Missed the boat due to airplane mech issues...

[engrdad]

Sadly, I write this as I sit in a hotel room in Salt Lake City. We began today in Detroit using our skymiles to fly first class to Anchorage. Arrival time was to be 2:10pm. Well, the flight in Detroit was delayed, first due to paperwork issues, then a mechanical problem and then weather. Scheduled delayed arrival at Salt Lake City was 11:26am. Connecting flight to Anchorage was scheduled to depart at 11:20am. We arrived in SLC at 11:20am and saw that our connecting flight left at 11:17am. I spent 45 minutes on phone with Delta and another hour with one of their "red coats" trying to get us to Anchorage in time. Even spoke with "emergency team" at princess. No luck. Only thing they could offer was to get us to Skagway and board the Island Princess there. One of the main attractions of this cruise was Hubbard and Glacier Park. The airline could not even get us back home tonight.

 

We did purchase the vacation protection through Princess. Therefore, the question is "Are we covered?" It is not completely clear in the insurance documents. We did not purchase our airline through Princess. We actually cashed in many skymiles to get first class tickets. Delta agent (red coat) tells me that we will get those deposited back into our skymiles account. So... back to question: will we be able to get our money back so we can start trying to re-schedule?

[sirwired]

You are covered under Trip Delay for up to $500 (per person, I think.)

[6rugrats]

So... back to question: will we be able to get our money back so we can start trying to re-schedule?

 

You may want to call their help line at (877) 846-8833 and ask what your options are. I don't know if you'd get back the 75% of your fare in cruise credits because of this. The policy states that the trip cancellation coverage ends upon commencement of your Sea/Land arrangements. Did you call Princess to cancel?

 

This is another sad example of why people should never fly in the day of their cruise and I'm sorry this happened. Wasn't there some other airline on which you could have booked tickets to get to Anchorage? Even if you had to pay for them?

[mitsugirly]

Awww, so sorry to hear this. I breaks my heart every time I read something like this.

 

This is the main reason why I stopped flying in the same day. Cutting things too close and never knowing what could happen with delays and such.

[KCcruisin07]

That's really sad that you couldn't get to your cruise. Just keep trying to work with the insurance agent and Princess. I hope someone will be able to help you.

[engrdad]

Looks like I will get 75% cruise credit for future cruise. Only issue is how fast I can get it. I want to re-book for cruise departing on June 25th!

[cherylandtk]

Since it is credit, it will be attached to your booking names, not actually refunded to you. Call Princess and ask how soon you can book the replacement. I'll bet they will be able to process it rather quickly.

[engrdad]

Since it is credit, it will be attached to your booking names, not actually refunded to you. Call Princess and ask how soon you can book the replacement. I'll bet they will be able to process it rather quickly.

 

Had to file a claim through Berkely (company that handles Princess insurance). Per email, they can take up to 5 days. Thier agent tells me that it could be 2-3 weeks before Princess will show the credit. Certainly hope it is faster than that. I spoke with a Princess rep and she said to call once Berkely does their thing and she would check if the credit is available.

[cherylandtk]

Definitely call as soon as you get the Berkley email....even if they take the full 5 days, Princess can speed up their part of it once you have the claim number and resolution. It shouldn't take 2-3 weeks as Berkley rep said (not sure where they got that from).

[Lou33]

Looks like I will get 75% cruise credit for future cruise. Only issue is how fast I can get it. I want to re-book for cruise departing on June 25th!

 

If you have insurance, then why are you not getting a 100% cash refund? If 75% future credit is what you get when you buy insurance through the cruiseline, then that is a good reason to get insurance through a third party.

 

From what I remember, a 75% future cruise credit may be what is offered when you "cancel for any reason". But it your case, it is a mechanical failure, something beyond your control. So the insurance should pay a 100% cash refund. Are you sure that they do not think you are claiming this as "cancel for any reason"?

[cruiseco]

 

From what I remember, a 75% future cruise credit may be what is offered when you "cancel for any reason". But it your case, it is a mechanical failure, something beyond your control. So the insurance should pay a 100% cash refund. Are you sure that they do not think you are claiming this as "cancel for any reason"?

 

It's a mechanical failure of a plane on a flight that wasn't insured. The Princess insurance plainly states that their cancellation coverage for this type of situation only begins when the insured joins the Princess Air/Sea Arrangements. The plan's definition of Air/Sea Arrangements is very clear that they only include cruise and/or air arrangements booked through Princess and not arrangements booked independently.

 

If the OP had booked the Princess air arrangements it would have been covered with a 100% cash back payment. But you can't expect Princess to insure air arrangements they had no part in making. Bottom line -- if you choose to make your own air arrangements you have to take responsibility for that choice. Getting a 75% future cruise credit because this is a cancellation not otherwise covered under the plan benefits is a fair deal.

 

As for instead using a third-party insurer, yes their financial loss would have been covered but only if they agreed to catch up with the ship at that later port of call. With most plans they would not have had the option of turning around and going home unless the delay ate up more than 50% of the total trip length which I don't believe this would have. So they would have had to continue and miss those sights they were most excited to see. And since this all happened after departure no Cancel For Any Reason plan would have let them cancel as that coverage goes away 48 hours prior to departure.

[Keith1010]

Looks like I will get 75% cruise credit for future cruise. Only issue is how fast I can get it. I want to re-book for cruise departing on June 25th!

 

Good luck with all of this.

 

Keith

[cruisinlivin]

And since this all happened after departure no Cancel For Any Reason plan would have let them cancel as that coverage goes away 48 hours prior to departure.

 

What would happen in the case of a no show of one person, who paid for insurance, in a cabin for two? Would the cruise of the no show be considered paid for or would the remaining person be charged the single supplement because the other person didn't sail?

 

By your statement above, I assume the insurance for the no show would not be claimable by the cruiser any way.

[6rugrats]

What would happen in the case of a no show of one person, who paid for insurance, in a cabin for two? Would the cruise of the no show be considered paid for or would the remaining person be charged the single supplement because the other person didn't sail?

 

By your statement above, I assume the insurance for the no show would not be claimable by the cruiser any way.

In our case, the person who sailed alone was not charged a single supplement. This was on HAL.

[DFWDebbie]

I was told by Princess that if one person in a double cabin cancelled, if the other person wanted to go anyway, they would be charged the single supplement. So if one person purchases the insurance, the other one pretty much has to, too.

 

Debbie

[cruiseco]

I was told by Princess that if one person in a double cabin cancelled, if the other person wanted to go anyway, they would be charged the single supplement. So if one person purchases the insurance, the other one pretty much has to, too.

 

Debbie

 

I think you misunderstood their answer or they misunderstood your question.

 

What you posted is correct AS LONG AS the cancellation happens prior to the date that the penalties become 100%. So if one person cancels when his/her penalty is 50% of the cruise fare then, yes, the remaining passenger would have to pay the single supplement. If it happens when the cancelling passenger is in the 100% penalty time frame then the remaining passenger will not get hit with the penalty.

 

In the first case (remaining passenger gets hit with the single supplement) then, yes, that remaining person would be better off with insurance that picks up the cost of the supplement. In the second case, it would have no effect on anything.

[PennyAgain]

I was told by Princess that if one person in a double cabin cancelled, if the other person wanted to go anyway, they would be charged the single supplement. So if one person purchases the insurance, the other one pretty much has to, too.

 

 

 

Debbie

 

we were charged a single supplement on HAL when I missed a cruise due to weather delaying my flights and my husband didn't miss his flights (coming from another city).

 

We lost a lot of money even with cruise insurance.