Cruise Travel Insurance Question

Hello all,

My DH and I planned our honeymoon cruise for Aug this year to Alaska on Emerald Princess. We booked over a year ago and put our deposit down. We declined any travel protection insurance (we are early 30's, good health overall and on a budget lol) but my husband ended up with a stress fracture in his foot from work and will be getting surgery in the next month. Long story short, if he gets released back to work before the cruise he wont have vacation time, but if he is still recovering then vaca wont matter and he can go (and take it easy!). I've looked into adding insurance now since we still have until June for final payment but all the "cancel for any reason" is not applicable since we booked so long ago. Is there any insurance that would cover if he has to go back and we are unable to cruise? I tried reading the policy on some other insurance sites but they are a little confusing and I do not have any personal experience. TIA

Hello all,

My DH and I planned our honeymoon cruise for Aug this year to Alaska on Emerald Princess. We booked over a year ago and put our deposit down. We declined any travel protection insurance (we are early 30's, good health overall and on a budget lol) but my husband ended up with a stress fracture in his foot from work and will be getting surgery in the next month. Long story short, if he gets released back to work before the cruise he wont have vacation time, but if he is still recovering then vaca wont matter and he can go (and take it easy!). I've looked into adding insurance now since we still have until June for final payment but all the "cancel for any reason" is not applicable since we booked so long ago. Is there any insurance that would cover if he has to go back and we are unable to cruise? I tried reading the policy on some other insurance sites but they are a little confusing and I do not have any personal experience. TIA

E-mail or phone these guys https://tripinsurancestore.com/

I would call your Travel Agent (who will put you in touch with the company that they recommend) or a broker like insuremytrip.com. They can be very helpful. Obviously, you'll want to review the policy yourself after speaking with them, but they can point you to policies that might do what you need.

You can also look at what the cost would be to cancel your cruise and re-book it as a new booking....and whether you can add "cancel for any reason" coverage to that new booking. Your cruise may have increased or decreased in price since you originally booked, and obviously you'll lose any perks associated with the original booking if you do this. Also be sure that your TA doesn't have any hidden charges for a cancelation.

Look at Nationwide. I booked almost a year ago for a cruise this October and just purchased their policy last week. It includes 70% back for cancel for any reason and because I paid before final payment it also includes pre-existing medical. It was the only policy I could find with those coverages since I did not purchase when I made my deposit.

There was another thread on this same subject just a few days ago. Have your TA look into the Princess insurance. If I understand it correctly per my TA, it is a combination of insurance and Princess coverage where Princes provides cancellation for any reason. There are some restrictions tough. Standard policy only covers to 75%. You need to get the Platinum policy for 100%. However, the any reason coverage does not refund cash, it gives you credit that must be used in a year. Not sure if one year is booked or actually sailed.

Again, this is information as I understand it from my TA.

Private insurance costs are based on age, where you are going, and the amount the cruise cost. We found that the private insurance offered thru our TA was significantly less costly than insurance offered thru Princess. YMMV. The ONLY benefit I could find in the coverage offered thru cruise lines was the percentage applied to a future cruise if turned down by the insurance company.

Private insurance costs are based on age' date=' where you are going, and the amount the cruise cost. We found that the private insurance offered thru our TA was significantly less costly than insurance offered thru Princess. YMMV. The ONLY benefit I could find in the coverage offered thru cruise lines was the percentage applied to a future cruise if turned down by the insurance company.[/quote']

 

Look at Nationwide. I booked almost a year ago for a cruise this October and just purchased their policy last week. It includes 70% back for cancel for any reason and because I paid before final payment it also includes pre-existing medical. It was the only policy I could find with those coverages since I did not purchase when I made my deposit.

 

 

I just priced Nationwide for our cruise and it was a few hundred higher than an Alliance Journey policy. Princess policy for the same cruise was about 400 less than Alliance. Prices can vary and different companys have different plus ups for age, location, etc.

 

 

Going back to the OP's initial problem, Alliance would not cover cancellation for their needs. (no 60 day with out changes) As for Nationwide, I have no experience.

 

 

Now that I am over 65 and Medicare does not cover me for out of the country, I carry a one year policy for emergencies outside of the US. These can be got for around $125 for the year, but there is no or very little cancellation coverage.

Hello all,

My DH and I planned our honeymoon cruise for Aug this year to Alaska on Emerald Princess. We booked over a year ago and put our deposit down. We declined any travel protection insurance (we are early 30's, good health overall and on a budget lol) but my husband ended up with a stress fracture in his foot from work and will be getting surgery in the next month. Long story short, if he gets released back to work before the cruise he wont have vacation time, but if he is still recovering then vaca wont matter and he can go (and take it easy!). I've looked into adding insurance now since we still have until June for final payment but all the "cancel for any reason" is not applicable since we booked so long ago. Is there any insurance that would cover if he has to go back and we are unable to cruise? I tried reading the policy on some other insurance sites but they are a little confusing and I do not have any personal experience. TIA

FWIW, never travel without insurance including medical evacuation no matter how healthy you are.

Shyt can happen at any time when it is least expected. Medical on board ship is limited and expensive.

We were only on the ship a couple of hours when my grandson had to visit medical during dinner to stop the bleeding above his eye,

He missed desert but they delivered chocolate chip cookies to the cabin.

Just my $.02

Howard

My logic is that I could afford to lose the cost of a cruise. I wouldn't be happy, but it wouldn't be the end of me. However, I could not afford to pay for a medical emergency or evacuation, and my health insurance specifically excludes any care outside of the US.

Some insurance policies will include cancel for any reason up til final payment, generally it's pricey though. If the fares haven't changed much, you might be able to get a TA to cancel and rebook you and then you can add insurance at the time of initial (new) deposit. Last, check and see if your credit card you booked with carries travel insurance. Keep an eye on the Pre-Existing Condition clause on any of the policies. He may not qualify under medical need since he had surgery prior to the policy, so your only recourse will basically be cancel for any reason.

Cruise line "insurance" is a separate and slightly unique beast. The cancel for any reason is sometimes a credit towards future travel versus a cash refund, they will still often do cash refunds for covered reasons. Keep an eye on the fine print though for the credit, sometimes they're time limited.

May also be worth considering looking into unpaid leave from his employer in the event he's used up vacation time and is back to work by then. For a pre-planned honeymoon I would think they might be open to a special circumstance?

My logic is that I could afford to lose the cost of a cruise. I wouldn't be happy' date=' but it wouldn't be the end of me. However, I could not afford to pay for a medical emergency or evacuation, and my health insurance specifically excludes any care outside of the US.[/quote']

We don't always insure for the cruise loss, but we always insure for medical emergency or evacuation. It cost one cruiser 46K to get home on a cruise we were on in 2013. Cheap lesson for us.

 

For our longer/more expensive cruises we do insure for cancellation. Last year my DW slipped and broke an ankle. Loss would have been close to 20K without insurance.

we had a close family member that had to be airlifted from Disney World (traffic related, so couldn't be driven)...evac and about 8 hours in a local hospital - $ 60k

yeah, we get the platinum insurance policy for that reason alone...

we had a close family member that had to be airlifted from Disney World (traffic related, so couldn't be driven)...evac and about 8 hours in a local hospital - $ 60k

 

 

yeah, we get the platinum insurance policy for that reason alone...

You can also buy this coverage by itself per trip for under $50 for 50K to 100K. We don't even like to take out only 100K anymore outside the US. Our policy for this fall has 500K for emergency and evac.

E-mail or phone these guys https://tripinsurancestore.com/

Definitely agree. Steve and all his staff are very knowledgeable and will help you get the coverage you need or suggest other options. Good luck!

Be careful about cancelling and rebooking in order to get insurance that waives the pre-existing conditions restriction. It may not work, and you won't know until after you file the claim - which would be too late to do anything about it. Some insurance companies may require purchase of the insurance within 30 days (or some similar period) of the first deposit for the trip - without regard for any cancellation and rebooking - instead of the later deposit after the rebooking. Always read the fine print in the policy.

Be careful about cancelling and rebooking in order to get insurance that waives the pre-existing conditions restriction. It may not work, and you won't know until after you file the claim - which would be too late to do anything about it. Some insurance companies may require purchase of the insurance within 30 days (or some similar period) of the first deposit for the trip - without regard for any cancellation and rebooking - instead of the later deposit after the rebooking. Always read the fine print in the policy.

The fine print is where a large amount of the discussion came from on another thread. You can not go by what anyone tells you, you have to read the policy. Policy written today could be different even from one last week.

Be careful about cancelling and rebooking in order to get insurance that waives the pre-existing conditions restriction. It may not work, and you won't know until after you file the claim - which would be too late to do anything about it. Some insurance companies may require purchase of the insurance within 30 days (or some similar period) of the first deposit for the trip - without regard for any cancellation and rebooking - instead of the later deposit after the rebooking. Always read the fine print in the policy.

Yes - I read a policy awhile ago that would only cover the first time you had booked a specific cruise ship/date. So this would prevent coverage if you cancelled and booked the same cruise.

Also, many policies state that you must be able to travel on the day you buy insurance.

My logic is that I could afford to lose the cost of a cruise. I wouldn't be happy' date=' but it wouldn't be the end of me. However, I could not afford to pay for a medical emergency or evacuation, and my health insurance specifically excludes any care outside of the US.[/quote']

 

I agree completely.

If we are going to do the travel insurance forums job... think about an annual plan from GeoBlue.

Thanks everyone for the help, definitely a learning experience as I hadn't dug into why we would need insurance much when booking! I am taking a look at the website a few of you suggested (tripinsurancestore) and will be calling them tomorrow. They show an option available we could do for pre-existing medical condition cancels with 180 day look back period. Does anyone know when the lookback period starts? Is it when you buy the insurance or when you cancel? We would be 8 days short if its from when we have to buy insurance but covered if it from when we would be cancelling/sailing. I will ask the company too when I call!

Thanks everyone for the help, definitely a learning experience as I hadn't dug into why we would need insurance much when booking! I am taking a look at the website a few of you suggested (tripinsurancestore) and will be calling them tomorrow. They show an option available we could do for pre-existing medical condition cancels with 180 day look back period. Does anyone know when the lookback period starts? Is it when you buy the insurance or when you cancel? We would be 8 days short if its from when we have to buy insurance but covered if it from when we would be cancelling/sailing. I will ask the company too when I call!

Good luck,

We have a large spreadsheet we maintain to help us decide when we are on the fence as to where to go for coverage. May want to start one for yourself.

If you take anything out of what was said here, make sure to carry emergency and evacuation insurance. It is cheap and the losses can be quite high. If none of the pre-existing terms work out, I think Princess may have an option, but it is not cash back, only future cruise credit that is limited.

The other thing to think about (in the future) - do either of you have parents? What if something happened to them? Also, I had a really bad accident when I was 24. No one ever thinks a 24 year old would have an accident. I always buy insurance. I figure if I can't afford insurance, I can't afford to cruise.

Some insurance policies will include cancel for any reason up til final payment, generally it's pricey though.

That sounds like a ripoff.

Usually you can cancel by final payment at no penalty.

Some promotions may require a non-refundable deposit in which case such insurance would only cover the deposit which on Princess can range from $1 ($1 deposit promotion) to $100 (using a FCD or a TA promotion) to 10% or 15% of the cruise cost.

Long story short, if he gets released back to work before the cruise he wont have vacation time, but if he is still recovering then vaca wont matter and he can go (and take it easy!).

That will be unusual. Wanting insurance to pay if you are healthy but not needing it to pay if you are sick/injured.

That sounds like a ripoff.

 

Usually you can cancel by final payment at no penalty.

 

 

Some promotions may require a non-refundable deposit in which case such insurance would only cover the deposit which on Princess can range from $1 ($1 deposit promotion) to $100 (using a FCD or a TA promotion) to 10% or 15% of the cruise cost.

Meant to say that some policies will let you purchase cancel for any reason up to final payment (basically the point at which you make the first nonrefundable payment), since the insurance co has limited loss up to the point at which the insured has actual losses at risk.

I want to also highlight, check your credit card. Some carry automatic travel insurance on any ticket purchased with the card (either whole or in some cases even in part, like with an award ticket where just taxes and fees went on the card). I think Chase cards are one of the brands that comes to mind for that... but I don't follow what card benefits are available for various banks so check your benefits.