It is going to cost me to come back to Princess..Thanks alot HAL

[Denisern2]

I booked my first cruise with HAL with one of their agents. I was told I was being charged for 1518$ for deposit refundable until Nov 19th...Cool I got it bye.

 

Visa bill arrives today and there is an extra 700 charge What for????? They charged my insurance right there....This was done over the phone and I was never told that charge would be there. Why would I pay for insurance that far out??? mmmmm smell a rat in hiding..I can see it being non refundable but should they not have told me??? Or let me know they were charging my visa????

 

As you can see I am nor virgin to cruising and I always do my insurance through Princess and I have had to cancel cruises and it has never been a problem.

 

So I speak to two supervisors and they are wondering why My on line agent never sent out my documents...I do not know check with her/

 

Am I wrong in assuming when business is done over the phone should there not be disclosure. When I booked this cruise I knew full on there was a good chance of canceling as I really wanted to go on the emerald princess and there price lowered to 300 dollars more then Holland from 1,000.

 

I know you guys cheer for your line but I really think that this is wrong.. What are they insuring 7 months from my cruise date it should kick in with final payment like celebrity, Royal and Princess I just do not get it.

__________________

[kendon]

When I book a Princess cruise, my insurance is ALWAYS charged at the time of booking. Once the TA forgot to add the insurance when I booked. I noticed it about three weeks later and boy did I have difficulty adding it on then.

[cacy6893076]

with princess you have the choice of paying the insurance at time of booking or with the final , you should always be asked which you prefer, as far as hal goes I have no idea.

[stanford's girl]

Is this when you book directly with Princess or does it happen when you use a TA too? :confused:

We will be booking the Ruby soon but the cruise is almost 15 months out. I like to buy my own cruise insurance closer to the sailing date, as I don't have any pre-existing conditions.

[stanford's girl]

Visa bill arrives today and there is an extra 700 charge What for????? They charged my insurance right there....

Yikes, how many people does $700 insure?? :eek:

[Times Prince]

I booked my first cruise with HAL with one of their agents. I was told I was being charged for 1518$ for deposit refundable until Nov 19th...Cool I got it bye.

 

Visa bill arrives today and there is an extra 700 charge What for????? They charged my insurance right there....This was done over the phone and I was never told that charge would be there. Why would I pay for insurance that far out??? mmmmm smell a rat in hiding..I can see it being non refundable but should they not have told me??? Or let me know they were charging my visa????

 

As you can see I am nor virgin to cruising and I always do my insurance through Princess and I have had to cancel cruises and it has never been a problem.

 

So I speak to two supervisors and they are wondering why My on line agent never sent out my documents...I do not know check with her/

 

Am I wrong in assuming when business is done over the phone should there not be disclosure. When I booked this cruise I knew full on there was a good chance of canceling as I really wanted to go on the emerald princess and there price lowered to 300 dollars more then Holland from 1,000.

 

I know you guys cheer for your line but I really think that this is wrong.. What are they insuring 7 months from my cruise date it should kick in with final payment like celebrity, Royal and Princess I just do not get it.

__________________

I am not sure why this post is on the Princess board seeing as you have a problem with Holland America Line. Under good business practices they are required to tell you the amount they will be charging to your credit card at the time you provide your agreement for the charge.

 

RE: Insurance

In general, the choice is typically yours for when to pay insurance. What we have learned with Princess Travel Care is that they cover pre-existing conditions if the trip insurance is paid for at the time of your cruise booking. If done later, then they might not cover as much if the cruise must be cancelled for a recurrance of a pre-existing condition.

[Toto2Kansas]

Although HAL is part of the 'company' they may have different rules. But with Princess, we are always asked if we want to take out the insurance when we book, or if we want to wait until final payment before we add it, OR if we want to get our own private insurance. My TA always asks first.

 

Have you asked this question over on the HAL board? They might have a better idea whats going on.

 

Edited, Ah Haaaaaaa I see you have, I looked. Seems HAL has different rules then Princess. Different cruise line, different rules.

[mycruz]

Did I see where you mention an online agent? You need to get with them if that's the case. Did they book you Princess insurance or was the insurance through another company. If it's through another company then they probably did require payment at the time the policy was taken out. Sounds like the agent you talked to didn't do a very good job in communicating the components of your cruise and their cost.

[coiran]

With Princess you can add the insurance at anytime up to final payment - but - you don,t have to pay for it until final payment.

Ron

[cacy6893076]

i am not sure why this is on princess either, but in re reading it it appears that op used an online agent so who can tell what online sold to passenger......this must be either a long cruise or several passengers or an expensive stateroom, or else the price of the insurance itself is also out of line. Also we have no clue as to the refundability of the insurance portion as we do not know if it is hal insurance or another insurance. Really too many variables to comment on without further explanation, on either board.

[Northender]

We always buy the insurance at the time of booking with TA. It is refundable if you cancel before final payment......

 

stanfords girl - 15 months out, you might not have pre-existing condition right now, but 15 months is a long time. And as you said $700 - who and what are they covering. My car insurance for a year is less than that:eek:

[dutchess43]

Wow is all I can say about the price. I just bought travel insurance for my TA next year for DH & myself though an outside source & paid 232.00 for the classic insurance. I too would like to know what cost your premium to be so high?

Northender living in L.I. I would love to have my car insurance 700.00 for the year.

[Yahtic]

Have never purchased insurance. Probably saved enough to buy another cruise.

[wyocruiser]

I also find the insurance situation with Holland America irritating. If you want their insurance, you have to pay for it when you book and there are no refunds on insurance (even if you book a year ahead). We have only encountered this on HAL ---- every other line we have been on doesn't make you pay for insurance until the final payment.

[Northender]

Wow is all I can say about the price. I just bought travel insurance for my TA next year for DH & myself though an outside source & paid 232.00 for the classic insurance. I too would like to know what cost your premium to be so high?

Northender living in L.I. I would love to have my car insurance 700.00 for the year.

 

My sis lives on L.I. and I know how you feel. $700 is a little low for me too but I was just making a point.:D It is not much more tho.......

[Northender]

Have never purchased insurance. Probably saved enough to buy another cruise.

 

We never did either, until on our second cruise we saw someone airlifted off the ship by the US Coast Guard, taken to the nearest US port and then needed to be med-flighted home. Insurance is worth every penny in my estimation. Just think what that must have cost. Needless to say, it made a believer in me. For another $200 we can rest easy, so to speak:)

[LDVinNC]

Never used to take insurance, but now that we are older, I think it is a good idea. We only get the evacuation/medical (no cancellation insurance, which is what is the really costly part) which you can get for a fairly small amount thru HTH or STA. Last cruise, paid about $60 for it and just got $195 to cover a trip to the ship's doctor that my usual insurance would not pay because of my deductible.

[Denisern2]

HAL took care of the problem just beware if you are a Princess customer and sail with them. Payment is quite different and do not take their insurance. I am so excited to be back on the Emerald.

[ancientmariner]

You're lucky you an even consider cancelling a cruise. In the UK, if we cancel we forfeit the deposit, unless there is a substantiated medical reason, (like death!). Even then, one needs to reclaim the forfeited deposit through one's insurance policy - hence the insurance is required at time of booking.

[whale-watcher]

I also find the insurance situation with Holland America irritating. If you want their insurance, you have to pay for it when you book and there are no refunds on insurance (even if you book a year ahead). We have only encountered this on HAL ---- every other line we have been on doesn't make you pay for insurance until the final payment.

is this a new policy? we had to cancel a HAL cruise in '06 and I am certain we received a refund for our pre-paid insurance (we booked and cancelled through our TA, however)

[Coral]

Holland's insurance is different and is not refundable. I looked at this awhile back and I think it is because they pay you "cash" if you cancel for any reason.

 

Princess's insurance gives you future cruise credit.

[flag fan]

Have never purchased insurance. Probably saved enough to buy another cruise.

 

Not buying insurance will certainly save money because you don't really need it, that is until you REALLY need it. Not being insured is a gamble in my opinion and I save that for the casino (more fun).

[fathercop]

with princess you have the choice of paying the insurance at time of booking or with the final , you should always be asked which you prefer, as far as hal goes I have no idea.

 

U have up to your final payment date to cancel the insurance. Generally, we get our own insurance and tell our TA not to figure it into the cost. Once, out TA added it in to the total cost because we did not tell her we were declining it. One phone call took care of the problem immediately.

 

Good luck to you and enjoy your cruise.

[regnig]

Don't we just love a story with a happy ending! :D :D

[chasetf]

I like to buy my own cruise insurance closer to the sailing date' date=' as I don't have any pre-existing conditions. [/color']

The pre-existing conditions also apply to family members that may cause you to have to depart the cruise.

 

In our case we have had both of our elderly mothers with pre-existing conditions that we worried about having to depart early for.