Cat amongst the Pigeons?

[Adawn47]

23 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Ours is obviously due the same time Avril, I wonder if P&O will extend the 30 day balance period? It seems unlikely that  there will be any certainty that cruising will be guaranteed by July, so just maybe we might get an extension.

That's why I'm going to wait and see what happens . It's no use second guessing, we'll know when they know.

Avril

[Rupert2251]

Edited March 10, 2021 by Rupert2251
Deleted

[zap99]

1 hour ago, Adawn47 said:

We're juggling with the same problem.   The only thing I can come up with is to wait and see what Boris says in May.  Our Balance is due July 11th, so we should have a clearer picture by then.

Avril

It May be a bit earlier. I think the committee report on 12th April.

[wowzz]

5 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

OK, so here is the problem.  Cruise was booked in October 2019 for travel October 2021.

 

Last 3 cruises were cancelled, so we have no travel insurance.    Once we pay the balance in July, we would need travel insurance.  Problem then is if P&O cancel our 19 nighter in October, we have lost £500 in travel insurance.  I spoke to one company who said if we take it out say a month before we cruise, we are then covered if we have to cancel.  The only situation that could arise, is if something happened to one of us before we took the insurance out.  It's a problem whichever way you look at it.

Jean, given the number of cruises you take,  isn't the £500 an annual figure? If it is that for just a single cruise, I think I'd wait until 4 weeks prior  and just risk it. 

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, doog442 said:

 

 

A fair bit about Covid but the sting in the tail is that when booking your Insurance will be negated if FCO advice is in place about not travelling to that country at the time of booking. So serious homework needed for a cruise I guess. 

No cruise line, certainly not P&O,  would take pax to a country that was on the FCO restricted list. 

[wowzz]

Just to throw into the mix, Saga prices include insurance cover, although you do have to declare pre-existing conditions. You can opt out, saving around £35 pp for a two week cruise, but gave to give details of your cover.

Perhaps this would be the way forward for P&O  - unless you cruise more than 8 weeks a year, it's probably not a bad deal.

[emam]

We renewed our annual cover with SS at the end of January and also got the extra 3 months free. We don't have a cruise booked but do have a DLP holiday in August which was moved from last year. I thought the insurance was a lot for the one holiday (though nowhere near what most of you are paying), but didn't want to risk not being covered if we moved insurers.

Round about this time last year I added cruise plus and pandemic cover to our insurance. As we were going to be in an inside cabin, I was not looking forward to being stuck in it for two weeks and thought there would be missed ports etc. On renewal they said they no longer cover for pandemics but do for Covid -19. I  could also have deferred my payment until nearer to August, but wouldn't be covered for cancellation. We are not covered for travelling against FCO.

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, emam said:

We renewed our annual cover with SS at the end of January and also got the extra 3 months free. We don't have a cruise booked but do have a DLP holiday in August which was moved from last year. I thought the insurance was a lot for the one holiday (though nowhere near what most of you are paying), but didn't want to risk not being covered if we moved insurers.

Round about this time last year I added cruise plus and pandemic cover to our insurance. As we were going to be in an inside cabin, I was not looking forward to being stuck in it for two weeks and thought there would be missed ports etc. On renewal they said they no longer cover for pandemics but do for Covid -19. I  could also have deferred my payment until nearer to August, but wouldn't be covered for cancellation. We are not covered for travelling against FCO.

I think you were worrying unnecessarily about moving companies. We let our annual policy with Insure&Go lapse,  as we had  no holidays booked for 10 months, and, as I posted earlier,  had no problem getting a quote from  SS today, for a possible cruise in Octover. But I wont be buying cover until I have to pay the final balance - no point having insurance when you haven't anything to cover.     

[terrierjohn]

11 hours 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. 🙂

Are you certain RCI ask for your policy number, I cannot remember them or Celebrity asking for more than your providers name, and the phone number and name of the emergency assistance company, just like P&O.

My assumption on this sudden request is because the majority of insurers seem to have  modified their cover so that it will cover you against falling ill with covid before your cruise, but not if you test positive at check in, and P&O's new request seems to suggest that they will not be refunding you if they refuse boarding and you would need insurance cover for this., or maybe I am wrong and too much of a cynic.

[shopaholic6]

7 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Are you certain RCI ask for your policy number, I cannot remember them or Celebrity asking for more than your providers name, and the phone number and name of the emergency assistance company, just like P&O.

My assumption on this sudden request is because the majority of insurers seem to have  modified their cover so that it will cover you against falling ill with covid before your cruise, but not if you test positive at check in, and P&O's new request seems to suggest that they will not be refunding you if they refuse boarding and you would need insurance cover for this., or maybe I am wrong and too much of a cynic.

Maybe I'm wrong 🤔 I know I definitely put insurance details in, but perhaps the policy number wasn't asked for?  It's been so bloomin long now since I checked in for anything I can't remember properly 🤣 🤣

[janny444]

8 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Are you certain RCI ask for your policy number, I cannot remember them or Celebrity asking for more than your providers name, and the phone number and name of the emergency assistance company, just like P&O.

My assumption on this sudden request is because the majority of insurers seem to have  modified their cover so that it will cover you against falling ill with covid before your cruise, but not if you test positive at check in, and P&O's new request seems to suggest that they will not be refunding you if they refuse boarding and you would need insurance cover for this., or maybe I am wrong and too much of a cynic.

Hi....I think that is what our insurance is saying....their T&Cs changed in January 2021....covered before cruise for Covid 19 but limited cover once cruise started which I would think includes at check-in but it was very very hard to actually pin them down to exact details especially when I spoke to different people they all seemed to give a different answer.

Am I correct in thinking that even if you don't test positive at check-in if your policy doesn't actually say that you are fully covered for Covid 19 then you could be refused boarding ?

[Son of Anarchy]

10 hours ago, wowzz said:

Just to throw into the mix, Saga prices include insurance cover, although you do have to declare pre-existing conditions. You can opt out, saving around £35 pp for a two week cruise, but gave to give details of your cover.

Perhaps this would be the way forward for P&O  - unless you cruise more than 8 weeks a year, it's probably not a bad deal.

This is something we would give serious consideration to.

[jeanlyon]

Wowzz that was a single trip quote.  We both now have medical conditions.   I shall ask lots of questions before buying.  Ie if cruise is cancelled can insurance dates be moved.   I didnt see the point of annual as next one is october 22 so wouldn't cover it

[wowzz]

16 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Wowzz that was a single trip quote.  We both now have medical conditions.   I shall ask lots of questions before buying.  Ie if cruise is cancelled can insurance dates be moved.   I didnt see the point of annual as next one is october 22 so wouldn't cover it

If you are referring to Saga, yes it was, but only as part of the cruise package.

[jeanlyon]

Well well well, might have a solution.

 

Just did a quote with Staysure.  £606 for £15 months.  So gave them a call and asked the question.  If P&O cancels the cruise, are the dates moveable.  YES!  give customer services a call and they can move the dates.  Problem solved.

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, jeanlyon said:

Well well well, might have a solution.

 

Just did a quote with Staysure.  £606 for £15 months.  So gave them a call and asked the question.  If P&O cancels the cruise, are the dates moveable.  YES!  give customer services a call and they can move the dates.  Problem solved.

Glad you got things sorted.

[Solent Richard]

19 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

OK, so here is the problem.  Cruise was booked in October 2019 for travel October 2021.

 

Last 3 cruises were cancelled, so we have no travel insurance.    Once we pay the balance in July, we would need travel insurance.  Problem then is if P&O cancel our 19 nighter in October, we have lost £500 in travel insurance.  I spoke to one company who said if we take it out say a month before we cruise, we are then covered if we have to cancel.  The only situation that could arise, is if something happened to one of us before we took the insurance out.  It's a problem whichever way you look at it.

I guess it all really depends on how much you have sat with P&O as a deposit.

 

Insurance is there to solely cover you and should, God forbid, anything happen to you with 'no cover' then that, and any other deposit/balance you've paid is lost. 

[Solent Richard]

1 hour ago, jeanlyon said:

Well well well, might have a solution.

 

Just did a quote with Staysure.  £606 for £15 months.  So gave them a call and asked the question.  If P&O cancels the cruise, are the dates moveable.  YES!  give customer services a call and they can move the dates.  Problem solved.

Looks a good deal. Here's mine which I took out in January. That covers 4 cruises and two Far East shore holidays....

 

[majortom10]

We have an annual policy with LV that covers us at the moment of all aspects of Covid issues because we have been with them for a few years. Unfortunately since our renewal last September we have had all our cruises cancelled and we didnt go on our usual land based holiday in January. They have sent an e-mail saying I can cancel policy and have refund of duration left, but hanging back at moment in case we book a cruise in August/September. Our next booked cruise is October and the policy finishes in September. Looking at the moment of either taking out travel insurance package which includes other area i.e. motor breakdown/home emergency for £19-50 a month with my current bank HSBC or switching banks and opening a Nationwide Flexplus account at £13-50 a month and both these include worldwide travel and winter sports.

[ace2542]

On 3/10/2021 at 10:30 AM, 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 

And also what about the cost of that insurance? Particularly for people in the older age brackets? The cost of insurance could be more than the cruise? And would it be tough to find cover for pre existing conditions?

[wowzz]

43 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

And also what about the cost of that insurance? Particularly for people in the older age brackets? The cost of insurance could be more than the cruise? And would it be tough to find cover for pre existing conditions?

I suppose the answer is to ask for a quote from a number of insurance companies prior to booking, or st least prior to making the final payment. That way you can decide if the required cover is too expensive for you to purchase, and you have to forgo the cruise. Declaration of pre-existing conditions has always been mandatory,  so nothing new there. 

To be honest, what P&O are asking for is no more than a typical insurance policy that anyone sensible would already have, or plan to purchase.

Edited March 11, 2021 by wowzz

[jeanlyon]

We are 82 and 74 - 2 pre-existing conditions each.  Staysure quote was £606 for 15 months.

[Snow Hill]

We usually have annual travel insurance which normally gets renewed each year, we let it lapse last May as with thought unlikely we would be going anywhere in 2020 or early 2021. The recommendation from the likes of Martin Lewis is take out insurance as soon as you can after booking your holiday so you are covered from the period of booking until end of holiday otherwise you risk losing deposit or more if closer to the travel date.

[jeanlyon]

Yes but there are loads of us who booked our cruises back in October 2019.  So luckily out deposit is only £50 per head, because we booked on the ship.  Nothing to be done about that.

[wowzz]

13 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

We are 82 and 74 - 2 pre-existing conditions each.  Staysure quote was £606 for 15 months.

Seems reasonable, but I assume it does not cover the US, Caribbean etc at that price?