Travel Insurance

[Set2Sail]

Finally booked our cruise for San Juan to San Juan April 13th! YEAH!! I did not take the Silversea insurance as the high pressure sale made me weary. I also thought Amex covered automatically, but agent said that wasn't true. Has anyone taken insurance from another source? Would appreciate info. Thanks!

Jen

[uk1]

Annual Insurance

[lord of the seas]

Annual Insurance

Jeff,

 

Ah, a voice of reason!!

 

John

[WesW]

Set2Sail, we are also booked on the 13 April Sailing...see u on board..r/wes

[Set2Sail]

Thanks for the recommendations!

 

ColonelWes,

Is this your first cruise with Silversea?

[ltsally]

Jen - The only travel insurance we've ever done has been for our two Silversea cruises (one past, one upcoming). Given the uprfront costs and the far-in-advance commitment, it just seemed like the smart thing to do. We used TravelGuard insurance (easy to find on the web, and lots of favorable comments about them at other travel sites, including Fodors). Cost was about $800 and includes excellent medical coverage in addition to reimbursement if there is cancellation due to illness.

[marycang]

Go to http://www.insuremytrip.com and you can compare several different insurance companies and prices.

[Jerimiah]

Jen. - Several reputable independant insurance companies offer coverage similar to that of the cruise lines. For comparablecoverage, the prices are not very different. Some do offer "Post DepartureProtection Plans" that are significantly more reasonable than the comprehensive plans. They provide no coverage between the the final cruise payment and the departure date, but as soon as you start traveling the coverage is the same as the comprehensive. An example is Travel Insured International.

[WesW]

Set2Sail, yes, and were also booked on the Shadow in November..r/wes

[Lobbylin]

If you travel a lot then an annual policy is definitely the way to go, though the $800 quoted by Itsally seems steep compared to the £110/$187 we paid here in the UK for our annual policy (total for 2 adults: 39yr & 50yr). I accept there are age/health factors that affect policy quotes.

 

Are US insurance policies really that expensive :eek: - I always wondered why insurance was such an emotive subject on these CC boards?

 

We NEVER cancel any holidays, but just before Xmas for the first time ever, we had to when my MIL died the evening before we were due to leave.

 

Being a Xmas Cruise with longhaul flights - it was an expensive trip so I was smiling all the way to the bank when I got a cheque in full last week (less the small excess):)

[ltsally]

The idea of "annual travel insurance" is totally brand-new to me. Would like to hear a little more about how it works. I wonder whether it's a concept more popular overseas than in the US....?

[uk1]

In the UK - I would have thought in the US as well, you can buy a single policy to cover all your travel in a year. It is great value.

 

They often have two flavours - either "whole world including US" or "Europe only". They also have different levels of cover, often called "Silver" or "Gold " and sometimes "Platinum". For dangerous winter sports, or for a single trip that is longer than 30 days you might need an "extension".

 

My latest one is in fact added to my household policy which means that some of the cover isn't duplicated, and is therefore both cheaper and discounted.

 

In the UK it's possible to buy annual insurance that covers all I need for somewhere between £50 and £120 per couple per year.

 

I had my first claim last year, and the insurance company dealt with me both generously and promptly.

 

Hope you can get these in the US.

 

Jeff

[Set2Sail]

Thanks everyone for the info. I had no idea that there was so much insurance out there for travel! What an eye opener!

 

Jen

[nowornever]

We bought Travelex from our Travel Agent for our upcoming SS cruise in 07 - seemed to be most comprehensive & least expensive ("Travelite") which also covers carrier default.