TOBY1965

In the original post...

1) I quoted the prices given in UK sterling

2) I stated I phoned the Uk office first and then found it cheaper online with a German travel agent

3) I mentioned the cruise leaves from Southampton Docks and that they are travelling by coach to get there.

Apologies if that is too cryptic for you to comprehend that we are based in the UK.

I mentioned in the first post that the cruise was leaving from Southampton Docks and that the cruise was booked through a European travel agent.

It's not specific to P & O, I thought we had already covered that - every UK cruise company has almost identical rules. P & O, Princess, Fred Olsen, Cunard etc Whether they enforce the rules or not is another matter.

Sorry for all the posts, I'll try and find a non -American dominated cruise forum to post in so I don't confuse or annoy anyone in future. :)

OP: The article you are quoting is over 7 years old. Who knows what has changed in that time.

well obviously nothing at all if you bother to download the terms & conditions from the P & O website I posted above.

If anyone wants a definitive answer that you must purchase insurance with a minimum of £ 2 million cover before sailing from a UK Port on a cruise ship with P & O , then download the terms and conditions available on their official webpage.

Please note it makes absolutely no mention of passenger nationality or country of origin of travel agents involved in the booking process nor does it feature later in any exclusions.

As mentioned, they may make exceptions or turn blind yes but these are the facts as staged , they are not legal requirements , they are UK cruise liners personal terms & conditions.

https://www.pocruises.com/legalbooking/

 

It is clear that TOBY 1965 misquoted the editor of this site in saying she stated that everyone, irrespective of where they lived or booked a sailing, had to have insurance.

Ermm pardon me but I didn't misquote her at all, I repeated what she said word for word here ;-

P&O and Cunard holidaymakers must have a minimum of £2 million cover for medical and repatriation costs before they can sail. “Most UK cruise lines have now made travel insurance mandatory,” says Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic. “Although travellers don't have to purchase the cruise line's own product, they will have to show proof of cover.”

the original article the quotation came from is here :-

http://www.itij.com/feature/no-travel-cover-no-exit

What you are trying to suggest from your misquotation accusation is that ther are different sets of rules applicable to UK travellers and foreign travellers ? That is irrelevant as far as the UL cruise company is concerned, as stated in the quote "a holidaymaker" does not infer any nationality exemptions.

It may well be that P & O turn a blind eye in such cases , I don't know if they do or not but please check the facts before you accuse people of misquoting others with such fanfare "It is clear that" because I most certainly have not misquoted her.

Perhaps you would like her to ask her comment herself on what she meant exactly considering she is the editor-in-chief on this site ?

That's the easiest and quickest way to get the truth. She may well have been misquoted on the other website but until you ask, we won't know but I simply repeated what was said on there and attributed to her as a direct quote.

Sounds like another typical day in the UK then - there is a strict rule concerning travel insurance on cruise ships which makes it MANDATORY but nobody going around checking whether or not it is being complied with lol.

Thanks, I think the worry has come about from their experiences on P & O cruises, where , like I said, you have to input the policy number and insurance company name & telephone details on the online form before being allowed to print off boarding passes.

I think the difference is that most Americans have very extensive private medical insurance as part of their normal lives , certainly those able to go on cruises , so you are automatically covered in most cases anyway.

Remember here in the UK, we have the National Health Service , Private Medical Insurance is rare rather than normal so we have to take out travel insurance when going on a cruise.

On previous cruises I have booked them on (all P&O ships) , there has always been a space on the online organiser where you MUST input the insurance details before you can print the boarding passes.

This may only relate to UK passengers travelling from a UK port , I don't know.

I was told by Princess Cruises that if I had paid an extra £ 700 to book with them direct, there would have been a space on the online form to enter the details.

They will take the policies with them for boarding and I have also forwarded pdf copies of the policy to the German travel agent who will forward them to Princess Cruises and contact me if anything else needs to be done.

I am sure everything will be fine, it is just frustrating not to be able to get a definitive answer as to the exact procedure to follow from the cruise company itself.

Like I said earlier and as cruise critic's editor in chief confirmed in an interview - P & O and Princess inisist that EVERY passenger has cruise insurance before boarding a cruise ship in a UK port.

Remember what Carolyn Spencer-Brown said :-

P&O and Cunard holidaymakers must have a minimum of £2 million cover for medical and repatriation costs before they can sail. “Most UK cruise lines have now made travel insurance mandatory,” says Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic.

If your cruise was booked through an American company then there is your answer. It is not mandatory here in the US to have travel insurance. So if they have the insurance then I would send them with a copy of the policy or the insurance card in case they are asked

Well sorry but that is not an answer at all. As already stated, to board a cruise ship in the UK, you MUST have travel insurance, irrespective of where you live or where you booked the cruise from. It is compulsory for every passenger.

The editor in chief of this very site confirmed this when asked the question as I have quoted above. :)

Well I know it is compulsory on almost all cruise liners in the UK, including the one my parents are sailing with :-

Some cruise lines do require you to have travel insurance otherwise you won’t be able to sail. These are Cruise & Maritime, Cunard Line, Fred. Olsen Cruises, Holland America Line, Hurtigruten Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises and Seabourn Cruise Line.

P&O and Cunard holidaymakers must have a minimum of £2 million cover for medical and repatriation costs before they can sail. “Most UK cruise lines have now made travel insurance mandatory,” says Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic.

And that's from the editor-in-chief of this very forum site lol !

Hello

Booked my parents (who are 84 and 83) on a 1 week cruise to the Norwegian Fjords in July with Princess Cruises.

Having checked the price with their online booking office £ 2,700 I decided to purchase the exact same cabin, date, ship and trip from an online travel agent based in Germany for £ 1,900.

No problems there but given their age and the fact my mother has a long history of medical conditions, I purchased their insurance at a cost of £ 350 for 1 week's cover.

Now the problem begins - there is no space on the online cruise organiser to enter their insurance policy details. Their UK office says this is because it was a travel agent booking and the holiday was booked through their American office but when I phone the USA Office they say it is nothing to do with them and was booked through Germany and because it was done through a travel agent , they can't access my details.

They also told me that this means it is not subject to the same stringent conditions that apply in the UK or USA regarding the pre-registering of insurance policy details and that all they need to do is turn up at the docks with the insurance documents and everything will be fine.

Any thoughts on this ? it does not sound very convincing to me.

Surely they (me) must have to pass the relevant details on to someone somewhere so they can be logged ? I have visions of them turning up on the Eavesway Coach at Southampton Docks and being told they can't board because they didn't pre-register their insurance details.

Thanks for any help / advice.