Viking Insurance

[alijay]

I am trying to decide whether to purchase Viking insurance for a 15 day Mediterannean cruise or to purchase  insurance on our own.  Viking is half the price, but we would receive a combination of cash and vouchers( for a future cruise within 12 months) if we "cancel for any reason".  The other insurance will cover 75% of the cost if we cancel for any reason, but we would receive all cash.  

Any thoughts?  Has anyone done this type of analysis and what were your conclusions?

Thank you.

Alice

[molymoo]

This is strictly FWIW ... the discussion of insurance will elicit a myriad of opinions and it generally comes down to what works for you.  
 

We have always simply purchased the Viking insurance at the time of booking.  It is largely a convenience and as I am one giant walking “pre-existing condition” so we do it right away.  I am not generally concerned about “canceling “for any reason” ... we book a cruise because we want to go so a voucher is reasonable compensation as far as we are concerned.  We are mainly concerned about canceling for health reasons and are confident that we will be satisfied with the outcome should that become necessary.

 

In 2015 we had to cancel our “Homelands” cruise ... a cascade of health issues hit both DH and I at the same time.  We contacted Viking and we were entitled to 50% refund from them.  They paid up within a week and we then filed with the insurance company.  When all was said and done we got everything back minus what we paid for the insurance.  Everything was settled within a month and we were very satisfied.  We booked the cruise again for 2016 and (knock wood) no issues since!

[orchestrapal]

13 hours ago, alijay said:

I am trying to decide whether to purchase Viking insurance for a 15 day Mediterannean cruise or to purchase  insurance on our own.  Viking is half the price, but we would receive a combination of cash and vouchers( for a future cruise within 12 months) if we "cancel for any reason".  The other insurance will cover 75% of the cost if we cancel for any reason, but we would receive all cash.  

Any thoughts?  Has anyone done this type of analysis and what were your conclusions?

Thank you.

Alice

Don’t buy Viking insurance.

InsureMy Trrip will show you many options which will pay fully in cash, can be cancelled and changed to another cruise or cruise line. Everything Viking suffers from their very intransigent business practices.😡

 

[molymoo]

1 hour ago, orchestrapal said:

Don’t buy Viking insurance.

InsureMy Trrip will show you many options which will pay fully in cash, can be cancelled and changed to another cruise or cruise line. Everything Viking suffers from their very intransigent business practices.😡

 

Ouch ... obviously you have issues with Viking but just FYi it is not "Viking's Insurance"  It is a company with which Viking has a relationship but it is not run by Viking.

[Peregrina651]

8 hours ago, molymoo said:

This is strictly FWIW ... the discussion of insurance will elicit a myriad of opinions and it generally comes down to what works for you.  
 

We have always simply purchased the Viking insurance at the time of booking.  It is largely a convenience and as I am one giant walking “pre-existing condition” so we do it right away.  I am not generally concerned about “canceling “for any reason” ... we book a cruise because we want to go so a voucher is reasonable compensation as far as we are concerned.  We are mainly concerned about canceling for health reasons and are confident that we will be satisfied with the outcome should that become necessary.

 

In 2015 we had to cancel our “Homelands” cruise ... a cascade of health issues hit both DH and I at the same time.  We contacted Viking and we were entitled to 50% refund from them.  They paid up within a week and we then filed with the insurance company.  When all was said and done we got everything back minus what we paid for the insurance.  Everything was settled within a month and we were very satisfied.  We booked the cruise again for 2016 and (knock wood) no issues since!

 

I agree with molymoo that it does come down to what works for you. Still, here is something to think about in making your decision:

 

A downside of purchasing insurance from the cruise line (any cruise line) is that it covers only what you buy from the cruise line. If you buy your own airfare, are pre-paying excursions and hotels, are extending your journey, the cruise line insurance does not cover these out of pocket expenses and, especially if pre-existing conditions are involved that may cause you to have to cancel,  you will need to cover these expenses with another insurance policy of some sort or another.

[molymoo]

16 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

I agree with molymoo that it does come down to what works for you. Still, here is something to think about in making your decision:

 

A downside of purchasing insurance from the cruise line (any cruise line) is that it covers only what you buy from the cruise line. If you buy your own airfare, are pre-paying excursions and hotels, are extending your journey, the cruise line insurance does not cover these out of pocket expenses and, especially if pre-existing conditions are involved that may cause you to have to cancel,  you will need to cover these expenses with another insurance policy of some sort or another.

Good point ... we have generally purchased everything through Viking for those trips so insurance covers it but if you are booking portions of the trip on your own you will likely be happier going another route.

[Sunflower & The Scientist]

This topic has been discussed on many boards and we have also discussed it at length with our TA and others who have extensive experience with traveling.  For several reasons we have concluded that it is best to get insurance from somewhere other than through the company you are cruising with.  Some reasons are listed on this thread, but there are many more.  

 

We almost had to cancel our last cruise due to a medical issue.  I immediately called to speak with the insurance company.  It was very reassuring to hear them go over the list what money we would be getting back which included EVERYTHING other than what we paid for the insurance....which was a very reasonable price.  

 

I think another important thing to remember is not to forget you have that insurance!   They are a phone call away when you have any sort of problem once the day of your departure arrives!  I had a friend who was on the Costa Concordia and totally forgot until she arrived back home that she had travel insurance!!!  She wrote a book on what she learned from her experience and one of the things was to make sure you have your insurance information with you at all times.  You may not be able to return to your room to get it, as was her case.  So now I keep it with me at all times along with emergency #'s and such.  

 

If you are unsure of who to get the insurance through, good sources for those who know which companies are best are a TA, or who you get your home or auto insurance through.  

[Heidi13]

When it comes to insurance there is no consistent best option. The best insurance to get will depend on your personal circumstances (age, pre-existing conditions, etc), length of cruise, length of time to departure, policy terms & conditions, exclusions, etc.

 

When we were younger, we never considered cruise line insurance, but now we consider all available options, after reading each option's small print.

 

On our current cruise, no 3rd party broker (local or online) would accept the risk, they wouldn't even provide a quote. Therefore, our only option was the cruise line. With the exception of the medical component limit, I find Viking's insurance acceptable.

 

The other consideration, is how readily do they pay out claims. 

[Hanoj]

I buy insurance independent of the cruise line, in order to diversify. That is, if something occurs after I book my cruise for which I would not want to cruise the line, I can recover some of my cash outlay. I take this approach ever since the Viking Sky incident last March.

[_alan_]

My insurance experience with the Viking insurance has been a nightmare.  They have refused to pay out on one of the two nights lost on our last cruise due to the fact that we made the arrangements independent from Viking.   Long story short is thanks to American Airlines labor strife around Mother's Day 2019, we missed two days in Venice.  One on the ship and one in our own booking.

 

 IE, the Viking insurance only covers their asses.  I am considering legal action on this as soon as I figure out where to file.

 

 

[Hockeyump]

I think you'll find this is in their t & c's.  

[orchestrapal]

10 hours ago, flashfearless said:

My insurance experience with the Viking insurance has been a nightmare.  They have refused to pay out on one of the two nights lost on our last cruise due to the fact that we made the arrangements independent from Viking.   Long story short is thanks to American Airlines labor strife around Mother's Day 2019, we missed two days in Venice.  One on the ship and one in our own booking.

 

 IE, the Viking insurance only covers their asses.  I am considering legal action on this as soon as I figure out where to file.

 

 

Good luck! As much as we liked Viking ships and crews their office services, or lack thereof, are the worst of any line we have ever dealt with. They don’t give a d..... as long as their ships still sale full. When the customer base starts to decline maybe their service will improve. 

[lackcreativity]

11 hours ago, flashfearless said:

My insurance experience with the Viking insurance has been a nightmare.  They have refused to pay out on one of the two nights lost on our last cruise due to the fact that we made the arrangements independent from Viking.   Long story short is thanks to American Airlines labor strife around Mother's Day 2019, we missed two days in Venice.  One on the ship and one in our own booking.

 

 IE, the Viking insurance only covers their asses.  I am considering legal action on this as soon as I figure out where to file.

 

 

Of course Viking only covers their portion of your travels. If you were extending your trip for a week traveling on your own after your cruise, would you expect Viking to insure you for that? If you bought the airline's insurance on your flights, would you expect that to cover your cruise as well? 

 

This is what makes it so important to research what you are getting into when you make travel choices, and why this forum is so helpful. We  have had experience with Trip Mate, Viking's insurance partner, on a land based trip we took several years ago. They covered everything we expected and then some, but everything was booked though the tour company.

 

Some issues regarding trip insurance are still not clear to me. If I am on a private tour, does my Viking insurance cover me if I am injured? What if we are off ship on our own?  But then this is a topic for another thread. 

Edited January 26, 2020 by lackcreativity

[_alan_]

3 hours ago, lackcreativity said:

Of course Viking only covers their portion of your travels. If you were extending your trip for a week traveling on your own after your cruise, would you expect Viking to insure you for that? If you bought the airline's insurance on your flights, would you expect that to cover your cruise as well? 

 

This is what makes it so important to research what you are getting into when you make travel choices, and why this forum is so helpful. We  have had experience with Trip Mate, Viking's insurance partner, on a land based trip we took several years ago. They covered everything we expected and then some, but everything was booked though the tour company.

 

Some issues regarding trip insurance are still not clear to me. If I am on a private tour, does my Viking insurance cover me if I am injured? What if we are off ship on our own?  But then this is a topic for another thread. 

 

I didn’t state my issue clearly. Let’s say for simple math purposes that the cruise was fifteen days and 14 nights and $15000.  I missed two days of excursions and one night stay on the boat. I also missed my hedge night before that which I booked myself.  In effect I missed 14% of my cruise plus my own booking. I want 14% or $2000 back. They’ve thus far only offered $1000 back. So instead of 15 days 14 nights I got 13 days 13 nights.
 

It’s a crappy way to treat your customers and this isn’t over as far as I’m concerned. 
 

 

[_alan_]

On 1/26/2020 at 2:31 PM, flashfearless said:

 

I didn’t state my issue clearly. Let’s say for simple math purposes that the cruise was fifteen days and 14 nights and $15000.  I missed two days of excursions and one night stay on the boat. I also missed my hedge night before that which I booked myself.  In effect I missed 14% of my cruise plus my own booking. I want 14% or $2000 back. They’ve thus far only offered $1000 back. So instead of 15 days 14 nights I got 13 days 13 nights.
 

It’s a crappy way to treat your customers and this isn’t over as far as I’m concerned. 
 

 

 

Hello, so I posted this on 1/26.  On 1/30 I received an email notifying us that we have received a new echeck on our appeal!!  So, is this a coincidence?  I'd say in the lingo of the magic 8 ball, Signs Point to No.   We had filed the appeal months ago.  Maybe someone at Viking saw this post and put in a call to Trip Mate.  Who knows? 

 

Thank you Viking for finally bringing this to a close.

 

 

[DaveSJ711]

7 minutes ago, flashfearless said:

 

Hello, so I posted this on 1/26.  On 1/30 I received an email notifying us that we have received a new echeck on our appeal!!  So, is this a coincidence?  I'd say in the lingo of the magic 8 ball, Signs Point to No.   We had filed the appeal months ago.  Maybe someone at Viking saw this post and put in a call to Trip Mate.  Who knows? 

 

Thank you Viking for finally bringing this to a close.

 

 

 

The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

[terrydtx]

On 1/25/2020 at 10:52 PM, flashfearless said:

My insurance experience with the Viking insurance has been a nightmare.  They have refused to pay out on one of the two nights lost on our last cruise due to the fact that we made the arrangements independent from Viking. .

Great point, I just had this conversation with my TA because our final payment for our September VO cruise is due this month. If we take Viking insurance our flights and pre paid hotels are not covered because we did not book them through Viking. We are using a company, LeisureCare, through the TA which we buy every time we travel using this TA. It covers our first class air and hotels in Venice we prepaid. Turns out with everything covered it costs a lot less than Viking's. We never leave home without travel insurance.

[_alan_]

For what it's worth, we bought the travel insurance this time through AAA and it was significantly less.  

[CILCIANRQTS]

With an upcoming cruise out of Venice on Viking, I’m sure glad we have cancel for any reason coverage!!

[Baron Barracuda]

Have always purchased 3rd party insurance through Insuremytrip.  For Viking River cruise this summer though found Viking insurance a better option.  A bit more expensive but Viking offers 100% CFAR vs only 75% for competitors.  Also dd who lives in NY is traveling with us.  Insurers are not permitted to offer CFAR in NY but somehow Viking can.  Our VR package includes "free" air so no additional risk there.

[philw1776]

Finding Viking insurance much LESS $$$ for older folks. That said, in this scenario be sure that you do NOT have purchases OUTSIDE Viking.  In other words if you bought you own airfare, or pre or post hotel, of course Viking does NOT cover this.

[Candlesmith]

On 1/18/2020 at 5:08 PM, Heidi13 said:

With the exception of the medical component limit, I find Viking's insurance acceptable

We have have recently purchased MedJet Assist, a global air medical transport and travel security membership product - NOT insurance.  (But, they say, “insurance gets you to the nearest acceptable facility, MedJet gets you home.”)

 

Although we are active and in good health, we are in our 70’s, and this serves to calm our concerns about any less than reassuring limits on medical care and evacuation.  
MedJet Horizon, slightly more expensive, covers crisis response and evacuation for terrorism, natural disaster, political threat, violent crime, kidnapping and (taDA) pandemics. 
 

medjetassist.com

[Candlesmith]

On 2/27/2020 at 2:37 PM, philw1776 said:

Finding Viking insurance much LESS $$$ for older folks. That said, in this scenario be sure that you do NOT have purchases OUTSIDE Viking.  In other words if you bought you own airfare, or pre or post hotel, of course Viking does NOT cover this.

We have done exactly that, and though it’s a complicated mess, it may turn out all right.

 

We Live in Hawai’i, and a trip to Europe, much less Egypt, is, effectively, the other side of the world!  So we try to put together a trip that combines more than one adventure.  Thus, in fall of 2020, after we agreed to join friends in Cairo on December 5th on UniWorld’s “Splendors of Egypt and the Nile” with a post cruise excursion to Jerusalem, we added Viking’s Western Mediterranean Explorer (November 21- December 3) to the front end.  The post cruise stay in Lisbon brought it right up to time to meet up with our group in Cairo.

 

We insured the Viking cruise with Viking, and the UniWorld Cruise through UniWorld, which works out okay since UniWorld is providing all the air travel except the leg from Lisbon to Cairo (?? We don’t understand it either!)  I insured leg that through TravelGuard.  They insisted on insuring the entire trip (which also includes a week on our own on the Amalfi coast from 11/14-11/21).  I was prepared to accept the exposure for $2000 of airline tickets rather than pay the same amount for all that insurance when she told me it was only $166!  For both of us!  Since the rest of the trip is already insured and I really only care about the airfare, I smiled and gave her my card number.  The hotel in Italy can be cancelled until 24 hours before arrival, and we haven’t rented a car, so we’re covered, although in a patchwork fashion.  
 

However, this serves to prove your point, Phil.  DON’T DO THIS!*  If you are putting together a trip that includes activities beyond the cruise itself, get insurance from a company other than  the cruise line!  Alliance is good and several people have named others that have come through for them.  And....I can attest to the reminder not to forget that you have trip insurance!
We once let an airline foist a piece of ugly purple Skyline luggage on us in place of the lovely   “merlot” Samsonite they destroyed!  We forgot our travel insurance covered our luggage....Actually, we forgot we HAD travel insurance until we bought it for the next trip! 
 

*ETA  We only did because we had already accepted the insurance from one cruise before we booked the other so the damage was done and this was the best way out.

Edited March 3, 2020 by Candlesmith