Has anyone had to cancel a cruise after final payment due to a death in the family?

[Stockjock]

My GF and I have a European cruise scheduled for this summer and we're past final payment.  We both really would like to go, as we've mostly been hiding from covid for the past 2.5 years.

My mother is 87 and in assisted living.  Previously, her body wasn't doing great, with congestive heart failure and crippling arthritis, but she was stable.  She's always been sharp mentally, but I can see a sharp physical, and to a lesser extent, mental decline, very recently and we've put her on hospice care.  Today she said, "I think there's something very wrong with me", and I know that she's right.

Obviously, I'd like to keep mom around for a very long time, but I suspect she won't be with us much longer.  Hard to say when she might pass.  It could be tomorrow, next month, or in 6 months.

Our plan is to go to Europe if mom is at least somewhat stable, or if she has passed, but if she's very close to passing I'd probably feel the need to cancel the cruise.  

Has anyone had experience with something like this?  Are there any special provisions for a death in the family, or would it simply be the "cruise with confidence" guarantee with a FCC given?

Edited June 28, 2022 by Stockjock

[sm9690]

I'm sorry to hear this. Travel insurance would most likely cover this, check the t&c's of your policy

[CruisingFox27]

Very sorry to hear of your situation. In cases of death and terminal illness your travel insurance is the cover for you if you need to cancel. 

 

When my MIL was given a terminal diagnosis just before our honeymoon, the insurance company required Dr's certificates etc and they would then cover our cancellation cost. 

[Stockjock]

6 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

Very sorry to hear of your situation. In cases of death and terminal illness your travel insurance is the cover for you if you need to cancel. 

 

When my MIL was given a terminal diagnosis just before our honeymoon, the insurance company required Dr's certificates etc and they would then cover our cancellation cost. 

 

6 hours ago, sm9690 said:

I'm sorry to hear this. Travel insurance would most likely cover this, check the t&c's of your policy

Not so sure that death of a family member (parent) who is not traveling would be covered.  Guess I'll do some more homework.

Edited June 28, 2022 by Stockjock

[diesel1973]

My son in law passed before our scheduled cruise that we booked on  Royal thru a TA. The TA would not let us cancel but issued us a FCC. Royal would not respond but told us it was the TA's call. I finally e-mailed an executive at Royal and had a very sympathetic response and was refunded within 2 weeks. Don't know what MSC will do but with my first and last dealings with them I think you will get no where. As far as I'm concerned they are pirates.

[cruiseguyinorl]

41 minutes ago, Stockjock said:

Not so sure that death of a family member (parent) who is not traveling would be covered.

 

MSC will not refund and advise to make a claim with your travel insurance based on my experience for clients. Most travel policies will cover death of an immediate family member whether or not they are traveling. I lost my mom in March during the time I was supposed to be on the Meraviglia. I hope your situation turns out better.

Bret

[CruisingFox27]

1 hour ago, Stockjock said:

 

Not so sure that death of a family member (parent) who is not traveling would be covered.  Guess I'll do some more homework.

All of the insurance policies we've ever had have included death of an immediate family member covered. Regardless of if they are travelling. 

I wouldn't expect MSC or a travel agent to cover this but I'd certainly expect insurance to cover it. 

 

I sincerely hope that you don't need it though. 

[perakcruiser]

16 hours ago, Stockjock said:

Has anyone had experience with something like this?

Not with a cruise company but with airlines when my mom in law passed away. Death of a close family member is maybe the only case where airlines are willing to refund (or give credit or reschedule for free). I needed to provide death certificate of my mom in law, birth certificate of my wife and our marrige certificate. 

And there is a problem for you as you wrote "GF". Even I assume that MSC would be as generous as the airlines, 50% of the money for flights and cruise is gone. Also a travel insurance will probably not cover her, but this is pure speculation and certainly hige differences between insurances and countries. 

 

[1kaper]

46 minutes ago, perakcruiser said:

Not with a cruise company but with airlines when my mom in law passed away. Death of a close family member is maybe the only case where airlines are willing to refund (or give credit or reschedule for free). I needed to provide death certificate of my mom in law, birth certificate of my wife and our marrige certificate. 

And there is a problem for you as you wrote "GF". Even I assume that MSC would be as generous as the airlines, 50% of the money for flights and cruise is gone. Also a travel insurance will probably not cover her, but this is pure speculation and certainly hige differences between insurances and countries. 

 

 

My travel insurance on one of my credit card covers the "insured person" (the owner of the account) and their spouse or domestic partner.  Domestic partner has a specific definition including being required to have lived with the insured person for at least 12 months and a few other things.  My other card considered someone you have lived with for 12 months a spouse and spouses are covered.  So it is possible for a girlfriend to be covered, it just depends on the situation and the policy. 

 

3 hours ago, Stockjock said:

 

Not so sure that death of a family member (parent) who is not traveling would be covered.  Guess I'll do some more homework.

 

It is quite common coverage. 

[Stockjock]

While we could use insurance, which we would be required to purchase but haven't yet done so, I was thinking maybe just a FCC under MSC's cruise w/confidence guarantee.  I believe we'd get a full FCC, but it would have to be used by March 2023.

[Mary229]

I am sorry your mother is not well.  Go to the Insurance section of the forum.  Steve of trip insurance . com is always willing to answer the most difficult questions.  He will even communicate with you by email so he can get the facts of your particular policy. 
 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

Edited June 28, 2022 by Mary229

[perakcruiser]

13 hours ago, 1kaper said:

So it is possible for a girlfriend to be covered, it just depends on the situation and the policy. 

Not suprised to hear, certainly another case of cultural differences. Something like a "Domestic partner" sounds reasonable in Canada, but this idea maybe will take decades to arrive in other countries. In Malaysia centuries. 

[Rossco01]

On 6/28/2022 at 8:38 PM, Stockjock said:

While we could use insurance, which we would be required to purchase but haven't yet done so, I was thinking maybe just a FCC under MSC's cruise w/confidence guarantee.  I believe we'd get a full FCC, but it would have to be used by March 2023.

Very sorry to hear this and hoping you don't need to cancel. Looking at above I'd get insurance in place sooner rather than later. It's surprising how many things it covers PRIOR to travel (including this situation). I think the advice is always to take out insurance cover straight away after purchase. It really is not a lot of money for what it covers.

[emmas gran]

Rules are funny here, you are not covered for something you know about prior to taking out the policy.

Not sure about bereavement though

[kernow]

Not sure how it works in the US but in the UK I don't think the insurance would cover you if your mum is already in a hospice when you purchase it.

 

I'm certainly not unsympathetic as I was in a similar situation when we cruised in May (we had insurance). My mum also had heart failure and was becoming weaker, we went on the cruise,(she didn't want us to cancel) and she was still here when we got back. Sadly she died a couple of weeks later.

[Rossco01]

I'd agree if they are ALREADY in hospice it's unlikely to cover you. However if they are still at home and it's just a possibility that's a different matter. As always the insurance company would want to know what you knew in advance.

 

[mmbcater]

So very sorry of your situation-losing a parent is so difficult. 

 

This is what insurance is meant to be for! Please grab a policy and have peace of mind if anything happens. You are issuing all cabin mates whether spouse or not....

[Lisichka]

It says right in their website that you can change your booking up to 48 hours before sailing.

 

TERMS & CONDITIONS

FLEXIBLE BOOKING CHANGES

Offer applicable on ALL CRUISES booked through July 15, 2022 AND departures through March 31, 2023

 

Terms & Conditions:

 

• Change your cruise up to 48 hours prior to departure. 
• Booking must be made through July 15, 2022, and your cruise departure date is through March 31, 2023. 
• Excluding World Cruise & World Cruise segments.

[journeymore]

Yes twice. 1st time my sister passed unexpectedly. I was scheduled to fly to Rome on Saturday for a Monday B2B sailing. The funeral was on Monday. This was a Celebrity cruise. I instead flew from Houston to LA and on Tuesday flew from LA and boarded the ship in Athens. This we pre Covid. Insurance covered it completely. I needed a copy of the death certificate 

 

2nd my then father in law got put on hospice 2 weeks before we were to sail. Insurance requested documentation from his doctor. They faxed documents and covered the canceled cruise. 

Hopefully everything works out well for your family.