06/17/2026
Here we are discussing Travel Insurance again. I have had more cancellations since February of this year than I have had in my entire career as an agent. I had a mix of reasons including:
- Celestyal ships were stranded in the Middle East and they had to cancel months worth of sailings
- Clients were not comfortable traveling a few weeks after the unrest in the Middle East even though they were not traveling to that ares
- MANY medical issues including unforeseen surgeries, unexpected illnesses/injuries, and doctors considering some older clients unfit to travel
When the ships/vendors cancelled the sailings/tours, the clients received a full refund. If they had paid for insurance, that would have been refunded as well. None of my clients that were affected had purchased insurance (against my advice). They were fully reimbursed for the cost of the cruise, but were out money for non-refundable hotels and flights that they had booked on their own. It is very important to know that acts of war are not always covered by insurance,
For my client that felt uncomfortable traveling to Italy shortly after the war began, she had purchased insurance with the land tour vendor that allowed her to cancel for any reason for a full refund minus the cost of insurance.
Now for the medical....... I have some clients that simply refused insurance with the phrase "the only thing stopping me from traveling is if i'm dead". I have learned over the years that these are the people that have something unfortunate happen that makes them have to cancel. With no insurance, they are out their money based on where they fall on the cancellation scale which can range from 0% all the way to 100%. I always contact the vendor and ask for exceptions, but those are very rare. I did the one thing that I could do when they booked and that was offering them the insurance and explaining the risks of not purchasing it throughout the process. Those with insurance were reimbursed their non-refundable costs in accordance with their policies.
PLEASE purchase travel insurance for EVERY trip!
