Government Travel Advisory-Avoid all cruise ship travel

[WeExplore]

The Government of Canada currently has a travel advisory to avoid all cruise ship travel.  How does this impact Canadians taking cruises now?   We have a cruise booked in September and had assumed the advisory would be lifted by then but in the event it is not what do I need to know/do in preparation for our cruise?

[broberts]

It can affect travel insurance.

[john2003]

We are supposed to be on the Eurodam Oct 30 out of Barcelona. We will have to cancel next week as I can't see going with this in place.

I understand other people see it differently or have a higher risk threshold. We might cancel anyway because of the case growth both in the UK and Spain but feel we could probably mitigate that risk.

Very disappointing.

[netpj]

No Canadian insurer can sell out of country medical insurance while the Advisory to avoid all cruise ship travel is in effect.

[d9704011]

12 minutes ago, netpj said:

No Canadian insurer can sell out of country medical insurance while the Advisory to avoid all cruise ship travel is in effect.

Absolutely not true.  Manulife Cover Me travel insurance is being sold with coverage for cruise travel as long as the traveler is vaccinated.

 

Manulife is not the only insurer selling foreign travel policies with cruise travel included (Johnson is another).

 

I don't suppose you could move on from this particlar falsehood of yours?

[netpj]

I must have been provided with incorrect information from the insurance company.

[d9704011]

5 minutes ago, netpj said:

I must have been provided with incorrect information from the insurance company.

Perhaps, but your posting history on this and the responses you've received (similar to mine) leads me to conclude that you're willfully spreading your false narrative despite clear evidence to the contrary.

 

[DirtyDawg]

I think they still have a travel advisory against all non-essential travel outside Canada.

 

So on top of that they are they are singling out cruise travel. 

 

Health Canada might not have been thinking about cruisers but Travel Canada sure is. 😉

[Magicat]

https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/advisories/faq#What

 

I am not sure what the implications are if you decide to travel against an advisory, so I checked the GOC's website.  I cannot speak about the insurance side of things, but from the government's perspective, it looks like it is up to you to decide if it is safe to go against an advisory or not. And appears to be limited help available to you if you do decide to go against the advisory.  

 

 I do suggest if you do travel outside of Canada that you register with Canadians abroad on the Government's website.  In the event of a disaster or social unrest they will contact you with emergency information.  A couple of years ago I was warned of a potential situation and given some contact's name, phone number and email address to contact if things escalated.  Scary, but somewhat reassuring.  Oh and I never had to contact him.

Edited July 24, 2021 by Magicat

[WeExplore]

As always my CC friends are so helpful.  Thank you for the information and guidance.  Now I wait and see what the government decides to do with this advisory before our September cruise. 

[MStarzky]

you can still get insurance, you have to read the cruise companies policy and the place you are going to. Sometime you might only need travel insurance, msc for instance will give you covid insurance for the duration of your cruise if you meet their criteria.

[Evilmuffin]

I am booked for a cruise in December on the Eurodam and I am just starting to look for travel insurance.  It’s all over the place with policies.   I found one that covers COVID but if the trip includes any sort of cruise travel, they will not insure.   I found another one that said that if you travel to a place where there is a Travel Advisory such as avoid all travel due to conflict, they will not cover you if you are injured from the reason there was a travel advisory, but will cover you if it’s not related.  (Good to know as I am travelling to Kenya next year).   Any suggestions for an insurance company would be greatly appreciated.

[MStarzky]

Manulife

[3Shelaghs]

This company was suggested to us for “extension” when we’re going to be out of country beyond our policy coverage in New Zealand .....Cumis General Insurance-Select Care Worldwide Corp. I think it was GreenShield who referred us. I also received this week...”Special Benefits Insurance”......sbis dot ca     Let us know what you find out

[Ayden]

1 hour ago, MStarzky said:

Manulife

I was just speaking with Manulife for a quote and Covid related yes, but cruiseship travel No.

I was also speaking with Cumis through Allianz Travel Insurance and they can provide Covid related medical insurance for cruiseship travel in addition a general medical travel policy. 

Hope this helps those who are in the same conundrum as we are for our October cruise.

[Ayden]

1 hour ago, 3Shelaghs said:

This company was suggested to us for “extension” when we’re going to be out of country beyond our policy coverage in New Zealand .....Cumis General Insurance-Select Care Worldwide Corp. I think it was GreenShield who referred us. I also received this week...”Special Benefits Insurance”......sbis dot ca     Let us know what you find out

Thanks for your suggestion, I made the call to Cumis and was encouraged by their answers to my specific question and will proceed to see the policy in writing to be sure.

[MStarzky]

remember things are changing everyday, for example MSC took down all their covid information from both the canadian and the american websites. Now theres no infor about covid insurance period on their websites.

[soccersharon]

On 7/24/2021 at 6:19 AM, d9704011 said:

Absolutely not true.  Manulife Cover Me travel insurance is being sold with coverage for cruise travel as long as the traveler is vaccinated.

 

Manulife is not the only insurer selling foreign travel policies with cruise travel included (Johnson is another).

 

I don't suppose you could move on from this particlar falsehood of yours?

They will not cover cruise travel while the Level 4 Travel Advisory is in effect.

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, soccersharon said:

They will not cover cruise travel while the Level 4 Travel Advisory is in effect.

As @d9704011 says, there certainly are companies providing insurance even while the travel advisory is in effect. Here's an excerpt from one of Medoc's documents provided with my annual renewal:

 

COVID-19 coverage available for Emergency Medical Insurance benefits

Emergency Medical Insurance benefits continue to provide coverage for eligible emergencies related to COVID-19, even while a Canadian travel advisory related to COVID-19 is in effect.

[soccersharon]

On 7/27/2021 at 12:12 PM, Fouremco said:

As @d9704011 says, there certainly are companies providing insurance even while the travel advisory is in effect. Here's an excerpt from one of Medoc's documents provided with my annual renewal:

 

COVID-19 coverage available for Emergency Medical Insurance benefits

Emergency Medical Insurance benefits continue to provide coverage for eligible emergencies related to COVID-19, even while a Canadian travel advisory related to COVID-19 is in effect.

For cruise ship travel too?  For land vacations yes - since non-essential travel is a level 3, you can certainly find policies which cover Covid related issues.

 

But not for cruises.

[d9704011]

23 minutes ago, soccersharon said:

For cruise ship travel too?  For land vacations yes - since non-essential travel is a level 3, you can certainly find policies which cover Covid related issues.

 

But not for cruises.

Have a look at this...

coverme-covid-19-pandemic-travel-plan-policy.pdf

[Fouremco]

27 minutes ago, soccersharon said:

For cruise ship travel too?  For land vacations yes - since non-essential travel is a level 3, you can certainly find policies which cover Covid related issues.

 

But not for cruises.

Yes, for cruises too.

 

@AlbertaCruisers called both Manulife and Johnson and was given the same positive response:

 

 

As my post above clearly shows, Johnson/Medoc states that:

 

Emergency Medical Insurance benefits continue to provide coverage for eligible emergencies related to COVID-19, even while a Canadian travel advisory related to COVID-19 is in effect.

 

Note that they don't specify what travel advisory, other than one "related to COVID-19". They do not differentiate between land travel and cruising.

 

In any event, there is little sense in debating the issue here any further. If you continue to disbelieve the information that you have been provided, I suggest that you telephone the companies yourself.

 

 

[Fouremco]

14 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

Have a look at this...

coverme-covid-19-pandemic-travel-plan-policy.pdfUnavailable

The link doesn't work, at least not for me. Could you try again?

[AlbertaCruisers]

As a note, for the Manulife (coverme) policy, which I searched and found online, they have the below wording on page 4 in a box near the top left, which makes it clear if you are vaccinated you do have medical coverage for Covid on a cruise.  As I noted in my other post, both companies said this is medical coverage only and they will not cover any issues relating to trip cancellation or interruption because of COVID.

 

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.

Edited July 28, 2021 by AlbertaCruisers

[d9704011]

51 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

The link doesn't work, at least not for me. Could you try again?

Huh....  Under the Overview, you can click on 'see the policy':

 

https://www.coverme.com/travel-insurance/travelling-canadians/covid-19-pandemic-travel-plan.html?province=ON&agecode=0

 

Just occured to me.... this plan may not be available in Quebec. Looked harder, seems it is.

Edited July 28, 2021 by d9704011