Cruise ship tourists often can't wait to get down
the gangplank to see the stark mountain cliffs and white sandy beaches touted in
vacation brochures. But experts warned Thursday that passengers who take onshore
excursions like the one that killed 12 people in Chile need to think about
protecting themselves.
That's because the cruise ship company may not be liable for injuries suffered
on non-affiliated tours—and those tours do not undergo the same vetting process
faced by tour groups associated with the cruise ships.
Passengers need to be particularly careful when they choose tours that aren't
affiliated with the cruise line, said Paul Ruden, senior vice president for the
American Society of Travel Agents. That appears to be the case in Chile,
according to the cruise line.
Ruden acknowledged some people choose local operators that don't coordinate with
cruise lines because they may offer cheaper tours.
"If you're comfortable being out on your own, that's fine, but you're taking the
same risk of being out on your own that you would anywhere," he said.
Four others were injured in
Wednesday's crash in northern Chile. Local authorities said the group was
returning to a Celebrity Cruises ship when the bus swerved to avoid a truck and
plummeted 300 feet.
Celebrity Cruises President Dan Hanrahan said the cruise line, owned by
Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., did not work with the tour company.
This week has proved a tough one for the cruise industry. On Thursday, a fire
broke out aboard a Princess Cruises ship in the Caribbean in which one person
died and 11 were injured. |
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Editor's Notebook |
Good
Tip
Did you know that some policies do not
have a time limit on weather coverage? Example: If you are at the airport and
the plane is coming form New York to pick you up. But there is a storm that
gives you a 6 hour delay which in turn makes you miss your Cruise Departure, you
can cancel for weather and get your money back. Or you can contact the
insurance company and they will get you to the next port and you would file a
claim for whatever portion of that trip was missed and the extra expense to get
you to the next port. Travel Guard offers this coverage. Check other insurance
companies and see if they offer it. |
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Four others were injured in Wednesday's crash in
northern Chile. Local authorities said the group was returning to a Celebrity
Cruises ship when the bus swerved to avoid a truck and plummeted 300 feet.
Celebrity Cruises President Dan Hanrahan said the cruise line, owned by
Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., did not work with the tour company.
This week has proved a tough one for the cruise industry. On Thursday, a fire
broke out aboard a Princess Cruises ship in the Caribbean in which one person
died and 11 were injured.
Michael Crye, head of the industry group International Council of Cruise Lines,
said Princess Cruises could be liable in the fire incident, but those injured in
the independent onshore excursion face a different situation.
"Before every port visit, there is a briefing provided by the cruise line about
the experience and about the things you should avoid and the things you should
look forward to," he said. "It is a matter of balance, how far you can go and be
responsible."
Miami-based maritime attorney Brett Rivkind, who frequently represents
passengers with claims against cruise lines, believes the companies could go
further.
"The passengers rarely have visited these ports. The cruise lines frequently
visit these areas, and they have agents who know the different operators," he
said.
While some risks may be inevitable, travel insurance can minimize many of them,
said Jonathan Ansell, president of U.S. Travel Insurance Association.
Ansell said about 35 percent of all U.S. cruise passengers buy insurance, up
from 12 percent before 9/11.
He pegged the cost of insurance from 5 percent to 8 percent of a trip for a
comprehensive package that covers risks including trip cancellation,
supplemental health insurance and personal property loss. Travel insurance can
pay to fly a person to the nearest hospital or fly doctors into a remote area.
While insurance can't prevent death, it can help families retrieve the bodies of
their loved ones from far flung destinations.
"It's not a pleasant thing to think about, but the issue of organizing that and
getting through customs is a major issue,"
Ansell said. ....end of
article.
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UPDATE - June 2006
Travel insurance sales are booming
for cruise vacations
According to the U.S. Travel Insurance Association (USTIA), a nonprofit trade
group, cruise passengers are increasingly taking the insurance rather than the
waiver, particularly since 9/11. A yet-to-be released study completed in January
found that 70% of consumers traveling by ship or cruise in 2005 purchased
insurance.
The USTIA estimates that before 9/11 only 10% of leisure travelers taking
cruises, air/tour vacations or international trips bought travel insurance. That
number had reached 30% by 2004.
In the 2005 study, general piece of mind and protection from the unexpected were
cited as the most frequent reasons cruisers bought insurance.
Cruises are considered high-risk because people tend to book them further in
advance than they do other vacations, leaving a lot of time for something to
happen to prevent passengers from taking the cruise. A common motivation to buy
cruise insurance, according to USTIA, is the line’s requirement that guests
prepay.
The recent spate of mechanical problems, fires, and missing passengers on cruise
ships demonstrates that passengers are at risk even after the ship sails. When a
man jumped off a Carnival Cruise Lines ship last week, some passengers missed
their flights home and incurred penalties.
When Celebrity canceled a sailing last month due to a malfunctioning starboard
thrust bearing, passengers were given full refunds for the cruise and for any
air and hotel accommodations purchased from Celebrity, but not for air travel
that they had booked on their own.
Cruise insurance is provided by two main sources -- the cruise lines or
independent third parties. As more people buy insurance, the battle for market
share intensifies.
It appears that an overwhelming majority of consumers and travel agents use
third-party vendors. Not all lines disclose the percentage of passengers buying
in-house insurance, but those that do report that it hovers in the 20% to 25%
range. If 70% of cruisers in 2005 bought insurance, about 45% is going to
independent retailers.
Travel agents say they prefer third-party insurers for other reasons. For one
thing, a cruise line can’t protect passengers from default -- if the company
goes out of business, so does the policy. Memories of Renaissance Cruises, which
folded in 2001, still haunt many agents. But they also cite the fact that cruise
insurance doesn’t always cover the flight to and from the ship, the pre- and
post-cruise stays or independently booked shore excursions.
Cruise lines counter that they offer advantages over third-party insurers and
that their commissions are lower because their policies are less expensive.
Disney, for example, charges $99 per person for insurance on a seven-day cruise,
no matter the cost of the room or the age of the person. This is common practice
for cruise lines.
Tracey Kelly, vice president of sales for Holland America Line, said that buying
in-house is “one-stop shopping.”
Kelly also said that HAL’s plan allows passengers to cancel up to 24 hours
before the cruise for any reason, without having to explain why. Outside
insurers, Kelly said, require a documented reason that falls within the scope of
the particular plan.
Cruise lines and agents agree on one thing: they want customers covered.
source: Travel Weekly
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