[Bay Kid]

I only buy travel insurance for expensive trips. Yours was an expensive trip.

[RoboVil]

If you are going to travel then you do need a high tier travel card. I use it for all travel and still buy cruise insurance because it covers medical expenses. I did find out an interesting fact preparing for my Caribbean cruise. If your cruise ship is within 6 hours of a US port then Medicare will cover medical expenses.

[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by Aces4

Seeing the OP has gotten beaten over the head with the "you should have bought the insurance" as she suspected she probably would be from the crowd, I think she should make NCL's day and take the cruise with her husband. They have to accommodate handicapped cruisers and you may need to take a lower activity selection but it could be very helpful in restoring your health. Wishing you good luck and recovery. (And rethink cruising again..)

What is their obligation with injured cruisers?

[Aces4]

Originally Posted by Marathon Man

What is their obligation with injured cruisers?

She is no longer injured but handicapped in her recovery which is going very well, according to her. Maybe she would need very little "obligation".

[paulajr]

You have posted this on Nextdoor, , Facebook and here….and get the same responses. If your house burned down and you didn’t have insurance would you expect the construction company rebuild for nothing??
You agreed to a contract when you booked..you are lucky you got anything back.


QUOTE=Barkriver;2463071]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.[/QUOTE]

[jukerocks]

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.

I'll go on cruise for you!

[Andyb]

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.

You just reassured us on why we ALWAYS buy travel insurance. You have to know it cost the cruise lines for last minute cancellations, as they have to try and resale the booking and are usually at steep discounts. If they returned deposits, then there would be no travel insurance.
Sorry, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

[retiredguy123]

This is not just about cruises. It always costs more to book a hotel room if it can be cancelled. They don't call it "insurance", but it is basically the same thing. Having the right to cancel anything and get a refund is more expensive, as it should be.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

This is not just about cruises. It always costs more to book a hotel room if it can be cancelled. They don't call it "insurance", but it is basically the same thing. Having the right to cancel anything and get a refund is more expensive, as it should be.

It'd be great if they offered a mid-level policy. So you pay just a LITTLE more, instead of the full amount more, and if you have to cancel you get credit for rebooking, instead of a refund.

I know when I used to take bumps on airlines, they'd give me a voucher for a free trip anywhere the airline flew, good for a year from issue, in addition to passage on the next available plane that went to my destination, plus usually a meal voucher. If the bump was an overnight they'd also put me up in the airport hotel with an extra meal voucher.

If I'm on a cruise, I might be paying a few hundred bucks extra for cancellation refund. But if I could pay just maybe $50 for cancellation rebook credit, that'd be awesome.

[biker1]

So you want to play $50 to have the freedom of cancelling? Yeah, that's not going to happen. Have you ever been on a cruise?

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

It'd be great if they offered a mid-level policy. So you pay just a LITTLE more, instead of the full amount more, and if you have to cancel you get credit for rebooking, instead of a refund.

I know when I used to take bumps on airlines, they'd give me a voucher for a free trip anywhere the airline flew, good for a year from issue, in addition to passage on the next available plane that went to my destination, plus usually a meal voucher. If the bump was an overnight they'd also put me up in the airport hotel with an extra meal voucher.

If I'm on a cruise, I might be paying a few hundred bucks extra for cancellation refund. But if I could pay just maybe $50 for cancellation rebook credit, that'd be awesome.