Weather disruption

[88golf88]

I know it’s quite rare, but if a cruise is disrupted due to severe weather system, and you DO NOT purchase trip insurance, are you pretty much out of luck? Does Disney do anything for passengers without insurance? We are planning a last minute cruise in August on the Fantasy...we have never purchased trip insurance for any of our other trips, but given the timing of this trip, we’re considering it.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I know it’s quite rare, but if a cruise is disrupted due to severe weather system, and you DO NOT purchase trip insurance, are you pretty much out of luck? Does Disney do anything for passengers without insurance? We are planning a last minute cruise in August on the Fantasy...we have never purchased trip insurance for any of our other trips, but given the timing of this trip, we’re considering it.

GENERALLY speaking, if a cruise is cut short, SOMETIMES a cruise line will give future cruise credits. But, basically, in theory (or reality) yes, you are "out of luck" regarding money.

 

[fredandkell]

It's rare to cut it short; more likely, they will change the ports or do an additional sea day instead of a port so they can navigate around the storm. In 2017, I was booked on a 7-day Eastern the week after Hurricane Irma. They ended up canceling 3 cruises the week of Irma, and they changed my cruise to a Western, not Eastern. I was not thrilled with the Western, so we called and they let us change it to a Mediterranean cruise the next summer. So...if it's totally canceled, DCL will refund you with no effort or insurance necessary on your part. But more likely, they'll try to change your cruise ports instead of canceling the whole thing. So if you're OK with them changing the ports or adding extra sea days, then you're probably fine without insurance.

Another issue to think of is if you're flying to the port. If there's bad weather, what if your flight is delayed? That seems to be more cause for concern to me than the actual cruise being disrupted.

 

[88golf88]

It's rare to cut it short; more likely, they will change the ports or do an additional sea day instead of a port so they can navigate around the storm. In 2017, I was booked on a 7-day Eastern the week after Hurricane Irma. They ended up canceling 3 cruises the week of Irma, and they changed my cruise to a Western, not Eastern. I was not thrilled with the Western, so we called and they let us change it to a Mediterranean cruise the next summer. So...if it's totally canceled, DCL will refund you with no effort or insurance necessary on your part. But more likely, they'll try to change your cruise ports instead of canceling the whole thing. So if you're OK with them changing the ports or adding extra sea days, then you're probably fine without insurance.

Another issue to think of is if you're flying to the port. If there's bad weather, what if your flight is delayed? That seems to be more cause for concern to me than the actual cruise being disrupted.

We’re flying in a few days ahead of time, so I’m not too worried about flights. If it looks like a huge issue for flights, we can always drive down and will have enough notice to make it in time.

I’m leaning towards passing on the insurance. Thanks!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We’re flying in a few days ahead of time, so I’m not too worried about flights. If it looks like a huge issue for flights, we can always drive down and will have enough notice to make it in time.

I’m leaning towards passing on the insurance. Thanks!

Question - does your health insurance cover you out of country? That's a biggie, if you need it.

 

[88golf88]

Question - does your health insurance cover you out of country? That's a biggie, if you need it.

Yes it does, thanks for pointing that out tho. That was something I’m not sure I would have thought about.

 

[Mommb]

If the cruise is cancelled, as mentioned above, Disney will refund the fare even if you do not have insurance.

If the cruise itinerary changes, Disney may, but is not obligated to, allow you to put the fare toward a different cruise.

In those cases, insurance wouldn’t make much difference (although some insurance does provide payments for a change in ports).

The real risk is if the cruise is late returning to the arrival port due to bad weather. This has happened several times in the past few years when bad weather were expected to strike or struck the port on debarkation day. This causes problems for people who planning to fly out on a morning or early afternoon flight. Trip insurance could cover the cost of booking another flight.

There have also been cases of a ship returning a day early to avoid a storm, or returning to a different port than planned. In those cases Disney Cruise has tried to help people to make hotel reservations, or allowed them to stay on the ship, but having travel insurance would give you more flexibility.

If the weather is bad enough to cancel a cruise, it is usually bad enough to cancel flights as well. Airlines will usually work with passengers to reschedule flights that have been cancelled, but agIn, having insurance might provide more options, as well as reimbursement for hotel and food expenses if your return home is delayed.

 

[squirk]

I know it’s quite rare, but if a cruise is disrupted due to severe weather system, and you DO NOT purchase trip insurance, are you pretty much out of luck? Does Disney do anything for passengers without insurance? We are planning a last minute cruise in August on the Fantasy...we have never purchased trip insurance for any of our other trips, but given the timing of this trip, we’re considering it.

How did you pay (or will you pay) for the cruise? If you used a credit card, you might already have some form of trip insurance. Maybe not as robust as buying it independently, but probably better than nothing.

IMO, the extra 2%-3% is well worth the additional peace of mind.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Yes it does, thanks for pointing that out tho. That was something I’m not sure I would have thought about.

Does it provide transportation back to the US from a foreign destination? I’ve read on here of people needing to pay huge sums of money to be air lifted from islands or ships back to the US because they needed medical care that couldn’t be given on some of the islands. Not trying to be a downer or anything but since I read that several years ago I never travel without it.

 

[John VN]

.....................IMO, the extra 2%-3% is well worth the additional peace of mind.

DW's opinion also. She just doesn't want to chance and being .... "ship out of luck."