[kingofbeer]

Originally Posted by Barkriver

I had purchased a 7-day New England cruise through Norwegian Cruise Line, sailing on October 3, 2025. My husband and I were to join my sister, brother, and his wife.

I did not (and never have) purchase NCL's proprietary travel insurance. The concept of paying protection money to a company for a service they own has always left a bad taste in my mouth.

On August 29, I slipped in the rain and fell in a parking lot. I broke my hip and fractured my pelvis. (Thank you to all the compassionate strangers who assisted me that afternoon and saw me safely into an ambulance.) ❤️

I had surgery on August 31 to repair the break and luckily, was discharged back home on September 1. I now have in-home physical therapy twice a week and am doing better than expected. Really!

My complaint is with NCL. I contacted them as soon as I returned home to let them know I needed to cancel our reservation. I immediately learned NCL would not be refunding the $8800 deposit we paid for the cruise.

An NCL representative named Guillermo in an NCL chat room wrote to me that I could expect a $1500 refund. When I asked for a supervisor, Guillermo explained that their supervisors did not work in the chat rooms and so none were available...ever. He suggested I call another customer support number.

The woman on the other end of the customer support number was cheerfully adamant that there would be no refund beyond the $1500, and repeated twice, "that is why you should buy the insurance." She was so chipper delivering this admonishment, she sounded like Effie, in The Hunger Games, "May the odds be always in your favor."

I'm going to make a long story short(er). NCL fully intends to keep my paid deposit of $8,800 despite my having provided complete medical documentation. You would think there would be some spirit of goodwill - NCL is aware that my husband is a veteran with Alzheimer's because I completed NCL'S disability form. My husband and I are NCL Gold Latitude members, (which is NCL code for "these folks spent A LOT of vacation money with us.")

My beef is that it is unethical to coerce passengers to either buy NCL travel insurance, or face financial hardship upon cancellation for legitimate, unavoidable, (particularly medical) circumstances. Talk about a conflict of interest.

Now, I have no illusions regarding the readership of TOTV. I know that many of you believe that my husband and I got what we deserved - after all, isn't that what insurance is for? Shame on us. Definitely our bad. And I would agree with you if our cancellation had been for a frivolous or inconsequential reason. But it wasn't. We fully intended to sail. Time is short and this was a wonderfully anticipated adventure with family.

Just consider this a cautionary tale.

Any cruise company or airline is unlikely to refund the entire amount. I use insuremytrip.com for travel insurance -- they offer many travel insurance plans. My preference is John Hancock or Berkshire Hathaway. The cost would be about 5%. The policy would refund the travel cost for many reasons, including yours.