Carnival Vacation Protection for Canadians

[AlleyMay]

I've been buying Carnival Vacation Protection for every cruise.  I've never really taken a close look at what it covers but as I am getting older, decided to look more closely.  For sure it covers the "Cancel for any Reason" and get 75% toward future cruise credit as this is provided by Carnival.  But the insurance is underwritten by AON and is insured by Nationwide Insurance.  When you try to read the "Nationwide" contract, it states the insurance is only available to US Citizens.   The Carnival documentation  provides a non-insurance Help/Advice phone number through another company (LiveTravel), but the actual Nationwide policy says available to US citizens only.  The PVP we have does not seem to know anything about this and a phone call to Nationwide also provided no answers other than "good question".

 

Does anyone know for sure if this insurance is actually available to Canadians or would we find out should something happen on the trip, that we were not eligible?

[mz-s]

16 minutes ago, AlleyMay said:

When you try to read the "Nationwide" contract, it states the insurance is only available to US Citizens.

 

Sounds to me like if you ever actually needed to use this policy they would not pay out. Good on you for reading it! Many people don't.

[notscb]

Good on you for reading the fine print and not just taking their word at it. It also doesn't cover folks in NY (and other states), which I only saw a disclaimer for after I had booked my reservation and went to see how much it would be to add it later.

 

FWIW, I think many insurance policies sold by cruise lines barely meet the definition when it comes to actual customer experience. There's also much better coverage available for usually the same or less cost through a third party. I know the cruise lines make a commission on the number of policies sold, but by god I wish someone in corporate would at least make a good faith effort to ensure they are selling something worthwhile.

[AlleyMay]

I did notice it "excludes New York, Puerto Rico & Quebec".  But it doesn't say excludes rest of Canada.  However, if you look at attachment, it states eligible person means "a resident of the United States" so this is why I am concerned.

 

 

[staceyglow]

If I were you, I would consider insurance with a third party. All the sites I have researched have search engines that ask right up front where you live, and only show you policies that you qualify for.

[RCmommy]

On 1/9/2023 at 8:34 PM, AlleyMay said:

I did notice it "excludes New York, Puerto Rico & Quebec".  But it doesn't say excludes rest of Canada.  However, if you look at attachment, it states eligible person means "a resident of the United States" so this is why I am concerned.

 

 

Yikes.  I have the Carnival insurance for our upcoming trip on the 21st.  When I saw that it excludes Quebec I assumed it meant the rest of Canada was good.  Lesson learned it would seem.

[Sailin_Pirate]

I've been on sites that when I put in my info says "not eligible" or something like that.

 

Carnival is lazy 

40 minutes ago, RCmommy said:

Yikes.  I have the Carnival insurance for our upcoming trip on the 21st.  When I saw that it excludes Quebec I assumed it meant the rest of Canada was good.  Lesson learned it would seem.

Should contact Carnival get refunded they sold you something you can't use.

 

I never buy it , so no idea what it reads , but if you truly are excluded they should reimburse.

[dns65]

Hmmm, my first Carnival cruise on Jan 21, never been on the line before.  I purchased the insurance as I do with all other cruise lines but can't find the "fine print" for the policy.  Where did you find the info?  If I am not covered I should get refunded prior to sailing

[RCmommy]

The sad thing is I did read some of the fine print, but obviously not all of it.  
 

I do not recall reading any thing like Canadians only being able to claim the cancellation part.  I’m hoping there is something more to it…

 

have you posted this in the Canadian cruisers sub as well?
 

 

[RCmommy]

20 minutes ago, dns65 said:

Hmmm, my first Carnival cruise on Jan 21, never been on the line before.  I purchased the insurance as I do with all other cruise lines but can't find the "fine print" for the policy.  Where did you find the info?  If I am not covered I should get refunded prior to sailing

Will that be on the Vista on the 21st by chance?

[dns65]

32 minutes ago, RCmommy said:

Will that be on the Vista on the 21st by chance?

Mardi Gras

[samyeh604]

I've always bought 3rd party, but good to know. 

[dns65]

So I called the 1-800 number and they confirmed their insurance DOES NOT cover Canada.   I was issued a refund to my credit card.

 

 

[Bigeee67]

Dns65, what 1-800 number did you call ???

Is this refund from carnival ?

[dns65]

8 minutes ago, Bigeee67 said:

Dns65, what 1-800 number did you call ???

Is this refund from carnival ?

 

Sorry, the Carnival 800 number and whatever option for an existing booking.  The Carnival rep said they'd issue the refund to the credit card I booked on

[Sailin_Pirate]

2 hours ago, dns65 said:

So I called the 1-800 number and they confirmed their insurance DOES NOT cover Canada.   I was issued a refund to my credit card.

 

 

 

There are 0 reasons for this to happen then if 100% of Canada is not covered. Well other than charging and hoping the Canadian buyer doesn't try to use the policy.

 

it shouldn't be offered to people with Canada addresses

 

 

[dns65]

29 minutes ago, Sailin_Pirate said:

 

There are 0 reasons for this to happen then if 100% of Canada is not covered. Well other than charging and hoping the Canadian buyer doesn't try to use the policy.

 

it shouldn't be offered to people with Canada addresses

 

Totally agree and even said that to the rep as to why it allowed me to select and purchase an insurance package that I'm not eligible for.

I didn't know.  I've been cruising for almost 30 years and Carnival will be cruise line number 8 as up until now I've never sailed with them.  So I assumed they offered Canadian customers a valid product like Celebrity, HAL and Princess.  

 

Edited January 12, 2023 by dns65

[Bigeee67]

55 minutes ago, dns65 said:

 

Sorry, the Carnival 800 number and whatever option for an existing booking.  The Carnival rep said they'd issue the refund to the credit card I booked on

I called the Carnival 1-800 number and the agent told me that Canadians ARE covered and gave me this number 1-800-331-2796 - the claims assist. I called that number and the agent assured me that ALL Canadians except for the province of Quebec were covered. 

[dns65]

3 minutes ago, Bigeee67 said:

I called the Carnival 1-800 number and the agent told me that Canadians ARE covered and gave me this number 1-800-331-2796 - the claims assist. I called that number and the agent assured me that ALL Canadians except for the province of Quebec were covered. 

 

So this sounds like a typical cruise line customer service experience, call 3 times, get 3 different agents and 4 different responses.

I tried to do Due Diligence online.  When you find the website with the details of your policy, to customize your agreement and the legal fine print you must pick a state.  No provinces listed which is why I called to confirm what the website told me, no Canadian coverage.   So not going to take a chance on what someone on the phone who may have worked for Carnival for 10 years or perhaps 10 days said.  It's not in writing so I'm not taking the chance

Sorry, not trying to cause a problem here.  Just stating what I was told 

[RCmommy]

I’m finding it hard to believe this is being sold to Canadians and we are not eligible.  I mean, someone has had to put in a claim, right? I wonder how it went down. I will throw my hat in and call myself tomorrow as well.  I’ll report back.

[notscb]

18 minutes ago, RCmommy said:

I’m finding it hard to believe this is being sold to Canadians and we are not eligible.

I'm not. Their website isn't all that savvy. On our last cruise, I was able to add it to my cart and get through most of the checkout before noticing that it "isn't available to NY residents." They don't have a fail safe for this built into their coding.

[RCmommy]

Sure I understand that. Surely some Canadian has had to file a claim, or try, and raised a holy stink by now you’d think. Alerting more than just the webmasters about a snafu in their code. I would hope that it has been brought to the attention of some higher-up.  Wishful thinking!?

 

I am very curious what I will be told on the phone.  

Edited January 13, 2023 by RCmommy

[1kaper]

I also wonder if there is confusion between the FCCs part of the insurance and the actual medical/travel insurance part. 
I expect that if you cancel for any reason, as a Canadian, you would get that.  I believe that part is covered by Carnival. 

[AlleyMay]

On 1/12/2023 at 3:40 PM, Bigeee67 said:

I called the Carnival 1-800 number and the agent told me that Canadians ARE covered and gave me this number 1-800-331-2796 - the claims assist. I called that number and the agent assured me that ALL Canadians except for the province of Quebec were covered. 

Yes, I called the following number - and was assured we are covered.  It's not a Carnival number - the 1-800 number listed on Carnival's website was actually 1-877-303-5909 for US and Canada.  If you press "1", you get the "CareFree" Travel people that you would call should an emergency arise (so I am told).  If you press "2", you get AON Insurance rep and that is who I spoke to and assured me that all provinces other than Quebec are covered.  Now, it's possible that AON doesn't use National for Canadians, I don't know.  But both our PVP that we have had for years and the lady at "AON" assured me we are covered - so I really don't know why somebody else would have said not covered.  I do not see how Carnival would take the chance to sell a bogus product - you have to think some Canadians at some point have had to use this insurance and I think Carnival would put themselves at risk as this would certainly cause them grief if a Canadian had been denied.  The reason I became concerned is that the only policy they link for us is under "Other" is the National policy that says no Canadians. 

 

Thank you for that other 1-800 number above, I have taken note of it as well.

[AlleyMay]

On 1/13/2023 at 1:08 AM, RCmommy said:

Sure I understand that. Surely some Canadian has had to file a claim, or try, and raised a holy stink by now you’d think. Alerting more than just the webmasters about a snafu in their code. I would hope that it has been brought to the attention of some higher-up.  Wishful thinking!?

 

I am very curious what I will be told on the phone.  

So did you call?  If so, what did they tell you?