Cat amongst the Pigeons?

[Solent Richard]

Within the last hour I received a P&O notification regarding insurance requirements.

 

Pretty comprehensive stuff which will not go down too well with some

 

"We hope you are staying safe and well while we count down the days to welcome you on board.

Just to remind you, it’s mandatory for all UK guests to take out comprehensive travel insurance for their holiday with us. While we hope you never have to use it, the policy will ensure you’re able to relax and enjoy your holiday with the peace of mind that you’re protected should you need it.

It is essential that you let your insurer know you are taking a cruise holiday. Your policy must include medical and repatriation cover of £2 million minimum that includes cover for emergency evacuations and medical expenses related to COVID-19. You must also ensure your policy includes cover for travel, cancellation and curtailment and full cover for any and all pre-existing medical conditions worldwide, or as a minimum, in the countries you are due to visit.

Your travel insurance documents will be checked at the terminal and must be valid for the entire duration of your holiday. Unfortunately you will be denied boarding, at your own expense, if you don’t have appropriate cover. You can find out more here.

We look forward to welcoming you on board soon".

 

 

[jeanlyon]

Yes ive just received that email. Denied boarding without proof of insurance.  My balance isn't due until July.  It's going to be difficult to choose insurance without knowing if the cruise will sail.  Also if it's cancelled do you get the premium back I wonder 

[pete14]

5 minutes ago, Solent Richard said:

Within the last hour I received a P&O notification regarding insurance requirements.

 

Pretty comprehensive stuff which will not go down too well with some

 

"We hope you are staying safe and well while we count down the days to welcome you on board.

Just to remind you, it’s mandatory for all UK guests to take out comprehensive travel insurance for their holiday with us. While we hope you never have to use it, the policy will ensure you’re able to relax and enjoy your holiday with the peace of mind that you’re protected should you need it.

It is essential that you let your insurer know you are taking a cruise holiday. Your policy must include medical and repatriation cover of £2 million minimum that includes cover for emergency evacuations and medical expenses related to COVID-19. You must also ensure your policy includes cover for travel, cancellation and curtailment and full cover for any and all pre-existing medical conditions worldwide, or as a minimum, in the countries you are due to visit.

Your travel insurance documents will be checked at the terminal and must be valid for the entire duration of your holiday. Unfortunately you will be denied boarding, at your own expense, if you don’t have appropriate cover. You can find out more here.

We look forward to welcoming you on board soon".

 

 

Quite right too. I am surprised that insurance has not been checked before boarding before but just imagine the queues of people waiting to board in the future. They will not only need more staff doing checkin but more check in desks. At least they have time to get this sorted out before cruising restarts

[purplesea]

Mine has just popped up in my mail box too.

[yorkshirephil]

I just checked my last annual policy which we didn't renew this year and we had 10,000,000 medical and repatriation cover. I wonder how many will get caught out with this? 

[Eddie99]

No problems with the stipulation but ... embarkation day for a 5000 pax cruise? 😬

Sounds like starting a cruise will be as stressful as taking a flight!

 

[Dermotsgirl]

Yes, I’ve had that email too.

 

I know I’ve got cruise cover, and when I renewed back in October the company made a point of saying that the renewal covered Covid.

 

However, without checking, I couldn’t tell you whether my cover is £2m, or where on the documentation all the relevant information is stated. 
 

Still, I haven’t got to worry about it too much right now. When I renewed, I got 15 months of cover, so my renewal isn’t until next January, and my next cruise is booked for May 22.

 

I think the checkin procedure will take longer if the staff have to Wade through insurance documents, looking for all the relevant information.  I think I would use a highlighter pen to help them.

 

As a general point, if it gets that there are too many hoops to jump through to go on a cruise, I think I will opt not to bother, and do something else. 

[Solent Richard]

16 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Yes ive just received that email. Denied boarding without proof of insurance.  My balance isn't due until July.  It's going to be difficult to choose insurance without knowing if the cruise will sail.  Also if it's cancelled do you get the premium back I wonder 

Hi there Jean. ,My only surprise is that you haven't got insurance in place NOW.

[zap99]

18 minutes ago, Solent Richard said:

Hi there Jean. ,My only surprise is that you haven't got insurance in place NOW.

We have annual insurance and have it in place continuously. We always have something booked, so want cover. We have cruise cover included and the repatriation and medical expenses  is for £5m. Surely we can provide proof electronically?.

[Dermotsgirl]

7 minutes ago, zap99 said:

We have annual insurance and have it in place continuously. We always have something booked, so want cover. We have cruise cover included and the repatriation and medical expenses  is for £5m. Surely we can provide proof electronically?.

I keep all emailed documents in a box in my email account, so they are available to me electronically. 
 

But a bit awkward for the check in clerk to find the relevant info on the documents on a small screen, when there’s a massive queue of people getting restive.

 

when the time comes, I will print the documents and use a highlighter pen for the relevant information - that might make the process a bit easier 

[No pager thank you]

With:

 

-- Most insurance companies denying liability for cancellation costs arising from Covid-19, for travel booked after March/April 2019, and,

-- Balance due dates being 90 days away at most (and was 30 for some), and,

-- The possibility for free transfers and clear lines guaranteeing refunds...

 

the case for being insured in advance is weaker than it was. 

 

We have an annual policy, the contents and premiums from which have been useless for cruise travel for what will be at least 18 months.  One would have thought that once the impact of vaccination is clear, more insurance companies will begin to accept Covid-19 related liabilities again, and premiums may also reduce.

 

It follows that providing passengers comply with the stipulations, which have always been a condition of travel, it may make sense to compare options and see how insurance companies react to the restart of international travel.

 

What did surprise me from this was:

 

1)Insinuation that international cruise travel could commence from the end of the current pause i.e., why send this email now (I got it six times!)

 

2) The bit about curtailment.  What now needs to be clear is if there is an onboard outbreak and all passengers are disembarked as a result, P&O (and not insurance companies) will cover curtailment and repatriation costs.  Otherwise this is simply unacceptable as we all know that insurance companies can be "patchy" when it comes to dealing with claims.

 

No way the Southampton check-in staff will read this by the way, you'll most likely just have to show the schedule of cover when you pass on your passports.  I think that £2m coverage is a basic 1-2 star policy (they are rated out of 5 by Defacto) so not as steep as it looks.

[Denarius]

36 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

Yes, I’ve had that email too.

 

I know I’ve got cruise cover, and when I renewed back in October the company made a point of saying that the renewal covered Covid.

 

However, without checking, I couldn’t tell you whether my cover is £2m, or where on the documentation all the relevant information is stated. 
 

Still, I haven’t got to worry about it too much right now. When I renewed, I got 15 months of cover, so my renewal isn’t until next January, and my next cruise is booked for May 22.

 

I think the checkin procedure will take longer if the staff have to Wade through insurance documents, looking for all the relevant information.  I think I would use a highlighter pen to help them.

 

As a general point, if it gets that there are too many hoops to jump through to go on a cruise, I think I will opt not to bother, and do something else. 

I have a rolling annual wordwide policy. I do not however, have a printed policy document. All my documents are in digital format; I keep copies on my phone and when travelling take backup copies with me on a USB stick. Many other people will no doubt be in a similar position in this digital age. This could get complicated!

[zap99]

3 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I keep all emailed documents in a box in my email account, so they are available to me electronically. 
 

But a bit awkward for the check in clerk to find the relevant info on the documents on a small screen, when there’s a massive queue of people getting restive.

 

when the time comes, I will print the documents and use a highlighter pen for the relevant information - that might make the process a bit easier 

I think there are about 60+ pages, with ink at £1000 a spoonful, I think I will just print the relevant pages. That's what I do anyway in case the ship hits an iceberg in the med. Just one more thing to do for them. Passport, credit card, vaccination cert, insurance credit card , photos, credit card.🤣

[Purdey16]

We also had the emails but we have a annual policy and last year’s included COVID repatriation, we chose the gold level on this in the policy and yes it was expensive but we were due to go to Australia, Canada, Japan, Alaska this year , always got a annual policy in place because of a lot of travelling and got it in paper form and emails and will highlight the important bits for when this is done at check in to save time .

[Orianababes]

A good idea to be certain there is travel insurance in place. Very difficult to monitor it. 
 

I believe that more guidance will need to be issued covering those who pay monthly through their bank accounts and other situations. 
 

I hope someone at P&O monitors sites like this and reacts to issues raised. There are still months before this comes into being, ample time to clarify for guests to either submit detail online or know exactly what to present and how to present

 

 

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Eddie99 said:

No problems with the stipulation but ... embarkation day for a 5000 pax cruise? 😬

Sounds like starting a cruise will be as stressful as taking a flight!

 

Totally agree, it would seem to be far more sensible to include this in the information that we input pre cruise, trying to check this during the boarding process will create havoc.

[janny444]

I too received the email(s)....for our cruise on Iona in October....no problem...booked in 2019 but the other 2 cruises not sure about because they were booked after the start of this pandemic and because of that there are certain restrictions in place regarding the POCs being on the restricted list at the time of booking. I did try to get a clear answer as to what we are actually covered for and what would be the case when the restrictions are lifted from the countries but the information seemed to change every time I spoke to a different person in the call centre. Eventually transferred to the claims department for clarity but even that was not too clear so looks like I may have to phone again . We have in place annual insurance through our bank.

I feel a bit like I am on " shifting sands" with the uncertainty

[kevboy]

I have always been intrigued with regard to providing proof that you do indeed have the necessary travel insurance. As you know, the pre cruise reguests who you are insured with and who provides emergency cover. Do P&O then contact these insurance companies to check that you are telling the truth. I very much doubt it. For a start they dont have policy numbers or addresses / phone numbers of the companies. It would take P&O Staff and Insurance companies far too long to deal with each passenger. I have always suspected that P&O simply trust you even though it is allegedly a condition of sailing.  Many people go on holiday without travel insurance - particularly when we were in the EU. Even though it would be stupid, I suspect many cruisers have lied about being insured and got away with it.

Wether or not embarkation checks of your policy are carried out remains to be seen. I personally would prefer to see proof of vaccination because that affords everyone greater insurance. I suppose my comments will be opposed by some but at least we all get to air our views. keep safe everyone.

[shopaholic6]

1 minute ago, kevboy said:

I have always been intrigued with regard to providing proof that you do indeed have the necessary travel insurance. As you know, the pre cruise reguests who you are insured with and who provides emergency cover. Do P&O then contact these insurance companies to check that you are telling the truth. I very much doubt it. For a start they dont have policy numbers or addresses / phone numbers of the companies. It would take P&O Staff and Insurance companies far too long to deal with each passenger. I have always suspected that P&O simply trust you even though it is allegedly a condition of sailing.  Many people go on holiday without travel insurance - particularly when we were in the EU. Even though it would be stupid, I suspect many cruisers have lied about being insured and got away with it.

Wether or not embarkation checks of your policy are carried out remains to be seen. I personally would prefer to see proof of vaccination because that affords everyone greater insurance. I suppose my comments will be opposed by some but at least we all get to air our views. keep safe everyone.

I've never sailed with P&O before, but I know when you check in with Royal Caribbean you have to input your insurance policy number and provider.  I'm sure they don't contact each one individually, but I'm pretty sure you cannot complete check in without providing the info requested. 🙂

[Solent Richard]

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

We have annual insurance and have it in place continuously. We always have something booked, so want cover. We have cruise cover included and the repatriation and medical expenses  is for £5m. Surely we can provide proof electronically?.

Exactly the same with us and I had intended to make the same point as you when more comments were made. It will be so easy to have the checks linked to one's personaliser / online registration.

 

Who knows, one day it may even follow the system used for motor vehicle registration.

 

And taking it to the ridiculous, 😉 why not have cruise lines electronically linked to our GPs where they can ensure we are in date for an MOT before we cruise. 😂😂

[Solent Richard]

1 hour ago, Denarius said:

I have a rolling annual wordwide policy. I do not however, have a printed policy document. All my documents are in digital format; I keep copies on my phone and when travelling take backup copies with me on a USB stick. Many other people will no doubt be in a similar position in this digital age. This could get complicated!

Exactly, great minds obviously think alike.

[jake 26]

11 minutes ago, shopaholic6 said:

I've never sailed with P&O before, but I know when you check in with Royal Caribbean you have to input your insurance policy number and provider.  I'm sure they don't contact each one individually, but I'm pretty sure you cannot complete check in without providing the info requested. 🙂

I can see P&O going along that route. As  kevboy says you have to give basic insurance info pre cruise, but I should imagine that will change to insurer and policy number etc very soon.

[kalos]

17 minutes ago, Solent Richard said:

Who knows, one day it may even follow the system used for motor vehicle registration.

 

Could it be that all they need is the insurance policy number and P&O's computer linked to

an insurance bureau which could tell them in seconds if you are insured to cruise  and the

value of  repatriation and medical expenses on that policy.

You only have to pass one of those cow-bell camera's on a lamp post and using ANPR  it 

lets the police know if your not taxed or tested without the need for manpower . 

[zap99]

2 hours ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I keep all emailed documents in a box in my email account, so they are available to me electronically. 
 

But a bit awkward for the check in clerk to find the relevant info on the documents on a small screen, when there’s a massive queue of people getting restive.

 

when the time comes, I will print the documents and use a highlighter pen for the relevant information - that might make the process a bit easier 

Just a tip. I have been locked out of my email account with Microsoft in the Caribbean twice, so I save the documents in , well.... documents.🤣

[Dermotsgirl]

7 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Just a tip. I have been locked out of my email account with Microsoft in the Caribbean twice, so I save the documents in , well.... documents.🤣

Its ok, they are also saved on the computer.

 

in the circumstances we are talking about, I wouldn't just be relying on the email account. I’d either have saved the documents on the phone as well, or have a paper copy