Jump to content

This is why you buy travel insurance


Recommended Posts

We have been on over 35 cruises and never missed a one. Never bought insurance - if I had I might not have taken as many cruises. We would have to be a deaths door to miss a cruise and even then we would probably go

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were scheduled to leave for the Oasis of the Seas on this Sunday when...

 

38391992_2052839651401666_162663751667941376_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=a3dce991a0236230b302eaad9e2139d9&oe=5C074B14

 

...this happened.

- - -

Today's lesson: BUY TRAVEL INSURANCE, PEOPLE!

 

It’s #theboy! 😀

Ah, poor Nicolas. 🤕 Let him know all his Cruise Critic friends are thinking of him and wish him a speedy recovery. I am sure he will be fine - kids heal so quickly while old foggies like me ...

And YES! to your travel insurance warning. If nothing else, it always gives me peace of mind knowing I have it.

~ Judy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have been on over 35 cruises and never missed a one. Never bought insurance - if I had I might not have taken as many cruises. We would have to be a deaths door to miss a cruise and even then we would probably go

 

Understood, and I hope nothing ever interrupts one for you in future, but please know that bad things happen to good people, and often when you least expect it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have been on over 35 cruises and never missed a one. Never bought insurance - if I had I might not have taken as many cruises. We would have to be a deaths door to miss a cruise and even then we would probably go

 

I think of travel insurance like an extended warranty on a product. Do you need it? No. Could it be useful? Of course. What are the odds that you'll actually ever need it: slim to none.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is our story:

About 5 years ago we started buying trip insurance thru our travel agency, AAA. It is Allianz insurance. We bought it because my MIL was in poor health, she has since passsed, and my mother had turned 90. What if we had to interrupt out travels to fly home?

2 1/2 years ago we were 6 days into a nine day cruise out of Galveston, getting ready for breakfast before leaving the ship in Costa Maya (Costa Maybe). DH was in the bathroom and suddenly called out to call the ship's doctor--he thought he was having a heart attack. After spending the day in the ships infirmary (and delaying sailing by a couple of hours), an ambulance was dispatched to take us to Cozumel Hyperbaric hospital since all they could discover was that it wasn't a heart attack. In Cozumel it was discovered that he was suffering from by-lateral DVT's in his legs and had suffered a pulmonary thrombosis. They then called for a jet to air-lift us to Ft. Lauderdale Broward Medical center. He spent 6 days there in ICU while the clots dissolved before they flew us home.

Trip insurance picked up the $1000 bill from the ships infirmary, the $10,000 for the ambulance ride and 24 hours in Cozumel hospital ICU, the $20,000 for the lear jet ride (us, 2 pilots, 1 doctor, 1 flight nurse) to Ft. Lauderdale, the 6 days of ICU there plus surgery to implant a blood filter (unknown amount), transportation home of appx. $750 plus chauffeur transportation the additional 90 miles to our home. They also paid for our SIL to fly to Galveston to retrieve our car and bring it home to us. Our $200 travel investment picked up some $50,000 in expenses that we didn't have to pay a penny on. They even picked up my hotel bill in Ft. Lauderdale, when I could have slept in the other bed in his room. I figure that trip insurance for the rest of our lives is paid for in full by what we didn't have to pay. We will never travel without trip insurance again.

 

K

Edited by roadburner
spelling
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hucifer - Sorry to hear about your son. I greatly enjoyed your last review and forgot that you were going to be on the same sailing as us on Sunday. Would have been nice to meet you. We'll raise a glass in your honor at some point. Can you ask your Florida friend to take your place? ;p :evilsmile:

Oh, we were on the same sailing? Yes, it would have been nice to meet you!

Sorry, Wendy now lives up here in Michigan with me 9 months of the year. Well, not WITH me, but a few miles down the road.

 

It’s #theboy! 😀

Ah, poor Nicolas. 🤕 Let him know all his Cruise Critic friends are thinking of him and wish him a speedy recovery. I am sure he will be fine - kids heal so quickly while old foggies like me ...

And YES! to your travel insurance warning. If nothing else, it always gives me peace of mind knowing I have it.

~ Judy

Ha ha, no. That's Patrick. Nicolas (aka #theboy) is Sharse's son. But I'll let him know that everyone wishes him well.

 

 

Thanks everyone for the information and the well wishes! Once his arm heals, I will look into another cruise. I can't wait to take my little man!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is our story:

About 5 years ago we started buying trip insurance thru our travel agency, AAA. It is Allianz insurance. We bought it because my MIL was in poor health, she has since passsed, and my mother had turned 90. What if we had to interrupt out travels to fly home?

2 1/2 years ago we were 6 days into a nine day cruise out of Galveston, getting ready for breakfast before leaving the ship in Costa Maya (Costa Maybe). DH was in the bathroom and suddenly called out to call the ship's doctor--he thought he was having a heart attack. After spending the day in the ships infirmary (and delaying sailing by a couple of hours), an ambulance was dispatched to take us to Cozumel Hyperbaric hospital since all they could discover was that it wasn't a heart attack. In Cozumel it was discovered that he was suffering from by-lateral DVT's in his legs and had suffered a pulmonary thrombosis. They then called for a jet to air-lift us to Ft. Lauderdale Broward Medical center. He spent 6 days there in ICU while the clots dissolved before they flew us home.

Trip insurance picked up the $1000 bill from the ships infirmary, the $10,000 for the ambulance ride and 24 hours in Cozumel hospital ICU, the $20,000 for the lear jet ride (us, 2 pilots, 1 doctor, 1 flight nurse) to Ft. Lauderdale, the 6 days of ICU there plus surgery to implant a blood filter (unknown amount), transportation home of appx. $750 plus chauffeur transportation the additional 90 miles to our home. They also paid for our SIL to fly to Galveston to retrieve our car and bring it home to us. Our $200 travel investment picked up some $50,000 in expenses that we didn't have to pay a penny on. They even picked up my hotel bill in Ft. Lauderdale, when I could have slept in the other bed in his room. I figure that trip insurance for the rest of our lives is paid for in full by what we didn't have to pay. We will never travel without trip insurance again.

 

K

Wow. What a story. Thank you for sharing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hucifer, I am so sorry that your trip had to be cancelled at such short notice! I bet your little solja is terribly disappointed (and sore!) :( I do hope he heals well and you will soon be cruisin' again - just think, you will still have it to anticipate when your original date has come and gone :)

My ex says he is more upset about ruining MY vacation. My boy is such a sweetheart. I am truly blessed.

 

I hope I don't have to wait too long before planning the next one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My son is 18 now and heading to college. My vote is to take your child out of school. In the big picture, as you look back over your child's life, that one week will blend in and you get quality time with your child. The school and the teacher will be upset (and very jealous) Even if your child's grade plumets downward, I think it is worth it. Prices are down also

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have been on over 35 cruises and never missed a one. Never bought insurance - if I had I might not have taken as many cruises. We would have to be a deaths door to miss a cruise and even then we would probably go

Same here. We've never bought it either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I said, you can certainly buy a medevac only policy but the comprehensive ones aren't that much more. I fully recognize that others will make a different decision from me.

 

ETA: I just checked insuremytrip.com and medevac only coverage started at $249 for our trip next year. Comprehensive plans started at $80.

 

How does the med evacuations coverage compare? I paid 390 for 2 people for a year's worth of medical (250,000 limit) coverage and medevac (500,000 limit) coverage. With 4 trips in the coverage period, it is less than 50 per person per trip. I partially self insure (I get some coverage through my Chase CC) trip cancellation/interruption.

 

As you say, each person's individual circumstance dictates what decision they make.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My son is 18 now and heading to college. My vote is to take your child out of school. In the big picture, as you look back over your child's life, that one week will blend in and you get quality time with your child. The school and the teacher will be upset (and very jealous) Even if your child's grade plumets downward, I think it is worth it. Prices are down also

 

What irritates the teacher is not jealousy. It is having to put together a packet of work that they know in most cases will be done in a perfunctory manner by the child or by some other family member. And then when the packet is turned in after the return and it is completely unsatisfactory the teacher gets pressured by the administrators to accept the substandard 'work' so the school gets its daily attendance money. And see this pattern play out time after time, after time. Lived it for 15 years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, already did all of that. CFAR only gives back 75%, while a work related reason gives back 100%, but NEITHER gives back if the cruise line charges me the single supplement, which I understand they'll do as soon as I cancel my daughter?

Don't cancel your daughter. Just let her be a "No Show." and, when you get back, then make your claim. Hopefully you haven't muddied the waters by contacting the Ins. Co. prior to the cruise.:cool:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have been on over 35 cruises and never missed a one. Never bought insurance - if I had I might not have taken as many cruises. We would have to be a deaths door to miss a cruise and even then we would probably go

 

Been on 2. Cancelled what would have been our third because I was diagnosed with cancer. Luckily it was within the no penalty phase so we didn’t need to use our insurance. I was just a few weeks out from surgery at the time of sailing and could barely walk down the block.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were scheduled to leave for the Oasis of the Seas on this Sunday when...

 

38391992_2052839651401666_162663751667941376_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=a3dce991a0236230b302eaad9e2139d9&oe=5C074B14

 

...this happened.

 

Fell at camp and got two fractures in his arm. Swelling is so bad that his doctor said, "Absolutely no travel, especially flying." Which sort of put a damper on the whole trip.

 

After the shock wore off, I called my travel agent and forced myself to say, "Cancel our trip." Those were not easy words to utter, my friends. But she assured me that I would be getting 100% reimbursement. Which means...no problem, I'll just book another damn cruise with this kid once his arms heals. Maybe I'll even be a bad mom and pull him out of school.

 

My little patient is okay, feeling fine except for a little pressure in his arm. He is now in a full-arm cast which will stay on for four weeks. Arrrrgh. Kids.

 

But, feeling very relieved that I bought the insurance. Today's "mishap" just means that our cruise got pushed out. You never know what will happen!

 

Today's lesson: BUY TRAVEL INSURANCE, PEOPLE!

Tell the little one he didn't have to do something that drastic if he wanted to stay home. Lol I'm joking of course. Seriously glad he's going to be ok. We bought insurance for the first time for our trip to Cozumel last January due to the BF having a heart attack last summer. We didn't need the insurance but I was worried something might happen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When we booked our first trip to Europe, the TA recommended trip insurance. Since I'm something of a skeptic, I wondered if it was just something that would net her a bigger commission. The next day I had a long wait in a doctor's office and read a copy of Reader's Digest, for the first time in probably 30 years. There was a story about someone traveling in a remote region of South America who broke a leg and had to be air-lifted out for tens of thousands of dollars. I took it as a sign from the universe and took out the insurance.

 

On our next European vacation, the tour company we used (a well-established and reputable one) declared bankruptcy after final payment. It was a group trip, and those of us who had trip insurance recouped every penny and rebooked. About half the group lost the entire cost of the trip.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How does the med evacuations coverage compare? I paid 390 for 2 people for a year's worth of medical (250,000 limit) coverage and medevac (500,000 limit) coverage. With 4 trips in the coverage period, it is less than 50 per person per trip. I partially self insure (I get some coverage through my Chase CC) trip cancellation/interruption.

 

As you say, each person's individual circumstance dictates what decision they make.

 

I didn't look that closely but the medevac only coverage was unlimited. I would expect that an $80 policy would have limits too low for my tastes, but the policy that I purchased for the trip was $100 which gives me $250,000 in medevac coverage and $50k in medical. I also bought a plan for our upcoming trip to Germany which cost $120 (the airfare for 2 is more than a cruise for 2) which has the same medevac coverage and $75k in medical. The last time I looked we would have to have 3 or more trips in a year in order to justify an annual plan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyone here have experience cancelling one member of a traveling party? I leave in a week, and it turns out my daughter won't be able to get away from work (boss can't spare her for that long)...

 

Just my opinion. If she planned this vacation, has paid vacation leave, told the company, and a week before they said no. I would tell her she still should go on vacation, hold her ground, and let them know the return date. "Boss can't spare her that long" means simply that the boss won't fire her, because the boss needs her. IF fired, than why would she want to work for a company that breaks the contract (awarded vacation time?). Before any says that's not the real world, I did it, and basically, put a work bully on notice that day. No, I was not fired and worked several more years. Eventually the work bully was fired.

 

I bought 3rd party insurance, but this is what they said to me "You will probably be charged the single supplement from the cruise line but insurance won't cover that because she is cancelling for a non-covered reason"...

 

Even though I purchased insurance that allows "cancel for any reason"???

 

I don't know why I'm struggling to wrap my head around this.

 

Most insurance only covers for non-refundable amounts. If she cancels, than she is no longer on the cruise, but you are. You need to pay for your cabin, which is for double occupancy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Going back to the mindset of "insurance is for health reasons only". Cancelled DD today (for Saturday cruise), and I owe an additional $1,300. Absolutely no warning from RCL agent when I cancelled, only noticed it when I looked at the receipt they emailed me.

 

In full blown panic I called them, and thankfully they were willing to add her back, which reduced the cost back to the original amount. So, I eat $200. That's a lot more palatable than $1,300!

 

Question now, do I go ahead and check her in, as if she was going to join me, and then have her just be a no show?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Going back to the mindset of "insurance is for health reasons only". Cancelled DD today (for Saturday cruise), and I owe an additional $1,300. Absolutely no warning from RCL agent when I cancelled, only noticed it when I looked at the receipt they emailed me.

 

In full blown panic I called them, and thankfully they were willing to add her back, which reduced the cost back to the original amount. So, I eat $200. That's a lot more palatable than $1,300!

 

Question now, do I go ahead and check her in, as if she was going to join me, and then have her just be a no show?

Wouldn't worry about completing online check-in for her. It's a convenience, not a requirement. No reason to bother when you know she's not going.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Going back to the mindset of "insurance is for health reasons only". Cancelled DD today (for Saturday cruise), and I owe an additional $1,300. Absolutely no warning from RCL agent when I cancelled, only noticed it when I looked at the receipt they emailed me.

 

In full blown panic I called them, and thankfully they were willing to add her back, which reduced the cost back to the original amount. So, I eat $200. That's a lot more palatable than $1,300!

 

Question now, do I go ahead and check her in, as if she was going to join me, and then have her just be a no show?

 

I would just say "she's supposed to join me later".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...