Urgent help - parents passport stolen in Athens

[hcat]

1 hour ago, jsn55 said:

"The CCTV  also shows 4 masked men going into the property."

Well, that about sums it up.  What a disaster.

would they have any recourse against the hotel..not a very secure situation, apparently!

[the penguins]

2 hours ago, Torfamm said:

They had already traveled to Greece to board the ship. My understanding is that trip cancellation would apply in that case but again, they should check with their travel insurance provider, credit card company etc to see if they have any coverage for any of the losses due to this crime. Their TA may be able to offer advice on next steps if they sold them a package including the insurance 

Never had any faith in the travel insurance sold by travel agents - too many exclusions/loopholes. We have Annual Worldwide Nationwide Flex Plus Travel Insurance and have had numerous claims all settled quickly and in full. 

 

[bikerunner]

56 minutes ago, hcat said:

would they have any recourse against the hotel..not a very secure situation, apparently!

Very doubtful.  The one thing I noticed about this hotel is its not one building but multiple buildings.  When I travel to places unknown, I would stay in a hotel that just has one way in and out thru the lobby area.  Its just circumstances that happened and it is very unfortunate overall.  

[kirtihk]

5 hours ago, ldtr said:

Unfortunately while one can take action to prevent a pickpocket from stealing, if one actual hits or otherwise strikes the perpetrator, except in self defense they can be considered to be violating the law themselves and charged with a crime (assault).

The moral: be a good citizen, polite, and use courteous manners - basically, obey stealing.

[zitsky]

42 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Never had any faith in the travel insurance sold by travel agents - too many exclusions/loopholes. We have Annual Worldwide Nationwide Flex Plus Travel Insurance and have had numerous claims all settled quickly and in full. 

 

From the name of this policy you are recommending I am not certain of the provider.  Nationwide Insurance or is that just part of the name?  “Worldwide Nationwide”.

 

Thanks.

[Mark_UK]

Nationwide is a bank here in the UK and they have a paid for account which includes travel insurance. 

[vji6697]

18 minutes ago, zitsky said:

From the name of this policy you are recommending I am not certain of the provider.  Nationwide Insurance or is that just part of the name?  “Worldwide Nationwide”.

 

Thanks.

I think they are referring to having a Nationwide Flex Bank (Building Society) account where you can add a package including travel insurance, mobile insurance and car recovery for a low monthly cost.

 

I have the same and they do pay out very quickly. I lost one samsung bud headphone on a flight to FLL before our Equinox cruise last Nov, put in an online claim as soon as I arrived at my hotel. By the time I woke up the next day, they had settled the claim and the money (less the excess) was in my account.

 

Only time I have had to use them, so cannot comment on how they would handle this type of situation

[the penguins]

44 minutes ago, zitsky said:

From the name of this policy you are recommending I am not certain of the provider.  Nationwide Insurance or is that just part of the name?  “Worldwide Nationwide”.

 

Thanks.

Sorry, thought it was clear , attempt 2:

The policy is ;

Nationwide Flex Plus Travel Insurance

Validity: Worldwide.

Unlimited number of trips a year, maximum 31 days per trip.

Upgrade options include: longer trips, more expensive trips, age extension, pre existing medical conditions etc.

Current cost for us (over 75, both with pre existing health conditions) £407.

The policy comes as part of a package from the Nationwide Building Society which also includes Car Breakdown cover and Mobile phone insurance -  We ignore these last 2 when working out the cost (we put it all down as travel) but in reality the net cost is less.

Our last claim (I collapsed at home on the morning we were due to board a transatlantic cruise - the ambulance to take me to hospital arrived 10 minutes before the taxi to take us to the port) was settled in full in under a week. 

[zitsky]

25 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Sorry, thought it was clear , attempt 2:

The policy is ;

Nationwide Flex Plus Travel Insurance

Validity: Worldwide.

Unlimited number of trips a year, maximum 31 days per trip.

Upgrade options include: longer trips, more expensive trips, age extension, pre existing medical conditions etc.

Current cost for us (over 75, both with pre existing health conditions) £407.

The policy comes as part of a package from the Nationwide Building Society which also includes Car Breakdown cover and Mobile phone insurance -  We ignore these last 2 when working out the cost (we put it all down as travel) but in reality the net cost is less.

Our last claim (I collapsed at home on the morning we were due to board a transatlantic cruise - the ambulance to take me to hospital arrived 10 minutes before the taxi to take us to the port) was settled in full in under a week. 

Thanks.  Is it a UK specific program, or do they sell worldwide?

[uktog]

UK account holders only

[Mark_T]

33 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Thanks.  Is it a UK specific program, or do they sell worldwide?

We have a similar policy through our bank and these are always limited to UK residents and travel must begin and end in the UK.

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, zitsky said:

Thanks.  Is it a UK specific program, or do they sell worldwide?

This is a UK only product.

I believe there are similar products available in the US.

I did a cost/claim analysis last year converting to US$. 

During the 17 years we have had the policy:

Total Premiums: $5285

Total claims: 5

Claims not paid in full: 0

Value of claims (amount received): $29650.

Largest single claim: $20,000

Peace of mind: Priceless.

 

 

[alyssamma]

11 minutes ago, the penguins said:

This is a UK only product.

I believe there are similar products available in the US.

I did a cost/claim analysis last year converting to US$. 

During the 17 years we have had the policy:

Total Premiums: $5285

Total claims: 5

Claims not paid in full: 0

Value of claims (amount received): $29650.

Largest single claim: $20,000

Peace of mind: Priceless.

 

 

I think the last item is the important one: Peace of mind.

 

While you may have made out, the *vast* majority of policy holders will not. This isn't to say don't get insurance - I do and like I said peace of mind is the important part. Just want to make it clear that for almost all people you'll lose money getting insurance.

 

Of course the one time you need it and don't have it, lol...

[vmontell26]

I am not trying to start a debate about travel insurance but my Generali travel policy looks like it would provide coverage for the theft of passports. See Item 9 which is a coverage trigger under trip cancellation and trip interruption. I don’t know if the poster’s parents had insurance. If they did they should still submit a claim. It could be covered. 

[the penguins]

9 hours ago, vmontell26 said:

I am not trying to start a debate about travel insurance but my Generali travel policy looks like it would provide coverage for the theft of passports. See Item 9 which is a coverage trigger under trip cancellation and trip interruption. I don’t know if the poster’s parents had insurance. If they did they should still submit a claim. It could be covered. 

Thanks but this is US insurance, passengers are UK residents.

Insurances differ one example in the US you can buy "cancel for any reason" insurance - this product is not available in the UK.

[the penguins]

10 hours ago, alyssamma said:

I think the last item is the important one: Peace of mind.

 

While you may have made out, the *vast* majority of policy holders will not. This isn't to say don't get insurance - I do and like I said peace of mind is the important part. Just want to make it clear that for almost all people you'll lose money getting insurance.

 

Of course the one time you need it and don't have it, lol...

I totally agree. Insurance is a total waste of money until you need it. Our biggest claim ($20,000) was due to a medical emergency on Day 2 of a 90 day trip when both of us were hospitalised. The insurance company handled everything without us having to pay out a single penny/cent. If we had had to pay and then claim the money back it would have given us a serious problem.

Yes, we went on to complete the trip.

[Mark_UK]

They're hoping to hear back from the insurance company today so will find out what the score is. 

[Mark_T]

10 hours ago, vmontell26 said:

I am not trying to start a debate about travel insurance but my Generali travel policy looks like it would provide coverage for the theft of passports. See Item 9 which is a coverage trigger under trip cancellation and trip interruption. I don’t know if the poster’s parents had insurance. If they did they should still submit a claim. It could be covered. 

 

This is more typical of a UK policy...

 

For cancellation:

 

For interruption:

 

 

[chemmo]

I guess that many of us have an uncomfortable shiver reading these posts…

 

We always get insurance. Our focus, however, has always been in the small print for medical issues. With the cost of cruise cover I have always expected that anything that stopped me boarding would mean you are covered in full if you can’t (for whatever reason) actually get your cruise!
 

It has never occurred to me if my passports were stolen that I wouldn’t get my full cruise price back. I knew that I could be denied boarding and miss my cruise but I expected that if I was missing my cruise, through no fault of my own, I would be covered in full.

 

As an older person with some medical declarations my travel insurance is expensive. It seems ridiculous to me that one can pay all that money out for cover, be a victim of a crime and then not be covered in full for your cruise…

 

I, for one, will be looking very carefully at the small print next cruise….

[Mark_UK]

This is their policy re trip disruption. No mention of passports or theft. 

[Mark_T]

56 minutes ago, chemmo said:

As an older person with some medical declarations my travel insurance is expensive. It seems ridiculous to me that one can pay all that money out for cover, be a victim of a crime and then not be covered in full for your cruise…

 

I, for one, will be looking very carefully at the small print next cruise….

From a quick hunt around, 'InsureandGo' are one that does include loss/theft of passport as a valid reason under trip interruption.

[drarill]

On 9/26/2023 at 2:05 PM, Mark_UK said:

Hi all, 

 

I hadn't meant to spark a big debate - no suggestion here that Celebrity have done anything wrong, apart from being pretty unhelpful when we first contacted the call centres with what felt like an emergency. 

 

The cruise they were due on is not full, as of earlier this week there were quite a few empty cabins, including in the category they were sailing in. My parents also paid quite a substantial amount for a non-refundable successful MoveUp bid which they will now no longer use - free money for Celebrity. 

 

So they have not used an otherwise probably empty room, will have had no food or use of their all inclusive drinks package or promotional onboard credit worth $800. 

 

I therefore don't think it's unreasonable to hope, that as a gesture of goodwill in the unique circumstances, Celebrity would be willing to transfer their booking to an identical sailing in three weeks time, also with empty rooms available, at a reduced cost. 

 

Other companies have shown compassion, such as British Airways in getting them home without charging what they could have done. 

 

My parents now have their emergency passports and fly home tomorrow. They are expecting to hear a decision from Celebrity once it's confirmed they didn't in fact board, hopefully later this week. 

I'm on the October 16th cruise and really hope your parents sail with us

[uktog]

I hope in time your parents get an excellent resolution to this which is clearly well outwith their control particularly given the circumstances with the individual hotel. 
I have just read on social media an Azamara guest is having a similar issue in Venice and another confirmed they had the same issue two months ago. Even within Europe you can’t cruise on a copy of your passport. 
 

This is a timely reminder to us all - think where you keep your passport and check your insurance! 

[alyssamma]

5 hours ago, chemmo said:

Our focus, however, has always been in the small print for medical issues.

That's the rub. So many things you don't think about. There's a thread (several really, but one I started on X) that deals with gift cards and paying for your cruise. Seems like many (most? all?) insurance companies wont cover you for the portion paid with a GC. There are SOOOO many "exclusions" and no one reads the entire policy. Even when you do unless you're a contract lawyer or work in the industry it's hard to fully understand.

[drakes2]

18 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

That's the rub. So many things you don't think about. There's a thread (several really, but one I started on X) that deals with gift cards and paying for your cruise. Seems like many (most? all?) insurance companies wont cover you for the portion paid with a GC. There are SOOOO many "exclusions" and no one reads the entire policy. Even when you do unless you're a contract lawyer or work in the industry it's hard to fully understand.

Another point of consideration when trying to make a claim through your credit card company for cancelation is not to split between two credit cards.  I put a $100 deposit for a future cruise on a card that has no foreign exchange fees as I was cruising exclusively through the EU in May.  Final payment was put on a card that gives me medical coverage.  The cruise is next month so hope all is ok but the entire amount has to be on the same card to be valid.  Just something to think about.