Experiences with Oceania travel insurance?

Does anyone have any experience or opinions on Oceania's travel insurance.

DH and I will be traveling to the Caribbean in February. Normally, we wait and book our insurance through CSA (Luxe) at final payment as it has a good all around coverage...especially if we are going overseas. However, in the past, we have occasionally purchased the cruiselines insurance if we are staying in the Caribbean because the ship stays within a reasonable flying range for emergency evacuation.

Lately, the CSA Luxe has become terribly expensive as we are aging and have pre-existing conditions.

Curious to see what others on this board are doing for travel/health insurance?

No, our VISA CC card will not cover us. No, our BCBS health insurance will not cover us outside of the U.S.

Here is a summary of Oceania's TI:

PROGRAM SUMMARY

Trip Cancellation & Interruption

Reimburses pre-paid non-refundable cancellation or interruption charges (up to a maximum of $50,000 per insured) for losses caused by a covered medical condition or other covered events of either the insured guest, an immediate family member, or a traveling companion.

Up to $500 Travel Delay

Covers additional accommodation and out-of-pocket travel expenses incurred as a result of a covered delay of more than 12 hours.

Up to $1,500 Baggage Protection

Reimburses if an insured guest’s baggage is stolen, lost, or damaged during their vacation, up to $1,500. If bags are delayed for 24 hours or more, the plan reimburses up to $500 for the purchase of necessary personal effects.

Up to $10,000 Medical Protection

Provides reimbursement of medical expenses incurred as a result of a covered accident or sickness during the cruise.

Up to $25,000 Emergency Evacuation

Emergency Evacuation Provides emergency medical transportation services to the nearest qualified medical facility in the event of a guest’s medical emergency.

For medical insurance we purchase it through our AMEX card as they seem to have good coverage and cover pre existing conditions with no change in condition within three months pre travel. No comparison to what our Visa card provides. This is in Canada so not sure if it is the same for elsewhere.

We usually self insure for cancellation.

We too have self insured for years but are now buying insurance for cruises more than one year out.

We would never buy insurance from a cruise line. We do have a yearly medical policy so only insure the cruise cost itself.

Do your homework and compare on a website such as Insure My Trip...

Does anyone have any experience or opinions on Oceania's travel insurance.

 

 

 

DH and I will be traveling to the Caribbean in February. Normally, we wait and book our insurance through CSA (Luxe) at final payment as it has a good all around coverage...especially if we are going overseas. However, in the past, we have occasionally purchased the cruiselines insurance if we are staying in the Caribbean because the ship stays within a reasonable flying range for emergency evacuation.

 

 

 

Lately, the CSA Luxe has become terribly expensive as we are aging and have pre-existing conditions.

 

 

 

Curious to see what others on this board are doing for travel/health insurance?

 

 

 

No, our VISA CC card will not cover us. No, our BCBS health insurance will not cover us outside of the U.S.

 

 

 

Here is a summary of Oceania's TI:

 

 

 

PROGRAM SUMMARY

 

 

 

Trip Cancellation & Interruption

 

Reimburses pre-paid non-refundable cancellation or interruption charges (up to a maximum of $50,000 per insured) for losses caused by a covered medical condition or other covered events of either the insured guest, an immediate family member, or a traveling companion.

 

 

 

Up to $500 Travel Delay

 

 

 

Covers additional accommodation and out-of-pocket travel expenses incurred as a result of a covered delay of more than 12 hours.

 

 

 

Up to $1,500 Baggage Protection

 

 

 

Reimburses if an insured guest’s baggage is stolen, lost, or damaged during their vacation, up to $1,500. If bags are delayed for 24 hours or more, the plan reimburses up to $500 for the purchase of necessary personal effects.

 

 

 

Up to $10,000 Medical Protection

 

 

 

Provides reimbursement of medical expenses incurred as a result of a covered accident or sickness during the cruise.

 

 

 

Up to $25,000 Emergency Evacuation

 

 

 

Emergency Evacuation Provides emergency medical transportation services to the nearest qualified medical facility in the event of a guest’s medical emergency.

$25k for med evac = worthless.

Do a side by side with Travelex Select (or even their Basic). May be more expensive - but truly comprehensive.

Also, if you're planning on traveling a lot, get a travel oriented VISA like United Airlines Explorer- easily worth the $90 annual fee.

We also use Insuremytrip.com ..my husband has a pre-existing lung condition and I also choose the option for 'cancel for any reason'. It may be a bit more due to the rider policies, but it is sure worth it vs losing 12+k. We chose the AXA insurance, have not had to claim anything yet, so cannot rate it. I believe it is a conflict of interest, buying insurance from the Cruiseline. Also, have used medjet in the past. Check them out...extremely reasonable rates IMHO.

Likewise, we always get insurance from another party. I've always heard it's a bad idea to get the cruiseline's insurance and that makes sense to me.

Mura

We never purchase thru the cruise line. We use insure my trip or squaremouth. We too have pre-existing and are getting older and thus an increase in the amount for coverage. If you do decide on a plan make sure you read the preexisting clause and make sure you take out the policy within the days specified (usually 14-21 days after making initial payment). You can just insure the amount of your deposit then as you pay on account contact insurer to add it on. Of course price goes up every time you add on.

Unfortunately we had to use this insurance as we had to cancel an O cruise in April at the last minute due to my husband's bacterial pneumonia and resulting congestive heart failure. Fortunately we were still in the US as we would have been on a transatlantic the next day:eek: The insurer paid us within 4 weeks every cent we paid for the cruise. We were covered by our private insurance but the trip insurance paid co-pays and incidentals such as having to stay in Ft Lauderdale for 5 extra days, all meals, return plane fare.

I will not leave home without it. Also the hospital bill was over $59 thousand, a far cry from the $10,000 you are looking at.

Ok, thanks. I was hoping that we would not have to go the route of purchasing the insurance ourselves, but that does seem to be the best option.

Purchase the TA will offer something a little better than the cruiselines. If not, it's back to CSA Luxe which we find covers more than adequately!

BTW - We do search InsureMyTrip each time and CSA is the only insurance where we can purchase after the initial payment and cover pre-existing conditions. ;)

We are in the U.S. (not Canada) and as I mentioned before, our VISA credit card (VisaTravel) does not offer travel insurance.

Ok, thanks. I was hoping that we would not have to go the route of purchasing the insurance ourselves, but that does seem to be the best option.

 

Purchase the TA will offer something a little better than the cruiselines. If not, it's back to CSA Luxe which we find covers more than adequately!

 

BTW - We do search InsureMyTrip each time and CSA is the only insurance where we can purchase after the initial payment and cover pre-existing conditions. ;)

 

We are in the U.S. (not Canada) and as I mentioned before, our VISA credit card (VisaTravel) does not offer travel insurance.

We had to purchase CSA when we inadvertently missed the time period for other companies. In our instance CSA turned out to be $400 more than the same coverage if purchased at time of deposit. That is why I mentioned just having to insure your initial deposit to get the insurance and THEN at final payment insure the balance. Just wanted to give you a $$ saving tip;)

Just to put in a plug-We like Allianz insurance We have not exercised all options, but so far we have been pleased with their response

We had to purchase CSA when we inadvertently missed the time period for other companies. In our instance CSA turned out to be $400 more than the same coverage if purchased at time of deposit. That is why I mentioned just having to insure your initial deposit to get the insurance and THEN at final payment insure the balance. Just wanted to give you a $$ saving tip;)

DH & I are young-ish 53 and 54. We have no pre-esiting conditions, so I buy my Travel Insurance when I make final payment.

As we get older, and pre-existing conditions might be an issue, question.

When you make a cruise deposit in order to get pre-existing coverage, you must purchase it at time of deposit. When you then insure the balance at final payment, the pre-existing coverage still is in effect? As long as you chose that type at time of deposit, its the same policy, just the $$ increases as the total cost of the trip increases at time of final payment??

Thanks for the tip if I am understanding it correctly.

Unfortunately this is an area we are well-versed in as my husband has pre-existing conditions:

Yes, trip insurance is now quite costly! We still get a fair rate on mine (I'm 66) but, at 83, his is expensive...but I wouldn't travel without it or use any cruise line's product.

We use Travel Guard Gold with the extra optional Evacuation package (a very modest additional sum) because this offers us double benefits and EVACUATION TO FACILITY OF OUR CHOICE...not nearest qualified...that is the key! (I have a friend who learned this in a very hard way when her husband had a devastating stroke in the Middle East and was in a local facility for 8 months until he died there. She could not bring him home.) My husband has an implanted cardiac device and we have been forewarned by several ship physicians that, even if he had a non-cardiac related illness on board, cruise lines would most likely put him off the ship.

Several years ago we had to cancel a major cruise after final payment...Travel Guard fully reimbursed us the $45K + promptly and has continued to insure us. (They also have good provision for terrorism-related cancellation.) Travelex is also a highly-rated product used by our TA exclusively...we found them to be even more costly and did not offer the facility-of-choice option. I've since found out the Virtuoso owns Travelex, which is why our agency touts them. However, our TA is perfectly happy with our purchasing Travel Guard directly (online) and just furnishing her with a copy of our coverage.

We only insure a trip deposit, making sure to do so within the 15-day window for pre-existing waiver, and then add coverage as we pay for flights, final payment, etc.

FYI: MedJet is a terrific product...and quite reasonable up to age 75. However, beyond 75 the price not only goes up but you need to qualify by submitting an extensive medical affidavit. They would not accept my husband, period.

There are some ways to save on the premiums: if we have enough mileage for only one free air ticket, I take it for my husband to cut down his trip cost. I avoid prepaid hotel stays, just guaranteed arrival, as you only need to insure everything non-refundable.

If you travel frequently, and only want to cover medical/evacuation not trip costs, there are some single-trip and annual policies for that coverage around.

Hope this helps...insurance is just not an area to cut corners on. There was a great deal of press last year about the elderly Florida man who was put off a ship in Turkey and wasn't covered for evacuation or hospital care!

Wishing you good travels and never having to collect!

We had to purchase CSA when we inadvertently missed the time period for other companies. In our instance CSA turned out to be $400 more than the same coverage if purchased at time of deposit. That is why I mentioned just having to insure your initial deposit to get the insurance and THEN at final payment insure the balance. Just wanted to give you a $$ saving tip;)

I just did a trial quote. To insure the $1500 deposit, would cost us $200 at the moment. That's $200 that we would lose if we cancel the cruise before final payment. If we start adding additional components, the cost will go up, so we lose even more if we cancel.

I also noticed that even buying the insurance at initial payment, CSA does not cover existing conditions unless we purchase the Luxe.

smoothsailors - I am going to come back and re-read your post later tonight. It sounds like a good plan. ;)

Unfortunately this is an area we are well-versed in as my husband has pre-existing conditions:

 

Yes, trip insurance is now quite costly! We still get a fair rate on mine (I'm 66) but, at 83, his is expensive...but I wouldn't travel without it or use any cruise line's product.

 

 

 

We use Travel Guard Gold with the extra optional Evacuation package (a very modest additional sum) because this offers us double benefits and EVACUATION TO FACILITY OF OUR CHOICE...not nearest qualified...that is the key! (I have a friend who learned this in a very hard way when her husband had a devastating stroke in the Middle East and was in a local facility for 8 months until he died there. She could not bring him home.) My husband has an implanted cardiac device and we have been forewarned by several ship physicians that, even if he had a non-cardiac related illness on board, cruise lines would most likely put him off the ship.

 

 

 

Several years ago we had to cancel a major cruise after final payment...Travel Guard fully reimbursed us the $45K + promptly and has continued to insure us. (They also have good provision for terrorism-related cancellation.) Travelex is also a highly-rated product used by our TA exclusively...we found them to be even more costly and did not offer the facility-of-choice option. I've since found out the Virtuoso owns Travelex, which is why our agency touts them. However, our TA is perfectly happy with our purchasing Travel Guard directly (online) and just furnishing her with a copy of our coverage.

 

 

 

We only insure a trip deposit, making sure to do so within the 15-day window for pre-existing waiver, and then add coverage as we pay for flights, final payment, etc.

 

 

 

FYI: MedJet is a terrific product...and quite reasonable up to age 75. However, beyond 75 the price not only goes up but you need to qualify by submitting an extensive medical affidavit. They would not accept my husband, period.

 

 

 

There are some ways to save on the premiums: if we have enough mileage for only one free air ticket, I take it for my husband to cut down his trip cost. I avoid prepaid hotel stays, just guaranteed arrival, as you only need to insure everything non-refundable.

 

 

 

If you travel frequently, and only want to cover medical/evacuation not trip costs, there are some single-trip and annual policies for that coverage around.

 

 

 

Hope this helps...insurance is just not an area to cut corners on. There was a great deal of press last year about the elderly Florida man who was put off a ship in Turkey and wasn't covered for evacuation or hospital care!

 

 

 

Wishing you good travels and never having to collect!

While Travelex may not include an option for add-on medevac to your "hospital of choice" for emergencies, its regular Select policy does add to emergency medevac (to nearest suitable hospital) "non-emergency medevac, including medically appropriate transportation and medical care en route to a Hospital or to your Home, when deemed medically necessary by the attending Physician, subject to the Travel Assistance Provider's prior approval."

Essentially, once you have been stabilized in the nearest suitable emergency room, the attending MD can order transfer to a US hospital, which is better equipped and staffed to provide the necessary care.

DH & I are young-ish 53 and 54. We have no pre-esiting conditions, so I buy my Travel Insurance when I make final payment.

 

As we get older, and pre-existing conditions might be an issue, question.

 

When you make a cruise deposit in order to get pre-existing coverage, you must purchase it at time of deposit. When you then insure the balance at final payment, the pre-existing coverage still is in effect? As long as you chose that type at time of deposit, its the same policy, just the $$ increases as the total cost of the trip increases at time of final payment??

 

Thanks for the tip if I am understanding it correctly.

To my knowledge that is correct. You at this point do not have a pre-exist problem (you lucky dogs), wish we didn't. The older you get the scarier the insurance prices.

Either way, as long as we are upright and standing, life is good, we can travel to our hearts content and we will continue to do so until we no longer can and if we have to pay the extra for insurance, so be it, as we learned, it is a small price to pay considering the magnitude of what just might happen.

One thing to remember is that if you have parents or other family members who have problems, it can be handy to have the pre-existing exemption. When we were your age WE didn't have problems but our parents did. So we tried to book our insurance when we made the deposit -- but as others have said only for the amount of the deposit. It is easy enough to add the additional sums due when you make final payment and you still get the coverage.

We never bothered with insurance until we started cruising regularly (around 1999) because we were mostly doing independent traveling where we didn't really need it.

If you don't have to worry about OTHERS getting ill or having an emergency while you are on a trip, then you don't need that coverage.

Mura

We are now at the point in our lives where we do take out insurance. For evacuation insurance using MedJet, those who are AARP members can get a discount. Check it out.

https://medjetassist.com/aarp-discount

One thing to remember is that if you have parents or other family members who have problems, it can be handy to have the pre-existing exemption. When we were your age WE didn't have problems but our parents did. So we tried to book our insurance when we made the deposit -- but as others have said only for the amount of the deposit. It is easy enough to add the additional sums due when you make final payment and you still get the coverage.

 

We never bothered with insurance until we started cruising regularly (around 1999) because we were mostly doing independent traveling where we didn't really need it.

 

If you don't have to worry about OTHERS getting ill or having an emergency while you are on a trip, then you don't need that coverage.

 

Mura

I was going to mention that point Mura but did not want to belabor the point of OP's enquiry. My parents are in their mid 80's with a plethora of pre existings and it scares me to travel without enough insurance to get us home in case of a dire emergency. Better safe than sorry so they say

I just did a trial quote. To insure the $1500 deposit, would cost us $200 at the moment. That's $200 that we would lose if we cancel the cruise before final payment. If we start adding additional components, the cost will go up, so we lose even more if we cancel.

 

I also noticed that even buying the insurance at initial payment, CSA does not cover existing conditions unless we purchase the Luxe.

 

smoothsailors - I am going to come back and re-read your post later tonight. It sounds like a good plan. ;)

Wow...paying 13% should make you think twice. Never encountered that much of a charge in all our 14 cruises.

We have never had ANY ANY medical conditions other than hives! LOL..we are in California. The cost of insurance is HORRIBLE. I do get it reluctantly as we generally are in an OS, and I am so tempted to not get it as we have a Chase Preferred that does cover up to $10,000 each. There are a million reasons to stick with Travelex...not the smallest of which is terrorism. We usually get the one with pre-existing as one time many, many, many moons ago my DH got an ear infection. We were almost at the date to leave and the doc didn't want him on an airplane. That is considered pre-existing and we didn't have insurance at that time. OMG, did I sweat that one out. We have to figure in stuff like that as we age. Better to be safe than sorry, I say. If it is too high, then don't travel. Too many variables.

We have never had ANY ANY medical conditions other than hives! LOL..we are in California. The cost of insurance is HORRIBLE. I do get it reluctantly as we generally are in an OS, and I am so tempted to not get it as we have a Chase Preferred that does cover up to $10,000 each. There are a million reasons to stick with Travelex...not the smallest of which is terrorism. We usually get the one with pre-existing as one time many, many, many moons ago my DH got an ear infection. We were almost at the date to leave and the doc didn't want him on an airplane. That is considered pre-existing and we didn't have insurance at that time. OMG, did I sweat that one out. We have to figure in stuff like that as we age. Better to be safe than sorry, I say. If it is too high, then don't travel. Too many variables.

I could be wrong, but my understanding is that after 6 months a previous health problem is no longer considered preexisting. I know for sure with my health problem this is true. Maybe it varies with different insurance companies and different health problems.

I'm also a huge believer in travel insurance. Unfortunately, we've had to cancel a couple of cruises because of personal and family medical issues. In both cases we were made whole using Travel Guard. I now purchase just the health/emergency evac insurance on land trips and use my United Club Card for the other expenses. I'm traveling to Italy next month for a wedding with my daughter and her husband and even though they're young I purchased medical for them for about $30 each for a week. Worth every cent knowing they won't be saddled with medical bills if either one gets sick or breaks a leg.

However in this instance we had NO INSURANCE...young and invincible! LOL. What I was trying to say is that something as "little" and "unexpected" can cause you to have to cancel. So, I say insurance at any cost is well worth it!

Heres what I do..I have Chase Saphire which covers up to $10,000 each on our cards for cancellation and Alianz yearly health travel policy which is $254.00 per person per year..works for me and is not expensive..

Jancruz1

I could be wrong, but my understanding is that after 6 months a previous health problem is no longer considered preexisting. I know for sure with my health problem this is true. Maybe it varies with different insurance companies and different health problems.

You beat me to the punch:

The key issue regarding "preexisting" is the "look back" period, which can vary from policy to policy. Can't remember the Travelex window but it is so many months. So, basically, if you do not want to (or cannot) meet the "pre-existing condition waiver" deadline for original purchase (w/i 21 days of cruise deposit), just don't do anything of medical significance during the "look back" (e.g., surgery, significant change in Rx or Ptx, etc. hospitalization, etc) regardless of whether it is an old or new problem. Therein lies the risk.

As for credit card coverage, cards like United Airlines Explorer Visa have excellent supportive coverages but are not in and of themselves meant to be "stand alone." A good strategy is to buy airfare and pre/post cruise travel with the credit card so it will cover those extra expenses (up to its allowable max).

At the same time, purchase the Travelex Select with the same card and only insure the cost of the cruise (plus whatever dollars get you to the next fee change [e.g., cruise is $4500/person but cost doesn't go up until $5000]) while extending the dates of your travel to "door to door." Also, if you use points for airfare, and can only get one free ticket, use the freebie for the older passenger (make sure you pay the associated fees with the travel credit card to assure coverage) if it puts him/her at a lower Travelex insurance amount.

Note too that some travel credit cards also have restrictions related to not using the company's travel partners. Since we use United and Star Alliance partners and United Explorer VISAs, there's been no need to look further into this.

Finally, for all us geezers, make sure your Medicare supplemental policy extends coverage to locations out of the US. If you happen to be a State of California CalPERS retiree, Some (if not all) of the supplement policies (e.g., PERS Care) convert to Basic the minute you step out of the USA.

So, bottom line, IMO (and depending on your personal situation) the best insurance combo is Travelex Select, United Airlines Explorer Visa and CalPERS' PERSCare Medicare Supplement.