Insurance?

[dupa24]

I apologize in advance if this has been asked a ton of times already...

 

Do you recommend taking out travel insurance for a cruise? We are first time cruisers and don’t know what to do.

 

We are scheduled for a caribbean cruise Aug 31 a Sept 8th if that helps

I’m making the decision.

[CruiserBruce]

You insure what you can't afford to lose and replace. So if you are invested $5000 in your vacation, and can't afford to just lose that money, you insure it. Your cars or your house are the best example of this.

 

You also need to be aware of the costs of foreign medical emergencies, which can be huge. So if you have medical conditions that might flare up at any time, you insure your trip.

 

Lastly, if you have family members with medical issues, or possibly job issues, that might suddenly and unexpectedly require you to cancel, you insure your trip.

 

We didn't insure our early cruises. But as our parents got elderly, we started to, particularly as one mother-in-law had to suddenly cancel their cruise with us, 10 days before sailing due to medical issues. Now, as we age, we see the need to insure.

 

Look for "cancel for any reason" insurance.

[sanger727]

Many people will tell you that travel insurance is essential. But I agree with the previous poster. A lot of it comes down to what coverages you already have and what you can afford to lose.

 

Some credit cards provide some cancellation coverage if you use them to pay for the trip.

 

Some people’s regular health insurance covers them outside of the country, and some people’s don’t.

 

Be aware that once you leave the country you will be expected to foot the bill for any medical service or evacuations up front and seek reimbursement from your health plan later - if it’s eligible.

 

So when looking at coverage, evaluate your needs. Do you have any pre-existing conditions that need covered? Are you in a position where you may need to cancel for work conflicts and need that covered? What and how much does your health insurance cover you and what coverage do you need in case of an accident or illness on the trip? What is your risk tolerance and would you prefer to pay a premium for ‘cancel for any reason’ or be fine with being stuck losing the cruise fare if a non covered reason pops up? For that matter, are you ok with losing the cost of your vacation if you need to cancel at the last minute.

 

I will tell you what I do. I personally find my risk of needing to cancel low. I also look at the trip as money I’ve already paid so can afford to lose. So I don’t insure against cancellation. My health insurance covers me outside the country. So if I go waaay off the beaten track where I anticipate needing an airlift our for even minor issues, I get stand alone travel medical. For the average trip I don’t.

 

 

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[Ashland]

If you personally decide having travel insurance is best for your situation...call a professional and discuss the options you have.

 

We and many other's on this board have used and would highly recommend calling Steve or one of his professional associates at the Trip Insurance Store.

 

(888) 407-3854

 

http://www.thetripinsurancestore.com

[zqvol]

IMO medical and evacuation insurance are the most important things to consider. Check your medical insurance and see what it covers. When my wife was working we had full coverage for both while out fo the country because she worked for a multi-national company and they had it because of all the international trips they took. We didn't worry about the trip costs so, we did not buy insurance. Now that we are retired we get insurance for the medical issues.

[donaldsc]

IMO medical and evacuation insurance are the most important things to consider. Check your medical insurance and see what it covers. When my wife was working we had full coverage for both while out fo the country because she worked for a multi-national company and they had it because of all the international trips they took. We didn't worry about the trip costs so, we did not buy insurance. Now that we are retired we get insurance for the medical issues.

 

+1 on this reply. We insure for evacuation and medical because that can be very expensive. We do not insure for anything else as we can afford those losses.

 

DON

[navybankerteacher]

You want to be very sure you understand the coverage your regular medical insurance provides. If you are on Medicare you will not be covered outside of the US - and most insurance which people carry to cover what Medicare does not cover fail to realize that it will not pay for costs outside of the US which would have been covered by Medicare had they been incurred in the US.

[Suzanne123]

If you do nothing else, look into medical coverage. You never know when you’re going to have an accident or appendicitis or whatever. A week’s coverage with GeoBlue is very reasonable. ( My DD is 38 and her $1,000,000 medical coverage and $500,000 evacuation for a week’s cruise was less than $30)

https://www.geobluetravelinsurance.com/products/single-trip/voyager-5-overview.cfm

[SPacificbound]

If you do not have medical insurance that will cover you wherever you are going, you might want to check that out.

[lenquixote66]

I apologize in advance if this has been asked a ton of times already...

 

Do you recommend taking out travel insurance for a cruise? We are first time cruisers and don’t know what to do.

 

We are scheduled for a caribbean cruise Aug 31 a Sept 8th if that helps

I’m making the decision.

 

Make sure that you research the company thoroughly .I filed a claim in January 2018 and I am still waiting for payment.

[SRF]

Medical evacuation to return an ill person to the home can run a LOT of money.

 

My Mother had an issue on a cruise in Halifax. Med evac back to the DC area was $29,000. Imagine from Europe or Asia back to the US. You can easily run well into 6 figures.

 

And medical costs can be very high. In Canada, if you are Canadian, health care is free. If not Canadian, the cost is VERY high.

[Z'Loth]

I'm just assuming that the emergency medical evacuation from Mexico and the Caribbean is going to run in the low six figures. As for medical, let the travel insurance take care of it rather than fight with my own medical insurance. Only thing is... I don't take out the insurance through the cruise line, I take it out through AAA which uses Alianz.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We always buy medical insurance and insurance for the cruise.

And we have had to use them a couple of times.

[Blasnif]

We had booked a very long and expensive cruise and took out travel insurance. Just before the cruise, my wife's sister had a heart-attack and watershed stroke. Killed the vacation - sister-in-law is still around. Anyway, it took some doing, but we recovered every single penny of our "non-refundable" but insured trip. Since we now know how fragile life can be - we usually get travel insurance.