Travel protection

[lovablekendra]

Is purchasing the travel protection worth it? (First time cruising)

 

 

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[Arizona Cruz Chic]

You are going to get a lot of opinions on that.

We always take insurance and have used it 3 different cruises.

 

Ask yourself this question. Can you afford to lose the cost of your cruise if you had to cancel at the last minute? Anything can happen where you can't make the cruise, it's peace of mind to spend a few dollars for insurance.

 

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[DaNana]

Concur with Arizona Cruz Chic who is almost my neighbor! There are many threads and LOTS of opinions. We always buy it but haven't used it. We won't leave home without it, but that is us.;)

[LissyTx]

Cruising before we had kids we never bought it. For our Oasis trip we just completed with our 7 month old we bought it directly through Royal. We figured with as easily as babies get sick there was a 25% chance we'd use it before hand if we cancelled. We also bought it in case something happened during the cruise. I think ours was like $89 pp and $59 for my daughter. So we didn't use it but bought peace of mind for $240.

 

 

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[LissyTx]

I forgot to mention that Royals insurance said they covered our airfare as well which made it seem worth it to us.

 

 

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[peteukmcr]

When booking trips in the UK you are prompted to purchase travel insurance in most cases, and if not buying from the company selling your flights etc, you have to confirm you are providing your own. This is because if anything happens whilst you are travelling with a UK travel provider (other than what by law they must provide for delays, disruptions etc), they are not liable and you must provide your own medical assistance etc.

 

Basically the UK government will assist you if you need help due to accidents , illness or as victims of crime etc. whilst abroad with arrangements for medical treatment, loss of passports or repatriation, but will not provide any monetary or medical help and you have to provide and pay for this yourself and the only way to do that unless you have a bottomless pit of money is insurance.

 

More importantly, many insurance companies in the UK do not automatically cover cruises and this is an additional option you must select and pay for at the time of purchase.

 

Just some of the reasons we never travel without insurance. Only needed it once up to now, and that was once whilst in Spain when my bag was literally cut off my shoulder and all my personal belongings I was carrying went running down a Madrid street.

[Clarea]

We like the idea of having the medical evacuation coverge. That can be a huge expense if needed.

[FLACRUISER99]

We like the idea of having the medical evacuation coverge. That can be a huge expense if needed.

Same here, I have an annual policy through AARP/MedjetAssist.

[lauren0309]

Go to insuremytrip.com There you can compare the rates. They are very low compared to the money you would lose if you had to cancel your cruise for sickness, etc.

 

I had to use it twice. Once when my husband passed away before we were to go on our cruise, the second time there was a major snowstorm in NYC and all airports were closed so we got stuck in Miami for 3 days after our cruise ended. Insurance paid for our hotel stay in Miami, all meals and rental car. It was well worth it.

 

I would never leave home without it. You never know. It's not worth the gamble.

[ahecht]

I buy insurance that covers things like hospital bills and medical evacuations but doesn't cover the cost of the cruise itself. The way I figure it, the cost of the cruise is already "lost" once I've paid Royal Caribbean and I've already budgeted for it, but I don't have room in my budget for a $20,000 hospital bill or a $50,000 medivac airlift. I always get to the departure port a day early, so I'm not likely to miss the ship accidentally, and if I do have to cancel a non-refundable trip at some point in my life, the amount saved on trip insurance on my other trips will probably make up for it.

 

I use travelinsured through USAA, but most trip insurance companies will allow you to forgo cancellation insurance by listing the trip cost as $0.

Edited June 19, 2014 by ahecht

[Clarea]

...I use travelinsured through USAA, but most trip insurance companies will allow you to forgo cancellation insurance by listing the trip cost as $0.

Interesting idea, never knew that. Thanks.

[cruizers]

We purchase travel insurance, too. My husband and I both got ill on a recent cruise and needed to go to the doctor on board. The insurance covered the doctor visits, tests and all medications. I would not leave home without it! It's a good investment, and hopefully none of us will need to use it. Have a great trip!

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Concur with Arizona Cruz Chic who is almost my neighbor! There are many threads and LOTS of opinions. We always buy it but haven't used it. We won't leave home without it, but that is us.;)

 

Hi neighbor!

 

OP.....most people will say their medical insurance will cover them.

We have excellent insurance but it doesn't cover cruise ship doctors because it is out of network. So for us trip protection is necessary and we never leave home with out it!

 

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[luvtravel88]

When we were younger, we never bought the insurance. We just figured we would have less chance of using it as family was healthy and relatively young. As we have gotten older and our parents are aging, we always buy it now.

[njmomof2]

It's not so much the cost of the cruise. It's what happens if you get sick or injured while travelling. Or if someone you love at home becomes ill or, heaven forbid, passes and you need to get home quickly.

 

Also, Medicare does not cover out of the US. There are supplemental policies most seniors have that has coverage, but I'm pretty sure that evacuation is not part of that. I travel with my 78 year old mom and while the cost to insure her is higher, I won't do without. And while I can simply purchase her a medical evac policy, I don't want to have separate insurers to deal with if something happens.

 

There are many third party sites that help you decide among various plans, so you can insure what is important to you, and leave out what is not. As has been previously mentioned, you can cover medical but not the cost of the cruise. You can do a minimum cost on the cruise (so you list it as, say, $200) and then you are fully covered for medical. I would do this if I was going out of Bayonne, where I drive to the port. I figure there is no air, and unless the entire state is closed (which has happened, but only in winter when I don't travel much), I'm getting to the port. But if my mom is sick or hurt, I need to get her back to the USA.

[mefinephotoman]

I have always purchased it both for some protection before the cruise as well as for the benefits if I were to have an incident while on the cruise. I scuba dive so I also have a DAN membership to help with Med evac or decompression chamber access if ever needed. Not a big expense for the piece of mind.