Cruise Insurance

I'm booked on the DCL Fantasy for the East Carribean Cruise in a 5B Stateroom next April. Passenger Fare close to $1900.00 pp. The insurance coverage by DCL is $311.00 total & is included in the passenger fare. I have no idea if this is a fair amount for insurance. Any thoughts on this? Thank you.

The insurance sold thru DCL is some of the worst insurance at the highest price possible. The one good point is that when you purchase insurance privately it is based on age while thru DCL it is based only on the price of the cruise. Thus, for some elderly people, it may be cost effective. The other good point of purchase thru DCL is that IF the insurance rejects the claim for any reason, a portion of the trip cost is credited to that person for another cruise with certain time restrictions.

There are LOTS of good private companies that sell travel insurance. You can research them at insuremytrip.com or thru your travel agent. Most private companies provide several levels of coverage--don't buy the lowest tier. The mid level provides much better coverage, often for only $3-5 more than the lowest level. Also, many private companies provide a free child's policy for each parent or grandparent policy purchased.

OK, now ask yourself why you are purchasing the insurance. I buy it because my medical insurance specifically excludes any treatment outside the US. I could afford to lose the cost of the trip (I wouldn't be happy, but it wouldn't be the end of the world). On the other hand, I would not want to see the cost of a hospitalization in another country or extensive care in the ship's medical center. People make the point about a medical evacuation. If you are cruising the Caribbean, an evacuation would be provided by the US Coast Guard at no charge--your tax dollars at work.

The other thing to consider is that most insurance covers a trip cancelation for a medical emergency in not only the booked passenger, but in a first degree relative. Example--you feel that you need to cancel because an elderly parent is hospitalized with a heart attack. You'll have to submit documentation and ultimately be reimbursed.

You can drop the DCL coverage prior to the penalty date (or add it). This often gived you time to shop private coverage before a final decision.

Another bad point for DCL insurance--only items booked thru DCL are covered by their insurance. Thus, non-refundable air, hotel, etc. is not covered if you booked it privately. Private insurance will cover the entire trip up to the amount of the policy you purchase.

While on the topic of insurance, how bad is it that I did not purchase it when I put the deposit on our cruise? Our cruise is still 17 months away so I wasn't concerned about picking it up, but now i'm reading about exclusions and I'm getting worried.

If you are buying the insurance thru DCL, you can add it at any time before your penalty date.

If buying privately, you can buy any time BUT it must be purchased within 14 or 21 days of booking the trip to get pre-existing conditions covered at no cost. The time frame varies with the company. MOST policies define "pre-existing" as treated within 6 months of purchase, but that's one of those situations where you need to read the fine print on your policy.

Private trip insurance is far superior to anything that any of the cruise lines offer! It provides wider coverage, full refunds and high dollar medical and air evacuation coverage. To top it off, it's significantly less costly. I have used insuremytrip.com but my go to now is through USAA which may not be an option for you.

The bad news for you is by not purchasing cruise insurance shortly after your initial payment you will not be covered by preexisting conditions. It is still possible to cover preexisting conditions from some carriers but it will come at a premium cost. As stated, you may still get the coverage through the cruise line.

Hopefully, no one in your party has any preexisting conditions, so you will still be able to get the better travel insurance.

We always purchase when we book, or within a few days. With private insurance, you are also able to add to the policy as you make more reservations, such as air and hotel. This way, you pay the bulk up front and then add as necessary. Also, many private insurances will allow you to transfer that insurance once. So if plans change, you can move the coverage, of course, working with a TA helps this process.

I'm booked on the DCL Fantasy for the East Carribean Cruise in a 5B Stateroom next April. Passenger Fare close to $1900.00 pp. The insurance coverage by DCL is $311.00 total & is included in the passenger fare. I have no idea if this is a fair amount for insurance. Any thoughts on this? Thank you.

Shop it at insuremytrip.com

That site makes it easy to compare coverages and prices.

While on the topic of insurance, how bad is it that I did not purchase it when I put the deposit on our cruise? Our cruise is still 17 months away so I wasn't concerned about picking it up, but now i'm reading about exclusions and I'm getting worried.

The only thing that gets excluded is the "cancel for any reason" benefit.

After the grace period, cancellations must meet their criteria.

Thanks so much, everyone!

The insurance sold thru DCL is some of the worst insurance at the highest price possible. The one good point is that when you purchase insurance privately it is based on age while thru DCL it is based only on the price of the cruise. Thus' date=' for some elderly people, it may be cost effective. The other good point of purchase thru DCL is that IF the insurance rejects the claim for any reason, a portion of the trip cost is credited to that person for another cruise with certain time restrictions.

 

There are LOTS of good private companies that sell travel insurance. You can research them at insuremytrip.com or thru your travel agent. Most private companies provide several levels of coverage--don't buy the lowest tier. The mid level provides much better coverage, often for only $3-5 more than the lowest level. Also, many private companies provide a free child's policy for each parent or grandparent policy purchased.

 

OK, now ask yourself why you are purchasing the insurance. I buy it because my medical insurance specifically excludes any treatment outside the US. I could afford to lose the cost of the trip (I wouldn't be happy, but it wouldn't be the end of the world). On the other hand, I would not want to see the cost of a hospitalization in another country or extensive care in the ship's medical center. [b']People make the point about a medical evacuation. If you are cruising the Caribbean, an evacuation would be provided by the US Coast Guard at no charge--your tax dollars at work.[/b]

 

The other thing to consider is that most insurance covers a trip cancelation for a medical emergency in not only the booked passenger, but in a first degree relative. Example--you feel that you need to cancel because an elderly parent is hospitalized with a heart attack. You'll have to submit documentation and ultimately be reimbursed.

 

You can drop the DCL coverage prior to the penalty date (or add it). This often gived you time to shop private coverage before a final decision.

 

Another bad point for DCL insurance--only items booked thru DCL are covered by their insurance. Thus, non-refundable air, hotel, etc. is not covered if you booked it privately. Private insurance will cover the entire trip up to the amount of the policy you purchase.

Are you sure about this?

We had a friend have a REALLY bad reaction to something (either food or drink, I can't remember) on a Caribbean cruise and he said he was glad he had an Amex platinum card to cover the almost $50,000 cost of his evacuation.

Are you sure about this?

We had a friend have a REALLY bad reaction to something (either food or drink, I can't remember) on a Caribbean cruise and he said he was glad he had an Amex platinum card to cover the almost $50,000 cost of his evacuation.

I have seen 2 evacuations from DCL ships; in each case the helicopter involved appeared to be a US Coast Guard helo. Admittedly, I was watching from the deck and had no more info than my eyes could provide. I've read on the boards that they handle the evacuations within a certain range. I'm very experienced with land based medical transfers, which in my location were handled by several different privately owned helicopters...so it's not like I've not seen medical helicopters before. Hospital competition is such fun--regardless of cost, everyone has to have their own because it is such an appealing item to have.

In fairness, I've also read that $50K figure on the boards a couple times. It puzzles me that the figure is always the same. One might think that if there are multiple private companies and distances involved, the price tag might vary. But then, people could be just using round numbers.

There are some experienced Masters, etc. on these boards. Perhaps they will weigh in.

My story isn't from these boards - it really happened to a friend and yes, that $50,000 figure was definitely just "round".

We were relatively young, 30s and 40s, and weren't thinking about medical problems. (It was a SEVERE, unexpected allergic reaction)

He said it was a fortune and the point of the story was how glad he was that he had the platinum Amex coverage. (We've had the card ever since . )

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that your report came from the boards. I understood that you were talking about a "real life" situation that happened to a friend. My point was that I've read a couple of reports on various boards where a price was quoted for a helicopter evac and in each case, it was $50,000.

I honestly have no idea other than location of the ship and medical need how the decisions are made--port and drop of passenger at local hospital (and I have seen that also once that I know of...teen sustained compound femur fracture while running on deck, he was stabilized and then hospitalized at the next port which was the next morning) vs. evacuation. The fracture impressed me because I thought of older people needing insurance. What helicopter does the evacuation--no idea how they decide.

We buy insurance because my BC/BS specifically excludes care outside the US. I could afford to lose the cost of the cruise, but I couldn't afford a huge out of pocket hospital bill.

I buy the insurance for peace of mind, as it does cover other than medical issues as well. Like when the Fantasy arrives in port 6 hours late and you have missed your flight. No problem, insurance is there. Missing luggage? Sure, you have to do some shopping (not a chore for me, lol), but it is paid for within certain limits. Medical is a benefit as well.

A note on the medi-vac helicopter companies, there was an article about possible price collusion on these services amongst the providers. Will be interesting to see what comes of this.

I have seen 2 evacuations from DCL ships; in each case the helicopter involved appeared to be a US Coast Guard helo. Admittedly' date=' I was watching from the deck and had no more info than my eyes could provide. I've read on the boards that they handle the evacuations within a certain range. I'm very experienced with land based medical transfers, which in my location were handled by several different privately owned helicopters...so it's not like I've not seen medical helicopters before. Hospital competition is such fun--regardless of cost, everyone has to have their own because it is such an appealing item to have.

 

In fairness, I've also read that $50K figure on the boards a couple times. It puzzles me that the figure is always the same. One might think that if there are multiple private companies and distances involved, the price tag might vary. But then, people could be just using round numbers.

 

There are some experienced Masters, etc. on these boards. Perhaps they will weigh in.[/quote']

 

The helo gets you from the ship to the ambulance or hospital.

Your trip insurance covers your stay in the hospital and repatriation back to your home city. If you are unable to fly commercial, this may involve a private medical charter jet and a huge bill. The USCG won't be involved hence the travel insurance.

 

This may explain it:

http://www.insuremytrip.com/learn/coverages/medical-evacuation-costs.html