cmoose Posted March 10, 2014 #1 Share Posted March 10, 2014 I am wondering what most people do? We are driving to port, sailing mid June to Bermuda, have no medical issues and don't plan on doing anything more dangerous than snorkeling from the beach. I'm thinking it's not too likely we will need insurance. Of course you just never know. What would/do you do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
june123 Posted March 10, 2014 #2 Share Posted March 10, 2014 i would never travel without insurance . you never know what might happen . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prinycesa07 Posted March 10, 2014 #3 Share Posted March 10, 2014 I don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkacmom Posted March 10, 2014 #4 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Always with cruising! If, for whatever reason you can't go (illness, death in the family), you are out thousands of dollars, if after final payment. It drives me nuts when people lose it all, and complain about the cruise lines being heartless - just buy the insurance in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamloops50 Posted March 10, 2014 #5 Share Posted March 10, 2014 (edited) You might have an accident driving to the port and miss the ship. You never know whether you get sick just before the cruise and the doctor will deny you boarding. Do you have any family (mother , father etc) that are in bad health . There are to many things that can go wrong that aren't health related . what happens if you get hurt or sick in Bermuda and require evacuation back to the States or even Canada. Edited March 10, 2014 by Kamloops50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connolk Posted March 10, 2014 #6 Share Posted March 10, 2014 I always get it for cruises; as with all insurance, you have to ask youself "How much risk am I willing to absorb?" You can weigh the (approx.) $168 for two people for insurance, vs losing the entire cost of the cruise. For us it came down to about 10% of the cost; better than losing the other 90% too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOS_CruiseGuy Posted March 10, 2014 #7 Share Posted March 10, 2014 It is all about risk management. I am like you in that I see myself as more unlikely than average to need the coverage, and I can afford the risk so I don't buy travel insurance. If those conditions weren't the case I would buy the insuranece. This is a bit simplified but consider this. The travel insurance company has three expenses: expected claims, overhead expenses and profit. This just means that the expected claims will be much less than the total revenues from the policies, as they have to cover those additional expenses. This is true for all insurance policies, and doesn't mean that travel insurance is necessarily a bad deal, but just something to keep in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare GeezerCouple Posted March 10, 2014 #8 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Also, and especially important, will your regular HEALTH INSURANCE cover you when you are in Bermuda OR on the cruise? (Many policies do not, and Medicare doesn't, either.) You can get insurance for just medical (including evacuation) expenses, or also with costs associated with missing the cruise or expenses involved with missing the ship, or lost luggage, etc. The expenses of missing the trip are somewhat reasonable, and approximately "known". Possible un-insured medical/evacuation expenses could be catastrophic, and these policies don't cost that much, depending upon the coverage that you choose. We would *NEVER* consider traveling anyplace our health insurance didn't cover, and we keep annual "evacuation" coverage (to hospital of our choice, any time we'd be hospitalized more than 150 miles from home) even for casual vacations, business trips, etc. GeezerCouple Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
che5904 Posted March 10, 2014 #9 Share Posted March 10, 2014 (edited) I have basic travel and medical that I pay yearly with my credit card. Anything above that, I assume the risk. I wouldn't ever travel that far away from my home country, or to a foreign country without any. I also don't do any high risk activities. But having a ship hit a wave while descending the stairs, falling and breaking a leg that needs surgery can be quite costly to be flown from the ship to the closest land and then have to cover the expenses wherever you are flown to. In my last 2 trips, I've had the airline lose my luggage. Lucky for me I got it back quickly but if I didn't, costs can up pretty quickly when you have to buy all new clothes. I guess you have to ask yourself if you can afford and want to pay out of pocket for any unexpected situations. Edited March 10, 2014 by che5904 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LazyDays64 Posted March 10, 2014 #10 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Even when you think nothing will happen, you just never know. Our life was pretty non-eventful and then a few years ago, things changed, just like that. I won't go into details but, I would advise you to get the insurance. Better safe than sorry! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Laszlo Posted March 10, 2014 #11 Share Posted March 10, 2014 (edited) Always, for the extra $75-$100 its well worth it. My wife or I could get sick, break a bone etc.... right before a cruise and if you don't have insurance you could kiss your hard earned money goodbye. Evac from a ship $$$$$$$ We normally rent a house in the Outer Banks for two weeks during the summer, we get the insurance with that. Edited March 10, 2014 by Laszlo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyfire53 Posted March 10, 2014 #12 Share Posted March 10, 2014 I had never bought insurance...well, my last cruise, we got 6" of ice in Dallas and my flight was cancled...I had planned on going the day before, but ended up having to drive to Austin in the ice to catch a flight the next morning and didnt get into Fort Lauderdale until after 1 pm....no pre arrangments for a shuttle and I was panicing...got to the NCL booth and managed to get a spot on the last shuttle...got on the ship just in time for muster...never doing that again!!! I have insurance for the next one...;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcwingwalker Posted March 10, 2014 #13 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Yep always get insurance. We booked our upcoming cruise in August. Lots of unforeseen things can happen between August and April. People do become ill or injured on vacation and if it's me or mine no one will regret the insurance. When you go on vacation you take care of valuable items, make sure your home is safe, car is ready for the road, etc. You also keep safety in mind and you do all these things to be sure you enjoy your vacation. Insurance belongs on your travel check list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCLMassachusetts Posted March 10, 2014 #14 Share Posted March 10, 2014 For me, it isn't really about the risk or lack of risk of the activities I am planning on doing while on the cruise. It is more about the fact that many of my family members are getting older, and sicker. As my parents/In-Laws get older I have started to purchase the travel insurance. Depending on what you buy and when you buy it will cover not cruising due to a family member (even one not going on the trip) passing away. Purchase it soon enough after booking the cruise and it will pay for this even if it involved a pre-existing condition. So, for our upcoming cruise in December I purchased the travel insurance for under $200. This covers the cost of the cruise/airfare/hotel (and many other things) for the 5 of us, should the unthinkable happen to someone and we are not able to cruise. Well worth the piece of mind in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare www3traveler Posted March 10, 2014 #15 Share Posted March 10, 2014 I always get travel insurance and bring a copy of the entire policy with me with my cruise documents. I would know or someone assisting me (ship personal) would know what is and is not covered in case of an emergency. Better to be safer and sorry in some unknown situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyL2 Posted March 10, 2014 #16 Share Posted March 10, 2014 I always get travel insurance....I don't own a crystal ball that will tell me everything will go smoothly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deladypilot Posted March 10, 2014 #17 Share Posted March 10, 2014 We get the insurance and I wouldnt travel with out it. I too have seen many people on here and on facebook complain because the cruise line said...So sorry, so sad and then the person complains that they are unfair and uncaring and they will never sail with XYZ cruise line again. It is a gamble you have to ask yourself are you willing to take. It is totally up to you. No one else can answer it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMH15 Posted March 10, 2014 #18 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Not getting insurance is like insuring yourself. Are you willing to lose the cost of your cruise if you miss it? Are you able to cover costs your insurance would not, such as careflight or evacuation? What if you had a wreck on the way to the port? It happens. My healthy 17 year old niece was hit last week by another vehicle, swerved to avoid a pole, rolled the SUV and airbags deployed. Car was totalled, she was fine. But doc wanted her to rest at home. That is why they are called accidents. Yes, I get insurance. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunlover1060 Posted March 10, 2014 #19 Share Posted March 10, 2014 We always get insurance. You never know what can happen. My MIL just had an issue and had no insurance for the first time in all her years of cruising. They thought they were ok because they were very close to sailing when they booked. Their issue came up 30 days before sailing. She said never again will she book without insurance. Sent from my MID-756 using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miataman19 Posted March 10, 2014 #20 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Like most people here I now purchase insurance. Didn't for a long time and luckily nothing happened. We are both older now (late 50's) and you never know. If you can afford it, get it, worth the peace of mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bars7816 Posted March 10, 2014 #21 Share Posted March 10, 2014 "Just snorkeling from the beach"... They have an interesting hospital in Roatan! :D Stuff happens. Luckily, we had insurance. Never leave home without it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Dorhead1230 Posted March 10, 2014 #22 Share Posted March 10, 2014 We buy insurance, with our primary concern being reimbursement in case of a last-minute illness or injury that would prevent us from traveling. We are young, but a couple of years ago, I was in the emergency room the day before a planned trip to Canada. Thankfully, I ended up being able to travel, and we could have cancelled that trip as it wasn't a cruise, but after that, I'd never take a chance. Incidentally, I did purchase insurance for our upcoming cruise from the company affiliated with my credit card for our upcoming cruise. It is the same (or very similar) coverage as that offered by NCL, and was half the price. So, that is another option to consider if your credit card has similar benefits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpb718 Posted March 10, 2014 #23 Share Posted March 10, 2014 I am wondering what most people do? We are driving to port, sailing mid June to Bermuda, have no medical issues and don't plan on doing anything more dangerous than snorkeling from the beach. I'm thinking it's not too likely we will need insurance. Of course you just never know. What would/do you do? Just snorkeling at the beaches has dangers. There are times of the year when there are plenty of Portugese Man-of-War jelly fish in Bermuda. I remember snorkling from the beach once years ago and had to avoid quite a few of them. Google "bermuda portuguese man of war" and see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Laszlo Posted March 10, 2014 #24 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Just got an email from a friend of mine. His father is in the hospital and not doing well. They were suppose to leave this coming Wednesday for a cruise on the POA. They are not going and have no insurance on their cruise, hotel (3) nights and airfare. They are going to be out close to 10K:eek::eek::eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-9 Posted March 10, 2014 #25 Share Posted March 10, 2014 We do not buy additional insurance, but we are covered sufficiently by existing policies. We have extended medical that covers out of country medical expenses, and our credit card has cancellation and interruption insurance when the trip is purchased with it. Even our local car insurance covers us for rentals. So check what you already have, and just buy what you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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