition of "most" is different (i.e, does not equal "all"). Also, booking onboard means you get a price guarantee, so if the great sale price gets even cheaper, but there is a waitlist for your cabin, new bookers can't get the sale price but the booked onboard person can get it; it seems like you would prefer this option given your propensity for deals so I'm perplexed at your stance against getting a lower price guarantee if prices drop.

[babydrum]

1 hour ago, Babr said:

You’re right. They look for anything that contributed to the reason for cancellation. It could be something as innocuous as a prescription change or a reported symptom.
 

 The IMG LX policy allows a pre-existing conditions waiver if the policy is purchased within 24 hours of final payment. CSA and Generali are also companies that have such policies.

 

If you need assistance sorting through the various options, many on CC forums recommend The Trip Insurance Store. Steve or one of his associates can guide you to the best policy for you, and it will not cost any more than buying elsewhere because insurance is regulated.

Thank you.  I'll check out their policies.  Final payment isn't until mid December so I have a little time.

[ORV]

24 minutes ago, babydrum said:

Thank you.  I'll check out their policies.  Final payment isn't until mid December so I have a little time.

Yes, InsureMyTrip is who I use. Read through their website, it has answers to a lot of questions, including explaining the lookback period. For the past 8 months or so I have been in active treatment every few months. Steve had me get a letter from my Dr and put on file that when I booked the cruise I was fine to go on a trip. From talking to Steve there are a lot of things that people "know" about trip insurance that is not necessarily right. Talk to a professional, then make your decisions from there. 

[ORV]

36 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

Again, definition of "most" is different (i.e, does not equal "all"). Also, booking onboard means you get a price guarantee, so if the great sale price gets even cheaper, but there is a waitlist for your cabin, new bookers can't get the sale price but the booked onboard person can get it; it seems like you would prefer this option given your propensity for deals so I'm perplexed at your stance against getting a lower price guarantee if prices drop.

You do know you're wasting your time? Some people already know everything, so there's no point in trying to help them. I'd use the ignore feature if it wasn't for the amusement factor of what some people post. 

[Babr]

3 minutes ago, ORV said:

Yes, InsureMyTrip is who I use. Read through their website, it has answers to a lot of questions, including explaining the lookback period. For the past 8 months or so I have been in active treatment every few months. Steve had me get a letter from my Dr and put on file that when I booked the cruise I was fine to go on a trip. From talking to Steve there are a lot of things that people "know" about trip insurance that is not necessarily right. Talk to a professional, then make your decisions from there. 

Steve is The Trip Insurance Store, not the one you mentioned which is a large online marketplace.

[AMHuntFerry]

1 minute ago, ORV said:

You do know you're wasting your time? Some people already know everything, so there's no point in trying to help them. I'd use the ignore feature if it wasn't for the amusement factor of what some people post. 

When I'm overly amused I get snarky...such a vice

[shepherd really]

18 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

When I'm overly amused I get snarky...such a vice

Those who sail on Oceania appreciate an amuse bouche, it's part of the finest cuisine at sea.

[ORV]

21 minutes ago, Babr said:

Steve is The Trip Insurance Store, not the one you mentioned which is a large online marketplace.

Doh, you are so right, I was looking at them side by side in my favorites to make sure I got it right as I frequently confuse the names. It is definitely (tripinsurancestore.com) as you said. My mistake. I just purchased some a couple of days ago for an upcoming trip. 

[aussietwo]

A question - does cancellation of a cruise booked before September currently incur any loss of deposit?