To Refund or Not To Refund - That is The Question...

[Captain Carnival]

...that occupies me as of late; so what do you think....?

 

Quick Synopsis: I booked (paid for) a cruise on the Inspiration for my parents 75th birthday for November 5th (last week). Two days before sailing my father was diagnosed with a (non life threatening) medical condition that the Doctor/Surgeon advised that he should not sail...so they didn't. Trip insurance you ask? NO!

 

I have subsequently spoken to and sent supporting medical documentation to my Carnival PVP seeking some kind of refund and/or future cruise credit.

 

Therein lies the question (and your expert opinion) for those who may have faced a similar experience - what are my chances?

 

Thanks!

[KEN31VA]

You will get the taxes and fees back from Carnival.

[serene56]

with no trip insurance-- slim to none.

 

 

Imagine if they refund all the people who had a medical condition- why buy insurance IF they refunded you anyways.

 

so my quick question to you- with parents as old as yours--why wouldnt you purchase trip insurance?

[blondietink]

No chance of a refund. You should always buy insurance, especially if you, or anyone in your immediate family even if not cruising, is aged or has a medical condition or the potential for any medical condition. Which in effect, means anybody. Of course, if you are wealthy enough to insure yourself, then you wouldn't need insurance from an outside company.

[Gayle V]

Wow, what a nice thing for you to try to do for your folks. Such a shame it didn't work out. And more unfortunately, the refund is unlikely.

 

If you do get the taxes and fee back, as Ken said, count yourself lucky and lesson learned.

I hope your father feels better soon.

[golfadj]

You might get lucky but probably not. Hope your father has many more years.

[Chef P]

Probably not gonna happen

[T. Advisor King]

No chance of a refund. You should always buy insurance, especially if you, or anyone in your immediate family even if not cruising, is aged or has a medical condition or the potential for any medical condition. Which in effect, means anybody. Of course, if you are wealthy enough to insure yourself, then you wouldn't need insurance from an outside company.

 

I stongly disagree. Let's not confuse medical insurance with trip cancellation insurance. This discussion is about trip cancellation insurance only. Buying trip cancellation insurance is a bet. An average, healthy person is unlikely, on average, to come out ahead by routinely buying trip cancellation insurance. Insurance companies make money on trip cancellation insurance because the probability of you needing it is far lower than the cost they charge you.

 

People will anecdotally report that they've made a "profit" on trip cancellation insurance because they happened to buy it the one time they needed it, or they happened to have needed it more than once. But the vast majority of people will lose money on trip cancellation insurance. The average healthy person is far better off to put the equivalent of the insurance premium in a jar (or better, a separate interest-bearing bank account). If you do that every trip, every year for 10 years, even if you have to cancel a trip, you are probably something like 98% likely to wind up far ahead. And the average healthy person doesn't have to cancel a trip once every 10 years.

 

Don't forget, cancelling a trip doesn't cost you money. It just means that you don't get back the money you've already spent. If you've already spent it then you can afford it (and if you can't afford it, then the problem isn't that you had to cancel and you didn't get your money back, the problem is that you booked a trip that you can't afford). So not having trip cancellation insurance (unlike not having medical insurance) isn't something that can harm you financially. At worst, it's just a bummer that you didn't get to enjoy the trip you paid for. But there's no potential for financial harm.

[firefly333]

You say not life threatening ... if there was some way to go, they should have gone or assumed the money was lost, since it was their choice not to go on the cruise.

 

Some times carnival has made exceptions and given a little discount on a future cruise...but expecting a full refund?? makes no sense to me... write and plead your case and see if they will give you something is the best I can suggest.

 

I saw a case where someone was in ICU and wanted to cancel the cruise and of course Carnival could not make a exception for them either...people, probably much sicker than your parents, have asked and been denied .... but hey plead you case, nothing to lose right?

 

good luck. Your parents knew the cancellation terms when they decided not to go, so dont expect much ...but its worth a try.

 

Iv found when Iv paid for others to cruise or do something...since its not their own money tied up, they dont seem to care as much. Hope that wasnt the case with your parents deciding not to go.

[Oskial]

I stongly disagree. Let's not confuse medical insurance with trip cancellation insurance. This discussion is about trip cancellation insurance only. Buying trip cancellation insurance is a bet. An average, healthy person is unlikely, on average, to come out ahead by routinely buying trip cancellation insurance. Insurance companies make money on trip cancellation insurance because the probability of you needing it is far lower than the cost they charge you.

 

People will anecdotally report that they've made a "profit" on trip cancellation insurance because they happened to buy it the one time they needed it, or they happened to have needed it more than once. But the vast majority of people will lose money on trip cancellation insurance. The average healthy person is far better off to put the equivalent of the insurance premium in a jar (or better, a separate interest-bearing bank account). If you do that every trip, every year for 10 years, even if you have to cancel a trip, you are probably something like 98% likely to wind up far ahead. And the average healthy person doesn't have to cancel a trip once every 10 years.

 

Don't forget, cancelling a trip doesn't cost you money. It just means that you don't get back the money you've already spent. If you've already spent it then you can afford it (and if you can't afford it, then the problem isn't that you had to cancel and you didn't get your money back, the problem is that you booked a trip that you can't afford). So not having trip cancellation insurance (unlike not having medical insurance) isn't something that can harm you financially. At worst, it's just a bummer that you didn't get to enjoy the trip you paid for. But there's no potential for financial harm.

Putting money away for "just in case" doesn't make sense. Cancellation insurance is not that expensive. If you think you may need it then buy it. We had an unfortunate experience a couple of years ago when my DW was diagnosed with cancer about 2 weeks before we were to take our vacation. The company that we booked with were kind enough to try and get someone else to take our spot and were able to find someone for one of the two weeks. They did credit us for the one week, but we had to take the loss for the other week. We did not have insurance. My DW has been clear now for 18 months but we DO have insurance now. (my wife's idea, not mine.) We don't expect a recurance of the cancer and probably won't get one because we have the insurance. I'm not worried about loosing the trip or the money spent, but my wife is happy that we have that safeguard and that's the important thing.

[iTouch]

No chance of a refund. You should always buy insurance, especially if you, or anyone in your immediate family even if not cruising, is aged or has a medical condition or the potential for any medical condition. Which in effect, means anybody. Of course, if you are wealthy enough to insure yourself, then you wouldn't need insurance from an outside company.

 

I totally agree! This is the main reason we purchase insurance. We have an elderly father who is in bad health.

The analogy about not losing money if you already paid for the cruise cracks me up. True you already paid for it but why throw it away when you can recoup it for such a minimul price......affording it has nothing to do with it. Why throw it away if you don't have to?

If I was to purchase a cruise for someone who was 75 years old I would have definately purchased insurance......sorry op I think you are out of luck!

[MszKitty]

We never used to purchase travel insurance, but now that my mother is 91 (who is actually in pretty good health for a 91 yr old), and my husband's mother is 84, we do purchase it. And now, unfortunately it might come in handy for our upcoming Med cruise in June. We just found out his mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. Its still early yet...so early that they haven't even come up with a course of treatment yet....but not knowing what will happen in the next 7 months, or while we are gone...knowing that we have trip insurance eases any financial concerns that may come up.

[richfret]

One of the first questions they will ask you when you purchase a cruise is: Would you like to have travel insurance? If you say "No, but I expect some sort of refund if I can't make the cruise." What do you think Carnival's answer would be?

 

So to answer your question, it is highly unlikely you will get any thing back from Carnival. As others have said, however, maybe you will get lucky so "Give it a go, Yank!".

[T. Advisor King]

Putting money away for "just in case" doesn't make sense. Cancellation insurance is not that expensive. If you think you may need it then buy it. ...

 

I think you missed my point. If you were to take the premiums that you would have paid if you'd bought the insurance and put them in a jar instead, the average, healthy person will wind up much farther ahead than if they had bought the insurance. Insurance companies don't operate at a loss. They operate at a profit, which means they charge you more than they expect to pay out in claims. Because a trip is something you've already paid for, you're not protecting yourself from a liability, which is the usual purpose for buying insurance. You're just placing a bet that you will have to miss you're trip.

 

The house always wins.

[T. Advisor King]

I totally agree! This is the main reason we purchase insurance. We have an elderly father who is in bad health.

The analogy about not losing money if you already paid for the cruise cracks me up. True you already paid for it but why throw it away when you can recoup it for such a minimul price......affording it has nothing to do with it. Why throw it away if you don't have to?

If I was to purchase a cruise for someone who was 75 years old I would have definately purchased insurance......sorry op I think you are out of luck!

 

My exact point with trip cancellation insurance. Why throw away the premium if you don't have to? You're better off putting the money in a jar because you'll wind up ahead.

[CapsR1]

I personally don't believe that cruise insurance is only for the elderly or health impaired.

 

For approximately 10% of your total cruise price, you can purchase insurance with "cancel for any reason," and "cancel for work" provisions. These insurance policies will typically pay 80-100% back to you for the above reasons. Pre-existing medical conditions are also covered under these policies, as well as travel delays due to weather or any other reason.

 

While some may balk at paying an additional 10% on top of the cruise fare, can you really predict the future; especially if you book far in advance? Any one of us could come down with an acute medical condition and have to cancel their cruise. A work related project may require a person to cancel their vacation plans or lose their job!

 

Insurance provides the security of knowing that in case something happens you are covered. If it doesn't, then just go on and enjoy your well deserved vacation.

 

I can't imagine a family paying $3500 to cruise and not be willing to pony up an additional $350 for the most inclusive insurance policy offered.

[Dee777]

I don't know if this would apply to you or not, but when we travel we purchase everything (cruises, airfare etc.) on our Preferred Platinum Visa card. It covers all our insurance needs for us, plus we have extensive worldwide coverage for health through DH's work.

 

We have had to use the Visa insurance only once, but it was a lifesaver! It covers trip interruption and cancellation. Maybe if you booked using a credit card it might be worth looking into to see if you have any coverage that way? Just a thought. Hope your dad is on the mend soon, good luck with Carnival!

 

Dee

[NeuroQueen]

I, personally, would never travel without trip cancellation or medical coverage. My health insurance does not cover me while I am outside of the US, so what happens if I break my leg, or my friends appendix decides to rupture. I know this isn't the point of this thread, but I just can't imagine not having insurance while I'm on vacation. I'm sorry for the OP, as I can't see carnival doing anything for them. I hope your dad is better soon!

[vmom]

Travel insurance covers more than just cancellation insurance. Its pretty much a good idea if you live in an area with frequent flight cancellations or delays.

 

As an example, we were on a cruise excursion in Grand Turk when a woman became suddenly ill (not the fault of the excursion)...she was brought to the cruise ship and based on the type of illness, was flown from Grand Turk to a hospital in Miami. That would be a very expensive bill without travel insurance.

 

You don't have to be necessarily old and in poor health to have a sudden health related condition that would prevent someone from cruising. In our case it was our 22 year old daughter who required emergency brain surgery...no previous health issues.

 

Regarding the OP's original question, in our case with our daughter, she was booked on a Carnival cruise with friends. Shortly before the cruise, she required emergency brain surgery ( this was a life threatening emergency) ...and had not purchased travel insurance. She was young and healthy and felt the chances of not going were remote.

 

I called Carnival and no refund. What we did instead was her friends found someone to go in her place. That individual paid the fare ( or rather reimbursed her for the cost of the cruise since she had already paid) and Carnival charged us a minimal amount to change the names on the ticket.

[petesweet]

I think you missed my point. If you were to take the premiums that you would have paid if you'd bought the insurance and put them in a jar instead, the average, healthy person will wind up much farther ahead than if they had bought the insurance. Insurance companies don't operate at a loss. They operate at a profit, which means they charge you more than they expect to pay out in claims. Because a trip is something you've already paid for, you're not protecting yourself from a liability, which is the usual purpose for buying insurance. You're just placing a bet that you will have to miss you're trip.

 

The house always wins.

 

The insurance I buy covers emergency evacuation in case of illness or acident, lost luggage, and many other things.

Kathy

[smc0320]

I am sorry to hear what happened...and that you probably won't have any luck with Carnival.

 

I have to ask though, being purely nosey, why did the doctor advise not to go on the trip? If it wasn't imminent death, what was it? I think if it were me, and it was 2 weeks, 1 month, whatever, before my cruise and I got devistatiing news, I like to think that damn sure I would be on that ship in case it was the last time I might ever have the chance to....and I'd open up a credit card and pay for everyone I could to join me!

 

Hope everyone is doing well.

[RMM34667]

Praying for your dad's quick and complete recovery!

[tazco]

I think you missed my point. If you were to take the premiums that you would have paid if you'd bought the insurance and put them in a jar instead, the average, healthy person will wind up much farther ahead than if they had bought the insurance. Insurance companies don't operate at a loss. They operate at a profit, which means they charge you more than they expect to pay out in claims. Because a trip is something you've already paid for, you're not protecting yourself from a liability, which is the usual purpose for buying insurance. You're just placing a bet that you will have to miss you're trip.

 

The house always wins.

I buy trip insurance in case I have to be airlifted back due to an accident or illness. Since that can cost in the 10's of thousands I may need a really big jar:eek:

[Captain Carnival]

"No good deed goes unpunished." Clare Booth Luce :(

 

Thanks for the input despite that the consensus is that for all intent and purposes I'm screwed however it would be nice to receive some kind of small remuneration even if it's some kind of future cruise credit.

 

Thanks also for the well-wishes for my Dad, I'll pass them along!! :)

[firefly333]

"No good deed goes unpunished." Clare Booth Luce :(

 

Thanks for the input despite that the consensus is that for all intent and purposes I'm screwed however it would be nice to receive some kind of small remuneration even if it's some kind of future cruise credit.

 

Thanks also for the well-wishes for my Dad, I'll pass them along!! :)

 

My sister broke her shoulder the morning we boarded conquest once. I have broken both shoulders and knew they couldnt set them, so we sailed on the cruise. Biggest problem was getting her in a dress so she could get her lobster and I went and bought muscle relaxer and something for the pain and swelling in jamaica, our first port.

 

I knew if we didnt go, we would lose our money and nothing a doctor could do for her broken shoulder (yep it was broken, and yep it turned out waiting to get it x-rayed, though they said we should have come in right away, they admitted there was nothing that could have been done.

 

Some people said to me that I was terrible for not giving up the cruise and still going, but its not like she would have been so much better at home?

 

Im sorry they missed the ship... but I knew either go or lose the money. Iv been there myself.