Too late to buy insurance?

[MaxandEmme]

Hello! We sail this Friday and my husband was in the er for kidney stones last week. He just followed up with his urologist and they’re too big to pass, so he’s scheduled for a procedure in 2 weeks. He’s feeling fine with meds, but I’m thinking we should buy some insurance in case an issue arises? We will be driving to the port in New Jersey the day before, so we’re looking for recommendations of reputable insurance companies and what type to purchase if it’s not too late? Thank you in advance!

[ARandomTraveler]

Yes it's too late, unless you booked the cruise within the last 14 days, in which case you can buy cancel for any reason insurance (you'd get 75% back if you cancel).

 

You might be able to buy a policy that allows pre-existing conditions but I'm not sure how those work or what they cost. 

[taglovestocruise]

I think you can buy through Insuremytrip.com up to 24 hours before your trip.  Nothing for pre existing conditions would be covered. Royal used to let you add insurance up to 24 hours before sail date, might be worth a call. 

[Another_Critic]

There is no way I would go on a cruise with kidney stones (3 time kidney stone "survivor").  There is a risk that the stones could cause an infection or a blockage.

 

Check your credit card that you used to see if it has cancellation insurance.

[Another_Critic]

Also, I would call every day to see if you can get an earlier procedure date.

[poocher]

18 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

There is no way I would go on a cruise with kidney stones (3 time kidney stone "survivor").  There is a risk that the stones could cause an infection or a blockage.

 

Check your credit card that you used to see if it has cancellation insurance.

Started getting stones at 15 then every year for 7 years.  Percodan was my walking around drug in case of an attack (I once spent all day at a mock general assembly before taking myself to the ER.  By then I had a very high tolerance for pain).  I had one back in January on vacation, drank a lot of water but did not change any plans.  With that in mind, I’d go as long as I had good pain meds with me.  

[ARandomTraveler]

37 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

There is no way I would go on a cruise with kidney stones (3 time kidney stone "survivor").  There is a risk that the stones could cause an infection or a blockage.

 

Check your credit card that you used to see if it has cancellation insurance.

I forgot that option, definitely check your credit card. That's one of the biggest benefits of having a good travel credit card.

[Ourusualbeach]

47 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

I think you can buy through Insuremytrip.com up to 24 hours before your trip.  Nothing for pre existing conditions would be covered. Royal used to let you add insurance up to 24 hours before sail date, might be worth a call. 

Has to be prior to final payment or immediately upon booking if booking after final.

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, MaxandEmme said:

Hello! We sail this Friday and my husband was in the er for kidney stones last week. He just followed up with his urologist and they’re too big to pass, so he’s scheduled for a procedure in 2 weeks. He’s feeling fine with meds, but I’m thinking we should buy some insurance in case an issue arises? We will be driving to the port in New Jersey the day before, so we’re looking for recommendations of reputable insurance companies and what type to purchase if it’s not too late? Thank you in advance!

Unfortunately it's too late.  Insurance companies would go broke if they allowed people to purchase insurance after they found out something bad has happened.

 

Check with your credit card.

[Giantfan13]

You CAN buy insurance no matter what time you cruise. That said, almost all policies have what they call 'Look Back' time, where if you know something is the matter during that time frame you cannot submit a claim for that reason. So, overall, insurance would do you no good for t he reason you are looking to buy insurance for. As some one said, the companies would go broke if they allowed this.

 

Cheers

Len

[klfrodo]

You CAN buy travel insurance, but any claims presented due to the kidney stones will be denied due to pre-existing conditions and the 60 day look back period.

 

Travel Insurance is to cover unexpected events.

[Baron Barracuda]

As someone else suggested call "Insure my trip".  They're travel insurance pros who work with dozens of insurers.   They would know if anyone has a product that can help you out.

[MaxandEmme]

5 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

There is no way I would go on a cruise with kidney stones (3 time kidney stone "survivor").  There is a risk that the stones could cause an infection or a blockage.

 

Check your credit card that you used to see if it has cancellation insurance.

Unfortunately I paid with the Costco citi card and upon checking, they no longer offer travel insurance for trips paid with the card. I should have used my Chase card instead! It states that they do cover trip cancellations! So for any future cruises, if the credit card covers the trip interruption and/or cancellation, would there still be a need to purchase separate travel insurance when booking? We’ve sailed 8 previous RCCL cruises and have been lucky without insurance. Since we are getting older, seems like a good idea now! Hubby will just have to bring his pain meds with him and suck it up if anything happens. We may just have to fly home from Orlando or the Bahamas if necessary??

[MaxandEmme]

Thank you to everyone for all of your input! I really appreciate it!

[RB9643]

53 minutes ago, MaxandEmme said:

 So for any future cruises, if the credit card covers the trip interruption and/or cancellation, would there still be a need to purchase separate travel insurance when booking? 

 

 

Yes! Read your card benefits carefully. You still need solid, high-limit medical and evacuation insurance.

 

 

[vster5]

7 hours ago, MaxandEmme said:

Hello! We sail this Friday and my husband was in the er for kidney stones last week. He just followed up with his urologist and they’re too big to pass, so he’s scheduled for a procedure in 2 weeks. He’s feeling fine with meds, but I’m thinking we should buy some insurance in case an issue arises? We will be driving to the port in New Jersey the day before, so we’re looking for recommendations of reputable insurance companies and what type to purchase if it’s not too late? Thank you in advance!

Geo Blue, but just medical and evacuation coverage. 

[MaxandEmme]

1 hour ago, vster5 said:

Geo Blue, but just medical and evacuation coverage. 

THANK YOU so much!!! Your recommendation has made our upcoming cruise much less stressful!!

[DukeASUGirl]

7 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Has to be prior to final payment or immediately upon booking if booking after final.

We booked our travel insurance for what should have been our October cruise, 6 days before the cruise was supposed to occur. Then 3 days before, the airline canceled our flight due to the hurricanes and Royal allowed us to take a Future Cruise Credit instead, so we just rolled the insurance over to the replacement cruise.

 

But my point is that it was WELL after the final payment was due, and like 8 months after we'd booked. 

 

We used Allianz.

Edited June 11, 2023 by DukeASUGirl

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, vster5 said:

Geo Blue, but just medical and evacuation coverage. 

I was looking for med and evac coverage for my recent transatlantic.  I was considering buying Geo Blue, then discovered that I had Geo Blue coverage included with my Blue Cross medical policy.  🙂

[Ourusualbeach]

15 minutes ago, DukeASUGirl said:

We booked our travel insurance for what should have been our October cruise, 6 days before the cruise was supposed to occur. Then 3 days before, the airline canceled our flight due to the hurricanes and Royal allowed us to take a Future Cruise Credit instead, so we just rolled the insurance over to the replacement cruise.

 

But my point is that it was WELL after the final payment was due, and like 8 months after we'd booked. 

 

We used Allianz.

I was replying to a question about cruise line insurance, not other companies. 

[DukeASUGirl]

Just now, Ourusualbeach said:

I was replying to a question about cruise line insurance, not other companies. 

Yes, and I was responding to say that while it would be too late to get Royal insurance, the outside companies allow it closer to sail date.

[vster5]

54 minutes ago, MaxandEmme said:

THANK YOU so much!!! Your recommendation has made our upcoming cruise much less stressful!!

Might not work for preexisting conditions since you are leaving in less that a week. Check their policies. Looks like you need to buy it more than 14 days before the trip.

 

[vster5]

57 minutes ago, MaxandEmme said:

THANK YOU so much!!! Your recommendation has made our upcoming cruise much less stressful!!

Try to call trip insurance store, they are very helpful with recommendations.

[MaxandEmme]

14 minutes ago, vster5 said:

Might not work for preexisting conditions since you are leaving in less that a week. Check their policies. Looks like you need to buy it more than 14 days before the trip.

 

We were able to purchase the insurance with our dates of travel and it does cover preexisting conditions(with some exceptions). Thanks again!!

[twinmommy08]

On 6/10/2023 at 1:01 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

Has to be prior to final payment or immediately upon booking if booking after final.

editing to say I saw your prior post. I didn’t read all the way down 🙂 
 

I just purchased in insurance last week for my December sailing that I paid off months ago. The only issue is pre-existing medical conditions. 
 

The OP can buy travel insurance, but she may not be able to buy it cheaply to cover her husband’s stones. 
 

They will make you sign medical releases and they will do a broad search for diagnosis and a pharmacy search for any meds you filled for that diagnosis prior to full insurance payment. 
 

My husband broke his femur in 2016 exactly 24 hours after I paid for cruise insurance for our sailing the next month. They went through all of his business with a fine tooth comb looking for a way to not pay on the claim. We were successful.

Edited June 12, 2023 by twinmommy08