Celebrity Ship fire

[Kentchikan]

When we were young and healthy -- no family left -- we didn't bother to get insurance either.

Now -- we always get it.

 

When you are young you are immortal. It's only when you get older that the thought of mortality sets in. Reality can be annoying but necessary at times.

[Kentchikan]

Actually, HAL will help you with that in some circumstances. We are on the Prinsendam sailing from Athens on the 20th of October (originally the 14th). HAL compensated us for the difference in price of the shorter cruise, plus a future cruise credit. They also sent us a form from Passenger Relations where they would compensate us up to $500. each in increased airline costs to cancel or change our flights. All we had to do was show them what the costs were. If the costs were more than $500. each they would be handled on a case by case basis. In our case, we decided to just keep our original flight and enjoy a week in Athens pre-cruise.

 

Good for them and clever of you to extend your vacation. I hope you had fun in Athens.

[Cindy]

I was on the Millennium Pacific Coastal Wine Cruise on the 13th.:( I spent the better part of my day squeezing the heck out of some lemons, and I think I managed to make some very acceptable lemonade! I kept part of our pre-cruise trip, changed departure ports, changed cruise lines, changed itineraries, rescheduled plane tickets:mad:, cancelled some things, booked others, and added a train ride! At one point this morning I had a browser open for Celebrity, HAL, RCI, Princess, and NCL…all at the same time!

 

At the end of the day, I’m very thankful I was able to get things rescheduled to piece together a vacation we will love. My goal now is to focus on enjoying what we have instead of longing for what is gone and what we planned for. Celebrity is giving each person $200 towards their airline change fees, and I contacted all my vendors...everyone is refunding!:D

 

We're now on HAL Westerdam to Alaska on September 14th.:D My mom is still going with us, and that was important when I was choosing a replacement trip. In a very out of character move for a control freak:o, I let them talk me into a suite guarantee. I figured what the heck...I might as well live dangerously for a change! I guess I should get busy and look at shore excursions now!

[Kentchikan]

I was on the Millennium Pacific Coastal Wine Cruise on the 13th.:( I spent the better part of my day squeezing the heck out of some lemons, and I think I managed to make some very acceptable lemonade! I kept part of our pre-cruise trip, changed departure ports, changed cruise lines, changed itineraries, rescheduled plane tickets:mad:, cancelled some things, booked others, and added a train ride! At one point this morning I had a browser open for Celebrity, HAL, RCI, Princess, and NCL…all at the same time!

 

At the end of the day, I’m very thankful I was able to get things rescheduled to piece together a vacation we will love. My goal now is to focus on enjoying what we have instead of longing for what is gone and what we planned for. Celebrity is giving each person $200 towards their airline change fees, and I contacted all my vendors...everyone is refunding!:D

 

We're now on HAL Westerdam to Alaska on September 14th.:D My mom is still going with us, and that was important when I was choosing a replacement trip. In a very out of character move for a control freak:o, I let them talk me into a suite guarantee. I figured what the heck...I might as well live dangerously for a change! I guess I should get busy and look at shore excursions now!

 

Good for you and I know you will love the HAL suite experience. It's amazing.

[LSEA]

I was on the Millennium Pacific Coastal Wine Cruise on the 13th.:( I spent the better part of my day squeezing the heck out of some lemons, and I think I managed to make some very acceptable lemonade! I kept part of our pre-cruise trip, changed departure ports, changed cruise lines, changed itineraries, rescheduled plane tickets:mad:, cancelled some things, booked others, and added a train ride! At one point this morning I had a browser open for Celebrity, HAL, RCI, Princess, and NCL…all at the same time!

 

At the end of the day, I’m very thankful I was able to get things rescheduled to piece together a vacation we will love. My goal now is to focus on enjoying what we have instead of longing for what is gone and what we planned for. Celebrity is giving each person $200 towards their airline change fees, and I contacted all my vendors...everyone is refunding!:D

 

We're now on HAL Westerdam to Alaska on September 14th.:D My mom is still going with us, and that was important when I was choosing a replacement trip. In a very out of character move for a control freak:o, I let them talk me into a suite guarantee. I figured what the heck...I might as well live dangerously for a change! I guess I should get busy and look at shore excursions now!

 

Hi Cindy,

 

I have been following your posts over on the X boards. So glad you were able to work things out. If you can, please come back to the HAL boards and post a review of your cruise.

 

I am very sympathetic to the disappointment felt by so many X cruisers right now. The Millennium is a great ship. I look forward to sailing on her again some day soon.

[Cindy]

Hi Cindy,

 

I have been following your posts over on the X boards. So glad you were able to work things out. If you can, please come back to the HAL boards and post a review of your cruise.

 

I am very sympathetic to the disappointment felt by so many X cruisers right now. The Millennium is a great ship. I look forward to sailing on her again some day soon.

 

Thanks! I usually write pretty wordy reviews, so I'm sure I can accommodate your request!:)

 

I'm excited that this is going to give us an opportunity to cross a silly thing off our bucket list. We've watched The Deadliest Catch every year since it started. We're already booked to take the Deadliest Catch excursion in Ketchikan!:rolleyes:

[laurmac]

I've never understood why people don't buy insurance. I've heard of times when it was invaluable for some people and the opposite where people went through horrors without it. I think it's a good investment.

 

It's an individual decision. The money I have saved on not paying for insurance for a couple of dozen trips, will more than compensate if I ever have a situation like this or where I have had to cancel due to health issues.

 

I may rethink this if I think the probability of cancelling is high (health issues, or close family member with serious health issues)

 

I understand the risk, and will be more disappointed in the fact that I am missing an anticipated trip, than the fact I'm out some dough.

[Cindy]

I've never understood why people don't buy insurance. I've heard of times when it was invaluable for some people and the opposite where people went through horrors without it. I think it's a good investment.

 

I have a very comprehensive policy I bought for my Millennium cruise. Unfortunately my policy, and as I'm learning most policies, don't cover the cruise line having mechanical problems. The policy would cover getting us home and hotel/meal reimbursement if we were already traveling (trip interruption), but in the case of a cruise being cancelled by the cruise line for mechanical reasons before the trip we're out of luck. My mom had insurance purchased from Celebrity that is also of no use. Passenger Bill of Rights or no, the cruise lines can still do pretty much what's in their best interests when things like this happen.

[Kentchikan]

I have a very comprehensive policy I bought for my Millennium cruise. Unfortunately my policy, and as I'm learning most policies, don't cover the cruise line having mechanical problems. The policy would cover getting us home and hotel/meal reimbursement if we were already traveling (trip interruption), but in the case of a cruise being cancelled by the cruise line for mechanical reasons before the trip we're out of luck. My mom had insurance purchased from Celebrity that is also of no use. Passenger Bill of Rights or no, the cruise lines can still do pretty much what's in their best interests when things like this happen.

 

Thanks for posting. I wonder if there are any that do cover cancellations. I'm sure someone on the boards knows.

[RJ2002]

I have just booked another HAL cruise, and am currently pricing insurance policies.

 

I have to admit that, in the past, I'd never searched for mechanical breakdown language in policies. I just assumed it was covered!

 

After reading comments here, and over on the Celebrity board about the Millennium cancellations, I took a closer look at the policies I'm currently considering. Of the four I was looking at, only two covered mechanical breakdowns.

 

If you are buying travel insurance, please watch for this coverage!

 

Here is a thread I started over on the Cruise/Travel Insurance board here on CC.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1902219

[chrispb]

If you purchase cruise and flight separately (as most of us do) then I can't see how a mechanical fault with the ship will enable your insurance to pay out, (though if there's a mechanical fault on your plane then they will pay).

 

If you purchase cruise and flight together (as a package) from a travel agent you would be covered for all, regardless. This is the safest way to protect all components of your holiday, but not usually the most convenient or economical.

[RJ2002]

If you purchase cruise and flight separately (as most of us do) then I can't see how a mechanical fault with the ship will enable your insurance to pay out, (though if there's a mechanical fault on your plane then they will pay).

 

If you purchase cruise and flight together (as a package) from a travel agent you would be covered for all, regardless. This is the safest way to protect all components of your holiday, but not usually the most convenient or economical.

 

For the travel insurance policies in the USA, some include mechanical breakdown coverage, some do not. The language related to mechanical breakdown covers "common carriers" (which includes airplanes, ships, trains, buses, etc). It does not matter if you bought your cruise and flight together, or separately. The key is whether or not 'mechanical breakdown' language is in the policy.

 

I don't know about travel policies in the UK. Might be different.

[Kentchikan]

If you purchase cruise and flight separately (as most of us do) then I can't see how a mechanical fault with the ship will enable your insurance to pay out, (though if there's a mechanical fault on your plane then they will pay).

 

If you purchase cruise and flight together (as a package) from a travel agent you would be covered for all, regardless. This is the safest way to protect all components of your holiday, but not usually the most convenient or economical.

 

You're right. We always try to get to the port at least a day in advance in case anything happens along the way.

[Jacru]

You're right. We always try to get to the port at least a day in advance in case anything happens along the way.

What does getting to port a day in advance have to do with "chrispb's" comment that you referenced??

 

And by the way, "chrispb" is wrong, and I have experience on my side. My insurance company has advised that it will not reimburse any part of our expenses because the cancellation of the September 13th cruise was due to a mechanical breakdown which is not one of the Insured Risks of the policy. Change fees for the airline tickets amount to $ 300 pp (plus applicable taxes) and I understand that Celebrity will refund part of this. However, We will receive vouchers from the airlines where "the new travel date must commence within one year from the original date of the issuance of the previous tickets". Which means that to use these, we have to take a trip using those two specific airlines by May 2014, and currently we have no plans to travel by then. Also, if the costs of the new trips are less, the difference is foreited by us. The Vancouver hotel is non-refundable, as are the costs of our privately booked excursions. I can't count the benefit of the future cruise credit until I know its terms and conditions. For example, if it has to be used within one year, there's no benefit to us given our current plans for 2014.

[chrispb]

What does getting to port a day in advance have to do with "chrispb's" comment that you referenced??

 

And by the way, "chrispb" is wrong, and I have experience on my side. My insurance company has advised that it will not reimburse any part of our expenses because the cancellation of the September 13th cruise was due to a mechanical breakdown which is not one of the Insured Risks of the policy. Change fees for the airline tickets amount to $ 300 pp (plus applicable taxes) and I understand that Celebrity will refund part of this. However, We will receive vouchers from the airlines where "the new travel date must commence within one year from the original date of the issuance of the previous tickets". Which means that to use these, we have to take a trip using those two specific airlines by May 2014, and currently we have no plans to travel by then. Also, if the costs of the new trips are less, the difference is foreited by us. The Vancouver hotel is non-refundable, as are the costs of our privately booked excursions. I can't count the benefit of the future cruise credit until I know its terms and conditions. For example, if it has to be used within one year, there's no benefit to us given our current plans for 2014.

 

I think you are missing the point I made.

 

Did you have the full cost of the cruise refunded? (Yes)

 

Did you book the flights and hotels separately or along with the cruise as a package? (I'm assuming separately in which case why should Celebrity refund?) As far as the insurance company are concerned, your Vancouver hotel is still available for you to use. The fact that you no longer need it is not their concern.

 

Of course you won't get the excursions refunded but if you'd booked them with Celebrity then I'm sure you would.

[Cindy]

What does getting to port a day in advance have to do with "chrispb's" comment that you referenced??

 

And by the way, "chrispb" is wrong, and I have experience on my side. My insurance company has advised that it will not reimburse any part of our expenses because the cancellation of the September 13th cruise was due to a mechanical breakdown which is not one of the Insured Risks of the policy. Change fees for the airline tickets amount to $ 300 pp (plus applicable taxes) and I understand that Celebrity will refund part of this. However, We will receive vouchers from the airlines where "the new travel date must commence within one year from the original date of the issuance of the previous tickets". Which means that to use these, we have to take a trip using those two specific airlines by May 2014, and currently we have no plans to travel by then. Also, if the costs of the new trips are less, the difference is foreited by us. The Vancouver hotel is non-refundable, as are the costs of our privately booked excursions. I can't count the benefit of the future cruise credit until I know its terms and conditions. For example, if it has to be used within one year, there's no benefit to us given our current plans for 2014.

 

I think you are missing the point I made.

 

Did you have the full cost of the cruise refunded? (Yes)

 

Did you book the flights and hotels separately or along with the cruise as a package? (I'm assuming separately in which case why should Celebrity refund?) As far as the insurance company are concerned, your Vancouver hotel is still available for you to use. The fact that you no longer need it is not their concern.

 

Of course you won't get the excursions refunded but if you'd booked them with Celebrity then I'm sure you would.

 

 

I was also on the cancelled September 13 Millennium cruise, but my experience has been more positive than Jacru's. The most important thing to me, and my immediate consideration, was to figure out Plan B so that we could still go on vacation. We were able to keep our existing outbound air, so I only incurred change fees for the flight home, and I had not booked any non-refundable hotel stays, so it was very easy to cancel and book elsewhere.

 

I then turned my attention to pre-booked (and paid) excursions with independent vendors. I only had one vendor (Savor Seattle) who wouldn't issue a refund, and they did offer a gift certificate which I'm going to be able to use during my Plan B!:) Even Alcatraz Cruises, whose website clearly states no refunds or changes is refunding my money. In my experience, tour operators who do a lot of business with cruisers know that they have to make exceptions to their general refund policy in the case of a ship missing port (or cancelling a cruise:() if they want to continue to attract that business.

[Kentchikan]

What does getting to port a day in advance have to do with "chrispb's" comment that you referenced??

 

In retrospect it probably had nothing to do with his comment but I believe if you're flying to a cruise you should plan to get there the day before in case there are problems or delays. I've heard too many stories of people who fly in the day of but miss the ship due to delays. I just think for peace of mind it's better to get there the day before so even if there are issues you'll be on board. Plus you'll be more rested. Our neighbors flew standby the day of their cruise and were worried about it. Did they make it? Yes...barely but they were exhausted from worry. So was it worth it? I don't think so. Maybe it's just me but I'd rather be there the day before.

[chrispb]

I was also on the cancelled September 13 Millennium cruise, but my experience has been more positive than Jacru's. The most important thing to me, and my immediate consideration, was to figure out Plan B so that we could still go on vacation. We were able to keep our existing outbound air, so I only incurred change fees for the flight home, and I had not booked any non-refundable hotel stays, so it was very easy to cancel and book elsewhere.

 

I then turned my attention to pre-booked (and paid) excursions with independent vendors. I only had one vendor (Savor Seattle) who wouldn't issue a refund, and they did offer a gift certificate which I'm going to be able to use during my Plan B!:) Even Alcatraz Cruises, whose website clearly states no refunds or changes is refunding my money. In my experience, tour operators who do a lot of business with cruisers know that they have to make exceptions to their general refund policy in the case of a ship missing port (or cancelling a cruise:() if they want to continue to attract that business.

 

To have a plan B is good:) Flying from the UK we would probably forget about a cruise, instead hire a car and have a look around Western Canada (even though not on my bucket list). Look up the odd relative, etc.

 

At least flights would not be wasted.

[Kentchikan]

To have a plan B is good:) Flying from the UK we would probably forget about a cruise, instead hire a car and have a look around Western Canada (even though not on my bucket list). Look up the odd relative, etc.

 

At least flights would not be wasted.

 

Good plan I like your attitude. I always have a contingency plan for everything. It drives DW crazy but that's just the way my mind works.

[RJ2002]

I think you are missing the point I made.

 

Did you have the full cost of the cruise refunded? (Yes)

 

Did you book the flights and hotels separately or along with the cruise as a package? (I'm assuming separately in which case why should Celebrity refund?) As far as the insurance company are concerned, your Vancouver hotel is still available for you to use. The fact that you no longer need it is not their concern.

 

Of course you won't get the excursions refunded but if you'd booked them with Celebrity then I'm sure you would.

 

chrispb, again, I am not sure if your perspective on this is because UK travel insurance operates differently from USA travel insurance???

 

In the case of the Millennium cancellations, a USA travel insurance policy (assuming that it included mechanical breakdowns) would most certainly cover any losses that Celebrity was not refunding -- such as hotels and third party excursions.