Anyone cancelled using CFAR insurance and NOT taken FCC?

[CarolinaMamma]

We are scheduled to sail April 4th and haven’t decided whether to cancel or not. I don’t want to tie up NCL’s phone lines today,  since there are people with more urgent questions who need to get through. 
 

I purchased CFAR insurance through a third party 4 days after booking the cruise, and before the January 21 cutoff. My understanding is that if NCL gives me a FCC, I can’t claim a loss, because I’ve been “reimbursed,” even though a FCC is not really getting my money back. I’m hesitant to take the FCC because it looks like similar cruises at the same time next year are going to cost me $3000-$6,000 more than what I paid for this one (Haven 2-bedroom family villa for 5 ppl) so I don’t feel like NCL is really making me whole with the FCC. 
 

If I cancel, can I say “no thanks” to the FCC? If so, can I then file a CFAR claim?

 

i know I’m gonna have to spend some time on the phone with my travel insurance company (have already read the policy thoroughly). Just wondering if anyone has been able to decline the FCC and use their CFAR insurance. 
 

Thanks, and good luck yo all who are calling NCL today. 

[luv2kroooz]

I am considering the exact same thing. I spoke with a supervisor in reservations over the weekend. At the time, he wasn't sure, but called me back to confirm that I could opt-out of NCL's Peace of Mind policy. NCL would retain 100% of the full cruise fare and return port taxes and beverage charges to me in cash, which is consistent with the policy that was in place when I booked. I'd file a claim with my insurance company for the fare and presumably be reimbursed at 75% so I'd lose some of my money, but would not be faced with the hassle and uncertainty associated with NCL's pricing schemes and booking a cruise in a one year window. The other option might be for me to change my free at sea promo from beverage charge to internet which would create an immediate cash refund of the beverage charges, reducing the amount of $$ I have to tie up in a FCC.

 

Just curious, what is the relevance of your January 21 cutoff? I bought a cruise in late February with a CFAR provision. The virus had not presented itself in Europe at the time I booked and I bought insurance the same day I bought the cruise. I haven't gone out of pocket one penny to date. Everything is sitting on my credit card which will be closing for the month in the next few days. Part of me wants to get all of this resolved before I pay the credit card bill and part with the $$, but we will see.

Edited March 11, 2020 by blcruising

[Carmen49]

No you can’t. I’m Going to French Polynesia March 20. Haven’t been to my doctor yet, but if he says not to go I will stay home. I am a healthy 70-year-old. I did call Ncl  for more information. This is the one time I wish I did not have travel Insurance. Ncl  said because I have insurance I would have to file a claim with them. It would fall under The cancel for any reason clause. Therefore I would only get 75% of the money I spent as a future cruise. If I did not have insurance Ncl would handle it for me and I would get back 100% it makes no sense!

[CarolinaMamma]

14 minutes ago, blcruising said:

I am considering the exact same thing. I spoke with a supervisor in reservations over the weekend. At the time, he wasn't sure, but called me back to confirm that I could opt-out of NCL's Peace of Mind policy. NCL would retain 100% of the full cruise fare and return port taxes and beverage charges to me in cash, which is consistent with the policy that was in place when I booked. I'd file a claim with my insurance company for the fare and presumably be reimbursed at 75% so I'd lose some of my money, but would not be faced with the hassle and uncertainty associated with NCL's pricing schemes and booking a cruise in a one year window. The other option might be for me to change my free at sea promo from beverage charge to internet which would create an immediate cash refund of the beverage charges, reducing the amount of $$ I have to tie up in a FCC.

 

Just curious, what is the relevance of your January 21 cutoff? I bought a cruise in late February with a CFAR provision. The virus had not presented itself in Europe at the time I booked and I bought insurance the same day I bought the cruise. I haven't gone out of pocket one penny to date. Everything is sitting on my credit card which will be closing for the month in the next few days. Part of me wants to get all of this resolved before I pay the credit card bill and part with the $$, but we will see.

My provider sent me this info about the January 21 cutoff. https://www.insuremytrip.com/travel-insurance-plans-coverages/coronavirus-travel-insurance/?utm_campaign=Coronavirus3&utm_medium=email&utm_source=blast&utm_content=coronavirus

[MikeBTN]

Give a reason besides CV lol. Just remember CFAR will only reimburse you at 50-75% of the trip cost vs the FCC being 100%.
 

My in-laws are cancelling due to work reasons - he’s self employed and it looks like he can’t get away. He’s deciding whether to take the FCC or pass on it and take insurance payout. We did confirm with NCL that he can choose to opt out of the FCC and with insurance that they would still pay if he didn’t take the FCC.

[CarolinaMamma]

8 minutes ago, Carmen49 said:

No you can’t. I’m Going to French Polynesia March 20. Haven’t been to my doctor yet, but if he says not to go I will stay home. I am a healthy 70-year-old. I did call Ncl  for more information. This is the one time I wish I did not have travel Insurance. Ncl  said because I have insurance I would have to file a claim with them. It would fall under The cancel for any reason clause. Therefore I would only get 75% of the money I spent as a future cruise. If I did not have insurance Ncl would handle it for me and I would get back 100% it makes no sense!

You should be able to opt for the future cruise credit for 100% of your fare, even if you have travel insurance. I don’t think NCL is giving refunds to anyone, just FCC. 
 

im debating between taking the FCC for 100% of my fare or filing a claim for 75% of my fare, assuming that the latter is an option. 
 

Now that this has been declared a pandemic, I need to check and see if my insurance policy has an exclusion for that.  Some do, If they don’t cover medical in cases of pandemic, I probably would not want to risk cruising. 

[luv2kroooz]

15 minutes ago, Carmen49 said:

No you can’t. I’m Going to French Polynesia March 20. Haven’t been to my doctor yet, but if he says not to go I will stay home. I am a healthy 70-year-old. I did call Ncl  for more information. This is the one time I wish I did not have travel Insurance. Ncl  said because I have insurance I would have to file a claim with them. It would fall under The cancel for any reason clause. Therefore I would only get 75% of the money I spent as a future cruise. If I did not have insurance Ncl would handle it for me and I would get back 100% it makes no sense!

Respectfully, I think you got some bad advice. The peace of mind policy applies to any booked guest within the statedwindow. They presently make no distinction between insured or uninsured, so it is available to all. If you are insured, what you cant do is take the NCL Peace of Mind offer and try to get insurance reimbursement for your cruise fare, port charges, and prepaid charges.

[NLH Arizona]

8 minutes ago, blcruising said:

Respectfully, I think you got some bad advice. The peace of mind policy applies to any booked guest within the statedwindow. They presently make no distinction between insured or uninsured, so it is available to all. If you are insured, what you cant do is take the NCL Peace of Mind offer and try to get insurance reimbursement for your cruise fare, port charges, and prepaid charges.

I wonder if the insurance company would give someone their money back, or a portion of it, if the cruise line is offering them the FCCs.  Is NCL willing to give you something saying that will say you are losing your cost, when they are offering the FCCs?  Just wondering.

[luv2kroooz]

Just now, NLH Arizona said:

I wonder if the insurance company would give someone their money back, or a portion of it, if the cruise line is offering them the FCCs.  Is NCL willing to give you something saying that will say you are losing your cost, when they are offering the FCCs?  Just wondering.

Yes, they said I would get an invoice showing a nonrefundable cancellation charge equal to my cruise fare which would definitely be important.

[zqvol]

Generally with insurance policies you have to mitigate your damages, which means if you don't take the FCC the insurance company is not going to pay. If you have 3rd party insurance not through NCL, this needs to be discussed in depth with the insurance comapnay before you make a decision.

[luv2kroooz]

Thanks. Why do I feel like I need two advanced degrees to understand insurance? Anyway, I am still holding out for an outright cancellation and 100% refund since Rome is involved and I expect USA to be similar to Rome in a month. My air provider announced layoffs and 15% capacity reduction today due to lack of demand. I predict they'll be bankrupt by end of year if not sooner.

 

I bought insurance to mitigate my damages. I'm foregoing an offer that may seem economically better on its face, but has real risk of never being recognized given the uncertainty of the current economy and the uncertainty NCL will be around for me to use any FCC. The insurance company can look at the stock price.

 

I insured so I could get cash in the event I wanted to cancel.  With this peace of mind, I get a gift certificate that expires in one year and can currently be applied to inflated, above-market cruise rates on a cruiseline that is in the midst of significant challenges and fighting for it's very existence. Plus, I may not want to take a cruise within one year. Doesn't give me a lot of peace in my mind. It's a nice gesture by NCL and good of them to offer it for those that were uninsured, but I bought CFAR and paid extra for it, and I would expect to be able to use it without jumping through fifteen different hoops. Ugh!! Rant over.

Edited March 11, 2020 by blcruising

[CarolinaMamma]

17 minutes ago, blcruising said:

Thanks. Why do I feel like I need two advanced degrees to understand insurance? Anyway, I am still holding out for an outright cancellation and 100% refund since Rome is involved and I expect USA to be similar to Rome in a month. My air provider announced layoffs and 15% capacity reduction today due to lack of demand. I predict they'll be bankrupt by end of year if not sooner.

 

I bought insurance to mitigate my damages. I'm foregoing an offer that may seem economically better on its face, but has real risk of never being recognized given the uncertainty of the current economy and the uncertainty NCL will be around for me to use any FCC. The insurance company can look at the stock price.

 

I insured so I could get cash in the event I wanted to cancel.  With this peace of mind, I get a gift certificate that expires in one year and can currently be applied to inflated, above-market cruise rates on a cruiseline that is in the midst of significant challenges and fighting for it's very existence. Plus, I may not want to take a cruise within one year. Doesn't give me a lot of peace in my mind. It's a nice gesture by NCL and good of them to offer it for those that were uninsured, but I bought CFAR and paid extra for it, and I would expect to be able to use it without jumping through fifteen different hoops. Ugh!! Rant over.

I feel EXACTLY the same way. I bought the CFAR insurance to get my money back if something went wrong.  An FCC is not the same thing. 
 

Another worry I have is that if my insurance company denies my claim, by the time I find out, it’ll be too late to get the FCC. I’d want some sort of agreement that they are going to approve the claim before I accepted the FCC.
 

One clarification though. You have a year to book the cruise,  but the sail date can be as far out as December, 2022. So I could book this April for a cruise in say June of 2022.  I completely agree with your concerns about the FCC, given the financial health of NCL and the prices I’ve seen on future cruises.  We also have limited travel availability because of our and our kids’ schedules. 

[MikeBTN]

5 hours ago, zqvol said:

Generally with insurance policies you have to mitigate your damages, which means if you don't take the FCC the insurance company is not going to pay. If you have 3rd party insurance not through NCL, this needs to be discussed in depth with the insurance comapnay before you make a decision.

My in-laws are cancelling due to work reasons. I spoke to the insurer and was advised if they chose not to take the FCC they will be reimbursed.

 

Obviously you should check with your carrier regarding your specific policy before making any decisions.

Edited March 12, 2020 by MikeBTN

[dockman]

If NCL cancels your cruise and you paid via credit card is it possible that you could claim a refund via the credit card?

 

An FCC is simply and IOU but if NCL jacks prices up, as it appears to be doing already,  it really does not provide you with the product you purchased. 

 

An IOU will also be close to the bottom of the list of reimbursements if NCL should declare bankruptcy and after all the lawyers and fat cats divvy up the carcass you can pretty well bet your IOU won't be worth the paper it is printed on.

 

Anybody tried to get the CASH that they paid to NCL back in CASH via credit card?

[NoobCroozer]

11 hours ago, dockman said:

 

 

An FCC is simply and IOU but if NCL jacks prices up, as it appears to be doing already,  it really does not provide you with the product you purchased. 

 

An IOU will also be close to the bottom of the list of reimbursements if NCL should declare bankruptcy and after all the lawyers and fat cats divvy up the carcass you can pretty well bet your IOU won't be worth the paper it is printed on.

 

 

Two valid points, which is why I will attempt to exercise my CFAR for 75%. At least I'll get something in return (without mentioning covid-19 of course).

 

I wouldn't hold your breath with the CC companies, I checked all of my contracts, I didn't see a provision on there, even with AMEX. AMEX is usually pretty good with resolution issues, however given the fact that NCL is offering FCC as a good faith effort, I don't see them entertaining a claim. But Im not an expert on the matter so who knows.