Insurance from TA or third party?

[brikee]

I'm traveling with a group of folks young at heart between 50-70 years old in about two months. There are about 8 adults and 1 infant in our group. We were interested in getting insurance incase something happens (ie someone slips during an excursion). We were quoted between $100-$200 per person depending on age from our TA.

 

I just wanted to check with others here, who do you normally purchase insurance from? TA or a third party company? In the past my hubby and I were the only ones who went cruising and we were young without a child so didn't use insurance. Now we just want to be covered incase something happens. Any advice would be appreciated. TIA

[Bulldog3777]

I book my cruises through my TA. The TA gets the insurance from a 3rd party. She knows the good, the bad and the ugly about insurance.

[It's a Ship!!!]

Ask the travel agent what insurance they are using, because they are most likely using a third party as well. NCL has insurance too which can sometimes be cheaper since it doesn't take age into account, but if you are past the final payment date you won't be able to get it. If you aren't past the final payment date, ask your travel agent to compare the two prices.

 

Some third party insurance also covers kids free if their parents or grandparents are traveling with them.

[Kamloops50]

If I buy my cruise thru a TA I'll buy insurance them .

[garycarla]

Different TA will provide varied levels of insurance. I would suspect that some have taken time to investigate and make good decisions. Some just picked what they felt was a good company and went with them.

 

Personally, if you feel that spending a few hundred to insure certain things, it would be worth some investigation and selection process.

 

ALL INSURANCE PLANS ARE NOT EQUAL.

 

Try insuremytrip.com for starters.

[CPT Trips]

I agree, do a comparison between what the TA is offering and what you find on insuremytrip. Make sure you get the coverages you want and need before you buy.

[brikee]

Ok thanks all! Ill get more details then check out insuremytrip site.

[treasure4two]

Different TA will provide varied levels of insurance. I would suspect that some have taken time to investigate and make good decisions. Some just picked what they felt was a good company and went with them.

 

Personally, if you feel that spending a few hundred to insure certain things, it would be worth some investigation and selection process.

 

ALL INSURANCE PLANS ARE NOT EQUAL.

 

Try insuremytrip.com for starters.

 

I use www.insuremytrip.com and call them and talk while viewing it on the computer.

They are always very helpful and knowledgeable.

[CPT Trips]

I use www.insuremytrip.com and call them and talk while viewing it on the computer.

They are always very helpful and knowledgeable.

 

What!? :confused: They have humans, not just bots? :p

[NJGeorge]

With only 2 months to go your going to be paying a pretty high rate.

That said, I always use Travel Guard and I buy it through insuremytrip.com because it is a little cheaper then buying directly from Travel Guard.

 

Insurance..... never needed until you don't have it;)

[roger001]

My TA, and the large TA company that she represents, offers a very complete insurance policy that is included automatically when I book each cruise with them. The insurance is included if I don't refuse it in writing (email). I believe the premium is around 8% of the cruise price. It has gone up 1/2 % lately. However, I really don't think I'll find anything much different if I shopped on my own. For me, the convenience and confidence in this TA and policy makes not worth any extra effort I would have to put into shopping on my own. I believe they insure me with Allianz.

[Ant@sea]

If you are able to still purchase insurance from NCL, beware of an odd thing that happened to me. If you do so, and then start to add things to your reservation like transfers, drink packages, your insurance rate goes up as it's a percentage of your total package rate! I had my TA add transfers and it bumped my fare into the next hundred dollars and she got a new invoice asking for $60.00 more for the insurance. I wound up canceling the transfers and just buying them at the airport, and then onboard for the return.

[ncklhaus]

I always just buy my insurance through NCL. Luckily I have never needed it. Does anyone know if it is good insurance or if I should look into a different company? If it makes a difference, we live pretty close to the port so no flights are involved and we book car service with Groundlink.

[brikee]

If you are able to still purchase insurance from NCL, beware of an odd thing that happened to me. If you do so, and then start to add things to your reservation like transfers, drink packages, your insurance rate goes up as it's a percentage of your total package rate! I had my TA add transfers and it bumped my fare into the next hundred dollars and she got a new invoice asking for $60.00 more for the insurance. I wound up canceling the transfers and just buying them at the airport, and then onboard for the return.

 

Good to know. Thanks! I checked w TA and it is insured through Allianz classic plan. I compared with insuremytrip and it appears the same including the price. It comes out to around $600 for 8 adults and 1 infant.

 

My son was free since my hubby and I are getting insured. Hope we don't have to use it but its good to know we will be covered if anything should happen to anyone in our group. Thanks all for the tips.

[roger001]

Fortunately, we've never had to use our insurance. However, the use of an insurance purchase did strike close to home recently. My sister and her friend were booked on the inaugural sailing of the Getaway out of Miami. They arrived in Miami, spent the night in a hotel, woke up the morning of the sailing, and sister's friend thought he was having a heart attack. Off to the emergency room they went. While he was being tested (and kept overnight), the Getaway sailed away without them. I don't know the details, but my sister said the insurance took care of just about all she would have expected.

Edited December 8, 2014 by roger001

[gizfish]

We have found tripinsurancestore http://tripinsurancestore.com/ to be our personal favorite for booking because they make it easy to compare plans and offer good rates. One of the most important things to look into is the pre-existing condition clause. Read that carefully because many plans' clause looks back before the trip into any doctor's visits, etc., and with the age group in your party, chances are pretty good that someone was at the doc's or had a prescription change or whatever during the "look back" period that would make them uninsured should something happen while away.