Trip Insurance????

[092306]

We always do and used it once. Entire cost of trip (air and cruise) was refunded. Would not feel comfortable cruising without it not so much because I would fear having to cancel and be out that money, but if injury were to occur to me or family member. Wouldn't want to think of the costs we'd incur if that happened so spending less than $200 for our family to be insured is worth it to me.

[Langley Cruisers]

Simple: ask yourself how you would feel to lose it all if something happened. Would you be upset, sad, frustrated, angry? Or would you feel indifferent?

 

Therein lies your answer.

[medic659]

Absolutely yes! We lost 1000's when we had to cancel our last cruise due to the unexpected loss of a family member. The cruise line, although sympathetic, made zero exception to their refund policy. We weren't even offered an option to postpone/reschedule. Insurance? Absolutely YES!

[PartyAllDaTyme]

As a side note: ALL travel insurance is a "reimbursement" based plan anyway. In other words, you get stranded in a foreign port or you need medical attention,,,, you pay up front out of your own pocket,,,, then when you return, you file a claim, and then it gets reimbursed if its a covered event.

 

I am a sales agent for one of the major travel insurance companies. The medical benefit and medical evacuation benefit may be payable directly to the provider. As a practical matter, we say pay for a doctor's visit out of pocket, but for a hospital bill we pay the hospital directly (with an approved claim, of course), and same with evac. We don't expect someone to have to pay a $10,000 medical bill out of their own pocket and then wait for the claim check to arrive.

 

There are some areas of the world where they will not discharge you (or even admit you) until the bill is paid. For those situations, we will guarantee advance payment to the hospital.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

Here's what you get with travel insurance-- peace of mind. You can relax and enjoy your cruise without having it in the back of your mind, what if this or that happens? Travel insurance won't help in every situation, but it certainly can help.

 

In the long run, you'll probably pay more in premiums than what you'll get back in paid claims, but that's how insurance works. It's the short run that can be a major disaster without insurance.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

Agree with Keith. I see a lot of folks post that they're "young and healthy". I saw a "young and healthy" 28-yr. old man lifted off a ship due to a compound fracture he suffered while parasailing.

 

Roz

 

The premiums are based in part on the age of the person traveling, so for the 28-year old, the cost would have been minimal. Our first age bracket for premiums is 0-34 years.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

Actually, many policies cover evacuation to the nearest "appropriate" medical facility and not back home. Also, some policies that do cover transportation back to the states require that the nearest "appropriate" facility release you before they pay. Make sure to read what your policy actually says.

 

If you want guaranteed evacuation to the states, you need to take out a MedJet policy.

 

DON

 

I'm a sales agent for a major travel insurance company. I had a conversation with my team leader about this recently-- he said he's never heard of us doing a medical evacuation that didn't get someone all the way home, if that's where they wanted to go, as long as the benefit was high enough to pay for it. The language in the policy may say to the nearest adequate licensed medical facility, but we will go above and beyond the language in the interest of keepng customers happy and coming back. If you really want to be sure, we have "hospital of choice" options with many plans that don't usually add that much to the premium.

 

I do not identify my company in deference to Cruse Critc's general policy of not mentioning specific travel agents, lest the forum be flooded with sales pitches. I'm not trying to be a cheereader for our company, just want to point out that it is certainly possible to get home without a MedJet policy.

[donaldsc]

I'm a sales agent for a major travel insurance company. I had a conversation with my team leader about this recently-- he said he's never heard of us doing a medical evacuation that didn't get someone all the way home, if that's where they wanted to go, as long as the benefit was high enough to pay for it. The language in the policy may say to the nearest adequate licensed medical facility, but we will go above and beyond the language in the interest of keepng customers happy and coming back. If you really want to be sure, we have "hospital of choice" options with many plans that don't usually add that much to the premium.

 

I do not identify my company in deference to Cruse Critc's general policy of not mentioning specific travel agents, lest the forum be flooded with sales pitches. I'm not trying to be a cheereader for our company, just want to point out that it is certainly possible to get home without a MedJet policy.

 

I am glad to hear that and that your company goes above and beyond the precise wording of the policy. However, you also have to admit that the policy is defined by the exact wording in the written policy so you can't count on other companies doing what your company does.

 

DON

[PartyAllDaTyme]

I am glad to hear that and that your company goes above and beyond the precise wording of the policy. However, you also have to admit that the policy is defined by the exact wording in the written policy so you can't count on other companies doing what your company does.

 

DON

 

True enough.

[NewSalt]

When we began to take more expensive, European vacations, we began to take out trip insurance. Our third trip, the tour company (an older, well-established one) went bankrupt before we left. We got every penny back; those we were traveling with lost it all. That's not likely to happen with a cruise, but since that time I've felt that when I pay for trip insurance, it's still coming out of the money we didn't lose.

 

We planned a cruise with a group of friends two years ago. Two days before they were scheduled to leave to fly to FL, my friend fell and broke both her wrists very severely, requiring surgery. Trip insurance reimbursed them for their flights, hotel, and the cruise. They were able to do a make-up cruise this past winter.

 

Last year, DD's suitcase was damaged between their room and the pier. She didn't notice the damage until she returned home. Because she didn't report it immediately. Royal Caribbean declined liability. Travel Guard paid to replace the bag. That alone covered the cost of the policy.

[JVilleGal]

Not sure if we should get trip insurance or not. Has anyone bought trip insurance and ever used it? is it worth getting?

 

 

Dear OP, a lot of generous CC members are still giving great info about Trip Insurance but you have never returned???

[smyliecruising]

Definitely get it. Most health insurance won't work after you leave the country and a trip off the ship in an emergency could cost you many k! I am a penny pincher but I force myself to spend the extra on the insurance. I don't ever want to spend my retirement savings on a health care debt I can avoid.