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FAA grounded all flights to Florida missed cruise

Michael6913
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nbsjcruiser Great Review Rare

nbsjcruiser

Posted
Posted
Sorry you missed out on your cruise. I still wouldn't buy insurance either. It's basically for suckers. I self insure. You didn't "lose" money. You spent it at least 60-75 days ago. It was already gone. Unfortunate you didn't get to enjoy your vacation, but stuff happens. Sometimes life is good, sometimes it kicks you a little. But in the end, this is hardly a tragedy. I'm sure you'll enjoy your next vacation.

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that philosophy and if you truly believe in it, it the long run you probably will come out ahead. In fact, in the long run most people will come out ahead otherwise insurance companies wouldn't be offering insurance. Its all about tolerance and the cost of insuring and it only takes one missed trip to write off everything a person saves by not insuring. To me its like house insurance - I'm in the hole big time with that, have never had a claim and the insurance company has made thousands off me. But that's a risk I'm not willing to take.

 

I've yet to read one post in all the years I've been on this board where a self-insured person has missed a cruise and come on and said "missed the cruise but I'm ok with it". Its always a complaint that the big bad cruise company won't give money back.

 

My impression from these past 8 or 9 years on people who want to fly the day of a cruise is that they aren't thinking clearly. $11K for a trip? Yep np. $150 for a hotel? No thanks. This just doesn't make any sense. Its like the time DW and I were riding by taxi from downtown Miami to the port for our cruise and we passed a couple pulling their luggage across the overpass to the port in the searing Miami heat. Undoubtedly one of them wanted to save $10 on a cab ride but the other didn't question the insanity of what they're doing. "We're paying a few thousand dollars for a cruise but you want to save $10 on a cab ride? You're nuts. I'll meet you over there, have a nice walk in the 95 degree heat".

 

Lets face it, most times not buying insurance or flying in the day of is a case of not wanting to spend that extra couple hundred bucks. That's it in a nutshell and if it comes to that, they shouldn't even be on a cruise. I'm not saying that's what happened here don't get me wrong but often that is the case.

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artypharty

artypharty

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OP started the post by stating that they did not take out the insurance because they "never needed it on 7 cruises".

 

Exhibit A of "you never need it until you need it".

 

Also Exhibit A for reasons to plan to fly at the latest the day before your cruise.

 

^^ THAT!

I didn't used to get travel insurance, or arrive a day early. Then I spent 8 hours on the phone trying to reroute flights around a hurricane. I did it, but almost missed a Mediterranean cruise!!! Lesson learned.

 

Always get insurance an give yourself that extra day of leeway!

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Duke Mazer

Duke Mazer

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Could this have had a better ending yes, 15 pages of people going over the same "you should have...."

 

but I think there is something more, it's funny because my wife and I were pricing out a cruise yesterday

 

We were doing pro and cons of cruise vs. other vacation and cruise was coming out more expensive a good 15% more, lots of extras that are not in plain sight.

 

OP poster mentions $11,000 and though he was getting a deal but now is regretting it because he didn't buy the full package.

 

Insurance is one but that really goes for all trips. What I feel is the real kicker is getting there the night before. FLL hotels run at least at $200 per night so for a large group it adds up plus food and transport, i think we could all go on on about the benefits of early arrival. People get lured in by a cheap vacation but beware of the extras. In this case skipping it cost them a vacation and $11000.

 

I think my point is their budget should not have been $11000, probably closer to $13,000 and they would be on the ship right now. $11,000 may have seemed like a deal to true to be real and it wasn't. and i think that cruising presents a super value but you add in the "not so optional" extra and it's value is diminished. I'm not saying to not cruise, but to take a true stock of the cost.

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Paul65

Paul65

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I will say that I did not buy trip insurance for the cruise I just completed. It was a decision, though, based partly on the fact that I do have a pretty good travel insurance benefit through the credit card I used to pay for the trip. It's not quite as full a coverage as most travel insurance policies, so there was some risk of certain losses that would not have been covered, but it was enough to make me feel comfortable declining the separate policies available.

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ryano

ryano

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Posted (edited)

All I got to say is I will continue to be a "sucker" then :rolleyes: Spending a few hundred or less to potentially save a couple, or in this case, eleven thousand seems like a no brainer to this sucker.

Edited by ryano
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dagadget

dagadget

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Sometimes, if you can't be a good example for others, you can be a horrible warning.

 

Like the OP I had done 6 prior cruises and did not have the insurance because it was easy for me to get to the ships all out of Florida. But in the case of the upcoming Alaska Cruise on Radiance of the Seas, we did get the insurance because of other factors we can not control (Flights to Seattle then on to Vancouver from Orlando come to mind) So the Insurance was purchased. Granted we would not have been out. $11K dollars either but I do not know anyone that can handle that kind of loss and not be hurt by it. We feel for the OP though. But they still have a few things they can do. I have seen Royal after the fact fix things. You just have to know who to contact. So this is the perfect example of just how important the Insurance can actually be.

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KsucAts

KsucAts

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OP started the post by stating that they did not take out the insurance because they "never needed it on 7 cruises".

 

Exhibit A of "you never need it until you need it".

 

Also Exhibit A for reasons to plan to fly at the latest the day before your cruise.

 

Couldn't have said it any better. We always get insurance for a cruise (and have never needed it) and we always fly in a day or two before. Heck, even when we drive to Galveston, we drive in the day before. Too much can happen.

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Paul65

Paul65

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Well played on passport, but not insurance RCI makes millions and millions on travel insurance, while have a no empathy clause in contracts. No travel industry in the world gets sued more often than the cruise industry, actually it's not even close to airlines, resorts etc. there is a reason and it's not due to the "travel insurance"

 

What are your sources for your claims on:

 

1. How much profit RCI makes on travel insurance?

2. How often the cruise industry gets sued, compared to other travel industries?

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