Staff! I missed a cruise and the cruise line's own travel insurance doesn't pay.

Dear Tripped Up,

After graduating in 2022 and working for a year, I used my bonus and some of my savings to book a nine-day Mediterranean cruise with Norwegian Cruise Line for my partner and me. Our $7,657 cruise package included the flight from Atlanta to Barcelona, ​​Spain, via Newark, and Norwegian's BookSafe Travel Protection Plan, which included travel insurance and allowed me to cancel “for any reason” for a 75 percent credit. The weather delayed our first flight, we missed the connection and United Airlines couldn't get us to Barcelona in time to board. I called Norwegian and agents suggested I buy last minute tickets on another airline, but I don't have that kind of money. And even if I did, there were no direct flights to later ports and I didn't want to risk missing another connecting flight. So we spent the night in Newark airport, paid for a return flight to Atlanta the next morning, and canceled the cruise and remaining flights. I got an immediate $1,184 refund from Norwegian, and then another $232 refund (for my return flight) from travel insurance when I filed a trip delay claim, but a cruise trip cancellation claim was denied outright. I think I should at least get the 75 percent credit – otherwise what was the protection plan for? Can you help? Ivy, Atlanta

Dear Ivy,

You're not the first traveler to write to Tripped Up after missing a cruise due to flight delays on the itinerary the cruise line booked for them.

You have also gone out of your way to resolve this issue yourself, first by filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau, the Georgia Attorney General's Office, and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (where Norwegian is based), all without result. benefit. Even when I offered to help, you didn't stop and – before I could do anything – you urged Norwegian to give you a credit of just over 75 percent, or $5,420, towards a future cruise 'as a gesture of good want to. will.” Impressive.

I would have gone further to help another Tripped Up reader, but Norwegian's use of the phrase “as a gesture of goodwill” irritated me. I wanted to know why Book safe has not covered you, and what other cruise customers can do to protect themselves.

The BookSafe plan actually consists of two main parts: a travel insurance policy, managed by Aon Affinity and underwritten by Nationwide, and a cancel-for-any-reason credit feature offered by Norwegian itself.

I read the fine print and it appears (and Aon confirms) that the travel insurance portion does not provide reimbursement for a cruise if issues with the airline cause a traveler to miss the cruise. But under the Cancel for Any Reason component, it seems to me like Norwegian should have given you that credit with no problem.

I tried to confirm that with Norwegian, but the company refused to answer most of my questions and instead responded with inaccurate statements via email.

“While Norwegian Cruise Line offers flight packages as part of its cruise offering,” the initial email said, “we have no control over the airlines' operations and are not responsible for any flight changes or cancellations.”

“It is due to the nature of unexpected situations such as this that we strongly recommend that all guests obtain travel insurance,” the statement continued.

But again, you bought the travel protection plan and the insurance part didn't cover you. Regarding the Cancel for Any Reason credit component, Norwegian sent another email, which you forwarded, stating: “We cannot issue credits for the penalties assessed on your reservation as this will not be eligible prior to departure appears under Cancel for any reason. ”

When you initially filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, Norwegian doubled down and used the same wording.

I do not understand why. For the credit to apply, BookSafe clearly states that you only need to cancel “before the ship's departure,” and not before the departure of your flight. You sent me a cancellation document dated the day you flew back to Atlanta – which was also the day the cruise departed. That appears to qualify unless Norwegian determines that the cancellation occurred minutes or hours after the ship's departure. That would be quite disingenuous of them, considering you had been on the phone with them since the night before, asking about your options.

When I asked Norwegian about the original denial, I received a statement saying that you had “erroneously filed a trip delay claim instead of a trip cancellation claim” and that the credit was “later added to your account.”

To me that is somewhere between confused and untrue. What actually happened was that you filed a “travel delay” claim with Aon, which turned out to only cover your flight back to Atlanta. (That's what travel delay cover does, cover unexpected costs.) Then you filed a 'trip cancellation' claim, also with Aon, but that never worked: trip cancellation cover expires as soon as you get on the plane and another other type When it comes to coverage, 'travel interruption' comes into effect. But applying for one wouldn't have gotten you anywhere: Norwegian's trip interruption policy doesn't cover airline delays.

That is why – after some blood, sweat and tears – you received the 75 percent credit from Norwegian.

It's confusing, no doubt. You've fallen into the common trap when it comes to trip cancellation, delay and interruption policies, assuming this coverage pays for anything that's really not your fault. But adjusters tend to be extremely literal when interpreting the fine print list of “perils” or “hazards” that your policy covers.

“If it's there, you're good, and if it's not there, you're not good,” says Stan Sandberg, co-founder of Travelinsurance.coma site that aggregates policies from several companies and provides convenient direct links to state-specific policies.

I got curious and decided to compare BookSafe's fine print with the standard travel insurance plans on cruise lines like Carnival, Disney, MSC, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Viking. I used the New York versions for consistency, specifically looking at how well they handled the problems caused by delays and cancellations of “common carriers” – airlines, trains and the like.

All plans have 'trip delay', 'trip cancellation' and 'trip interruption' coverage, administered by insurance companies. Most include a separate “cancel for any reason” credit section that the cruise lines manage themselves. (Just not MSC.)

I focused on trip interruption, which typically provides a maximum benefit of 125 or 150 percent of trip value. This means that in theory a traveler can be reimbursed for the full cost of the cruise, plus any additional costs incurred as a result of the interruption.

Three of the seven plans I looked at—Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, and Princess—completely leave airline issues out of trip interruption benefits, making it impossible to claim the value of a missed cruise in its entirety in a situation like yours. “That's shocking,” said Jason Schreier, CEO of Aegis General Insurance's travel division.

“Ninety-five percent of travel insurance companies you see have common carrier issues in terms of both trip cancellation and interruption benefits,” he said.

The other four involve delays of varying degrees. Carnival only mentions weather problems. MSC and Viking cover mechanical issues, weather delays and strikes – pretty standard language, but not all-inclusive. Only Disneys plan allows trip interruptions due to “any delay by a regular airline” as long as it causes you to miss at least half of the trip.

Aegis's Mr. Schreier told me that the cruise lines themselves will often exclude common hazards from customized plans to reduce liability. When I asked Norwegian about this, the company referred me to Aon Affinity. But Beth Godlin, the president of Aon Affinity Travel Practice, wrote that Aon “works with many different cruise lines” and tailors plans “to meet the needs of the cruise line.”

Finally, there is the 'cancel for any reason for partial cruise credit' element. As we've learned, Norwegian's plan, as well as those of Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Princess and Disney, include flight disruptions by allowing travelers to cancel up until the ship's departure. Only Viking's is different: it ends as soon as you board your first flight. (Again, MSC doesn't offer this benefit at all.)

I would caution against choosing a cruise line based solely on whether its protection plan covers delays on regular airlines. You would then just be asking for something else to go wrong. But Ivy, since you're using your credit, I would consider taking the time to purchase a separate insurance plan, using comparison sites like TravelInsurance.com or Square mouthor directly to companies such as Aegiswhich Mr Schreier points out has a cruise specific package and a “Stress Less” function who might have paid on the spot for a flight with another airline to get you to Barcelona on time.

Whatever you do, I hope you have a great cruise and can at least temporarily forgive Norwegian for what happened – as a gesture of goodwill.

If you need advice on a well-designed itinerary gone wrong, send an email to TrippedUp@nytimes.com.

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