cancel cruise due to British Airways crash

Has anyone out there had to cancel their cruise when British Airways entire system crashed on May 27- 29??? We are looking for help with this issue!

I can't help with the specifics, but there are industry-wide norms for compensation and I'm pretty certain that unless the air was booked via the cruise line it doesn't include consequential losses such as a missed cruise.

That's what your travel insurance is for.

Do contact your insurers soonest because I'm sure there will be time limits

JB :)

If you didn't get trip insurance check with whatever credit card company you might have used to see if they cover your trip.

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Your thread title is very misleading!

What help do you need? Did you have travel insurance? Did you purchase air through the cruiseline?

Wow! This is my first post and the replies seem a bit acitic! We HAD insurance with Tripmate, we had no alternate flights since we used mileage - the British Airways shutdown affected thousands of travelers - I was simply asking of any others who needed to meet cruises had to cancel due to this shutdown and if their claims were denied! The topic? Misleading?? New to this- now unsure if it is the proper venue to ask for help! Try to be kinder!

Reads like you have been denied by your Travel Insurance?

Read the actual policy, what does it say?

During the incident-----Did you call the insurance company to get rerouted? What did they say? Did you try to get new flights, on any airline? Even to the next port?

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The title of your post makes it sound like you cancelled your cruise due to an airline crash, as opposed to a computer crash. I think that's what was meant by misleading.

Roz

Wow! This is my first post and the replies seem a bit acitic!

This is Cruise Critic.

Get used to it.

More info required

But as above it sounded like the airplane crashed & you wanted to cancel

It is always better to supply all the facts that way you may get more informed answers

If you want to post on the forums here you need to develop a thick skin

JMO

Not sure how you viewed those posts as acidic. But, the more facts you post the better help you'll get. Your first post simply mentioned canceling a cruise due to an airline issue. And the best response to this is what you got - travel insurance should cover it. It wasn't until your second post that you mentioned your travel insurance denied the claim. How would anyone have known that originally?

But the fact is no one will even begin to guess at why your policy denied the claim until you give all the facts AND the details of your policy. I don't think someone else being affected by the same issue will necessarily help you. This sounds more like a travel insurance issue.

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Sorry you feel the initial responses were so curt. But as above my own initial reaction to the thread title was that you wished to cancel your cruise simply because BA had a plane crash and you no longer wished to fly that carrier.

As for the appropriate forum, you may wish to post this on the UK Cruisers board (I am assuming that is where you hail from):

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=683

...as consumer protection laws and insurance coverage mandates vary considerably from North America where most of the responses (like mine) are being posted from.

But my two cents is: in the past if the insurance included a cancel-for-any-reason clause you would be covered even if no-show/no-call at the dock. But not anymore; delays caused by failure of a common carrier to get you to the embarkation city on time may no longer be grounds for cancellation. Under that scenario you would be reimbursed for any expenses incurred--including having to purchase air rather than use your miles--in travelling to the next (or subsequent) port to join the cruise in progress. The expectation is that you will make all herculean effort to do so; just saying sod-it and heading home because your initial flight was cancelled will likely leave you without a leg to stand on with both your insurance company and the cruise line.

Wow! This is my first post and the replies seem a bit acitic! We HAD insurance with Tripmate, we had no alternate flights since we used mileage - the British Airways shutdown affected thousands of travelers - I was simply asking of any others who needed to meet cruises had to cancel due to this shutdown and if their claims were denied! The topic? Misleading?? New to this- now unsure if it is the proper venue to ask for help! Try to be kinder!

Acitic?

Nah.

Ask about stiffing the crew's tips or how to smuggle booze aboard or whether you can wear a Caribbean shirt, baseball cap and jeans on formal nights - then you'll see acitic ;p

Using airmiles shouldn't affect your insurance claim. If you had booked the cheapest available alternate flight you should have been able to get it refunded minus a negotiated typical fare for that flight.

A big problem is having the money or a credit card limit that allows you to switch, because most insurance is by reimbursement "in due course". Temporarily having to pay for fresh air tickets at inflated last-minute prices might have give me a problem :eek:

There's usually someone on Cruise Critic that likes to be the first with the news of some vaguely-relevant disaster, and "British Airways crash" would be a typical header. "British Airways computer crash" would've been more appropriate, and more likely to be picked up by others screwed-up by the hiccup.

Just MHO ;)

JB :)

Wow! This is my first post and the replies seem a bit acitic! We HAD insurance with Tripmate, we had no alternate flights since we used mileage - the British Airways shutdown affected thousands of travelers - I was simply asking of any others who needed to meet cruises had to cancel due to this shutdown and if their claims were denied! The topic? Misleading?? New to this- now unsure if it is the proper venue to ask for help! Try to be kinder![/quote

 

"acitic".... ? Is that like grmpflg?

Wow! This is my first post and the replies seem a bit acitic! We HAD insurance with Tripmate, we had no alternate flights since we used mileage - the British Airways shutdown affected thousands of travelers - I was simply asking of any others who needed to meet cruises had to cancel due to this shutdown and if their claims were denied! The topic? Misleading?? New to this- now unsure if it is the proper venue to ask for help! Try to be kinder!

First off you've given us very little information and had a very misleading first post. We cannot give you advice if we don't know the problem.

Travel insurance comes in different types. Some choose only medical evacuation, trip interruption, all the way up to cancel for any reason.

What you need to do now is to check the benefits and coverage on the policy you bought. Then gather your rejection letter and any supporting documentation and call the insurer - they should have a number for appeals. Keep notes of all conversations you have with company representatives. Include in your notes the name of the person with whom you speak, as well as the date and time of the conversation. Ask for the person's phone extension so you can contact them directly the next time you call. Listen carefully and make note of the answers given to you.

If you get nowhere the next step is to make a formal appeal. This involves submitting a letter to the insurance company requesting that your claim be reconsidered and giving specific reasons why you believe your claim should be paid.

It all depends on the type of coverage you bought. If the policy required you to travel to the next port - rather than just go home if that is what happened - then you might be out of luck.

Agree with the others re making your original post and headline more clear. Having said that, we've all been in your shoes - asking what we think is a reasonable question only to be shot down in flames. You get used to it, after all the website is called Cruise CRITIC but on the whole we are a helpful lot.

The only thing I wanted to add was that here in the UK we do not have 'cancel for any reason' travel insurance policies so that is of no help.

Hope you get answers.

Wow! This is my first post and the replies seem a bit acitic! We HAD insurance with Tripmate, we had no alternate flights since we used mileage - the British Airways shutdown affected thousands of travelers - I was simply asking of any others who needed to meet cruises had to cancel due to this shutdown and if their claims were denied! The topic? Misleading?? New to this- now unsure if it is the proper venue to ask for help! Try to be kinder!

The title of your thread indicates that British Airways had an AIRPLANE crash and THAT was the cause of you to cancel your cruise. Then reading your post and it states their website crashed? There are definitely unanswered questions and more details/info. needs to be provided. VERY misleading in how you presented this.

Ok.. plead ignorance on using this venue.. I am grateful for comments - need thicker skin I guess. I thought I was supposed to be brief.. I am usually too verbose.. so guess there needs to be happy medium. No more replies need to be posted. I was told to reach out to see if anyone had to cancel their cruises due to British Airways total shutdown of computer systems.. "crash" was a poor choice of words! Have found an advocate who is taking this issue to task. Again, no more replies needed.. Learned a lesson on how to post threads and surely how to read the fine lines in a travel insurance contract!

This is Cruise Critic.

 

Get used to it.

so kind of you to take time to post this comment!

This header was NOT written by me! I included SYSTEM crash in my post to not have the response this brought about. .. the lack of that extra, very important word can be credited to the editors of this site.. FYI

NOT written by me.. I included SYTEMS in my thread..

Hmmm .... very interesting. OP was asked for more details and info. to better understand the circumstances. But nothing further was provided. So, the OP didn't want real, helpful input/feedback/suggestions? Did the OP only want commiseration? There, there, that sucks for you?

It would have been helpful if OP had provided more details/info., then others in same predicament could have benefited and learned what to do and possibly what NOT to do, IF that happens to them. That is sharing.

Ok.. plead ignorance on using this venue.. I am grateful for comments - need thicker skin I guess. I thought I was supposed to be brief.. I am usually too verbose.. so guess there needs to be happy medium. No more replies need to be posted. I was told to reach out to see if anyone had to cancel their cruises due to British Airways total shutdown of computer systems.. "crash" was a poor choice of words! Have found an advocate who is taking this issue to task. Again, no more replies needed.. Learned a lesson on how to post threads and surely how to read the fine lines in a travel insurance contract!

I have no idea why your post has received these negative responses. Your title might be a tad confusing, but anyone who read the body of your post would understand you meant a computer crash, not an airplane crash.

Cruise Critic is usually a good source for helpful advice. If a question lacks adequate background info, people will usually ask for more info. Why some have responded the way they have is a mystery to me. I'm sorry your first CC interaction has been negative, but don't give up. It (usually) is an excellent source of information for all things cruising.

Sorry you feel the initial responses were so curt. But as above my own initial reaction to the thread title was that you wished to cancel your cruise simply because BA had a plane crash and you no longer wished to fly that carrier.

 

As for the appropriate forum, you may wish to post this on the UK Cruisers board (I am assuming that is where you hail from):

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=683

 

...as consumer protection laws and insurance coverage mandates vary considerably from North America where most of the responses (like mine) are being posted from.

 

But my two cents is: in the past if the insurance included a cancel-for-any-reason clause you would be covered even if no-show/no-call at the dock. But not anymore; delays caused by failure of a common carrier to get you to the embarkation city on time may no longer be grounds for cancellation. Under that scenario you would be reimbursed for any expenses incurred--including having to purchase air rather than use your miles--in travelling to the next (or subsequent) port to join the cruise in progress. The expectation is that you will make all herculean effort to do so; just saying sod-it and heading home because your initial flight was cancelled will likely leave you without a leg to stand on with both your insurance company and the cruise line.

Tripmate, their travel insurance provider is an American company. So, I would presume the OP is American.

Tripmate, their travel insurance provider is an American company. So, I would presume the OP is American.

Thanks for being so kind and taking the time to respond in a positive manner.. American Airlines redeposit dour mileage.. my question was basically trying to find other cruisers who were in the same boat (pun intended) and had to cancel their cruise due to the computer shutdown for 3 days. I really do appreciate your reply and time!

I have never heard of the editors here changing the title of a thread? Anyone else ever see that?