HAL Cruise Insurance Rip-Off

[kdowneymd]

I recently booked a 12 day HAL cruise Venice to Venice through AMEX. At the time of booking I chose the HAL cruise insurance giving a $2000 deposit, $800 ($400 each) which was the insurance. Ten days later I needed to cancel. I received a 1200 refund. AMEX and HAL stated that the insurance was non-refundable, this is the HAL policy not AMEX! For all of a 10 day booking, they keep my $800. Yes the cruise documents state at the very bottom of the insurance document, it is non-refundable but I had already given my deposit at the point the document was sent. I will NOT book with HAL again I consider this gross over-charging and ripping off the customer at best. I have never experienced this with Celebrity or RCCL. Yes, Let the buyer beware! HAL is out of line

[MortgageChick]

Rule of thumb I never buy the cancellation insurance until the final date of payment. No point, as if you cancel before that there is no penalty. There are much cheaper insurances available than what the cruise line sells.

HAL is wrong to keep the premium in full , and this does nothing but create ill will.

[jhannah]

While I understand your disappointment, your TA (it looks like AMEX in your case) should have disclosed this to you at the time. I suppose one could look at all insurance as being a ripoff ... as long as you don't need it. It would be nice if there was an initial window in which you could cancel with a refund. You have coverage/protection once you obtain the insurance, so there is a benefit given. But maybe two weeks leeway would be reasonable.

 

For future reference, third party travel insurance is almost always the better way to go.

[MercedMike]

Why in the world would you think insurance was refundable? I have never in my life heard of any kind of insurance that is refundable -- when you buy it, you have gotten what you paid for.

 

I really don't believe those other cruise lines you quote will refund insurance either. I don't think any cruise line does.

 

MortgageChick and JHannah both give good tips. However, there are some insurance companies and some cruise lines that offer perks (such as coverage for pre existing conditions) if you buy the insurance when you book.

 

It is a complicated issue. Seems that you made a mistake by just buying without checking out terms and conditions, and comparing. But guess what, that is your mistake, not a rip off by the cruise line. Caveat emptor is still an excellent rule!

 

Consider it the tuition for a learning experience.

[jtl513]

What kind of insurance returns your premium when you make a claim? Not my car or house insurance! I had to cancel a non-cruise trip once and not only did the insurance company keep the premium (and rightfully so) but my TA also charged a cancellation fee.

[ekerr19]

Insurance is always non-refundable, that is why we don't purchase until we make final payment... $400pp is very high, imo - did you book an expensive cruise?

[Spot]

When you wait until purchasing insurance until after final payment, most insurances will not cover existing conditions.

Always inquire when you book your cruise/vacation.

 

It's hard to believe that anyone would think that an insurance premium would be refundable.

[KAYEF]

Well, People...................

Those of you who say you don't get insurance until the Final Payment may change your minds some day.

My husband was diagnosed with lung cancer..........a sudden surprise to us. We had to cancel just a few weeks before our cruise and were glad we ALWAYS get insurance.

Now.............the only way to get insurance that covers a "previous" problem is to purchase your Insurance within 14 days of the Initial Payment. I hope you never have to change to this restriction, but that is the reason many of us purchase immediately.;)

[lov2sailtoo]

I recently booked a 12 day HAL cruise Venice to Venice through AMEX. At the time of booking I chose the HAL cruise insurance giving a $2000 deposit, $800 ($400 each) which was the insurance. Ten days later I needed to cancel. I received a 1200 refund. AMEX and HAL stated that the insurance was non-refundable, this is the HAL policy not AMEX! For all of a 10 day booking, they keep my $800. Yes the cruise documents state at the very bottom of the insurance document, it is non-refundable but I had already given my deposit at the point the document was sent. I will NOT book with HAL again I consider this gross over-charging and ripping off the customer at best. I have never experienced this with Celebrity or RCCL. Yes, Let the buyer beware! HAL is out of line

 

I am sorry to hear that you lost your 800.00, I'm sure as most of us you would have spent much more on your 12 day cruise. Why do they choose to loose customers? RCCL is awesome, they have better everything. I always buy the insurance, but at the final payment for the cruise. Keep all the papers, emails with insurance numbers, etc. that are sent to you by the insurance. You need all of this if you ever have to claim, loss with them.

 

HAL ruined a designer blouse of mine this past summer, they washed, did not dry clean as I had asked. I was given 100.00 for a 1200.00 blouse. The insurance only covered 200.00 more. I don't even remember what we paid for insurance it was a 20 day cruise. The paper work, I had all of it, I put the blouse in the trash, it hurt more to fill out all of the paper work. I will never sail with HAL again.

[kdowneymd]

Why would I think it refundable? Having cruised 6 times with RCCl and 3 times with Celebrity, 2 x's with Carnival, I have not had this experience. There are 4 other times I have needed to cancel booked cruises, (my husband and I are both physicians, and our schedules change) well before final or even half payments have been made and in NO CASE has the cruise insurance not been refunded with my deposit. I repeat HAL is really practicing usury practices

[hammybee]

Wow a double bubble here.

 

The OP should have done his/her own due dillegence and read the terms and conditions of the policy, before purchasing it.

 

The Amex agent should have made the OP aware that once purchased, it was non-refundable.

 

And yet here the OP is condeming the cruise line for rip-off.

 

The HAL policies are probably the best in the business in that they allow the policy holder to cancel their cruise up to 24 hours before sailing for any reason. They also cover pre-existing conditions, although given the OP's cruise is way out there, pre-existing coverage could have been obtained from a variety of non-cruise line sources at a later date.

 

I believe that X/RCL do not expect their policies to be funded until final payment date. I am not sure how those policies handle pre-existing conditions and they most defineitely do not allow a policy holder to cancel for any reason. We all get what we are willing to pay for.

 

If it were me, I would be inclined to dispute the charge and push back on Amex for failure to disclose the non-refundable nature of the policy. I wonder if they tape their conversations.

[barbon2]

Agree with Kayef and others who stated that insurance does not cover pre-existing conditions, and you do have to purchase within 14 days of booking. We always purchase the insurance when we put a deposit on our cruises. We have an excellent travel agent who gets us third party insurance at a lessor cost. We booked Cunard for a transatlantic for next spring and then changed our mind and decided to book the Eurodam and our agent was able to transfer the insurance from one to the other.

Barbara

[EGG]

I think I remember someone else complaining about the same thing and HAL let them book a new cruise and transfer the insurance. Can anyone confirm this?

[nurseblissful]

well, anyway you look at it, it stinks. i am sure sorry you lost your $800. and i am sorry you lost your cruise. the whole thing is lousy. but insurance is not refundable, is it? are you saying the other lines gave your insurance money back? that does not quite make sense. anyway, sorry you had such bad luck.:(

[hammybee]

I repeat HAL is really practicing usury practices

 

Sounds like you made an assumption that all policies are the same. It also sounds like Amex did not inform you of a very important detail, it's non refundable.

 

As I previously mentioned, HAL has the best policy in the business in that you can cancel for any reason, up to 24 hours before sail date. Given your profession, this probably is of value to you. I do not believe that other cruise lines offer a policy with the same benefits. That the policy is non-refundable, once issued, and rather costly is the rub. It's up to the individual to determine if the benefits balance the cost/risk.

[jtl513]

I repeat HAL is really practicing usury practices

No, just because you didn't understand what you were buying does not make it usury.

 

u·su·ry (yzh-r) KEY

NOUN:

pl. u·su·ries

1. The practice of lending money and charging the borrower interest, especially at an exorbitant or illegally high rate.

2. An excessive or illegally high rate of interest charged on borrowed money.

 

You didn't borrow any money any you didn't pay any interest. Your deposit was $1200 (NOT $2000) and you got it all back.

[ekerr19]

We never buy HAL's insurance - our TA always provides us with excellent 3rd party coverage, which is also transferrable, just not refundable.

 

We used to purchase it within 14 days after deposit, but now we don't normally; but it depends on the price of the cruise, length of cruise, time of year and many other factors.

 

It's really a personal choice (dependant on your own situation) on how you choose to proceed with it, imo.

[sail7seas]

Well, People...................

Those of you who say you don't get insurance until the Final Payment may change your minds some day.

My husband was diagnosed with lung cancer..........a sudden surprise to us. We had to cancel just a few weeks before our cruise and were glad we ALWAYS get insurance.

Now.............the only way to get insurance that covers a "previous" problem is to purchase your Insurance within 14 days of the Initial Payment. I hope you never have to change to this restriction, but that is the reason many of us purchase immediately.;)

 

 

You may wish to look at CSA Luxe. That is 3rd party insurance which can be purchased at final payment time (with strict definition of exactly when) and it includes pre-exisiting conditions. Some people have said they priced it at the time of booking and then priced it closer to sailing and the price actually went down as the cruise date got closer.

 

Just a suggestion for something that might interest you.

[sail7seas]

OP... I'm sorry you had to cancel your cruise and very sorry it cost you $800 but those have always been HAL's terms. Your AmEx Agent might have made it more clear to you but you now know and have learned from it.

 

Hope you book a new cruise (when you are able) and never have to cancel another cruise.

[hammybee]

I think I remember someone else complaining about the same thing and HAL let them book a new cruise and transfer the insurance. Can anyone confirm this?

 

Most excellent point, EGG. Your memory is correct. The policy was transfered to another cruise, in that situation. One would think Amex would have mentioned this to her.

 

Assuming the OP, reconsiders booking with HAL again, Amex has to work this out and get the policy transfered to a new booking.

[KAYEF]

Thanks sail7seas.

I always buy CSA on the InsureMyTrip site............guess I've not looked at that particular CSA.

[sail7seas]

I think it was Jade that investigated HAL's insurance in depth. I believe she was able to get them to agree to transfer her insurance from one HAL booking to another.

 

Definitely a great idea for OP to look into. What is there to lose???!

[kdowneymd]

The point being missed here, is that the cruise was not cancelled in a time frame where I needed to re-cover costs that would not otherwise be covered and thus need to file a claim. My cancellation was within time (all of 10 days of an existing reservation for a cruise nine months in advance!)) that my entire deposit was returned. Whenever I cancel an insurance policy or change the policy, I am refunded the amount for the remaining amount of time. For example, if I change auto insurance 6 months into a policy, by law, in New Jersey my premium is refunded for the unused period of coverage. This is the same with health insurance, life insurance and malpractice insurance. I do not believe expecting a refund of the fee for insurance not used within a time frame well before the policy wopuld need to be usaedis unreasonable. Yes, I agree, AMEX should have disclosed it was non-refundable and I certainly intend to take it up with them but I will maintain my position that HAL is completely unreasonable and that other lines do not do this even when the insurance is billed with intial deposit. It certainly creates ill will

[hammybee]

This is off the policy document available on the HAL web site:

 

Holland America Line offer passengers the opportunity to purchase either Standard Cancellation Protection Plan (CPP Standard) or the Platinum Cancellation Protection Plan (CPP Platinum Plan). Both of these plans are optional and must be paid for at time of deposit. Payments are not refundable.

[lov2sailtoo]

Why would I think it refundable? Having cruised 6 times with RCCl and 3 times with Celebrity, 2 x's with Carnival, I have not had this experience. There are 4 other times I have needed to cancel booked cruises, (my husband and I are both physicians, and our schedules change) well before final or even half payments have been made and in NO CASE has the cruise insurance not been refunded with my deposit. I repeat HAL is really practicing usury practices

 

RCCL is so wonderful, my five year old son had a laceration on his nasal bridge which required a couple of stitches. It was of no fault on RCCL part. They took very good and fast care of him. I expected a bill we never received one. Also their surgical facility was excellent and the physician on call and nursing staff was excellent.