Cancellation, no insurance, no refund, WHAT?

[my_crib_too]

50+ cruises - never bought insurance and never needed it:D

 

Like all insurance products that I purchase, home, health, auto, life, umbrella, I hope to never use the products but the insurance benefits are there if needed. Kind of the way insurance works. Glad that you never needed it over your 50 cruises but if you have an issue with your 51st cruise, you accept the downside risk of not having it. Not a big deal for some like yourself but would be a crisis for others. If you ever have to be evacuated, at least you know the costs and are educated on the risk you accept. You have a plan that works for you. Your plan is not a one size fits all though, solution.

Edited October 4, 2016 by my_crib_too

[Doggielover68]

until you have to be airlifted to anywhere, could be the price of 50 cruises. To the OP, that $99 insurance charge is looking pretty attractive

 

 

To me it depends on a lot of factors. Age, known health issues, length of trip, etc. If you are older with known health problems and are going on a trip for weeks at a time...then yes, I would definitely get it. If you are young, healthy, not doing any high risk activities and only going on a trip for a week or less...it might not be worth it. I know accidents, travel delays, etc happen all of the time. I kind of wish I had insurance for our upcoming trip, I would consider it in the future for longer ones.

 

That being said, in this case I would call Carnival and nicely ask if you can reschedule. You may not get anything, but it is likely that you could transfer your deposit over to a different cruise at least. Do you have family members that could go in your place? You may be able to pay a smaller fee to transfer it over to another name.

 

Remember that Carnival frequently doesn't enforce all of the contract terms. For example, in another thread, people on an itinerary that changed due to the hurricane are getting a large discount on a future cruise. You never know

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[ohiolovescrusing]

Know insurance has changed a lot but knew someone medivaced ten years ago from Cozumel. Had to fork over the money upfront (30k?). but her normal medical insurance reimbursed them. No idea now...

[riclop]

Question.

 

A family member is supposed to cruise in 2 weeks. Now him and his wife can't go because she needs to undergo a medical procedure.

 

They only have medical insurance, not cancellation insurance.

 

Naturally they will face a 100% penalty.

I advised them to be a no show, so they can at least get their port fees back.

But he tells me he really want a confirmation from Carnival that he cancelled the trip.

Why would he need a confirmation if his insurance won't cover the cost?

Can Carnival send him a cancellation after he's a no show?

$$$ down the drain and i bet next time they get insurance.

[volmoma]

No travel insurance your so screwed....if not I'll be pissed, we've bought insurance for years and never had to use it. Did we get a refund? NO!! We could have cruised several cruises if not for the insurance. It's a roll of the dice, and by all rights you rolled and lost...IMHO

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Edited October 5, 2016 by volmoma

[Gallivanting Souls]

I'm just throwing out a random thought and I do not have the answer. Is it too late to transfer your booking to another sailing. Yes, pay a penalty, but not 100%?

[elliair]

Without insurance he is pretty much out of luck. That said I wouldn't be just a no show. Call and cancel. CCCL is under no obligation to refund anything but you never know what they might do.

 

It's really frustrating to read on ALL boards these sob stories of people not having trip insurance and the SHTF for them. There's really nothing to say to these people other than TS. You didn't do your homework and you never thought anything bad could happen to you. Thousands of stories here of "I should have"....

[Elaine5715]

I'm just throwing out a random thought and I do not have the answer. Is it too late to transfer your booking to another sailing. Yes, pay a penalty, but not 100%?

 

They don't "transfer" bookings. Each sailing is a separate event. You are either on it or not.

[Alegeeter]

Carnival by no means would owe anything to the canceled party but I agree with other posters who say give them a call and see what they can do, especially if you can produce a doctor's note.

 

In the past, my family had to a cancel a cruise and we did not have insurance. Carnival refunded us the full amount as a credit to book a future cruise within the year. We realized how fortunate we were and how Carnival acted from their hearts. We've gotten insurance ever since, not wanting to tempt the odds more than once.

 

Good luck.

[Riemercruisin]

It's really frustrating to read on ALL boards these sob stories of people not having trip insurance and the SHTF for them. There's really nothing to say to these people other than TS. You didn't do your homework and you never thought anything bad could happen to you. Thousands of stories here of "I should have"....

 

Thank you everyone for your comments.

 

And to those who are thinking this is a sob story about not having insurance - go back and read the original post.

My question was whether they should cancel or be a no show.

 

My cousin still hasn't decided what to do. He has 2 days to cancel and get 25% of his money back. We'll see what happens.

[iuki]

And be sure to check with their credit card company. If they paid for the cruise with a credit card, some have trip insurance built in. We once had to cancel a cruise the day before sailing, and our credit card company gave us a full refund.

 

Bob

 

I was going to post this info until I saw your post. Our Chase Sapphire has great cancellation coverage.

[BlueRiband]

We have relatives who had to cancel on very, very short notice because of a medical situation that came up. Surprise, surprise, Carnival decided to be really nice and gave them a credit of about 2/3 of the cruise fare to use on a future cruise within a year... which they did. It never hurts to call them and ask nicely. Sometimes they will be nice back.

 

Don't just call and ask to cancel though... call and ask them to reschedule later. That approach gives them some latitude to offer some concessions, which they occasionally do.

 

In that case I wonder how Carnival decides to whom they will "be really nice" to and to whom they will stick it to?:confused:

 

Situations like that give fuel to the people who denigrate travel insurance. Like the family who didn't get a free reschedule and went to the news media on with the heartless, greedy decision of the cruise line.

[PoppyandNana]

I was going to post this info until I saw your post. Our Chase Sapphire has great cancellation coverage.

 

 

What about airfare?

[CheapieD]

What about airfare?

 

Every airline is different and is based on

Fare class. Worse case you would be out $200 per ticket (on US carriers).

 

 

Ironic just as I hit sent I got an email from

United saying they had changed my flight. That would be another option the OP has for airfare. If they make a schedule change you can request a cancellation and get a full refund for your flight. Ie flight is now leaving earlier or arriving later (has to be a period of time 5 minutes wouldn't likely cut it but 1 hour would.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited October 5, 2016 by CheapieD

[beshears]

I don't have time to read all the responses. I have found in my over 26 years of cruising, if I am flying "and" cruising as well, I always take out insurance, for "just in case." A person never knows what the future will bring, and I have found the insurance coming in handy at least 4 times over the years.

[texast518]

We follow the opposite approach - If we had purchased for every cruise we would be out more money that the cost of two cancellations. It is called "self insurance" ...

 

 

But everyone has different risk tolerances and mitigation strategies ...

 

Best friend had emergency air-vac from Jamacia to Miami, no ins, $32,000, tough to break even in this case. Very severe leg break on zip-line, you never know, just takes once.

Edited October 6, 2016 by texast518

[tonit964]

Best friend had emergency air-vac from Jamacia to Miami, no ins, $32,000, tough to break even in this case. Very severe leg break on zip-line, you never know, just takes once.

 

The $50 dollar or less cost of insurance for this kind of thing happening is a complete no brainer for us. You just never know.

[my_crib_too]

Best friend had emergency air-vac from Jamacia to Miami, no ins, $32,000, tough to break even in this case. Very severe leg break on zip-line, you never know, just takes once.

 

Seems like every cruise that I've been on, the ship had an at sea air-vac, pull along coast guard boat, or ambulance waiting for a passenger at one of the ports. People get hurt or sick on vacations all the time. Not just older people either.

 

I'm not poor but would struggle to come up with $32,000 on a moment's notice so that I could obtain health care. Hope they take plastic, and more than one card.

[freagan]

not at all, very myopic thinking, it's not just the cruise price, hospitalization, missing a port, medical evac

 

Having been medically evacuated from a ship I can tell you with certainty that insurance saved me from the cost of:

 

1. Out of coverage medical costs.
   
2. Flying my wife from the next port of call to where I was evacuated.
   
3. Her hotel and meals.
   
4. Cost of flying us both home.
   
5. Expenses for her to return to our departure port to recover our car and the remainder of our luggage.
   
6. Other misc. costs
   

 

All told the payments were over $100,000.

 

Anyone who travels out of country without proper insurance is an ... well you know.

[Earthworm Jim]

Consider yourself lucky. 25+ cruises, 2 claims due to medical. Money well spent. Husband used to complain about buying it until we needed it.

 

Maybe not.

 

If, for example, the insurance cost 10% of the trip cost, you actually came out behind filing 2 claims over 25 cruises. In that scenario you'd have saved money by not having ever gotten insurance.

 

The big reason for trip insurance is for the potentially big ticket price of overseas medical coverage and evacuation. The value of recouping the cost of the actual trip is debatable, and dependent on the risk of a particular person missing a cruise.

[Babr]

What about airfare?

 

As far as credit card coverage, it applies to the total cost of the trip. It isn't just for cruises. It covers any kind of travel up to the specified limit. In the case of Sapphire, I think it is $10,000.

 

This is cancellation only for covered reasons. It does not provide medical or evacuation.

[sparks1093]

Maybe not.

 

If, for example, the insurance cost 10% of the trip cost, you actually came out behind filing 2 claims over 25 cruises. In that scenario you'd have saved money by not having ever gotten insurance.

 

The big reason for trip insurance is for the potentially big ticket price of overseas medical coverage and evacuation. The value of recouping the cost of the actual trip is debatable, and dependent on the risk of a particular person missing a cruise.

 

I don't get any type of insurance with the idea of getting ahead or being behind- I do it to protect myself against a potential loss.

[travler27]

To self insure or not is a personal choice. If you have millions in the bank you have more options than someone living check to check.

 

A lot of folks, when evaluating the value of trip insurance, simply look at the cost of the cruise itself. The more important expenses are involved in medical treatment and evacuations. Most private health insurance and Medicare are not valid outside the US. Medical costs can escalate very fast. Medical evacuation costs can add up even faster.

 

A few hundred dollars worth of trip insurance can look mighty small when compared to a $200,000 medical treatment and evacuation payment. But, each person can certainly make their own decision based on their own circumstances. Just don't start complaining if your choice turns out to be the wrong one.

[flutepilot]

At our ages (75 and 77) we always take out the full trip insurance. If we were 37 and 35, maybe not..........

 

Just saying.

 

Dan

[NHNEV2003]

50+ cruises - never bought insurance and never needed it:D

OP

Please come back and update

 

Come back and update us when you need it on your next cruise and don't have it. :rolleyes: