Trying to decide whether or not to keep Carnival Insurance

[furf_n_slo]

Our final payment for our November cruise is due in a couple weeks.  Really our only major concern about not getting on the boat would be if anyone gets covid.  We're all fully vaccinated but you never know.  From reading what's on the website,  we would get fcc if anyone did test positive.  We've gone on several cruises and have never done the insurance before. We are driving to Port (about 4 hours away) so we don't need to worry about flights changing/delayed. And we're driving down the day before so we even have time for a backup plan if something happens on our drive.  

 

Do you usually get insurance now? 

[jazzydiver]

Does your health insurance cover you while you're in other countries?  This is something important to check on.

[rrraydon]

Lots of countries require you to pay for health/hospital visits before you can leave. If you ever need emergency care while in another country you must have insurance to cover the care or a credit card with a hefty availability on it.  You will not be able to be medevaced out without it. 

[tallnthensome]

Never cruise without travel insurance. Just because you've never needed purchased it before and didn't need it is no excuse. You don't need it until you do like your medical insurance. Read the travel insurance forum. You break a leg in a foreign country what are you going to do? 

[MMastell]

In many years of cruising I've always said that the cost of the cruise or airfare aren't the reasons you get travel insurance.  You have already paid for the cruise and the airfare and in the grand scheme of things it will not really hurt your finances if you cancel. If you can get a refund great but it's not the primary consideration for insurance.

 

The main consideration is if you are sick or injured while outside of the country.  This can truly put a dent in the family fortune if you have to pay for hospitals, doctors, medications, medical evacuation back to the U.S. and other expenses.  Depending on the reason this will be a minimum of five figures and easily get to six figures if it's serious.

 

Foreign hospitals will require a pre pay deposit before they administer more than basic emergency care. Some not even for that.

 

The vast majority of U.S. private health insurance policies, including Medicare, do not cover you outside of the United States. It's possible that some will but make very sure that they will and will guarantee payment.

 

If you are a very healthy person with no pre-existing medical conditions you may want to look into what if any coverage you have with your credit card. Amex and Chase Sapphire Preferred and others have good benefits but do not cover pre-existing conditions. If your pre-existing condition caused or was complicated by the illness or injury they will not pay and you will need to supply a lot of documentation substantiating it did not before they will.

 

I look at insurance as a necessary evil. The same as your car or home owners insurance.  You pay the premium and will probably not use it but when something happens you are going to be damn glad you have it.

 

It's up to the individual but remember that when you travel outside the U.S. other countries don't play by our rules so don't think it's going to be the same there as it is in your home town.

 

Take care and get the insurance.

Mike

[furf_n_slo]

Our health insurance does cover care internationally,  including emergency transportation.  🙂 sorry I should have added that to my original  post.

[Moviela]

If you travel frequently look into an annual policy. Surprisingly inexpensive when compared to paying for individual trips. 

[Lee Cruiser]

7 hours ago, furf_n_slo said:

Do you usually get insurance now? 

I been on 20 cruises and have never purchased special insurance for our cruises.  I have never understood why some say you should always have it.  I have a general accident policy that covers accidental medical expenses whether I am away or in my own community.  It just makes more sense than taking our a special policy every time I go on vacation.  Annually, it costs about the same as the premium for one cruise and it covers me year round.  If I only took out the special policy for every cruise, I would be paying three times as much annually and would only be covered for those three weeks.

[Moviela]

Lee, does your accident policy cover you internationally? Most do not. What if you become ill in a foreign country? You must also consider medical evacuation. It can cost half a million. Travel insurance usually covers lost luggage, delays, insurance for rental cars, and a live human to coordinate these activities. 

[Lee Cruiser]

4 minutes ago, Moviela said:

Lee, does your accident policy cover you internationally?

Yes, we are covered worldwide.

 

5 minutes ago, Moviela said:

You must also consider medical evacuation. It can cost half a million.

Yes, that is true.  However, most specific travel insurance policies wouldn't cover a cost like that.  For instance, if I remember correctly the Carnival policy underwritten by Nationwide only covers up to $30,000.

 

8 minutes ago, Moviela said:

Travel insurance usually covers lost luggage, delays, insurance for rental cars, and a live human to coordinate these activities. 

Absolutely.  Every person must determine what risk they are willing to take when it comes to things like that and whether the cost of specific trip insurance is worth it.  As someone else already mentioned, many credit cards do provide trip interruption coverage.  Though it's been a while since I've actually used that card, I believe that the Carnival Barclay card does.

[Ptroxx]

1 hour ago, Lee Cruiser said:

Yes, we are covered worldwide.

 

Yes, that is true.  However, most specific travel insurance policies wouldn't cover a cost like that.  For instance, if I remember correctly the Carnival policy underwritten by Nationwide only covers up to $30,000.

 

Absolutely.  Every person must determine what risk they are willing to take when it comes to things like that and whether the cost of specific trip insurance is worth it.  As someone else already mentioned, many credit cards do provide trip interruption coverage.  Though it's been a while since I've actually used that card, I believe that the Carnival Barclay card does.

May we ask what the name of said ins company is.   Very interesting .  Thank you.  
and are you from the US ?   

[Babr]

Be aware that annual policies are primarily for medical coverage. Some do not offer any cancellation or trip interruption. Those that do offer low maximums which apply to the entire year no matter how many trips you take. Upgrades are available for an additional premium.

 

While Carnival insurance has a low limit for evacuation, many third-party policies offer much higher ones. Remember that evacuation coverage provides for hospital-to-hospital transfer when medically necessary for a higher level of care. Most often you recover in place and return home by commercial air when you are able to travel. The air/sea rescue that most people think of as evacuation is performed by the Coast Guard of the nearest country capable of such maneuvers at no cost. It is part of their mission to aid ships at sea. Your cost begins when the helicopter touches down on land.

 

Be careful of relying on credit card insurance. It does not cover pre-existing conditions, and the Trip Interruption provision reimburses only the unused prepaid nonrefundable portion of your trip. It does not pay for return transportation. Unless you have one of the premium cards, the dollar limits are minimal.

 

 

 

 

[mz-s]

15 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

Never cruise without travel insurance. Just because you've never needed purchased it before and didn't need it is no excuse. You don't need it until you do like your medical insurance. Read the travel insurance forum. You break a leg in a foreign country what are you going to do? 

 

Pay for the care with all the money you've saved by not taking out travel insurance all these years, would be one way to handle it.

[tallnthensome]

17 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

Pay for the care with all the money you've saved by not taking out travel insurance all these years, would be one way to handle it.

Huh? I doubt people have a piggy bank marked "money saved from not buying travel insurance in case I have a stroke abroad  next time". 

[papaflamingo]

You don't need insurance....until you do.  In 2011 we had a cruise booked out of Venice.  My mom passed away  and we had to cancel.  The Cruise Insurance paid out and the amount we received (full cost of cruise, air, etc.) was way more than ll the premiums added together that I had paid in the past.  

Another story... recently I read a FB post by someone on a Luxury cruise line who broke her leg on day 2 and had to be hospitalized and sent home.  She didn't have cruise insurance and wanted the cruise line to refund her the balance of the cruise.  She was another "don't need insurance" type until she needed it.  Now she wants the cruise line to refund her cost.  

Use your best judgment.  If you can afford to lose the money you spent on the cruise, and afford the cost of any medical issues, then "self insure."  IF not, get a policy.  

[mz-s]

6 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

Huh? I doubt people have a piggy bank marked "money saved from not buying travel insurance in case I have a stroke abroad  next time". 

 

It's called an emergency fund. I don't bother insuring for a $500 emergency. Now if I did need to be medivac'ed off a ship, that's something that I'd need insurance for obviously.

[Babr]

2 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

It's called an emergency fund. I don't bother insuring for a $500 emergency. Now if I did need to be medivac'ed off a ship, that's something that I'd need insurance for obviously.

 

See post #12. The Coast Guard of the nearest country does air/sea rescue at no cost. Most often patients are disembarked at the nearest port. That is when you become responsible for all costs.

[mz-s]

Just now, Babr said:

 

See post #12. The Coast Guard of the nearest country does air/sea rescue at no cost. Most often patients are disembarked at the nearest port. That is when you become responsible for all costs.

 

I just used medivac as an example of "this is too expensive for me to self insure"

 

That dollar amount is different for everybody. Some people may need insurance for an unexpected $1200 doctor bill in Nassau. I could absorb that without needing insurance. Everyone has their own comfort level.

[mdsgu]

We've never taken out travel insurance (relatively young and healthy) but with the world in the fix it is in, travel insurance seems like a low-cost protection against what may or hopefully may not happen.

[Babr]

26 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

I just used medivac as an example of "this is too expensive for me to self insure"

 

That dollar amount is different for everybody. Some people may need insurance for an unexpected $1200 doctor bill in Nassau. I could absorb that without needing insurance. Everyone has their own comfort level.

There is not necessarily a right or wrong answer here. The key is to be fully aware of the risks and be willing to accept the consequences if the worst happens.