Need Advice… Disney Cruise Cancelled Last Minute?

Feeling totally lost here… My wife and I were set to leave on a Disney Cruise in just 48 hours, but things have taken a turn. She was hospitalized yesterday and needs surgery today, so we obviously won’t be able to go.
I didn’t get travel insurance or any type of Cruise protection. Am I out of luck in terms of any credit? We did prepay our gratuities though… Would it make any sense to contact Disney, or should I just skip it and be a no-show? Any chance I could at least get the gratuities back?

Here’s the original post:

Am I completely out of luck here? My wife and I were supposed to sail on a Disney Cruise in 48 hours, but she was hospitalized last night and will have surgery today, so we won’t be able to go. No travel insurance or cruise protection. I’m guessing that means no credit back. We had prepaid our gratuities. Should I call Disney or just not show up? Is it possible to get the gratuities back?

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An said:
You’ll probably get a refund on the gratuities and any taxes or fees.

If you paid with a credit card, some of them include travel insurance as a perk, so it might be worth checking.

Yes, definitely check your credit card benefits if that’s how you paid. My card has travel insurance, and I’m pretty sure a medical situation like this would be covered.

Give Disney a call, explain what happened, but don’t just say you want to cancel. Ask if there’s a chance to reschedule. I was able to do something similar; I booked another date a few months out, and they moved my funds to the new booking. It wasn’t even for a medical emergency; just a family situation.

Definitely call them and explain. I’m a travel agent and always suggest travel insurance to my clients—covers situations just like this and can save you a lot, even for medical emergencies on the ship! But in your case, maybe Disney will make an exception. I hope they help out and sprinkle a little magic your way!

If you’re 100% sure you can’t go, call them to cancel. They should refund your gratuities, port fees, and taxes, plus anything you prepaid like excursions or dining packages. Also, ask if there’s any other credit they’d consider due to the medical emergency.

Check if your credit card has any travel insurance, too; most major ones offer it. You can even Google your card name + “travel insurance” and find info.

Yep, call Disney and see if there’s anything they can do to help. Maybe they’ll let you reschedule to a later date? The worst they can do is say no.

Definitely worth a call. And if it doesn’t work out with the first person, try calling again—sometimes a different representative is more willing to help. Just stay calm and explain the situation. Worst case, they say no.

Honestly, I don’t get why people book cruises without travel insurance. It’s probably too late to sell your cabin, which is why they have deadlines. But maybe Disney will help out; you never know.

Disney is usually pretty understanding. Just give them a call and see if they can help you reschedule.

It’s a rough situation for sure, but your wife’s health is more important. At the end of the day, a cruise is just money, but this stuff happens. Hope everything turns out well for you both.