Insurance through Oceania

[workstocruise]

We just booked our first cruise on Oceania to the FP. Has anyone purchased travel insurance through the cruise line and if so, do you know approx what it cost? My TA quoted $1300 for 14 days and I thought that was high. Thanks.

[orchestrapal]

Personally we would never buy insurance through the cruise line.

What you pay has to do with the cost of your cruise so there is no way to tell if it's high or not.

Take a look at http://www.Insuremytrip.com for quotes from many companies.

[workstocruise]

Thank you. I'm already researching. The reason I asked is we just sailed on Celebrity to the Baltics for about the same cost as our Oceania cruise and we bought our insurance through them. The price was incredibly reasonable. I was hoping for the same.

[DOJO466]

Thank you. I'm already researching. The reason I asked is we just sailed on Celebrity to the Baltics for about the same cost as our Oceania cruise and we bought our insurance through them. The price was incredibly reasonable. I was hoping for the same.

Another no vote for Insurance thru cruiseline. Insure my trip for sure

[pacheco18]

Also check out squaremouth.com

U will save a bundle

[DOJO466]

Also check out squaremouth.com

U will save a bundle

I agree

[tanny18]

I was advised never to get insurance thru any cruise line, tour company, etc. We were booked on the R6 in October 2001 when Renaissance went bankrupt. Imagine how long it would have taken us to get reimbursed if we (a) didn't have our own insurance or (b) didn't booked with Amex!! We always book thru Insuremytrip.com We just had a claim - my husband fell and cracked a vertebrae so we had to cancel the cruise the day before we were sailing on October 18th. We got our check today!! $1300 for a 14 day cruise seems very high. Check out the other webwites that have been recommended. You cannot go wrong. Arlene;)

[hypercafe]

The price depends on lots of things related to you and your trip. I would never get it from the cruise line because of the finical connection. Oceania is very high on most thinks. For a up come 14 day trip they wanted 450 pp for what I consider low medical coverage. I got ten times the coverage for 450 for the two of us.

[JimandStan]

Oceania is very high on most thinks

 

:confused: Is that a colloquial way of saying that they are well thought of ?

[hypercafe]

:confused: Is that a colloquial way of saying that they are well thought of ?

 

Thanks for pointing out my mistake, as English is not my first language I make lots of them. I must say you are very witty, it really is cute!!!

[TERRIER1]

I get mine through the TA but I have a question. At what point in time do you have to take the insurance to cover pre-existing conditions? Is it at final payment, when you book the cruise, etc? Net time I will look into the sites provided. Thanks.

[pacheco18]

I get mine through the TA but I have a question. At what point in time do you have to take the insurance to cover pre-existing conditions? Is it at final payment, when you book the cruise, etc? Net time I will look into the sites provided. Thanks.

 

I used to get mine through my TA

You are paying double

Check out the insurance websites mentioned on this thread.

 

Every policy is different regarding pre existing conditions (you need to read the terms), but the rule of thumb is the earlier you take insurance after you book, the more pre-existing conditions will be covered.

[Mura]

The last I checked you have to order the insurance 7-14 days after making your deposit. It depends on the company.

 

If you look at a site like insuremytrip.com you can see exactly what the requirements are for each company.

 

Mura

[LHT28]

I get mine through the TA but I have a question. At what point in time do you have to take the insurance to cover pre-existing conditions? Is it at final payment, when you book the cruise, etc? Net time I will look into the sites provided. Thanks.

Depends on the insurer

 

Usually within a week of the deposit

[pacheco18]

I thought you could wait -- but the caveat is that the "conditions" change

 

One of the advantages (maybe the only advantage) of getting insurance from your TA is that you can "get it" without "buying it" when you put down your down payment and if you cancel "for any reason whatsoever" before final payment you do not lose the insurance premium -- because you really have not "paid" for the insurance until final patent. With the online websites, you lose your insurance preium, even if you never use it (eg cancel before final payment)

 

That is why I would wait until I have made final payment (if that is possible)

 

For those who are interested, some of us are now paying nothing for cancellation insurance and are using credit cards. The when to pay issue becomes irrelevant. See this thread (more towards the end)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1915571

[LHT28]

I thought you could wait -- but the caveat is that the "conditions" change

 

One of the advantages (maybe the only advantage) of getting insurance from your TA is that you can "get it" without "buying it" when you put down your down payment and if you cancel "for any reason whatsoever" before final payment you do not lose the insurance premium -

 

I guess it is different with US insurance

here we pay at he time of purchase of the policy

Pre existing conditions especially

 

Like with everything else you need to read the fine print ;)

 

Lyn

[pacheco18]

I guess it is different with US insurance

here we pay at he time of purchase of the policy

Pre existing conditions especially

 

Like with everything else you need to read the fine print ;)

 

Lyn

 

I don't know if all US TAs do it the same way

 

Here is how my TA handled it. I requested insurance when I paid the deposit. The amount of the insurance was on the invoice, but was not paid until final payment. In essence, I secured a policy without paying for it and the pre existing condition date would relate back to the date of booking. if I cancelled before final payment, I would not have lost the premium

 

That's an advantage for sure. But the cost is a multiple of going on line and now I am using the strategy outlined in the thread for which i offered the link.

[hypercafe]

The last I checked you have to order the insurance 7-14 days after making your deposit. It depends on the company.

 

If you look at a site like insuremytrip.com you can see exactly what the requirements are for each company.

 

Mura

 

This is what I have seen also. The last policy I got was past that point so I looked at the site SquareMouth and used a filter for Pre Existing and one company came up that will cover them if you buy before final payment. The price was a little higher but no too bad.

[hondorner]

I've always been told the primary reason NOT to buy trip insurance from the cruise company or tour operator is because they don't cover themselves if they go bankrupt or fail in other ways.

 

Granted, it's extremely unlikely that Oceania or any of the major cruise lines will fail after your final payment and before your cruise, but it has happened. When you combine the higher cost of Oceania's trip insurance with the lack of bankruptcy coverage, there's plenty of reason to buy a third party policy. However, check the policy declarations -- some policies don't cover bankruptcy unless the policy is purchased within time limits -- similar to pre-existing conditions.

 

I've found the best way to avoid having a large insurance payment at risk if you cancel for a non-covered reason is to order trip insurance at the time of first deposit, but only insure for the amount of the deposit, Then, at final payment, contact the broker (I use InsureMyTrip.com) and increase the coverage, paying the difference at that time. That's almost as good as paying for the cruise line's coverage at final payment, generally at a lower cost. It's also a lower total cost than the companies that accept the waivers at final payment.

[GeezerCouple]

I thought you could wait -- but the caveat is that the "conditions" change

 

One of the advantages (maybe the only advantage) of getting insurance from your TA is that you can "get it" without "buying it" when you put down your down payment and if you cancel "for any reason whatsoever" before final payment you do not lose the insurance premium -- because you really have not "paid" for the insurance until final patent. With the online websites, you lose your insurance preium, even if you never use it (eg cancel before final payment)

 

That is why I would wait until I have made final payment (if that is possible)

 

For those who are interested, some of us are now paying nothing for cancellation insurance and are using credit cards. The when to pay issue becomes irrelevant. See this thread (more towards the end)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1915571

 

Not necessarily...

 

Check with TripInsuranceStore (InsureMyTrip might offer some of the same policies).

 

Whether and when you need to pay depends a LOT of "what policy and what coverages" you want.

 

We have chosen our coverage/policy to include "CFAR" (Cancel For Any Reason, 75%, no "excuse" needed, at least until DH won't have risk of last minute consulting appearances - those pay for these cruises, after all :)), and we also have the INCREMENTAL ADD-ON of premiums, so if ALL we insure is that first tiny deposit, which we need to do because we must have "pre-existing conditions" covered. That type of coverage needs to be started somewhere in the 7 -21 days after making the FIRST reservation.

NOTE: It's written as must be within x days (21 in our case) of first NON-REFUNDABLE payment, which actually doesn't match, as there are some trips where the first deposits ARE refundable. We don't want to "go there" in a dispute with an insurer, given the different wordings tossed around, so we get insurance for $500 of coverage (minimum amount), until there is something higher that is truly "non-refundable". That's usually at "final payment time" OR once we get non-refundable air tix, but not if we hold "something" for air that IS refundable.

 

Steve at TripInsuranceStore was great in helping us, including finding the coverage that was least expensive for our age category. Made a difference, at least for a few more years!

 

I'm pretty sure there ARE policies (through cruiselines?) that don't require insurance until final payment, but I have no idea if they include "pre-existing conditions" (with or without a "limited" look-back period - risky) or CFAR, which still wouldn't be okay for us if final payment is a couple of months away. But our biggest concern is the pre-existing conditions. Don't want a recommendation to change the hypertension meds, even if LOWERED :), to void that specific coverage.

 

One last thing: We just had to change an Oceania cruise from 2014 to 2015, and we just switched the minimal insurance, too. Not even $1 extra, of what was already a really tiny amount anyway.

 

But there are so many combinations of types of coverage, and deadlines, or incremental vs non-incremental payment, it really makes sense to have someone help, especially because there's no extra cost for the same coverage/policy compared with purchasing directly from the insurer (who will *not* recommend a different insurer that might be better for your specific needs).

 

GeezerCouple

[pacheco18]

Of course

If u need more protection than credit cards offer u have to spend money for insurance. For many of us the free credit card policies suffice.

 

Just another option

[Host Jazzbeau]

Trip insurance combines two different coverages.

 

(1) Cost of trip - this may be provided by your credit card coverage

 

(2) Medical expenses and evacuation - this is the big reason why everyone should buy trip insurance

 

Bankruptcy of cruise line is a minor issue because it only affects issue (1) which may be covered by your credit card

 

We often get the insurance through the cruise line because it takes effect with the first deposit but you don't actually pay the premium until final payment.

[Mura]

This is what I have seen also. The last policy I got was past that point so I looked at the site SquareMouth and used a filter for Pre Existing and one company came up that will cover them if you buy before final payment. The price was a little higher but no too bad.

 

That's good to know. I'll have to check with them when we make final payment on our May cruise.

 

Mura

[tanny18]

I thought you could wait -- but the caveat is that the "conditions" change

 

With the online websites, you lose your insurance preium, even if you never use it (eg cancel before final payment)

 

That is why I would wait until I have made final payment (if that is possible)

 

[b[/b]If you cancel your trip without using the insurance, it remains in effect for year from date of issuance, so you can hold it for your next trip. Happened to friends who cancelled and then used the premium for another cruise. As for payment, if there is no pre-existing condition, you can buy it any time and the time to buy is right before final payment. If you use the insurance from your TA, it's almost the same thing. But NEVER from the cruise line, tour agency, etc. Arlene;)[/font]

Edited November 14, 2013 by tanny18

[pacheco18]

Arlene. Do all carriers allow that? I would think that's carrier specific