Quadruple bypass surgery one week before Med cruise

I am asking this question for my good friend whose husband had emergency quadruple bypass surgery today, one week before they were scheduled to leave on a grand Mediterranean cruise. They were going with a group of family members including their adult children. They unfortunately did not purchase trip insurance. The rest of the family will still probably go, but my friend and her husband obviously will not. My question is will Princess offer them any kind of credit for a future cruise, or will they lose all of their money?

Sorry to hear that your friend will not be able to cruise. Without insurance, it is doubtful Princess will do anything. Not to sound uncaring but if Princess gave any compensation, why would anyone purchase insurance?

So sorry to hear this but as said, that's why people purchase insurance. :( However, they can take someone else and change the name on the booking for, I believe, $50. Good luck to them. A difficult situation at the best of times.

Absolutley not, refund/credit.

Last Sept. I was booked to go to Alaska. Three weeks before I was to leave I fell & broke my lower leg in three places and tore three ligaments in my ankle. I didn't have insurance, I had to cancel, and I lost my entire cruise amount.

I'm scheduled to go to Alaska in two weeks on the Sea Princess; this time I have insurance, plus MedJet Assist - thanks to Pam in CA.

So sorry to hear this but as said, that's why people purchase insurance. :( However, they can take someone else and change the name on the booking for, I believe, $50. Good luck to them. A difficult situation at the best of times.

That would only be possible if one of them would still be on the cruise. Since both the husband and wife will not be going, they cannot switch out to two other names in the same cabin.

That would only be possible if one of them would still be on the cruise. Since both the husband and wife will not be going, they cannot switch out to two other names in the same cabin.

I am asking this question for my good friend whose husband had emergency quadruple bypass surgery today, one week before they were scheduled to leave on a grand Mediterranean cruise. They were going with a group of family members including their adult children. They unfortunately did not purchase trip insurance. The rest of the family will still probably go, but my friend and her husband obviously will not. My question is will Princess offer them any kind of credit for a future cruise, or will they lose all of their money?

I'm sorry to hear about your friend, but maybe "unfortunately" isn't the correct term? It is beyond belief that people still travel without insurance.

Sorry to hear of yours friends problem, and do hope that the husband that had the bypass is doing OK. Over and over we see on the boards that people book cruises and do not book insurance. It is a gamble plain and simple, especially since the cruise demograpic is more senior passangers ( but things can happen to young and healthy people too). I always book insurance the same time I book the cruise , the little extra it costs is worth it, We have had to use the insurance due to serious health problems two weeks prior to a cruise and it was so good to know that we had the insurance and it was one less thing to worry about at a difficult time. Believe me it is worth buying the insurance and knowing that just in case there is a problem , you will be covered.

I post this not just to be difficult to the OP but just in case someone reads this thread and

will then consider insurance for there next cruise.

Cori

Sorry to hear of the medical problem, but without insurance, no cruise line will give them a refund.

Can they switch the husband with someone else and pay the $50 and a few days later switch the wife and pay the $50 again. Does Princess track to be sure an originally booked passenger stays on the reservation?

One name on the booking has to be the same as on the initial booking. So no switching one person, waiting, and then switching the other.

I'm sorry your friends will lose out here, but I'm also glad that Princess is strict in this regard. Otherwise, those of us who do purchase insurance for every trip would be wasting our money.

On our last cruise, we met a couple who were the second most travelled passengers with over 1000 days. They told us they never purchased cruise insurance, because they felt their savings exceeded the cost of a cruise if they did have to cancel. I didn't ask if they had medical insurance.

On our last cruise, we met a couple who were the second most travelled passengers with over 1000 days. They told us they never purchased cruise insurance, because they felt their savings exceeded the cost of a cruise if they did have to cancel. I didn't ask if they had medical insurance.

Or evacuation insurance. Because we're not insuring because of the potential loss of the price of the cruise, or the airline tickets. It's the medical (for those who don't have insurance outside the country, or with huge deductibles for outside the country) and especially the evacuation that have me spending hundreds each cruise for insurance.

Tell your friends to check with their credit card company with whom they booked, if they did use a credit card. Some of them automatically cover emergency incidents. I know ours covers flight if there is an emergency.

When we owned our own business and had a business credit card, travel insurance was automatic on it, we never purchased travel insurance back then.

I hope your friends husband is well again real soon, bummer they missed the cruise but he's still alive!

I am asking this question for my good friend whose husband had emergency quadruple bypass surgery today, one week before they were scheduled to leave on a grand Mediterranean cruise. They were going with a group of family members including their adult children. They unfortunately did not purchase trip insurance. The rest of the family will still probably go, but my friend and her husband obviously will not. My question is will Princess offer them any kind of credit for a future cruise, or will they lose all of their money?

I always complain about buying the insurance to my husband saying "look how many times we have traveled and nothing has ever happens" but I still purchase it. There is another way to look at it, what if they had gone on the cruise and then he needed the surgery? At least he was at home when it happened and only lost the money not something much worse.

I am so sorry to hear your friends had to cancel the cruise. I hope everything goes well for the husband.

Pam, how does the change of name work with the $50 fee after final payment?

Let's say passenger 1 goes on the cruise.

Passenger 2 cancels.

Passenger 3 replaces passenger 2 & pay the $50 fee.

Will passenger 2 lose the full payment they have made (eg. sail in 1 week's time)?

Will passenger 3 pay the $50 fee plus the PRESENT cruise fare or the original fare passenger 2 paid ?

Thanks.

Truffles,

On a substitution it is up to the two parties involved to work out the details. The Cruiseline does not consider it a cancellation.

It's a shame such a thing has happened. As soon as I book the holiday I book the insurance. I cannot for the life of me understand by anyone wouldn't. Insurance covers a host of things. Only last week my bank informed me that they were offering me free travel insurance which was good, but I'd already booked and paid for my insurance several months ago. Check your bank account small print just in case. Good luck.

We never buy insurance for the cruise. With over 30 cruises, we are ahead of the game. We do buy medical insurance, a year at at time, that covers our travels of 100 miles or more from home. That is a good investment. It is a gamble either way.

I hope that your friend is on his road to a speedy recovery. Behind every cloud is a silver lining and it is fortunate that the emergency did not happen at sea.

Some very prudent people do not obtain "cancellation insurance" or "deluxe all-inclusive" insurance because they are well-covered for medical by other means such as blue cross, employee insurance or retired employer insurance or as someone else mentioned credit-card insurance or other plans for which they pay premiums for medical. Depending on the price of the cruise, medical history and the age of the passenger, the cruise may have cost less than the insurance as insurance for some folks can be several hundred dollars. We are well covered through my employee insurance which covers personal travel and covered by credit cards but we buy extra insurance simply because of all the "fine print".

Having needed to use insurance for an unexpected medical situation, I can say that you may feel you're ahead of the game by never purchasing or needing it but when the time comes, you can be in a situation that's overwhelming and everything you've saved so far by not buying it could be a drop in the bucket.

It's not just your personal medical or other expenses but your companion's expenses as well that can mount up. My BIL's onboard medical bill was $8,000 and that was just day one of a month-long nightmare that included transporting him from FLL to CA by medical jet, plus my sister's and my hotel and living expenses for a month in FLL. When you need it, it's nice to not have to be concerned about medical, transportation or living expenses when you are already going through an emotional wringer.

It's a gamble of you don't purchase insurance. You may never need it but it is an insurance policy that will pay in the event of unforseen circumstances. If you didn't have house insurance and your house burned down, would you expect an insurance company to pay? We purchase insurance for every cruise or land vacation. It is unreasonable to think that Princess would give a refund, credit, etc if you did not. The cruise terms are clearly stated in the cruise contract.

Sorry to hear about your friends open heart surgery and I do hope he recovers quickly. However, when they booked the cruise, they had the same opportunity to purchase insurance as everyone does. They chose not to do so. It was their gamble and for them it did not pay off in terms of cruise refund or compensation.

We never used to purchase insurance but have done so on our most recent trips mainly because of my mother in law's failing health. We usually book far in advance and we don't know if we will have to cancel because of unforeseen problems with her. I've done this so rarely, I forget the particulars. We want to book a big trip next year. I hate the idea of purchasing insurance until I make final payment because prior to that I can back out without any major loss. Am I right in that you have to get the insurance at the time of booking? Do most of you get insurance through Princess or an outside carrier through your TA?

Sorry to hear of your friend's illness. I hope he is recovering and will be able to cruise again.

We always get the insurance and don't find it exhorbitant through Princess.

Insurance through other companies is more expensive because they price on age.