Any coverage for missing the ship in port?

First of all, as a disclaimer I would to state two things.. 1. I have done a search on here but didn't find what I am looking for, so hopefully this isn't a constantly asked question, and 2. I have never ever been a pier runner and do not plan on ever being one, BUT with that being said...

My mom and I are going on a cruise next month. She wants to get travel insurance for the primary factor of being able to get to the next port if, for some unforeseen reason, we miss the ship before it leaves a port (ex. Roatan). I have done extensive insurance research and haven't found that exact coverage. At least, I dont think I have seen it, so if I did, I didnt understand the terminology.

So my question is, do any insurance companies cover this? If yes, can I get some recommendations?

Thanks in advance

I found information on "missed connections" to catch up to a cruise but i am assuming that is for before the cruise starts... like if my airline was at fault. I am looking for, say, if we are in belize, miss the ship, and need to get to cozumel to catch up to the ship. HIGHLY unlikely this will happen but my DM wants to have it.

Well,,,,,,, yes, maybe, maybe not.

1st. Even if you miss the ship and its determined to be a covered reason, you don't just call the insurance company and they issue you an airline ticket.

All travel insurance is reimbursement based only. You pay up front, then when you get home, you file a claim for reimbursement.

2nd. What's going to be covered is going to depend on the policy you're buying. I believe it would be covered under Trip Interruption.

Example of why it wouldn't be a covered event,,, got drunk and missed the ship,,,,shopping and lost track of time,,,,,fell asleep at the beach.

Hmmmm... I'm not positive, but I'm thinking no. Missed connection or Trip Interruption coverage usually covers common carrier delays. Tour operators are not common carriers, they are charter operators.

We have never heard of any insurance covering missing the ship (other then at the original port of embarkation) but it is an intriguing idea. Just think of it.....If DW and I were off driving a few hours from a port in Italy and were enjoying a wonderful lunch and then decided we would simply extend our lunch and not worry about going back to the port. We would just spend a nice evening in Italy, catch the ship the following day, and file an insurance claim to cover our expenses. We think Not :)

Hank

Travel insurance is specific, named perils coverage only. If the cause of missing the ship is one of those named perils, then it would be covered. Illness requiring a doctor, common carrier delays greater than 3-5 hours are usually named perils; most other reasons for missing the ship in port are not.

If the biggest concern that your mom has is missing the ship when visiting a port,,,then do all of your shoreside excursions by buying your excursion from the cruiseline.

A little more expensive this way but it does give piece of mind that if the excursion is running late back to the ship,,,, the ship will wait.

Face it, there's are probably 40 or 50 passengers on the bus with you and maybe even some crewmembers.

1) Figure out which of the plan's coverages most closely matches the circumstances of the loss. In this case it's usually going to fall under the "trip interruption" benefit.

This is from a Travelex plan:

"Post-Departure Trip Interruption Benefits

If you are unable to continue your Covered Trip for one of the Covered Reasons, we will reimburse you, less any refund paid or payable, for unused travel arrangements, plus the following:

1. the additional transportation expenses by the most direct route from the point you interrupted your Covered Trip: (a) to the next scheduled destination where you can catch up to your Covered Trip; or (b) to the final destination of your Covered Trip; or

2. the additional transportation expenses incurred by you by the most direct route to reach your original Covered Trip destination if you are delayed and leave after the Scheduled Departure Date . . . . "

So, in this case if you interrupt your trip for a COVERED reason they'll reimburse you for the value of any days missed on your cruise PLUS the additional cost of getting to the next port where you can re-join the cruise (or back to the home port).

2) So what's a covered reason for a trip interruption? Here's from that same plan:

"Trip Cancellation and Interruption Covered Reasons

Coverage is provided for the following unforeseeable events or their consequences which occur while coverage is in effect under this Policy if there is a change in plans by you, a Family Member traveling with you, or Traveling Companion:

1. Sickness, Injury or death of you or your Traveling Companion and/or you or your Traveling Companion’s Family Member or Business Partner. The Sickness must commence while coverage is in effect, require the examination of a Physician, in person, at the time of Trip Cancellation or Trip Interruption and, in the written option of the treating Physician, be so disabling as to prevent you from taking or continuing your Covered Trip;

2. you become pregnant after the effective date of coverage (Trip Cancellation coverage only);

3. Common Carrier delays resulting from inclement weather, or mechanical breakdown or organized labor strikes that affect public transportation;

4. arrangements canceled by an airline, cruise line, motor coach company, or tour operator, resulting from inclement weather, mechanical breakdown or organized labor strikes that affect public transportation.

5. arrangements canceled by a tour operator, cruise line, airline, rental car company, hotel, condominium, railroad, motor coach company, or other supplier of travel services, resulting from Financial Insolvency;

6. being directly involved in a documented traffic accident while en route to departure;

7. being hijacked, kidnapped, quarantined, required to serve on a jury, or required by a court order to appear as a witness in a legal action, provided you, Family Member traveling with you or a Traveling Companion is not 1) a party to the legal action, or 2) appearing as a law enforcement officer;

8. your Home made uninhabitable by fire, flood, volcano, earthquake, hurricane or other natural disaster;

9. being called into active military service to provide aid or relief in the event of a natural disaster;

10. a documented theft of passports or visas;

11. a transfer of employment of 250 miles or more;

12. your involuntary termination of employment or layoff and was not under your control. You must have been continuously employed with the same employer for 1 year prior to the termination or layoff. This provision is not applicable to temporary employment, independent contractors or

self-employed persons;

13. your host at destination is hospitalized or dies, provided you made previous arrangements to stay at the host’s personal residence during the Covered Trip."

Obviously, some of these reasons are more likely than others to cause you to miss a ship departure -- the most common would have to be due to medical reasons. So, for example say you're ashore and need to see a doctor/clinic doe some medical situation. By the time they get you fixed up the ship has sailed. If the doctor says it's OK to re-join the cruise your loss is going to be some combination of:

The value of the missed nights on the ship (maybe because of a day at sea you're going to miss two nights on the ship)

The additional expenses incurred while waiting to re-join the cruise (perhaps two nights in a hotel, meals, etc are normally covered under a separate Trip Delay benefit so you may end up making two claims depending on the circumstances)

The additional transportation cost to reach the next port of call (airfare ** did you bring your passport ** , taxis, etc)

I convinced my mother that it shouldnt be an issue, if we are careful and aware. Also, I think she had the idea that someone would help us right then if we had problems?? I told her that travel insurance is not our personal concierge... then she finally understood. So, we did book insurance but not for that reason.

I doubt it. You certainly should not get any money back because you did not get back to the ship on time.

DON