Bongomauka

As I have written previously, our travelers insurance will take no action till our primary insurance denies the claim. They have not this because the claim is still open pending Oceania’s submission of the requested documents.

It is other posters who are encouraging us to engage an attorney which we have unsuccessfully attempted to do. Our insurer is waiting for documents promised by Oceania but neither are incentivized to move the process along where we are as we are the ones who will suffer from the delay not our insurance company or Oceania. I suspect Kaiser would much rather let the deadline pass and then be no longer obliged to honor the claim and let us foot the bill.

Kaiser is our primary healthcare provider and has agreed to pay the claim. We also have travelers insurance which also would cover the claim. It is not an insurance issue rather the lack of cooperation of Oceania that is complicating the process and threatening our ability to use any of our insurance policies to cover the claim.

The issue is that if Oceania does not provide us with documentation of payment or nonpayment, our insurance companies will not cover the bill for the service. When Oceania does finally bill us, it will be past the one year deadline to make a claim resulting in our having to pay the full amount in spite of more than adequate insurance coverage for this claim if Oceania had supplied the documentation in a reasonably timely manner.

In fact we are on the other side of the San Francisco Bay from you so a practicing attorney licensed in California would be well Your comment regarding attorney location seems odd given the cruise line is based in Florida and I’m located in California. So what location should the attorney practice in?

No we have not. If we did we would not be in this predicament. We would simply refer the bill to our primary insurance directly which has informed us that they will pay or alternatively we would pay Oceania directly and submit the receipt to our primary insurance which again, they have indicated that they will pay. The block here is and continues to be an uncooperative Oceania cruise line. We have in the past almost 3 months repeatedly requested documentation of their payment to the Portuguese Air Force or documentation that they did not pay so our primary insurance can settle the bill to whomever it is owed.

As strange as you may think it is, it is true, in almost 3 months, Oceania has failed to provide documentation of payment or non payment of this invoice. Our fear is that they will eventually send us the invoice but after the year long window allowed for making claims set by the three insurance companies that could conceivably cover our claim. Hence leaving us essentially without insurance coverage and fully responsible for the bill.

A letter from Oceania attesting to having paid the bill would likely suffice for our primary insurance company to pay. As noted before, Oceania has, after almost 3 months, provided neither a letter attesting to having paid nor a receipt nor any documentation whatsoever. Hence our frustration and fear that their stalling and lack of action will ultimately cost us dearly.

For those of you who have suggested engaging an attorney to advocate for our cause, it would be more than helpful and gratefully appreciated if you could provide a name or contact of an attorney who would do so as we have been unable to find one who would.

We have talked to three attorneys, none of which has agreed to take up our cause or even write a letter that would cajole Oceania to be forthcoming with the requested documentation. We can try to to search for another attorney who will but as we are emotionally and physically exhausted from over 9 months of daily wrangling with all the parties involved, we just don’t have the energy or hope that we can find an attorney who is willing to help us.

My primary insurance company needs proof that Oceania either paid or did not pay the invoice from the Portuguese Air Force. They have indicated they will pay either party. Oceania has been silent in this regard, leaving both us and our insurance company unable to determine who should be paid. Without that information, we cannot move forward.

We would be happy to receive a bill from Oceania for the payment made to the Portuguese Air Force. Unfortunately they refuse to provide this to us to submit to our primary healthcare insurance the latter which has stated that they will pay it upon receipt of this documentation. Oceania had not been forthcoming with any documentation for almost 3 months.

We have indeed received the invoice from the Portuguese Air Force but through Oceania’s third party insurance company. My primary health provider has indicated they will pay the claim but just needs receipts from Oceania that they paid which Oceania has not provided in almost 3 months of waiting.

Thank you for your post. We have well documented paper trails of all that has transpired. It still boils down to Oceania’s unwillingness to provide what should be readily available documents showing that they paid the invoice in question.

We have been in almost daily communication with multiple claims representatives. It boils down to Oceania needing to provide documentation that they have paid, something that they have not done in almost 3 months.

Unfortunately this does not help. Our insurance was notified by Oceania that they paid the invoice so they are awaiting documentation of said payment from Oceania,not from us. In fact our attempts to pay directly have been unsuccessful including direct wire transfers and attempts through the Portuguese consulate.

Naturally we have asked for such documentation but the third party with whom we are In daily contact has not received any proof of payment. In spite of being emotionally and physically exhausted from wrestling with insurance companies, their third party agents as well as foreign governments and a totally indifferent and dishonest cruise line company, we will take your suggestion and contact our congressman but with the full realization that our country’s congress has been woefully inadequate and we will therefore keep our expectations at a level commensurate. And yes we have contacted Elliot.org and await their response.

No written reason given. We just found that the funds were redeposited in our account. Obstensibly because there was no longer an outstanding balance as it was paid by Oceania, but of course, since Oceania is not forthcoming, we do not know for certain.

If you may have read elsewhere, I have tried to contact as well as wire money to the Portuguese Air Force directly and indirectly contact them through their consulate, all to no avail. The actual invoice was sent directly to NCL which was forwarded to me by NCL’s third party insurance processor. The only option at this point is for Oceania to supply the documents showing their payment on the invoice to the Portuguese Air Force.

The cruise line told my health insurance company that they paid the Portuguese Air Force invoice but they have not presented any evidence, receipt, or other documentation to demonstrate that it was paid. This documentation is necessary for my insurance company to reimburse Oceania. The invoice has no direct contact information except for international wiring information. As I wrote previously, I have made an appointment with the Portuguese consulate only to have them cancel the appointment just 20 minutes before the meeting. I actually even wired a small portion of the bill to Portugal as a test and it was not accepted and returned to my bank account. The problem is with the people at Oceania who have stalled for 7 months with misinformation and redirection and now, finally when the resolution is at hand, they have stalled again with the same misinformation and misdirection these last 3 months. I am about to run out of time to get my insurance company to cover this cost within their 1 year timeframe.

We are still responsible for the bill from the Portuguese Air Force as we received the invoice from NCL Holdings. With 3 layers of medical and travel insurance policies that we paid for before the trip, we still are at the mercy of the cruise line to follow through and supply the documents proving they paid the Portuguese Air Force. The deadline to file is quickly approaching before Oceania/Norwegian Cruise Lines Holdings sends us the requested documents. After going through a medical emergency, one would think that a company that depends on its customers to return for more cruises would not put the same customers through another, this time almost yearlong, nightmare.

Yes we are stuck in limbo, at the mercy of an indifferent, callous, and disingenuous company more concerned about collecting money than assisting clients. I hope this is fair warning to those who choose Oceania Cruise lines as they seem to be more than anxious to set passengers adrift after they’ve made their money.

Thank you Rhiannon84 for your post. Our departure was from Miami, Florida, USA. Thank you for the advice, I will definitely pursue your website referral. And yes. Very Stressful. Thanks again.

Yes. We have contacted both the Portuguese consulate here as well as the US Embassy in Lisbon. Both have said they do not handle these types of issues/cases.

Our primary insurance, which is our healthcare provider, has a third party company who handles these types of claims and has indicated that they will pay. The problem is that the cruise line, Oceania/Norwegian Cruise Lines Holdings, has claimed that they already paid. My primary insurance will reimburse them but need documentation of payment. Oceania/Norwegian Cruise Lines Holdings has not provided this necessary documentation after almost 3 months of misdirection, misinformation, and stalling. As all of our insurance policies that would cover this expense expire after one year after the incident, we have little time left to resolve this claim. If the deadline is past, we will then have to reimburse Oceania/Norwegian Cruise Lines Holdings ourselves, in spite of having primary, secondary, and even tertiary insurance coverage. The villain here is Oceania/Norwegian Cruise Lines Holdings. I don’t know of anyone who cruises or has plans to cruise with them who would not have second thoughts about stepping aboard their ships after learning of our nightmarish experience.