NCL Essentials Travel Protection Plan

Received the below email from NCL this morning concerning insurance. Has anyone used this coverage for past cruises, your opinion is valuable.

Dear Valued Guest,

Thank you for choosing Norwegian Cruise Line and Norwegian Epic for your upcoming cruise vacation.

We are happy to announce that Norwegian has introduced a travel protection policy, Essentials Travel Protection Plan, that you can purchase after making your final payment.

Essentials Travel Protection Plan is the ideal plan for our guests who are looking for just the essentials.

This streamlined option gives you the opportunity to purchase valuable travel arrangement, medical and baggage protection at $25 per person.

If you have any questions or would like more information about Essentials Travel Protection Plan, please contact your personal travel consultant at 1-866-234-7350.

We are looking forward to welcoming you onboard.

Sincerely,

Vivian Ewart

Vice President, Passenger Services

I was also wondering about this and would be interested in hearing feedback from anyone that's used it.

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we havent, but considered buying it.

i got the full details from my PCC.

essential tp (2).pdf

It's an okay policy, but my concern would be only $10,000 medical coverage which isn't very much. Most other travel medical insurance policies have minimum $1 million and some $2 million coverage.

Doesn't look like it covers trip cancellation at all.

Our oldest BIL/SIL and her sis (being in their early 70's) opted to buy this cheap insurance in lieu of being fully "self-insured" as a sort of safety net/secondary coverage - it was offered to them after final payment / they booked late & declined the "fuller" coverage.

They have medical insurance & protection from the credit card used; and, I am sure when it comes to filing any claims (knock on woods) - insurers will be passing the hot potatoe among each other. And, they will likely be paying upfront & still out for some out-of-pocket deductibles, etc. $25 p/p instead of fully "self-insured" - it's a trade-off decision, for a little peace of mind.

Besides, it has something for trip delays and lost luggage ... not trip cancellations ... which is fine when sailing from homeport to them, 30 minutes from the pier.

(P.S. Did priced out independent coverage from online sources - for the least expensive plans with equal/better protection ... lowest price found was about $150 for 3 vs. $75 sold by NCL)

If you want trip insurance (I never use it but never mind), third-party providers will be cheaper.

Start with any insurance companies you're already a good customer of; work out from there.

It's an okay policy, but my concern would be only $10,000 medical coverage which isn't very much. Most other travel medical insurance policies have minimum $1 million and some $2 million coverage.

AIG has a similar plan for similar cost with $50k in medical coverage AND unlimited coverage for medivac.

How long after booking a cruise can you purchase insurance from a third party? I am still 7 months from the cruise but bought the cruise in June of this year.

How long after booking a cruise can you purchase insurance from a third party? I am still 7 months from the cruise but bought the cruise in June of this year.

You should check the terms of insurance with any of the companies that you may purchase coverage from to see the latest you can purchase insurance. They are not all the same. Remember, the longer you wait the less benefits you MAY receive in coverage, especially for things like pre-existing medical conditions.

How long after booking a cruise can you purchase insurance from a third party? I am still 7 months from the cruise but bought the cruise in June of this year.

We need to have Pre-existing conditions covered and most insurance policies require payment within 2 or 3 weeks of booking for that.

CSA covers pec even if you don't pay until final payment but their coverage is secondary and the look back is six months. Some of their other coverage is less than we like.

One place you can easily compare policy coverages is TripInsuranceStore.com and ask questions.

we havent, but considered buying it.

i got the full details from my PCC.

Thanks for the info! We leave in a few weeks, and I just got the email today. Normally, we wouldn't even consider travel insurance, but the past six months have been spectacularly unlucky for us (mostly me), so we're definitely thinking about it.

Thanks for posting the insurance coverage details link (above):

Emergency Evacuation..........................................$25,000

Repatriation.................................................$5,000

Neither of these limits appear enough to me.

I would also recommend AIG-Travelguard insurance. I used them this past summer and the price for 4 people was very reasonable.

We just received this email and had the same question. As another poster suggested I did check into AIG/Travel Guard but the lowest rate offered was $175pp vs $25. Mind you this was for WAY better coverage (and I'm sure much better support and service if you do have a problem). If we wanted more comprehensive coverage I would definitely go with them as I've heard they are excellent. But we are keeping costs to a minimum this trip using frequent flyer miles etc. and are really looking at this as a low cost way to provide some coverage in case we have a medical emergency that goes beyond what our insurance/credit cards will handle. Of course the real test with any insurance comes if you need to use it-if anyone has experience with filing a claim would love to hear how it went.

We’ve used InsureMyTrip.com to compare plans.

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We always use InsureMyTrip.com, and we call instead of booking online. They seem to give us better rates that way. It runs about $140 total for all 3 of us, and is way better coverage than offered through NCL.

The "post-departure" language on the first page is enough to stop me.

We always by from insure my trip. Better coverage, less money.

I'm confused about the difference between trip delay and trip cancellation... What I am really looking for is protection if there is a snowstorm and my flight is cancelled, since I'm cruising in February.

I'm confused about the difference between trip delay and trip cancellation... What I am really looking for is protection if there is a snowstorm and my flight is cancelled, since I'm cruising in February.

Then call one of the places above and say, “What I am really looking for is protection if there is a snowstorm and my flight is cancelled, since I'm cruising in February.” They will tell you what you need. Then you can purchase by phone.

Just a quick note / FYI - for a good laugh - on NCL's not so wonderful customer service and call center agent giving inaccurate information, on buying their own ETPP this week.

One of our BIL/SIL+1 sailing later this month to Bermuda, as usual - they prefer to have inexpensive & basic, minimal travel coverage - against unexpected medical, not trip interruption. Thus, the cheapest ETPP of $25 p/p ($75 for 3) sold by NCL is a good match for them. Insure My Trip has better coverage and prices, lowest offered are $165, $174 and $204.

Long story short, this was offered to them last October and they purchased it as add-on, long after final payment but before they sailed. Email pushed out to them again last week, inside the 30 days mark to call, buy & add.

He called and the call center agent said, SORRY, you can only buy that within 24 hours of final payment and it can no longer be added, etc. etc. Well, not satisfied with the answer & I looked up/reviewed the fine prints ... nothing in writing about it in the PDF, quite to the contrary. What B.S.

I called and got (probably, for sure) a different agent who apparently knew what he was talking about, and said - yes, it is available, looking at the reservation record, etc. Fifteen minutes, credit card charged and bargain plan added, confirmation emailed and also listed under their Reservation Summary-At-A-Glance ... in the Payment section.

In short, don't like their answer(s) or disagree with their scripted response, hang up, wait and do a quick fact-checking yourself, call again and there is a good chance for getting a different response. This seemed to be fairly consistent and inline with some of the other feedbacks lately of NCL customer services being all over the place.

(And, you have to wonder, is anybody really monitoring and listening in over their call centers at the supervisory level to assure quality & customer satisfaction ... I am afraid to guess the possibility, feel free to debate.)

How long after booking a cruise can you purchase insurance from a third party? I am still 7 months from the cruise but bought the cruise in June of this year.

I always buy AIG and you must purchase within fifteen days of booking. You can add your airfare later if you are still shopping for that, I just call my travel agent once we get our air fare and add it. The premium may stay the same depending of the cost.

On 4/4/2018 at 9:23 AM, mking8288 said:

Just a quick note / FYI - for a good laugh - on NCL's not so wonderful customer service and call center agent giving inaccurate information, on buying their own ETPP this week.

 

One of our BIL/SIL+1 sailing later this month to Bermuda, as usual - they prefer to have inexpensive & basic, minimal travel coverage - against unexpected medical, not trip interruption. Thus, the cheapest ETPP of $25 p/p ($75 for 3) sold by NCL is a good match for them. Insure My Trip has better coverage and prices, lowest offered are $165, $174 and $204.

 

Long story short, this was offered to them last October and they purchased it as add-on, long after final payment but before they sailed. Email pushed out to them again last week, inside the 30 days mark to call, buy & add.

 

He called and the call center agent said, SORRY, you can only buy that within 24 hours of final payment and it can no longer be added, etc. etc. Well, not satisfied with the answer & I looked up/reviewed the fine prints ... nothing in writing about it in the PDF, quite to the contrary. What B.S.

 

I called and got (probably, for sure) a different agent who apparently knew what he was talking about, and said - yes, it is available, looking at the reservation record, etc. Fifteen minutes, credit card charged and bargain plan added, confirmation emailed and also listed under their Reservation Summary-At-A-Glance ... in the Payment section.

 

In short, don't like their answer(s) or disagree with their scripted response, hang up, wait and do a quick fact-checking yourself, call again and there is a good chance for getting a different response. This seemed to be fairly consistent and inline with some of the other feedbacks lately of NCL customer services being all over the place.

 

(And, you have to wonder, is anybody really monitoring and listening in over their call centers at the supervisory level to assure quality & customer satisfaction ... I am afraid to guess the possibility, feel free to debate.)

I work with computers and this is the same with any call center.   If you get a less than helpful person, hang up and try again.

I didn't think you could post about specific companies but apparently you can.  I agree with Insuremytrip.com   

We had booked an Escape cruise while on Breakaway last year and our Mom fell and broke both wrists and dislocated her shoulder so she was in bad shape (and she's almost 97) and this was less than 2 months before our sail date.  So we got our insurance thru Nationwide and the repaid us in full.  No questions or problems.  I submitted all the paperwork they requested and got the check.  Would much rather have been on the cruise on 1/20 but it was not to be.  Maybe next year.  

On 11/10/2017 at 1:54 PM, Buford T Justiice said:

Thanks for posting the insurance coverage details link (above):

 

 

Emergency Evacuation..........................................$25,000

 

Repatriation.................................................$5,000

 

Neither of these limits appear enough to me.

It depends where home is in relation to your cruise. For us, cruising from Florida to the Bahamas/Caribbean/Mexico, it's likely enough. Cruising overseas, not so much. 😉