Disappointed victim of Hurricane Sandy

[Mackie Mouse]

OP--

I'm so sorry for everything this storm has wrought on you. To be honest, if you called DCL and didn't get the desired result...I would write your letter, have it in hand, and call one last time before sending it. So often I have found with Disney recently that getting what you want/need is a matter of who you talk to, especially where the cruise line is concerned. Some people are more knowledgeable than others, it seems, or more accommodating. You take your cruise when your family can - and hope for at least a show of sympathy from Disney, who supposedly is great with this sort of situation.

I have absolutely seen from this board that the higher ups in the company do pay attention to hand-written, snail-mailed notes from concerned cruisers....best of luck as you continued to recover from the storm, and best of luck hearing back from Karl and his team.

Happy Thanksgiving...those of us in the Northeast know just how much we have to be thankful for this year.

[Juney]

I'm so confused. You had to cancel a November cruise and you are disappointed with Disney because they wouldn't book you a June cruise for the same price? Am I missing something?

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

[createdtoworship]

For every reply I have seen OF every person asking for DCL to pick up some part of there bill or an give them an onboard credit DCL would of been broke already. Def the ins will be declined as acts of nature are not cover under any ins. So you will probably end up with a cruise credit from DCL for 100% for a future cruise filing a claim with any ins is a lengthy process. Once your claim is denied by DCL the have to get a letter official of denial in house, once they get the letter then they can offer you a cruise credit.

DCL does not have to offer anything to any guest even if you take it to any one higher policies are policies once written, That your dissapointed that they could not help more, even offer you a 100 onboard credit stuff nuggies. They don't technically have to do anything.

[sissy_ib]

Originally Posted by createdtoworship

For every reply I have seen OF every person asking for DCL to pick up some part of there bill or an give them an onboard credit DCL would of been broke already. Def the ins will be declined as acts of nature are not cover under any ins. So you will probably end up with a cruise credit from DCL for 100% for a future cruise filing a claim with any ins is a lengthy process. Once your claim is denied by DCL the have to get a letter official of denial in house, once they get the letter then they can offer you a cruise credit.

DCL does not have to offer anything to any guest even if you take it to any one higher policies are policies once written, That your dissapointed that they could not help more, even offer you a 100 onboard credit stuff nuggies. They don't technically have to do anything.

The bolded above is not correct at all. In fact I pulled my my travel insurance from my last trip.

The Company will pay a benefit, up to the maximum shown
on Your Confirmation of Benefits, if You are prevented from
taking Your Trip due to the following Unforeseen events:

Weather which causes complete cessation of
services of Your Common Carrier for at least 24
consecutive hours.

Natural Disaster at the site of Your destination which
renders Your destination accommodations
uninhabitable.

Mandatory evacuation ordered by local authorities at
Your final destination due to hurricane or other
Natural Disaster. You must have 50% of Your total
Trip length or less remaining on the Trip, at the time
the mandatory evacuation ends, in order to cancel
the Trip.

Note: this is not DCL insurance, but proves that weather/acts of nature are covered if you have the right policy. My maximum for cancellation was trip cost, so I would have gotten 100% back.

[SleepyDeb]

Do not assume your claim will be denied unless the insurance company has told you that. It is not true that acts of nature are never covered. Read your policy and the marketing literature that came with it to get a better idea of what may come of your claim. And, if the decision of the insurance company does not agree with what the language in the policy and marketing literature say, you can dispute it by going up the chain and then, as a last resort, filing a complaint with the state insurance department. Note that the insurance department cannot/will not do anything if the company follows the terms of the policy and literature, only if they violate them. No matter what I or anyone else on this board thinks SHOULD be covered, the policy dictates.

I am an insurance company executive. I do not and never have worked for Allianz, but they are a well known and respected company. They will follow the terms of the policy and literature, unless someone makes a mistake. Mistakes happen in any business. But, they will fix it if drawn to their attention. That's why you need to read your policy (not anyone else's) because you won't know if a mistake is made until you know what should happen.

[CruizinTigers]

Originally Posted by sissy_ib

Note: this is not DCL insurance, but proves that weather/acts of nature are covered if you have the right policy. My maximum for cancellation was trip cost, so I would have gotten 100% back.

Can you share with me who you had your insurance for in this case. I would definitely want to consider that for the future.

I appreciate the brutal honesty in many on your replies. In some regards, I am feeling selfish thinking that Disney should have helped in our situation. So as not to seem like a completely selfish bum, let me point out, we did make our original plans a year and a half in advance. There were several factors in our decision, the schools being out was a big factor, but price was the other. In addition to my family (of four), two sets of (retired) grandparents were going as well. All of us made plans to drive down to save money from air fare. We would not have originally, and probably never would have booked this trip in June. Fast forward to Sandy. Had it not been for this storm, we would have already sailed. And while neither the storm or our limitation for when we could reschedule this trip are NOT Disney's fault, I thought that MAYBE, being a family oriented, caring company, just maybe they would sympathize with our plight and would help us out in some way. I realize that the majority of those who responded feel that this is too much to ask of Disney, but frankly, I see this as an extreme circumstance and not unrealistic for a company of the size and type of Disney to help a family like ours, in some way. We are all Castaway Cay club members with about 7 Disney cruises between us.

Because Alianz screwed up in the processing of our claim, we now have to wait till mid to end of next week to learn of the insurance claim verdict. The one examiner I spoke with asked me if my home was "uninhabitable". We had no heat or electricity, but technically, it was habitable. We did stay here. He did suggest then that because of this the claim would likely be denied, but this was just his opinion.

[sissy_ib]

Originally Posted by CruizinTigers

Can you share with me who you had your insurance for in this case. I would definitely want to consider that for the future.

I appreciate the brutal honesty in many on your replies. In some regards, I am feeling selfish thinking that Disney should have helped in our situation. So as not to seem like a completely selfish bum, let me point out, we did make our original plans a year and a half in advance. There were several factors in our decision, the schools being out was a big factor, but price was the other. In addition to my family (of four), two sets of (retired) grandparents were going as well. All of us made plans to drive down to save money from air fare. We would not have originally, and probably never would have booked this trip in June. Fast forward to Sandy. Had it not been for this storm, we would have already sailed. And while neither the storm or our limitation for when we could reschedule this trip are NOT Disney's fault, I thought that MAYBE, being a family oriented, caring company, just maybe they would sympathize with our plight and would help us out in some way. I realize that the majority of those who responded feel that this is too much to ask of Disney, but frankly, I see this as an extreme circumstance and not unrealistic for a company of the size and type of Disney to help a family like ours, in some way. We are all Castaway Cay club members with about 7 Disney cruises between us.

Because Alianz screwed up in the processing of our claim, we now have to wait till mid to end of next week to learn of the insurance claim verdict. The one examiner I spoke with asked me if my home was "uninhabitable". We had no heat or electricity, but technically, it was habitable. We did stay here. He did suggest then that because of this the claim would likely be denied, but this was just his opinion.

I used Travel Insured and purchased through USAA.

I have to agree with others. All you are entitled to is a credit for what you paid. If they decide to refund your money you will only get back what you paid, if you chose to use that for a cruise in June you would be responsible for the difference. If they deny the claim and give you a credit why should it be for more than you paid? It has nothing to do with being a "a family oriented, caring company" and everything to do with being a business. Honestly I think the fact that they will give a credit when the insurance is denied is a very nice policy, they don't have to do that, it is something they have chosen to offer.

[TDC Nala]

And my point in writing is not to complain that they are not willing to discount this June sailing for us, but rather to express my disappointment in Disney that they seem unwilling to assist us in any way.

It appears they are not assisting you by refusing your request to give you the June sailing, which is a great deal more expensive because you are switching from low season to high season, at the same price you paid for the cruise you had to cancel.

I don't think they're obligated to offer you that discount. While it would be nice, I am pretty sure I wouldn't be angry at Disney for saying "no" to this one.

If you got the DCL insurance and your claim is denied you can use the cost of the cancelled cruise toward a new cruise, but I don't think they will make up the difference because the cruise you want to switch to is more expensive.

[Joan1]

Originally Posted by sissy_ib

The bolded above is not correct at all. In fact I pulled my my travel insurance from my last trip.





Note: this is not DCL insurance, but proves that weather/acts of nature are covered if you have the right policy. My maximum for cancellation was trip cost, so I would have gotten 100% back.

What you listed all said "at destination" the issue is that the weather issues were at the OP home state and the airports were open but they were driving so that wouldn't have been an issue

[sissy_ib]

Originally Posted by Joan1

What you listed all said "at destination" the issue is that the weather issues were at the OP home state and the airports were open but they were driving so that wouldn't have been an issue

The first clause is not "At Destination". And I'm pretty sure the airports were closed for at least 24 hours. Were there road closures? I'm not sure as I don't live up there.
Regardless, I was just trying to illustrate that weather is covered, in at least some capacity buy travel insurance.
Also there may have been other clauses that would have covered the OP's situation. I just picked the first few I saw regarding weather.

[DMMarla07860]

Originally Posted by sissy_ib

The first clause is not "At Destination". And I'm pretty sure the airports were closed for at least 24 hours. Were there road closures? I'm not sure as I don't live up there.
Regardless, I was just trying to illustrate that weather is covered, in at least some capacity buy travel insurance.
Also there may have been other clauses that would have covered the OP's situation. I just picked the first few I saw regarding weather.

Don't know where the OP lives, but I live a hour from NYC and can say I didn't hear of any roads closed really, but with how it was I wouldn't have wanted to be driving.

[sambycat]

So if ones home randomly lost power, and with all the same ensuing results (planned to drive as opposed to missing or having a cancelled flight), there are insurance policies that would reimburse one for that? The whole situation is terrible for you (and now I'm imagining tons of non-weather, non sickness weird things that would make me cancel a trip) and it sounds so confusing! I yhink you said you did have dcl insurance (and possibly some other kind) ? I'm happy for you that dcl is at least crediting your missed cruise cost! It wouldn't surprise me if they wouldn't credit people if the ship sailed and one just couldn't get there? Like obviously sandy happened but "if" air travel were possible, I guess they would assume a "reasonable" attempt would get passengers there? Obviously the OPs ability not go was due to a natural disaster and its ramifications so if ones power just had done snafu, what then?

I realize that probably makes no sense and imnot trying to say anything weird about the OP, just pondering this thread!

[GatorMomInNC]

Originally Posted by CruizinTigers

Can you share with me who you had your insurance for in this case. I would definitely want to consider that for the future.

I appreciate the brutal honesty in many on your replies. In some regards, I am feeling selfish thinking that Disney should have helped in our situation. So as not to seem like a completely selfish bum, let me point out, we did make our original plans a year and a half in advance. There were several factors in our decision, the schools being out was a big factor, but price was the other. In addition to my family (of four), two sets of (retired) grandparents were going as well. All of us made plans to drive down to save money from air fare. We would not have originally, and probably never would have booked this trip in June. Fast forward to Sandy. Had it not been for this storm, we would have already sailed. And while neither the storm or our limitation for when we could reschedule this trip are NOT Disney's fault, I thought that MAYBE, being a family oriented, caring company, just maybe they would sympathize with our plight and would help us out in some way. I realize that the majority of those who responded feel that this is too much to ask of Disney, but frankly, I see this as an extreme circumstance and not unrealistic for a company of the size and type of Disney to help a family like ours, in some way. We are all Castaway Cay club members with about 7 Disney cruises between us.

Because Alianz screwed up in the processing of our claim, we now have to wait till mid to end of next week to learn of the insurance claim verdict. The one examiner I spoke with asked me if my home was "uninhabitable". We had no heat or electricity, but technically, it was habitable. We did stay here. He did suggest then that because of this the claim would likely be denied, but this was just his opinion.

In my state, a home without heat/electricity is not considered habitable. For example, if this is how someone lived on a normal, daily basis (as opposed to a temporary state of emergency as was your case), and DSS found out, they would most likely have their kids removed from the home. Now, in your case, it was temporary, but I would certainly argue it was not habitable for however those days you were without heat and electricity - even if you were staying there because you had no means to go elsewhere.

Hope you get your new cruise lined up soon, and have something to look forward to after all of this heartache. But, like other posters, I wouldn't wait for DCL to increase your refund by a certain percentage to cover a different cruise. They MAY give you the rate that was in effect the day you booked your initial cruise, but since they are not at any fault here, I would not expect it and be very pleasantly surprised if they did that.

[ddixon1]

Originally Posted by DMMarla07860

Don't know where the OP lives, but I live a hour from NYC and can say I didn't hear of any roads closed really, but with how it was I wouldn't have wanted to be driving.

In fact, all Airports in NY were closed, as were mass transit and major roadways, both before, and for days after the storm. We were all advised to stay home until travel conditions were deemed safe. There were no traffic lights working, major power lines dangled, flooding and downed trees made roads impassable, and many fatal car accidents resulted from folks that elected to travel. But it sounds like the OP's sail date was prior to landfall? It is a bit confusing....

[sayhello]

Originally Posted by sissy_ib

The bolded above is not correct at all. In fact I pulled my my travel insurance from my last trip.

Note: this is not DCL insurance, but proves that weather/acts of nature are covered if you have the right policy. My maximum for cancellation was trip cost, so I would have gotten 100% back.

Originally Posted by Joan1

What you listed all said "at destination" the issue is that the weather issues were at the OP home state and the airports were open but they were driving so that wouldn't have been an issue

I agree with Joan1, all those clauses that sissy_ib quoted do not, unfortunately, apply to the OP's situation. They were driving, so the closure of the airport does not apply. The ship was not made uninhabitable, nor was there a mandatory evacuation in place at Port Canaveral at the time. So those clauses don't cover it.

Here are the pertinent clauses from DCL's policy (which is what the OP has - assuming the coverage has not changed since they bought their policy):

Part III. GENERAL EXCLUSIONS
These exclusions apply to all plan benefits and services. In addition to any exclusions that apply to a particular benefit, no coverage is provided for any loss arising directly or indirectly out of or as a result of the following:

11. Natural disasters (unless as specifically covered);

A maximum benefit of up to the amount indicated on Your Schedule of Coverage is provided to cover certain expenses as listed below which result from the cancellation or interruption of Your Trip due to:

3. Natural disasters or bad weather resulting in the complete cessation of services by the airline, the tour operator or the cruise line for at least 24 consecutive hours. [Not applicable to OP]

6. Your Primary Residence being made uninhabitable by fire, flood, burglary, vandalism, or natural disasters. [I think this is the one that's applicable. I suggest the OP contact Allianz and let them know they feel they didn't understand the definition of "uninhabitable" when they spoke to them previously, and get an exact definition to see if this does apply]

To the OP, I do understand where you're coming from, but I have to agree with the others. The fact that DCL is willing to give people a future credit for the non-refundable portion of your cruise if the insurance denies your claim is already an incredibly generous offer on DCL's part. I don't know of any other cruiseline that offers that. Expecting them to make up the difference for something *completely* outside their control seems a bit presumptuous, and I would have been totally SHOCKED if DCL had agreed. JMHO, YMMV.

But you're going to have to wait until you hear from Allianz in any case. You can't get the credit from DCL until Allianz denies the claim. And you never know, they may not deny it.

Sayhello