Princess insurance VS other insurance

[mafemass]

Princess insurance does sound good if u don't have an existing illness. My major concern is being ill while cruising out of the states and needing to get back for care. Which would u use?:confused:

[spongerob]

We use Princess Travel Care, mostly because it has more flexibility. It does cost more than 3rd party suppliers. If you have gold or platinum credit cards, check to see if those also have supplemental coverage while traveling for illness or delays. AMEX Platinum has some nice features, but you pay $395 per year for the card, so you have to decide if they are worth the expense.

[mafemass]

I spoke to th efolks at Visa and they don't offer anything. My insurance company told me that they don't cover Mexico. Tough luck, huh?

 

My travel agent of course suggested Princess cruiseline insurance and it really does not sound bad. Folks on the threads here tend to direct fellow cruisers away from cruieline insurance.

[Lynda90]

We also use Princess Travel Care. If you have Platinum or Elite status, you get the upgraded insurance (Princess Travel Care Gold) for the standard price. The nice part about it is you can cancel for any reason at all and get credit for either 75% or 90% of the cruise cost depending on which level of insurance you purchased.

[mafemass]

This will be our first cruise on Princess. We have been on RCI and Carnival. Would your advise be to take the Princess insurance even tho I am new to the cruiseline?

[PrincessAddict]

Lyndabaker in your own situation this spring, how long did it take Princess to refund the difference or apply it as a Future Cruise Credit?...Were they prompt in there turn around time? Just curious to know how they (Princess) process these items.

[TheParrotHeads]

We use Princess Travel Care, mostly because it has more flexibility. It does cost more than 3rd party suppliers. If you have gold or platinum credit cards, check to see if those also have supplemental coverage while traveling for illness or delays. AMEX Platinum has some nice features, but you pay $395 per year for the card, so you have to decide if they are worth the expense.

 

Good point Rob. Most folks don't realize their major credit card provider can insure them when traveling abroad. Depending on your credit establishment and the card you carry, often one does not need to take out such a large policy through a third party. I know my visa signature will cover almost all medical visits or doctors bills and front me the cash for any emergency needs. Most cards like the signature, even cover trip delay, baggage delay, and even lost or stolen luggage. However, I only get insurance now for emergency E-VAC through TravelEx. I don't trust Visa that much. :D Also Rob, being you carry an AMEX card, have you ever looked into the STARWOOD AMEX? It has great reward flexibililty and is an overall great card. Points can be redeemed for all Starwood hotel properties as well as any major airline. With some point systems for air rewards their is a $1:1.25 point ratio.

[Lynda90]

Lyndabaker in your own situation this spring, how long did it take Princess to refund the difference or apply it as a Future Cruise Credit?...Were they prompt in there turn around time? Just curious to know how they (Princess) process these items.

PA: Princess refunded their portion immediately. It appeared on my credit card the same day that my TA cancelled the cruise. The balance was refunded by BerkelyCare (the provider Princess uses) in the form of a check approximately one or two weeks after they received my documentation. I was amazed at how quickly this happened.

[PrincessAddict]

Lyndabaker...WOW that is fast for any insurance company to respond!...good to know...thank you:)

[spongerob]

Fins up, Parrotheads! Thanks - I've gotten good use from the card I have. The feature I really like is being able to get a rental car when the agencies state they are sold out. That's handy when you have business to attend to.

[NthernLgts]

Princess insurance does sound good if u don't have an existing illness. My major concern is being ill while cruising out of the states and needing to get back for care. Which would u use?:confused:

 

We are using Travelex (Travelite policy) for our cruise in September. If medical is what you are primarily concerned about, first check your existing coverage & find out how they view out of country charges. Ours does cover....but views it as an "out of network" provider charge. Not bad, so what we did was book a smaller policy ($50,000 medical, including medical evacuation) through travelex...as a primary (not secondary) medical policy. Yes, we have trip cancellation/delay included, as well as baggage loss and all of that. But our main concern was as yours, medical. We still have our primary policy as a backup for anything truly big. Thats what we did.

 

FYI...we paid just under $100 for the two of us.

[sultan_sfo]

Princess will only include missing a cruise because of Airline delays if you have purchased Princess Air. For our up coming cruise, we had to buy non-Princess insurance primarily for that reason. Even with Princess Insurance, medical expenses incurred onboard a Princess ship will be charged to your on-board account. Then Princess reimbursement is secondary; so you have to first try to get it from your regular medical insurance (if you have one). It is very difficult even after reading all the fine print to really figure out whether medical charges reimbursement is primary or secondary for any insurance provider (because some of the rules are dependent on which State you reside in). AAA Plus (the enhanced Auto Club membership) includes emergency medical evacuation. I got AAA to send me the actual policy terms. /Sultan