HAL "Cancel for any Reason" Insurance

[Lindancer]

I don't like what HAL is doing with my cruise that is supposed to go from Venice to Venice, but doesn't actually go to Venice.  I have the above insurance and want to cancel.  I am supposed to get 90% of my cruise cost back.  Has anyone ever used this insurance?  I am wondering how long it will take to get my money back.  I want to book another cruise that requires full payment fairly soon, and I can't really afford to book it until I get my money back from Holland America.  Thanks in advance

[Florida_gal_50]

I have used it.  It was when everything was going haywire at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.  The credit was on my credit card no more than 10 days later.  Can’t say if it’s that quick now.

[janmcn]

I’ve used it several years ago 2 days before boarding an AK cruise. My father was dying. I got money back to cc within 2 weeks. (90%) Always get it. 

[rodndonna]

1 hour ago, Lindancer said:

I don't like what HAL is doing with my cruise that is supposed to go from Venice to Venice, but doesn't actually go to Venice.  I have the above insurance and want to cancel.  I am supposed to get 90% of my cruise cost back.  Has anyone ever used this insurance?  I am wondering how long it will take to get my money back.  I want to book another cruise that requires full payment fairly soon, and I can't really afford to book it until I get my money back from Holland America.  Thanks in advance

 

With Princess, I had cancelled a cruise with FCC being issued but not received that I wanted to use towards another cruise. I was able to just call in to book and give them my details for the outstanding FCC and they were able to 'expedite' that FCC to do my booking. You could try something similar, just call in to cancel old and book the new and say you want the funds from the cancelled cruise to be applied to your new booking.

[Florida_gal_50]

3 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

With Princess, I had cancelled a cruise with FCC being issued but not received that I wanted to use towards another cruise. I was able to just call in to book and give them my details for the outstanding FCC and they were able to 'expedite' that FCC to do my booking. You could try something similar, just call in to cancel old and book the new and say you want the funds from the cancelled cruise to be applied to your new booking.

It’s a good thought but I’m not sure that will work.  With the platinum insurance you actually get cash back.  That’s the thing I don’t like about the Princess insurance.

[Btimmer]

2 hours ago, rodndonna said:

 

With Princess, I had cancelled a cruise with FCC being issued but not received that I wanted to use towards another cruise. I was able to just call in to book and give them my details for the outstanding FCC and they were able to 'expedite' that FCC to do my booking. You could try something similar, just call in to cancel old and book the new and say you want the funds from the cancelled cruise to be applied to your new booking.

I recently cancelled a HAL cruise and rebooked the same cruise in a different class cabin.  HAL would not let me transfer the funds from the old cruise to the new cruise.  I'm still waiting after 2 weeks for our refunds.

[Lindancer]

2 hours ago, rodndonna said:

 

With Princess, I had cancelled a cruise with FCC being issued but not received that I wanted to use towards another cruise. I was able to just call in to book and give them my details for the outstanding FCC and they were able to 'expedite' that FCC to do my booking. You could try something similar, just call in to cancel old and book the new and say you want the funds from the cancelled cruise to be applied to your new booking.

That's an excellent idea, and I already talked to my PCC about transferring the money from old cruise to new cruise.  She said the only way HAL would go for that is if the new cruise cost substantially more than the first cruise!  (Can you stand it?)

[AncientWanderer]

7 minutes ago, Lindancer said:

That's an excellent idea, and I already talked to my PCC about transferring the money from old cruise to new cruise.  She said the only way HAL would go for that is if the new cruise cost substantially more than the first cruise!  (Can you stand it?)

 

We did this successfully and the new cruise was only a bit more because it was a more desirable date.   Not substantially more, whatever that means.  

I hope it works out for you.  We were really happy with how things worked out.

[Lindancer]

28 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

We did this successfully and the new cruise was only a bit more because it was a more desirable date.   Not substantially more, whatever that means.  

I hope it works out for you.  We were really happy with how things worked out.

Thank you.  I hope so too.  It would simplify things for me and I am really excited about the "2nd cruise".

[rodndonna]

1 hour ago, Lindancer said:

That's an excellent idea, and I already talked to my PCC about transferring the money from old cruise to new cruise.  She said the only way HAL would go for that is if the new cruise cost substantially more than the first cruise!  (Can you stand it?)

 

That is just bizarre....

[Heartgrove]

We have two different stories on this topic. The first was over losing a $600 deposit because the cancellation date was 120 days before the cruise but final payment date was the normal 75 days. We didn't realize at the time that the two dates could be different. HAL allowed us to use the deposit for another cruise - as long as the cruise was of equal or greater cost.  That made sense as they could recover the same or more money allowing us to do this.

 

Just two weeks ago we needed to cancel our April 3 cruise on the Rotterdam due to a SWA meltdown. We had our money back on our card in four days.

[Lindancer]

16 minutes ago, Heartgrove said:

We have two different stories on this topic. The first was over losing a $600 deposit because the cancellation date was 120 days before the cruise but final payment date was the normal 75 days. We didn't realize at the time that the two dates could be different. HAL allowed us to use the deposit for another cruise - as long as the cruise was of equal or greater cost.  That made sense as they could recover the same or more money allowing us to do this.

 

Just two weeks ago we needed to cancel our April 3 cruise on the Rotterdam due to a SWA meltdown. We had our money back on our card in four days.

Thanks. Basically I am hearing positive things about the HAL coverage.  I have a bad attitude because my husband had some medical issues on a Norwegian cruise over Christmas.   We are still getting a run-around from their insurance company and still haven't received the $9000 they owe us!  They won't pay until my secondary insurance signs off, and the secondary won't sign off until Medicare signs off first.....but no one was telling us this.  They let us sit in limbo so they keep their money as long as they can, and I don't like feeling that I have to fight for the insurance money that I am owed.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Always use HAL's Platinum Cancellation. Recently canceled on a Monday morning; funds on my AX credit card Thursday morning. Only time I ever waited a long time was 2020 when I canceled in March and funds not received until June - that was the Covid mess time when all H---broke loose.

[TiogaCruiser]

1 hour ago, Lindancer said:

Thanks. Basically I am hearing positive things about the HAL coverage.  I have a bad attitude because my husband had some medical issues on a Norwegian cruise over Christmas.   We are still getting a run-around from their insurance company and still haven't received the $9000 they owe us!  They won't pay until my secondary insurance signs off, and the secondary won't sign off until Medicare signs off first.....but no one was telling us this.  They let us sit in limbo so they keep their money as long as they can, and I don't like feeling that I have to fight for the insurance money that I am owed.

I’ve used the HAL platinum cancellation twice: the first was in 2017 when a parent became very I’ll 4 days before I was to fly out for the cruise. I had Shorex and precruise tour back on my card win 2 days and the remainder within 6 ( there was a weekend in there). The second time was about 3 hours before the Pause. I was scheduled to sail in about 10 days and as Covid shutdown the world, HAL was hellbent on still cruising. It took about 3 months to get my refund. Those were extreme circumstances.

 

One thought about your previous experience. Being you were on a cruise when your incident occurred, I think it’s a totally different situation when you cancel before the cruise. HAL holds the funds until just before you leave for your cruise, then converts the coverage into an insurance policy. If anything happens after that point, you are dealing with the insurance company and not HAL. And it is SOP for an insurance to wait for a response from other insurance if they are not primary. 

[Lindancer]

2 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

I’ve used the HAL platinum cancellation twice: the first was in 2017 when a parent became very I’ll 4 days before I was to fly out for the cruise. I had Shorex and precruise tour back on my card win 2 days and the remainder within 6 ( there was a weekend in there). The second time was about 3 hours before the Pause. I was scheduled to sail in about 10 days and as Covid shutdown the world, HAL was hellbent on still cruising. It took about 3 months to get my refund. Those were extreme circumstances.

 

One thought about your previous experience. Being you were on a cruise when your incident occurred, I think it’s a totally different situation when you cancel before the cruise. HAL holds the funds until just before you leave for your cruise, then converts the coverage into an insurance policy. If anything happens after that point, you are dealing with the insurance company and not HAL. And it is SOP for an insurance to wait for a response from other insurance if they are not primary. 

Yes, I'm sure you are totally correct.  Thanks.

[Heartgrove]

2 hours ago, Heartgrove said:

We have two different stories on this topic. The first was over losing a $600 deposit because the cancellation date was 120 days before the cruise but final payment date was the normal 75 days. We didn't realize at the time that the two dates could be different. HAL allowed us to use the deposit for another cruise - as long as the cruise was of equal or greater cost.  That made sense as they could recover the same or more money allowing us to do this.

 

Just two weeks ago we needed to cancel our April 3 cruise on the Rotterdam due to a SWA meltdown. We had our money back on our card in four days.

 

I forgot to mention we had the Platinum insurance.

[PSR]

Has anyone ever had to use the HAL "Cancel for Any Reason' Platinum  insurance when FCCs were used to partially pay for the fare?  If so, did you receive the total amount back as a refund, or only the amount that was not part of the FCC? Thank you for any information.

[SusieKIslandGirl]

My cruise was cancelled by HAL-Volundam being used as a refugee hotel in Rotterdam so insurance wasn't an issue. But it was paid in full and I could only transfer funds if the new cruise was this year. My replacement cruise (same itinerary) is next May so had to pay the $1200 deposit. I'm still waiting for my refund although excursions were refunded promptly.

[DrKoob]

21 hours ago, Lindancer said:

I don't like what HAL is doing with my cruise that is supposed to go from Venice to Venice, but doesn't actually go to Venice. 

I know this question is about insurance but just wanted to say that your cruise probably still goes to Venice. Here is where the new port (dictated by the Italian government, not Viking) is. It's an easy vaporetto ride away. Viking is docking in Fusina which is right across the lagoon. It's not like the ships on the bigger cruise lines (HAL, Royal, Celebrity, etc.) that are moving to Ravenna (2 hours) or Trieste (90 minutes) away. 
 

 

Edited April 17, 2022 by DrKoob

[Lindancer]

1 hour ago, DrKoob said:

I know this question is about insurance but just wanted to say that your cruise probably still goes to Venice. Here is where the new port (dictated by the Italian government, not Viking) is. It's an easy vaporetto ride away. Viking is docking in Fusina which is right across the lagoon. It's not like the ships on the bigger cruise lines (HAL, Royal, Celebrity, etc.) that are moving to Ravenna (2 hours) or Trieste (90 minutes) away. 
 

 

I understand but olland America is one of the bigger cruise lines.  The HAL cruises were originally supposed to leave from Marghera across the lagoon.  This has changed,   All HAL cruises are now leaving from Trieste, which is 90 miles away.  They are going to shuttle their passengers directly from the Venice airport to Trieste, and Venice itself is not on the itinerary at all anymore.  

[Kirsten T]

Used Platinum insurance to cancel a 7-night Mexican cruise in March. I had the refund in about a week. Keep in mind that the 90% back doesn't include the price of the insurance - that's non-refundable - but using our TA, cancelling and getting the money back was easy and fast. I was pleasantly surprised.

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, Kirsten T said:

Used Platinum insurance to cancel a 7-night Mexican cruise in March. I had the refund in about a week. Keep in mind that the 90% back doesn't include the price of the insurance - that's non-refundable - but using our TA, cancelling and getting the money back was easy and fast. I was pleasantly surprised.

Good point about the insurance premium.

[TiogaCruiser]

5 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Good point about the insurance premium.

True.

Sometimes that cost is just a small amount. My SA trip, which I bought platinum for, covered the cruise and flights, and pre- cruise tour to Iguazu. However, it’s cost was only based on the cost of the cruise, which was very inexpensive. 

[Florida_gal_50]

21 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

True.

Sometimes that cost is just a small amount. My SA trip, which I bought platinum for, covered the cruise and flights, and pre- cruise tour to Iguazu. However, it’s cost was only based on the cost of the cruise, which was very inexpensive. 

My insurance tend to be almost $500.  I  rarely get any great prices on a cruise.

[Lindancer]

44 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

My insurance tend to be almost $500.  I  rarely get any great prices on a cruise.

I paid over 3 times that to insure our Greek cruise last year.  But there were 3 of us and we had a Neptune Suite, so....  the more the cruise costs, the higher the insurance!