Best Price - now non-refundable deposit

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Just a thought about insurance.  You do not need to buy insurance when you buy the cruise, no matter what fare you pay.  While that may or may not be true if you buy insurance from HAL it would not apply to insurance purchased from any third party company.  Many of us would not consider HAL (or similar policies sold by cruise lines) as an option since we can generally do much better with insurance sold by other companies.

 

Hank

Usually there is a small window for buying private insurance to cover preexisting conditions. And it's not like the interest you would earn by putting off the insurance payment however months until your cruise would amount to very much.

[cruisemom42]

10 minutes ago, IPB4IGO said:

Does anybody other than HAL offer Cancel For Any Reason all the way up to embarkation, with no pre-existing conditions or pandemic exclusions?

 

Several lines are offering versions of this. I know Celebrity will allow you to cancel for ANY REASON up to 48 hours in advance of your sailing (called "Cruise with Confidence) -- of course you get a FCC and not a cash refund. This is for bookings made up to Oct 31.

 

They also just extended their NO COST Covid assistance program that offers significant protections for anyone who tests positive for COVID while on a cruise, including paying for the cost of any treatment needed immediately, your homeward journey and quarantine (if needed) and pro-rated refund of your fare.  

 

More here (scroll to bottom of page):  https://www.celebritycruises.com/health-and-safety

 

And discussed here on the Celebrity forum:  

 

[Hlitner]

Just now, ontheweb said:

Usually there is a small window for buying private insurance to cover preexisting conditions. And it's not like the interest you would earn by putting off the insurance payment however months until your cruise would amount to very much.

We carry an annual travel medical health policy that covers every trip we take (up to 70 days per trip) throughout the entire policy year.  That policy has no exclusion for pre-existing conditions or COVID.  This is the kind of thing that is often discussed on the "Cruise/Travel Insurance" blog here on CC (under "Cruise Discussion Topics").  

 

Hank

[ontheweb]

1 minute ago, Hlitner said:

We carry an annual travel medical health policy that covers every trip we take (up to 70 days per trip) throughout the entire policy year.  That policy has no exclusion for pre-existing conditions or COVID.  This is the kind of thing that is often discussed on the "Cruise/Travel Insurance" blog here on CC (under "Cruise Discussion Topics").  

 

Hank

Each and everyone of us has a different situation. We generally take on large vacation a year, often a cruise, sometimes not a cruise. So we insure each as we book. If we traveled as much as you and your Mrs., what you posted I'm sure would make much more sense.

[Florida_gal_50]

11 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

I have no clue as we do not ever buy that type of insurance.  But many of the "Cancel for Any Reason" deals are not even real insurance but simply a waiver sold by cruise lines.  I do know that some of the other lines upon which we cruise offer various Cancel for any Reason options which generally pay off in Future Cruise Credits but do not offer cash refunds.  One interesting issue which has been previously discussed online has been what would happen to all those Future Cruise Credits if a cruise line went bankrupt.  As crazy as this sounds, in our own cruising life we have had two cruise lines (where we had bookings) go bankrupt (Regency and Renaissance).  In those cases any kind of credits were lost although payments were refunded by major credit card companies.  Credit card protection (required by Federal Law) does not cover Future Cruise Credits.

 

Hank

We are talking about Hal right now.  They offer CASH refunds.  Last I checked Princess gives you a cruise credit.  Not sure of the other lines.  That turns me off.  I don’t want to fight to get money back.  I’m not swimming in cash and I do work so I don’t have days to spend on the phone begging for cash from insurance providers.

[Hlitner]

1 minute ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

We are talking about Hal right now.  They offer CASH refunds.  Last I checked Princess gives you a cruise credit.  Not sure of the other lines.  That turns me off.  I don’t want to fight to get money back.  I’m not swimming in cash and I do work so I don’t have days to spend on the phone begging for cash from insurance providers.

We agree :).  We have had 5 cruises canceled (3 cruise lines) due to COVID and requested (and received) our money back for each of those cruises.   Our first canceled cruise was an April 2020 HAL  cruise (in Asia).  HAL was wonderful and refunded our money (to our credit card) within 3 days.  HAL also gave us a FCC (25% of our cruise cost) which we used to book a similar itinerary in 2021 (Westerdam) which was also canceled by HAL.  So that FCC plus some extra FCC was again rolled over to a similar HAL cruise in 2022 (Noordam) which may or may not get canceled.   All these cancelations and FCCs have become so complicated that I probably should start a spread sheet :).   

 

 

[dmcfad2]

4 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

All these cancelations and FCCs have become so complicated that I should probably start a spreadsheet.

I did. 😄😄

[zgscl]

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Just a thought about insurance.  You do not need to buy insurance when you buy the cruise, no matter what fare you pay.  While that may or may not be true if you buy insurance from HAL it would not apply to insurance purchased from any third party company.  Many of us would not consider HAL (or similar policies sold by cruise lines) as an option since we can generally do much better with insurance sold by other companies.

 

Hank

The thing with third party insurance is that in most cases it must be purchased within 14 days of the FIRST trip payment if you want it to cover pre-existing medical conditions. 

[Florida_gal_50]

25 minutes ago, zgscl said:

The thing with third party insurance is that in most cases it must be purchased within 14 days of the FIRST trip payment if you want it to cover pre-existing medical conditions. 

Exactly 

[Florida_gal_50]

35 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

We agree :).  We have had 5 cruises canceled (3 cruise lines) due to COVID and requested (and received) our money back for each of those cruises.   Our first canceled cruise was an April 2020 HAL  cruise (in Asia).  HAL was wonderful and refunded our money (to our credit card) within 3 days.  HAL also gave us a FCC (25% of our cruise cost) which we used to book a similar itinerary in 2021 (Westerdam) which was also canceled by HAL.  So that FCC plus some extra FCC was again rolled over to a similar HAL cruise in 2022 (Noordam) which may or may not get canceled.   All these cancelations and FCCs have become so complicated that I probably should start a spread sheet :).   

 

 

I canceled my cruise in mar 2020.  I believe hal didn’t cancel it until a few weeks later so not the same thing at all.  I have another cruise booked for November.  Unless the Canadian government ends the travel advisory I’ll be canceling this one.  I believe hal will be going forward with the cruise.  If I had regular insurance I’m pretty sure I’d be up the creek to get money back because I’m sure that wouldn’t be criteria to cancel given the travel advisory was in place when I booked.  I don’t think you have to deal with that given you live in the USA.  I feel many people are traveling in the USA.  Not so much in Canada, especially internationally.

[cruisemom42]

7 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I canceled my cruise in mar 2020.  I believe hal didn’t cancel it until a few weeks later so not the same thing at all.  I have another cruise booked for November.  Unless the Canadian government ends the travel advisory I’ll be canceling this one.  I believe hal will be going forward with the cruise.  If I had regular insurance I’m pretty sure I’d be up the creek to get money back because I’m sure that wouldn’t be criteria to cancel given the travel advisory was in place when I booked.  I don’t think you have to deal with that given you live in the USA.  I feel many people are traveling in the USA.  Not so much in Canada, especially internationally.

 

I'm not sure if any cruise lines provide cash (rather than FCC) if the cruise is canceled by you (rather than by the cruise line) within the window of final payment.

[Florida_gal_50]

40 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I'm not sure if any cruise lines provide cash (rather than FCC) if the cruise is canceled by you (rather than by the cruise line) within the window of final payment.

Hal does.  If you buy cancel for any reason.  That is my point.  You receive cash for both the cruise and air.  Now that said you do lose the insurance value plus 10 percent if you buy the platinum insurance.  I have not heard that this has changed.

[cruisemom42]

6 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Hal does.  If you buy cancel for any reason.  That is my point.  You receive cash for both the cruise and air.  Now that said you do lose the insurance value plus 10 percent if you buy the platinum insurance.  I have not heard that this has changed.

 

Oh, I get it now. I thought you were talking about an included guarantee -- not paid insurance.

[Florida_gal_50]

Just now, cruisemom42 said:

 

Oh, I get it now. I thought you were talking about an included guarantee -- not paid insurance.

No, I won’t rely on that.  I’m just trying to get across that normal insurance isn’t going to let you cancel just for giggles. I knew it was risky to make final payment on this cruise but I need a break so badly.  I have a cruise booked for early 2022 so it wouldn’t be the end of the world for me to get a fcc.  If there is no advantage to me doing that I’ll be taking cash.

[zgscl]

33 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

No, I won’t rely on that.  I’m just trying to get across that normal insurance isn’t going to let you cancel just for giggles. I knew it was risky to make final payment on this cruise but I need a break so badly.  I have a cruise booked for early 2022 so it wouldn’t be the end of the world for me to get a fcc.  If there is no advantage to me doing that I’ll be taking cash.

Fingers crossed that it works out for you. It was so lovely being back onboard! 

[iancal]

IF we travel, and we have some potential trips in mind, we will not make any travel buys until a week or less prior to departure date.

 

Covid has a long way to go.  Entry requirements, exclusions, etc can change very quickly.  Not to mention cancelations or re-schedules.

[12cruise2]

7 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Just a thought about insurance.  You do not need to buy insurance when you buy the cruise, no matter what fare you pay.  While that may or may not be true if you buy insurance from HAL it would not apply to insurance purchased from any third party company.  Many of us would not consider HAL (or similar policies sold by cruise lines) as an option since we can generally do much better with insurance sold by other companies.

 

Hank

You DO have to purchase insurance, when you are purchasing it from another insurer that is not HAL, usually within 14 or fewer days of paying your first non-refundable amount of money--in order to protect your pre-existing medical conditions coverage clause on the insurance--the days from making your first non-refundable payment can vary, but most of us want to protect coverage including pre-existing medical conditions.  I purchase our insurance online through insuremytrip.com the day I reserve our cruise with a non-refundable deposit.  We have to be very careful when offering opinions about insurance; it's a tricky process.  Of course I missed all the earlier replies saying the same thing by not reading the thread through before posting!

Edited September 26, 2021 by 12cruise2

[12cruise2]

4 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

 I’d love to hear the answer to that as well.  I really like that hal covers the air portion but it doesn’t up the price of insurance to cover it.  Lately I have purchased either business class or premium economy so the tickets are not cheap and the money is refunded for that.  Good luck trying to find a random insurance company to do that.

Call Insuremytrip.com.  They offer a large number of insurance coverages specifically designed for travel.  CFIR has become quite expensive.  Often it covers 80% not 100%.  Each policy is different.  Their agents are knowledgeable and you also can read all the policies yourself on your own if you want.  I've used them for years now and have been satisfied.  I've gone to using policies that have their medical coverage primary, rather than secondary.  Then I don't have to deal with submitting my claims to my own primary insurance carrier first, getting an EOB, then my secondary, getting an EOB  then submitting to the travel insurance.  We get high limits on medical and med. evac.  We were on an HAL once at Icy Strait Point, a man fell on the rocks walking around and hurt his leg; $30,000 for special medical evac plane trip just to go to Fairbanks to be treated.  Granted it may not happen to many of us, but wow, what a bill if it does.

[Florida_gal_50]

12 minutes ago, 12cruise2 said:

Call Insuremytrip.com.  They offer a large number of insurance coverages specifically designed for travel.  CFIR has become quite expensive.  Often it covers 80% not 100%.  Each policy is different.  Their agents are knowledgeable and you also can read all the policies yourself on your own if you want.  I've used them for years now and have been satisfied.  I've gone to using policies that have their medical coverage primary, rather than secondary.  Then I don't have to deal with submitting my claims to my own primary insurance carrier first, getting an EOB, then my secondary, getting an EOB  then submitting to the travel insurance.  We get high limits on medical and med. evac.  We were on an HAL once at Icy Strait Point, a man fell on the rocks walking around and hurt his leg; $30,000 for special medical evac plane trip just to go to Fairbanks to be treated.  Granted it may not happen to many of us, but wow, what a bill if it does.

Thank you but I'm quite happy with hals cfar insurance.  Its other people that think its garbage without ever looking at it.  Apparently they can get awesome coverage though their insurance.  I also don't have to purchase it until the day before final.

[12cruise2]

1 minute ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Thank you but I'm quite happy with hals cfar insurance.  Its other people that think its garbage without ever looking at it.  Apparently they can get awesome coverage though their insurance.  I also don't have to purchase it until the day before final.

Yes, I see that quoting you somehow didn't come out right.  I think I meant to quote the person who commented before you in the thread.  These "quotes" are difficult to get what you want quoted.

[Florida_gal_50]

1 minute ago, 12cruise2 said:

Yes, I see that quoting you somehow didn't come out right.  I think I meant to quote the person who commented before you in the thread.  These "quotes" are difficult to get what you want quoted.

Cruise critic seems to have a mind of it's own lately too.

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Thank you but I'm quite happy with hals cfar insurance.  Its other people that think its garbage without ever looking at it.  Apparently they can get awesome coverage though their insurance.  I also don't have to purchase it until the day before final.

I do not recall anyone calling it "garbage."  My main issue (which I clearly posted) has to do with the relatively low medical limits.  Most cruise line policies (not just HAL) provide 10-20,000 of medical insurance.  In today's world this is wholly inadequate.   As far as CFAR, if folks think they need it then they should certainly get it. 

 

There is another side to travel insurance.  DW and I have saved more then $100,000 by not buying trip insurance over many years (although we always have decent trip medical insurance).   One of our major credit cards gives us up to $20,000 of trip interruption/cancelation insurance for no cost as long as we charge the trip on that card.   We have no concern about cancelling "for any reason" because the only reason we would cancel a trip would be for good cause covered by the credit card insurance.

 

The thing about insurance is that each person their own degree of risk tolerance.  Insurance offers the opportunity to reduce one's risk but at a cost.  Each person should simply do what best fits their own situation and not rely on consensus.  In the final analysis there is no right or wrong with this issue but simply one of personal preference.

 

Hank

 

 

[zgscl]

I believe with CPP you can add it at any time until final payment. 
 

We mostly get the insurance for the medical coverages and I agree with others that 10-20K does not seem nearly enough. I am actually considering an annual policy now for the medical (can get in the $300-500/year range) and then looking at HAL for the CPP or not. Still calculating but that may end up being better for me than buying individual trip insurance as I am planning quite a bit of travel over the next year.

[sailingdutchy]

On 9/25/2021 at 6:15 PM, zgscl said:

Hi All, Sorry if this isn't new but I just noticed on three separate bookings I made yesterday that the best price now comes with a non-refundable deposit. Thankfully I caught this and was able to switch to the HIA bookings, but wanted to warn everyone. As recently as last week all of my new best price reservations had refundable deposits. Not sure if this is sailing specific or a larger change but applied to both my 2022 & 2023 Alaska and 2023 Hawaii sailings.

 

In the past I have found that we should have a number of 100 or 200 dollar  Future Cruise Deposits ahead of us so they will usually accept a FCD as a total deposit for almost any cruise . So I stock up on FCD and have at least 3 for each of us on hand .

 

[zgscl]

1 hour ago, sailingdutchy said:

 

In the past I have found that we should have a number of 100 or 200 dollar  Future Cruise Deposits ahead of us so they will usually accept a FCD as a total deposit for almost any cruise . So I stock up on FCD and have at least 3 for each of us on hand .

 

We always used to do this but the current $25 OBC on a 7 day is a lot less attractive though the reduced deposit is nice.