travel insurance .. is it necessary

[leksi25]

I live in Ontario, Canada and am flying into Fort Lauderdale, leaving from Miami.

 

As a first time cruiser, u can see i'm pretty nervous about going on a cruise. Is travel insurance really necessary?

 

I've got medical insurance.... it's more missing the cruise or being delayed that i'm concerned about...

[keela1eva2]

I live in Ontario, Canada and am flying into Fort Lauderdale, leaving from Miami.

 

As a first time cruiser, u can see i'm pretty nervous about going on a cruise. Is travel insurance really necessary?

 

I've got medical insurance.... it's more missing the cruise or being delayed that i'm concerned about...

 

Travel insurance is absolutely necessary. The medical insurance won't cover you if you have to have treatment from the medical facility on the ship. I have seen too many people arguing with the Nurses and Dr's on the ship about this. You must pay it and I don't know about your insurance paying out whilst you are out of your country and at sea but I live in the UK and we absolutely need cover. Now in fact we have to provide the company the cover is with and an emergency no.

 

I have had occassion to use the medical facility I pay the bill and then claim a refund via my travel insurance. I normally have a £50 excess to pay.

I have also lost all my luggage on one occassion over £2700 worth of clothing not my valuables and without insurance I would have been in a stew. I have also had things stolen a camera and also cash. It will be money well spent and also the wisest decision to make.

 

I am always surprised that many Americans travel without insurance. I had to cancel a cruise due to Sisters son having a brain haemorrhage and this was after the tickets had been issued. Had we not had insurance we would have lost almost £4000. Not trying to scare you but missing the cruise is the least of the worries. I hope that you never need to have to claim. Incidentally about 2 years ago I changed my current account to a different bank for a better rate but it also includes free travel annual insurance. Sadly once I am 65 next year I will have to purchase it. It is important that you take the insurance out when you book as it will cover you if you have to cancel for medical or other conditions. We plan holidays and can never predict what will happen.

Hope this helps

[lougee1043]

absolutely yes ---go to insuremytrip and compare companies costs and coverage and get the one that fits your needs best

[CaribbeanBound]

I would not say it is a "necessity", but I wouldn't personally cruise without it for the reasons posted above. While you are considering your insurance options, be sure to check out these 16 important tips:

*****

[janetz]

Would you have the at least $25,000.00 to pay if you had to be taken off the ship? Broken leg, heart attack? Anything can happen. Make sure whatever you choose has at least that much coverage for evacuation. :)

[DancerOT]

Absolutely! You never know what is going to happen and it is better to be safe than sorry. It really isnt much money in the long run. Talk to your travel agen - they often recommend a specific company

[Keith1010]

Be sure that you medical insurance will cover you in the event that you have to be airlifted off a cruise ship. One of the major advantages of travel insurance is that in addition to supplementing whatever health plan you have most of the plans come with insurance that covers airlifts which can be very expensive.

 

Most travel insurance also covers the cruise if you have to cancel it in the event you become ill.

 

Whether or not to take travel insurance is a personal decision. As someone mentioned, a good source is http://www.insuremytrip.com which provides easy access to many of the plans and their associated coverage.

 

Keith

[trish1c]

It's a gamble. You buy it, hoping that you won't need it. The insurance company sells it to you thinking they'll never have to pay.

 

If you have it & need it, it's a Godsend. If you don't have it, you may be sorry.

 

As some others have mentioned, if you need to be evacuated off the ship that's incredibility expensive. If someone else gets hurt or sick & you have to stay home, can you afford to eat the costs of the cruise? As for medical insurance, read your policy very carefully. I don't know about Canada, but here in the US once you leave the States, you are usually no longer covered.

[madelinerose]

Yes, it's necessary. Why stress about paying a small amount for peace of mind?

[keela1eva2]

It's a gamble. You buy it, hoping that you won't need it. The insurance company sells it to you thinking they'll never have to pay.

 

If you have it & need it, it's a Godsend. If you don't have it, you may be sorry.

 

As some others have mentioned, if you need to be evacuated off the ship that's incredibility expensive. If someone else gets hurt or sick & you have to stay home, can you afford to eat the costs of the cruise? As for medical insurance, read your policy very carefully. I don't know about Canada, but here in the US once you leave the States, you are usually no longer covered.

 

Most medical insurance schemes will only offer the cover if you are actually in the country you are insured for. I have heard so many Americans trying to argue the case for having their medical insurance in the US and they have not grasped the fact that they are at sea and not in the US.

 

In the UK we have cover in all EU countries but this says that you will be treated in the same way a resident of that country would be treated!

Works OK but some countries may not provide an acceptable standard of treatment or care. We have a special form that we are asked to carry with us.E111. However I would never travel on that EU medical scheme alone. If you had to be airlifted home say following an accident or becoming seriously ill you would have to pay these costs yourself. Think of the cost of an Air Ambulance.

 

Medical cover whilst the most important is not the only thing to think of. There are a hundred and one other things that can and do go wrong and that the financial outlay for the insurance policy is money well spent.

 

Just don't take the risk it is not worth it!

 

Sue

[Shirley Hensley]

When we cruised to the Caribbean a couple of years ago. When we got off the ship one of our pieces of luggage was pretty well destroyed. The insurance paid full price for a new piece, which paid for the insurance.

So yes I would say it is worth it.

[queeni]

I've been looking into this quite a bit for my first cruise this May and here is a bit of advice for U.S residents. Make sure you go with an insurance co. that will be considered your primary insurance, otherwise the travel insurance you buy will be secondary in the case of a medical claim. To me this is just more of a hassle. Travelex sells insurance in which they are the primary.

[Crosboro]

I agree that it's worth it, even in you don't need it. I was surprised to learn yesterday that it will cover the luggage that the airline ruined--pleasant surprise.

[loulou7]

Travel insurance is a must. One of my friend and his wife went on their first cruise last year. While at sea, she started feeling bad and the on board doctor said she was having a heart attack, he gave her some king of medicine not available in the USA that helped her temporarily. When they arrived at the first port of call somewhere in Mexico, my friend made arrangement to charter a flight back to the US. He got on a taxi to get to the plane and the taxi took him to an ATM machine and told him that he needed $1000 or he was not moving. At this point, he had no choice but to take an advance on his credit card or loose precious time that his wife could not afford. So he paid the guy. The charter plane was around $1000. They flew back to Fort Lauderdale were she went in emergency surgery. From this point his own medical insurance quicked in. But if he had bought travel insurance, the insurance would have assist him in bringing her back to the States. She had not had any symptom or medical problem before the trip. This really happened and I think no one should go in another country without travel insurance especially medical.

[KruznKel]

I live in Ontario, Canada and am flying into Fort Lauderdale, leaving from Miami.

 

As a first time cruiser, u can see i'm pretty nervous about going on a cruise. Is travel insurance really necessary?

 

I've got medical insurance.... it's more missing the cruise or being delayed that i'm concerned about...

 

I would say YES always.. We just returned from our 1st cruise.. thankfully no insurance needed... but had we had the same problems on the way there as home INSURANCE would have helped....

[gizmo]

Yes, you should buy it. If anything happened and you had to be airlifted off the ship, I seriously doubt your regular med coverage would pay for anything like that.

 

Some people say it is cheap. This is not necessarily so. Everyone's idea of cheap is different. It depends on cost of the trip and your age. If you compare what you can loose, and the cost of the insurance, it is worth it.

 

Most policies also cover things like death in the family. Suppose something happened 1 or 2 days before your cruise? Without insurance you would loose everything if you could not make your cruise. A friend of mine was in a hotel in Ft.Lauderdale and her cruise was leaving the next day. She got a call saying her Father died. Of course she had to cancel her cruise but the insurance covered all the money she would have lost.

 

I see you are from Canada. For some reason I thought Canada REQUIRED trip insurance. I think I read this somewhere and I could be totally off base with this but thought I would bring it up.

[NAS-KARR]

HELL YES !

 

DW had alittle surgery (stitches at the chin area) from a accident onboard and the insurance took care of every penney, and there were quite a few pennies on that bill.

 

You gotta have it.

 

Ciao,

[metrowon]

I live in Ontario, Canada and am flying into Fort Lauderdale, leaving from Miami.

 

As a first time cruiser, u can see i'm pretty nervous about going on a cruise. Is travel insurance really necessary?

 

I've got medical insurance.... it's more missing the cruise or being delayed that i'm concerned about...

Travel insurance is only necessary when you need it! If you have concerns, buy it. To insure not missing the boat, fly in the afternoon or evening before departure date. On four cruises so far we are ahead with claims having dealt with delays because of Hurricane Jeane 04'. Check for medivac coverage back to US, in the event something really serious comes up. Metrowon

[Coolmama_1]

Small price to pay for peace of mind.

 

We have even bought event insurance for DD's wedding and were glad we did. Actually had a claim and it payed for itself.

[Steamboatin]

You need to purchase travel insurance only if you are going to use it. Otherwise it is a big waste of money.

 

Now the real trick is trying to determine when you are going to need it.