Iceland Cruise - Volcano Insurance

[blackfly]

Booked a 7 Day Cruise Reykjavik to Reykjavik on Celebrity Silhouette for July 2025.  To cover pre-existing medical issues Tip insurance needs to be purchased with in 14 days of booking.  In researching insurance I checked with Allianz to see if their policy would cover me should my flight be cancelled due to the current eruption.  The last time this volcano erupted (800 years ago) the eruption continued for years.  So it’s not out of the realm of possibility that it could still be an issue in 2025.  Anyway, since this is a known circumstance trip insurance will not cover you if your flight is cancelled by the airline or airport closure because of the eruption.  Since everyone on this cruise must fly into Reykjavik if the airport has to close then there will be no one to go on the cruise. So you would think Celebrity might want to do something to address the uncertainty.  Any suggestions?

[leaveitallbehind]

40 minutes ago, blackfly said:

Since everyone on this cruise must fly into Reykjavik if the airport has to close then there will be no one to go on the cruise. So you would think Celebrity might want to do something to address the uncertainty.  Any suggestions?

By your own definition the entire situation is one of uncertainty.  What would you expect Celebrity to do to address the uncertainty?  The eruption could continue for years, or just months, or weeks, or days - no one knows.  Without a functioning crystal ball, how should the cruise line mitigate that? 

 

I would think as things progress over the coming months towards the cruise departure date, should conditions exist and situations warrant changes, Celebrity will respond as needed. Clearly if no one can get to the departure port they won't likely have a ship there waiting. The itinerary would by then have been addressed and changed as needed.

 

But until then and through the uncertainty I don't know what else they could, or should, do.  I would suggest purchasing the insurance as outside of the known circumstance as you describe, there is greater value to having it for your trip than not. And there are also other insurance providers to compare and consider.

Edited April 1 by leaveitallbehind

[Liao]

42 minutes ago, blackfly said:

Booked a 7 Day Cruise Reykjavik to Reykjavik on Celebrity Silhouette for July 2025.  To cover pre-existing medical issues Tip insurance needs to be purchased with in 14 days of booking.  In researching insurance I checked with Allianz to see if their policy would cover me should my flight be cancelled due to the current eruption.  The last time this volcano erupted (800 years ago) the eruption continued for years.  So it’s not out of the realm of possibility that it could still be an issue in 2025.  Anyway, since this is a known circumstance trip insurance will not cover you if your flight is cancelled by the airline or airport closure because of the eruption.  Since everyone on this cruise must fly into Reykjavik if the airport has to close then there will be no one to go on the cruise. So you would think Celebrity might want to do something to address the uncertainty.  Any suggestions?

Suggestions for?

[cruisestitch]

54 minutes ago, blackfly said:

Booked a 7 Day Cruise Reykjavik to Reykjavik on Celebrity Silhouette for July 2025.  To cover pre-existing medical issues Tip insurance needs to be purchased with in 14 days of booking.  In researching insurance I checked with Allianz to see if their policy would cover me should my flight be cancelled due to the current eruption.  The last time this volcano erupted (800 years ago) the eruption continued for years.  So it’s not out of the realm of possibility that it could still be an issue in 2025.  Anyway, since this is a known circumstance trip insurance will not cover you if your flight is cancelled by the airline or airport closure because of the eruption.  Since everyone on this cruise must fly into Reykjavik if the airport has to close then there will be no one to go on the cruise. So you would think Celebrity might want to do something to address the uncertainty.  Any suggestions?

Why does everyone have to fly into Reykjavík? Will there be no back to back passengers?

[Lolou127]

Blackfly, would you be covered if you booked flights via Celebrity? I’ve been looking at these cruises for Summer 2025 and my thought was to take Celebrity arranged flights, thinking that might mitigate some of the risk? 

[Jeremiah1212]

Travel insurance often excludes coverage for pandemic/endemics, war, civil unrest, terrorism, riots and so on. These things could occur anywhere in the world at any time. Celebrity does nothing to insulate against those possibilities either. At some point you have to be willing to cut your losses if there is an excluded event that impacts your trip, the airline opts to do nothing if the destination airport is closed, and the cruise line elects to continue with the cruise despite a catastrophic event. 

 

[bikerunner]

So if an asteroid hits and causes widespread destruction on the earth Im not covered....not fair.   

[blackfly]

22 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Why does everyone have to fly into Reykjavík? Will there be no back to back passengers?

Celebrity is offering 4 consecutive RT cruises around the Island so there should not be any B2B.  Also, booking our flight through might be a good idea.  That’s for the suggestion.

[WestLakeGirl]

Why would there not be any back to back cruisers?  Especially on the first and last of these four itineraries, because the ship would be coming to Iceland on the first one, and leaving it on the last one, but people have been known to book identical back  to back trips to be able to enjoy different shore excursions

[jwlane]

1 hour ago, blackfly said:

 should my flight be cancelled due to the current eruption....  Any suggestions?

Stop worrying about it.  This eruption isn't the type to affect flights.

[cruizingOmi]

If you are that concerend, don't book it. Or pick an Iceland Cruise which doesn't start in Iceland, You won't get as many stops in Iceland but you won't have to fly there.

[the penguins]

12 hours ago, WestLakeGirl said:

Why would there not be any back to back cruisers?  Especially on the first and last of these four itineraries, because the ship would be coming to Iceland on the first one, and leaving it on the last one, but people have been known to book identical back  to back trips to be able to enjoy different shore excursions

every likely on the first one and on the last depending on where the ship is coming from/going to.

[gcornell]

Personally, I insure only what I can’t afford to lose and will have a big impact on my finances - life, health, liability, home and autos.  Everything else I self insure.  Even better, take 10-20% of those expensive premiums you aren’t spending, put them in a savings account, and there’s your insurance policy for the future.  Most likely you will have a nice size savings account in a few years. 
 

Sure every 1 in 10 make out on those policies but it’s the same at going to Vegas.  No one tells you about the time they lost money. Only the winners 

[Alakegirl]

A medical evacuation could cost you way more than a car

[gcornell]

45 minutes ago, Alakegirl said:

A medical evacuation could cost you way more than a car

Please don’t misrepresent what I wrote.  The topic was “volcano insurance” which I lump in with various other policies that insurance companies love to sell us for low risk/cost occurrences. I clearly said have insurance for health needs. 

[TeeRick]

17 hours ago, bikerunner said:

So if an asteroid hits and causes widespread destruction on the earth Im not covered....not fair.   

Yeah the dinosaurs did not have insurance either.  Life is unfair.

[waterbug123]

19 hours ago, Lolou127 said:

Blackfly, would you be covered if you booked flights via Celebrity? I’ve been looking at these cruises for Summer 2025 and my thought was to take Celebrity arranged flights, thinking that might mitigate some of the risk? 

If the airport closes and all flights to it are canceled, Celebrity cannot magically open the airport or reinstate a flight. 

 

Probably the best they can do is change the itinerary so that it departs from the UK, or issue a full refund.

[cruisestitch]

58 minutes ago, waterbug123 said:

If the airport closes and all flights to it are canceled, Celebrity cannot magically open the airport or reinstate a flight. 

 

Probably the best they can do is change the itinerary so that it departs from the UK, or issue a full refund.

Neither is likely.  If the ship can sail, it will, regardless of the airport situation.

[waterbug123]

1 hour ago, cruisestitch said:

Neither is likely.  If the ship can sail, it will, regardless of the airport situation.

If a big weather/eruption situation caused the airport to be closed and no inbound flights, you really think the ship is going to sail with no passengers? 

[cruisestitch]

3 minutes ago, waterbug123 said:

If a big weather/eruption situation caused the airport to be closed and no inbound flights, you really think the ship is going to sail with no passengers? 

Yes.  And the ship would not be empty.   Some passengers will have already gone to Iceland and spent some time there on land vacations, making their way to the port for their cruise. Some passengers will be back to back. 
 

there is even a possibility that passengers from the previous cruise, who now would not be able to leave Iceland, would choose to book a last-minute back to back sailing and wait for the airport to open.

[waterbug123]

15 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Yes.  And the ship would not be empty.   Some passengers will have already gone to Iceland and spent some time there on land vacations, making their way to the port for their cruise. Some passengers will be back to back. 
 

there is even a possibility that passengers from the previous cruise, who now would not be able to leave Iceland, would choose to book a last-minute back to back sailing and wait for the airport to open.

In the hypothetical scenario I'm envisioning, it's one in which the airport is closed for an extended period of time.  So even pax who plan to arrive a few days or even a week prior to the cruise wouldn't be able to get there etc.  But I'm not going to argue with you so let's just pretend you're right and the ship would sail no matter what because cruise lines never cancel cruises last minute for any reason whatsoever. 

[kwokpot]

This is one of those situations where overthinking something causes undue stress that's over the top and unwarranted. As others have suggested there's really a handful of solutions to your concern:

1) Choose a different itinerary such as the one we took last year in July on the Apex that was return from Rotterdam. 

2) Go on this cruise and not worry about things you can't control. 

3) Don't go. 

 

[jwlane]

So much angst over something very unlikely to happen.  Not a single flight has been affected since the Sundhnúkur eruptions began.  They're completely different than the 2010 glacial Eyjafjallajökull eruption.

[WestLakeGirl]

Imagine telling the consecutive cruisers that their cruise has been cancelled because the airport is closed?

 

Ships sailed with as few as 300 passengers after the restart. 

[the penguins]

On 4/1/2024 at 8:26 PM, Lolou127 said:

Blackfly, would you be covered if you booked flights via Celebrity? I’ve been looking at these cruises for Summer 2025 and my thought was to take Celebrity arranged flights, thinking that might mitigate some of the risk? 

as you live in the UK the booking can easily be covered by the ATOL regulations. Just book the cruise and the flights as a package either with X or a UK Tour Operator. Under ATOL regulations if one part of the package fails you get a refund for the whole lot. As there are no flight restrictions now the debate is purely theoretical. If the worst was to happen contact the Tour Operator and claim your refund giving them 30 days to refund in full telling them if they don't you will go direct to your Credit Card Company and claim the money from them - confirm this by email. As 30 days is more than the legal requirement if you do have to claim from the CC Company the fact that you have been "reasonable" in your request will count in your favour.

Your UK Travel Insurance should also cover you for the flight but if X still operated the cruise it wouldn't refund that element.