A plug for travel insurance, no matter your age

[bingo3]

Just want to plug travel insurance for anyone who may be on the fence. When we get older, we see more reasons for it, but the younger folks may not.

 

My sister and her husband were on a bus from the parking garage to the ship (another line) this morning, taking her 10 yr. old granddaughter on her first cruise when the child suffered a grand mal seizure (having never had a seizure in the past). Got her to the ER at MUSC and after many tests, could not find the cause, sent her home with tests scheduled for this week. Praying it was a one time freaky thing.

 

Obviously, they missed the cruise (though their luggage did not :(). Fortunately she does have insurance, so hopefully, all will work out. Had they not had it, would have been an expensive lesson to learn! We just never know what may happen and age is no matter. It's an extra expense, but worth it when something does happen.

[kenlyn]

Small price to pay for sense of security. My daughter had several seizures when she was 5, tests never revealed the cause and she will 30 next month and never had another one. Hope all goes well for your friends and that they can rebook their vacation soon.

[deladypilot]

Perfectly said. We never know when something is going to happen. Better to protect yourself than complain because the cruise line wont give you your money back

 

Hope all goes well for the little girl

[Clay Clayton]

I never purchased insurance previously but after having an accident while in port, I am reconsidering. I didn't have to fly home and my medical insurance is treating the infirmary charges like out of network so all in all pretty lucky but if I have fallen a little harder or further down the cliff it's likely I would needed to fly immediately home (or my casket would have) which would have been very expensive. So from now on, we are planning on purchasing insurance.

[DMH15]

I never purchased insurance previously but after having an accident while in port, I am reconsidering. I didn't have to fly home and my medical insurance is treating the infirmary charges like out of network so all in all pretty lucky but if I have fallen a little harder or further down the cliff it's likely I would needed to fly immediately home (or my casket would have) which would have been very expensive. So from now on, we are planning on purchasing insurance.

 

 

Wow, Clay. How awful for you. Which port? You were lucky!

 

On my first cruise my roomie had an accident parasailing in Nassau, our first port. Luckily it was not worse but she spent the whole rest of the cruise on crutches. We were just in our 20's. So it can happen to anybody.

[cruzsnooze]

I have 7 cruises this year and took insurance for none of them. The cost of insurance is too high and for what I saved i could easily "absorb" the loss of one cruise fare. I am a senior so you're right, age doesn't need to factor into it. People have different tolerances for risk. In addition you need to add the costs of all the insurances and see if it exceeds the cost of one cruise and then make an informed decision.

[sverigecruiser]

I have 7 cruises this year and took insurance for none of them. The cost of insurance is too high and for what I saved i could easily "absorb" the loss of one cruise fare. I am a senior so you're right, age doesn't need to factor into it. People have different tolerances for risk. In addition you need to add the costs of all the insurances and see if it exceeds the cost of one cruise and then make an informed decision.

 

I should agree with you if the loss of one cruise fare was the only risk. What about an medical emergency in a foreign country?

 

You decide what you want to do but you are taking an enormous risk.

[treasure4two]

I should agree with you if the loss of one cruise fare was the only risk. What about an medical emergency in a foreign country?

 

You decide what you want to do but you are taking an enormous risk.

 

What about evacuation-could cost in the 6 figures, depending on where you go.

No way would I not have travel insurance, but every one to their own. I had a trip to South America planned and I found a lump and found out I had breast cancer. I would have lost $8000 if I had not had insurance.

Wish everyone the best.

[mikenhe]

I have 7 cruises this year and took insurance for none of them. The cost of insurance is too high and for what I saved i could easily "absorb" the loss of one cruise fare. I am a senior so you're right, age doesn't need to factor into it. People have different tolerances for risk. In addition you need to add the costs of all the insurances and see if it exceeds the cost of one cruise and then make an informed decision.

 

We all got sick on one cruise - visit to the infirmary for the 2 kids. my son had suspected appendicitis and we were first off the ship at the next port and of off to hospital. after a series of tests it was declared that he actually had gastroenteritis (side effect is swollen appendix). while we were able to continue the cruise the expenses were high - over $10,000. Its not just the cruise fare you can miss - being ill or having an accident can cost you a lot of money.

 

Even though we are all in good shape I'd bought insurance and my net cost was zero. without insurance it would have cost more than a cruise fare. if it had been appendicitis then a cost of an operation and then getting back home would have bumped the bill up to a lot more than 10k.

 

hows the risk tolerance for that kind of bill?

 

 

10k - I figure that's a lot of trip insurance before I'm in the red on that gamble. I hope I can go on that many trips!

[sparks1093]

I have 7 cruises this year and took insurance for none of them. The cost of insurance is too high and for what I saved i could easily "absorb" the loss of one cruise fare. I am a senior so you're right, age doesn't need to factor into it. People have different tolerances for risk. In addition you need to add the costs of all the insurances and see if it exceeds the cost of one cruise and then make an informed decision.

 

I purchased our insurance immediately after I booked our upcoming cruise and it cost $30 per person, which I don't consider to be high at all. If I traveled that much in a year I would be looking at one of the travel policies that covers all trips taken within a certain time period, if only for the medical and medevac coverage as others have stated.

[mdvlprof]

We always get insurance. It's only a couple hundred. And compared to potential costs, and the cost of trip, it's really not that much.

 

We get it because DS has pre-existing. We used it twice, but not for him.

DD got sick. Used ship med ctr. Insurance reimbursed the costs.

I had stroke a few days before cruise. Had to cancel. Insurance reimbursed us.

[4774Papa]

We always buy trip insurance for the cruise, as well as flights. We had to cancel a cruise due to family illness and it paid off.

[Jenjer]

Agreed buy it every time. Not worth the risk or worry.

 

You honestly just never know what can happen.

[Turtles06]

I have 7 cruises this year and took insurance for none of them. The cost of insurance is too high and for what I saved i could easily "absorb" the loss of one cruise fare. I am a senior so you're right, age doesn't need to factor into it. People have different tolerances for risk. In addition you need to add the costs of all the insurances and see if it exceeds the cost of one cruise and then make an informed decision.

 

You only "saved" the money because, thankfully, nothing happened to you or anyone traveling with you (or family not traveling with you) that would have caused a trip cancellation or interruption. So in your case, solely with the benefit of hindsight, your bet was a good one. But you could not know that in advance.

 

Each person has to ask herself whether he/she can absorb the loss.

 

OP: I hope your grandniece is okay!

Edited May 12, 2014 by Turtles06

[sugarking]

Sparks1093, where did you get your insurance?

[mayesq]

We cruised with only travel medical insurance in August and we felt like we were taking a huge risk. So for our upcoming Getaway cruise we did the insurance. Considering I ended up having emergency gallbladder surgery in December, I'm a true believer in being prepared for anything that comes your way. I'd rather "waste" a few hundred than lose thousands.

[newmexicoNita]

Just want to plug travel insurance for anyone who may be on the fence. When we get older, we see more reasons for it, but the younger folks may not.

 

My sister and her husband were on a bus from the parking garage to the ship (another line) this morning, taking her 10 yr. old granddaughter on her first cruise when the child suffered a grand mal seizure (having never had a seizure in the past). Got her to the ER at MUSC and after many tests, could not find the cause, sent her home with tests scheduled for this week. Praying it was a one time freaky thing.

 

Obviously, they missed the cruise (though their luggage did not :(). Fortunately she does have insurance, so hopefully, all will work out. Had they not had it, would have been an expensive lesson to learn! We just never know what may happen and age is no matter. It's an extra expense, but worth it when something does happen.

 

I don't think it can be stressed enough the importance of travel insurance. There are so many things that can go wrong. I would rather feel I had wasted my money than be stuck without insurance when a crises hits. It is hard enough to deal with set backs, but when there is an additional financial loss as well it add insult to injury.

[pathubia]

Our cruise insurance for our upcoming cruise is was under $300 for seven of us, the cruise cost almost $9000. Definately worth the extra money!!

[smeyer418]

You can see different options at insuremytrip.com or squaremouth.com. This is mostly but not completely for US/Canadian residents. These are all age rated-different prices based on your age. Cruise line issued insurance is one price(same amount no matter what your age), so as you age the cruise line insurance becomes less expensive then privately issued. All cruise lines that are US based have an A rated insurance company that actually issues the medical portion and travel portion of the coverage except for the return of the actual cruise fare which is self insured.

The amounts and coverage amounts vary so be careful in what you buy. BTW its not the cost of the evacuation from the ship that is costly. Its bringing you home from some country back to the US that can be expensive(rare it is but it is expensive when you need an air ambulance).

[TrumpyNor]

We usually do 2-3 vacations every year (mostly cruises), and several years ago I purchased a travel insurance that is valid all over the world for 12 months. It is a very good travel insurance company (European), and I pay $300 in total for 12 months for my DH and myself. For me the security it gives me IF something should happen, is worth the price. And since we travel as much as we do, it is cheaper for us to purchase the travel insurance for the whole year instead of "trip by trip".

 

Yes, it is not exactly cheap, but I already have had all my money refunded due to a few visits both to a doctor and a dentist while on a cruise, both for me and my DH....

 

Too many think that travel insurance is only for people with bad health..... But anyone could fall anywhere and break an arm or a leg, and that could be a veeeeeery expensive lesson learned.

Edited May 12, 2014 by TrumpyNor

[20165]

I curious if anyone has put In a claim and what their experience was. I have read some of the policies and they are pretty specific as far as what you have to do in order to submit a claim. Dr writeup stating you cannot go on a cruise, multiple dr documentation, etc. I would buy it in a heartbeat if I thought it would actually pay if one of my kids got the flu before the cruise, but im not convinced it would pay. Thoughts on NCLs policy?

thx

[weltek]

I'll second the plug for travel insurance. We went on 3 cruises without insurance in our 20s. It was stupid. We didn't think about how there is NO WAY we could have afforded the medical costs if something happened on the cruise. We only thought about it covering the cost of the cruise if we had to cancel for an emergency, and the cruises were cheap, so we declined the insurance. It was a potentially life-changing gamble. Luckily nothing ever happened that we needed it.

 

I now can't imagine cruising without insurance. Too many stories on here of mishaps. We just factor that cost in when deciding to travel anywhere outside the U.S.

Edited May 12, 2014 by weltek

[sparks1093]

Sparks1093, where did you get your insurance?

 

I got it at www.insuremytrip.com and it's Travel Guard Gold.

[dna529]

After my daughter slipped down the stairs on the ship last summer I will not cruise without insurance. She fell down a whole flight and they wanted to xray her neck. You never know what might happen!

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Forums mobile app

[spidybabe]

We have always taken travel insurance thru NCL. Curious what are the differences of booking with private insurance company?

Thanks for the info

Safe sailling