Canceled cruise with insurance and Royal Up upgrade

[laumicmah]

Mom and I had to cancel a cruise because she was in hospital with urgent health issue. We had booked an inside and got AON travel protection. I won a royal up bid for an ocean balcony. This was on the Wonder and was very pricey (the bid was $1370). I submitted everything to AON and after a couple weeks they approved it and said they were refunding us just the original cruise fare. I asked about the $1370 cruise fare for the room upgrade and they replied something about approving what was allowed after any penalty by the cruise line. Got me thinking...are up bid charges not refunded under a legit cancelation (one approved by the insurance company) with travel protection? If so, I wish I knew that. Would NEVER do a bid if that's the case. And why wouldn't that be considered cruise fare...it even says cruise fare on our statement???

Edited May 25 by laumicmah

[Babr]

Did you increase the amount of the insurance when you won the bid?

[laumicmah]

13 minutes ago, Babr said:

Did you increase the amount of the insurance when you won the bid?

No. didn't know that. We use a TA from an online company and she didn't tell us that.

[barbeyg]

17 minutes ago, laumicmah said:

No. didn't know that. We use a TA from an online company and she didn't tell us that.

Normally, cruise insurance covers actual cost of a booking. For example, if a cruise cost $5k, that is what is stated on the policy.  If the cost of the booking increased thru a RU, which you bid on, not your TA, I believe you would probably have to request the TA to increase the insurance coverage on the booking.  
 

Sounds like this is one of those things that fall thru the cracks, unfortunately.  We have annual insurance ourselves. I wouldn’t have thought about the adjustment in coverage either. 😕

 

I hope your mom has a full and swift recovery. 

Edited May 25 by barbeyg

[soremekun]

OP, I hope mom has a full recovery and you both are able to cruise together in the future.

[nelblu]

1 hour ago, laumicmah said:

Mom and I had to cancel a cruise because she was in hospital with urgent health issue. We had booked an inside and got AON travel protection. I won a royal up bid for an ocean balcony. This was on the Wonder and was very pricey (the bid was $1370). I submitted everything to AON and after a couple weeks they approved it and said they were refunding us just the original cruise fare. I asked about the $1370 cruise fare for the room upgrade and they replied something about approving what was allowed after any penalty by the cruise line. Got me thinking...are up bid charges not refunded under a legit cancelation (one approved by the insurance company) with travel protection? If so, I wish I knew that. Would NEVER do a bid if that's the case. And why wouldn't that be considered cruise fare...it even says cruise fare on our statement???

Did the policy have an amount of coverage.  Usually, the premium quoted is based on the cost of  not only the cruise fare but air fare, hotel, etc.  I use a travel card (Chase Sapphire) and I'm covered up to $10K per occurrence for all associated cost of the trip.  If I have a family member traveling with me and I charge the cost to the same card, I'm covered up to $20k. 

Edited May 25 by nelblu

[laumicmah]

12 minutes ago, nelblu said:

Did the policy have an amount of coverage.  Usually, the premium quoted is based on the cost of  not only the cruise fare but air fare, hotel, etc.  I use a travel card (Chase Sapphire) and I'm covered up to $10K per occurrence for all associated cost of the trip.  If I have a family member traveling with me and I charge the cost to the same card, I'm covered up to $20k. 

It was AON bought via the travel company or the cruise line...not sure. Booked with popular online travel company.

[nelblu]

15 minutes ago, laumicmah said:

It was AON bought via the travel company or the cruise line...not sure. Booked with popular online travel company.

You have to examine the policy language.

[mjkacmom]

I believe the cost of the insurance is based on the cost of the cruise. If you didn’t up the insurance when you upgraded, you can’t collect that amount from insurance. So if you insured a $2000 trip, you aren’t getting back $3000 if you spent $1000 to upgrade.

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, laumicmah said:

No. didn't know that. We use a TA from an online company and she didn't tell us that.

 

When you say Aon insurance, I assume you are talking about Royal Caribbean insurance.

 

Check the Guest Invoice from your Upgrade. See if the cost of the insurance increased due to the Royal Up. On "other" cruise lines, the insurance is increased automatically. 

[NJoynCruisin]

I had to cancel last fall after I fell and fractured my arm, requiring surgery.  At first Royal rep said only care would be refunded.  I called back and pushed on Our the insurance. They have me AONs number.  Called the and they said it was a tier 1 injury.  We got full care p!us our upgrade.  we did not get our free play, but that's understandable

I recommend you call them.  I don't recall paying extra insurance.

best of luck and I hope your mom gets better very soon

[laumicmah]

Been in contact with AON and they refused to pay the royal up bid cost of $1370 (for move from inside to ocean view balcony on the new Wonder OTS). Lost, gone. So sick about it. Tried to contact the online cruise agent we used, multiple times and she will not respond. Nice. Never using her or that online company again and may file a complaint.

 

I'd even take a future cruise credit. But, now we are done with Royal. DH and I have an upcoming Utopia cruise (Sept) and that shall be our last on Royal. Pretty ticked about it. I don't recommend anyone doing the royal up bids. If i'd have known we were not covered by the insurance we had already purchased, I would NEVER have done the bid.

 

My mom is still ill. Had GI bleeding and several blood transfusions and a surgery and still having issues. Been in and out of the hospital (was even in on the date of the cruise departure). I am with her trying to get her health sorted (we live 14 hours away from her). I worry about the Sept cruise too. Just because all 3 of our elderly parents are having health issues. Have the trip insurance as we always add it now because of that. Maybe we need the CC that insures trips. I have a Disney premier Chase Visa...does anyone know if that does??

Edited June 13 by laumicmah

[Tree_skier]

3 minutes ago, laumicmah said:

I'd even take a future cruise credit. But, now we are done with Royal. DH and I have an upcoming Utopia cruise (Sept) and that shall be our last on Royal. Pretty ticked about it. I don't recommend anyone doing the royal up bids. If i'd have known we were not covered by the insurance we had already purchased, I would NEVER have done the bid.

 

I'm sorry your mom is still having issues... I hope she gets better soon.

 

I'm confused why you're dragging Royal.  This is an issue between you and the insurance company.

[reallyitsmema]

9 minutes ago, laumicmah said:

Been in contact with AON and they refused to pay the royal up bid cost of $1370 (for move from inside to ocean view balcony on the new Wonder OTS). Lost, gone. So sick about it. Tried to contact the online cruise agent we used, multiple times and she will not respond. Nice. Never using her or that online company again and may file a complaint.

 

I'd even take a future cruise credit. But, now we are done with Royal. DH and I have an upcoming Utopia cruise (Sept) and that shall be our last on Royal. Pretty ticked about it. I don't recommend anyone doing the royal up bids. If i'd have known we were not covered by the insurance we had already purchased, I would NEVER have done the bid.

 

My mom is still ill. Had GI bleeding and several blood transfusions and a surgery and still having issues. Been in and out of the hospital (was even in on the date of the cruise departure). I am with her trying to get her health sorted (we live 14 hours away from her). I worry about the Sept cruise too. Have the trip insurance as we always add it. Maybe we need the CC that insures trips. I have a Disney premier Chase Visa...does anyone know if that does??

 

I am sorry your Mom is still sick.  I hope she improves soon.

 

As far as the Royal Up bid, they detail out the terms on the website.  It is non-refundable.  

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/terms-and-conditions/royalup-upgrade-program

 

 

The cruiseline insurance you took out is based on the original price of the booking.  The Royal Up is something you added after booking the cruise and making final payment.  I don't see AON paying for something that you added to the booking after purchasing the insurance.

 

If you had purchased cancel for any reason insurance from a different carrier for the total of the cruise and the Royal Up, it would likely be covered.  Your experience is a good example of buyer beware for those of us that do make Royal Up bids on every cruise.  I usually only make small bids but recently had a much larger bid on a longer cruise.  Losing a few hundred is one thing, a few thousand is a different story.

[mjkacmom]

You probably should’ve called the insurance company and added insurance, the cost is based on the cost of the trip, so when your price went up, you needed to add more insurance.

[SoloAlaska]

If you travel more than once or twice a year it would be who’s to look at annual coverage. My annual premiums are only slightly more than the cruise lines for one trip. I’m sorry the insurance did not cover what you thought it would. There’s a great board on insurance here and would be worth a deep dive to find the right coverage for you.

[nelblu]

54 minutes ago, laumicmah said:

have a Disney premier Chase Visa...does anyone know if that does??

Read the coverage.  Assuming you charged the initial and upgrade fare to the card.  Read my post #6.   I pay $95 annual fee and have used the benefits multiple times.

[Babr]

Be careful about relying on credit card insurance. It does not cover pre-existing conditions. The exclusion applies to the cardholder, traveling companions, and family members.  In the case of Chase cards, that includes non-traveling family members, which is a concern for you since you have several ill relatives.

 

Credit card insurance is not designed to replace a comprehensive travel policy. Be aware of the gaps in coverage. 
 

Annual policies are good for medical/evacuation coverage but offer little in the way of cancellation.

 

[brillohead]

On 6/13/2024 at 10:09 AM, laumicmah said:

Been in contact with AON and they refused to pay the royal up bid cost of $1370 (for move from inside to ocean view balcony on the new Wonder OTS). Lost, gone. So sick about it. Tried to contact the online cruise agent we used, multiple times and she will not respond. Nice. Never using her or that online company again and may file a complaint.

 

I'd even take a future cruise credit. But, now we are done with Royal. DH and I have an upcoming Utopia cruise (Sept) and that shall be our last on Royal. Pretty ticked about it. I don't recommend anyone doing the royal up bids. If i'd have known we were not covered by the insurance we had already purchased, I would NEVER have done the bid.

 

I don't understand why this is so shocking to you.  I also don't understand why you think this is Royal's responsibility and you are now "done with Royal" because of this happening.  

If you bought insurance on a Toyota Corolla and then traded in the Corolla and paid a bunch more money for a Ferrari, would you expect your car insurance company to reimburse you if you totaled the Ferrari on the way home from the dealership without A) telling the insurance company that you upgraded to a much more expensive vehicle before leaving the dealership with the Ferrari and B) paying the insurance company the difference in premium cost between a Corolla and a Ferrari?

 

Because that's what happened... you bought insurance on a Corolla (inside room) and then spent a bunch of money to change to a Ferrari (ocean balcony).  The insurance company is only responsible for reimbursing you to the level of a Corolla, because that's all you paid to insure.  

 

[shopaholic6]

On 6/16/2024 at 9:58 AM, brillohead said:

 

I don't understand why this is so shocking to you.  I also don't understand why you think this is Royal's responsibility and you are now "done with Royal" because of this happening.  

If you bought insurance on a Toyota Corolla and then traded in the Corolla and paid a bunch more money for a Ferrari, would you expect your car insurance company to reimburse you if you totaled the Ferrari on the way home from the dealership without A) telling the insurance company that you upgraded to a much more expensive vehicle before leaving the dealership with the Ferrari and B) paying the insurance company the difference in premium cost between a Corolla and a Ferrari?

 

Because that's what happened... you bought insurance on a Corolla (inside room) and then spent a bunch of money to change to a Ferrari (ocean balcony).  The insurance company is only responsible for reimbursing you to the level of a Corolla, because that's all you paid to insure.  

 

excellent analogy 👍🏼

[laumicmah]

Not really the same. The car analogy is more like if we switched from a Roal cruise to a Viking. Who would think 'oh, we got the royal up bid so we better upgrade the royal trip insurance'? It's more like buying a new house and adding upgrades to the basic model. Which you then insure and questions are asked about what finishes and SF and all that the house has. My travel planner person should have notified us we needed to add more insurance as I just assumed it covered up to X amount. Like if she had been on the cruise when the GI bleed happened and was airlifted to Nassau hospital or something...that would have cost a lot lot more than the cruise fare we paid. Not sure why our total cruise fare could not be reimbursed. You think, ah we are safe with trip insurance and we weren't. Very disappointing. And what bothers me about Royal in this is that other cruislines will automatically charge you an increase in trip insurance when you win the up bid. Royal does not nor does anyone send an email to let you know. Just an irritation at losing $1370 (as anyone would be irritated at that) and technically nothing Royal did wrong, per say but we also found a line we like better anyway. So our upcoming Royal will be our last. That's not really 'dragging' them. Just saying we are done. Also want to note they likely re filled our ocean balcony cabin and got cruise fare for it plus my $1370 up grade fare. So they made money on our loss. 

Edited 21 hours ago by laumicmah

[cruisinfanatic]

1 hour ago, laumicmah said:

Not really the same. The car analogy is more like if we switched from a Roal cruise to a Viking. Who would think 'oh, we got the royal up bid so we better upgrade the royal trip insurance'? It's more like buying a new house and adding upgrades to the basic model. Which you then insure and questions are asked about what finishes and SF and all that the house has. My travel planner person should have notified us we needed to add more insurance as I just assumed it covered up to X amount. Like if she had been on the cruise when the GI bleed happened and was airlifted to Nassau hospital or something...that would have cost a lot lot more than the cruise fare we paid. Not sure why our total cruise fare could not be reimbursed. You think, ah we are safe with trip insurance and we weren't. Very disappointing. And what bothers me about Royal in this is that other cruislines will automatically charge you an increase in trip insurance when you win the up bid. Royal does not nor does anyone send an email to let you know. Just an irritation at losing $1370 (as anyone would be irritated at that) and technically nothing Royal did wrong, per say but we also found a line we like better anyway. So our upcoming Royal will be our last. That's not really 'dragging' them. Just saying we are done. Also want to note they likely re filled our ocean balcony cabin and got cruise fare for it plus my $1370 up grade fare. So they made money on our loss. 

Royal Caribbean didn't even know you had insurance when you upgraded. How would they automatically increase it or contact you when you upgraded when you didn't buy the insurance with them? You want to blame someone, it's 100% your TA's fault for not informing you that your current insurance would not cover your increased cruise cost. I think you should have known it anyway.

Edited 20 hours ago by cruisinfanatic

[cruiselvr04]

Of course they made money on your loss.  It’s a business.  
 

I’m sorry for your situation.  It never feels great to lose money.  We recently lost $1600 with Royal when we cancelled a family cruise.  I didn’t insure the deposit and probably wouldn’t again.  I don’t blame Royal. It is what it is. 
 

We have done Royal Ups and it has occurred to me that I didn’t insure that portion as it was accepted close to sail time. Most of the time it’s much less than $500 total so I don’t fret about it.  
 

Use this as a learning while traveling.  Your next line may have something similar.  I’m glad you found one you like better but do be careful as they’re ALL in business to make money and they all have cancellation policies. 

[cruisinfanatic]

3 minutes ago, cruisinfanatic said:

delete

 

Edited 20 hours ago by cruisinfanatic

[laumicmah]

1 hour ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Of course they made money on your loss.  It’s a business.  
 

I’m sorry for your situation.  It never feels great to lose money.  We recently lost $1600 with Royal when we cancelled a family cruise.  I didn’t insure the deposit and probably wouldn’t again.  I don’t blame Royal. It is what it is. 
 

We have done Royal Ups and it has occurred to me that I didn’t insure that portion as it was accepted close to sail time. Most of the time it’s much less than $500 total so I don’t fret about it.  
 

Use this as a learning while traveling.  Your next line may have something similar.  I’m glad you found one you like better but do be careful as they’re ALL in business to make money and they all have cancellation policies. 

Yeah, I learned not to do the up bids and we will just book the cabin category we want to begin with. Lol. Hubby and I have an inside on upcoming on the Utopia but it's just a 4 nighter so that's fine. I have the trip insurance. Hopefully, though, we won't need it. And it is such a pain to file a claim. We do have 3 elderly parents with many health issues so...likely we will need it sometime down the line (have 4 cruises booked). But hopefully not.

Edited 18 hours ago by laumicmah