Travel insurance the covers missing the boat due to flights

[Vcize]

Our flight for our cruise departs at 5pm the night before cruise boarding, and is set to arrive in Miami at 11pm the night before the cruise sails. My biggest concern in all this is that we miss the boat due to a major flight delay or cancelation where the airline cannot get us into Miami until it is too late (we are flying out of SLC and have had flights canceled before where they could not re-book us for a full 24 hours).

I am having the hardest time figuring out which part of travel insurance covers the scenario where, if our flight was delayed by too long to get us to Miami in time for the cruise, the travel insurance would refund us the cost of the cruise.

I think that is trip interruption coverage, but I'm not clear on that. But even if that's correct, most policies I see only talk about covering the cost of getting us to one of the ports where we can meet the boat. But since our boat is going to Castaway Cay, which I'm consuming doesn't have any kind of consumer airport, this wouldn't be possible until day 4 of 5 on our cruise in Cozumel. So essentially we'd miss the entire cruise if our flight is canceled and we can't get re-booked for 24 hours.

Are there insurance policies that offer this? It's so hard to tell from the policy coverage verbiage on them.

Additionally, we've already made final payment on the cruise, is it too late to book insurance?

 

[AquaDame]

It is not too late to get insurance, no, though some options may not be available to you or it may be more expensive now since their risk goes up as your own risk goes up too.

Trip interruption is correct... if they can't get you to the ship, then whatever you miss is the covered portion. If that is the whole cruise, then they would reimburse you for that, up to your maximum allowance per the agreement. When you have an idea which policy you're specifically interested in, that is the time to call them and have them explain in detail... many things can be variable. I checked on the most recent policy we purchased and this is the language we were given which would apply in your case:

"a cancellation of Your Trip if Your arrival on the Trip is delayed and causes You to lose 50% or
more of the scheduled Trip duration due to the reasons covered"

I also always forget its actually cheaper for them if it is cancelled for some reason... our benefit is 100% of our cost in that case, but if they try to get us to the ship so we can salvage some portion of the trip it is up to 150% of our cost, presumably since the last minute flights, hotels, etc would be costly.

 

[lanejudy]

Just to add... while the language of the policy appears to indicate they will try to get you to meet up with the ship, the reality is that doesn't (or rarely) happen. Honestly, in 10+ years hanging around here, I may have read 1 report of someone catching up with the ship enroute. I believe the cruiselines don't really want people to board at a different port, because it then changes the regulations of the cruise from closed loop to one-way and the paperwork involved for such -- the cruiseline may then pass any extra expense (or fines) to the guest who in turn expects the insurance to pay it. As CamColt mentions above, it can be more costly, so I think the insurance may prefer to reimburse for a missed cruise.

It isn't too late to purchase insurance, so check out one of the trip insurance comparison sites online. Be sure to read the coverage, and before you buy, call the agent to ask your specific questions. There is nothing worse than thinking you understand the policy only to find out too late that it doesn't cover what you thought.

Also - you want to cover door-to-door, from the time you leave home until you return home; that will include the flights and any delays or cancellations due to a change in flight schedule. If you only cover the cruise (such as DCL's policy), insurance isn't going to help if your flights cause you to miss the ship.

 

[Donna M]

I am thinking along the same lines, what to do if our plane from Boston does not get us to Vancouver that night since all the flights arrive in the evening, and the next day will not work. It seems to me the only option will be to arrive an addition day early which means two nights before the cruise. Is that an option for you at this point, better an extra day then no cruise? It might relieve a lot of stress.

 

[Vcize]

I am thinking along the same lines, what to do if our plane from Boston does not get us to Vancouver that night since all the flights arrive in the evening, and the next day will not work. It seems to me the only option will be to arrive an addition day early which means two nights before the cruise. Is that an option for you at this point, better an extra day then no cruise? It might relieve a lot of stress.

Unfortunately no that isn't an option for us as that extra day of work is a day we can't miss. So insurance it is!