Please Help!!

[CrazyC]

Hi I need your opinion on this, my mother in law is very sick and is going to have to have surgery during the time, when we are supposed to cruise which debarks on Oct 22nd '05. Our problem is that 1. We have a bum TA, who is no help to us at all. and 2. Didn't inform us of any insurance or options that we had when we first contacted him. This was to be our very first cruise, and we don't want to have to lose half our money (we're not rich) because of something we can't control. I was reading through the invoice and found this and was wondering what you think:

 

PASSENGER PROTECTION PLAN

 

For your convenience travel protection has been automatically added to your

invoice unless you notified your agent in advance of invoicing that you have

declined the coverage. If you elect to retain the coverage, payment of the

premium must be made before or with the Final Payment to Cruise Vacation

Outlet.

 

We never declined any coverage, so can this help us? Many many thanks in advance. I have been so stressed out about this, and I would like to be able to apply if we do have to incur a penalty maybe to another cruise instead of just losing our money all together...

[BuckGuy]

It seems to me that the travel protection coverage should be itemized. It always is whenever I have cruised.

 

I would contact your cruiseline during business hours directly as soon as possible using their 800 toll free number, explain your unfortunate situation, and then quote to them the written info you found pertaining to the travel protection.

 

Good luck

[kitty9]

First of all, you need to tell us which cruise line you're on. Cruise lines have different policies for things like this.

 

I'm not sure if you're going to be covered because of the second sentence in the plan. It says "if you elect to retain coverage".... Did you notice that you paid for coverage at the time of final payment? Do you have an itemized invoice indicating that you did purchase the insurance and it was part of your final payment? You need to have your TA give you an itemized statement. If he doesn't have one, he needs to get one from the cruise line so you can see in writing if you are indeed covered. You need to ask your TA about that. If he doesn't have the answer, you need to go directly to his office and sit there while he calls the cruise line to see if you're covered. If you are covered by their insurance, in all likelihood you won't get your money back but you will be able to roll over the money to another cruise. To be honest, I've not heard of ANY cruise line that automatically charges you for travel insurance, so you need to be very careful.

 

There's also the matter of pre-existing conditions. Has your MIL been treated for this problem within the last 180 days? If so, it's considered a pre-existing condition, and nothing may be covered for that.

 

I wish you the best of luck.

[Boo's Mom]

crazyc..... If you have coverage, you should see it written somewhere on your documents.

 

Did you ask your TA if you had coverage? What did he/she say?

[CrazyC]

The cruise line is Carnival, I did go back and look at my invoice and it doesn't show that insurance was taken out, but like in my above post they should've automatically added it unless I told them not to, which seems to me to be a mistake on their part that I shouldn't have to pay for. I will call my TA first thing tomorrow, but I'm already sure he is going to be of no help to me at all. This is not a pre-existing condition of my mil. Is it possible for me to contact the cruise line directly myself to get this taken care. And thanks again for all the responses, keep them coming.

 

Also, if the TA never even offered insurance to me, or let me know any of my options from the beginning shouldn't he take some of the responsibility to help us, especially since this was our very first time?

[Boo's Mom]

crazyc.... I have some experience with Cruise Vacation Outlet. They automatically put the insurance fee into your invoice (itemized) and I had to tell them that (when it was time to do the final payment) I did not want their coverage.

 

I always purchased my own @ a better price.

 

What does it show on your final payment invoice?

[Boo's Mom]

Also, if the TA never even offered insurance to me, or let me know any of my options from the beginning shouldn't he take some of the responsibility to help us, especially since this was our very first time?

 

CVA never "offered" the insurance to me. They just automatically put it there. It was up to me to say "hey...take that off".

 

This might be to your huge and great advantage, my friend.

[mr green]

Your 'Personalizer' should tell you if you have insurance, heres hoping. john

[CrazyC]

CVA never "offered" the insurance to me. They just automatically put it there. It was up to me to say "hey...take that off".

 

This might be to your huge and great advantage' date=' my friend.[/quote']

 

 

I am really hoping that it is. I'll keep you posted after I speak to my TA in the morning.

[surrocruiser]

If your TA won't help, keep moving up. Ask for a supervisor or someone who is willing to help. Good luck and I hope your MIL is doing OK.

[Boo's Mom]

What's the word, crazyC ?

[CrazyC]

So, I spoke with TA, and he is now saying since it was a group cruise thing, that the group coordinator, specified for the "passenger protection plan" not to be automatically added :confused: . But on the message board for our group cruise it had a note in the faq section saying if it was added, and you do not want it to call TA immediately. It looks like I'm going to have to escalate above him because no one wants to help including group coordinator.:(

[RichardK]

Doesn't sound like it was added, and you don't see it itemized on your final payment invoice ---- I'd say that you do not have insurance.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Crazy C, everytime I have cruised (although it was RCI, not Carnival), I have received a separate insurance document with the cruise tickets and documents. The phamphlet spells out in detail each and every item you will be entitled to and what you must do to receive compensation.

 

Your cruise documents usually arrive a month before your cruise. If you have your documents and no separate Cruise Protection PLan document, you may not be covered.

 

I know how upsetting this situation is. My father died unexpectly the night before my sister and her husband were to depart on a ten-day cruise. They had no insurance and lost the entire cost of the cruise. Learning from that painful episode, I make a big deal about getting trip insurance for cruises.

 

I truly hope everything works out well for your mother in law and I hope that by some luck or other, you have indeed been insured and can recover the cost of your cruise.