Do I need additional insurance?

[apratt]

I have booked a cruise for April and I purchased Royal Caribbean's "vacation protection plan". I want to make sure I am covered in case of a medical emergency & for medical evac if necessary. I can't even find the details of the plan I purchased now and I'm getting nervous about that. Does anyone know what this plan covers or what a good alternative would be, that is if Royal Caribbean will refund the cost of what they sold me?

[Kartgv]

Google "Royal Caribbean Travel Protection" and you'll get a link to the information details, though you should have received a confirmation email from them when you paid for the policy.    If you didn't I'd get on the phone to them or your TA if you used one and ask for confirmation of coverage and the details.    

 

Whether or not you need more coverage depends on where in the world you're going, the state of your health, and your ability to handle a possibly huge medical bill in a worst case scenario.    We take out cruise line insurance for coverage of the cruise cost in the event we need to cancel (because of our age, their coverage is much cheaper than private insurers who factor in age).   However, the cruise line insurance medical and evacuation coverage is usually very low, so we have an annual policy that covers just medical and evacuation.    

Edited January 14, 2019 by Kartgv

[apratt]

We are going to Honduras, Belize and Mexico. My husband and I are in our 30's and we will be traveling with our 8 & 5 year old kids. We are pretty healthy (knock on wood), but if we ran up a huge medical bill it would be devestating for our young family. I always try to plan for the worst then pray it doesn't happen! Traveling with kids is making me super nervous. 

[GUT2407]

Read your policy carefully, then see if the risks left are acceptable to you.

 

i have. Areal issue with insuring the same thing with two companies, they’ll each try and make the other pay, you’ll be the one in the middle.

[cml4958]

I would not depend on that protection.  Once you get a copy of the policy find out if you're going to have to spend the money and be reimbursed or they are going to pay directly.  This can make a big difference.  Also look at the medical evacuation.  Granted it seems you are probably a relatively healthy group but accidents happen.    I would get additional protection especially since your health insurance will likely not cover you outside the US.  Find someone you can talk to about what protections you want covered so you can verify you get what you want.

[Ashland]

Agree with the above....You should call and talk to a professional then make your decision. We have been using The Trip Insurance Store for many years (Steve the owner just Jan 7th did a question/answer segment here on CC). I wouldn't think of traveling with a minimal policy and also purchase one when we take our extended family that includes our young grandchildren....usually there is no charge for kids when added to their parents policy...check those details with Steve or one of his wonderful associates (we love working with Kim when Steve isn't available).

 

(888) 407-3854

[cb at sea]

We always book insurance thru an outside vendor...not the cruise line.  They do NOT have your best interests at heart.  Go to "Insure my trip" or something like that.

[GeezerCouple]

2 hours ago, Ashland said:

Agree with the above....You should call and talk to a professional then make your decision. We have been using The Trip Insurance Store for many years (Steve the owner just Jan 7th did a question/answer segment here on CC). I wouldn't think of traveling with a minimal policy and also purchase one when we take our extended family that includes our young grandchildren....usually there is no charge for kids when added to their parents policy...check those details with Steve or one of his wonderful associates (we love working with Kim when Steve isn't available).

 

(888) 407-3854

 

We strongly agree.

 

Check with Trip Insurance Store, and speak with them by phone.

 

Your choices will depend upon when you made first deposit for the trip and when final payment was/is, especially if you have any pre-existing conditions.

This will also be a great opportunity to understand more about third party travel insurance... MUCH better than Cruiseline coverage for most concerns.

 

But do understand that almost all policies DO require that YOU pay upfront, and then submit the paid bills.

So make sure that you have some high-limit charge cards "just in case".

(Note: IF you get coverage through TIS, they'll also help you, with a claim later or even "at the time" of the injury/illness, if needed.)

 

GC

[Philob]

1 hour ago, GeezerCouple said:

But do understand that almost all policies DO require that YOU pay upfront, and then submit the paid bills.

So make sure that you have some high-limit charge cards "just in case".

(Note: IF you get coverage through TIS, they'll also help you, with a claim later or even "at the time" of the injury/illness, if needed.)

 

GC

 

Medical providers, including the one on your ship, will require payment at time of service or in some case before they even see you.  They will not file a claim with your insurer, that is your responsibility.  In addition to a high-limit credit card, you may need to get a copy of the doctor's medical file to document your claim.

 

I think the only exception is if someone will be in the hospital for an extended period and their family members are able to contact the insurer and are able to make some sort of arrangement with the hospital.

[GeezerCouple]

7 minutes ago, Philob said:

 

Medical providers, including the one on your ship, will require payment at time of service or in some case before they even see you.  They will not file a claim with your insurer, that is your responsibility.  In addition to a high-limit credit card, you may need to get a copy of the doctor's medical file to document your claim.

 

I think the only exception is if someone will be in the hospital for an extended period and their family members are able to contact the insurer and are able to make some sort of arrangement with the hospital.

 

One Island ER had a sign up in the Billing Office, stating that they would not accept "authorization" from an insurer unless the company was on an approved list, and could be reached.

(Interestingly, they did not make us pay in advance.  However, at no point did it start to seem that there would be a huge bill.)

 

I suspect at least some other "billing offices" will try to help with this.  After all, they want to get paid, and especially when it is a big bill that a "person" might have trouble with.

 

Our bill was manageable, so we just paid it, and got reimbursed later.

 

GC

[SRF]

On 1/14/2019 at 6:25 PM, cml4958 said:

I would not depend on that protection.  Once you get a copy of the policy find out if you're going to have to spend the money and be reimbursed or they are going to pay directly.  This can make a big difference.  Also look at the medical evacuation.  Granted it seems you are probably a relatively healthy group but accidents happen.    I would get additional protection especially since your health insurance will likely not cover you outside the US.  Find someone you can talk to about what protections you want covered so you can verify you get what you want.

 

Even if that is the policy, the insurance company may get involved if needed.

 

We got Royal Carib insurance for my parents on a cruise (due to age, MUCH cheaper than 3rd party) and my mother had an issue.

 

The insurance company got involved and paid the hospital directly, and also negotiated with the med evac provider to accept the insurance max as full payment (quote was $29,000, Halifax to DC, insurance was $25,000).

 

 

[SRF]

On 1/14/2019 at 7:11 PM, cb at sea said:

We always book insurance thru an outside vendor...not the cruise line.  They do NOT have your best interests at heart.  Go to "Insure my trip" or something like that.

 

1)  It can depend on age.  When we cruised with my parents, they were 87.  3rd party through TIS was several thousand dollars.  Insurance through Royal Caribbean was several HUNDRED.

 

2)  The insurance sold through the cruise line is NOT HANDLED BY THE CRUISE LINE, they are just acting as a broker for the insurance company.  If you have an issue, you will deal with the insurance company, the same as 3rd party insurance.   And in some ways, the insurance company does not want to cause people trouble, so that they lose the contract with the cruise line.

The same is true of buying insurance through an airline.  The airline is not insuring you, they are just selling the policy.

[apratt]

Follow up...thanks for all of the advice. I was able to get a refund on the insurance I purchased through RC and I got a Travelex Travel Select policy from insuremytrip.com to replace it. It was $36 cheaper and has 4x the coverage. 

[Ep010835]

12 hours ago, apratt said:

Follow up...thanks for all of the advice. I was able to get a refund on the insurance I purchased through RC and I got a Travelex Travel Select policy from insuremytrip.com to replace it. It was $36 cheaper and has 4x the coverage. 

 

Did you check with the tripinsurancestore(.com)?

[apratt]

On 1/28/2019 at 9:30 PM, Ep010835 said:

 

Did you check with the tripinsurancestore(.com)?

I did, but the same policy there was $25 more than on insuremytrip.com for whatever reason.

[Ep010835]

2 minutes ago, apratt said:

I did, but the same policy there was $25 more than on insuremytrip.com for whatever reason.

 

That's amazing. Did the websites of both agencies link you directly to the insurer's site?

 

 

[apratt]

No, they just gave quotes on their own website.

[GeezerCouple]

6 minutes ago, apratt said:

I did, but the same policy there was $25 more than on insuremytrip.com for whatever reason.

 

Was it possibly something like this was for primary coverage?

 

You should have asked, to determine just why the difference (that is, was it something you might have wanted).

 

GC

Edited January 30, 2019 by GeezerCouple

[apratt]

I'm not sure...I did make certain both had primary medical instead of secondary.

[iamtrustworthy]

3 hours ago, apratt said:

I did, but the same policy there was $25 more than on insuremytrip.com for whatever reason.

 

Hi apratt,

 

Would you be willing to call us about this? The prices for the exact same policy should be the same price and I'd like to figure out why there's a $25 difference.

 

I'm Steve and you may ask for me.

 

Thanks, Steve

[Ep010835]

39 minutes ago, iamtrustworthy said:

 

Hi apratt,

 

Would you be willing to call us about this? The prices for the exact same policy should be the same price and I'd like to figure out why there's a $25 difference.

 

I'm Steve and you may ask for me.

 

Thanks, Steve

 

Steve's phone number is 816.282.6858