Dear Stumbled,
After graduating from college in 2022 and working for a year, I used my bonus and some of my savings to book a 9-day Mediterranean cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line for my partner and me. The $7,657 cruise package includes airfare from Atlanta via Newark to Barcelona, Spain, plus Norwegian airfare. BookSafe Travel Protection Plan, which included travel insurance and also allowed us to “cancel for any reason” with a 75% credit. Due to the weather, our first flight was delayed, we missed our connection, and United Airlines was unable to get us to Barcelona in time for departure. I called Norwegian and the agent advised me to buy a last minute ticket on another airline, but I don’t have the money for that. Even if we did, there were no direct flights to later ports, and we weren’t willing to risk missing our connecting flight. So we spent the night at the Newark airport, paid for a round-trip ticket to Atlanta the next morning, and canceled our cruise and remaining flights. Norwegian immediately set him back $1,184. Later, when I filed a trip delay claim, my travel insurance refunded me an additional $232 (for my return ticket), but my cruise trip cancellation claim was completely denied. I think at least he should get 75% credit. If not, what was the conservation plan for? Can you help me? ivy, atlanta
Dear Ivy,
You’re not the first traveler to write about being “stumbled” after missing a cruise due to a flight delay on an itinerary booked by the cruise line.
Also, you went out of your way to try to solve this problem yourself. First, he filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, the Georgia Attorney General’s Office, and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (home of Norwegian’s junk airline), all to no avail. I will use it. Even when I offered to help, you didn’t stop, and before I could do anything, you told Norwegian Cruise Lines, “As a gesture of goodwill, we’d like to give you just over 75 percent, or $5,420, in credit toward a future cruise.” “Please give it to me,” he urged me. Intention. ” impressive.
I would have helped another Tripped Up reader, but Norwegian’s evasive use of “as a gesture of goodwill” bothered me.I wanted to know the reason book safe It didn’t cover what you and other cruise passengers can do to protect yourself.
There are actually two main parts to the BookSafe plan. One is a travel insurance policy managed by Aon Affinity and underwritten by Nationwide, and the other is a “cancellation for any reason credit feature” offered by Norwegian itself.
After reading the fine print, I found out (and Aon admits this) that the travel insurance portion will not refund the cost of the cruise if the traveler misses the cruise due to an issue with the airline. But on the “cancellation for any reason” part, it seems to me as if Norwegian should have given that credit without the hassle.
I tried to confirm that with Norwegian, but the company refused to answer most of my questions and instead returned an inaccurate statement via email.
The first email stated, “While Norwegian Cruise Line offers flight arrangements as part of your cruise product, we do not have control over airline operations and are not responsible for flight changes or cancellations. “I will not bear the burden,” it said.
“We strongly recommend that all guests purchase travel insurance, as such unforeseen circumstances are highly likely to occur,” the statement continued.
But again, I bought a travel insurance plan and it didn’t cover the insurance part. Regarding the credit component of cancellation for any reason, Norwegian sent another email that you forwarded that read as follows: ”
When you first filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, Norwegian doubled down and said the same wording.
I don’t know why. BookSafe clearly states that for the credit to be valid, cancellations must only be made “before the departure of the ship” and not before the departure of the flight. You sent me cancellation forms dated the day you returned to Atlanta. That day was also the day our cruise departed. This would appear to meet the criteria unless Norwegian determines that the cancellation occurred minutes or hours after the ship departed. That would be pretty disingenuous of them considering you had been calling them the night before asking about options.
When I asked Norwegian about the initial denial, I received a statement that they had “inadvertently filed a trip delay request instead of a trip cancellation request” and that the credit was “later added to the account.”
To me, it’s somewhere between confusion and falsehood. What actually happened was that you filed a “travel delay” claim with her Aon and it turned out it only covered the return flight to Atlanta. (This is what trip delay compensation does, to cover unexpected expenses.) I then filed a “trip cancellation” claim with Aon as well, but that never worked. Trip cancellation coverage, which expires once you board the plane, was of yet another type. But applying for it won’t do you any good. Norwegian’s travel interruption policy does not cover airline delays.
That’s why after a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, we were able to get a 75 percent credit from Norwegian.
It’s definitely confusing. You’ve fallen into a common trap with trip cancellation, delay, and interruption policies. I thought this compensation would cover everything that wasn’t really my fault. However, insurance claims adjusters tend to interpret the fine print list of “perils” or “perils” covered by insurance quite literally.
“With it, you’re good; without it, you’re not good,” said co-founder Stan Sandberg. travelinsurance.coma site that aggregates policies from various companies and provides convenient direct links to state-specific policies.
I was curious, so I decided to compare the finer points of BookSafe to the default travel protection plans of cruise lines like Carnival, Disney, MSC, Princess, Royal Caribbean, and Viking. I used the New York version for consistency, noting specifically how well it covered problems caused by delays and cancellations for “general carriers” such as airlines and trains.
All plans include insurance company coverage for trip delays, trip cancellations, and trip interruptions. Most include a separate “cancel for any reason” credit portion that is managed independently by the cruise line. (MSC is not the only one.)
I focused on travel interruptions. This typically gives you a profit of up to 125 or 150 percent of the value of your trip. That means, in theory, travelers could be reimbursed for the full cost of their cruise, plus any additional costs incurred due to the interruption.
Three of the seven plans I reviewed (Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, and Princess) completely exclude airline issues from trip interruption benefits, so in your situation, your cruise It is impossible to claim the full value of the missed ride. “This is shocking,” said Jason Schreier, chief executive officer of Aegis Insurance’s travel division.
He said, “95% of travel insurance plans have carrier issues with both trip cancellation and interruption coverage.”
The other four cover varying degrees of delay. Only weather issues are mentioned in Carnival. MSC and Viking cover mechanical issues, weather delays and strikes. It’s a pretty standard wording, but it’s not exhaustive.Disney only plan Trip interruptions due to “airline delays” are only allowed if you miss at least half of your trip.
Aegis’ Schreier said cruise lines themselves often take general risks from custom plans to reduce liability. I asked Norwegian about this and they referred me to his Aon Affinity. However, Beth Godlin, president of the Aon Affinity Travel Practice, wrote that Aon “works with many different cruise lines” and customizes plans “to fit the needs of the cruise line.” .
Finally, there is an element that allows you to cancel your partial cruise credit for any reason. As we learned, Norwegian’s plan, similar to Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Princess, and Disney’s plans, eliminates flight problems by allowing travelers to cancel up until the moment the ship departs. Contains. Only the Vikings are different. It ends when you board your first flight. (Again, MSC does not offer this benefit at all.)
We caution against choosing a cruise line based solely on whether the general airline delay coverage plan includes coverage. It’s just asking for something else. But Ivy, if you’re going to use up your credit, consider using a comparison site like TravelInsurance.com or TravelInsurance.com to take your time and consider purchasing a different insurance plan. square mouseor go directly to companies like: AegisThere are cruise-specific packages for this, Schreier said. “Stressless” function Then I could have paid on the spot for a ticket on another airline that would get me to Barcelona on time.
In any case, we hope you enjoyed your cruise and as a gesture of goodwill, please forgive us, at least temporarily, for this incident on Norwegian Cruise Ship.
Need advice about your best-laid travel plans gone awry? Email TrippedUp@nytimes.com.
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