COVID 19 ASSISTANCE POLICY UPDATE!

[canderson]

29 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

If Celebrity won't fly you home privately, what happens to you?  Will the ports agree to quarantine and/or treat Covid patients found to be positive while sailing?

As I understand it, Celebrity has a plan with the 'locals' in place to handle COVID disembarkations for every port that they visit.

[Babr]

8 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Glad to see this - and hoping very much it gets extended once again into 2022.  It's a difficult (and expensive) proposition for the cruise lines for sure.  And of course also for passengers.   And in addition for the ports of call!  If Celebrity won't fly you home privately, what happens to you?  Will the ports agree to quarantine and/or treat Covid patients found to be positive while sailing?  I have to guess many will never agree to that.  A real quandary for the cruise lines.  And how many people will cancel, or not book, a cruise if that policy is no longer in place?  Insurance to cover the kind of care and transport you may need in that situation can be quite expensive and may be hard to find due to exclusions for pandemics, etc..  

 

Just about any comprehensive policy you buy these days will cover medical treatment or trip interruption caused by a Covid diagnosis - even the insurance sold by Celebrity. They treat it as any other illness.

 

You are right that you will not find a policy that will charter a jet to fly you home  after a positive test alone. The only policy I found with such coverage specifically excluded cruise ship travel. 
 

And you can guess why - charter flights are expensive, and positive tests are not all that uncommon. From the “live” threads I’ve read here, they have happened more than once on several sailings.

 

At least until the end of the year, Celebrity has decided it is good policy to continue offering the program. They’ve decided the cost is necessary for a successful restart.

[TeeRick]

12 hours ago, ISABELLA said:

If someone tested positive during Caribbean cruise and will require monoclonal treatment, will Celebrity provide immediate air transport back to Florida? Or they will have treatment on board? Does anyone know?

I am just guessing here since the situation has not been reported here.  But I do not think Celebrity would have the ability or the intent to treat on board the ship.  If the patient was very ill they would get them to a medical facility ASAP.  Even if by medivac.

[NCNina]

19 hours ago, Babr said:

So far, everyone has been returned home except those cruising to or from countries that require quarantine by law before onward travel. I believe that is the case with Greece. There is a footnote in the policy about it.

 

 

Thank you-- good to hear!

[bboop51]

On 9/23/2021 at 12:37 PM, loving goldens said:

I hope it gets extended into January also...  🙂 It would be a great peace of mind   about taking the chance of travelling only to test positive....

 

We are cruising in January 2022 and would be upset to find this policy is not extended.   It would be quite a lot of money to be out.  Trip insurance only pays  IF you have a Covid 19 diagnosis, not just a positive test. 

[Babr]

3 minutes ago, bboop51 said:

We are cruising in January 2022 and would be upset to find this policy is not extended.   It would be quite a lot of money to be out.  Trip insurance only pays  IF you have a Covid 19 diagnosis, not just a positive test. 

If you are talking about cancellation, I would not think it would be difficult to get your doctor to confirm a diagnosis and issue a document with the necessary details to file an insurance claim.

 

Are you concerned about a false positive or were you thinking you would not have ready access to a doctor if you test positive at embarkation? In that case, perhaps Celebrity would make the necessary documents available through their on board doctors for guests who test positive at the last minute.

 

As much as I like the program, at some point the free rides will end, and people will have to rely on insurance or their own resources. Otherwise, the increased cost of operation is likely to show up in higher fares and fewer perks.

[LGW59]

55 minutes ago, bboop51 said:

We are cruising in January 2022 and would be upset to find this policy is not extended.   It would be quite a lot of money to be out.  Trip insurance only pays  IF you have a Covid 19 diagnosis, not just a positive test. 

It has got to end at some point, time to get on with living (carefully) in this new COVID world.  Many folks here are cruising and posting very positive experiences.  If it is not extended and then I decide not to take my cruise, that is on me, not Celebrity.

[Fouremco]

Hopefully there will be a point in time when both the cruise lines and travel insurance industry agree that the threat from COVID has diminished to the point where the extra measures taken by the cruise lines, such as Celebrity's assistance policy, can be stopped, and COVID will be treated like the flu and other viruses by the insurance companies. The concern expressed here is that Celebrity will stop before travel insurance steps up to provide coverage.

[LGW59]

1 minute ago, Fouremco said:

Hopefully there will be a point in time when both the cruise lines and travel insurance industry agree that the threat from COVID has diminished to the point where the extra measures taken by the cruise lines, such as Celebrity's assistance policy, can be stopped, and COVID will be treated like the flu and other viruses by the insurance companies. The concern expressed here is that Celebrity will stop before travel insurance steps up to provide coverage.

Then I guess don’t book a cruise if one has that concern.

[Fouremco]

Just now, LGW59 said:

Then I guess don’t book a cruise if one has that concern.

I'm sure that there will be many who won't cruise for the duration should that happen. 

[Babr]

47 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Hopefully there will be a point in time when both the cruise lines and travel insurance industry agree that the threat from COVID has diminished to the point where the extra measures taken by the cruise lines, such as Celebrity's assistance policy, can be stopped, and COVID will be treated like the flu and other viruses by the insurance companies. The concern expressed here is that Celebrity will stop before travel insurance steps up to provide coverage.

I know it is not the case in Canada; but here in the US, insurance provides coverage now. Available policies treat Covid as any other illness. They cover cancellation, medical, and trip interruption. They will pay to transfer seriously ill patients to a hospital in the US that can provide a higher level of care.

 

The only thing it will not do is charter a jet to return someone who tests positive. I don’t ever expect to see that as a feature of a comprehensive travel policy because it is just too costly. 
 

If/when Celebrity ends their program, they’ll have to decide whether to quarantine passengers on the ship or to disembark them to stay in contracted hotels. Either way, trip interruption will reimburse for lost days and expenses to return home up to 150% of the cost of the trip. Even so, the possibility of delayed onward travel will be a deterrent to many. 

 

On the other hand, Celebrity has instituted the most generous of the assistance plans among the major cruise lines, and it may become burdensome to maintain.

 

 

[Fouremco]

1 minute ago, Babr said:

I know it is not the case in Canada; but here in the US, insurance provides coverage now. Available policies treat Covid as any other illness. They cover cancellation, medical, and trip interruption. They will pay to transfer seriously ill patients to a hospital in the US that can provide a higher level of care.

 

The only thing it will not do is charter a jet to return someone who tests positive. I don’t ever expect to see that as a feature of a comprehensive travel policy because it is just too costly. 
 

If/when Celebrity ends their program, they’ll have to decide whether to quarantine passengers on the ship or to disembark them to stay in contracted hotels. Either way, trip interruption will reimburse for lost days and expenses to return home up to 150% of the cost of the trip. Even so, the possibility of delayed onward travel will be a deterrent to many. 

 

On the other hand, Celebrity has instituted the most generous of the assistance plans among the major cruise lines, and it may become burdensome to maintain.

 

 

Yes, most Canadian travel insurance companies won't provide any COVID-related coverage at all, and the few that do will cover directly related medical cost but not trip interruption or trip cancellation. Consequently, the timing of Celebrity dropping its assistance plans may well result in Canadian taking fewer cruises until the insurance companies here start offering coverage.

[Turtles06]

6 minutes ago, Babr said:

I know it is not the case in Canada; but here in the US, insurance provides coverage now. Available policies treat Covid as any other illness. They cover cancellation, medical, and trip interruption. They will pay to transfer seriously ill patients to a hospital in the US that can provide a higher level of care.

Regarding the sentence in bold, folks need to read the terms of standard travel insurance policies carefully so that you understand the circumstances in which the carrier will provide medical evacuation. If you are looking for pure medical evacuation coverage, you may want to consider something like a Medjet Assist policy.  We have the latter as a stand-alone, and also purchase standard travel insurance for the additional things that they cover. 

[Babr]

1 minute ago, Turtles06 said:

Regarding the sentence in bold, folks need to read the terms of standard travel insurance policies carefully so that you understand the circumstances in which the carrier will provide medical evacuation. If you are looking for pure medical evacuation coverage, you may want to consider something like a Medjet Assist policy.  We have the latter as a stand-alone, and also purchase standard travel insurance for the additional things that they cover. 

Yes, a policy like MedJet will give you more control of your transfer, but it is still hospital to hospital.

[Turtles06]

22 minutes ago, Babr said:

Yes, a policy like MedJet will give you more control of your transfer, but it is still hospital to hospital.

I didn’t say it wasn’t. 

[Babr]

8 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

I didn’t say it wasn’t. 

I know. My comment was directed at others who may not be familiar with MedJet. 

 

[bboop51]

3 hours ago, LGW59 said:

It has got to end at some point, time to get on with living (carefully) in this new COVID world.  Many folks here are cruising and posting very positive experiences.  If it is not extended and then I decide not to take my cruise, that is on me, not Celebrity.

I hear you. But Celebrity is not doing this out of kindness. They are doing this because many won't book if they think they may lose thousands of dollars. I spoke to a Celebrity rep today and they indicated  the offer would extend as long as they are requiring the two day Covid test.  

If this is not true,  it will be too late to cancel our January sailing, but we many seriously rethink our June sailing. 

We live very carefully, but there is still unknown {sigh.} 

[canderson]

5 minutes ago, bboop51 said:

I spoke to a Celebrity rep today and they indicated  the offer would extend as long as they are requiring the two day Covid test.  

Interesting trigger point.  How high up in the food chain was the 'rep'?  More than first line phone support?

[LGW59]

Just now, canderson said:

Interesting trigger point.  How high up in the food chain was the 'rep'?  More than first line phone support?

Now that her hair is curled LLP is manning the call center today 

[bboop51]

8 minutes ago, canderson said:

Interesting trigger point.  How high up in the food chain was the 'rep'?  More than first line phone support?

Not high  enough for me to hang my hat on (I'm sure.) I called Celebrity after realizing if either of us got a positive Covid test, we would get relief from our insurance only if our Dr said we HAD Covid and (most likely it) was confirmed by another test.  But, I have to make final payment on October 22nd, so it's a moot point.  Until then I have plenty of other crap to worry about (non cruise related.) 

[Babr]

22 minutes ago, bboop51 said:

I hear you. But Celebrity is not doing this out of kindness. They are doing this because many won't book if they think they may lose thousands of dollars. I spoke to a Celebrity rep today and they indicated  the offer would extend as long as they are requiring the two day Covid test.  

If this is not true,  it will be too late to cancel our January sailing, but we many seriously rethink our June sailing. 

We live very carefully, but there is still unknown {sigh.} 

Anyone who can buy insurance is not going to lose thousands of dollars. It is readily available in the US. Celebrity sells it.  Insurance will reimburse you for cancellation, trip interruption, and medical.

 

Yes, you need a diagnosis from a doctor, but it is not hard. If you test positive, you have Covid whether you have symptoms or not. A doctor will confirm the diagnosis and provide documentation. You file a claim. You get your money back.

[bboop51]

21 minutes ago, Babr said:

Anyone who can buy insurance is not going to lose thousands of dollars. It is readily available in the US. Celebrity sells it.  Insurance will reimburse you for cancellation, trip interruption, and medical.

 

Yes, you need a diagnosis from a doctor, but it is not hard. If you test positive, you have Covid whether you have symptoms or not. A doctor will confirm the diagnosis and provide documentation. You file a claim. You get your money back.

I've already purchased the insuranc and I know the drill.  The insurance provider went over it with me. . My concern is a false positive from the pre-cruise Covid test and a negative from the Dr. If that is the case, I am sunk. I am going to stop stressing about it and get on with my life. Like I said, I have a lot of stuff between now and January 22nd. We are well vaccinated (three jabs for me)  and plan to do as much quarantining (as possible) the two weeks before the cruise.  

[jagoffee]

19 hours ago, bboop51 said:

I hear you. But Celebrity is not doing this out of kindness. They are doing this because many won't book if they think they may lose thousands of dollars. I spoke to a Celebrity rep today and they indicated  the offer would extend as long as they are requiring the two day Covid test.  

If this is not true,  it will be too late to cancel our January sailing, but we many seriously rethink our June sailing. 

We live very carefully, but there is still unknown {sigh.} 

It is not too late to cancel your January cruise as long as you are willing to take a credit to apply to a cruise departing by the end of 2022.

[bboop51]

2 hours ago, jagoffee said:

It is not too late to cancel your January cruise as long as you are willing to take a credit to apply to a cruise departing by the end of 2022.

Thanks. I know. Not cancelling, DH  is very excited about the cruise. I had a long chat with my Dr. this morning and he gave me lots of good advice. I'm much less worried. I can focus my cruise worries about what to pack now 😁, since  we are (for the first time in many many years)  flying and cruising .

[wrk2cruise]

I think there is a big difference between the "coverage" offered pre embarkation where they will refund your cruise if you test positive within 14 days prior to embarkation and then the evacuation provided for anyone who tests positive while onboard.   I expect the first part would probably be continued but might be FCC.   The expensive thing is the evacuation for people testing positive which I agree they will discontinue as soon as they think possible.

 

Then if it's left to you I think we all agree that trip insurance isn't going to provide private air ambulance and you will probably be required to quarantine at the point you are disembarked until you qualify to fly commercial on the way home.   I've had a couple of discussions with insurance people and haven't got a clear answer if this quarantine would be covered.  One I believe did try to answer the question but warned that coverage ends X days (I believe it was 7) after your scheduled trip end.