It is possible to get travel insurance premiums refunded for a cruise canceled due to Covid

[JLMoran]

This has taken many weeks, but my Travelex trip insurance policy that I purchased through insuremytrip.com to cover my Iceland and Greenland cruise has been canceled and the premium paid refunded to me in full. I'm guessing this is something they are doing only for cruises canceled due to Covid-19, but I wanted to relay everything I had to do in order to get this through.

First off, be very patient! Travel insurance companies are beyond swamped right now, and for requests such as this the only option being given is email. Definitely expect a long wait time. I sent my first email requesting cancellation and refund back on July 6, and didn't get an initial reply until July 28.

Second, send that initial email as much before your scheduled sail date as possible. I was sort of cutting it close in my case, because Celebrity canceled the cruise back in late May / early June, but I initially chose to do a Lift and Shift to a 2021 sailing before deciding to cancel fully at the start of July. I had deliberately held off rescheduling the insurance policy's travel window since I wasn't 100% sure if I'd be sticking with that L&S, and this was a definite risk I took. I'm sure the insurance companies are allowing for this to a degree, but it's still important to get that initial email off ASAP given the long response times.

Once I got the initial reply on July 28, things moved appreciably faster. I was given the option to either apply a one-time date transfer to be used toward a future trip (which I could have used had I kept my L&S in place), or a full premium refund. I chose the refund option, and this required me to send back every cancellation email / invoice for every part of the trip. I had booked the insurance policy for an estimated $15,000 in total costs, and sending back just the cruise cancellation confirmation from my TA didn't show that dollar amount. Here is the full list of what I had to send them before they were satisfied:

• Cancellation invoice for cruise and airfare from my TA
• All cancellation emails from Celebrity for refunded Cruise Planner purchases (internet package, shore excursions, and Private Journey booking)
• Cancellation confirmation from the Dublin hotel I had booked for our extended post-cruise stay
• All cancellation emails from the third-party tour operators I had booked with directly. This last one was a serious pain for my Golden Circle tour, as the operator had gone bankrupt and I only got a refund via my credit card's dispute department. I ended up sending Travelex
  • my original purchase confirmation from Saga Travel GeoIceland
  • the bankruptcy notice from the Icelandic Tourism and Travel Bureau
  • screen shots of the purchase and refund confirmations on my credit card's web site (with sensitive data blacked out)

Even after sending all of this, I still had to make a phone call in the end to actually get the refund processed. Because I had booked through insuremytrip.com and not through Travelex directly, they didn't have my credit card information on file. So that required another roughly 45 minutes on hold, but it eventually got done without any further fuss. The refund showed up immediately as a Pending item on my card, and was processed in just a couple of days.

 

I definitely recommend trying this if you've had a trip canceled on you due to Covid, and you were able to get a full refund rather than doing L&S or taking FCC. Just be ready for the insurance company to say no. Travelex was great with me in this regard, but I can't guarantee that every insurer will be as generous.

[cruisellama]

Thanks and great.   I have a November cruise we fully expect to be canceled and had the same question,   My TA told me I could not get  refund ,   If and when the cruise line cancels I’ll address directly with the insurance company.

[CrznTxn]

Glad it worked out for you. When our March cruise was cancelled due to the Covid-19 stoppage I called our 3rd party insurance company and fortunately they knew about the cancellations and issued a full refund within 5 days. This was the fastest refund on any of our three cancellations to date. Agree on contacting them immediately, I called same day as cancellation.

[Jill]

I’ve got Sharla at MEI working on mine for May and October. I’ve got over $500 in premiums between the 2 canceled cruises. 
 

Honestly it’d be robbery if these companies kept premiums on an event that never happened. 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

Question...so is it better to get travel insurance on my own rather than through Royal?  I lost my insurance premiums from my April 2020 cruise which I had purchased when I booked the cruise directly with Royal ($59/adult...$29/kid).  So should I not get it with my cruise and if so how do I purchase it otherwise?  

[Matt]

Thanks for sharing this @JLMoran !

[JLMoran]

1 hour ago, Jill said:

Honestly it’d be robbery if these companies kept premiums on an event that never happened. 

Yes and no. Insurance is always bought with the knowledge that you may never end up using it. An argument can be made that this also applies to canceled vacations for which you got full reimbursement, so that there's no need to file a claim. I think insurance companies are making exceptions in these cases because, quite frankly, it's just better PR in these hard times to appear (and be) generous with folks who are dealing with bitter disappointment and possibly financial hardships. You can certainly bet that whenever I'm able to travel again, Travelex will be my go-to insurer for that trip!

23 minutes ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Question...so is it better to get travel insurance on my own rather than through Royal?  I lost my insurance premiums from my April 2020 cruise which I had purchased when I booked the cruise directly with Royal ($59/adult...$29/kid).  So should I not get it with my cruise and if so how do I purchase it otherwise?  

Like with so many such things, the answer is, "it depends on your circumstances." The insurance offered by Royal covers only the cruise booking (plus any excursions and add-ons purchased through Royal on the Cruise Planner), and airfare if you bought it through Air2Sea. It offers basically nothing for medical coverage, particularly any evacuation flight coverage, hospitalization, or other major medical expenses. It also offers nothing for covering emergency hotel, car rental, lost luggage, or other travel-related expenses.

If you have very low expectations of needing any of these -- your family is all in great health, you're traveling at a lower risk time of year (e.g., outside hurricane season in the Caribbean), and generally just want coverage in case Royal has to scrap the trip or some ports of call at the last minute... it can be enough.

Generally, though, you'll be better off getting insurance through a third party. Big reason being medical coverage, as pretty much all major medical insurance plans (here in the US anyway) don't cover medical expenses on the ship or overseas. No one expects a medical emergency to happen, but if one does and you need a medevac off the ship, that can run into tens of thousands of dollars that your primary insurance won't cover. Same if you end up in a foreign hospital.

You can use a site like insuremytrip.com to compare different plans and prices, makes it a lot easier to find one that fits your needs and your budget.

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

16 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Yes and no. Insurance is always bought with the knowledge that you may never end up using it. An argument can be made that this also applies to canceled vacations for which you got full reimbursement, so that there's no need to file a claim. I think insurance companies are making exceptions in these cases because, quite frankly, it's just better PR in these hard times to appear (and be) generous with folks who are dealing with bitter disappointment and possibly financial hardships. You can certainly bet that whenever I'm able to travel again, Travelex will be my go-to insurer for that trip!

Like with so many such things, the answer is, "it depends on your circumstances." The insurance offered by Royal covers only the cruise booking (plus any excursions and add-ons purchased through Royal on the Cruise Planner), and airfare if you bought it through Air2Sea. It offers basically nothing for medical coverage, particularly any evacuation flight coverage, hospitalization, or other major medical expenses. It also offers nothing for covering emergency hotel, car rental, lost luggage, or other travel-related expenses.

If you have very low expectations of needing any of these -- your family is all in great health, you're traveling at a lower risk time of year (e.g., outside hurricane season in the Caribbean), and generally just want coverage in case Royal has to scrap the trip or some ports of call at the last minute... it can be enough.

Generally, though, you'll be better off getting insurance through a third party. Big reason being medical coverage, as pretty much all major medical insurance plans (here in the US anyway) don't cover medical expenses on the ship or overseas. No one expects a medical emergency to happen, but if one does and you need a medevac off the ship, that can run into tens of thousands of dollars that your primary insurance won't cover. Same if you end up in a foreign hospital.

You can use a site like insuremytrip.com to compare different plans and prices, makes it a lot easier to find one that fits your needs and your budget.

Thank you very much for your explanation. I will take your advice and look into the cost and circumstances...then decide what is best.  Appreciate your taking the time to answer my question.