Trip cancellation insurance

[Lenbro1944]

Has anyone unfortunately had the necessity to need to cancel a cruise do to illness and then make a  claim against your credit card or Regent trip cancellation insurance. What has been your experience with either or both?

Thank you

[Pcardad]

I've put in multiple and large claims against Travelguard (AGI) and Allianz and both were pretty easy. No reason to take Regent insurance as it is too expensive vs. the competition. Credit cards don't usually cover over a certain amount and most Regent cruises seem to be over the limit for most people.

[red1head]

We have had to make a large claim and a smaller Covid-related claim using Travel Guard (AIG). Both times they were helpful, easy to work with and we received our refunds in a timely manner. I agree with Pcardad that Regent’s insurance is much more expensive than other independent insurers. We have also used Allianz but never had to make a claim. 

[MoneyGuy]

I’m a retired insurance agent who has never bought cancellation/interruption insurance and have never needed it. With all the money I’ve saved, in the unlikely event I ever have to cancel I figure I’ll still be ahead. 

[PaulaJK]

We had 1 ( quite legitimate) claim w. IME that took 7 months of appeals..finally reimbursed. They were a nightmare!

[Roccaforte]

I agree with MoneyGuy.  I rely on my American Express Platinum card and have never bought additional insurance.  After eight cruises I’ve saved enough for another cruise.  I will admit that on longer cruises it’s taken nerves of steel.  We’ve also been healthy and lucky.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

36 minutes ago, Roccaforte said:

I agree with MoneyGuy.  I rely on my American Express Platinum card and have never bought additional insurance.  After eight cruises I’ve saved enough for another cruise.  I will admit that on longer cruises it’s taken nerves of steel.  We’ve also been healthy and lucky.

Nerves of steel indeed.  Along about 2015 I thought that I would have been way ahead if I hadn't bought cancellation insurance for our cruises since 2000.  By then, we were too old and decrepit to risk it.  As they say, hindsight is 20-20.  Made it out alive so far, only one cruise without insurance, no cancellations for cause, so no experience with the process, fortunately.

[RELS]

As long as we have elderly relatives who might need us quickly, we'll buy travel insurance.

[red1head]

7 minutes ago, RELS said:

As long as we have elderly relatives who might need us quickly, we'll buy travel insurance.

That is why we purchased it for years. Then they passed. And lo and behold we needed it two years later because I had a completely unexpected beast can we diagnosis inside of 60 days of embarkation on the then new Explorer. We recovered all we were due. 

[PhD-iva]

6 hours ago, PaulaJK said:

We had 1 ( quite legitimate) claim w. IME that took 7 months of appeals..finally reimbursed. They were a nightmare!

IME? Which company is that? Thx.

[pappy1022]

I bought travel insurance for the first time for an upcoming trip because of the high cost of the cruise and it is in a foreign country. I looked at Regent’s offering and it was 2X what I could get elsewhere. Per the recommendations on this board, I used my Sapphire credit card that covers $20K of the travel cost and provides some nominal health and evacuation benefits at no cost to me. I used IMG through trip insurance store dot com to cover the rest of the cruise cost plus it gives me substantial health, evacuation, etc. benefits to fill in the gaps. Bottom line is that my out of pocket cost was 1/4 the cost of using Regent’s insurance. I haven’t had a claim since this is the first time I’ve purchased travel insurance and the trip is later this year but several people on this Regent board have had claims with the option I used and were satisfied with the claim process. Shop around. It will be well worth it. 

[papaflamingo]

I always buy insurance.  Only had t use it once when my Mom passed away 2 weeks before a cruise. 

Now that I'm old, there is greater possibility that I may need it.  

But one thing important to me is Medical and Medical Evacuation.  Medicare doesn't cover international illness, so you better make sure you have a secondary policy that does.  So it's worth it for me.  

 One of the interesting things that seems to happen when someone self insures then has a medical problem or emergency is the belief that the cruise line should take pity on them and refund the cost of the cruise out of "good will," or give full FCC.  I have read many posts over the years of people being totally incensed that they can't get the refund.  So, if you choose to self insure, that's your choice, live with the consequences.  For me, I'm not willing to risk the high cost of a cruise by self insuring.

[Ladys Mom]

We started getting trip insurance because of elderly family members.  Since then we got older and purchased it for ourselves (just in case).  Had a couple of small claims over the years, such as the time our luggage wasn't delivered from the plane to the ship for five days and we needed to purchase some clothes to wear.  When Crystal went under, our travel insurance reimbursed us for the loss.  It took a while, but we got most of the money back.  With very long cruises in the offing (70-132) days, we would never travel without it.

[Linda VH]

I get trip insurance for every trip.  I used to skip it but then I had a medical problem and was told I couldn’t go to SA as it would be too dangerous for me medically.  We lost $20,000.   Not happening again.

[asnaleah]

We use trip insurance store dot com. Had a Covid claim last June and got reimbursed with a little effort on my part. I had to provide lots of documentation so be sure you have everything you need before filing. We used to buy insurance because we had elderly parents. Lo and behold, we are now the elderly parents! Wouldn’t travel without it. And as for AmEx Platinum, be very sure you use only that card for absolutely every expense related to the trip, even for parts you don’t care about insuring. 

Edited May 14, 2023 by asnaleah

[SusieQft]

1 hour ago, asnaleah said:

And as for AmEx Platinum, be very sure you use only that card for absolutely every expense related to the trip, even for parts you don’t care about insuring

Is that also the case for Chase Sapphire Reserve?  I have seen people post about splitting the cost with two accounts (his and hers) to double the coverage limit.

[Lenbro1944]

Thank you to those that have responded to my post. We do have $10,000 per person coverage by our credit card. We have decided that hopefully either we will not need it we will cover the difference ourselves. Some responders said that they also counted on the coverage that their credit card provided. My follow up question is p, did any of those that depended on credit card coverage need to make a claim? If so what was your experience?

[Wendy The Wanderer]

20 minutes ago, Lenbro1944 said:

Thank you to those that have responded to my post. We do have $10,000 per person coverage by our credit card

Make sure to look at the fine print.  It often ends after a certain age.

[asnaleah]

I’m not familiar with the Chase card coverage, but my experience with AmEx platinum was not great. Because I had used points to “buy” our flight one way, AmEx would not reimburse for a private tour because we didn’t buy the entire trip with it. It was a two day excursion so I was quite disappointed. Lesson learned.

[Gray Lady]

We had an Alaskan cruise and land tour booked last year with Holland. I bought the insurance through them, and my hubby said it was crazy to spend that money. Our trip was during the height of Omicron. Long story short, contracted COVID on land; never made it to the cruise. Submitted all paperwork (save every receipt and all communications). Had to prod a bit, but received everything back we were owed, plus expenses for quarantine and food. Air department rebooked our flight home at no additional cost to us. Would never take a future cruise without trip insurance from someone. 

[pappy1022]

1 hour ago, Lenbro1944 said:

Thank you to those that have responded to my post. We do have $10,000 per person coverage by our credit card. We have decided that hopefully either we will not need it we will cover the difference ourselves. Some responders said that they also counted on the coverage that their credit card provided. My follow up question is p, did any of those that depended on credit card coverage need to make a claim? If so what was your experience?

Credit card “coverage” is for the cost of the trip up to $10K/person depending on what card you have. The cost of emergency evacuation or a medical emergency where you have to go to a non US hospital is generally very low with credit card coverages. That’s why we insured the cruise cost excess above the $20K coverage and bought private insurance for the difference between the cost of the cruise $30K minus the credit card coverage $20K = $10K. That only covers the cost of the cruise itself, assuming you are using Regent and it’s all included. We bought the private policy for $10K coverage and got substantially higher coverage for emergency evacuation and medical costs. Those costs if ever needed are a lot more than the cruise itself.

[Roccaforte]

American Express Platinum trip cancellation insurance covers only those who are 79 years of age or younger.  Important to know.  Lots of cruisers in their 80s.

 

[wristband]

I suggest you supplement any insured policy with membership in MedJet to cover unexpected serious medical problems that require evacuation.  MJ is about $360 annually and has a good reputation.

 

Agree on the comments on the VISA cards coverage.  If you are interested, I suggest you obtain insurance and great advice from an independent insurance agent.  Steve Dassos from the Trip Insurance Store has had several "town hall" here on Cruise Critic with excellent tips - you can easily find the Q&A transcript using the search function on CC. 

 

Steve and others offer different policies from CSA, Travel Guard & AIG/Allianz without being tied to only one carrier - same as other indy agents.  Plus, you can compare on the web site different policy terms and policy costs without having to directly speaking to Steve or his team.  Check it out so you are better informed if you want to obtain insurance for your cruise.

[pappy1022]

I concur with Wristband’s recommendation. I spoke with Steve at the insurance store and they actually answered the phone each time I called and also answered all of my questions and recommended a policy that fit my need the best. You can go on their website, enter some info about you and the trip and get a comparison of cost and benefits side by side for each policy. 

[bitob]

On 5/15/2023 at 12:06 AM, SusieQft said:

Is that also the case for Chase Sapphire Reserve?  I have seen people post about splitting the cost with two accounts (his and hers) to double the coverage limit.

Exactly what we do.  Gives us 40k total coverage and triple points.  When my husband fell ill suddenly in 2015 we had to cancel 5 cruises. Got every penny back