Princess Platinum Insurance

[DesertSailors]

We have been told that if we book our airfare through Princess that the Princess Platinum Insurance would cover medical expenses for the days we arrive prior to sail away.  Can anyone confirm this?  Thank you!

[mtnesterz]

I thought I had a copy of the policy in my drive, but nope.

Try putting Princess Platinium Insurance download in your search engine and see if you can get a PDF. Good Luck!

[PacnGoNow]

22 minutes ago, mtnesterz said:

I thought I had a copy of the policy in my drive, but nope.

Try putting Princess Platinium Insurance download in your search engine and see if you can get a PDF. Good Luck!

I just save the website link.  Has a hyperlink for Standard or Platinum terms.

 

https://www.princess.com/plan/princess-vacation-protection/

[Jersey42]

1 hour ago, DesertSailors said:

We have been told that if we book our airfare through Princess that the Princess Platinum Insurance would cover medical expenses for the days we arrive prior to sail away.  Can anyone confirm this?  Thank you!

I have no direct experience with this.  But, based on my reading of five different places in the policy, I believe you should be covered.  I would still confirm with Princess, but here are the applicable sections:

WHEN YOUR COVERAGE BEGINS - Provided:

a) coverage has been elected; and

b) the required premium has been paid.

 All coverage will begin on the Scheduled Departure Date, or the actual departure date if change is required by a Common Carrier, when You depart for the first Travel Arrangement (or alternate travel arrangement if You must use an alternate travel arrangement to reach Your Trip destination) for Your Trip. Coverage will not begin before the Effective Date shown on Your purchase confirmation.

 

Scheduled Departure Date means the date on which You are originally scheduled to leave on Your Trip.

 

Trip means Travel Arrangements with a defined itinerary away from Your Home for which coverage is purchased under this Certificate and premium is paid.

 

Travel Arrangements means: (a) transportation; (b) accommodations; and (c) other specified services arranged by the Travel Supplier for the Trip.

 

Travel Supplier means Princess Cruises and/or Princess Tours.

So if you purchased air through Princess Cruises you should be covered from your Departure Date which would be the date your plane leaves.  

------------------------------------------------------------

Now, the for the question you did not ask:  What are some of the holes in this policy and might there be better third party options?

• Medical coverage is only $20K. If you don't have other coverage outside of the US, it is probably too low.
• Medical coverage is secondary.  You have to first submit to your regular insurance and get an EOB.  Platinum will then consider whatever was denied.  In any case, it will take some time.
• Pre-existing conditions are excluded for most of the coverages in the Platinum plan including cancelation (not CFAR), interruption and medical. 

Pre-Existing Condition means an illness, disease, or other condition during the sixty (60) day period immediately prior to the Effective Date of Your Certificate/Policy for which You, Your Traveling Companion, or a Family Member booked to travel with You: 1) that would have caused an ordinarily prudent person to seek diagnosis, care or treatment; or 2) for which medical advice, care or treatment was recommended or received; or 3) an existing pregnancy.  **For trip cancelation, pre-existing conditions for non-traveling family members are also excluded

 

If any of this might be applicable to your situation, you might want to browse the Cruise/Travel Insurance boards for further insights.

Edited June 15, 2023 by Jersey42

[DesertSailors]

Thank you Jersey42 for the very thoughtful response.  I concur with what you pointed out that the medical is probably not sufficient and we need to look for something else.  As a side note, we did contact Princess but got their offshore help that was reading off a script and told us it only covered for the cruise portion.

 

Again, very appreciative Jersey42.  Any recommendations that you might have on supplemental insurance for the trip?

[Jersey42]

50 minutes ago, DesertSailors said:

Thank you Jersey42 for the very thoughtful response.  I concur with what you pointed out that the medical is probably not sufficient and we need to look for something else.  As a side note, we did contact Princess but got their offshore help that was reading off a script and told us it only covered for the cruise portion.

 

Again, very appreciative Jersey42.  Any recommendations that you might have on supplemental insurance for the trip?

I really like tripinsurancestore.com.  It is a small travel insurance broker. Steve, the owner occasionally posts on the Cruise/Travel Insurance boards.  They are very honest and helpful, but you really need to call them rather than trying to purchase from the web site.  You both can ask each other questions and hopefully come up with a policy that makes sense for your particular situation. Before you call, you should be familiar with how your existing health insurance works outside of the country.  Also, think about what else you really want to insure and are there any specific situations you want to be sure are covered.

 

We always carry an annual GeoBlue Trekker policy for emergency medical and medical evacuation.  Each trip is different.  We often just self insure individual cruises or rely on our credit card.  But sometimes we get a trip specific policy for an expensive cruise where there is a situation (such as health of a parent) that raises the probability we might need to cancel.  There are so many nuances with travel insurance and there is no one size fits all solution.  Also, be careful about relying on on-line policy summary charts as there are often important details that can only be found in the policy document. Good luck.

[DesertSailors]

Thank you kindly for the information.  We will get in contact with them and sort things out.  Again, so appreciate your time and information.

 

[cyndyga]

Just read there are improvements from the link posted thank you...

New Improvements:

1. Increased benefits up to 150% of vacation cost for Trip Interruptions.
2. Increased Emergency Evacuation benefits up to $50,000 for the standard plan and $75,000 for the platinum plan.*

[Jersey42]

13 hours ago, cyndyga said:

Just read there are improvements from the link posted thank you...

New Improvements:

1. Increased benefits up to 150% of vacation cost for Trip Interruptions.
2. Increased Emergency Evacuation benefits up to $50,000 for the standard plan and $75,000 for the platinum plan.*

Even though they tout it as new, those changes have been around since at least December 2021 and probably longer.  The 150% trip interruption benefit brings the Princess plans up to what most other third party and cruise line plans offer.  $75K medical evacuation is better than almost all cruise line plans, but way below most third party plans. That said, $75K is probably more than adequate for most situations.

 

By the way, some people erroneously assume the Emergency Evacuation benefit includes a helicopter evacuation from the ship to shore.  In this rare situation, it is normally done by the Coast Guard or similar government entity at no charge to the passenger. Once you are taken to a hospital, the Evac benefit is to get you to a suitable hospital to treat your condition (if necessary) and then to get you home. 

 

Emergency Evacuation means:
(a) Your medical condition warrants immediate Transportation from the Hospital where You are first taken when injured or sick to the nearest Hospital where appropriate medical treatment can be obtained; 
(b) after being treated at a local Hospital, Your medical condition warrants Transportation to Your Home where You reside, to obtain further medical treatment or to recover; or 
(c) both (a) and (b), above.
 

[Hlitner]

My issue with the Princess insurance (and most other policies sold by cruise lines) is the wholly inadequate medical component.  IMHO, $100,000 is the minimum folks should want for medical.  Cruisers worry themselves sick about cancelation protection, but do not normally pay attention to medical.  In the real world, cancelation is painful, but the loss is about the same as if you had taken the cruise (so you can afford the loss).  But a big medical issue (say $75,000) would leave many folks facing personal bankruptcy.  In the USA, unexpected medical expenses are the number 2 reason for personal bankruptcy (losing a job is #1).  Nobody goes bankrupt because of trip cancelation.  Think about it!

 

Hank

[tetleytea]

Right now I'm so mad at Princess and their "platinum insurance" that I can't even see straight.

 

I agreed to one set of charges with Princess for the cruise I just booked.  They send me a billing statement--and no, that billing statement is NOT what I booked.  I asked for one thing and they gave me something else.  So I immediately call Princess (within the hour).  I can't reach anyone on the Princess phoneline who can speak decent English, and they are simply not resolving my situation.   So...I'm at the point where just don't want to do the cruise (or Princess) anymore.    What do they tell me to do?   To cancel the cruise, but I will have to file a claim with the Platinum insurance...who will later decide (AFTER I already said to cancel the cruise) whether or not to issue any refund at all.

 

I'm sorry, but that is not what Platinum insurance is about.   We're also not doing that.

 

Edited June 18, 2023 by tetleytea