Government Travel Advisory-Avoid all cruise ship travel

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, d9704011 said:

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.

Thanks, that worked just fine for me this time.

 

Just FYI, here's what your earlier post looked like, with "Unavailable" written on the link. Of course, I clicked on it anyway out of curiosity, and received the error message from CC.

 

 

 

 

[soccersharon]

5 hours ago, Fouremco said:

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.

 

 

I did call Manulife last week - and it was an emphatic “no” to cruises while the Level 4 (a.k.a.  do not travel) advisory is in place.  I questioned the agent about cruising in particular - and it was a firm no.  I know the passages in the policy make it seem like cruise travel is covered (called the agent put on that.  Her answer was “people should be reading the exclusions”.  Sigh.

 

Either way, I hope folks have a quarantine plan in place, are able to be away from home, and miss work for 14 days if a positive test is revealed before travelling home.  That was a deal-breaker for us.

[petuniaflower]

Our blue cross does not cover, so Im looking for alternatives.

This was my chat with Manulife..

 

Also looked into Johnson, found this, I read it to mean they include covid emergency medical (but maybe not trip canellation) regardless of travel advisory (bottom sentence), but doesnt specifically mention cruises..not sure if Im reading the exclusions correctly though..its page 23 under exclusions if anyone wants to take a read..so I decided to call before I posted this, Johnson said they do provide the covid emergency medical regardless of travel advisory, just not trip cancellation, and cruises are treated no different than land vacations.

I should mention she asked me what affiliation I had, so I went online to see what options there were and I am a Centennial College grad so I said that and she said sometimes that makes a difference, so Im not exactly sure what that means..

Edited July 29, 2021 by petuniaflower

[Fouremco]

14 hours ago, soccersharon said:

I did call Manulife last week - and it was an emphatic “no” to cruises while the Level 4 (a.k.a.  do not travel) advisory is in place.  I questioned the agent about cruising in particular - and it was a firm no.  I know the passages in the policy make it seem like cruise travel is covered (called the agent put on that.  Her answer was “people should be reading the exclusions”.  Sigh.

 

Either way, I hope folks have a quarantine plan in place, are able to be away from home, and miss work for 14 days if a positive test is revealed before travelling home.  That was a deal-breaker for us.

I don't know what to tell you at this point, as the agent you spoke to contradicted the Manulife Travel Insurance COVID-19 Pandemic Travel Plan for Travelling Canadians. You are welcome to read the entire policy document   

(https://www.coverme.com/content/dam/affinity/coverme/english/documents/coverme-covid-19-pandemic-travel-plan-policy.pdf )

but the pertinent information can be found in SECTION 8 – Emergency Medical Exclusions & Limitations, paragraph 25:

 

Any act of terrorism or any medical condition you suffer or contract when an official travel advisory issued by the Government of Canada states, "Avoid all non-essential travel" regarding the country, region or city of your destination, before your effective date. To view the travel advisories, visit the Government of Canada Travel site. For claims due to Coronavirus (COVID-19), this exclusion does not apply. Exception: Treatment for Coronavirus (COVID-19) and related complications that you suffer or contract while you are on a cruise or any destination included in your cruise itinerary is not covered if you have not received the vaccine. [emphasis added]

 

That paragraph clearly states that if you are vaccinated, COVID medical claims are not excluded because of the existence of a travel advisory. My best guess is that the agent to whom you spoke was simply unaware of the exclusion to the exclusion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[petuniaflower]

Yup, was just sharing what Ive found thus far:)

[soccersharon]

2 hours ago, petuniaflower said:

Our blue cross does not cover, so Im looking for alternatives.

This was my chat with Manulife..

 

Also looked into Johnson, found this, I read it to mean they include covid emergency medical (but maybe not trip canellation) regardless of travel advisory (bottom sentence), but doesnt specifically mention cruises..not sure if Im reading the exclusions correctly though..its page 23 under exclusions if anyone wants to take a read..so I decided to call before I posted this, Johnson said they do provide the covid emergency medical regardless of travel advisory, just not trip cancellation, and cruises are treated no different than land vacations.

I should mention she asked me what affiliation I had, so I went online to see what options there were and I am a Centennial College grad so I said that and she said sometimes that makes a difference, so Im not exactly sure what that means..

Yup!  The Cover Me Covid-19 plan does not include cruises - as I was told as well.

[soccersharon]

2 hours ago, Fouremco said:

I don't know what to tell you at this point, as the agent you spoke to contradicted the Manulife Travel Insurance COVID-19 Pandemic Travel Plan for Travelling Canadians. You are welcome to read the entire policy document   

(https://www.coverme.com/content/dam/affinity/coverme/english/documents/coverme-covid-19-pandemic-travel-plan-policy.pdf )

but the pertinent information can be found in SECTION 8 – Emergency Medical Exclusions & Limitations, paragraph 25:

 

Any act of terrorism or any medical condition you suffer or contract when an official travel advisory issued by the Government of Canada states, "Avoid all non-essential travel" regarding the country, region or city of your destination, before your effective date. To view the travel advisories, visit the Government of Canada Travel site. For claims due to Coronavirus (COVID-19), this exclusion does not apply. Exception: Treatment for Coronavirus (COVID-19) and related complications that you suffer or contract while you are on a cruise or any destination included in your cruise itinerary is not covered if you have not received the vaccine. [emphasis added]

 

That paragraph clearly states that if you are vaccinated, COVID medical claims are not excluded because of the existence of a travel advisory. My best guess is that the agent to whom you spoke was simply unaware of the exclusion to the exclusion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Either way, most of (even with insurance), cannot risk being quarantined for 14 days outside the country.  Cruising will have to wait until 2022 for us now.  Hoping things will have improved dramatically by then.

[Fouremco]

14 minutes ago, soccersharon said:

Yup!  The Cover Me Covid-19 plan does not include cruises - as I was told as well.

The problem here is that the question asked was too broad. If asked whether they provide medical-only coverage for COVID-19 rather than "travel insurance", the response would have been different.

 

As I noted in this post, @AlbertaCruisers took the time to ask the right questions when speaking to a Manulife representative and was given an affirmative answer on the availability of medical coverage: 

 

 

As there written policy states that they provide medical coverage, travel advisories notwithstanding, and as someone asking the appropriate questions with a Manulife representative was given the same information, I can only conclude that the company does in fact offer the coverage.

 

 

26 minutes ago, soccersharon said:

Either way, most of (even with insurance), cannot risk being quarantined for 14 days outside the country.  Cruising will have to wait until 2022 for us now.  Hoping things will have improved dramatically by then.

 

On that we can agree! 😇 Our next booking isn't until March, and hopefully many of the current issues will be well behind us by then.

[soccersharon]

3 hours ago, Fouremco said:

The problem here is that the question asked was too broad. If asked whether they provide medical-only coverage for COVID-19 rather than "travel insurance", the response would have been different.

 

As I noted in this post, @AlbertaCruisers took the time to ask the right questions when speaking to a Manulife representative and was given an affirmative answer on the availability of medical coverage: 

 

 

As there written policy states that they provide medical coverage, travel advisories notwithstanding, and as someone asking the appropriate questions with a Manulife representative was given the same information, I can only conclude that the company does in fact offer the coverage.

 

 

 

On that we can agree! 😇 Our next booking isn't until March, and hopefully many of the current issues will be well behind us by then.

Amen to that!

[john2003]

I guess I am glad that we can cancelled for Oct 30. Just too much opportunity for problems. Still very sad about it.

Air Canada just cancelled our Auckland flight home in March which was expected.