Travel Insurance File

North American winter travel is unpredictable at best. And if you’re on a razor thin schedule, as many cruise ship passengers are when making a same day flight to catch a 4 p.m. Miami, Fort Lauderdale or Los Angeles ship departure, you better know the fine details of your trip cancellation benefits.

Example: if you bought a cruise package that sails out of Miami on a Saturday afternoon in January or February and your flight from Toronto or Chicago is snowed in and can’t get you there in time, what are your options? Will you be jumped to the next port of call free of charge? (Don’t count on that). Will you get a credit for another cruise (partially, maybe. But you wanted a seven-day cruise not a four-day jaunt, right?). Will the cruise line just give you your money back? (Even less likely).

I can’t give you any absolute answers to the above because travel insurance policies differ greatly in their fine print. Some will offer you a limited amount (small) to catch up with your ship if the delay at your origination point is more than say, six or even 24 hours. Some may give you a partial credit on a future cruise. (But so long as you hold a credit, your insurer will not reimburse you for value of that credit). Cruise ships like to hand out credits rather than cancellation reimbursements because they all know that their real profit comes from getting you on board, where your spending REALLY starts. So getting you on board is their bottom line.

I have only rarely heard of a cruise ship giving you a full refund on a trip you couldn’t get to—even through no fault of your own.
Also, if you have to stay in a Miami hotel for two days before catching up with your ship in Puerto Rico, don’t expect to have all your expenses paid. You will be allowed only a limited amount, and it will not cover the Fontainebleau.

My recommendation to any winter cruise traveler is to be leery of air/cruise packages that purport to make your travel simpler and seamless. This is done only to make the total cost of your trip appear cheaper in your travel brochure, but what is that compared to the potential costs of having a weather related disruption have you sitting in the airport or a hotel room waiting for news about the next flight out? You can avoid this by flying to your cruise port city a day ahead of time, build it into your vacation, relax, eliminate the stress and uncertainty of travel connections, and get on board relaxed and ready to enjoy. Any travel agent can make such arrangements for you. You can do it yourself. Cruise package wholesalers and cruise lines don’t like to throw in this extra day because it bumps up their costs and makes them look less competitive when compared to trip packagers that have you going from airport to sea port, all lined up like obedient little sheep.

Is trip cancellation insurance worthless? No way. It’s essential. You’ve got to be covered for your airline portion, your stopovers, any diversions your cruise ship might have to make, any land tours you may book while on your cruise. There are a lot of variables in a cruise and they are all expensive. You need to have them all covered. But you are always best off buying this coverage from a professional who knows travel insurance and can clearly explain the limitations and exclusions. Often this will be an professional who is not employed by the cruise line, or trip package wholesaler or airline.

If you ever hear your travel or cruise agent tell you they have the perfect insurance package for you, don’t worry, have a good trip, “everything is covered,” go elsewhere. Because that is simply not true.