To Insure or not to Insure?

[zydecocruiser]

Peace of mind is never a waste of money.

 

Buying a forged painting isn't a waste of money until you find out it is a fake.

 

Peace of mind is a beautiful thing, but finding out the limitations of your insurance policy when you file a claim isn't.

 

Travel insurance can be a beautiful thing, and prices can vary. Just know your policy limitations before you purchase.

 

You can customize whatever coverage you think you need.

[mickeymotto]

Thanks for all your feedback everyone. What is the difference between the insurance the cruise line offers and the the kind your purchased on your own? And which id the best type...its so confusing:eek:

[Goldryder]

I do my own insurance, covers absolutely every single eventuality, costs me £55 a year with no limit on how many trips are made in that year. Whereas getting the insurance through the cruiseline is usually limited in its cover - extreme sports etc not always covered - and it just covers the one trip only.

[jerseygirl3]

We never purchase the insurance through the cruiseline...it is usually much more limited and more expensive. Go to http://www.insuremytrip.com and check out the various policies. Our favorite is Travlex Travel Lite policy. Very inexpensive $48 pp for my husband and myself. And they are primary, which means that medical expenses are paid first by them. You don't have to submit to your own insurance first. They have wonderful customer service.

[fireofficer5]

Never brought it never will. Cruising since 1974 on the Mardi Gras. almost 50 cruises since then. Lets see 50 x 100 x 2= 10,000. Less 5with parents. It also helps to have good medical ins, and to use a good credit card to book your cruise. The one I have gives excess medical ins. when traveling. And I have read my ins. policy and know the terms of my credit card coverage.

[voyagerfl]

Shopping around is always a good idea.

The company our travel agency uses......usually costs around $59 for a 7 night cruise, so we stick with them.

[bills blasters]

Do you know what company it is that your travel agent uses? That seems like a pretty good price.

[makeda]

always insure, just not though the cruiseline...even insured my land-based trip to alaska, just to be on the safe side

[smk]

Travel guard: No travel cost. $37 for me (age 65) and $25 for my wife (51)

50,000 medical and 1,000,000 for evac. It also cost $6.00 for service fee.

Still a real deal - just mailed mine on 9-30 for a cruise on 11-13. Been on

five cruises and have never used it. On my first cruise a couple in our part

who did not have the insurance ended up spending over $3,000 because his

wife became ill in Cobo. With hospitol etc. coming out of their pocket.

[PaigeM]

I got a quote of $95 from www.insuremytrip.com for myself, my dh, and 3 kids. our airlines tickets were basically free, as we used our travel miles. we have great health ins. i was just worried that if it snows and we can't get out for 2 days (we are going the night before), then we will lose the money for the cruise. or if one of us gets sick and can't go. help, should i get it?

[jerseygirl3]

Paige, it's hard to determine whether you should "get it" or not based on the info you provided. Which company is it with, are they primary insurers, doesn't it cover anything besides if you get "snowed in"?

 

My favorite is Travelex Travel Lite policy. We just had to submit two claims; a Swarovski necklace my husband bought me on our cruise last week was stolen from our suitcase at the airport and I also had to visit the ship's doctor while onboard (ear ache). When I called Travelex to inquire about submitting the medical bill, I happened to mention to the customer service rep about my stolen necklace, and she said that would be covered as well. Two days later I received the two claim forms in the mail. I filled them out today, and they were very easy to do.

 

It was the best $95 we spent.

[bills blasters]

I just booked the travelex travel lite policy also. Spent a lot of time comparing the different policies, and this seemed to be the best.

Thanks for all your help.

[drolltroll]

Insurance is fine well and good if you do not fall outside the parameters of what is covered. From the TA's I have spoke to and the few policies I have read it is just not worth it to me if you have a good health insurance policy. I would be more interested to know had insurance that had to use it and what was their experience like!

[jerseygirl3]

Drolltroll, I've using my travel insurance three times this year alone. My husband suffered a stroke necessitating our cancelling two cruises. Within 3 weeks after submitting the claim form, we received a full refund for every penny out of pocket...air, cruise fare, shore excursions that were nonrefundable, etc. It was very easy and painless.

 

Two weeks ago we were on a cruise, and I had to pay a visit to the ship's doctor for an earache. I called Travelex and the customer service I received was excellent. They promptly sent me a claim form (received it within 2 days) and I just mailed it yesterday. When I was on the phone with the rep, I mentioned to her in passing that a bracelet my husband had bought me was missing from my suitcase when we arrived home. She told me to submit a claim for that as well, that it would be covered. This was Travelex Travel Lite Policy. The two previous policies were with Travel Guard and CSA where we had to cancel the cruise and were reimbursed.

 

We would have been out thousands of dollars if we didn't have the insurance. And we paid only $48 pp for the insurance.

 

I wouldn't take a chance cruising without it.

[momanme]

I prefer not to use the insurance offered by the cruise line. Check online for travel insurance packages. You might will find better coverage with a lower price.

[Hockeymom4]

I will admit, that this coming cruise is my first time buying insurance. It is well worth the money.

 

Even for domestic trips...in July 2003, in Disney World my littlest dd fell and really hit her head hard...well within minutes she was showing signs of a concussion etc....we calmed her down, took her to Disney medical areas, and they were great...later that night she did vomit again....so Disney drove us over to Celebration hospital...the baby in the ambulance...she had CT scans etc...well, we have insurance, but we were out of network...pain in the you know what....so we had to dish out $1200! Had I had the insurance...it would have been covered....

 

For our family it costs around $200...family of 5....it is well worth the extra. My parents are coming on the cruise with us in April...I purchased insurance for them too...my dad is over 60, 6 vessel cardiac bypass...and diabetic...can't be too safe...and my mom is just under 60...and has medical problems of her own...insurance = peace of mind!

 

Always buy the insurance....whether through the cruiseline, vacation plan or through an independent insurance protection company!

[stephenandrew]

Hi--

 

I know I am in the minority, but I do not buy travel insurance. I have always found the cost of the insurance to far outweigh the expected benefits/value of using it. Having said that, I know that should the "unlikely" occur, that I will be resposnible consequences of my deicision and any/all costs associated with it. I think it is important for each individual is to assess buying insurance based on thier own set of circumstances---are you in a financial position to be able to afford to lose $2500 - $5000 should you become ill, etc. on a cruise? What is your tolerance for risk, e.g. can you sleep at night knowing you do not have insurance? What is your personal and family health situation---do you have a known condition that limit your ability to travel? In short, while I think it is good to solicit input/advice from others, in this case it is our own individual circumstances (that maybe unique) that should drive the decision to purchase travel insurance.

[flashdog_1]

If you don't purchase the insurance within 14 days of booking you will lose the pre-existing condition clause. I have read this on most policies. this one is itravel.

 

PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS

 

The policy will not pay for losses or expenses incurred as a result of an injury or illness to the Insured Person which manifests itself during the sixty (60) days immediately preceding and including the Policy’s Effective Date, unless the condition is controlled through the taking of prescription drugs or medication and remains controlled throughout the sixty (60) day period.

 

PRE-EXISTING CONDITION WAIVER

 

You can waive the Pre-Existing Conditions Exclusion by purchasing this coverage within 14 days of the date of your initial trip deposit provided you are under age 70. If you are age 70 or above, your pre-ex condition might still be covered. Review the questions below. If you answered no, then your condition is coverable.

 

In these brochures i do not see a "deductible" listed, but I'm sure some have them.

[Kahhli]

Good tips !

 

I am debating on if we should purchase insurance , but after reading this I went to insuremytrip.com to check it out.

 

Since our airline tickets are free courtesy of some miles my husband accumulated I was only interested in covering the cost of the cruise.

I also realized that I didnt need to cover the entire cost ... I would take a partial hit if need be.

 

We did upgrade to a Jr Suite for the cruise ( mainly because the air was free and we figured we made out there !) the cost was a bit more than if I had gone with a typical stateroom.

 

With that in mind I would opt to insure for 1000 total. Its about 500 less than we paid for the cruise but I figured that is at least more than half I would get in return.( 4 day cruise )

 

Thru some working of the numbers I discovered that the cost of insurance doubles once you reach the 1000 dollar mark so that was another reason to keep it at that rate.

 

The bonus is its still a package plan .. Medical .. dental .. Travel and Baggage loss .. etc.

 

It was the freestyle package offered by CSA on insuremytrip.com

 

There is also a online chat with a representative from insuremytrip.com that I found helpful as well.

 

The total cost to insure the 2 of us is 49.30 , which is half of what Carnival quoted me for Travel Guard .. sounds good to me .. but would appreciate any feedback before I purchase it :)

[hdawson]

I thought Carnival uses Berkley Care.

[kod1963]

I'm another vote for buying insurance through insuremytrip.com. We purchased the CSA Freestyle Luxe policy. It was much cheaper than Carnival's policy and covered our airfare since we booked our own. I purchased this policy a month after we made our final payment. Fortunately, we had no pre-existing condition issues.

 

We were on the 8/20 Imagination sailing that was delayed for two extra days at sea. We had to spend a night in Miami since we couldn't get a flight out until the day after we docked (no cost to change the flight - thanks American Airlines for the first class upgrade). The insurance paid for our internet time on the ship to make arrangements for a hotel and my husband to handle some business matters, the two extra days' tips on the ship, our hotel (two rooms since there are five of us), our meals in Miami, and the additional days parking at Phila. airport. I definitely would not travel without insurance in hurricane season again.