Princess Vacation Protection not available in BC

[whee-sailing]

The Princess web site says:

 

Note that Princess Vacation Protection is not available to residents of the state of New York, British Columbia, Quebec, Puerto Rico, or Mexico.

 

Is British Columbia being on the list a new thing? Has anyone from BC purchased it recently? 

[canadianbear]

Just now, whee-sailing said:

The Princess web site says:

 

Note that Princess Vacation Protection is not available to residents of the state of New York, British Columbia, Quebec, Puerto Rico, or Mexico.

 

Is British Columbia being on the list a new thing? Has anyone from BC purchased it recently? 

Yikes. Never seen BC excluded.  

[Heidi13]

I first noted it with Viking last year, when their insurance changed so it was not available to any Canadian, whereas initially it was only not available in Quebec. Princess are now the 2nd cruise line I am aware of that can't sell in BC.

[whee-sailing]

The rep I just spoke with stated that Princess Vacation Protection would no longer be available in Canada at all starting October 16th. This seems pretty big and I don't see any news release about it or any updates on the web site.

[d9704011]

12 hours ago, whee-sailing said:

The rep I just spoke with stated that Princess Vacation Protection would no longer be available in Canada at all starting October 16th. This seems pretty big and I don't see any news release about it or any updates on the web site.

I never use(d) PVP and can see this will inconvenience a number of people.  I'm with Johnson/MEDOC group travel/medical insurance.  Canadian travelers will have to start looking at Manulife, Blue Cross, RBC, etc... for their travel insurance needs.

[lx200gps]

2 hours ago, d9704011 said:

I never use(d) PVP and can see this will inconvenience a number of people.  I'm with Johnson/MEDOC group travel/medical insurance.  Canadian travelers will have to start looking at Manulife, Blue Cross, RBC, etc... for their travel insurance needs.

Princess's PVP has never been a particularly strong program anyway, many other offerings will beat them every time. The only reason we used to buy it (when it was available in Quebec) was for the excellent CFAR coverage. At 100% FCC back with no questions asked it was a great deal when all other offerings are/were no more 75-80%

[Sn0cruiser]

We buy it only for the CFAR as well.  Did the rep who indicated it would no longer be available to Canadians on Oct 16 (I’m assuming 2023 - this Monday) say what would happen if you had already purchased it for a cruise that sails &/or has final payment after that date ?

[phabric]

Hope Princess makes an announcement or posts it.  I have PVP for all 5 future cruises.

 

PVP has no questionnaire for age or health plus Cancel for any reason

[bookbabe]

We purchased the Princess insurance in April for my BC resident mom’s recent cruise, she just got back this week.  Glad she made it in under the wire.

[whee-sailing]

2 hours ago, Sn0cruiser said:

We buy it only for the CFAR as well.  Did the rep who indicated it would no longer be available to Canadians on Oct 16 (I’m assuming 2023 - this Monday) say what would happen if you had already purchased it for a cruise that sails &/or has final payment after that date ?

 

He sold it to us so I guess it's technically not for sale after the 16th, but if you've already bought it then it's okay. He also knew we were in BC when he sold it to us, so needless to say I'm rather confused by the whole thing.

 

 

[phabric]

My sister lives in Quebec and can not purchase PVP.

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, Sn0cruiser said:

We buy it only for the CFAR as well.  Did the rep who indicated it would no longer be available to Canadians on Oct 16 (I’m assuming 2023 - this Monday) say what would happen if you had already purchased it for a cruise that sails &/or has final payment after that date ?

 

In the past, they are stopping selling the product, but will continue honouring those policies already sold. At least that is how the Viking/Tripmate plan worked, when they ceased selling to Canadians.

[phabric]

I wrote to my Canadian agent.  She has not heard or read on Princess about cancelling PVP to Canadians.  She is going to ask her Princess representative.

[em-sk]

Looks like the Princess product is actually a policy form Nationwide Mutual just with some Princess marking around it.   

 

That is not an insurance company that is overly active in Canada.   They may not even be licensed in all provinces.

[SRch]

I tried to get insurance for our upcoming Nov cruise in early September and the US online cruise company  I booked the cruise with were no longer able to sell their $85.99 US insurance to Canadians. She said she would contact Celebrity for a price for me and got a call back saying that  Celebrity will  no longer provide insurance to Canadians. She gave me a phone number for manulife. So it seems to be a trend. Manulife was ridiculous for just my husband they wanted $570. I ended up booking  through the online cruise company with a different insurance provider that is Canadian with a Windsor On address but had to pay in US funds. Still pricey but much less than Manulife. My guess it has to do with the number of cancellations of Canadian airlines  but that is just a guess.

[latebuyer]

I am sorry to hear this. I was interested in the cfar. I believe tugo has this option but its not as good.

[lx200gps]

12 hours ago, latebuyer said:

I am sorry to hear this. I was interested in the cfar. I believe tugo has this option but its not as good.

I vaguely recollect that a number of other Canadian Travel Insurance companies also offer CFAR coverage as an option, albeit at moderately higher cost. I believe that Manulife was one such company. It wasn't very obvious on their site, but it was available and only covered 75-80%, not the 100% that Princess did.  IIRC other companies that offered CFAR also only went as far as 80% as well.

[canadarocks]

Just added Princess Platinum for a cruise next February, so they haven't discontinued it yet. But it is not available in Quebec or BC for some reason. 

[Jbobee]

I was informed: Guests who have previously added Princess Vacation Protection will have the plan remain on the booking regardless of sail date at this time. Our At Ease Waiver currently offered as an alternative for residents of Quebec, Puerto Rico, Mexico and New York, is not available to residents of British Columbia. We are working toward an option for residents of BC in the future. 

[Sprocket]

Vacation insurance change for British Columbia starts Oct 16

Effective Monday, Oct 16, 2023, Princess Vacation Protection and Princess Vacation Protection Platinum will no longer be available to British Columbia residents. Guests who have previously added Princess Vacation Protection will have the plan remain on the booking regardless of sail date at this time. Our At Ease Waiver, currently offered as an alternative for residents of Québec, Puerto Rico, Mexico and New York, is not available to residents of British Columbia. We are working toward an option for residents of British Columbia in the future and will communicate updates here .

 

This information IS on the website you just have to look for it.  

 

Note that Princess Vacation Protection is not available to residents of the state of New York, British Columbia, Quebec, Puerto Rico, or Mexico.

 

[redtop101]

I made a deposit on a Princess cruise on Oct 23 and final payment on November 1st and paid for Platinum Protection.  I live in BC, then found out on CC that it was no longer offered for BC residents effective October 16th. I called my TA to question the status of my insurance. She said she would call Princess and enquire about this. I was told that it was still valid as I had made final payment. 3 days later my TA called me back to say that her manager had asked her to call me to say that it was no longer valid and they would refund my insurance premium. Needless to say I was not impressed by the false and misleading information given by Princess and that my original TA had added it past the October 16 cut off for BC residents. I guess just another example of poor communication by Princess to their independent agents. 

[d9704011]

10 hours ago, redtop101 said:

Needless to say I was not impressed by the false and misleading information given by Princess and that my original TA had added it past the October 16 cut off for BC residents. I guess just another example of poor communication by Princess to their independent agents. 

Maybe your TA is a boob.  Why would he/she permit you to purchase something that pretty clearly wasn't available to you after October 16?  Seems as though the manager knew this.

[redtop101]

6 hours ago, d9704011 said:

Maybe your TA is a boob.  Why would he/she permit you to purchase something that pretty clearly wasn't available to you after October 16?  Seems as though the manager knew this.

The original TA who added it on after October 16 is no longer with the company ??? The TA who took over my booking called Princess who told her it was still good, as I had made final payment. Then I was told again that it was not valid, and my premium was reimbursed. Hence my post that there is terrible communication between Princess and their independent agents. 

[LHT28]

I found many US insurance policies  do not cover Canadians

We just book our own now  then no worries if we are covered or not

 

[tupperlinda]

On 10/18/2023 at 10:35 AM, canadarocks said:

Just added Princess Platinum for a cruise next February, so they haven't discontinued it yet. But it is not available in Quebec or BC for some reason. 

I just purchased it also for January but then found out it’s not actually valid and they refunded me right away. The agent said she’s still forgetting to remove it. Since it just came into effect October 2023