Travel Insurance...yes or no?

[Flick]

Several months ago I deposited for an 8 day cruise on Breeze leaving tomorrow, the 15th. Things happened and I dropped out of the cruise before final payment. Unexpectedly, my father died Wednesday night and if I did not have insurance I would be out of luck since obviously I can't go on the cruise. Maybe I could have gotten a refund upon presentation of a death certificate but maybe not. No matter how healthy YOU are can you really justify not buying travel insurance? As they say the best laid plans always get taken over by life!!!! Please consider travel insurance as part of the cost of the cruise...not an extra.

[elainmir]

First let me say I love your siggy line quote "Well another day has passed and I still haven't used algebra once! " Isn't that the truth!!??

 

I normally don't do travel insurance but this time I did because we have so much travel this summer..just felt the need to do it

[jayscore]

Several months ago I deposited for an 8 day cruise on Breeze leaving tomorrow, the 15th. Things happened and I dropped out of the cruise before final payment. Unexpectedly, my father died Wednesday night and if I did not have insurance I would be out of luck since obviously I can't go on the cruise. Maybe I could have gotten a refund upon presentation of a death certificate but maybe not. No matter how healthy YOU are can you really justify not buying travel insurance? As they say the best laid plans always get taken over by life!!!! Please consider travel insurance as part of the cost of the cruise...not an extra.

 

 

I agree. When I was a younger traveler, I assumed travel insurance as waste of money. As the years went by, and family members got older,(Including myself!), I saw the point in spending the extra bit as part of my vacation.

Thank the OP for the good advice!;)

[Vitamin_Sea]

never bought travel insurance.

[JustCruiseMe]

I have actually had many vacations terminated because of sick parents back home and I always worried when I was away, which wasn't often. Now that I have lost them I will always get insurance because it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. So worth the peace of mind.

 

I am sooooooo sorry for your loss. I still grieve for my parents. (wiping tears now)

[tonit964]

Flick, my condolences to you. So sorry you lost your father.

 

We always buy insurance. You just never know if you get get sick, get into a car accident, fall and break something or someone in your family falls ill or worse.

 

My DH came down with shingles a month ago and luckily, our cruise is a little less than two months away but so glad we have the insurance.

One day he was fine, the next he was in crazy pain, still is.

 

Also, if you have an issue on the ship or while in port. You just never know.

To us, the peace of mind is worth every penny.

[Terre]

We always purchase it, just not through the cruise line or TA. Husband goes on line and compares, and we usually end up with Travelex.

 

We started getting it a few years ago when our parents began getting older and with their health problems and ours, we thought it was a good idea. You never know what may happen ON the trip and you would need medical care...or if your flight is canceled and or whatever...there are o many ifs these days.

[Kwynot]

I've booked 5 cruises & only gone on 2 (2 cancelled, 1 pending). Due to health issues in my family (immediate & parent) I've always purchased the insurance. When I had to cancel my 2 cruises, the only way I got my money back was by having this. I highly recommend the purchase!

 

Sorry for your loss.

[Love my butler]

Never bought travel insurance and never will. If something comes up and you can't go all you are out is the vacation experience. The money would have been spent had you gone and all you would have is the memory and maybe a cheap trinket you bought in port. Save your money on insurance and consider the money spent once you pay for the vacation.

[belle2]

I would love to hear where and from whom you buy your travel insurance, and what type of coverage? Thanks!

 

And my condolences on the loss of your

Father, flick.

 

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Edited February 15, 2014 by belle2

[thinfool]

Never bought travel insurance and never will. If something comes up and you can't go all you are out is the vacation experience. The money would have been spent had you gone and all you would have is the memory and maybe a cheap trinket you bought in port. Save your money on insurance and consider the money spent once you pay for the vacation.

 

Interesting approach. Most insurance covers health issues, too. If you fell and broke a leg or hip in a foreign port and couldn't travel for a week or two....how would you cover those $1000's for hospital and flights home? (this actually happened to a dear friend of ours...who is wealthy, but still had insurance)

[Ascott318]

I have cruised 18x without insurance. I am cruising next week with insurance,after surviving a brain aneurysm last March. I was told I am a miracle. You never know when something will happen,and I will never cruise without it again.

[SteelerCruiser]

usually buy through travel guard and really glad we had it Jan 2013 as my Grandmother passed away and we were able to get our funds back other than the cost of insurance.....well worth the cost.

[midwestcruiser2001]

My personal experience in June 2012

 

My Dad became critically ill on a cruise and spent 7 nights in the hospital out of the country.

 

It was $28,500 to have him flown home on a private air ambulance and over $30,000 in medical insurance for the 7-day hospital stay. All of these expenses were covered by the travel insurance.

 

We were also reimbursed for our flight home, and all expenses related to our extended stay.

 

We were blessed he could be home for us all to say our final goodbyes.

 

I am so grateful that we said yes to the $69 vacation protection plan offered by Carnival.

 

Would I ever travel without insurance? A resounding NO! No matter what your age you don't know what can happen!

 

With that being said, I now purchase a more comprehensive plan independently and not through Carnival. There simply isn't enough coverage for all of the "what ifs". Travel insurance is relatively inexpensive.

 

Hope this helps!

[firemanbobswife]

Never used to get it until a few years ago. Not at all for the before cruise what if's, but the medical part while cruising. Never know what can happen.

 

And let me tell you. After having food poisoning on the Conquest last month, I thought I was going to have to use it. Knowing I had it, I didn't hesitate going to medical and getting meds to feel better instead of suffering. I was borderline needing an IV and that started at $200 plus additional charges.

 

The initial visit was on Carnival (which I didn't know) only because it was GI symptoms. Anything else would be billed at $90 for nurse consult, or $120 for Dr consult plus whatever treatment was needed. If I needed to go back, then I would be billed accordingly.

 

It gave me great peace of mind knowing I wouldn't be out that money. It was bad enough getting sick. Would have been worse to have to pay for medical treatment as well.

 

I wonder how many people think "It will never happen to me" and then it does. It can financially ruin you. For the small amount of money it costs, nothing will convince me otherwise. I don't get it from the cruise line either so it's cheaper and much better coverage.

[luvmyhound61]

We have been on 7 cruises and we only started adding the carnival insurance for the last couple of cruises. We are so glad that we did; last year we were leaving on a cruise out of New Orleans on the conquest in mid April. On April 1st my husband had a pain in stomach and ended up in emergency with a gallstone blockage. He had emergency surgery and ended up in ICU for 17 days due to bleeding internally after surgery along with other issues with infections. He finally pulled through and is now doing fine and we are going on the same cruise we missed last year next month. I am so glad that we took out that insurance; we had no problem getting everything reimbursed by carnival. We got all monies paid; cruise and excursions in full. We will always going forward get the insurance because it is well worth it. Remember the closer you are to the cruise when you cancel is based on percentage of what you will lose if you cancel with no insurance. We were at 80% when I had to make the call to cancel the cruise last year, but because we had the insurance we got all back. You just never know when you are going to need it. Thanks for taking out the insurance we will be able to enjoy the cruise we were suppose to take last year this year.

[Lollipop's Mom]

I wouldn't travel without it. Last year we left for Orlando on a tues for our Saturday $3500 Disney cruise. By the time we landed my daughter was violently ill. Throwing up, etc. ended up in hospital on if fluids by thurs. had to cancel the cruise sat morning as she was a mess with a super flu that attacked her urinary tract and caused a massive infection. Had we not had insurance I would have had ac$9500 hospital bill and lost the cruise money. Insurance paid the works. We only lost our airfare.

 

 

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[mnsweeps]

where do you insurance? carnival or travel guard or what?

[luvmyhound61]

We got the carnival insurance when we booked the cruise.

[firemanbobswife]

where do you insurance? carnival or travel guard or what?

 

InsureMyTrip.com

 

We have used TravelGuard Gold, InsureAssist TravCan Premier, and TravelEx.

[ShanteS]

where do you insurance? carnival or travel guard or what?

 

The coverage is much better and cheaper with TravelGuard.

[bunnyfoofoo82]

We always, always get the insurance. For me it's more of an assurance that whatever happens I'm covered. We also buy it right away so preexisting conditions are covered. You never know what preexisting conditions you might have that will cause a trip cancellation when you book a year in advance. We buy through USAA, they offer great coverage and the best rates I've found.

[richstowe]

We never purchase travel insurance because it is an under-reported part of my DW's health plan.

I am not sure if it's coverage is 100% the same as one you can by separately, but it is good enough.

Besides this, there is also limited travel coverage from our credit cards.

No reason to waste money on separate travel insurance.

[riclop]

Several months ago I deposited for an 8 day cruise on Breeze leaving tomorrow, the 15th. Things happened and I dropped out of the cruise before final payment. Unexpectedly, my father died Wednesday night and if I did not have insurance I would be out of luck since obviously I can't go on the cruise. Maybe I could have gotten a refund upon presentation of a death certificate but maybe not. No matter how healthy YOU are can you really justify not buying travel insurance? As they say the best laid plans always get taken over by life!!!! Please consider travel insurance as part of the cost of the cruise...not an extra.

Sorry for your loss and youre right you should always get insurance.

[SAM527]

I haven't purchased it yet but thought about it before my last cruise because I had been sick about 2 months before. Like someone else said, you aren't out just the cost of the cruise if you do go and something happens, such as getting airlifted off the ship, I can't imagine what that ends up costing before any of the other costs for hospital, dr's, flight home.