Cruise Insurance -- Get It or Lose It?

[ikajus]

So how important is cruise insurance? Worth the extra money? Or a waste of money?

[zurmoly]

If you can afford the cruise, you can afford the insurance. If you or someone in your family needs to be evacuated off the ship while at sea, thats is about $20.000.00. That MAY be covered if you have good health insurance BUT if you have to cancell do to illness, death, etc, you would get your money back also if you have insurance.

[jewopaho]

Recovering the actual cost of the cruise is not the major issue, although few of us have the resources to throw away a couple of grand; but medical coverage is paramount - everything from tripping and breaking a bone (or severely spraining an ankle - I've seen both several times over the years) to evacuation by helicopter (happened twice). Most health insurance policies do not cover illness or injury in such instances, and medical services are not included in the cruise price. Ship's doctors should present their bills wearing a ski mask and carrying a gun!

 

We had two occasions to file claims: (1) my now-former wife (no connection to the injury) banged her knee on a post (of course, it was the one that needed replacement - the knee, not the post), and the bill from the doctor was several hundred dollars. We were reimbursed by Travelex in a matter of weeks. (2) My companion fell deathly ill just three days prior to sailing (she wound up spending over a month in the hospital). Once again, Travelex came through, refunding the entire cost of the cruise within three weeks.

 

The policy I buy (Travelex Lite) is just over $100, and has paid dividends twice. I won't cruise without it.

 

Al

[Krazy Kruizers]

For years we kept saying - is it really necessary to buy insurance - we always said yes and bought it. In 2002 we actually had to use it when DH's mother died a few days before we were to leave on a cruise. Had we not had the insurance we would have lost airplane fare, hotels, and cruise.

 

[BobBeaSea]

Considering the potential alternatives, it is cheap. We have never traveled without it and, thankfully, have never needed it.

[cruisingfreak]

Always buy insurance.

 

You should have it for pre existing conditions & if you have elderly parents.

 

 

Minette

[LAX]

I have decided to buy insurance--it was an easy decision. However, the tough question is what coverage to buy. I have looked at insuremytrip.com and found a couple of policies. I looked at policies for "package". They cost about $400 for a couple travelling a 10-Day cruise and some pre-cruise hotel and airfare valued at about $4000.00 total. I can't decide what policy to get because I don't know what amount of coverage would cover us comfortably. Thanks in advance.

 

LAX

[Ellya]

$400 for a $4000 cruise seems a bit high. We just purchased coverage for about the same coverage for $227 from Travelex. Of course it is dependent on your ages as well.

[tinna2000]

i purchased travelex for my cruise

[kitty9]

Can you afford $30,000 if you have to be medically evacuated off the ship due to an emergency?

[familycruzer]

Always buy insurance.

 

You should have it for pre existing conditions & if you have elderly parents.

 

 

Minette

 

I never even thought of this. Our TA just said in case of missed flights, lost luggage, or illness of the people cruising.

 

My FIL has a few medical problems but nothing at this point that would be life threatening but I am now worried. We did not buy our insurance within the 14 day waiver period. Heaven forbid anything should happen while we are away or right before we leave but you never know. Would the insurance cover us if we bought it now and there was a problem? Some policies at insuremytrip said 14 day waiver and at the same time mentioned a 60 or 180 period as well. What does this all mean?

[jckvpa0]

Recovering the actual cost of the cruise is not the major issue, although few of us have the resources to throw away a couple of grand; but medical coverage is paramount - everything from tripping and breaking a bone (or severely spraining an ankle - I've seen both several times over the years) to evacuation by helicopter (happened twice). Most health insurance policies do not cover illness or injury in such instances, and medical services are not included in the cruise price. Ship's doctors should present their bills wearing a ski mask and carrying a gun!

 

We had two occasions to file claims: (1) my now-former wife (no connection to the injury) banged her knee on a post (of course, it was the one that needed replacement - the knee, not the post), and the bill from the doctor was several hundred dollars. We were reimbursed by Travelex in a matter of weeks. (2) My companion fell deathly ill just three days prior to sailing (she wound up spending over a month in the hospital). Once again, Travelex came through, refunding the entire cost of the cruise within three weeks.

 

The policy I buy (Travelex Lite) is just over $100, and has paid dividends twice. I won't cruise without it.

 

Al

 

Is this pp & can you get this is you have already made your final payment?

[kitty9]

You can get insurance after you made final payment, but most insurance won't cover if you, or anyone in your immediate family (even those not cruising with you) have any pre-existing conditions for which you have been treated for within the past 180 days.

[01Sweetpea]

We are cruising on 7/3, booked in 9/04 and I just bought our cruise insurance with CSA (next time I'll know better). They are only 1 of 3 companies that does not look at immediate family members not traveling with you. My concern was my FIL and my grandmother, both are generally healthy, but elderly. Hopefully, we won't have to use the insurance, but the $285 I just spent will give DH & I peace of mind.

[Nannan]

What about the insurance through RCCL, that's what we got when we booked and that's all I ever knew about! My TA never mentioned that there was any other companies that offered an alternative. From what I understand, if we have to cancel due to any illness... us, our family, anyone... that we would be refunded all but a $25 service fee. Also, that it would cover illness for us while cruising. Is this right? or have I been mislead???

[kitty9]

The general consensus is that the insurance offered by the cruise line doesn't cover nearly as much, or as well, as third party insurance. Most of the time, cruise line insurance won't cover for bankruptcy, they might only allow you to cancel within a week of departure and not for last mintue cancelations and things like that. You should be OK for this cruise, but when you cruise again, go with the third party insurance.

[zurmoly]

One small example..We fly out at 6am Thursday for our cruise. My daughter is in bed with a fever this am and if she gets worse? I am thankful we bought insurance

[sandeem]

I posted about what I now call my "vacation from #*@%" elsewhere on the boards, but to sum it up, I ended up spending over $3,000 on medical, ambulance bills, etc. for an emergency medical situation on a last minute cruise that was less then $600 for two of us. Didn't get insurance because I thought it would be stupid to spend a lot of money for insurance for such a cheap trip. Found out later insurance would have cost about $60 total for us. Now I wouldn't go on any trip without trip insurance. Expensive lesson.

[LAX]

I have decided to go with Travelex (after much comparing) for insurance. Now, are there any difference between purchasing the policy directly with Travelex vs. via a third party such as insuremytrip.com? I have checked quotes on both and they are identical! Any pros or cons on each one? Thanks in advance.

 

LAX

[jewopaho]

jckvpa0 - The policy is $107 for both of us (Travelex Lite). It may be a bit more expensive for you, since we live in Florida, and don't have airfare or trip delay to deal with.

 

LAX - There's no advantage or disadvantage one way or the other, since the insurance companies themselves fund http://www.insuremytrip.com/ I purchase my insurance from the site - no problems. You receive instant confirmation, and the policy itself arrives shortly thereafter.

 

Have a great cruise, all of you!

 

Al

[Bosun]

I do not purchase travel insurance because I am fully covered through my own personal plan. If you currently have some sort of plan, you should check into seeing if you are able to pay a little more to get this extended coverage. My parents travelled for years before looking into this and and they are now saving money because of it.

[horns78232]

I do not purchase travel insurance because I am fully covered through my own personal plan. If you currently have some sort of plan, you should check into seeing if you are able to pay a little more to get this extended coverage. My parents travelled for years before looking into this and and they are now saving money because of it.

 

So, if you have to be emergency evacuated off a ship, which as I understand it can cost $20K or more, your regular medical insurance would cover it?

 

Thanks, Jon

[Bosun]

Hey Jon,

yes indeedy:)

 

And because of the type of visa credit card we have, we found out that we are covered for trip cancellation due to illness or death etc..

 

Like I say, if you are already covered by a medical insurance, it is definitely worth looking into seeing if they cover you outside the country and what they can offer you.

If you have to pay extra and you do a lot of travelling, (like in my parents' case), it turns out to be cheaper in the long run.

 

Best of luck!

[Qmadam]

I just received my paperwork for our next cruise and need to decide if I am going to purchase my insurance independently or go with the travel agents. From what I read hear, I understand that there are advantages to getting your own, but when I read the package in my paperwork and talk to the travel agent the benefits are pretty much the same all around. I checked out the online site and still didn't find any advantage to going with it. In fact TravelexLite was a little higher for the same benefits.

 

Has anyone ever used or heard of ITI (ItravelInsured)?

[mrrick747]

I didnt understand your reference to CSA Seetpea? What were the specifics? I checked out quotes from travelex, travel guard, CSA and insuremytrip and got similar prices from Travel Solve (insuremytrip),Travel Safe (insuremytrip)and Global Alert (insuremytrip). The best coverage by far was CSA. Does anyone have any knowledge about any of these companies, or any reason why one would be better than the other?? thanks, Ricknlynn