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Debra_Murdock

By Debra_Murdock,
in Canadian Cruisers

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powderhorn

powderhorn

Posted
Posted (edited)
44 minutes ago, ShopperfiendTO said:

What are people doing now regarding trip cancellation and interruption coverage?

 

I am worried that despite precautions taken that we might show up at the port and test positive and be denied boarding.

 

Cruiselines seem to be covering this risk right now but I think that most will only be providing this coverage for cruises sailing up to the end of March or April 2022, so how are people protecting their cruise investment from this risk for cruises sailing after May/April 2022?

If I look at past changes in policies covering this, the cruise lines usually qualify timelines around bookings....such as cruises booked between such and such a date are subject to this policy and bookings from such and such a date are subject to that policy....I would check with the cruise line you are booking on to confirm that they will abide by the policy that is in force at the time of your booking and will be honoured at the time of your cruise....for example, an excerpt from the Viking Website:

Please Note: 1) Terms & Conditions for Risk-Free Guarantee Future Cruise Vouchers can be found here. 2) Risk-Free Guarantee for guests who made a reservation between March 1, 2021 to October 31, 2021; 3) Risk-Free Guarantee for guests who made a reservation prior to April 30, 2020; 4) Risk-Free Guarantee for guests who made a reservation between May 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021.

 

 

Edited by powderhorn
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Fouremco

Fouremco

Posted
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50 minutes ago, ShopperfiendTO said:

I am worried that despite precautions taken that we might show up at the port and test positive and be denied boarding.

One of the reasons we will test at home before heading to our cruise. If we test positive here, we will quarantine at home and cancel our flights and the cruise.

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ShopperfiendTO

ShopperfiendTO

Posted
Posted
On 11/15/2021 at 7:50 PM, Fouremco said:

One of the reasons we will test at home before heading to our cruise. If we test positive here, we will quarantine at home and cancel our flights and the cruise.

If you look at Celebrity for example, unless I'm missing something it seems that if your sailing is after May 4, 2022, you're on your own if you cancel: https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/travel-alert/frequently-asked-questions

 

I just noticed that Celebrity has Manulife insurance on its website, but it doesn't really give much information on what is covered under trip cancellation (just "27 covered events"): https://www.igoinsured.com/Direct/ManulifeTI.aspx?ag=CELC001&lang=E

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Fouremco

Fouremco

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Fortunately, my next cruise with Celebrity will be in March, so I'm covered. But even if I wasn't, cancelling my flights and hotel would result in a good saving. And I suspect that by May 4, my travel insurance may well cover trip cancellation for COVID. In any event, no matter how you look at it, testing here and cancelling if positive is the only logical choice.

 

There's lots of discussion on this board on what Manulife does and doesn't cover and the recent changes. 

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Land&Sea_Cruiser

Land&Sea_Cruiser

Posted
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On 11/2/2021 at 8:15 AM, Cruise Cynic said:

Manulife has changed their parameters:

 

https://news.paxeditions.com/news/cruise/despite-advisory-manulife-has-decided-fully-cover-vaccinated-canadians-cruises/

I finally spoke this morning with a Manulife rep who seemed to know what is happening. They expect the Cruise restriction level to drop below 4 sometime tonight. So if you book insurance tomorrow, it will show level3 or lower and your insurance will work on cruise ships. I am calling them at 8am tomorrow as my cruise leaves Friday!

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DHP1

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Posted

Manulife Costco

 

Important information about cruise travel: If you have not received the vaccine, this policy does not provide any coverage for Coronavirus (COVID-19) and related complications on a cruise or at any destination included in your cruise itinerary.

 

https://www.manulife-insurance.ca/costco/travel-insurance/travelling-canadians.html

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DHP1

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5 minutes ago, Land&Sea_Cruiser said:

I finally spoke this morning with a Manulife rep who seemed to know what is happening. They expect the Cruise restriction level to drop below 4 sometime tonight. So if you book insurance tomorrow, it will show level3 or lower and your insurance will work on cruise ships. I am calling them at 8am tomorrow as my cruise leaves Friday!

If your a Costco member, Manulife will cover you for cruise ships. You can book it now. 

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DHP1

Posted
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Just now, Cruise Cynic said:

We were told by Manulife to wait until November 18 to book this COVID cruise coverage. Our sailing is January 08, 2022

Why book it now.  Wait until a week before your cruise date. That’s what we are doing. 

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Cruise Cynic

Cruise Cynic

Posted
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1 minute ago, DHP1 said:

I just wish they will include Covid in there Trip Cancellation and Interruption Policy some day. In the meantime, we are cover for medical.

Royal Caribbean promises to get us home if there are COVID issues.  So as long as we get to the cruise

 in one piece and test negative we are golden. 

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Cruise Cynic

Cruise Cynic

Posted
Posted (edited)
12 minutes ago, DHP1 said:

Why book it now.  Wait until a week before your cruise date. That’s what we are doing. 

Because if we have to cancel NOW I want to be covered for my paid up-front cruise, hotel, car and flight expenses. Once an issue arises, it’s too late to run out and buy insurance. That’s called fraud if you try to keep it on the DL

Edited by Cruise Cynic
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DHP1

Posted
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1 minute ago, Fouremco said:

What do you hope to achieve by waiting?

You medical insurance doesn’t take effect until you depart from home. If you pay now and get sick at home and need to cancel your cruise you will not get your insurance money back.  Unless you have Trip Cancellation and Interruption coverage.

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DHP1

Posted
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8 minutes ago, Cruise Cynic said:

Because if we have to cancel NOW I want to be covered for my paid up-front cruise, hotel, car and flight expenses. Once an issue arises, it’s too late to run out and buy insurance. That’s called fraud if you try to keep it on the DL

So you must have Trip Cancellation and Interruption coverage and if so, does it cover for Covid?

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DHP1

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3 minutes ago, Cruise Cynic said:

Not as concerned about COVID as I am about a “regular health issue” arising in my travelling party. Anyone can break a leg or be advised not to travel. 

True. I was thinking the same thing.  

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Fouremco

Fouremco

Posted
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21 minutes ago, DHP1 said:

You medical insurance doesn’t take effect until you depart from home. If you pay now and get sick at home and need to cancel your cruise you will not get your insurance money back.  Unless you have Trip Cancellation and Interruption coverage.

I would never buy travel insurance that didn't include trip cancellation and interruption. There are simply far too many possible incidents that can arise. For example, my DW and I had a short holiday in Montreal planned a few years ago. We'd purchased train tickets and prepaid our hotel, a total of something in the order of $500, but due to a totally unexpected medical emergency that arose a couple of days before the trip, we were unable to go. Our travel insurance (annual policy) covered the loss without a problem. It was a pretty small sum, all things considered, but it could just as easily have been a two week cruise in Europe.

 

 

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powderhorn

powderhorn

Posted
Posted

There are many horror stories of travel plans going off the rails because of unexpected medical incidents.....we have one involving a last minute retina detachment and winter plans in Marbella. There seems to be layers that are intertwined in the discusions about cancellation and interruption insurance, Covid quarantine coverage, medical coverage for cruise specific travel, what happens if you test positive at embarkation, etc. There are two risks we are considering; health risks and financial risks.  Here is the way I approached it for a Viking cruise in February.

Financial Risks:

1. Viking currently offers a Risk Free Guarantee  that allows travellers to cancel their cruise up to 2 weeks prior to travel and receive a FCC valid for 2 years for the total cost of the cruise. Looking at the uncertainty of travel during the pandemic, this gave us a decision point close to sailing where we could exit with little impact financially.

2. Viking also offers assurances they will support circumstances around positive test results pre cruise and during the cruise as far as providing FCCs to cover the interruption or cancellation of your cruise...so I am content that any Covid related cancellation or interruption costs are somewhat mitigated by Viking. We will make sure we test prior to leaving home and prior to embarkation.

3. The two weeks prior to the cruise still has a financial exposure should a health emergency (non Covid) occur. Based on our ages and cost of the trip, Travel Guard has quoted a cancellation and Interruption policy for about $700 which I plan to purchase should we decide to proceed 2 weeks out from the cruise. If we get a positive test for Covid during that time we will rely on Viking to address the cancellation costs (FCCs).

4. As far as quarantine costs, the recent post on the Manulife coverage seems to be a decent way to spend $32 for peace of mind.

 

Health Risks:

1. We have our medical insurance through a government sponsored group plan with Canada Life. Conversations with them have been mostly around exclusions. There are no specific exclusions regarding Covid or cruise passengers in their coverage and the representive assured me they are currently covering travellers on cruise ships. They basically say there has been no changes in their coverage from pre-pandemic coverage. If a doctor says you need this treament, they work to find the best way for you to be looked after.  So medical costs during travel seems to be covered. We are fully vaccinated.

 

My sense is that medical cost insurance is quite straight forward, but covering your financial risks from cancellation or interruption due to Covid is where it gets challenging. We have decided that Viking is stepping up enough to give us the confidence to book the cruise and will be there should Covid test results get in the way of enjoying a cruise with them. I know other cruise lines have developed similar policies around dealing with this risk. It's a personal choice as to whether you feel comfortable enough to book the cruise and pay your fare.

 

 

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DHP1

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With Princess Cruise, you can cancel up to 30 days of your cruise and received FCC. You can cancel within 30 days for Covid reasons and received a FCC. 
The problem is that the FCC has to be used up by the end of next year.  That’s a lot of money $7,000 tied up in FCC.

So, I decided to buy Princess Vacation Protection and received my cruise fare in cash if I need to cancel. And as a back up, I will purchase Manulife Covid 19 Plan because Princess doesn’t much ($) for medical.  

Edited by DHP1
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Kamloops50

Kamloops50

Posted
Posted
On 6/25/2021 at 8:06 PM, Debra_Murdock said:

We are having trouble finding an insurance company who will cover us for cruising. Has anyone had any success in getting medical and trip cancellation? We are booked for a cruise in mid September but may have to cancel if we can’t purchase travel insurance. We are both retired and travelling with my Mom and her friend, both in their 80’s. 
 

Thanks

 

 

We have used Princess and Hollands insurance product for years. Could never find cheap insurance especially as you approach 65+. My BIL( over 80) can even get private so my sister always gets him cruise line insurance.

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GeriatricNurse

GeriatricNurse

Posted
Posted (edited)
7 hours ago, Kamloops50 said:

We have used Princess and Hollands insurance product for years. Could never find cheap insurance especially as you approach 65+. My BIL( over 80) can even get private so my sister always gets him cruise line insurance.

I'm 71 and I got "cheap insurance" with BLUE CROSS!

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petite07

petite07

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, GeriatricNurse said:

How about Manulife?

Is Manulife the only one? Their trip interruption/cancellation only covers covid for the cancellation portion. But they do have quarantine interruption coverage, which is great

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