Princess Ins. or CSA recommended by TA?

[yellow otter]

My husband and I are on the 11 day Emerald Princess Scandinavia & Russia cruise in August. Need to decide between the Princess Plan and Ins. Co. CSA, recommended by TA. The premiums are comparible. We would only cancel cruise due to one of the covered reasons, and coverage is the same on both on that. Baggage and trip delay same. Medical $10,000 on each. Princess emergency evacuation is $25,000 vs. CSA Emergency Medical Transportation is $100,000.

Question: I realize Princess Ins. is Berkely-Care, but is there a benefit to buying insurance through the cruise line you are sailing on?

Thanks for input.

[klfrodo]

Something to think about regarding the differences in medical evacuation.

One is 25K, the other is 100K.

I don't know where you live, but I don't think that $25K is going to get you from Europe back to the States in a lifeline flight if required.

That thought alone makes the $100K covergae look pretty good.

 

I'm sure Cruiseco and Ken076 will be along to offer more suggestions.

[cruiseco]

Can you check with the TA and get the name of the CSA plan? The reason I ask is that the plan normally sold by travel agents (Freestyle) has $50K medical and $250K emergency evac coverages. It's tough to compare because I have no idea what CSA plan you've been offered.

[sirwired]

Something to think about regarding the differences in medical evacuation.

One is 25K, the other is 100K.

I don't know where you live, but I don't think that $25K is going to get you from Europe back to the States in a lifeline flight if required.

That thought alone makes the $100K covergae look pretty good.

 

I'm sure Cruiseco and Ken076 will be along to offer more suggestions.

 

Note: Most (if not all) medevac coverage in "comprehensive" insurance will only evac you to the nearest suitable medical facility. They will not be evac-ing you home from Europe; they'll send you to the nearest halfway decent hospital there.

 

There are annual evac-only plans from a variety of sources (MedJet Assist, DAN, etc.) that will evac you to the hospital of your choice.

[cruiseco]

Note: Most (if not all) medevac coverage in "comprehensive" insurance will only evac you to the nearest suitable medical facility. They will not be evac-ing you home from Europe; they'll send you to the nearest halfway decent hospital there.

 

Actually, I find that most comprehensive plans WILL transport you home. Here'a couple of examples:

 

From Travel Guard:

 

"Emergency Evacuation ‑ means:

(a) the Insured's medical condition warrants immediate transportation from the place where the Insured is injured or sick to the nearest adequate licensed medical facility;

(b) after being treated at a local licensed medical facility, the Insured's medical condition warrants transportation to the Insured's home, or adequate licensed medical facility nearest the Insured home to obtain further medical treatment or to recover; or

© both (a) and (b) above. "

 

From Travelex:

 

"Emergency Evacuation means:

 

(a) Your medical condition warrants immediate transportation from the place where You are injured or sick to the nearest Hospital where appropriate medical treatment can be obtained;

 

(b) after being treated at a local Hospital, Your medical condition warrants transportation to where You reside, to obtain further medical treatment or to recover; or"

 

From CSA:

 

"2. expenses incurred for non-emergency medical evacuation,

including medically appropriate transportation and medical

care en route, to a Hospital or to your place of residence

in the United States of America or Canada, when deemed

medically necessary by the attending physician, subject to

the Program Medical Advisor’s prior approval;"

 

From TravelSafe:

 

"2. Non-Emergency Medical Evacuation: If the local attending Legally Qualified Physician and the Program Medical Advisor determine that it is Medically Necessary for You to return to Your place of permanent residence because of an unforeseen Sickness or Injury which is acute or life-threatening, the Transportation Expense incurred will be paid for Your return to Your permanent residence or to a Hospital or medical facility closest to Your permanent place of residence capable of providing that treatment "

 

From Access America:

 

"A medical repatriation takes place once You have

received medical care and the local attending Physician

and Our consulting Physician determines You are able to

return home. All medical transportation services are provided only if they

are determined to be Medically Necessary by the hotline

center medical staff in consultation with the local attending

Physicians."

 

Even the budget Tru-Travel Super Saver has this:

 

"Emergency Evacuation means:

 

(a) Your medical condition warrants immediate transportation from the place where You are injured or sick to the nearest Hospital where appropriate medical treatment can be obtained;

(b) after being treated at a local Hospital, Your medical condition warrants transportation to the United States where You reside, to obtain further medical treatment or to recover; or

© both (a) and (b), above."

 

I'm not familiar with any plan that does not include this but I'm sure there might be some out there.

 

Just be sure to read the full plan wording. Some include this under the emergency evac wording, some call it a non-emergency medical evac, and some call it a repatriation.

 

One warning about MedJet -- they will not helicopter you off of a ship. They only kick in once you reach an airport that can be accessed by one of their planes.

 

 

 

© both (a) and (b), above.

[travelingtrish]

My husband bought travel insurance through them. We had to cancel. We are still waiting on a refund from August! I would not recommend using them. They do not return calls. I requested to speak to a supervisor and they told me there isnt one!!

[lonelybob]

My husband and I are on the 11 day Emerald Princess Scandinavia & Russia cruise in August. Need to decide between the Princess Plan and Ins. Co. CSA, recommended by TA. The premiums are comparible. We would only cancel cruise due to one of the covered reasons, and coverage is the same on both on that. Baggage and trip delay same. Medical $10,000 on each. Princess emergency evacuation is $25,000 vs. CSA Emergency Medical Transportation is $100,000.

Question: I realize Princess Ins. is Berkely-Care, but is there a benefit to buying insurance through the cruise line you are sailing on?

Thanks for input.

We took CSA insurance for a recent cruise. My wife had a heart attack on Christmas Eve so we filed our claim on January 10. Today (Jan 24) I called to check on the claim and was told their adjustor had not looked at the claim yet. I was told that they had a minimum waiting time of 15 business days before they would look at a claim, but claims were then selected in the order they were received. "Due to higher volume claims due to weather conditions..." our claim may not be reviewed for months, I was told. Meantime we have had to pay for the cruise! We are not happy with CSA and wouyld suggest any other form of insurance. We had a claim with Travel Guard some years ago which was paid promptly.

 

willettr@att.net

[Joe Travel]

Go with Travel Guard. Comprehensive coverage without the hassle.

[hateswaterloves2cruise]

We had to cancel a 1/2/11 cruise because my husband was hospitalized with pneumonia. It took Berkley Care a whole week to email me the paperwork I needed. I sent it right back, along with dr section complete and after 2 weeks, we get an email saying they received it and it will take 4-6 weeks to "review" the claim. We have always bought insurance and never had to use it so I have no experience with filing a claim. Is this normal????? or am I going to be upset :mad:

[Host Caroline]

I had a claim thru Princess /Berkeley several a couple of years ago and it was about 4 weeks before I got the check but there was no hassle getting it paid... they accepted MD's statement from onboard ship, info he gave me that I needed to file.

[sirwired]

We took CSA insurance for a recent cruise. My wife had a heart attack on Christmas Eve so we filed our claim on January 10. Today (Jan 24) I called to check on the claim and was told their adjustor had not looked at the claim yet. I was told that they had a minimum waiting time of 15 business days before they would look at a claim, but claims were then selected in the order they were received. "Due to higher volume claims due to weather conditions..." our claim may not be reviewed for months, I was told. Meantime we have had to pay for the cruise! We are not happy with CSA and wouyld suggest any other form of insurance. We had a claim with Travel Guard some years ago which was paid promptly.

 

willettr@att.net

 

We had to cancel a 1/2/11 cruise because my husband was hospitalized with pneumonia. It took Berkley Care a whole week to email me the paperwork I needed. I sent it right back, along with dr section complete and after 2 weeks, we get an email saying they received it and it will take 4-6 weeks to "review" the claim. We have always bought insurance and never had to use it so I have no experience with filing a claim. Is this normal????? or am I going to be upset :mad:

 

One month is pretty standard for claim processing, unfortunately. For me, one TravelGuard claim took 2 weeks, the next (just around the volcano fiasco) took a month. And with the unusually harsh weather this year, I can imagine that they would get a bit backed up. It takes time to train new claims adjusters, as it is not a zero-skill job.

 

I will say that taking a week just to email the claim form does seem a bit slow. When I file a TG claim over the phone, I get the paperwork in e-mail by the next morning.

 

Whenever I send paperwork to the insurance co, I always use a fax. The fax machine I use at work spits out a datestamped confirmation sheet. They can't claim it got lost in e-mail... It still takes them time to process the fax (they don't use the fancy barcoded coversheet system like some industries use.), but it's faster and cheaper than physical mail.

 

Really, I don't know why they don't have a link on their websites to submit documentation right there... I should be able to add notes to the case, upload .pdfs of documents, read notes from the underwriter, etc.

 

SirWired

[hateswaterloves2cruise]

Thanks for the input, guess I won't start worrying yet. ;)

I'm just having a bad "vacation" time I guess. Just found out our timeshare in NOLA has closed for repairs so I am scrambling to find another place to stay with little to no help from the timeshare company.:mad: