Jersey42

You might want to see my post on the recent thread linked below. My conclusion to the OP was "If you take a lot of relatively inexpensive trips, have no pre-existing conditions and have good medical coverage outside of the US (even with a big annual deductible), you can find an annual travel insurance policy that will probably offer everything you need at a good value. If not, then you need to weigh any negatives with your risk tolerance.". Just be sure you understand the terms and conditions of any policy you purchase and how they fit your situation. None of the annual comprehensive travel plans plans work for us, but for others with different needs, they can be a good value.

Glad yours was resolved. Did you have a similar situation to the OP? i.e. you used Carnival Vacation Protection (or another cruise line policy) and had claim issues with the non-insurance portion of the policy. If so, I am pleasantly surprised that any state insurance commission would intervene.

Others have already provided some good insights, and as you have seen, the simple answer is this is not unique to the Carnival Vacation Protection Plan. Here are some specifics and comments. All cruise line "insurance" plans that I have seen are a combination of true insurance (subject to regulation by each state), and non-insurance (non regulated) benefits. If the line offers a Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) benefit, this is always a non-insurance benefit provided by the cruise line. Cancelation for a covered reason is sometimes a non-insurance benefit, and sometimes an insurance benefit offered by the insurance underwriter. This is always stated in the plan document, and usually on the web page. Most plans offer some sort of an emergency assistance hotline. This is always a non-insurance benefit. MSC is the only plan I have seen that is mostly true travel insurance. But, it is also the only plan I've seen that does not offer CFAR. They do have an concierge hotline which is their only non-insurance benefit. Nationwide or Arch are the insurance underwriters for most of the plans. Aon Affinity is the administrator for all of these plans. This includes plans from lines owned by Carnival Corp, Royal Caribbean, NCL and Disney. MSC and Viking use Generali as the underwriter, with different plan administrators. Aon Affinity is never the insurance underwriter. They just manage the plans and claims (insurance and non-insurance) for the cruise line.

@HardestyHouse - Contacting your state's insurance commission is often a good idea for actual travel insurance, but it unfortunately will most likely be a waste of time in your case. Carnival's Vacation Protection Plan is a combination of Travel Insurance (underwritten by Nationwide) and non-travel insurance benefits (from Carnival and LiveTravel). Claims (for all parts of the plan) are administrated by Aon. The Trip Cancelation feature (for covered and non covered reasons) is a non-insurance feature provided by Carnival Cruise Line. So your state insurance commission probably won't help you with trip cancelation benefits. It is all spelled out legally in the fine print. https://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/vacation-protection.aspx Here are some additional insights from Steve at TripInsuranceStore.com https://tripinsurancestore.com/travel-insurance-vs-travel-supplier-waiver-plans/

I am curious if the terms and conditions on the Canadian Amex Platinum card are better than those for the United States card? With the US card: No medical No coverage for pre-existing conditions for you or non traveling family members. There is a 60 day lookback period. Trip cancelation coverage is for seven listed reasons. Maximum cancelation or interruption coverage is $10K per trip and $20K per year. We do rely on credit card insurance for some trips, and not for others. I have looked at a lot of cards in the US for travel insurance benefits. I have yet to find one that: has a pre-existing conditions waiver covers more than $2,500 in medical covers more than $10K per trip for cancelation/interruption If you are aware of any US card that covers PEC or more than $10K per trip please share. If you are only aware of Canadian card(s), sharing that may help other Canadians reading this thread.

,

TO UPDATE THIS LIST: DO NOT push the "Quote" button. It creates a copy that the next person cannot properly update. DO select and copy ALL of the text (including the instructions and the list) up to COPY TO THIS LINE . . . from the most up-to-date list (the most recent reply with the list).  Go to the bottom of the latest post, to the "Reply to this Topic..." box to create a new post. Paste your copied text into that box. Make your modifications to the list. Add change notes at the bottom. Click the "Submit Reply" button just below the list you are modifying. Confirm that everything is correct! You can edit for up to 20 minutes. SHIP CAPTAIN CRUISE DIRECTOR ENTERTAINMENT DIRECTOR DIR, RESTAURANT OP's Caribbean Princess Vincenzo Lubrano Daniel France George Drugan Coral Princess Diego Perra Kelvin Joy Joachim Rothe Crown Princess Tony Ruggero Olivia Guthrie Matt Joseph Mariusz Czemarmazowicz Diamond Princess Stefano Ravera Sophie Gideon Mikiko Ikemoto Samantha McDonough Silvio Zampieri Discovery Princess Craig Street DuVaul Gamble Neil Rose Catalin Ionel Emerald Princess Martin Stenzel David Frost Lauren Meyer Enache Popescue Enchanted Princess Nick Nash Gary Golding Duke Christopher Francisco Patricio Grand Princess Christopher B. Lye Jayson Douglass Callie Smit Giuseppe Francina Island Princess Paul Slight Andi Sanders Mark Gillespie Francesco Ciorfito Majestic Princess Tony Draper Kristoff Greyling Marissa Wurms Douw Steyl Regal Princess Aldo Traverso Allie Ambriano Matt Thompson Nicola Furlan Royal Princess Andrea Spinardi Armando Merin Ruth Sandell Claudio Giuliani Ruby Princess Mario Tani Michael Reitano Tim Donovan Jacques Ghennai Sapphire Princess Paolo Ravera Osman Lazo Ben Powney Francesco Ciorfito Sky Princess Marco Fortezze Paul Chandler-Burns Madison Adams Ciprian Hoidreag <COPY TO THIS LINE SO THERE IS SPACE TO TYPE CHANGE NOTES AFTER THE CHART> Added Emerald Captain: Martin Stenzel as per @memoak Future moves (first posted on Feb 23, 2023) : Caribbean - CD Jody Miles joins on April 27. Discovery - Captain Smith returns in May. Island - ED Mark Gillespie leaves in mid-March. Regal - CD Aaron Hawkins (possibly?) joining when ship is in the UK. Royal - CD Corinne Steel returns in April. Sapphire - DRO Mario Propato plans to return "in a few months". Sky - CD Matt Barnard returns in May when ship is in Europe.

@jakenzie32 - IMHO $100K medical per person and $500K of medical evacuation is more than adequate coverage in almost any cruise situation. Steve from TripinsureanceStore recently posted "I've never seen a medical claim for more than $74,000 outside the USA." He has also posted the following in December: "The most expensive medical evacuation I've seen was $127,000 from South Africa to Minnesota". So both policies are absolutely fine for the specific question you asked. It is the other terms and conditions that determine the best choice for your needs. So either read the policy details (pay special attention to covered reasons and pre-existing conditions for you and non traveling family members), or call TIS and ask a lot of questions. It is difficult to purchase the right policy from summary charts. The charts are great to help eliminate policies you don't want, but the devil is often in the details that do not show up in the summaries.

TO UPDATE THIS LIST: DO NOT push the "Quote" button. It creates a copy that the next person cannot properly update. DO select and copy ALL of the text (including the instructions and the list) up to COPY TO THIS LINE . . . from the most up-to-date list (the most recent reply with the list).  Go to the bottom of the latest post, to the "Reply to this Topic..." box to create a new post. Paste your copied text into that box. Make your modifications to the list. Add change notes at the bottom. Click the "Submit Reply" button just below the list you are modifying. Confirm that everything is correct! You can edit for up to 20 minutes. SHIP CAPTAIN CRUISE DIRECTOR ENTERTAINMENT DIRECTOR DIR, RESTAURANT OP's Caribbean Princess Vincenzo Lubrano Daniel France George Drugan Coral Princess Diego Perra Kelvin Joy Joachim Rothe Crown Princess Tony Ruggero Olivia Guthrie Matt Joseph Mariusz Czemarmazowicz Diamond Princess Stefano Ravera Sophie Gideon Mikiko Ikemoto Samantha McDonough Silvio Zampieri Discovery Princess Craig Street DuVaul Gamble Neil Rose Catalin Ionel Emerald Princess Giuseppe Castellano David Frost Lauren Meyer Enache Popescue Enchanted Princess Nick Nash Gary Golding Duke Christopher Francisco Patricio Grand Princess Christopher B. Lye Jayson Douglass Callie Smit Giuseppe Francina Island Princess Paul Slight Andi Sanders Mark Gillespie Francesco Ciorfito Majestic Princess Tony Draper Kristoff Greyling Marissa Wurms Douw Steyl Regal Princess Aldo Traverso Allie Ambriano Matt Thompson Nicola Furlan Royal Princess Steve Holland Armando Merin Ruth Sandell Claudio Giuliani Ruby Princess Mario Tani Michael Reitano Tim Donovan Jacques Ghennai Sapphire Princess Paolo Ravera Osman Lazo Ben Powney Francesco Ciorfito Sky Princess Marco Fortezze Paul Chandler-Burns Madison Adams Ciprian Hoidreag <COPY TO THIS LINE SO THERE IS SPACE TO TYPE CHANGE NOTES AFTER THE CHART> Sky Captain and DRO as per @KarmaCruisers Future moves: Caribbean - CD Jody Miles joins on April 27. Discovery - Captain Smith returns in May. Island - ED Mark Gillespie leaves in mid-March. Regal - CD Aaron Hawkins (possibly?) joining when ship is in the UK. Royal - CD Corinne Steel returns in April. Sapphire - DRO Mario Propato plans to return "in a few months". Sky - CD Matt Barnard returns in May when ship is in Europe.

Would you mind posting a picture of the senior officer's (see sample from the Emerald below). It is normally in the Piazza, typically on deck 6. Either post it here or on this sticky thread. If you can't easily post a picture can you post the name of the Captain. There was supposed to be a new one as of this cruise. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2724695-princess-senior-ship-staff-inc-cruise-directors-entertainment-directors/

Regal ship officers from @mdgary who is on the March 12th sailing

Would you mind posting a picture of the senior officer's (see sample from the Emerald below). It is normally in the Piazza, typically on deck 6. Either post it here or on this sticky thread. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2724695-princess-senior-ship-staff-inc-cruise-directors-entertainment-directors/

To all of those looking for a copy of the latest officer photos: I have had decent luck when asking on a live thread (when one exists) or on a roll call for the current and next cruises. I usually post a sample picture (so they know what I am talking about) and give an approximate location of somewhere in the piazza. Whenever I gets a response that is not posted on this thread, I post a copy here and give credit.

TO UPDATE THIS LIST: DO NOT push the "Quote" button. It creates a copy that the next person cannot properly update. DO select and copy ALL of the text (including the instructions and the list) up to COPY TO THIS LINE . . . from the most up-to-date list (the most recent reply with the list).  Go to the bottom of the latest post, to the "Reply to this Topic..." box to create a new post. Paste your copied text into that box. Make your modifications to the list. Add change notes at the bottom. Click the "Submit Reply" button just below the list you are modifying. Confirm that everything is correct! You can edit for up to 20 minutes. SHIP CAPTAIN CRUISE DIRECTOR ENTERTAINMENT DIRECTOR DIR, RESTAURANT OP's Caribbean Princess Vincenzo Lubrano Daniel France George Drugan Coral Princess Diego Perra Kelvin Joy Joachim Rothe Crown Princess Tony Ruggero Olivia Guthrie Matt Joseph Mariusz Czemarmazowicz Diamond Princess Stefano Ravera Sophie Gideon Mikiko Ikemoto Samantha McDonough Silvio Zampieri Discovery Princess Craig Street DuVaul Gamble Neil Rose Catalin Ionel Emerald Princess Giuseppe Castellano David Frost Lauren Meyer Enache Popescue Enchanted Princess Nick Nash Gary Golding Duke Christopher Francisco Patricio Grand Princess Christopher B. Lye Jayson Douglass Callie Smit Giuseppe Francina Island Princess Paul Slight Andi Sanders Mark Gillespie Francesco Ciorfito Majestic Princess Tony Draper Kristoff Greyling Marissa Wurms Douw Steyl Regal Princess Aldo Traverso Allie Ambriano Matt Thompson Nicola Furlan Royal Princess Steve Holland Armando Merin Ruth Sandell Claudio Giuliani Ruby Princess Mario Tani Michael Reitano Tim Donovan Jacques Ghennai Sapphire Princess Paolo Ravera Osman Lazo Ben Powney Francesco Ciorfito Sky Princess Paul Chandler-Burns Madison Adams Giuseppe Gelmini <COPY TO THIS LINE SO THERE IS SPACE TO TYPE CHANGE NOTES AFTER THE CHART> Sapphire Capt and CD. Caribbean Captain and DRO. Removed Sky Capt. Future moves: Caribbean - CD Jody Miles joins on April 27. Discovery - Captain Smith returns in May. Island - ED Mark Gillespie leaves in mid-March. Regal - CD Aaron Hawkins (possibly?) joining when ship is in the UK. Royal - CD Corinne Steel returns in April. Sapphire - DRO Mario Propato plans to return "in a few months". Sky - CD Matt Barnard returns in May when ship is in Europe.

@molemaui - here are a few more comments. It sounds like you understand Medjet Assist and the reason some people purchase this policy even if they have a GeoBlue Trekker policy. We currently rely only on GeoBlue, but might consider a Medjet membership in the future. As @klfrodo said, GeoBlue Trekker is a secondary plan and requires you have a primary home medical plan. But GeoBlue will pay as the first payer and there is no need to file with your primary payer. In our limited experience, GeoBlue has never tried to collect from our primamy plan. Steve from TripInsuranceStore.com told me in the past that he has never seen it either. It is a great plan for someone on Medicare with a Supplement (Medigap), as you don't have to worry about using any of the supplement's $50K lifetime maximum for foreign emergency travel. We also often rely on our Chase card. Based on secondhand knowledge, Chase will pay valid claims, but there are some limitations. Here are the bigger ones for us: There is no waiver of pre-existing conditions for us or non-traveling family members. Chase has a 60 day lookback period. Depending on the reason for a claim, they can require medical records. For example if you have a cancelation claim due to a sick parent, the 60 day lookback would apply to the parent and all of the parent's recent medical records will most likely be requested. The list of covered reasons for cancelation and interruption is shorter than with most travel insurance policies. We usually don't worry about it, but you should probably review the terms if you are relying on the card for an expensive trip.

Actually it does as your plan is limited to residents of the areas served by Regence. Regence offers plans in four western states, so I could not purchase any of these plans in Florida. Yes, there are Medicare Advantage plans available in many parts of the country that offer international emergency coverage, although many are not as generous as yours. I was more curious about coverage for a helicopter evacuation from the ship, as I have never seen this before. I looked at your Regence plan doc and could not find it there either. Maybe as @klfrodo suggested, they rep was talking about a ground or air ambulance from somewhere on land to a hospital that can treat you.

I’m a little late here, but let me share some thoughts on annual travel insurance. I have looked at annual comprehensive travel insurance plans from seven companies and I have not found one that works for us. So I do not have one and can’t comment on the claims process. I do carry an annual GeoBlue Trekker policy which is a good fit for us, but it only covers emergency medical and medical evacuation. Before purchasing an annual plan, you need to understand your situation as it may affect insurance coverage. You also need to understand an annual plan rarely offers the same coverage as multiple individual trip plans. If you spend the time up front, you will know if an annual plan is a good choice for you. Here are some things to consider: Medical – This is the first thing I would look at. If you already have good medical coverage outside of the country, then the likelihood an annual plan would work for you increases. If not look at Maximum coverage. It’s either per trip or per year. Most plans offer $50K per trip or less. Primary or secondary. For some people such as Medicare with a supplement, primary is critical. Primary also simplifies the claims process. Pre-existing conditions. Lookback period. Is there a waiver and what are the rules? Even if you have no pre-existing condition, claims are often easier as the plan will not need to look at prior medical records. Pre-existing conditions for cancelation/interruption – Same notes on medical. In addition if do they apply to non traveling family members. Cancelation/Interruption coverage – How much will they pay per year? Is it enough for the types of trips you take. The maximum coverage I am aware of is $15K per year. Most policies are a lot less. If you hit the maximum on your first trip are you ok with no coverage for the rest? @GeezerCouple provided further insights above. Maximum trip length – All plans cover a 30 day trip. Some allow up to 45 or 90 day trips. Where do you live? – These policies cannot be sold in certain states. WA and NY are the most restrictive but I know KS, MO, MT, PA and OR restrict at least one annual policy. ________________________ If you take a lot of relatively inexpensive trips, have no pre-existing conditions and have good medical coverage outside of the US (even with a big annual deductible), you can find an annual travel insurance policy that will probably offer everything you need at a good value. If not, then you need to weigh any negatives with your risk tolerance. Many regular posters here recommend you contact a good insurance broker for help. Unfortunately none of the brokers typically mentioned on this forum offer a comprehensive annual policy. They all have annual medical and medical evacuation policies.

Nationwide cruise specific policies used to offer a specific dollar amount for an itinerary change. The amount varied depending on the policy and if the change was pre or post departure. I believe all of their current policies only cover missed ports if the change is post departure AND it causes you to miss a pre-paid excursion. Nationwide was the only company that I have seen that offered any missed port coverage. But, there may be others. If your policy does not specifically cover missed ports, you are probably out of luck. As GeezerCouple said, If you lost money due to a pre-paid excursion then many policies would cover that loss with proper documentation. This is rare, because most tour operators will give you a refund if the ship skips the port. As @GeezerCouple implied, I bet the numerous port changes due to Covid, made Nationwide (and possibly others) change there policies. I would read your policy to see if it is worth filing a claim. Or call the person who sold you the policy and ask them.

While it would not do me any good as I don't live in Washington, I am curious what Medicare Advantage plan covers helicopter evacuations from a cruise ship. I have never seen this type of coverage in any MA plan I have looked at several eastern states. If you have a minute, can you post a link to your plan, or at least give us the name of the company and the plan. I also wonder how many claims are paid annually by any type of insurance to cover the cost of a helicopter evacuation from a cruise ship.

007

Please confirm that you have received unlimited refills of diet coke in the main dining room without a package. Is this all the time, usually, happened once? Do you also get unlimited refills in other locations? Obviously with a beverage package you get unlimited soda anywhere on the ship. But I don't think that is what the OP was asking.

I brought a Waterpik for the first time on my recent Enchanted Princess cruise. My unit said 14 watts. I was not sure of the amperage limitation on the shaver outlet, so I brought it anyway to try. The shaver outlet would not accept the polarized plug (one blade wider than the other) on my Waterpik, so I never got to try it in the bathroom. I ended up using it at the desk outlet and spit the water into a drinking glass I borrowed from the buffet. Not the perfect solution, but it solved the issue. .

What you describe here is pretty accurate for the cruise line plans Here are some variations for some of the lines: All cruise line plans that I have seen (except HAL) have a pre-existing conditions clause with a 60 day lookback period. HAL has no pre-existing conditions clause. Two (MSC and Viking) provide a waiver of pre-existing conditions. Viking requires you purchase the plan within 15 days of initial payment. MSC requires purchase within 24 hours of final payment. Pre-existing conditions clauses apply to coverage beyond medical such as cancelation, interruption and delay. I don't believe pre-existing exclusions apply to medical evacuation and repatriation for any of the cruise line policies. Some lines apply the pre-existing conditions exclusion to travelers while others also apply it to non-traveling family members. For example, if you had to cancel due to an ill parent some lines would not cover the cancelation if the parent had a pre-existing condition. The plans underwritten by Nationwide and Generali (Viking, Carnival Cop lines, MSC and NCL) require you be fit for travel on the day of purchase. I have not seen this requirement for plans underwritten by Arch (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Disney). CFAR is always considered a non-insurance benefit provided by the cruise line. HAL is the only one that provides refunds in cash (90%) and teats all cancelations the same no matter what the reason. Many lines provide up to 90% FCCs. Princess and Viking offer 100%. Carnival and Disney offer 75%. MSC offers none. None of the fit for travel language applies to the non-insurance benefits provided by the cruise line. Medical insurance on the cruise line plans (with the exception of Viking) is pretty poor. They all pay secondary. The limit is only $10K - $25K depending on the line. So it is not a good idea to rely on a cruise line policy as your only source of medical coverage. Viking offers $100K coverage which is much more reasonable. * I believe all of this is accurate as of July 2022, but if any of this is wrong, please correct and provide a link. I have primarily looked at only the major cruise lines that market to US cruisers. ** IMHO - all of this is way too complex and most people only figure it out when a claim is denied.

Thanks for the quick research. I believe your interpretation is 100% correct. If the OP primarily wants CFAR coverage with cash back (which they indicated here https://boards.cruisecritic.com/gallery/image/16327-img_5700/), they will be fine with the HAL plan. If they are relying on the plan for other benefits, you are correct that they are jeopardizing coverage. But, given there is no pre-existing conditions clause for any of the benefits, more than likely they will be fine. I know of a few instances where people have made claims on the HAL policy (cancellation, medical and baggage delay) . In none of these few cases were they ever asked to prove fitness to travel on the plan purchase date. It could happen, but I think the risk is very small.

Yes, that is true with most if not all 3rd party insurance plans. That is why I did not mention them. But, are you sure about the "gottcha" for the HAL plan and if so can you point me to something specific. I have never noticed this with the HAL plan, but I may have missed it. A couple of unique things about the HAL plan: Unlike other plans, all trip cancelation benefits are not considered insurance, they are a non-insurance benefit provided by Holland America. This is because there are no covered reasons with HAL. Unlike other cruise line plans, there is no pre-existing conditions clause for cancelation or any of the "insurance" benefits.