Has anyone had problems with pre-existing and Open Passages?

[mom23guys]

Just checking. I called the insurance company and they said to enclose n explanation. My husband had surgery and we've had to cancel our September cruise. I have all the documentation and doctor's statement but I am concerned since I purchased the insurance within 10 days of booking the cruise but the Celebrity paperwork has the booking date at the top as the date I put my $200 deposit down while I was on my cruise. That is not the date I booked the cruise. Anybody have this issue. It wouldn't be an issue with the FCC from Princess or Carnival but Celebrity actually gives you a booking number when you get an Open Passage.

[6rugrats]

I don't know what Open Passage is, but IME, the date you chose what cruise you wanted and booked it, is the cruise booking date, not the date you put down a deposit for a cruise in the future.

 

Did you actually chose your cruise when you put down this deposit, or was it at a later date?

[D4]

Wow, this is an unfortunate and unusual situation! If Celebrity gave you a booking number when you give them the deposit towards a future cruise, then that probably did start the clock.

 

You didn't say if your husband's surgery was related to a preexisting condition or not. If it wasn't, then you probably have insurance coverage.

 

Good luck and please let us know how this works out.

[cruiseco]

Any time there's a cancellation claim the insurer will ask for "proof of payment." This will be a copy of your credit card statement or cancelled check showing any payment that was given to the travel supplier (or your travel agent, if used) and that was applied to your trip. If you show a credit card charge from two years ago that was applied to your current booking the date of that charge will be what starts the clock running.

[mom23guys]

Yes, surgery is technically due to a pre-existing condition so we need that to be covered.He has been able to travel for years though since it was first treated. The insurance company said it would be from when we actually chose the specific cruise, but I am going to be on pins and needles waiting. I sent them 37 pages of documentation yesterday so hopefully everything is covered. If it is not I'll never do an open passage again. It is not worth the risk for a few hundred onboard credit. I just put down the deposit on the cruise. I didn't actually pick it. Fingers-crossed.

[sirwired]

I'd contact Celebrity and get confirmation from them of the booking date. I agree that a Future Cruise Credit should not count as a booking date. In my mind, an FCC, is more like a gift card than any kind of booking or deposit.

 

Did you explain the situation when you sent in the paperwork? If not, I'd fax them an explanation right away.

[dondiane]

You probably have your answer already but so everyone knows... on future cruises or any cruise for that matter (ie, you cancel original booking and move it further out) the booking date is the date you pay your first deposit, not the day you actually confirm the sail date.

[sirwired]

You probably have your answer already but so everyone knows... on future cruises or any cruise for that matter (ie, you cancel original booking and move it further out) the booking date is the date you pay your first deposit, not the day you actually confirm the sail date.

 

But if that were the case, what on earth would you put down as your trip date when you purchase the policy?

 

mom23guys said her insurance company told her over the phone that the clock starts when you pick your sailing, which in my mind makes a lot more sense.

 

Given the number of people that use various future cruise credit programs, I would think somebody would have hit a brick wall with pre-ex problems well before now if it were actually an issue.

[mom23guys]

Thanks sirwired, that's what I was hoping to find...someone who had this happen to them. I haven't heard back from the insurance company yet so while I'm waiting I thought I'd check here. I did the booking through Insuremytrip.com and they recommended this insurance and explained I was using an open passage. I also called the insurance company when we had to cancel and they said it "should" be covered but that was just the person who answered the phone. Still waiting though.

[cruiseco]

This was posted yesterday by wieslaw on another thread who had the same question ( I hope he doesn't mind re-posting it here)

 

I just called TravelSafe and talked to someone explaining my concern. That person was not 100% sure but 'his' interpretation of "initial trip deposit" was the date two years ago aboard the ship.

He considered the original booking number that was issued at that time ( May of 2009) and still being used on the 'converted' specific booking as the factor that deposit was made for the same booking number, so the initial process got started then.

 

That person that I talked with suggested to write to them - which I did.

 

If he was correct, that sort of booking ( aboard the ship) might have some negative impact on so many that purchase cruises during their stay aboard the ship.

 

I will share with you the answer that I hope to get from the insurance company ....... and if one company looks at the "initial trip deposit' that way ..... the others migh too.

[mom23guys]

When I talked to our insurance they said they thought it would be covered. Heck I'm not even sure if his surgery fall under the pre-existing label. I guess we'll find out. I will let everyone know what is decided. I'll be writing either a glowing or scathing review on insurance co.:)

[mom23guys]

My claim was paid but they didn't use the pre-existing waiver. What I thought would be construed as pre-existing wasn't since DH hadn't been treated or seen for this condition for over 60 days prior to my purchasing the insurance. The claims agent said this was just easier than getting into a murkier area, So I still don't know if I should ever purchase an open booking on Celebrity again.

I think I will e-mail a few companies to get their official responses.

[cruiseco]

I think I will e-mail a few companies to get their official responses.

 

I did email the following companies:

 

Access America

Travelex

TravelSafe

Travel Guard

Travel Insured

 

The answer from all of them was that the clock would start running on the time frame to get the pre-existing condition waiver when the money was applied to a specific sailing. There's obviously a lot more companies to check with. If you do, let us know what you find.

[dreamofcruising]

This is interesting since I just bought a Cancel For Any Reason policy that was quite expensive, for a quite expensive cruise. I had used 250.00 from a Cruise Reward Coupon I bought in 7/09. I just booked the cruise last week.

 

My paperwork says Payments Applied:

Paid by Visa on 9/22/11......................................$xxxxxx

Paid by Cruise Rewards Coupon on 9/22/11..............250.00

 

So (using my example) your paperwork basically says you paid by Cruise Rewards in 7/09?? Mine only shows the 9/22/11 date on the confirmation.

 

Do you think I am ok?? This is NCL reservations.

 

OP, Let us know how your issue works out!

[mom23guys]

My paperwork listed the booking date as the date I paid for the open passage on board not the date I actually picked the cruise. I think it has something to do with the way Celebrity does their on board bookings. Even though you don't pick your cruise the actual booking number is assigned. It can really confuse the situation.

We wound up getting our whole claim paid but a claims agent called me to have us ok with the doctors office to give them more info. They actually used the 60 day look back to make sure there were no pre-existing conditions. Even though my DH had a similiar condition many years ago there had been no problems in a long time and although he had been to the doctor in that 60 days it wasn't for anything related to the problem that caused us to cancel. The agent said it would "probably" be paid under the pre-existing waiver but it would be far more complicated because of the open passage way of dating. Since there were no pre-existing in the 60 day look back period we didn't go that route.