Insurance from NCL - what's what?

[dishealth11]

I could not get answers from NCL rep re: their insurance.

 

For families traveling, it's likely that if one person gets ill, the trip will be cancelled.

 

Do you buy insurance for each traveler?

 

If one person gets sick, is that a reason for all travelers with insurance to cancel? Or will they expect the remaining members to take the cruise.?

 

When I asked NCL the rep kept quoting "If someone gets sick and needs to be cared for by another covered person, then they both will be covered ". That's ok for parent and minor child, but what about adult parent and adult child (ie, my mom gets flu, but doesn't need to be cared for by me), or spouses? It is conceivable that if one parent gets ill, the other parent can travel with the kids.

[Carolyn1950]

I will tell you my experience with the insurance.. On my first cruise, my sister and I were booked in the same cabin. She had a family emergancy and could not go.. NCL said when she canceled I would have to pay the full cabin price for her to get her money back.. Your price is per cabin not per person.. So the end result was my sister gave her cruise to our good friend and the friend cruised with me.. And to add insult to injury NCL charged 35 dollars for the name change on the documents..

 

My experience is the insurance is good only if the whole cabin cancels.. Had I canceled she would have gotten her money back, but I didn't cancel because I was meeting friends from another part of the country for the cruise..

I have no idea if all this is standard precedure but this what I experienced..

 

I am not sure if any of this helps you.. Except to say if your husband gets sick and has to stay and the rest of you go, you will still have to pay for him..

 

Maybe someone else will have more insight.

[niya305]

I could not get answers from NCL rep re: their insurance.

 

For families traveling, it's likely that if one person gets ill, the trip will be cancelled.

 

Do you buy insurance for each traveler?

 

If one person gets sick, is that a reason for all travelers with insurance to cancel? Or will they expect the remaining members to take the cruise.?

 

When I asked NCL the rep kept quoting "If someone gets sick and needs to be cared for by another covered person, then they both will be covered ". That's ok for parent and minor child, but what about adult parent and adult child (ie, my mom gets flu, but doesn't need to be cared for by me), or spouses? It is conceivable that if one parent gets ill, the other parent can travel with the kids.

 

You can purchase ins for all passengers or just for certain one's, but if 1 person gets ill & everyone cancels, only the passengers w/ ins will be covered. Now, if all have ins & 1 gets ill & everyone cancels, then you're all covered.

Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption

In the event You are prevented from taking Your NCL Vacation because: (a) You, a

 

Traveling Companion, or an Immediate Family member suffers an Injury, Sickness, or death;

 

or (b) You or Your Traveling Companion (i) is hijacked, quarantined, required to serve on a

 

jury, or subpoenaed; (ii) has a home made uninhabitable by fire, flood, volcano, earthquake,

 

hurricane, or other natural disaster; or (iii) is directly involved in a documented traffic

 

accident while en route to departure; the Insurer will pay benefits up to Your total NCL

 

Vacation cost

[dishealth11]

I figured there'd be something fishy. The rep was veeery evasive.

 

I will tell you my experience with the insurance.. On my first cruise, my sister and I were booked in the same cabin. She had a family emergancy and could not go.. NCL said when she canceled I would have to pay the full cabin price for her to get her money back.. Your price is per cabin not per person.. So the end result was my sister gave her cruise to our good friend and the friend cruised with me.. And to add insult to injury NCL charged 35 dollars for the name change on the documents..

 

My experience is the insurance is good only if the whole cabin cancels.. Had I canceled she would have gotten her money back, but I didn't cancel because I was meeting friends from another part of the country for the cruise..

I have no idea if all this is standard precedure but this what I experienced..

 

I am not sure if any of this helps you.. Except to say if your husband gets sick and has to stay and the rest of you go, you will still have to pay for him..

 

Maybe someone else will have more insight.

[Jeanne S]

Everyone needs to have insurance who is booked. Also, say you have a 3rd person in the cabin. However, the 2nd full fare person cancels. Even though that person gets remibursed, the 3rd person now becomes the 2nd and must pay the full fare - when insursed this person had only been covered at the the reduced 3rd person in the cabin rate.

[Host CMLA]

I could not get answers from NCL rep re: their insurance.

A word of advice, do not take the answers or advice given here as the gospel on how NCL insurance works. Members here are great to share their stories and offer fantastic advice. But if you want verifiable facts about something as important as insurance, call NCL back and talk to someone else and get things in writing. If you end up needing to use the insurance, saying that you heard this and that on Cruise Critic won't get you anywhere. Talk to NCL. Certainly ask others what their experience has been but don't look for facts on coverage from anyone but NCL.

[dishealth11]

Thanks and sound advice Host Cecilia. FTR, I take nothing here as gospel.

 

 

 

A word of advice, do not take the answers or advice given here as the gospel on how NCL insurance works. Members here are great to share their stories and offer fantastic advice. But if you want verifiable facts about something as important as insurance, call NCL back and talk to someone else and get things in writing. If you end up needing to use the insurance, saying that you heard this and that on Cruise Critic won't get you anywhere. Talk to NCL. Certainly ask others what their experience has been but don't look for facts on coverage from anyone but NCL.

[seahorse]

A word of advice, do not take the answers or advice given here as the gospel on how NCL insurance works. Members here are great to share their stories and offer fantastic advice. But if you want verifiable facts about something as important as insurance, call NCL back and talk to someone else and get things in writing. If you end up needing to use the insurance, saying that you heard this and that on Cruise Critic won't get you anywhere. Talk to NCL. Certainly ask others what their experience has been but don't look for facts on coverage from anyone but NCL.

 

You beat me to it, Cecilia:D

 

Congrats on the upcoming Bambino:D

[Host CMLA]

Thanks and sound advice Host Cecilia. FTR, I take nothing here as gospel.

I assumed you knew that but as a first time cruiser I wanted to make sure. ;)

Congrats on the upcoming Bambino

Thanks Seahorse. Now if I could just get NCL insurance to cover that expense..... :eek:

[shoreguy]

Thanks Seahorse. Now if I could just get NCL insurance to cover that expense..... :eek:

 

Congrats - for some it is the cruise on NCL that causes that expense :)

[lovemylife]

We used a TA, but I was able to view the policy via an e-mail before we purchased it. My Mom cruised with us also, and her health is not great, so we bought insurance that would reimburse her if she had to stay home, and the rest of the family still went.

 

Luckily she stayed healthy enough to go, and really enjoyed the trip!:) lml

[niya305]

Thanks and sound advice Host Cecilia. FTR, I take nothing here as gospel.

 

Maybe you should consider calling Berkely Care directly. They are the ins comp. that NCL deals with. 1-800-722-5672

[mshe]

Check your credit card company too... sometimes they offer free travel insurance :) Some Gold/Platinum cards have quite comprehensive coverage.

[seahorse]

Check your credit card company too... sometimes they offer free travel insurance :) Some Gold/Platinum cards have quite comprehensive coverage.

 

Not for trip cancellation, reimbersement. Perhaps in CA? People are wrongfully under that impression.

[mshe]

Not for trip cancellation, reimbersement. Perhaps in CA? People are wrongfully under that impression.

 

It maybe a bank to bank thing ... but some gold cards in Canada (i.e. Scotiabank Gold) include:

• Travel Emergency Medical Insurance
  
• Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance
  
• Rental Car Collision Insurance
  
• Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance
  
• Purchase Security and Extended Warranty Insurance
  

While my Amex card/CIBC Gold card only offers Rental Car Collision Insurance. So it's worth checking what your credit card covers (if the cruise ticket was paid with a credit card).

[seahorse]

It maybe a bank to bank thing ... but some gold cards in Canada (i.e. Scotiabank Gold) include:

• Travel Emergency Medical Insurance
  
• Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance
  
• Rental Car Collision Insurance
  
• Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance
  
• Purchase Security and Extended Warranty Insurance
  

While my Amex card/CIBC Gold card only offers Rental Car Collision Insurance. So it's worth checking what your credit card covers (if the cruise ticket was paid with a credit card).

 

Not here, it is probably the difference in the insurance overall of our countries.

That is why AMERICAN EXPRESS only covers car ins.

[Stanley]

You don't have to buy NCL insurance. You can get it from Travel Guard or a similar company. I believe the cruise lines own insurabnce company sould be dangerous. Just before September 11th we booked a cruise on Renassiance. Just after 9-11 the line went under. If we had their insurance we would have lost everything. As it was, Mastercard and Travelguard covered everthing and we got everything back except the cost of the insurance policy. I'm talking 1000's of dollars. It was a 14 day cruise in the Far East. We were so disappointed but the fact that we got our money back certainly eased the pain.

[jimbug]

Yes, I second the fact that perhaps NCL insurance is not always the way to go. Insuremytrip.com is a great resource for comparing various policies and purchasing when you're ready. Remember that the insurance the cruiseline offers will always be in THEIR favor, not yours...otherwise, why would they offer it? I don't know about NCL's policy, specifically, but on RCCL, if you have to cancel and have their insurance, you only get to rebook with RCCL rather than get an actual refund. If you have an independent insurance policy, you get your money back.

[dishealth11]

Not wanting to start a new thread about cameras, I saw your photo library. They are amazing! What equipment did you use?

 

 

 

Yes, I second the fact that perhaps NCL insurance is not always the way to go. Insuremytrip.com is a great resource for comparing various policies and purchasing when you're ready. Remember that the insurance the cruiseline offers will always be in THEIR favor, not yours...otherwise, why would they offer it? I don't know about NCL's policy, specifically, but on RCCL, if you have to cancel and have their insurance, you only get to rebook with RCCL rather than get an actual refund. If you have an independent insurance policy, you get your money back.

[Sailaway...Sailaway]

You're right. I never buy the cruiseline's insurance. Instead, I have used CSA, TravelGuard and on our upcoming cruise, we're going with Travelex. They insure kids under 17 for free on the parents' policy. It's comprehensive and and very reasonable. :)

 

 

You don't have to buy NCL insurance. You can get it from Travel Guard or a similar company. I believe the cruise lines own insurabnce company sould be dangerous. Just before September 11th we booked a cruise on Renassiance. Just after 9-11 the line went under. If we had their insurance we would have lost everything. As it was, Mastercard and Travelguard covered everthing and we got everything back except the cost of the insurance policy. I'm talking 1000's of dollars. It was a 14 day cruise in the Far East. We were so disappointed but the fact that we got our money back certainly eased the pain.

[jimbug]

dishealth1,

The Alaska pictures were all taken by my husband...he uses a Canon D30 and 20-D. The Mexico pics were taken on my point-and-shoot Canon A310. (all digital) Luckily, now that he's got the 20-D, I inherited the D30 and will be able to take better pics next time!! :)

[Jeanne S]

A word of advice, do not take the answers or advice given here as the gospel on how NCL insurance works. Members here are great to share their stories and offer fantastic advice. But if you want verifiable facts about something as important as insurance, call NCL back and talk to someone else and get things in writing. If you end up needing to use the insurance, saying that you heard this and that on Cruise Critic won't get you anywhere. Talk to NCL. Certainly ask others what their experience has been but don't look for facts on coverage from anyone but NCL.

 

You could converse with 5 different NCL reps and get 5 completely different answers. Take it from someone in the insurance industry; obtain a copy of any potential policy and read that prospectus. It has to be in writing. If you misunderstand something or NCL inadvertently misstates a fact and you ever have an issue with a claim, stating that NCL told you this or that will be worthless. It must be in writing.

 

Jeanne

[cruisingfromMN]

You're right. I never buy the cruiseline's insurance. Instead, I have used CSA, TravelGuard and on our upcoming cruise, we're going with Travelex. They insure kids under 17 for free on the parents' policy. It's comprehensive and and very reasonable. :)

 

Hi Sailaway, What prices have you paid and does it include coverage in the event you have to be medi-vac'd (sp) off the ship. My parents (early 70's) are investigating various trip insurance and finding it very expensive, in the $329-$359 range.

[jeannep]

Cecilia,

 

Wow, I must have missed the announcement!!!!!!!!

 

Congratulations!!!!!!!! All my best wishes for a beautiful happy baby!!!!

 

 

Feel Good!

 

Jeanne

[carol louise]

I second the advice not to buy from NCL, but from your travel agent or from an independent insurer. We bought the insurance offered by our travel agent, and their set-up allowed us to pay for it when we made our final payment on the cruise (rather than pay for it when we booked) and still be covered for pre-existing conditions. My husband became ill with pneumonia (arguably due to his pre-existing emphysema), was hospitalized, we had to cancel, and we were reimbursed for the full amount of the cruise, minus the cost of the premium.

 

When we bought insurance for the non-refundable portion of a land vacation a few years ago, the premium was about 10% of the costs we were insuring. The recent cruise insurance was less than that. Premiums may vary according to your age, but those rates you mention, CruisingfromMN, sound about right. It may seem like a lot, but you are covered for potentially thousands of dollars and for quite a few reasons. I just consider it the cost of peace of mind.

 

Happy cruising, and may you never have need to collect on your insurance. :)

P.S. DH is much better now.