Royal Caribbean travel protection

[Monthend]

My travel agent thinks royal Caribbean has the best insurance. I have always bought private since I worry about the preexisting condition waiver. The wording is a little hard to understand. I had a serious illness six years ago. I have tests every six months. Not sure if I should buy this.

[Clarea]

The big advantages to RC's insurance are that the premium is not age based, which helps with older cruisers, and there is an automatic cancel for any reason coverage which gives you 75% of your cruise cost back as a credit to use within a year.

 

I don't think RC's insurance has enough emergency evac coverage, nor does it cover 3rd party airfare.

[kathy884]

6 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

The big advantages to RC's insurance are that the premium is not age based, which helps with older cruisers, and there is an automatic cancel for any reason coverage which gives you 75% of your cruise cost back as a credit to use within a year.

 

I don't think RC's insurance has enough emergency evac coverage, nor does it cover 3rd party airfare.

The emergency evacuation limits being low and medical limits too are why I booked third party insurance instead of RC's.  For me, DH, and DS we got more coverage for a lower price.  For my dad who is 82, I had to pay a lot more for his coverage third party, but wanted the peace of mind of having adequate limits.  I talked to a broker on insure my trip when selecting a policy.  In my case, by booking insurance within 30 days of deposit on the cruise the policies we had waive all preexisting conditions.  We aren't aware of any of these for anyone, but I still like having that waiver, should something new come up at a doctor's appointment or test for someone prior to sailing.

[Clarea]

4 hours ago, kathy884 said:

 ...  In my case, by booking insurance within 30 days of deposit on the cruise the policies we had waive all preexisting conditions.   ...

 

This is another advantage of 3rd party insurance.  On some policies, the limit is 10 days from when the cruise is first booked.

[Baron Barracuda]

On value received for price paid basis Royal is overpriced.  We've gone through Insuremytrip for our last 20 or so sailings.  Knowledgeable folks with a lot of offerings and no pressure.  We don't have pre-existing conditions so often hold off on purchasing until final payment date.  Have also booked early listing deposit amount as total cost of trip then upping coverage at final payment date.  

[katiel53]

I don't want any insurance that is not primary and, if I am correct, the cruise line's insurance is secondary.  I also want coverage for pre-existing conditions.

 

I have cruised enough to know what my expenses should probably be, so I buy insurance through a third party within 14 days of my deposit.  I also don't believe the cruise line's insurance doesn't have enough coverage for medical evacuation or hospitals.

 

I do pay more, but, to me, it's worth it.  Cheap is not always best.

[Ourusualbeach]

Royals insurance covers $10,000 medical and $25,000 evac.  Hardly adequate however if you are older it can still provide good coverage with the cancel for any reason plan as long as you have supplemental medical and evac coverage.

[karena1]

The other reason I don't do Royal's insurance - IF there is a threat of a hurricane, and flights get canceled, but the cruise still goes, you are SOL.  Our friend had this happen.  When a hurricane hit PR, he had a flight to Miami to meet us for a cruse, he could not get our of PR.  Cruise still sailed.  He had ship insurance.  He got nothing. 

 

We always do  private insurance.  Because we travel so much we do an annual policy through Allianz.  Since we never book suites and such, and unless we fly to PR, we don't have to fly, so  the $3000 per trip works great for us. We also do not need the pre-existing clause.  Unless something major happens, we are going, so this annual policy is the perfect thing for us to have

Edited August 20, 2019 by karena1

[klfrodo]

As Bob said, there are only a couple of reasons to go with Royals coverage. The price is not based on age, and the policy automatically includes Cancel for Any Reason.

Other than that, it's overpriced and under covered.

 

Myself, I go with 3rd party and I don't even cover the cost of the trip. If I have to cancel, I just eat the few thousand it may have cost. Losing $3 to $5K would be painful, but it's not devastating. I just put the cost of the trip at $500 per person and that gives me the $250K in medical and $1M evac all for about $40 per person. 10 cruises and you're ahead of the game.

 

Why $500 per person? Because there is no price difference from $1 to $500. The next jump in price is $501 to $1000

 

 

EDIT to clarify: You cannot buy insurance this way if you want to cover Pre-existing conditions or if you want CFAR. In those instances, you must cover the entire cost of you trip minus any possible refundable expenses.

Edited August 20, 2019 by klfrodo

[Ourusualbeach]

1 minute ago, klfrodo said:

As Bob said, there are only a couple of reasons to go with Royals coverage. The price is not based on age, and the policy automatically includes Cancel for Any Reason.

Other than that, it's overpriced and under covered.

 

Myself, I go with 3rd party and I don't even cover the cost of the trip. If I have to cancel, I just eat the few thousand it may have cost. Losing $3 to $5K would be painful, but it's not devastating. I just put the cost of the trip at $500 per person and that gives me the $250K in medical and $1M evac all for about $40 per person. 10 cruises and you're ahead of the game.

 

Why $500 per person? Because there is no price difference from $1 to $500. The next jump in price is $501 to $100

Can’t you buy a medical only policy?  The medical only policies we sell here in Canada have costs similar or lower to what you mentioned (age based) but provide $5 million in medical and evac.

[klfrodo]

35 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Can’t you buy a medical only policy?  The medical only policies we sell here in Canada have costs similar or lower to what you mentioned (age based) but provide $5 million in medical and evac.

 

I could buy an annual medical only policy but don't travel enough yet to justify.

 

Basically, the policy above is a medical only, but the price is set from $1 to $500 trip cost. Why not say $500, that way I do get some benefit for lost baggage, stolen jewelry, trip delay up to the $500 amount rather than $1.

Plus, living in the US, all policies are regulated by each State. There's only 1 policy I can buy in my State, and it's not the good one. GeoBlue

Edited August 20, 2019 by klfrodo

[Ourusualbeach]

4 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

 

I could buy an annual medical only policy but don't travel enough yet to justify.

 

Basically, the policy above is a medical only, but the price is set from $1 to $500 trip cost. Why not say $500, that way I do get some benefit for lost baggage, stolen jewelry, trip delay up to the $500 amount rather than $1.

Plus, living in the US, all policies are regulated by each State. There's only 1 policy I can buy in my State, and it's not the good one. GeoBlue

Interesting the differences.  We have both defined term (pick the number of days that you need coverage for) and annual medical policies.  I can get a medical policy for a 2 day trip if I wanted.

 

I get what your saying about putting in the $500.  We have one all inclusive plan that covers everything including 100% cash back cancel for any reason but it also has a high age limit on the medical without having to do the health questionnaire   I find that some times it’s cheaper for clients to get that and put in $1000 (prices increase starting at $1001) for the other coverages and get the medical which is what they really want. 

 

 

[cruisinfanatic]

1 hour ago, karena1 said:

The other reason I don't do Royal's insurance - IF there is a threat of a hurricane, and flights get canceled, but the cruise still goes, you are SOL.  Our friend had this happen.  When a hurricane hit PR, he had a flight to Miami to meet us for a cruse, he could not get our of PR.  Cruise still sailed.  He had ship insurance.  He got nothing. 

 

We always do  private insurance.  Because we travel so much we do an annual policy through Allianz.  Since we never book suites and such, and unless we fly to PR, we don't have to fly, so  the $3000 per trip works great for us. We also do not need the pre-existing clause.  Unless something major happens, we are going, so this annual policy is the perfect thing for us to have

He certainly should have gotten 75% credit toward future cruise

[voyager70]

4 minutes ago, cruisinfanatic said:

He certainly should have gotten 75% credit toward future cruise

 

Yep.  I've had to cancel a couple Caribbean cruises with Royal's insurance and had no problems getting the 75 percent credit.  When cruising outside of North America I get third party insurance.

 

[klfrodo]

4 minutes ago, cruisinfanatic said:

He certainly should have gotten 75% credit toward future cruise

He certainly could have IF  had called and cancelled before the ships scheduled departure time.

 

Or, he could have flown to the next port flown to the next port (if they had passports) and filed for Trip Delay/Trip Interruption.

[Lorey2007]

2 hours ago, klfrodo said:

 

Myself, I go with 3rd party and I don't even cover the cost of the trip. If I have to cancel, I just eat the few thousand it may have cost. Losing $3 to $5K would be painful, but it's not devastating. I just put the cost of the trip at $500 per person and that gives me the $250K in medical and $1M evac all for about $40 per person. 10 cruises and you're ahead of the game.

I would be interested in this type of coverage can you provide me with the info on what company to contact.

Quote

 

 

 

 

[klfrodo]

31 minutes ago, Lorey2007 said:

I would be interested in this type of coverage can you provide me with the info on what company to contact.

 

www.tripinsurancestore.com

or

www.insuremytrip.com

 

These are brokers who sell various policies who would be glad to help you

[suzk2275a]

2 hours ago, klfrodo said:

 

I could buy an annual medical only policy but don't travel enough yet to justify.

 

Basically, the policy above is a medical only, but the price is set from $1 to $500 trip cost. Why not say $500, that way I do get some benefit for lost baggage, stolen jewelry, trip delay up to the $500 amount rather than $1.

Plus, living in the US, all policies are regulated by each State. There's only 1 policy I can buy in my State, and it's not the good one. GeoBlue

 

Are you saying GeoBlue is the good one or is it the only one you can buy in your state?  

 

[SwissMiss USA]

I travel for work and my parents go with me. I too wanted an annual policy for them. I called Nationwide and found out that the annual policy does not cover trips booked out over one year in advance. Which ...... most of our cruises are. We have ended up taking their cruise insurance. It is pricey but you also get full pre-existing waivers up to the final payment date and great medical and port change coverage. 

 

I never knew all the small print so I highly recommend to call a company or agent the first time and discuss your travel plans. We could have really been in a bad spot. 

 

Happy cruising  🙂  

[klfrodo]

3 hours ago, suzk2275a said:

 

Are you saying GeoBlue is the good one or is it the only one you can buy in your state?  

 

GeoBlue is a very good option which is not available in Washington State.

[mayleeman]

7 hours ago, karena1 said:

  the $3000 per trip works great for us

Do you mean per year since you were discussing your annual policy? Or am I missing something?

[SRF]

14 hours ago, Baron Barracuda said:

On value received for price paid basis Royal is overpriced.  We've gone through Insuremytrip for our last 20 or so sailings.  Knowledgeable folks with a lot of offerings and no pressure.  We don't have pre-existing conditions so often hold off on purchasing until final payment date.  Have also booked early listing deposit amount as total cost of trip then upping coverage at final payment date.  

 

Not always.

 

VERY age dependent.

[SRF]

3 hours ago, klfrodo said:

GeoBlue is a very good option which is not available in Washington State.

 

Nor Maryland

[SRF]

I typically buy 3rd party insurance.

 

BUT, I purchase for $0 trip cost.  This covers the medical and med evac, and lost luggage and things like that.  It does not cover the cost of the cruise.

 

I figure I have already paid for the cruise, so it would be upsetting, but not put me in a financial bind.  Where medical and med evac could.

 

Last cruise, I saved over $500 by not covering the cruise.  So if I lose one out of 10 cruises, I am still ahead.

 

Coverage without covering the cruise costs runs me $32 per trip.

[karena1]

5 hours ago, mayleeman said:

Do you mean per year since you were discussing your annual policy? Or am I missing something?

$3000 per occurrence up to 3 times a year for the annual policy.  Our trips never cost more than $3000 total, so that is enough coverage for the trip itself.  Policy still has great coverage for medical and emergency med vac, death, etc.