Travel Insurance

[liamur14]

 We are members of Canadian Snowbirds Association, and use their Snowbirds Medipac Travel Insurance ,and YES it does cover  covid and our  cruise, Venice to Athens- Sept 12-24.  I spoke to the Agent his morning and  Canada's travel advisory does not effect  their coverage.

 

https://www.snowbirds.org/travel-insurance/

[Cocktail613]

25 minutes ago, liamur14 said:

 We are members of Canadian Snowbirds Association, and use their Snowbirds Medipac Travel Insurance ,and YES it does cover  covid and our  cruise, Venice to Athens- Sept 12-24.  I spoke to the Agent his morning and  Canada's travel advisory does not effect  their coverage.

 

https://www.snowbirds.org/travel-insurance/

I believe that Medipac is just medical travel insurance and does not include any travel interruption or cancelation coverage.  The risk is that if you are tested in Venice before boarding and its positive you will be denied boarding and will be stuck with the costs of hotel and meals while you quarantine there waiting for a negative test so you can board a return flight home which will also be at your expense. That risk can be mitigated if you ensure your test is done (and negative results received) before you leave Canada and it’s with 72 hrs of embarkation. Unfortunately that doesn’t leave much time for enjoying Venice.

[liamur14]

8 minutes ago, sleslie said:

I believe that Medipac is just medical travel insurance and does not include any travel interruption or cancelation coverage.  The risk is that if you are tested in Venice before boarding and its positive you will be denied boarding and will be stuck with the costs of hotel and meals while you quarantine there waiting for a negative test so you can board a return flight home which will also be at your expense. That risk can be mitigated if you ensure your test is done (and negative results received) before you leave Canada and it’s with 72 hrs of embarkation. Unfortunately that doesn’t leave much time for enjoying Venice.

You are correct , we have other insurance for  travel interruption or cancellation.

[Cocktail613]

18 minutes ago, liamur14 said:

You are correct , we have other insurance for  travel interruption or cancellation.

Does your travel interruption policy cover COVID related events? Our Johnson policy specifically excludes COVID interruption and cancellation. Likely will be cancelling our October TA from Amsterdam because of the risk of interruption (though I think HAL will cancel it anyways due to US entry regulations).

[ilovetotravel1977]

Also RBC Insurance is selling cruise insurance again.

[ilovetotravel1977]

I was thinking that if you wanted to be covered for covid, just buy a separate covid medical policy from manulife.  My employer insurance is Blue Cross, so that would cover me for anything other than covid (as per usual), and if I bought a separate plan for covid medical (no cancelation, etc) that would be the best of both worlds. No insurance will be covering quarantine anyways.

[DebbieActon]

3 minutes ago, ilovetotravel1977 said:

I was thinking that if you wanted to be covered for covid, just buy a separate covid medical policy from manulife.  My employer insurance is Blue Cross, so that would cover me for anything other than covid (as per usual), and if I bought a separate plan for covid medical (no cancelation, etc) that would be the best of both worlds. No insurance will be covering quarantine anyways.

Manulife's Covid policy doesn't cover Covid for medical expenses for cruisers under the government's current travel advisory against cruising.   Blue Cross is now covering medical expenses for Covid for cruisers, as a normal unexpected medical event regardless of vaccination status.  But please check with them to confirm, as travel insurance is complicated right now.

[ilovetotravel1977]

1 minute ago, DebbieActon said:

Manulife's Covid policy doesn't cover Covid for medical expenses for cruisers under the government's current travel advisory against cruising.   Blue Cross is now covering medical expenses for Covid for cruisers, as a normal unexpected medical event regardless of vaccination status.  But please check with them to confirm, as travel insurance is complicated right now.

Okay, that is what I wasn't sure about (bolded text). 

[DebbieActon]

25 minutes ago, ilovetotravel1977 said:

Okay, that is what I wasn't sure about (bolded text). 

No worries, it just changed.  It's hard to keep track of these things:)

 

[Evilmuffin]

From my understanding of reading the exclusions, wrt COVID, they don’t cover if there is an advisory.  But even once the advisory is lifted, they will cover any quarantine period but the original trip must be more than 31 days.   It’s the quarantine insurance that I can’t seem to find.   

[soccersharon]

3 hours ago, DebbieActon said:

Manulife's Covid policy doesn't cover Covid for medical expenses for cruisers under the government's current travel advisory against cruising.   Blue Cross is now covering medical expenses for Covid for cruisers, as a normal unexpected medical event regardless of vaccination status.  But please check with them to confirm, as travel insurance is complicated right now.

Trying to find the cruise insurance on the Blue Cross Quebec site - and there’s nothing 😞  Not cruising until next April (recently cancelled for November).  Things can change, but would like to review the plan.

[ilovetotravel1977]

I just sent an email to blue cross through my work account for clarification. I will post an update once I hear back.  The only thing I could find on their website was the below link.  It says it was last updated July 23, and the article on the PAX website says it changed on July 29, so maybe the website just hasn't been updated yet.

 

https://www.medaviebc.ca/en/covid19

[AlbertaCruisers]

52 minutes ago, soccersharon said:

Trying to find the cruise insurance on the Blue Cross Quebec site - and there’s nothing 😞  Not cruising until next April (recently cancelled for November).  Things can change, but would like to review the plan.

I called Blue Cross today (I am in Alberta) and this is what I was told:

 

1.  There is no specific insurance for cruises and nothing that specifically confirms you have coverage for a cruise.  What they said is that if you look on page 12 of the policy you can find online, it notes the exclusions, and you are only excluded for items that the governmental advisory is in relation to.  They said the governmental advisory to avoid cruises relates to COVID, so you have other medical coverage when you are on a cruise, but no coverage for COVID because the governmental advisor is in relation to COVID.  So, if you get COVID and have issues, you have no coverage (although cruise lines right now are covering a lot of those costs when you are on the ship), but if you break your leg on the ship, you would have coverage.

 

2.  They told me they could not provide me any coverage for COVID at all.  It may be different if you have employer benefits with them (there is a suggestion of that on their website), which I don't, so they confirmed I would have no coverage for any COVID related matters.

[broberts]

11 hours ago, traceytd said:

The travel ban for cruises in Canadian waters is until November 1st so would this not change the ban for all other cruises?

 

The ban applies to ships carrying more than 99 people. Smaller cruise vessels are not restricted.

[DebbieActon]

13 hours ago, soccersharon said:

Trying to find the cruise insurance on the Blue Cross Quebec site - and there’s nothing 😞  Not cruising until next April (recently cancelled for November).  Things can change, but would like to review the plan.

This is off the Blue Cross Quebec website - it seems to be the same as from the Ontario's.  This seems to be the important clause but please call them to confirm.  I have, and feel confident in what I read and was told, regarding emergency medical coverage which includes Covid.  This is the critical piece, that is now different from Manulife-who is not covering cruises while there is a "Avoid all travel" advisory against cruising.

Can I purchase travel insurance even though “Avoid non-essential travel” or “Avoid all travel” advisories have been issued?

Emergency Medical Care benefit

Yes. The travel advisories of the Government of Canada do not affect your insurance eligibility. However, we recommend that you follow government and health authority recommendations.

Trip Cancellation or Interruption benefit

This benefit contains limitations regarding government advisories. Please refer to our policy to find out more.

Please note that this benefit no longer covers COVID-19 since March 12, 2020, the date we consider COVID-19 as a known situation.

[DebbieActon]

13 hours ago, AlbertaCruisers said:

I called Blue Cross today (I am in Alberta) and this is what I was told:

 

1.  There is no specific insurance for cruises and nothing that specifically confirms you have coverage for a cruise.  What they said is that if you look on page 12 of the policy you can find online, it notes the exclusions, and you are only excluded for items that the governmental advisory is in relation to.  They said the governmental advisory to avoid cruises relates to COVID, so you have other medical coverage when you are on a cruise, but no coverage for COVID because the governmental advisor is in relation to COVID.  So, if you get COVID and have issues, you have no coverage (although cruise lines right now are covering a lot of those costs when you are on the ship), but if you break your leg on the ship, you would have coverage.

 

2.  They told me they could not provide me any coverage for COVID at all.  It may be different if you have employer benefits with them (there is a suggestion of that on their website), which I don't, so they confirmed I would have no coverage for any COVID related matters.

Yes, I found the clause on Blue Cross Alberta that is excluding cruises from their coverage.  I do not believe that is the case in Ontario (or Quebec, which I also checked).   Crazy how complicated this has gotten.

 

[AlbertaCruisers]

48 minutes ago, DebbieActon said:

Yes, I found the clause on Blue Cross Alberta that is excluding cruises from their coverage.  I do not believe that is the case in Ontario (or Quebec, which I also checked).   Crazy how complicated this has gotten.

 

 

Actually, they were really clear that you do have medical coverage on a cruise, just not if it relates to COVID, because COVID is the reason for the current travel advisories.  So, if you are on a cruise and need medical coverage, that is not related to COVID, they confirmed you are covered.  They were 100% willing to sell me coverage for my upcoming cruise but were really clear it would not cover COVID issues.

[DebbieActon]

2 hours ago, AlbertaCruisers said:

 

Actually, they were really clear that you do have medical coverage on a cruise, just not if it relates to COVID, because COVID is the reason for the current travel advisories.  So, if you are on a cruise and need medical coverage, that is not related to COVID, they confirmed you are covered.  They were 100% willing to sell me coverage for my upcoming cruise but were really clear it would not cover COVID issues.

That's right but now in other provincial jurisdictions (ie Ontario and Quebec and maybe others but I didn't check) they are now considering covid like any other unexpected, medical event and covering it on cruises.

[mexico8]

7 hours ago, DebbieActon said:

That's right but now in other provincial jurisdictions (ie Ontario and Quebec and maybe others but I didn't check) they are now considering covid like any other unexpected, medical event and covering it on cruises.

The amount that Provincial plans would pay for illness while out of the country might not begin to cover the expenses you would incur on a cruise ship or in a hospital in a forgign country or U.S.A.     You might have coverage but it could end up costing you a lot of money on top of what the Provincial plan would pay.   I seem to remember that I had an expense in the U.S. and my medical coverage only covered a small fraction of the cost.   They paid what the cost would have been in my home Province and it was nothing like what I was charged in the U.S. or what the ship charges for medical care.   I know this from past (expensive) experience.  A day or two stay in the small ship infirmary can cost thousands of dollars.

[DebbieActon]

1 hour ago, mexico8 said:

The amount that Provincial plans would pay for illness while out of the country might not begin to cover the expenses you would incur on a cruise ship or in a hospital in a forgign country or U.S.A.     You might have coverage but it could end up costing you a lot of money on top of what the Provincial plan would pay.   I seem to remember that I had an expense in the U.S. and my medical coverage only covered a small fraction of the cost.   They paid what the cost would have been in my home Province and it was nothing like what I was charged in the U.S. or what the ship charges for medical care.   I know this from past (expensive) experience.  A day or two stay in the small ship infirmary can cost thousands of dollars.

Sorry I was speaking of the different provincial versions of Blue Cross.  It seems that their Covid coverage within their Medical Insurance coverage depends upon what Province you reside in.

[mexico8]

2 hours ago, DebbieActon said:

Sorry I was speaking of the different provincial versions of Blue Cross.  It seems that their Covid coverage within their Medical Insurance coverage depends upon what Province you reside in.

Okay - got it.   Thanks for the reply.

[abby1257]

On 7/6/2021 at 3:10 PM, Thechamp555 said:

FYI, I just called my insurance for retired public servant and she mentioned that we are fully covered for all Covid-19 issues during our trip. I was really happy to hear the news !👍👍😅😅

SO MANULIFE covers cover?

[ilovetotravel1977]

3 hours ago, abby1257 said:

SO MANULIFE covers cover?

Yes Manulife covers Covid medical ONLY.  It doesn't cover testing, quarantine or cancelation/interruption UNLESS the trip was originally 31 day or longer.  

[3Shelaghs]

GreenShield and Sherway, cover Covid out of country.

Insurance continues despite Cdn govt travel/cruise warning.

[DebbieActon]

3 hours ago, ilovetotravel1977 said:

Yes Manulife covers Covid medical ONLY.  It doesn't cover testing, quarantine or cancelation/interruption UNLESS the trip was originally 31 day or longer.  

Please check that this applies to cruises specifically.  I was on a call last week and they clearly stated no Covid medical coverage (even under their special "Covid Policy") for cruises while the Canadian Government has an "Avoid All Travel" advisory for cruises.  They are covering for other forms of travel just not cruises.  Whenever the advisory is reduced, they will begin to cover it.  If they state otherwise, please get it in writing.  I just cancelled my recently purchased policy due to this and went with BlueCross, who is now covering cruises for Covid medical.