Book directly or with a travel agent

[Hawaiian Mama]

Aloha, I booked a cruise with Windstar for Oct 2022. I called a travel agent about trip insurance and now they would like to take over the booking while giving me some perks (one being 1/2 the cost of insurance then others have quoted me). I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not to transfer my booking as I've never cruised before. If you would be so kind as to advise me it would be appreciated. I've about 2 hours before I need to make payment in full. THANK YOU for any help you can provide!!

[donaldsc]

If the TA is pushing you hard to make a change I would regard that as a reason not to nook w them.

 

DON

[kimberlym322]

I love my TA.  She has helped a lot in a few situations I have had over the years.  So I guess it is a matter of if you want to or not.

 

I would suggest calling your car insurance company to see if they offer travel insurance.  Nationwide offers travel insurance....last time I checked it was like 20.00 for a year I believe.

[Markanddonna]

6 hours ago, kimberlym322 said:

I love my TA.  She has helped a lot in a few situations I have had over the years.  So I guess it is a matter of if you want to or not.

 

I would suggest calling your car insurance company to see if they offer travel insurance.  Nationwide offers travel insurance....last time I checked it was like 20.00 for a year I believe.

If you are booking a rather pricey cruise, use a travel agent. Travel insurance costs far more than $20 a year. It increases wirh age and the cost of your entire trip.

[Flatbush Flyer]

5 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

If you are booking a rather pricey cruise, use a travel agent. Travel insurance costs far more than $20 a year. It increases wirh age and the cost of your entire trip.

Nationwide Travel Insurance? Like most other insurers, if you’re a Medicare geezer like me, figure at least 10% of the trip cost for a comprehensive policy.

[Markanddonna]

1 minute ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Nationwide Travel Insurance? Like most other insurers, if you’re a Medicare geezer like me, figure at least 10% of the trip cost for a comprehensive policy.

I looked it up on the Nationwide site and it is the same rate as you will find on sites like insuremytrip.com. If you are over 65 and your entire trip is $5000, you will pay at least $300 for a basic policy and that is per trip.

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 minute ago, Markanddonna said:

I looked it up on the Nationwide site and it is the same rate as you will find on sites like insuremytrip.com. If you are over 65 and your entire trip is $5000, you will pay at least $300 for a basic policy and that is per trip.

That sounds like their “medical only” policy rather than comprehensive (which includes trip cancel/interrupt)

[Mary229]

2 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

That sounds like their “medical only” policy rather than comprehensive (which includes trip cancel/interrupt)

Though I haven’t used it Nationwide offers a full product line.  They are often included on aggregator sites also. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

31 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Though I haven’t used it Nationwide offers a full product line.  They are often included on aggregator sites also. 

Still - there’s no $20/year travel insurance that will cover medical and trip or medical alone. And, while some credit cards offer “trip insurance cancel/interrupt, the claim limits are usually woefully inadequate for a cruise and most will not waive PECs.

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Still - there’s no $20/year travel insurance that will cover medical and trip or medical alone. And, while some credit cards offer “trip insurance cancel/interrupt, the claim limits are usually woefully inadequate for a cruise and most will not waive PECs.

No, there is not.   The best deal I found for annual medical is GeoBlue. 

[Toofarfromthesea]

On 9/17/2022 at 3:19 PM, donaldsc said:

If the TA is pushing you hard to make a change I would regard that as a reason not to nook w them.

 

DON

 

How does asking her if she wants to transfer the booking and get some perks translate to pushing hard?  Where does offering a incentive end and pushing begin?

 

 

[Toofarfromthesea]

Wow, almost none of her question had to do with insurance, which was completely tangential to her ta question, and most of you got into a big insurance discussion that had nothing to do with her real question.

[Markanddonna]

A lot of info was missing. Total cost of cruise, cabin category, features of the travel insurance and cost, etc.

[ontheweb]

Do you want to be on hold, or would you rather have your travel agent be the one on hold?

 

I spoke to ours this morning (he immediately answered). Said he would have to be on hold for 2 hours to find the information we wanted, and then another 2 hours if we decided to make the change we were considering. (He did say Mondays were the worst, since the cruise lines were closed on the weekend. I told him I would get back to him, and since what we wanted was not something needed immediately, he could wait until the middle of the week when he said the hold time would not be as bad.)

[Hawaiian Mama]

Actually, I meant the post to be mostly about insurance.

The cruise alone is 10K. Then we have airfare and 6 nights of lodging in Tahiti. The TA was a bit pushy wanting to give me free luggage and such. I ended up booking the cruise directly. BUT... I still need to get travel insurance.

Do you like one company over another? I'm 67.

Edited September 19, 2022 by Hawaiian Mama
add age

[Flatbush Flyer]

Just now, Hawaiian Mama said:

Actually, I meant the post to be mostly about insurance.

The cruise alone is 10K. Then we have airfare and 6 nights of lodging in Tahiti. The TA was a bit pushy wanting to give me free luggage and such. I ended up booking the cruise directly. BUT... I still need to get travel insurance.... 

call InsureMyTrip.

some policies require coverage for all costs while others require only for non-refundable expenses (e.g., only the first nite of a refundable hotel reservation).

This is NOT the place to get the best insurance info. Call a broker - With InsureMyTrip and TripInsuranceStore et al.,  you pay nothing extra for their service.

[Casualcruisers]

I like switching to a TA for the extras they throw in like OBC and in some cases cash back after the cruise.  I still go to the cruise site to do all the planning myself first.
I haven’t purchased separate insurance as my CC covers most cases for me.  If you have a good travel CC you might check what they will cover for trip cancellation (you will need to charge the trip to the card for coverage).

[ldubs]

17 minutes ago, Casualcruisers said:

I like switching to a TA for the extras they throw in like OBC and in some cases cash back after the cruise.  I still go to the cruise site to do all the planning myself first.
I haven’t purchased separate insurance as my CC covers most cases for me.  If you have a good travel CC you might check what they will cover for trip cancellation (you will need to charge the trip to the card for coverage).

 

I agree, but then depends on the objective.  Travel costs are not something I am particularly worried about.  I am more concerned about coverage for major medical costs that might happen while traveling.

[Casualcruisers]

12 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

I agree, but then depends on the objective.  Travel costs are not something I am particularly worried about.  I am more concerned about coverage for major medical costs that might happen while traveling.

My CC covers some med and dental, plus emergency evacuation… but the med amounts are low. If that’s a concern, Def get the supplemental insurance, just make sure it has the coverages you are after. 

[GeezerCouple]

 

Welcome to CruiseCritic!

 

First, you may want to browse through the Travel Insurance sub-forum of CC:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

 

And also ask questions there.

 

Meanwhile, we always recommend using www.TripInsuranceStore.com

to get travel insurance.  They deal with several vetted insurers.  (And because we've had several claims, we can also speak to the fact that at least one of the insurers that TIS works with, Travel Insured, does indeed pay their claims without nonsense.  This includes a few large claims.)

 

But it's important to CALL.  There is so much "fine print" in each policy that online summaries simply can't include all of that.  If you call someone like TIS, you can ask them questions (they are VERY patient!) and they'll probably ask you some questions, too, to try to help find the most appropriate policy for your particular needs.

 

Some of the coverage choices (you may or may not want them) must be purchased within 10-20 days of the FIRST payment (including the deposit), so keep that in mind.  There are still good policies otherwise, but a critical deadline is prior to final payment, which you may be close to (?).

 

Good luck, and enjoy your cruise!

(Windstar has always intrigued us!)
 

GC

[Hawaiian Mama]

Thank you tons!

 

[ontheweb]

18 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

I agree, but then depends on the objective.  Travel costs are not something I am particularly worried about.  I am more concerned about coverage for major medical costs that might happen while traveling.

Yes, the travel costs are something you were intending to pay so presumably, you can afford them. A huge uncovered medical bill plus possibly a need for a medical evacuation can wipe you out.

[Flatbush Flyer]

17 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Welcome to CruiseCritic!

 

First, you may want to browse through the Travel Insurance sub-forum of CC:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

 

And also ask questions there.

 

Meanwhile, we always recommend using www.TripInsuranceStore.com

to get travel insurance.  They deal with several vetted insurers.  (And because we've had several claims, we can also speak to the fact that at least one of the insurers that TIS works with, Travel Insured, does indeed pay their claims without nonsense.  This includes a few large claims.)

 

But it's important to CALL.  There is so much "fine print" in each policy that online summaries simply can't include all of that.  If you call someone like TIS, you can ask them questions (they are VERY patient!) and they'll probably ask you some questions, too, to try to help find the most appropriate policy for your particular needs.

 

Some of the coverage choices (you may or may not want them) must be purchased within 10-20 days of the FIRST payment (including the deposit), so keep that in mind.  There are still good policies otherwise, but a critical deadline is prior to final payment, which you may be close to (?).

 

Good luck, and enjoy your cruise!

(Windstar has always intrigued us!)
 

GC

FWIW: Trip Insurance Store gets many fine recommendations (as does InsureMyTrip). What has always (so far) had me choosing InsureMyTrip is that there search engine is far more sophisticated. Before I call the broker, I plug what are my initial preferences into the search engine to see if I’m in the same ball park as will be the brokerage agent. 

[Boo's Mom]

On 9/17/2022 at 3:55 PM, Hawaiian Mama said:

Aloha, I booked a cruise with Windstar for Oct 2022. I called a travel agent about trip insurance and now they would like to take over the booking while giving me some perks (one being 1/2 the cost of insurance then others have quoted me). I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not to transfer my booking as I've never cruised before. If you would be so kind as to advise me it would be appreciated. I've about 2 hours before I need to make payment in full. THANK YOU for any help you can provide!!

I can't speak to the situation with the agent currently wanting to take over your booking, but....

as an experienced cruiser I will ALWAYS book with a travel agent.  She (my agent) takes care of so many things for me.   She advocates for me.   I never have to deal directly with the cruise line.