What do you think about NCL Travel Insurance

[Shawnino]

@triptolemus: I'm glad you're happy with your choice. Without people succumbing to the Fear Merchants, the dividends I earn on my insurance stocks would be paltry indeed. You're not only buying insurance for your own cruise, you're helping me pay for my cruise. Thank you so much!

 

By the way, in re: "nest egg": it doesn't have to refer to retirement. It can be money set aside to pay for anything. Illness, home repair, other unforeseen expenses, and so on. But the insurance industry won't tell you that because they're trying to sell you peace of mind by preying on fear.

[ReneeFLL]

When I booked our cruise for April 2015 I did take the Travel insurance offered. But now I have 2nd thoughts about it. The cost is approx. $230.00 for 3 of us. I can't remember if I took it for my other cruise or not :eek:

The one thing that is stopping me is that when we were on our last cruise someone had to be helicoptered off and taken to the hospital :( The ship even changed course to get closer to land. (I believe he suffered a heart attack but was ok - Thank GOD!) But I remembered someone saying that he hoped he took out the travel insurance otherwise this was gonna be an awful expensive trip .

Was wondering what your thoughts are on Travel Insurance.

 

I would keep the insurance. One one cruise several days out a man had a heart attack and was medevaced out. He was having a heart attack. The last day of the cruise I had a gallbladder attack. The man had open heart surgery in Atlanta that morning. They ran all kinds of tests thinking I might also be having a heart attack. Luckily we had insurance.

 

We have found USAA is better for us. For about the same price as the others would cost us we get double the coverage. It is great if it is available to you. We have very good health insurance, but since then we buy it as the primary insurance. If we have a large claim we don't have to pay upfront and then deal with having to get reimbursed.

 

Neither of us have any pre existing issues, but you never know. We always buy it. One less thing to worry about. We buy it early incase we have to cancel the cruise for any reason.

[triptolemus]

@triptolemus: I'm glad you're happy with your choice. Without people succumbing to the Fear Merchants, the dividends I earn on my insurance stocks would be paltry indeed. You're not only buying insurance for your own cruise, you're helping me pay for my cruise. Thank you so much!

 

By the way, in re: "nest egg": it doesn't have to refer to retirement. It can be money set aside to pay for anything. Illness, home repair, other unforeseen expenses, and so on. But the insurance industry won't tell you that because they're trying to sell you peace of mind by preying on fear.

 

How silly... :rolleyes: Fear Merchants? ***?

[ReneeFLL]

@triptolemus: I'm glad you're happy with your choice. Without people succumbing to the Fear Merchants, the dividends I earn on my insurance stocks would be paltry indeed. You're not only buying insurance for your own cruise, you're helping me pay for my cruise. Thank you so much!

 

By the way, in re: "nest egg": it doesn't have to refer to retirement. It can be money set aside to pay for anything. Illness, home repair, other unforeseen expenses, and so on. But the insurance industry won't tell you that because they're trying to sell you peace of mind by preying on fear.

 

Just curious, but do you have insurance on your home? Did you succumb to the Fear Merchants? :D

I don't think buying insurance is succumbing to anyone or anything. It is facing the reality that anything can happen. Will it? That's just it, you never know.

Edited August 24, 2014 by ReneeFLL

[Shawnino]

Just curious, but do you have insurance on your home? Did you succumb to the Fear Merchants? :D

I don't think buying insurance is succumbing to anyone or anything. It is facing the reality that anything can happen. Will it? That's just it, you never know.

 

I do not have home insurance, no.

As I posted, if I had dependant children, I could see the case for life insurance.

 

Indeed, in reality, anything can happen.

The likelihood is, it won't.

The only thing that keeps the insurance industry going is the irrational fear that "it will likely happen to me".

 

Travel insurance rates are insane.

When you pair that with the possibility of of not being able to collect a claim because of a technicality, it is very difficult to build the logical case to buy insurance on a cruise of less than a month that isn't traveling to say, Antarctica.

[garycarla]

As others have mentioned, I find this topic and the response interesting.

 

1 - Make sure you know what you are and are not buying.

 

2 - No insurance in the world will make sure you get to take your cruise. If you do not go, you still do not go no matter how great a policy you buy.

 

3 - No insurance in the world will make sure your flight arrives in time. If you miss the boat leaving, you miss it. Nobody will give that back to you.

 

4 - Most insurance will NOT cover your immediate issue of expenses. You have to spend the money and then get it back. Hotels,hospitals,car rental, food, clothes,etc. (lack of credit cards will stiff you)

 

5 - There are lots of companies out there in the business will great policies. Find one at places like insuremytrip.com

 

6 - At the end of the day, the really financial winner is the insurance company. Never forget that.

 

On a softer note - last time the family drove to Disneyworld, spending similar amounts of money, how much insurance did you get?

[rochelle_s]

I do not have home insurance, no.

As I posted, if I had dependant children, I could see the case for life insurance.

 

 

Do you own a home or rent?

[pokerpro5]

As I've mentioned before, insuring against catastrophic events (your $500,000 home burning down, a cancer diagnosis that costs you $1,000,000 to treat) is sensible. Insuring against leisure activities being interrupted makes little sense.

 

Insurance companies make huge money on these policies.

 

All of the anecdotal evidence of "Having trip interruption insurance saved me a ton" won't change that.

 

The premiums are several times higher than they should be. So if you're paying $500, you should probably be paying $100.

 

Third party insurance sites are a little better than the cruise line, but still bad.

 

Foreign medical insurance makes sense.

 

Insuring your $3000 trip does not.

 

If you still want to do it, that's up to you, but at least be honest about it and don't come out here claiming that you're getting a good value.

Edited August 24, 2014 by pokerpro5

[rednose83]

We've done both.

 

We used to buy it on every single cruise. Now we only buy it if I'm cruising with my Mom (she insists).

 

The reason- our health insurance covers medical expenses world-wide due to the nature of my DH's job. And, our credit card offers limited trip coverage which is enough for us.

 

Now, if your health insurance does not cover worldwide- I'd buy it. Depsite both of us being young and healthy (no ongoing health conditions-etc) we have both been to the ship's doctor. I had to have shore-side medical care on one cruise (thankfully it was an Alaskan cruise) in addition to the ships doctor.

 

DH had to visit the ship doctor once. His visit was about $250 but mine was over $5k between the ship and the hospital facility in Juneau.

 

So, even young and healthy- you never know.

 

 

As an aside, we do have our home/cars covered by insurance as required by law and our mortgage/loans.

 

Our pets also have health insurance. Which saved us a bundle when our two year old terrier mix was diagnosed with Cancer. We had bought the health insurance for her on a whim. Best $118/year I ever spent. Her cancer treatment- 2 surgeries, chemo/radiation, physical therapy, blood transfusions, and various pain/anti-nausea medications cost just under $10k. Our responsibility: $2k. That was well worth $118!

Edited August 24, 2014 by rednose83

[rochelle_s]

.

 

 

The premiums are several times higher than they should be. So if you're paying $500, you should probably be paying $100.

 

Third party insurance sites are a little better than the cruise line, but still bad.

 

 

Could you show me data that supports this?

 

 

Rochelle

[fshagan]

Even if your medical coverage includes foreign countries, it most assuredly does NOT include medical services "on the high seas" or medical evacuation while on the high seas. You DO pay, at very high rates, for the ship's doctor to attend to you. An overnight stay in sick bay can cost $5,000 according to the Cruise Law News blog. That is not covered by your home medical insurance (US residents) or your country's national health care system (Australian and UK residents).

 

For us, in our late 50's, the medical insurance portion of trip insurance is almost always the largest part, and we can throw in trip cancellation for about $20. It makes sense to buy the peace of mind to salvage several thousand dollars in our case; we have job and family commitments that can and do interrupt our plans frequently.

 

No one is forcing people to buy trip insurance. Those of us who buy it do so for a variety of reasons, including peace of mind. Every financial adviser I know always looks at a person's individual life circumstances, and his insurance plans (life, health, home, auto) to see if they are over-paying or underpaying. Like the difference between having an aggressive portfolio all in small cap growth stocks verses one in money-market cash, the individual's risk tolerance plays a big role in insurance decisions. There's no sense in saving a few dollars on trip insurance if you are not going to sleep well on the cruise, or are afraid to do the zip line in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity out of fear you will be injured and bankrupt your family.

 

It is not fear mongering to be informed about the issue, and know that British passengers are not covered by their national health care while on the high seas or in Mexican hospitals, and can rack up $125,000 in five days. The same could be true of your health insurance policy. Mine does not cover me on the high seas or in foreign countries.

 

Many financial experts recommend buying trip insurance, and even the most conservative ones say to consider it.

 

Clark Howard:

When do you need it?

These policies should always be purchased when you are taking a cruise, a tour or traveling on a trip that requires pre-payment of thousands of dollars.

 

Clark Howard is so cheap he figured out a way to use the same razor blade for more than a year.

 

Ric Edelman:

You buy airline tickets and pay for cruises or hotels months before the trip occurs. What happens if you are ill on the day of departure or if there’s a hurricane or a death in the family that precludes your ability to take the trip?

 

Travel insurance can help protect you. Policies reimburse you for money spent on nonrefundable airline tickets or hotel rooms, protect you from tour operator bankruptcy and arrange for medical services or evacuation if you suffer a medical emergency while traveling.

 

It's important to look at your own life situation, and your own assets, and consider if you will feel better and enjoy your cruise more with or without trip insurance. There is no single "good" answer for every person as your tolerance for risk plays a huge part in the equation.

 

Some people don't buy life insurance because it won't matter to them if they die. Others can't bear the thought of their spouse or children having to cut back in case of their untimely demise. It's very personal, and there's no sense being rude or obnoxious to people who disagree on an expense that is less than two month's cable TV bill for most couples.

[roger001]

I'm just not seeing where trip insurance is that expensive or service is that poor. Our next cruise, the Sun, 7 days, mini suite, the trip insurance is $158. That policy covers virtually everything that can happen, from lost luggage, to medical expenses out of country, to the usual unforeseen or not preventable reasons for missing the cruise. Additionally, reviews of persons who have used the insurance indicates that payment and customer service was just fine. That insurance premium is less that the NCL cruise service charge for both of us will be.

 

However, to each his/her own. Am I assuming that this insurance company is in business to make a profit....well yes. Am I hoping that they pocket a complete $158 profit off me this next cruise....well yes. We had a tornado safe room installed several years ago and the parting words of the installer was, "I hope you never use our product we just installed for you". Insurance!

[Peachypooh]

I am a senior citizen. Every year since my early 20's I have vacationed. I never, ever, ever took out insurance. Even for the cruises.

Last year when I booked our cruise I decided to break with tradition and get the NCL insurance. My reason? Very elderly parents with unpredictable issues

plus we had decided to splurge on an expensive cabin and I would have really felt the loss of money.

So 8 weeks before sailing last year who ends up in the hospital? Me! I was told in no uncertain terms that the cruise was out.

NCL was wonderful. I can't remember the exact timeframe but within a month I had the entire cost of my cruise refunded to me. Not going to say that it is worth it for everyone but it certainly was worth it to me.

[rednose83]

Even if your medical coverage includes foreign countries, it most assuredly does NOT include medical services "on the high seas" or medical evacuation while on the high seas. You DO pay, at very high rates, for the ship's doctor to attend to you. An overnight stay in sick bay can cost $5,000 according to the Cruise Law News blog. That is not covered by your home medical insurance (US residents) or your country's national health care system (Australian and UK residents).

 

Ours does. I have already submitted a claim from the ship doctor and been refunded the money. It also includes medical evacuation.

[rochelle_s]

Ours does. I have already submitted a claim from the ship doctor and been refunded the money. It also includes medical evacuation.

 

It's not that you do not have insurance. What you have is an excellent policy because of your husband's job. The vast majority of people do not have this type of regular coverage. You are very fortunate.

 

 

Rochelle

[pokerpro5]

I am a senior citizen. Every year since my early 20's I have vacationed. I never, ever, ever took out insurance. Even for the cruises.

Last year when I booked our cruise I decided to break with tradition and get the NCL insurance. My reason? Very elderly parents with unpredictable issues

plus we had decided to splurge on an expensive cabin and I would have really felt the loss of money.

So 8 weeks before sailing last year who ends up in the hospital? Me! I was told in no uncertain terms that the cruise was out.

NCL was wonderful. I can't remember the exact timeframe but within a month I had the entire cost of my cruise refunded to me. Not going to say that it is worth it for everyone but it certainly was worth it to me.

 

Eight weeks before sailing, NCL will give you 100% refund other than your deposit, unless you're in The Haven.

[pokerpro5]

Could you show me data that supports this?

 

 

Rochelle

 

Can't find it online.

 

Awhile back I read an interesting piece on the insurance industry and where they make the most money.

 

It was found that "single event" policies (like trip insurance) were by far the worst value, as the price could seem deceptively low, given the insurance company's low exposure to claims.

 

It was found that overall claims were dwarfed by overall premiums paid, far more than things like home insurance and health insurance.

 

You can choose not to believe me, but look at the attitudes displayed by most here ("trip insurance is a must") and tell me that companies haven't picked up on the fear and inflated the price. It's common sense. Charge what the market will bear.

[rochelle_s]

Can't find it online.

 

Awhile back I read an interesting piece on the insurance industry and where they make the most money.

 

You can choose not to believe me, but look at the attitudes displayed by most here ("trip insurance is a must") and tell me that companies haven't picked up on the fear and inflated the price. It's common sense. Charge what the market will bear.

 

If you come across the article please post as i would like to read it, but I do prefer statistics. I am not doubting what you read but anyone can write an article and depending on their perspective or bias the story can lead either way. Had the article been written by someone in the insurance industry I am sure it would have had a completely different take on the matter.

 

As for this thread, and others on the topic, I do not see people trying to convince others that trip insurance is a must. They relate their own personal situations. Sharing examples of when they purchase and experiences with claims etc. Then they leave it up to others to decide for themselves. No judgement...just sharing of first hand information.

 

Unless you can provide statistics about price mark up then what we have to go is what is reported here. My interpretation is that percentage wise this amount is low and that is for comprehensive coverage. Break that down further for the amount that will cover cancellation and we will come up with an even lower number. So if the average person purchases a comprehensive insurance plan for lets say 5% of their total cost -- the cancellation portion is likely only 1-2%. Many people would find this quite reasonable and they will purchase the insurance including the comprehensive coverage. Someone else might prefer to self insure. Someone else might not even care to think about it. To each their own.

 

I wonder why it is that you always seem to be trying to convince people to stay away from the insurance idea. Why can't you let others make their own decisions?

 

 

Rochelle

[Shawnino]

Do you own a home or rent?

 

We own.

We do have some sort of coverage through the Homeowners Association I think. I suppose if the landscaping crew starts a fire with their lawnmowers, and our place burns, that's not on us. But I'm pretty sure that doesn't cover the contents of our home, nor our possessions. If we burn our own place down, that's on us. I use the smoke detector as the oven timer, so who knows.

 

Profit margins are a closely guarded secret--if anybody actually knows them! Be advised that least three and perhaps four or more sets of mouths are getting fed from premiums. Let's take a look.

 

1) The broker--NCL or otherwise. The person/company who sells the policy. How this company's piece gets paid out varies but there is generally a split between the salesperson and the salesperson's company.

 

2) The insurance company underwriting the policy. (The original counterparty.)

 

3) The reinsurer--the big conglomerate in Bermuda, London, or Central Europe that accepts the risk of insurance companies' policies. The insurance company doesn't want to hold most policies: they'd rather not keep huge cash reserves on hand to satisfy regulators. So Swiss Re, Hannover Re, Munich Re, Lloyds of London etc. take the risk, leaving "regular" insurance companies' books unencumbered to take more business from brokers.

 

Now past this, there may be advertising/marketing fees, fees to repackage risk and take it to market (insurance backed securities anybody? That stuff going bust is SO 2007! This stuff is AAA, I promise!), escrow costs, I could go on.

 

Good luck, whatever people decide. I own shares in Travelers and in Berkshire Hathaway, so the more people who are scared silly, the better I do.

[garycarla]

...As for this thread, and others on the topic, I do not see people trying to convince others that trip insurance is a must. ....

 

Actually, lots of people post saying you should always get insurance. There are lots of posting about "incidents" that happened and people collected. Very few posts about "I bought it and never used it".

 

Any business person will assure you that the insurance companies are making good money on this product.

 

Should people buy it? For most people, some sort of insurance does make sense. But for most, they have no idea what is covered and what is not. I know many do it for emotional and often irrational reasons. Just look at the people that buy life insurance for newborns "because they love them". Now there is a bad buy.

[david_sobe]

LOL

Of course the insurance companies make money off most of us. THAT is how insurance works. A large group pays small amounts and cover the small minority who actually get paid or covered for their claim. Otherwise there would be no such thing as insurance.

I am not sure what planet some operate. No reason to bash insurance companies.

If you are tired of those who cant cruise bashing the cruise lines then isn't insurance the way to go?

I also disagree that cruise insurance is expensive. It pretty much is the same price as your auto gratuities. Sounds like a great deal to me. Especially when you think if something comes up 30 days out, you lose all the money you put towards the vacation.

Edited August 24, 2014 by david_sobe

[pokerpro5]

We own.

We do have some sort of coverage through the Homeowners Association I think. I suppose if the landscaping crew starts a fire with their lawnmowers, and our place burns, that's not on us. But I'm pretty sure that doesn't cover the contents of our home, nor our possessions. If we burn our own place down, that's on us. I use the smoke detector as the oven timer, so who knows.

 

Profit margins are a closely guarded secret--if anybody actually knows them! Be advised that least three and perhaps four or more sets of mouths are getting fed from premiums. Let's take a look.

 

1) The broker--NCL or otherwise. The person/company who sells the policy. How this company's piece gets paid out varies but there is generally a split between the salesperson and the salesperson's company.

 

2) The insurance company underwriting the policy. (The original counterparty.)

 

3) The reinsurer--the big conglomerate in Bermuda, London, or Central Europe that accepts the risk of insurance companies' policies. The insurance company doesn't want to hold most policies: they'd rather not keep huge cash reserves on hand to satisfy regulators. So Swiss Re, Hannover Re, Munich Re, Lloyds of London etc. take the risk, leaving "regular" insurance companies' books unencumbered to take more business from brokers.

 

Now past this, there may be advertising/marketing fees, fees to repackage risk and take it to market (insurance backed securities anybody? That stuff going bust is SO 2007! This stuff is AAA, I promise!), escrow costs, I could go on.

 

Good luck, whatever people decide. I own shares in Travelers and in Berkshire Hathaway, so the more people who are scared silly, the better I do.

 

Great post. I agree with all of it, aside from your decision not to buy fire insurance on your home (unless you're very rich, in which case I understand).

 

Armchair economists in this thread are trying to insist that trip insurance isn't a bad value, but they are ignoring all of the above -- that each insurance premium dollar goes through so many points of cost that only a small percentage is used to pay out claims.

 

And that makes it a bad deal.

 

I still feel catastrophic types of insurance are important, to eliminate your risk of ruin from unforeseen events (your house burning down, super-expensive medical problem, etc). However, it is foolish to get such poor value when you are only insuring something which would not be life-changing to lose (a vacation you already paid for).

 

I am also seeing claims such as, "Adding trip insurance was a very small add-on to what I was already paying for my foreign medical and evacuation insurance."

 

This probably means that you were overpaying so much for your medical and evacuation insurance that they offered this relatively cheap add-on to make the overall insurance product look like a better deal.

 

Next time I travel abroad (aside from Canada), I will indeed look into medical and evac insurance, but I will first get educated regarding what my existing policies and credit cards give me already, as well as find the very best deal that exists.

 

Regardless, I don't see why anyone buys any product from the cruise line that can be bought elsewhere. Nearly everything offered by the cruise line is marked up by a factor of 2 or more. Honestly, I have found one and only one add-on product offered by NCL which I think is a good deal, and that's the UDP.

[roger001]

Actually, lots of people post saying you should always get insurance. There are lots of posting about "incidents" that happened and people collected. Very few posts about "I bought it and never used it".

 

Hopefully, all post will be by persons who never used it. That is the intent with insurance.....never have to collect on it. We don't ever buy it thinking, "Wow...hope I have a catastrophe soon so I can collect on this insurance".

[pokerpro5]

Hopefully, all post will be by persons who never used it. That is the intent with insurance.....never have to collect on it. We don't ever buy it thinking, "Wow...hope I have a catastrophe soon so I can collect on this insurance".

 

Right, but at the same time, you should never overpay for insurance with the thought of, "Well, if I end up having to use it, I will have saved a ton of money, and if I don't have to use it, that's what I wanted in the first place!"

 

Value is still important, and all of the feelgood rhetoric in the world doesn't change the fact that you overpaid.

 

Insurance salesman use a variation of this line to get people to buy overpriced insurance they don't really need.

 

Every day we live our lives with lots of risks. It is counterproductive to attempt to insure yourself against all of them.

Edited August 24, 2014 by pokerpro5

[Shawnino]

 

Regardless, I don't see why anyone buys any product from the cruise line that can be bought elsewhere. Nearly everything offered by the cruise line is marked up by a factor of 2 or more. Honestly, I have found one and only one add-on product offered by NCL which I think is a good deal, and that's the UDP.

 

...and then there's this. Are you really going to buy insurance from people who also sell six strawberries for $12?

 

(I am also a UDP customer.)