Travel insurance

[dwaterhouse]

Just a quick poll....

 

How many of you buy travel insurance ...

And who just wings it?

 

My hubby keeps telling me.. " what a waste"..... But I keep buying it....I have purchased it on all but 1 of my cruises and have actually used it once (trip interruption .. Hurricane Sandy)

[Nebr.cruiser]

We always buy travel insurance (now; not so much when we were young and foolish) and have used it 3 times for health crisis of elderly parents and the SARS epidemic in China.

 

Since we received at least $6000 back on each of those trips, it is worth it to us. We buy independently, not the cruise line insurance.

 

I don't see it as a waste but a precaution. I'm happy if we don't have to use it!

[Colorado Babe]

We always buy it but have never had to use it.

[dplusd]

Always buy it and fortunately have never had to use it. The primary reason we buy it is for a medical problem while out of the country.

[NL2134]

Just bought it for first time for my upcoming trip in June 2014. Main factor was for medical emergency out of country. But, we also are spending significantly more on this trip than we normally do and booking a year in advance leaves a lot that can happen.

[Clarea]

Always buy it.

[Merion_Mom]

I usually buy it. Had to use it once. Recouped A LOT of money.

[digger99]

Have never left the UK without it in all the years we have been travelling. Never know when you might need it.

[canadiancruiser13]

We usually purchase our extra insurance for about $ 235.00 through our travel agent. We realize that if something happens to either of us and need to be hospitalized - possibly in the USA, the cost alone would be very expensive without any kind of insurance.

 

In 2005, my wife needed medical attention (post cruise) in Tampa - went to the local Hospital, great service from the Hospital Staff - long story short we had the bills sent to our home address in Canada.

 

If we had no trip insurance plan, the total bill was in the tune of 15 - 16 thousand dollars.

( this total before converting to Canadian dollars )

[Teenie Weenie]

Insurance is for lots of reasons - cover for your luggage - cover for missed departure - cover for medical Insurance - cover if someone wants to claim liability against you - cover for If you can no longer go on holiday. Its a very small amount to pay, we get yearly premium cover included in our home Insurance, for world wide cover for all the family.

Just found out 30 days before we set sail, that I need major surgery within next week or so, so I may need to claim........never thought this would be the case.....so glad Im insured - could happen to anyone, as Im fit and young, so please take note - Insurance is worth having.

[peteukmcr]

Never travel without it and cannot understand why you wouldn't. Very few claims here but as you can't cancel a cruise in the UK without losing your deposit, then when i was made redundant and had to cancel, at least I could claim and get approximately 90% of the lost deposits back.

 

Also if travelling to the US I would say it's essential for medical expenses (and the insurance costs more too due to the high cost of medical treatment there).

 

Loads of reasons to have it too, how many of you now travel with smart phones, iPods, iPads, iPhones, laptops, notebooks, e-readers and expensive cameras. Lose one of these and lots of money down the drain.

 

BTW for my fellow UK cruisers, make sure your travel insurance covers cruising, many now have this as an optional add on and if you read the small print, if you don't take this option and make a claim whilst cruising you'll not be covered.

[abridalmaven]

On our first cruise we did not. Probably because we were very naive. But after seeing an emergency airlift up close it dawned on me why we could possibly need it. Now for every cruise, no matter how long or short we get it.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[emeraldcity]

I have almost always bought it. My major concern has always been the potential of missed flights, with the added aside of medical evacuation back to the US.

 

Since that was the criteria, I didn't buy it for my planned Grandeur cruise last May. We were driving to the port and I didn't feel medical evacuation from Bermuda would be a big concern. As it turned out, the cruise line cancelled that cruise because of the fire and everyone got full refunds (except for monies paid for travel insurance).

 

For our replacement cruise, I will be buying travel insurance due to reason #2, since we're traveling to the Caribbean.

[Esilef]

We always get travel insurance.

 

2 months go we visited Hawaii from Australia.

 

I was simply standing in the water close to the shore.

 

Hit by a side wards wave.

 

My knee was dislocated to the point the knee cap had bone broken off it.

 

Luckily I was assisted by many brilliant & caring Americans.

 

3 trips to hospital later. The bill hit $10,000 USD.

 

Plus surgery at home in a private hospital.

 

Hoping the insurance fully pays out.

 

That was on unexpected & expensive wave.

 

Imagine being hit for $10000 USD. Insurance a must.

[KeywestK]

I always buy insurance. Would never consider traveling, especially out of the country, without it.

[Royalty X]

Never EVER travel without it!

[WetToes]

We always buy it but have never had to use it.

 

 

Same here, fingers crossed. ;)

 

Would only take one 'mishap' to really muck with the finances.

I like that little peace of mind. VERY small price to pay.

[Torpster]

I almost always buy it. On our last cruise, I did not get around to it. I always bought 3rd party insurance.

 

We were on the Grandeur OTS in May when it caught fire:eek:. Standing at the muster station for four hours was hard; thinking about the fact that I did not have insurance this time was horrible. We were safe and RCI covered everything so we did not need the insurance:).

 

After we docked, I tripped and it turned out that I broke my leg:eek:. Since I did not have insurance I did not want to go the ship doctor. Event hough I had an x-ray when I got home, it was three weeks before I had an MRI that showed the fracture.

 

I wont forget to get insurance again.

[GTO-Girl]

Always buy it........and pray I never need it!

[mrsfecura]

For those of you who don't get it thru the cruiseline (that's where I get it) which company do you use?

[Ken076]

As an alternative to going without - check to see if the credit card used to purchase your cruise includes (often minimal) Trip Protection coverage (World MasterCard includes marginal Cancellation, Luggage coverage) and check to see if your Health Insurance includes Out-of-Country coverage (some BCBS Policies include separate, very good out-of-country coverage).

 

mrsfecura - You can compare and purchase thru sites like http://www.insuremytrip.com or you can purchase directly from the Insurer's sites like CSA, etc. If a member of USAA you can purchase from them at a slightly lower premium with some increased coverages.

 

ken

[Clarea]

For those of you who don't get it thru the cruiseline (that's where I get it) which company do you use?

Usually from one of these websites:

 

www.insuremytrip.com

 

www.squaremouth.com

 

www.quotewright.com

[whyrlygig]

Would never travel (land, sea or air) without it.

[nbsjcruiser]

Just a quick poll....

 

How many of you buy travel insurance ...

And who just wings it?

 

My hubby keeps telling me.. " what a waste"..... But I keep buying it....I have purchased it on all but 1 of my cruises and have actually used it once (trip interruption .. Hurricane Sandy)

 

All insurance is a waste, until you need it. I've never quite understood the thought process people use when it comes to this. All you need is one accident that lands you in the hospital for a couple weeks and you've gambled and lost on your entire financial well being. And accidents do happen. Back in 2010 I was hit by a rogue wave in the Bahamas. Within an hour I was at the hospital with a broken collarbone, broken ribs and an almost complete torn MCL. We had insurance so I had no worries about who was going to pay for what. I was lucky and it only cost us about $1500 (reimbursed later) and I was back on the cruise ship a couple hours later albeit a little banged up and sore. Had I needed surgery it would have been a very expensive accident without insurance.

 

Anyone who doesn't buy insurance I always like to ask why they buy life insurance or house insurance because they are as much of a waste, more actually. They do it because they want to protect the financial well being of their families should something bad happen. Your house might be worth $150 or $200K. You can rack up a bill like that in the hospital after a car accident or a fall quite easily.

 

I'll never understand people who risk it all because of small insurance policy. Makes no sense whatsoever.

[nbsjcruiser]

I should have added in my previous post, we've had a trip interruption once that resulted in us hop skip and jumping all over the North East in order to get to Florida. Lost luggage on the same trip. Broken glasses on another - all reimbursed to the tune of about $2500. Added to the $1500 accident in the Bahamas and we've got $4K back over the years and have never spent anywhere near that much in premiums.

 

Those who don't have insurance, I wish you no ill will but don't complain when the roll of the dice goes against you. You gambled. You lost.