Might have to cancel cruise - what options do we have???

[Aussie TJE]

Hi, I'm just after some suggestions please. There is a very small possibility that we might not be able to go on our cruise that leaves in under 2 weeks time. Will know more next week. My partner and my dad are sick (dad was admitted to hospital with a heart condition last week). Might be able to claim on our travel insurance for my dad - not too sure until I speak to his doctor next week. My partner is seeing his specialist on Tuesday (can't claim for him as it is a pre existing condition). Why do things happen at the same time - to say that I'm stressed is an understatement!!!

 

If we can't claim on insurance, do we have ANY other options? I know this cruise is very popular and sold out. Can we find someone else to take our place and pay for name changes etc?

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, so at least I can look into any options and this will help my stress levels greatly. If we have a plan, hopefully, we won't need to use it as we really, really want to go on our cruise.

 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

[love2bonboard]

Hi, I'm just after some suggestions please. There is a very small possibility that we might not be able to go on our cruise that leaves in under 2 weeks time. Will know more next week. My partner and my dad are sick (dad was admitted to hospital with a heart condition last week). Might be able to claim on our travel insurance for my dad - not too sure until I speak to his doctor next week. My partner is seeing his specialist on Tuesday (can't claim for him as it is a pre existing condition). Why do things happen at the same time - to say that I'm stressed is an understatement!!!

 

If we can't claim on insurance, do we have ANY other options? I know this cruise is very popular and sold out. Can we find someone else to take our place and pay for name changes etc?

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, so at least I can look into any options and this will help my stress levels greatly. If we have a plan, hopefully, we won't need to use it as we really, really want to go on our cruise.

 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

Did you have Princess Insurance? I believe you can cancel for any reason and get between 75-100% refunded as a future cruise credit (for your partner), but you may be able to get the refund in cash due to your dad. Call Princess tomorrow! Best of luck. I hope your dad and your partner recover just fine and you can go on the cruise.

[cruiseryyc]

If you had travel insurance for this trip, then it will pick up the cost of cancelling. If you didn't have any insurance, then unfortunately you are hooped and will have to swallow the cost of the cruise.

 

Hope your family members get well soon.

[Aussie TJE]

Did you have Princess Insurance? I believe you can cancel for any reason and get between 75-100% refunded as a future cruise credit (for your partner), but you may be able to get the refund in cash due to your dad. Call Princess tomorrow! Best of luck. I hope your dad and your partner recover just fine and you can go on the cruise.

 

Thanks for the quick reply love2bonboard. No, we don't have Princess insurance, we used an Australian company, Cover-More. I will call them on Wednesday after we have spoken to the Doctors, but just wanted a bit of an idea - just in case. I might even send an e-mail to our TA, and see what they say (they organised the travel insurance for us). I am sure if we can do name changes etc, they will charge alot, but it would be better than losing the lot!

 

I really hope we can go, as we really need a break - it's been a tough time for us!

[Cruise Gypsy]

I am sorry - it is probably so stressful right now. We had to cancel a cruise a month out due to my DH being in an accident. My advice is be persistent. People would "lose" paperwork I sent them or fax it back to the wrong number.

 

Your insurance is the best bet - read your policy and document everything. We got a refund with our insurance so I am not the best help with any other options.

 

Good luck - I wish you well.:)

[Aussie TJE]

I am sorry - it is probably so stressful right now. We had to cancel a cruise a month out due to my DH being in an accident. My advice is be persistent. People would "lose" paperwork I sent them or fax it back to the wrong number.

 

Your insurance is the best bet - read your policy and document everything. We got a refund with our insurance so I am not the best help with any other options.

 

Good luck - I wish you well.:)

 

Thanks Cruise Gypsy. I think insurance might be the best bet also - but it will all depend on what dad's doctor says. I hope your DH is OK now - it's not much fun is it, especially when you have been looking forward to it for so long! We will do all we can to go, but it's one day at a time now!

[Cruise Gypsy]

Thanks Cruise Gypsy. I think insurance might be the best bet also - but it will all depend on what dad's doctor says. I hope your DH is OK now - it's not much fun is it, especially when you have been looking forward to it for so long! We will do all we can to go, but it's one day at a time now!

 

Sorry you are having to go thru this. Yes, DH is fine - thanks for asking.

 

Have you tried calling Princess directly yet? I know we are leaving on the Ruby in 12 days and I know they are sold out with a waitlist so if your cruise is sold out they might work with you to move dates if that is a option to consider. Just a thought.

 

Best wishes.:)

[trikeman]

Make sure that when you talk to someone that you get thier name and mark down the time and date of the conversation. You also might want to write yourself a short note with the hi-lites of conversation. It's nice to have a reference in case you have to talk to several people.

[Aussie TJE]

Sorry you are having to go thru this. Yes, DH is fine - thanks for asking.

 

Have you tried calling Princess directly yet? I know we are leaving on the Ruby in 12 days and I know they are sold out with a waitlist so if your cruise is sold out they might work with you to move dates if that is a option to consider. Just a thought.

 

Best wishes.:)

 

I don't think that I can talk to Princess directly. My understanding is that if you booked through a travel agent, that Princess won't talk to you - you have to go back to your agent.

 

With the cruise being sold out, that's what I thought - but you never know they may want huge cancellation fees and a big price from the person they sell it to (if it comes that that anyway). I really hope they are helpful, but you never know! Mind you, we do know the condition when we book, but sometimes things happen that are beyond your control.

 

I really hope you enjoy your cruise on the Ruby - ours is the Diamond in 14 days - hopefully!!! I'm really hoping and have EVERYTHING crossed!!

[Aussie TJE]

Make sure that when you talk to someone that you get thier name and mark down the time and date of the conversation. You also might want to write yourself a short note with the hi-lites of conversation. It's nice to have a reference in case you have to talk to several people.

 

Thanks for the tip - I always forget that until afterwards and then it's too late. Fortunately, I think I have to go back through our TA and there's only 3 people in the office and I know them all, so that should help!

[Pennyscandy]

Hi, I'm just after some suggestions please. There is a very small possibility that we might not be able to go on our cruise that leaves in under 2 weeks time. Will know more next week. My partner and my dad are sick (dad was admitted to hospital with a heart condition last week). Might be able to claim on our travel insurance for my dad - not too sure until I speak to his doctor next week. My partner is seeing his specialist on Tuesday (can't claim for him as it is a pre existing condition). Why do things happen at the same time - to say that I'm stressed is an understatement!!!

 

If we can't claim on insurance, do we have ANY other options? I know this cruise is very popular and sold out. Can we find someone else to take our place and pay for name changes etc?

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, so at least I can look into any options and this will help my stress levels greatly. If we have a plan, hopefully, we won't need to use it as we really, really want to go on our cruise.

 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

My DH has multiple pre existing conditions, but our travel agent told us that if we purchased the insurance when we booked the cruise if anything came up, health wise, he would be covered. Call your travel agent. our neighbor had to cancel 2 days before a cruise, because his stress test came back "bad" and his doctor told him no to fly. They got their money back Hope your dad and partner improve. Good luck

[sirwired]

While I can't speak to your insurance company, I had to go through the exact same thing with my Dad in November, and it wasn't a big deal getting the insurance to cover.

 

I think one thing that helped was that not only did I have the surgeon fill in the insurance co's form, my dad's cardiologist's office also gave me his entire medical file, including stress test results, and the results from the failed stent operation. (He was too plugged for a stent, and needed a bypass.) I underlined the part of the letter that stated he urgently needed a bypass. The total fax ended up being 23 pages long, about half of which was medical records. (The other half was things like proof of payment, cruise confirmation, cancellation policy, etc.)

 

In the future, you may want to search for policies that have a pre-ex waiver. There are several companies that have them in the US; don't know about Australia.

 

SirWired

[Toto2Kansas]

Sorry to hear you may possibly have to cancel your cruise. One thing though, as to name changes. You can not change both passengers names on a booking. One of the original passengers must be present in the cabin, but the second passenger can be switched to someone else (with a small name change fee). So in other words, you can not sell your entire booking to someone else, it is not allowed.

 

I would definitely check with the TA as to the insurance. As said, here in the U.S. if the insurance is purchased within a certain time frame after booking, normally it will cover pre-existing condtions. But only the insurance carrier will be able to tell you for sure. I would contact them immediately and find out for sure. Most TA's don't handle the insurance claims, but you could check with your TA also, just for advice.

 

If insurance doesn't cover this, with sailing in two weeks, I am afraid you will end up forfeiting almost your entire cruise fare if you need to cancel.

 

Best of luck, and keep us posted please on how this all turns out. Will keep my fingers crossed for you.

[Coral]

You may also want to have your agent check to see if there are any move-over offers. If the ship is overbooked, this may be a (slight) possibility.

 

Usually the move over offers are offered the week before sailing...

[Aussie TJE]

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read and respond to my post. I really appreciate it. Sometimes, it just helps writing down a problem and then "giving" it to someone else LOL.

 

We are going to go and see dad today in hospital today, so hopefully, I'll be able to speak to his specialist and see what they are going to do for dad's heart murmur. It came on about 3 weeks ago, and has made him feel terrible and he just hasn't moved in 3 weeks. Just no energy, dizziness (including blacking out and falling 3 times at home) all the time etc. They couldn't work out what the problem was and put it down to depression and his parkinsons - but I knew it was something more. After all series of tests, the heart murmur was discovered and he has all the symptoms! They are doing an x-ray today, so I guess that will give them some more info. Dad's 87 now and is getting very frail, but this has really knocked him around.

 

Then my partner's condition deteriorated - less than 2 weeks ago, he was running 8 kms a day. Now, he's on morphine pain meds and spending most of the day in bed due to the pain! It's very hard when both my boys are sick - we see his specialist tomorrow to get the results of a pet scan that we had on Friday.

 

The hardest part, I find, is the not knowing! At least when you know exactly what you are dealing with, you can put have an action plan and do something about it. Wish us luck - we have a busy and stressful couple of days!!!

 

Thanks heaps for all your suggestions and comments - it is greatly appreciated. I will certainly keep you all updated!

[Coral]

Good luck with everything! Health comes first - there will always be another cruise once everyone is healthy.

 

I would sure hope your travel insurance would cover this.

[Aussie TJE]

Good luck with everything! Health comes first - there will always be another cruise once everyone is healthy.

 

I would sure hope your travel insurance would cover this.

 

Thanks Coral and I agree totally - the money is way down the list. Trying to get both my boys well enough so hopefully we can go on our cruise. If not, then we will just have to focus on health and do all we can. One day at a time as they say.

 

Re the money, the main things that bugs me is that if we cancel (and say we can't claim on TI for some reason) then Princess will re-sell our cabin and get extra $$$$ all over again - and we loose everthing. Somehow that doesn't seem particularly fair - especially if we can find someone to take our place. Hopefully, we can go on the cruise and then I won't have to worry about this anymore. As I have said, to be fair, I haven't contacted Princess, our TA or TI company yet - want to wait until Wednesday when I have seen the doctor for my dad and his test results have come back and seen my partner's specialist on Tuesday.

 

One day at a time. Thanks everyone for your good wishes and suggestions. It is greatly appreciated. Being on this board and sharing my problem is helping distract me, so that's good!

[CruisinEars]

FYI, Princess does not allow name changes of all of the occupants of a cabin. If you decide to go and have a friend go with you, then you would be able to change 1 name on the booking, but there must be at least 1 original name on the booking. Otherwise the booking is canceled and you pay any penalties. The first place you should contact would be your insurance company and get the details of the policy you purchased. Also, be in contact with your ta as someone said before, Princess will not be able to discuss this with you directly.

[Aussie TJE]

FYI, Princess does not allow name changes of all of the occupants of a cabin. If you decide to go and have a friend go with you, then you would be able to change 1 name on the booking, but there must be at least 1 original name on the booking. Otherwise the booking is canceled and you pay any penalties. The first place you should contact would be your insurance company and get the details of the policy you purchased. Also, be in contact with your ta as someone said before, Princess will not be able to discuss this with you directly.

 

I'll contact our Travel Insurance co and TA tomorrow after we see the specialist for my partner, and then I'll talk to the hospital about my dad. At the moment, my main concern is my partner - wish us luck - we really need it at the moment.

[UtterCaro]

Tamarah, I'd suggest that you read your insurance policy carefully while you wait for the test results/medical clearance to travel. I'm wishing you the best of luck, prompt improvement in your guys' health, and a marvelous cruise.

 

Caro

[Bowie MeMe]

Call the TI/TA as soon as possible for your own stress levels. On the travel insurance that we buy (US travel guard or Access America) it allows cancellation if someone in the travel PARTY is ill (thus your partner). I know this works because one of our travel mates (a single cousin's cabinmate/friend) had to be hospitalized 2 days before our cruise to Greek Islands trip was to start. This was September 09 and by November 09 the paperwork was "almost" completed for the refund. Be presistent. Our cousin got her cabin WITHOUT the single supplement (though hotels for 10 days were not the same -- same price for 1 or 2). Let your TA handle this and the cancellations as usually a good TA has done cancellations for medical reasons and knows the procedure.

 

If partner OK and just DAD is the problem can you check him into a rehab center while you are gone? At least in the USA insurance pays for these centers (ban the word but nursing homes) after hospitalization. It might be best for your Dad and You to have some help at this time. Please remember the first duty of a care giver is to take care of YOURSELF! You go down and nobody is up to bat. Best Wishes.

[Luckyroot]

We were on the CB repositioning in 2008, and weeks before sailing it was sold out. One of the couples in our group had to cancel because her mom was dying. They did have insurance, but because we knew it was sold out, I talked to our TA and asked if he would call Princess about a move over cruise.

 

Princess was happy to grab our Caribe deck balcony cabin and offered them a move over (same ship - any sailing for the next 6 months) AND gave them a huge OBC.

 

Have your TA call and see if Princess wants to bump you. It could work out to your benefit!

 

Sorry for your troubles, and hope you get to sail soon.......sounds like you need it!

[Tedirene]

Tamarah,

 

Good luck with the tests. As Ruth has suggested, for your own peace of mind, it may pay to have your TA contact Princess and enquire as to the possibility of moving your cruise. Outside of that, your travel insurance should cover you if it is necessary to cancel. A speedy recovery and hope you make it in 11 days.;)

[Cruise Gypsy]

We were on the CB repositioning in 2008, and weeks before sailing it was sold out. One of the couples in our group had to cancel because her mom was dying. They did have insurance, but because we knew it was sold out, I talked to our TA and asked if he would call Princess about a move over cruise.

 

Princess was happy to grab our Caribe deck balcony cabin and offered them a move over (same ship - any sailing for the next 6 months) AND gave them a huge OBC.

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing your story! I have often heard people recommend doing this but I haven't know anyone who has actual done it and it worked. It is good to know. I am also happy to hear Princess was very workable in this situation.

[WCAB]

I hope you can take your cruise. If you are unable to, I would see if your Dads doctor would oblige and give you something in writing that states the reason you needed to cancel was due to the new issue of the heart mummer. Even though there were pre-existing conditions, maybe because there is a new symptom, it would be covered. Good luck.

 

Carol