Leaving a cruise early because of emergency at home

[mek]

As much as I've cruised, I don't know the answer to this.  If a family has to leave a cruise early - like on the 3rd day and they have insurance, generally is there any type of reimbursement for the missed days?

[poz222]

Depends on your type of insurance. The trip interruption coverage on travel policy usually covers 150% cost. The cruise line itself will not provide reimbursement so you need to check with your insurance provider.

Edited November 9, 2018 by poz222

[old sole]

We had trip insurance with Travel Insured International last year when my wife was hospitalized in the ship infirmary for the last three days of the return from Hawaii. That was reimbursed on a "Unused Trip Expense" form they had us submit in addition to all the other covered expenses for medical and transportation expenses. The unused trip expense was simply a pro-rata calculation of the cost of the cruise per day. The form had to be signed by our travel agent, attesting to the cost and the length of the cruise and I had to show proof of payment for the cruise (Carnival invoice and credit card statement).

[Philob]

Insurance payment would depend on reason for leaving the cruise early.

 

Didn't like it or getting kicked off is generally not covered 😎

 

Read the fine print.

[mek]

Well here is the situation.  There is a family in Cincinnati who recently lost their 2 1/2 year old son to a rare form of brain cancer.  Perhaps some here on CC heard of him because he made national and international news and our table mates on our cruise last week from Vancouver were aware of him  The family had a cruise planned back in May when Brody was first diagnosed and so they had to postpone it.

 

The funeral was on 10/27. They were so stressed out and needed to get away, so they went on the postponed Carnival cruise last weekend.  On Monday night their 18 year old son who stayed at home was involved in a car accident and is in critical condition.  They had to leave the cruise on Tuesday in San Juan and fly home to the possibility of loosing another son.

 

They have been through so much it's mind boggling.  I don't know at this point if they had insurance and i'm sure it's the last thing on their mind right now, but I plan to try to help them in any way possible to get a refund or another cruise.  

 

 

[GeezerCouple]

1 hour ago, mek said:

Well here is the situation.  There is a family in Cincinnati who recently lost their 2 1/2 year old son to a rare form of brain cancer.  Perhaps some here on CC heard of him because he made national and international news and our table mates on our cruise last week from Vancouver were aware of him  The family had a cruise planned back in May when Brody was first diagnosed and so they had to postpone it.

 

The funeral was on 10/27. They were so stressed out and needed to get away, so they went on the postponed Carnival cruise last weekend.  On Monday night their 18 year old son who stayed at home was involved in a car accident and is in critical condition.  They had to leave the cruise on Tuesday in San Juan and fly home to the possibility of loosing another son.

 

They have been through so much it's mind boggling.  I don't know at this point if they had insurance and i'm sure it's the last thing on their mind right now, but I plan to try to help them in any way possible to get a refund or another cruise.  

 

 

 

It really all depends upon the terms of the specific policy that they have, IF they have travel insurance.

 

If they do have a "regular" policy (keeping in mind there really isn't any such thing as a "regular" policy, but *some* coverage types are pretty common), then this is likely to be covered if they can provide proof of the accident and the seriousness of the injuries.

 

One of the reasons that trip INTERRUPTION coverage is often 150% of the trip costs (vs. trip cancellation being 100%) is that it is likely to need to cover not only some or almost all of the trip costs, but also what might be much more expensive airfare purchased at the very last minute.  Also, in addition to covering the unused pre-paid nights (e.g., of the cruise), there might also be some hotel nights that overlap while they try to get home.

 

OTOH, *IF* they have the usually optional (extra cost) Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) - in this case, INTERRUPT For Any Reason -  then they'll be fine.

With this coverage added in, they CAN "just change their mind", leave, and get reimbursed.

(There may be some timing issues that need to be met, such as staying on at least 48 hours or such...)

 

I have no idea who they are.  You may be more aware of media coverage of someone you know, whereas many of the rest of us may never have noticed.  (Or perhaps others have, but that's irrelevant, of course.)

 

It's often helpful to contact the insurer as soon as one realizes there is a problem, but with proper documentation, that hasn't been necessary for us (we use Travel Insured, purchased through Trip Insurance Store, and they've always paid promptly even if we didn't notify them until we were already home).

 

Have them call their insurer and ask for assistance filing the claim.  There's probably a deadline (ours is one year from initial problem).

 

GC

[Hlitner]

Just one important warning to those on "closed loop cruises" who do not carry a valid Passport Book.  If you need to interrupt your cruise (for any reason) in a foreign country (such as most Caribbean Islands) you will not be able to fly home until you obtain a Passport.  In some cases this can take many days.

 

Hank

[Lazz]

On 11/9/2018 at 12:21 PM, mek said:

Well here is the situation.  There is a family in Cincinnati who recently lost their 2 1/2 year old son to a rare form of brain cancer.  Perhaps some here on CC heard of him because he made national and international news and our table mates on our cruise last week from Vancouver were aware of him  The family had a cruise planned back in May when Brody was first diagnosed and so they had to postpone it.

 

The funeral was on 10/27. They were so stressed out and needed to get away, so they went on the postponed Carnival cruise last weekend.  On Monday night their 18 year old son who stayed at home was involved in a car accident and is in critical condition.  They had to leave the cruise on Tuesday in San Juan and fly home to the possibility of loosing another son.

 

They have been through so much it's mind boggling.  I don't know at this point if they had insurance and i'm sure it's the last thing on their mind right now, but I plan to try to help them in any way possible to get a refund or another cruise.  

 

 

We had to leave a cruise early and fly home from Cozumel.  Two pieces of advice are to contact the insurance provider ASAP and keep receipts and documents for everything.  The Insurance paid for first class air tickets. hotel, rental car, food, etc.