Should I buy travel insurance for a 5k cruise?

[oceaniacruiserri]

Cost of the insurance will add about $400 to the cost. Cruise is in Feb. so bad weather could be a factor.

 

I'm going to ck the coverage on our Barclay credit card but just want to get some thoughts in general.

[LHT28]

personal choice

 

we never leave the Province with out travel insurance

[Tansy Mews]

Cost of the insurance will add about $400 to the cost. Cruise is in Feb. so bad weather could be a factor.

 

I'm going to ck the coverage on our Barclay credit card but just want to get some thoughts in general.

I would check whether you have coverage with your credit card, at least trip interruption.

 

The conventional wisdom is not to buy coverage through the travel provider - in this case, Oceania. You may want to look at https://www.insuremytrip.com

[JMBobB]

If you can comfortably afford to absorb the full cost of your cruise and arrangements due to cancellation by Oceania or your own medical/family exigencies fine, don't buy the insurance. :rolleyes:

 

Otherwise, SWMbI and moi never sail without trip insurance. We had to use it on our 3rd cruise and they were magnificent. NO questions and full payment within days for all cruise services lost plus 1st class air home due to medical emergency. :D

 

There used to be a motor oil commercial here in Baja Canada: pay me now or pay me later... :eek:

 

JMBobB

[ronrick1943]

For $400, that's a small price to pay. We always pay it, never thought we'd need it. But had to use it 2 times. Glad we did.

[JimandStan]

Cost of the insurance will add about $400 to the cost. Cruise is in Feb. so bad weather could be a factor.

 

I'm going to ck the coverage on our Barclay credit card but just want to get some thoughts in general.

 

May I offer some hard learned Travel Insurance advice?

 

What you need to look for in ANY TRAVEL INSURANCE Policy, is that in the event of illness, the INSURED has final say over where medical treatment is given (i.e. that they will get you home if the local arrangements aren't comparable)

 

If that Provision isn't included, you will be treated "there and then" unless the area is SO DESOLATE that local medical providers don't exist.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

Good idea if you want to have medical coverage. A stop in the medical center is not included in your fare.

[donaldsc]

Cost of the insurance will add about $400 to the cost. Cruise is in Feb. so bad weather could be a factor.

 

I'm going to ck the coverage on our Barclay credit card but just want to get some thoughts in general.

 

Based just on the price of the cruise and ignoring medical and evacuation coverage, you are batting that the probability that you will have to cancel the cruise is greater than 8%. You have also not told us how much the loss of $5000 would be to your finances. In addition, you need to consider the state of your health and the probability that you will have a health issue.

 

We figure that the loss of the cruise fare for most of our cruises will have no effect on our life style so we insure for medical evacuation only with high limits on both. Also, instead of buying single trip policies, we buy an annual policy that covers us for all trips (land and cruise) for a full year. It costs us about $400 per person per year. The policy also provides us with $5000 trip cancellation which as stated earlier I consider unnecessary but it is included.

 

DON

[kbklcamp]

Hi Donaldsc, would you tell me where you buy the annual trip insurance? Sounds like a great plan. Thx

 

 

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[oceaniacruiserri]

All good advice and food for thought.

 

Our main concerns would be the cost if God forbid there was need for medical evacuation:eek: and would want to be sure we have the option to choose to come back to US for care if the need arises.

 

Don, would you mind sharing your source for the med evac insurance that can be purchased yearly?

 

If bad weather affected flights to Miami and we were unable to make the embarkation, it would be a huge bummer but not a financial disaster.

 

Thanks for your comments!

[robandlil]

We don't buy insurance to cover a small loss $5000, we do buy insurance to cover medical evacuation which can be $50,000.

As a veteran we can purchase medical evacuation insurance for $100 a year thru veterans advantage.

We travel about 3x a year so save about about $1000 a year by not buying insurance. So over the last 10 years, we've saved $10,000. We think of it as self insurance. So if we have to take a hit we're still ahead.

[floridatravelersforlife]

The decision is always based on can you afford the financial and mental pain of not have insurance coverage. When we drop tens of thousands of dollars on a trip, we get insurance. Thats a new car. A $899 special, not.

 

However we always have premium medical evacuation insurance. In our late sixties, we don't trust any foreign nation and anyone who touts "it's just as good". Free advice doesn't bode well if things go wrong, and the advice giver won't compensate you.

 

Besides, being on Medicare, we would rather be treated in the States at no cost rather than shelling out our own money overseas.

[Rumpymuffin]

Our main concerns would be the cost if God forbid there was need for medical evacuation:eek: and would want to be sure we have the option to choose to come back to US for care if the need arises.

 

Before we cruise, we buy MEDEX's TravMed Abroad single-trip plan, available through insuremytrip.com. It includes $100,000 of medical coverage, including medical evacuation and terrorism. Our premium for a 10-day Baltic cruise was less than $150 for both of us (I forget the exact amount), and we are in our 70s. Higher coverage limits are available on MEDEX's TravMed Choice plans, and multi-trip plans are also available.

 

These plans offer medical coverage only; they do not include trip protection benefits. For those we rely on our trusty Visa card!

[donaldsc]

Hi Donaldsc, would you tell me where you buy the annual trip insurance? Sounds like a great plan. Thx

 

 

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https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/find-a-plan/annual

 

DON

[Petoonya]

For any veterans who have USAA insurance, buying Travel Insured coverage through USAA is 25%-30% less than buying direct.

[potterhill]

We rely on cc coverage and out of country coverage through work. Save the $$$ and pay for another cruise.

 

Have never cancelled so are way ahead of the game.

 

Work coverage includes evacuation which will be swift as as soon as we are back in Canada treatment is on government tab, not insurance. A little motivator, if you like. [emoji6]

 

Mo

 

 

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[azam71209]

We always get trip insurance-never from the TA or the cruise line, because if either goes belly up, you will not be covered.

 

Yes, you can get medical evacuation insurance if you are 100% confident that whatever happens will be minor enough that you can manage an 8-16 hour trip home. If you have a heart attack or a stroke, you may not be fit for travel for weeks. If immediate surgery is needed, a travel insurance concierge will make the arrangements for you. Unless you are confident that you can navigate the vagaries of a foreign health care system on your own and can pay up front for any services, the assistance services a travel insurance plan offers are invaluable.

 

Also, keep in mind the need to return home quickly at whatever cost if there is a family emergency. We got insurance the first time because my husband's mother was in frail health and we were going on a Russian river cruise. Instead he had a heart attack in Russia, needed to be stabilized there before being flown by air ambulance to Helsinki Finland for bypass surgery. No possibility he would have survived an evacuation home, however much we might have preferred surgery there. That was 13 years ago and we've been on lots of great trips since.

 

Mary

[PaulMCO]

It is all about risk and what is acceptable risk to you.

For us mandatory is medical and medical evac -- make sure --

 

• Your choice of hospital facilities.
  
• Medavac to your choice of facilities (like home)
  
• Medical is primary
  
• Pre existing coverage clause. Check policy carefully as to the waiver conditions -- some like Travelguard are very sneaky.
  

I recommended talking with Steve or Becky at http://www.tripinsurancestore.com There is a wealth of info there. They will tell you the pro's and cons of each policy they sell.

 

 

Also check the Cruise Insurance section of CC

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=635

Edited September 2, 2016 by PaulMCO

[oceaniacruiserri]

Thanks, you have brought up many things to consider that had not occurred to me!

[mafig]

Never bought insurance for 25 cruises. Then we are getting older, and I figured I pushed our luck enough. Still irks me to buy it though. Bought it for our last one and our upcoming one.:(

[LHT28]

Until you need it you do not appreciate paying the extra $$ for insurance

[potterhill]

At this point anything we need will be covered by the funds we saved by self insuring. As always your comfort level will vary. I have more confidence in my ability to look after my own needs than put faith in any insurance co. whose bottom line is not my best interest but their profit.

 

Mo

[LuAnn]

cover you anywhere in the world...unlike "regular" Medicare...it also includes cost of evacuation off the ship. Because we have this type of medical coverage we have chosen not to buy trip insurance but "self insure" as mentioned by some other CCers. We also charge our cruises on credit cards that provide trip insurance. Obviously our personal decision. LuAnn

Edited September 3, 2016 by LuAnn

[blambition]

We always purchase travel insurance, not only does it cover us but it will cover our travels if we are traveling with other people and they cannot go due to an illness that is on unexpected. We just had to cancel our trip this past May as my best friend passed away just two weeks before we were expected to go on a cruise with her and her husband. I got our cruise refunded, along with her husband getting the price of their cruise refunded. In all of my cruising this is the second time I've actually had to use the insurance at the last minute due to illness of my traveling companion. It was nice to not lose the entire cost of the trip. Also bear in mind that Medicare does not cover you if you are outside of the United States. I'm not quite there yet with Medicare but will be soon. And most importantly insurance, definitely comes in the most handy if you need to be medically evacuated, as those are the costs that are exorbitant.

 

 

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[GeorgesGal]

https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/find-a-plan/annual

 

DON

 

put it to good use this year when we had to cancel due to BIL's being hospitalized (he was not going on the cruise). Since we purchase the full pkg with trip cancellation insurance -

not the lowest cost plan nor the highest but the one in the middle - we were fully reimbursed for the cost of the trip. Yes, we were in penalty cancellation time period and they reimbursed us with every cent we would have lost.

 

Been purchasing trip insurance for about 5 years, two cruises a year, and this one claim paid us back for all of the premiums we gave Allianz over the years.

 

Donna

Edited September 3, 2016 by George'sGal