Cruise insurance

[Letacraig]

Is Caribbean princess cruise insurance worth the money and or what does it not cover when it comes  to nut cutting?

 

thank you

 

[donaldsc]

Any type of insurance is not worth the money until you need it.  That said, private insurance is generally a better deal than cruise company insurance.

 

DON

[wallyworld583]

We always get insurance.  Haven't needed until the last two cruises and then it came in very handy.  We use CSA and have been very satisfied with their claims process.  If you are of the age, Medicare does not cover you out of country so you have to have something.  

[long cruiser]

If you need to be medevaced from one of the islands it costs between $25,000-100,000.

So i think you would be smart to take out insurance,

long cruiser

 

[Steelers0854]

We used to always get the Princess Insurance mainly because we got the free upgrade for being platinum. That was until I found the Nationwide Luxury Cruise policy that has coverages for things like missed and cancelled ports. It’s on par if not cheaper than the Princess insurance and the customer service is fantastic. 

[skynight]

2 hours ago, long cruiser said:

If you need to be medevaced from one of the islands it costs between $25,000-100,000.

So i think you would be smart to take out insurance,

long cruiser

 

Agree, This is where travel insurance pays off. It's the big risk. If you have to leave the ship and go to a local hospital, then arrange at your own cost the medical bills and fly home. Also the hotel and living expenses for the family while one is in the hospital.

[Coral]

I don't buy Princess insurance due to low medical coverage. $20K won't get you far if you have a medical emergency outside of the country.

 

I always buy 3rd party - Allianz. They write a policy just for my agency that covers pre-existing conditions at final payment and has far better coverage.

[eagletwo]

I have to agree with "insurance is not worth the money until you need it". We have always bought the insurance through Princess until the upcoming trip on the CB in January.  Looked at Allianz and the coverage was better, covers pre-existing conditions and pays in cash not cruise credit.  My biggest fear is being sick or hurt outside of the US. Another poster was correct, local hospitals may want payment upfront and we are not talking just a few hundred dollars.  If or when you get a release from the doctor to leave the hospital, he/she may require private air travel.  I am in the priate air charter business, operating 8 pasenger executive jets.  Just to pick up a patient in Nassau and fly them back to New York is about $25,000 if the patient can sit in a seat.  If they need a true air ambulance, add another $5-$10,000. 

 

On our first cruise to Alaska in 2005, I looked at the cost to charter a private plane from Juneau back to South Carolina if one of us was seriously hurt and could not fly home on the airlines.   The cost of a Lear 35 air ambulance was just over 40k. You can also buy World Wide Medical Jet serice through a few companies for about $385 a year. These companies do all the work and you don't have to come up with money upfront for the flights.  

[pris993]

I buy an annual policy from Lifeguard, covers us for a year for $518, available on line.  Covers emergency medical, evacuation  and a few other items.  Main reason I purchase is emergency medical,  evacuation, since we are seniors.  Insurance is available to business travelers but any one can purchase it.  I don't try to cover the costs of the cruise.   We traveled for years without any insurance til we reached medicare age.  

[NukeIT]

We always book thru USAA, far cheaper than the branded cruise line coverage and higher coverage limits plus additional coverage... 

 

Have only had one claim so far, which they paid out after filling the proper paperwork with them. 

[JF - retired RRT]

7 hours ago, Steelers0854 said:

We used to always get the Princess Insurance mainly because we got the free upgrade for being platinum. That was until I found the Nationwide Luxury Cruise policy that has coverages for things like missed and cancelled ports. It’s on par if not cheaper than the Princess insurance and the customer service is fantastic. 

Thanks for the referral. I checked the coverage and am impressed.

Booked a cruise recently that was past final payment and in my "excitement" forgot to add insurance. Bought it from Nationwide at a very reasonable price.

[Ep010835]

4 hours ago, Coral said:

I don't buy Princess insurance due to low medical coverage. $20K won't get you far if you have a medical emergency outside of the country.

Precisely the reason I started ignoring the coverage offered by Princess after my first reading of the terms. For years we've used C&F Travel Insured. Specifically their Worldwide Trip Protector policy. They have a policy offering "Cancel for Any Reason" but that one doesn't appeal to me. The one we buy provides $100K of medical and $1M for emergency medical evacuation. For an additional $25/pp, we opt for the coverage that makes this policy primary for medical. This last part is very important to me. 

The best consolidator site I've found (thanks to this board) is Tripinsurancestore.com. After inputing the basics, the site presents you with a range of policies to compare. Even includes a column showing insurance cost as a percentage of the trip cost you are covering. I find I also use the feature that allows me to very easily change the cost of the trip to see how that change affects the premium. 

If you are interested in covering pre-existing medical conditions, be sure to check out the deadline by which the policy must be purchased after INITIAL payment for the trip. The one we buy allows 21 days. 

I have policies like this in place for 6 upcoming cruises. 

[Coral]

12 minutes ago, Ep010835 said:

 

If you are interested in covering pre-existing medical conditions, be sure to check out the deadline by which the policy must be purchased after INITIAL payment for the trip. The one we buy allows 21 days. 

I have policies like this in place for 6 upcoming cruises. 

I no longer am worried about "pre-existing conditions clause" but I was when my Mom was alive. Allianz writes a policy for my agency (large franchise agency) that includes pre-existing conditions when purchased at final payment. So I just buy this from my TA as we never know when we will have a condition that falls under "pre-existing conditions".  The policy is very comprehensive and covers more than I need so I am fine with it.

 

I used to have to deal with 14 or 21 days from a deposit and it was a pain, mostly because I change my mind a lot.

 

I do buy MedJet Assist often, depending on where I am going. This year, I did buy it for the year as I spent 2 weeks in Norway and some of these ports have poor medical coverage.

 

I feel for those who buy just Princess and have a medical emergency outside of the US. $20K doesn't go that far when a surgery is involved.

Edited December 25, 2018 by Coral

[voljeep]

According to the 'Announcements' posted to the right on this forum homepage ... CC will be hosting a travel insurance Q & A with a person ,Steve,  who owns a travel insurance agency, on Jan 7th to answer all of our travel insurance questions

Edited December 25, 2018 by voljeep

[Ep010835]

6 minutes ago, voljeep said:

According to the 'Announcements' posted to the right on this forum homepage ... CC will be hosting a travel insurance Q & A with a person ,Steve,  who owns a travel insurance agency, on Jan 7th to answer all of our travel insurance questions

I don't know whether or not it's the same Steve, but the honcho at tripinsurancestore.com is named Steve. 

[voljeep]

one in the same ...as per the announcement ...

[happy cruzer]

We like the Princess Platinum policy.  We do have  private medical insurance that covers for out of the country.  The Princess policy has the cancellation coverage (for covered reasons as refund and any reason a credit) as well as it would cover deductibles that our main policy would not.  No policy covers everything and no policy is the perfect one for everyone.  You have to get into the details of what you need.

[Hlitner]

We think Happy Cruzer has posted some words of wisdom :).  Most folks do not use the best procedure for purchasing travel/cruise insurance.  What should one do?  First you should identify the coverages and limits that meet your own needs and risk tolerance.  Then you should look around the travel/insurance industry for the policy that best fits your personal needs/wants at a reasonable price.  Sites such as insuremytrip.com; squaremouth.com or directly contacting a travel insurance expert (such as the "Steve" mentioned in another post) are all good options.  The policies sold directly by cruise lines are often not the best deal, and most cruise line policies are wholly inadequate in their medical insurance limits.  We do think the cruise  line policies have their good points (especially for folks over 80) but we would generally buy a cruise line policy only as a last resort.

 

Hank

[Reader0108598]

I have booked through insure my trip .com but this last trip I went with the cruise line! Why because my husband is over seventy it gets more expensive with age. 

 

Well I did not need to worry about my husband I fell and cracked three ribs 😞 !

The insurance paid off with a note from my doctor, canceled hotels and airline refunded points to my account in this case it worked for me.

 

 

 

Edited December 25, 2018 by Reader0108598

[Hlitner]

36 minutes ago, Reader0108598 said:

I have booked through insure my trip .com but this last trip I went with the cruise line! Why because my husband is over seventy it gets more expensive with age. 

 

Well I did not need to worry about my husband I fell and cracked three ribs 😞 !

The insurance paid off with a note from my doctor, canceled hotels and airline refunded points to my account in this case it worked for me.

 

 

 

Am also over 70 and this is what we do.  We purchase an annual GeoBlue policy, which drops its medical coverage from $250,000 to $100,000 at age 70, but the annual premium is just $450 (total cost for 2) which also includes $500,000 of trip evacuation.  We have never been fans of trip cancellation (we are over $100,000 ahead because of all the money we have saved by not purchasing trip cancellation insurance) but still get $10,000 of trip cancellation/interruption coverage by simply using our Chase Sapphire card.  And yes, Chase does pay-off as we had to interrupt a Princess cruise last spring and chase ultimately paid us $10,000.

 

Our insurance needs are driven by the fact that we live in Mexico for 10 weeks a year.  The annual Geoblue policy also covers that entire trip (it covers the first 70 days of all trips over the policy year).  There are some years when we cruise over 100 days (plus 70 days in Mexico) and that single medical policy covers all of those trips.

 

As we said before, there is no one size fits all when it comes to insurance.  Everyone should look for what best meets their needs.  My big concern with the cruise line policies is that many cap their medical limits at only $10,000 (some do have higher limits).  We feel uncomfortable traveling anywhere without at least $100,000 of medical coverage.  A single medical emergency can quickly blow through $10,000 or even $25,000 of insurance.  We do not concern ourselves with small deductibles,  but its the big medical bill exposure that keeps me looking for high limit insurance.  I can afford a $50 or $100 deductible, but sure don't want to pay $50,000 or more in a bad medical situation.

 

Hank

[2retire2011]

12 hours ago, wallyworld583 said:

We always get insurance.  Haven't needed until the last two cruises and then it came in very handy.  We use CSA and have been very satisfied with their claims process.  If you are of the age, Medicare does not cover you out of country so you have to have something.  

 

Some Medicare Advantage policies cover basic emergency care out of the country, but it's limited and without medivac coverage.  We always get insurance because if you need it, it's there.

 

 

[crawford]

Thanks to all for your comments.

 

We have been very fortunate to date, as we have never purchased insurance of any kind and have not had any issues.

 

 It looks like I have a lot of homework to do before our next cruise, trying to find the right medical and trip cancellation insurance before we venture forth again.

 

 

 

[flamomo]

In addition to the Princess insurance, which I have had cause to use on a couple of cruises and was reimbursed by them for every cent of my onboard medical expenses, I purchase an annual membership in MedJetAssist. The latter covers members when they are 150 or more miles from home. I'm well into my 70s, and like that feature because I usually travel domestically as well as internationally several times per year. I feel more secure, especially when out of the country, knowing they can bring me to my preferred hospital at home and near my family if needed.

[Pickels]

On ‎12‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 1:44 AM, Letacraig said:

Is Caribbean princess cruise insurance worth the money and or what does it not cover when it comes  to nut cutting?

 

thank you

Take some time and check out InsureMyTrip; lots of options and IMHO, better than what is offered by the cruise line.

 

 

[mustgo]

I have seen it written that the Chase Sapphire Reserve card does have a 60 day look back period for cancel insurance.  Does anyone know that this is fact?