Told we can't cruise due to Coronavirus - no full refund??!

[Ocean Boy]

So when you self insure you take the risk that your payout over the years will be less than if you were paying an insurance company premiums to take the risk.

[Hollysmokes]

 

Thanks all for your support. I have written to RCLL today and hope they will resolve this quickly. It's a horrible situation all round and a full cash refund will he very welcome!

[PhoenixCruiser]

So when you self insure you take the risk that your payout over the years will be less than if you were paying an insurance company premiums to take the risk.

Is this where I can whisper that Anthem has probably cost them a lot of money since it's christening?

Some people are sensitive when the cursed word is used [emoji44]

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[snaefell]

5 hours ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

Is this where I can whisper that Anthem has probably cost them a lot of money since it's christening?

Some people are sensitive when the cursed word is used

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 

I am of a mind that RCI have their concerns about Anthem,having booked the April 2020 repo cruise on her only to cancel after RCI dropped the main reason for our booking it,Halifax,citing that 'the Atlantic can be rough in Winter' as,IMO,a very poor excuse for the change in itinerary!

[Moeve]

@ Hollysmokes you see I told there was probably a lot going on behind the scenes and that once they got their ducks in a row they would probably come up with a solution.

 

Glad to hear it may have been solved for you.

[MommaBear55]

On 2/7/2020 at 6:46 AM, 1992cruiser said:

Royal needs to change this policy immediately or they will definitely have people sailing when they shouldn’t be. A 1000 refunds are better than having a ship quarantined for 14 days off the coast. 

Somebody isn’t using the smart side of their brain. Hope it works out for the op. 

I totally agree. They are just setting themselves up for a ship under quarantine.

[Joebucks]

On 2/8/2020 at 9:32 PM, Ocean Boy said:

So when you self insure you take the risk that your payout over the years will be less than if you were paying an insurance company premiums to take the risk.

 

Insurance is a life-long rip-off. Imagine paying to insure everything. You would be so far behind in 99% of cases, it isn't funny. However, most people can never comprehend a long-term comparison of self-insuring vs victim statements and money now. Still, I get it for certain catastrophes. Certain bodily and property damage could be catastrophic.

 

In most cases, I believe CFAR insurance is a joke. Spending hundreds of dollars to get back 50-75% of a sunken cost you had already committed to. I would gladly accept a 100% FCC vs paying money to get less back. Everyone has the best emotional explanations why they need their money refunded to them.

[Ocean Boy]

17 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

 

Insurance is a life-long rip-off. Imagine paying to insure everything. You would be so far behind in 99% of cases, it isn't funny. However, most people can never comprehend a long-term comparison of self-insuring vs victim statements and money now. Still, I get it for certain catastrophes. Certain bodily and property damage could be catastrophic.

 

In most cases, I believe CFAR insurance is a joke. Spending hundreds of dollars to get back 50-75% of a sunken cost you had already committed to. I would gladly accept a 100% FCC vs paying money to get less back. Everyone has the best emotional explanations why they need their money refunded to them.

I completely agree with you. Insurance companies make their money off of people who feel they must insure themselves for every possible loss. As far as I am concerned, a vacation is paid for with disposable income. If I couldn't afford to lose it I wouldn't be spending it in the first place. So yes, I too would be quite happy with the 100% FCC vs. paying to get less. Of course, I guess with the FCC I am assuming the risk that there is, infact, another cruise in my future. Can I buy a policy to insure the possibility that I don't get to use the FCC?🤔

[luckyinpa]

 

48 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

 

Insurance is a life-long rip-off. Imagine paying to insure everything. You would be so far behind in 99% of cases, it isn't funny. However, most people can never comprehend a long-term comparison of self-insuring vs victim statements and money now. Still, I get it for certain catastrophes. Certain bodily and property damage could be catastrophic.

 

In most cases, I believe CFAR insurance is a joke. Spending hundreds of dollars to get back 50-75% of a sunken cost you had already committed to. I would gladly accept a 100% FCC vs paying money to get less back. Everyone has the best emotional explanations why they need their money refunded to them.

 

what cruise lines offer free future credits on their ships? i had to upgrade to princess platinum if i wanted 100% and pay. id welcome any free insurance given by a cruise line if i choose not go on the ship. they would get all my business!  also for the record all the cfar policies ive bought are less than 10% of fare.  usually around 8 if i recall. lets go with 10. so on 10K cruise,  1000 sunk in cafr for the possibility of getting 7500 cash back vs if you cancel you get 0 back. if i lost my 10K and didnt go on the cruise, that would be 10 cafr policies i could buy and go on 10 more cruises. fuzzy math but you get it. 

[Ocean Boy]

32 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

 

 

what cruise lines offer free future credits on their ships? i had to upgrade to princess platinum if i wanted 100% and pay. id welcome any free insurance given by a cruise line if i choose not go on the ship. they would get all my business!  also for the record all the cfar policies ive bought are less than 10% of fare.  usually around 8 if i recall. lets go with 10. so on 10K cruise,  1000 sunk in cafr for the possibility of getting 7500 cash back vs if you cancel you get 0 back. if i lost my 10K and didnt go on the cruise, that would be 10 cafr policies i could buy and go on 10 more cruises. fuzzy math but you get it. 

How many cruises have you paid out that extra $1000 on and have you recovered any of it in insurance payouts? It is all about how much risk one is willing to assume on his/her own. For you insurance gave you piece of mind. For those more willing to accept a possible loss there is also the benefit that after 10 cruises the next one is essentially free.

[cgolf1]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

I completely agree with you. Insurance companies make their money off of people who feel they must insure themselves for every possible loss. As far as I am concerned, a vacation is paid for with disposable income. If I couldn't afford to lose it I wouldn't be spending it in the first place. So yes, I too would be quite happy with the 100% FCC vs. paying to get less. Of course, I guess with the FCC I am assuming the risk that there is, infact, another cruise in my future. Can I buy a policy to insure the possibility that I don't get to use the FCC?🤔

The trip insurance we buy from Costco covers medical and evac and it really isn’t all that expensive. If something happened we had to be evacuated or expensive medical stuff onboard, we definitely couldn’t afford that bill. We don’t get the cancel for any reason policy, we have limits. 

Edited February 10, 2020 by cgolf1

[mpk]

(never mind, already covered)

Edited February 11, 2020 by mpk

[molly361]

6 minutes ago, mpk said:

(never mind, already covered)

I didn't get to the quote soon enough.  I was going to say that Royal's CFAR can be used right up to departure time,  it does not need to be invoked 48 hours ahead

[mugtech]

Royal just cancelled our 2/24/20 cruise on Quantum, originally 9 days out of Hong Kong, switched to round trip Singapore last week.  We will be getting a full refund on our credit card, supposedly by 2/19/20.  Airfare will be compensated by up to $400 each for international flights, need to send them copies of the receipts if not booked through RCI.  Would guess 2/15/20 roundtrip out of Singapore also cancelled.

[snaefell]

In the good old days I only bothered with travel insurance when we travelled long distance,mainly with thoughts of cancelations or missing luggage in mind,years on,closing in on 70 & with medical issues it does seem that more important to cover for medical emergencies,again,especially on long trips,unfortunately with the combination of age & medical issues the cost of the insurance is around the cost of one persons holiday,not sure whether the age or the medical issues make the big difference! 

[gatour]

On 2/10/2020 at 11:51 AM, Joebucks said:

 

Insurance is a life-long rip-off. Imagine paying to insure everything. You would be so far behind in 99% of cases, it isn't funny. However, most people can never comprehend a long-term comparison of self-insuring vs victim statements and money now. Still, I get it for certain catastrophes. Certain bodily and property damage could be catastrophic.

 

In most cases, I believe CFAR insurance is a joke. Spending hundreds of dollars to get back 50-75% of a sunken cost you had already committed to. I would gladly accept a 100% FCC vs paying money to get less back. Everyone has the best emotional explanations why they need their money refunded to them.

Over the years, I have taken 60+ cruises and normally don't pay for insurance, as I have driven to most cruises.  If I miss those cruise, I was willing to accept the potential losses $2000 per cruise.  For our two Med cruises along with a TA cruise which each entitled multiple moving parts, I did pay for insurance.  The most important part was Med and CFAR.  For each of the those three cruises I paid $500 to cover the each of us.  Considering how much I have saved on self insuring on all of the other cruises, the $500 just for med evac/hospital that covers $500,000, is well worth the money.  I am still ahead.

 

It is all about risk management and risk tolerance.  Everyone has difference thresholds for either, and it depends on the circumstances. 

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

Insurance is a must when traveling.  There is another thread started today where a person was left in a Jamaica hospital and ended up with a $30,000 bill including the medical evacuation back to the states.  They were happy they had the insurance.

[mr walker]

The basis for us to take out TI is for the medical & evacuation coverage. Whilst we wouldn't enjoy losing our cruise deposit & fare, or out of pocket for flights, hotels etc, even loss of luggage etc if it came to that, the tens of thousands of dollars of medical expenses, evacuation costs, repatriation etc are not something we can cover without a major financial hit.

There have been people who have had to take out loans, remortgage their homes etc to cover these costs so the threat is real, even if unlikely.

Reading this thread has prompted me take a look at evacuation/medical only insurance, although I'm not sure that is even offered here downunder?? Offers I have seen are for comprehensive cover, just varying in payouts, some inclusions & premium of course.

 

A further point is that some destinations are now requiring visitors to have TI, under the threat of refusing entry. How this is enforced it is not clear. For our upcoming Voyager cruise we will visit ports in New Caledonia, who have this requirement in force. In a recent phone call with RC on an unrelated matter, the agent informed me of this regulation and asked me if we had TI & I told him we did. Not sure if he made a note on that??

 

For the people on here who make a judgement on a financial basis to not take TI, do you similarly don't insure cars, boats, houses, home contents, health, life also. I am not judging, just interested to know. We are very much insurers - I even have income protection and disability insurance in case I cannot earn an income.

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, mr walker said:

For the people on here who make a judgement on a financial basis to not take TI, do you similarly don't insure cars, boats, houses, home contents, health, life also. I am not judging, just interested to know. We are very much insurers - I even have income protection and disability insurance in case I cannot earn an income.

The answers that you get will vary greatly as insurance varies greatly from region to region.

 

Being from Canada we can purchase every component of travel insurance separately or as a package.  If you are under 70 then comprehensive medical/evac insurance is very cheap.  I’ve bought an annual plan for a family of four (adults late 40’s) for under $200.  This covers unlimited trips of up to 10 days in length and provides 10,000,000 medical and 1,000,000 evac.  

 

For us the expensive component is the trip cancellation and interruption which runs around 10% to 15% of the cost of the trip.  

 

We self insure for the trip cancellation as we don’t  fly and credit card protection covers the first $5000.  We would never consider travelling without out of country medical even for a day trip to the US.  One accident or serious illness could bankrupt you.

 

 

[SAmome]

I too take out insurance for the big remote possible expenses of needing med evac or serious injury in port or ship.  That said, I see so many loopholes that I doubt it's worth it.  They will deny an injury claim if had alcohol, ship won't really send a helicopter for you in medical emergency, opting to get you off at next port, and medical coverage is secondary to primary coverage and need doctors signatures and paperwork.  

[marci22]

11 minutes ago, SAmome said:

I too take out insurance for the big remote possible expenses of needing med evac or serious injury in port or ship.  That said, I see so many loopholes that I doubt it's worth it.  They will deny an injury claim if had alcohol, ship won't really send a helicopter for you in medical emergency, opting to get you off at next port, and medical coverage is secondary to primary coverage and need doctors signatures and paperwork.  

This is why it's important to read terms and conditions when you get your policy (most have a 10 day free look period but you can usually download t&c before you buy). Insurance companies have to be exact or people can claim anything. Signatures and paperwork doesn't seem unnecessarily burdensome. Not sure what you mean about the helicopter or getting you off in next port or how it has anything to do with your insurance. They should pay if you file the paperwork.

 

If you go to insuremytrip.com and read negative reviews, you will see the complaints from consumers and the answers from the companies as to why the claims were denied. It is usually because people people assumed things and acted on their own or didn't pay attention to details like number of hours of flight delay, what is actually covered, etc. 

[Hollysmokes]

RC are refunding our money! Thanks all for your advice. 

[Ourusualbeach]

Just now, Hollysmokes said:

RC are refunding our money! Thanks all for your advice. 

Great to hear.

[Joebucks]

13 hours ago, gatour said:

Over the years, I have taken 60+ cruises and normally don't pay for insurance, as I have driven to most cruises.  If I miss those cruise, I was willing to accept the potential losses $2000 per cruise.  For our two Med cruises along with a TA cruise which each entitled multiple moving parts, I did pay for insurance.  The most important part was Med and CFAR.  For each of the those three cruises I paid $500 to cover the each of us.  Considering how much I have saved on self insuring on all of the other cruises, the $500 just for med evac/hospital that covers $500,000, is well worth the money.  I am still ahead.

 

It is all about risk management and risk tolerance.  Everyone has difference thresholds for either, and it depends on the circumstances. 

 

I agree. The medical thing is definitely something to consider. That is an actual catastrophe that could potentially save you hundreds of thousands. CFAR however, does no such thing.

[marci22]

2 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

 

I agree. The medical thing is definitely something to consider. That is an actual catastrophe that could potentially save you hundreds of thousands. CFAR however, does no such thing.

A lot of policies include CFAR if you purchase within a certain time frame of initial booking, usually 14-21 days. Compare policies to see how much they reimburse, usually 50-75% of cruise fare. Plus you will get taxes and fees returned automatically.