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Travel Insurance cruise cover.


majortom10
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I received an email from P & O this morning setting out all the insurance requirements for our September cruise (if it goes ahead). Nothing they haven’t said before. Unlike MSC, if you don’t have the correct insurance, you won’t be allowed to board the ship.

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4 minutes ago, Jennizor said:

 Unlike MSC, if you don’t have the correct insurance, you won’t be allowed to board the ship.


Are you saying MSC let uninsured people on board?  That is not my understanding of their procedure.

 

I would think P&O would take a similar line as MSC and take you to one side to arrange cover with their preferred insurer or sort your own on the spot.

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6 minutes ago, jaydee6969 said:


Are you saying MSC let uninsured people on board?  That is not my understanding of their procedure.

 

I would think P&O would take a similar line as MSC and take you to one side to arrange cover with their preferred insurer or sort your own on the spot.

You are correct. Stu said no insurance? Come with us to the buy me now desk.

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42 minutes ago, Jennizor said:

I received an email from P & O this morning setting out all the insurance requirements for our September cruise (if it goes ahead). Nothing they haven’t said before. Unlike MSC, if you don’t have the correct insurance, you won’t be allowed to board the ship.

They Do say that, but I am sure they would assist you in securing an acceptable policy.  But remember Insurance isn’t always easy to obtain with pre existing conditions for everyone.  So I think that they are covering themselves for that situation.  

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54 minutes ago, Jennizor said:

I received an email from P & O this morning setting out all the insurance requirements for our September cruise (if it goes ahead). Nothing they haven’t said before. Unlike MSC, if you don’t have the correct insurance, you won’t be allowed to board the ship.

MSC UK would not let you board unless you had correct COVID cover insurance and checked all passengers policies prior to dropping off luggage ,  They would assist you to get the correct COVID required insurance before boarding however, 

Edited by LifeonMars
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2 minutes ago, LifeonMars said:

MSC UK would not let you board unless you had correct COVID cover insurance and checked all passengers policies on checkin. They would assist you to get the insurance before boarding however, 

No one actually turned up without insurance though, did they?  I assumed they didn’t have documentary proof that it covered Covid.   Thus, going on to assume the £22 quoted for the bought on site policies was just Covid cover not full travel Insurance.

 

I wonder if someone seeing that £22 think they will take a chance and it end up being an £85 policy with P&O approved partner Holiday Extras 🥴

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8 minutes ago, Pink-belle said:

No one actually turned up without insurance though, did they?  I assumed they didn’t have documentary proof that it covered Covid.   Thus, going on to assume the £22 quoted for the bought on site policies was just Covid cover not full travel Insurance.

 

I wonder if someone seeing that £22 think they will take a chance and it end up being an £85 policy with P&O approved partner Holiday Extras 🥴

Not a clue about other passengers insurance however,

 I think a can of worms could be opened, between the insurance companies fighting which company is going to pay which part on a claim if made. Far better to use one Insurance company and be fully covered as advised by the cruise company. It's really easy just to follow the required instructions. 

 

Edited by LifeonMars
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30 minutes ago, Pink-belle said:

No one actually turned up without insurance though, did they?  I assumed they didn’t have documentary proof that it covered Covid.   Thus, going on to assume the £22 quoted for the bought on site policies was just Covid cover not full travel Insurance.

 

I wonder if someone seeing that £22 think they will take a chance and it end up being an £85 policy with P&O approved partner Holiday Extras 🥴

The MSC policy was only Covid cover not full travel insurance. 

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Thank you, I assumed that, but I hope others don’t think, oooh, that’s better than my travel Insurance quotes I’ll get it at the port! 
im going to go through my insurance and highlight all the relevant bits, so they are easier to check.

impressed that MSC were allowing you to submit your assurance ahead of time for its approval.

 

I am covered, but it’s a bit like going through airport security, I always feel like they are going to say “excuse me mam” 🤣

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With Staysure we needed a letter of Endorsement that overrides the £10k amount of Medical cover for UK holidays and cover the same amount as if a foreign holiday. Cruiselines expect minimum Health Cover of £2 million and this endorsement covers this for UK holidays.

Edited by bee-ess
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21 hours ago, Pink-belle said:

impressed that MSC were allowing you to submit your assurance ahead of time for its approval.

This is what annoys me about P&O, I have asked if they can advise if my policy suits and their answer is "we can not advise on individual policies as we are not insurance experts". Yet they are when it comes to boarding.🤷‍♂️

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37 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

This is what annoys me about P&O, I have asked if they can advise if my policy suits and their answer is "we can not advise on individual policies as we are not insurance experts". Yet they are when it comes to boarding.🤷‍♂️

I've recieved two emails  from P&O this morning re our B2B cruises in October. They state clearly the exact insurance requirements they need for their pasengers regarding Covid. It's now up to us to make sure we're fully covered, not them.  We are adults after all.

Avril

 

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16 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

I've recieved two emails  from P&O this morning re our B2B cruises in October. They state clearly the exact insurance requirements they need for their pasengers regarding Covid. It's now up to us to make sure we're fully covered, not them.  We are adults after all.

Avril

 

You may think you have the right policy and it does cover COVID but unless it sets it out as P&O wants it you could be denied boarding. 

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21 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

You may think you have the right policy and it does cover COVID but unless it sets it out as P&O wants it you could be denied boarding. 

It appears clear to me what I need from my Insurance company  If I did not then The Insurance company would advise.   At check in the cruise company are ensuring that you have complied with their request.

 

 

Quote:

"All UK guests must have comprehensive cruise specific travel insurance which

includes medical cover of 2 million GBP minimum and cover for emergency

evacuations and medical expenses for COVID-19. Cover must also include

repatriation, cancellation and curtailment and full cover for pre-existing

medical conditions in the countries you are due to visit. You will need to

provide proof of your insurance at the terminal, otherwise you will be denied

boarding at your own expense"

 

My insurance had it right from the start

https://www.coverforyou.com/travel_insurance.php

 

 

Edited by LifeonMars
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1 hour ago, Adawn47 said:

I've recieved two emails  from P&O this morning re our B2B cruises in October. They state clearly the exact insurance requirements they need for their pasengers regarding Covid. It's now up to us to make sure we're fully covered, not them.  We are adults after all.

Avril

 

 

1 hour ago, Gettingwarmer said:

You may think you have the right policy and it does cover COVID but unless it sets it out as P&O wants it you could be denied boarding. 

You are both correct, and I feel the same, I checked and double checked that all was covered as per the P&O requirements.  Obtaining the right cover, early on was tricky due to the nature of the Seacations .  In my experience Cover for you was ahead of the game in this respect, and thankfully others have adjusted policies to provide cover.

 

Getting Warmer,  I have read posts where pax on the MSC maiden DID still have issues despite having adaquate cruise insurance.  I assume you may have seen the same.  It may not happen with P&O as I do not know what MSC’s requirements were.


Travellers with endorsement letters, confirming that their insurance did cover the sea cruises,  were rejected for a number of reasons, such as the letter did not include the insureds name or policy number, and did not specifically mention Covid.  Thankfully in that case the pax concerned had the wits about him to call up the companies web page where it clearly stated all policies covered Covid. 
 

I have an endorsement letter with my policy, I can assume P&O will accept it, but I won’t know it is until I have passed that point in the process. 
 

Adawn47 if you have a policy that clearly states all is covered without the need for extra supporting documents, just the certificate, it may be helpful to other cruisers to at least obtain a quote and consider the company.  I would have paid a bit more for that convenience.

 

I agree with MX-Drew, and am frustrated with P&O, to reply they are not Insurance experts so can’t advise is fair enough, are the people checking our documents Insurance experts? I highly doubt it.

 

P&O are aware of the difficulties with Insurance with these cruises being mainly in coastal waters with no ports.  I don’t need them to advise me on  my Insurance policy choice, I can check limits etc.  I would like them to be helpful enough to say we can’t advise on the suitability of your policy, but can confirm that the endorsement letter printed from Cover for You, Staysure etc, would be accepted by us. 
they probably won’t do this as they wish us to use and pay other inflated prices with Holiday Extras! 

Edited by Pink-belle
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1 hour ago, Adawn47 said:

I've recieved two emails  from P&O this morning re our B2B cruises in October. They state clearly the exact insurance requirements they need for their pasengers regarding Covid. It's now up to us to make sure we're fully covered, not them.  We are adults after all.

Avril

 

I agree we are adults but will you be saying that if you are turn away at check in because the wording is not 100% the same as the person on check in has been told to look for?

I'm happy I'm covered and I'm sure you would be happy your purchased the correct insurance (just as I have been in the past) but that is not the point. You have to prove it to a insurance non expert.

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5 minutes ago, Pink-belle said:

P&O are aware of the difficulties with Insurance with these cruises being mainly in coastal waters with no ports.  I don’t need them to advise me on  my Insurance policy choice, I can check limits etc.  I would like them to be helpful enough to say we can’t advise on the suitability of your policy, but can confirm that the endorsement letter printed from Cover for You, Staysure etc, would be accepted by us. 
they probably won’t do this as they wish us to use and pay other inflated prices with Holiday Extras! 

My thoughts entirely.

I just don't feel it is very good customer service. If MSC can check the documents beforehand why can't P&O? 

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On 5/21/2021 at 2:18 PM, Couple-Somerset said:

Our experience of joining the ship yesterday was slightly different. 

 

We were due to checkin 12.20 to 13.20 and arrived at 12.50pm

 

We had to queue outside in the wind, rain and cold. 

 

There was no attempt made to ensure only those in that time slot were allowed to queue so Im guessing that resulted in the queue. 

 

Inside the terminal, they had health check desks set out in such a way that 50% of the room was unused - a bit more thought woyld have meant nobody having to stand in the rain. 

 

They did a THOROUGH check of your insurance documents and were specific it MUST refer to Covid cover - even though I had an endorsement letter, it didnt mention Covid. Thankfully my insurer has a front page banner on their website clearly stating all policies cover Covid so that was OK. 

 

There were several people who had to go off and call their insurer to get confirmation of Covid cover or to simply buy a new Policy - so make sure you have everything sorted. 

 

They then asked for negative test result and NHS antigen were perfect. 

 

We then had a very long wait to get through security scanning etc - only 2 scanners open. 

 

Then it was another long wait to have the very fast nasal swab. Quick chat to Simon Calder patiently waiting like the rest of us. 

 

Then the checkin desk to get card and watch fob. 

 

Then a short 20 min wait for antigen test result and onboard. 

 

Our start to finish time was just under 2 hours !!!! 

 

Make sure you use the loo before you start the process. 

I hope couple-Somerset doesn’t mind me quoting him away from the MSC thread.  This does highlight we all need to be aware.

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4 minutes ago, Pink-belle said:

and did not specifically mention Covid

This is the point. Inurance companies are covering Covid as per their websites but is it specifically mentioned in the wording of the policy, that is the problem. 

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20 minutes ago, Pink-belle said:

I hope couple-Somerset doesn’t mind me quoting him away from the MSC thread.  This does highlight we all need to be aware.

Very useful and a good point about the loo.

I'm due to do this three time this summer.🤦‍♂️ 

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1 hour ago, Pink-belle said:

I hope couple-Somerset doesn’t mind me quoting him away from the MSC thread.  This does highlight we all need to be aware.

Thank you for posting this here. Very interesting to read, especially as being the first cruise out of the UK.  Hopefully all the lines will take take notice and tweak where necessary, if possible.

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3 hours ago, MX-Drew said:

I agree we are adults but will you be saying that if you are turn away at check in because the wording is not 100% the same as the person on check in has been told to look for?

I'm happy I'm covered and I'm sure you would be happy your purchased the correct insurance (just as I have been in the past) but that is not the point. You have to prove it to a insurance non expert.

I stand corrected. The emails I recieved were the same as shown in post 605 and I thought it was clear and precise, however, I didn't realise that the issues were with the inexperienced staff at the terminal. I'm hoping they get a grip on this quickly, as it will cause even bigger problems for P&O.

Avril

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4 hours ago, Pink-belle said:

I hope couple-Somerset doesn’t mind me quoting him away from the MSC thread.  This does highlight we all need to be aware.

Having read the the quoted post, we have come to a decision. If the same insurance problems and criteria are the same for our October cruise, then there will be no October cruise. Who needs all the stress and worry after the last 14 months we've just had?  Certainly not us.

Avril

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