Advice on Travel Insurance

[bjboothman]

I'm planning a Carnival cruise in September which was so cheap that I can't justify buying cruiseline insurance. I've checked out insuremytrip.com and have a question for those of you who are more knowledgeable than I about such things. Can I purchase insurance for more than the cost of the cruise itself? There is no airfare involved. I'm just wondering if, for example, I cancel a trip and have a non-refundable hotel room for my pre-cruise, can I collect for that also? Are there other expenses I'm overlooking that I should cover when I decide what the value of the policy should be? Seems like Travelex Lite has the best prices and most coverage for a package policy. I've seen other Princess cruisers recommend that particular policy. Anyone have anything to add?

 

Also, I need to arrange insurance for my Princess cruise in December which was much pricier (and I'm viewing the insurance costs as a percentage of the cruise price) - now that I'm Platinum and get the "free" upgrade in the Princess insurance, is it worth it --- or would you all book your insurance privately with the Princess cruise as well.

[Coral]

When I budget the cost of a trip for travel insurance, I DO include the cost of anything that I can not get a refund for if I canceled the day before the trip and hotel rooms through Priceline is one of those items. On the one cruise that we did have to cancel, I was able to get my Priceline hotel reinbursed through Access America.

[Flintstone]

We used "insuremytrip" (travelguard) and they told me any "pre-paid" items associated with your vacation. You can add in priceline hotels for "pre" and "post" stay but remember to enter your travel dates to encompass the extra days. We also included (for our Alaska trip) all excursions that we booked independently and have paid for upfront. Lets just hope we don't have to see what all they pay for when push comes to shove.

 

 

Deb

[D4]

I agree with what the other posters said.

 

As far as what else you should be concerned with, my main concern is the medical evacuation coverage. That can easily run $20,000 or more.

 

You're doing the right thing. Some people get cruises at great prices and don't need airfare, so they don't purchase trip insurance. They're missing the big picture. Their cancellation costs wouldn't be huge, but what if they had something bad happen (appendix, heart, ...) and needed to be airlifted away. That's where the big loss can come in.

 

Also, make sure you have medical insurance that covers you outside the country for emergencies. Many older people don't realize that Medicare doesn't.

[CruiseFever]

The above replies have most all the elements needed for a handbook on travel insurance.

 

I'll only add to shop around and be confident in what you are buying. Not all companies are the same in price and/or coverage. Travel Insurance can be a big % commission item for travel agents.

 

As far as Princess Gold is concerned, I like it and have felt confident that it covered our needs in the past.

[giustot]

D4 is exactly right about medical evacuation insurance. You should check to see if your own employee health insurance plan covers it. Mine does. If not, you can purchase just medical evacuation insurance for a lot less than cruise cancellation insurance. Tom.

[pokyd]

One thing to consider is that if you buy your insurance through the cruise line and they go out of business or stop cruising for some reason you are SOL. Not that Princess is likely to do that anytime soon but you never know. I always buy my insurance through independent company - insuremytrip.com is a great site to compare and purchase. Good luck.

[jfond]

I personally found http://www.travelex.com to have the most coverage for the best price. There were others that offered more coverage but the cost was much higher.