Sharing a room -- unable to sail

[Thirsty Cruiser]

What happens when 2 people are sharing a room and one person cannot go? In this case, the person who cannot go will be covered by trip insurance. My assumption is that she will be directly reimbursed by the trip insurance company. Since we are very close to sailing date, there would be no refund from Carnival.

Does this mean the other person will still be able to sail alone in the room without paying the single "penalty"?

I would love to hear from someone who has experience with this.

[GoinCruisin]

What happens when 2 people are sharing a room and one person cannot go? In this case, the person who cannot go will be covered by trip insurance. My assumption is that she will be directly reimbursed by the trip insurance company. Since we are very close to sailing date, there would be no refund from Carnival.

Does this mean the other person will still be able to sail alone in the room without paying the single "penalty"?

I would love to hear from someone who has experience with this.

 

Since there will be no refund from Carnival, I would think things will stay as is... I had a roommate just not show up, and everything was fine... had she had insurance, how would Carnival have known?? It was as if I paid 200%, since there was no refund involved... but I had the cabin to myself.

[yst347]

As long as both parties have paid their fare it has no effect. The one going will have the cabin to him/her self.

[Thirsty Cruiser]

Thanks Lucy -- that's what I thought, but I wasn't sure if the insurance company would pay her directly or work something out with Carnival.

We're hoping everyone can come with us anyway, so maybe a moot point.

[Leo Jay]

Too bad she can't go, but it's cool that her fare is covered and that you can either have the cabin to yourself, invite a friend and split your fare with them, or invite a friend and give them a freebie!

[Thirsty Cruiser]

Too bad she can't go, but it's cool that her fare is covered and that you can either have the cabin to yourself, invite a friend and split your fare with them, or invite a friend and give them a freebie!

 

Hey, that's a good point. Could someone else take her spot (for free)? Seems like the insurance company might have a problem with that, since they are effectively paying for someone else.

Anybody have thoughts?

[*Mach*]

Wouldn't there be some question of identification for the new second passenger? The cabin is booked in one name and the identification will be another.

 

I suspect that anything of this nature would have to be worked out with Carnival and your missing cruiser would probably lose the refund.

[marym933]

Hey, that's a good point. Could someone else take her spot (for free)? Seems like the insurance company might have a problem with that, since they are effectively paying for someone else.

Anybody have thoughts?

 

The new cruiser would have to pay a $50 fee for a name change. I wonder what happens to a cabin that insurance is paid on. Does the insurance company turn that cabin back into the cruise line for resale?:confused: It seems to me that is how the insurance company would get some of the money back.

[Leo Jay]

The new cruiser would have to pay a $50 fee for a name change. I wonder what happens to a cabin that insurance is paid on. Does the insurance company turn that cabin back into the cruise line for resale?:confused: It seems to me that is how the insurance company would get some of the money back.

 

Interesting. I guess it would depend on the particulars of the insurance contract. I'm going to check my policy and see if there are any such restrictions on payout. I would doubt it, but what do I know...?

:o

[Leo Jay]

The new cruiser would have to pay a $50 fee for a name change. I wonder what happens to a cabin that insurance is paid on. Does the insurance company turn that cabin back into the cruise line for resale?:confused: It seems to me that is how the insurance company would get some of the money back.

 

I would guess that if all occupants cancel, the cruiseline would try to re-book it, or upgrade someone from a lower category and try to book the lower category cabin. I don't see how they could do anything in this instance, though, since one passenger is still going.

:)

[mikesteg]

Hey, that's a good point. Could someone else take her spot (for free)? Seems like the insurance company might have a problem with that, since they are effectively paying for someone else.

Anybody have thoughts?

 

The insurance is really to cover her loss. However, it seems like they'd have a reasonable expectation that she would recover some portion of the cost from the new occupant.

 

In practical terms, I suspect they do confirm the actual occupancy from Carnival and would not pay at all. If they didn't protect against this kind of claim, dishonest people would be using it to get the second berth for (almost) free all the time.

[marym933]

I was almost in the same situation with a traveling companion. I am rooming on my Celebration cruise with a co-worker. She recently found out she has melanoma. I called Carnival during the "loss of deposit" penalty phase and discussed it with my PVP. I have insurance through Carnival, she does not. My PVP said if my friend cancelled I would have to pay the single rate of an additional $600 for the 4 day cruise. Since I do have insurance, I could also cancel and get my money back due to the cancellation of my traveling companion. She suggested that we get someone else to take the spot and pay the $50 name change. My friend had surgery last Monday and seems to be doing fine. She plans on making the cruise in 8 days. I hope she is right!

[Leo Jay]

The insurance is really to cover her loss. However, it seems like they'd have a reasonable expectation that she would recover some portion of the cost from the new occupant.

 

In practical terms, I suspect they do confirm the actual occupancy from Carnival and would not pay at all. If they didn't protect against this kind of claim, dishonest people would be using it to get the second berth for (almost) free all the time.

 

My policy (CSA) doesn't seem to have a provision for it.

 

I initially thought as you did, that people could make fraudulent claims willy-nilly and get a room for one without paying the supplement, but they'd have to provide substantial documentation to justify the other occupant's cancellation, wouldn't they?

[travelgrammy]

I don't know about Carnival, but we actually had this happen with a Royal Carribean Cruise. The person rooming with my daughter cancelled a day before the deadline, and let everyone know a week after. We were told that we had to find another roommate or pay the single supplement. RCCL waived the $50.00 name change, though, which I thought was nice.

 

Anne

[Thirsty Cruiser]

I was almost in the same situation with a traveling companion. I am rooming on my Celebration cruise with a co-worker. She recently found out she has melanoma. I called Carnival during the "loss of deposit" penalty phase and discussed it with my PVP. I have insurance through Carnival, she does not. My PVP said if my friend cancelled I would have to pay the single rate of an additional $600 for the 4 day cruise. Since I do have insurance, I could also cancel and get my money back due to the cancellation of my traveling companion. She suggested that we get someone else to take the spot and pay the $50 name change. My friend had surgery last Monday and seems to be doing fine. She plans on making the cruise in 8 days. I hope she is right!

Hmm, this is actually the opposite situation. The person not going is insured, so my assumption is that she would recoup the money, and hopefully the 2nd person would still be able to go (we are 2 weeks away, so no refund is possible by Carnival)

I don't think the 2nd person in this cabin has insurance, so this will be interesting. My hope is that the insurance will take care of this and there will be no single pass. penalty.

[Leo Jay]

I don't know about Carnival, but we actually had this happen with a Royal Carribean Cruise. The person rooming with my daughter cancelled a day before the deadline, and let everyone know a week after. We were told that we had to find another roommate or pay the single supplement. RCCL waived the $50.00 name change, though, which I thought was nice.

 

Anne

 

Well, that's much different than the OP's situation, because since she cancelled BEFORE the deadline, the cruiseline had to refund her, and would been losing revenue if you couldn't get someone else to purchase her slot, or at least pay the single supplement.

[albertiger]

This is MY personal experience and it was with Celebrity. My traveling partner and i are from different cities and meet at the ship. He had to cancel for medical reasons about a week before the cruise, he had insurance and was reimbursed fully at a later date.

I sailed alone with not a word from Celebrity at any point about additional cost. Turned out we were (I was) upgraded to a concierge class balcony and it was heaven, additional space and lots of goodies!:D

[mikesteg]

My policy (CSA) doesn't seem to have a provision for it.

 

I initially thought as you did, that people could make fraudulent claims willy-nilly and get a room for one without paying the supplement, but they'd have to provide substantial documentation to justify the other occupant's cancellation, wouldn't they?

 

That's a good point. I suppose it depends on what the insurance company needs as documentation. However, if a group of people were intent on committing fraud it wouldn't be that difficult to manufacture paperwork showing a broken leg, or a death certificate for a covered relative.

 

But it is still a good point: perhaps if proper documentation is provided they pay the claim without further checking.