Galapagos National Park canceled trip refunds

I'm wondering what, if any, hassles anyone had in getting refunds from companies when their dive trips to Galapagos were canceled earlier this year?

Assuming the permitting issues get figured out, I'm not real excited about sending more money to South America after the first of the year, when the government could just shut down diving again.

I'm really not sure but I think I'm supposed to make a payment 9 months out, 6 months out and have the trip paid in full 2 or 3 months out. Thats a lot of time for the money to "dissapear".

I know travel insurance is an option, but worry that getting the money out of the insurance company might also be a hassle, especially if the trip is canceled because the company you are going with goes bankrupt.

Just wondering what people here have experienced in regards to the situation down there and getting money back.

Did you get the money back from the dive boat owners, or did you have to rely on your travel insurance, or are you still dealing with it?

Going to post a reply to this, mainly to bump it back into the daily discussion list. Hopefully it will get some more eyes looking at it, and maybe get some replies!

i can't tell you much about refunds but i know that the permit situation for next year is rediculous, no one, not even long term operators know what's going on yet, and anyone who offers you a tour for next year for diving in darwin and wolf is playing their cards way to early. (note i don't know if the two operators that were allowed to continue diving in D & W this year are included in the new permit requirements so i know nothing about tours with those boats).

if you do want to book a tour then make sure you are well covered with your insurance, just in case.

mark

...if you do want to book a tour then make sure you are well covered with your insurance, just in case.

I certainly agree with that! In fact, even before the recent GNP problems, booking a trip to the Galapagos without travel insurance was risky. On our trip a few years ago, almost everyone had some kind of flight delays (even with different itineraries/airlines), and lost one full day on the boat as a result.

Frankly (and no offense to any Ecuadorians in the group), I think booking trips to ANY third world (or "lesser developed" or whatever you want to call them) without travel insurance is a real crap shoot... I think we'll see a lot more dive operators worldwide go under the next few years due to $90/barrel oil prices.

If you get travel insurance from one of the reputable companies (e.g., CSA), you should be covered for whatever problems occur. But I wouldn't wait until after you make your big deposits on a trip because if an operator (or travel agency to whom you've paid your money and who may or may not have forwarded it on to the dive operator) folds before you buy the policy, you'll be out whatever deposits you already paid.

BTW, I recently read an article about www.insuremytrip.com -- they have dozens of travel insurance companies and make it easy to compare policies. Some companies charge based on age, and others don't, so if you're reasonably young (under 50), you can do FAR better with the age-based companies.

I think the bottom line on Galapagos trips next year (especially late next year) is that the licensing thing will be resolved and they'll be operating smoothly. Since NONE of the dive boats (including Aggressor and Hughes) can operate next year without the new (yet to be finalized) licenses, I think they'll get the licenses figured out around year-end. There likely won't be any land excursions for dive boats any more, but that's not really what you go there for anyway.

So...get some good travel insurance and go! Don't let the uncertainty keep you from some of the best diving anywhere in the world!

Thank you both for your replies and tips.

I've been doing some research on travel insurance companies and see that you really need to read the fine print.

Two companies that I've looked at AIG and American Express both state you have to purchase the insurance within 7 days of the first payment for the policy to be effective against bankruptcy.

One other company I've looked at, CSA Has this to say:

Bankruptcy or Default of an airline or cruise line, or tour operator or travel supplier (other than the tour operator or travel agency from whom the Insured purchased their travel arrangements) causing a complete cessation of travel services more than 14 days following the Insured's Effective Date. Benefits will be paid due to Bankruptcy or Default of an airline only if no alternate transportation is available. If alternate transportation is available, benefits will be limited to the change fee charged to allow the Insured to transfer to another airline in order to get to the Insured's intended destination. This benefit only applies if the policy has been purchased prior to or within 24 hours of the Insured's final payment for the Covered Trip ;

I've made a deposit already on the trip, so at this point, I haven't found a trip insurance that would cover me against financial loss.

But there are plenty more insurance companies to check out!

Hi

We were scheduled on Deep Blue for the cruise from the 16 to the 26 of July , we reserved through Galapagos Adventure , our cruise was cancelled 5 days before départure ( and we came from France)

We get a full refund from Galapagos adventures , and fortunately our plane tickets were refundable too..

We will never plan again to go to Galapagos !!!!