Cruise Insurance: Good, Bad Experiences?

[MtnGolf4]

Leaving for the Mexican Riviera this November on the Bliss. Looking to get a little better insurance policy than what NCL offers. There are so many companies offering policies. 

Has anyone had any good or bad experiences with the top list companies?

Thanks 

[SeekingKillerWhales!]

I've had good experiences buying with InsureMyTrip, and I found out about them here with many people recommending. On a cruise in 2017 they were able to insure us in such a way that if one person did not go for covered reasons, the rest could decide to go or not.

 

We were 5 people, and I was the "ringleader" and only one who knew everyone. If I had gotten sick most of the others would not have wanted to go. If someone else did, the rest of could still go. We all had separate cabin bookings. For my trip in August, we've all been on cruises before (although my two friends going this time have not met), and so we skipped that since the others will go regardless of who does or does not go. It was really nice to have someone to work through the various situations with, and the prices seem really reasonable.

 

However, I have never had to make a claim, so hopefully others can post on how they felt the company did, since that is what really matters.

Also, there's a whole forum on this: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

 

Good luck!

Edited July 1, 2023 by SeekingKillerWhales!

[valleyvillage]

We always buy NCL's platinum plan that includes cancel for any reason. Never had to use any part of it until last cruise. My spouse had a backache that just wouldn't quit and he was out of ibuprofen. Decided to visit the medical center. He explained that he gets this a lot and iburofen works but we're out. They gave him an injection and some ibuprofen tabs. Success. i figured that since it was a chronic condition the insurance would not cover it. Wasn't even going to bother to get the forms from the medical center, but they dropped them off at our cabin. I figured there would be lots of hoops, but no! I uploaded the bill from the medical center, explained we had medicare so they would not cover out of the country. 

Two days later we got the approval email and very clear instructions on how to get the payment: they would send a check, issue an e-check, or PayPal. Chose PayPal and it was instant! No fees no nothing! YMMV with a larger claim.

[chillyw]

1 hour ago, MtnGolf4 said:

Leaving for the Mexican Riviera this November on the Bliss. Looking to get a little better insurance policy than what NCL offers. There are so many companies offering policies. 

Has anyone had any good or bad experiences with the top list companies?

Thanks 

 

I haven't had to use insurance (except the one time my bag was lost on the way to Alaska, and Chase's insurance partner rejected it for using points, even though that's covered by their terms, and Chase is no freaking help ever... but I digress).

 

I will say, I've done a lot of shopping for insurance.  I've landed on doing a combination of GeoBlue Medical, and depending on the cost of the trip and whether I want to self-insure it or get CFAR (cancel for any reason), I actually buy NCL's.

 

My reasoning:

 

- I do a year long insurance plan with GeoBlue, but you can do a one-trip too.  It's very inexpensive for what you get.  It's a primarily healthcare plan with high limits and is a primary payer, so you don't have to submit to yours first.  Stories I've read indicate really positive experiences with claims.  They do require a medical insurance plan to use them, and don't offer a lot of travel benefits.

 

- If I want to insure the cost of my trip (for me, I have a threshold amount of $s that make this worth it), I like NCL's platinum.  The limits are low for medical, so I'd never just get it by itself, but I love their CFAR.

 

Most CFAR coverage is very expensive, and only offers 75% cash on any penalty.  NCL's offers 90% on the penalty as FCC.  If you aren't going to sail NCL again, obviously a bad idea, but my intention usually is to do it again. 🙂 It's also very reasonable for CFAR since it's based on the price of the cabin, and there's no "you need to book within 14 days" type thing for CFAR, you can book up to final payment.

 

The downside obviously is you get it in FCC and not cash.  NCL self-insures that part and assumes they can re-sell the cabin x% of the time so that's part of the reason it's cheap and actually offers 90% CFAR.

 

Hope this helps!

[genealogyfan]

I second looking at insuremytrip.com - you can compare the plans and the coverage. Very easy to use. I finally made a small claim last year. Nothing medical, luckily. Air Canada refused to reimburse for 100% of the hotel after two flight cancellations forced me to spend the night in Montreal. My insurance paid the difference of the actual cost and what Air Canada covered.

[vacation44]

Also use Insuremytrip and had to file a claim once when I fainted before sail away.   The medical center had to run $2200 worth of tests before they cleared me to stay on the ship.   Claim was easy to file and had my money back within weeks.

[omahabob]

I don't use third party travel insurance, so I can't give feedback on them. I almost always buy a temporary policy with Medjet though. The NCL insurance and most travel insurance policies (except for the most expensive) don't cover medical evacuation back home. They only cover transport to the nearest medical facility. They do provide management and coordination for evacuation back home, but not for the flight, unless the medical care you need absolutely requires you to go back. I don't want to recuperate from an accident or illness in a foreign hospital where they may not even speak my language, and that becomes more important as my wife and I get older. What we usually end up with is the Medjet policy, the NCL insurance and the airline insurance (we book our own flights). And, since that combination does not cover missing the cruise due to delayed flights, or missing a flight home due to a delayed cruise ship, we always book to arrive one day before the cruise, and to depart at least a day after. That is, IF we're flying. We usually plan on driving to the port if feasible.

Edited July 1, 2023 by omahabob

[swmichigan cruiser]

10 hours ago, valleyvillage said:

We always buy NCL's platinum plan that includes cancel for any reason. Never had to use an would be lots of hoops, but no! I uploaded the bill from the medical center, explained we had medicare so they would not cover out of the country. 

 

You might want to check your Medicare insurance if you added  Medicare advantage. Of course it would depend on the Medicare Advantage policy added. The one we added there is no additional cost and it has a  lifetime $50.000 coverage . I had a problem on the Joy in April and went to the medical center and the bill was over $1,800. Just got word yesterday that the claim was approved.

[minabruuke]

We rely on a travel credit card that includes travel insurance to cover trip costs. I most recently used the travel insurance offered on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card to cover a last minute cancellation due to the death of two immediate family members. They reimbursed all nonrefundable costs and change fees. The $95 annual credit card fee is way less than I would otherwise spend on travel insurance. I also used credit card travel insurance (different card that doesn't offer the insurance any more) to cover an overnight hotel and I was shocked at how simple it was and I had reimbursement within days. 

 

We always purchase a separate medical insurance plan; these are way cheaper than  full coverage travel insurance. Some of the full coverage travel plans allow you to take advantage of just the medical benefits of their plan by entering a $0 trip cost; you must read the coverage document (a few require you to cover the full cost of your trip). 

 

I have used insuremytrip.com many times to help me choose a plan but for my last several trips I noticed several of the plans that I frequently chose in the past were not listed so I went directly to some travel insurance provider sites as well. I pay very cost attention to the exclusions in each policy; particularly the adventure or extreme sports exclusions. I have seen some policies that exclude injuries from some pretty common trip activities, such as snorkeling, and as such I look for plans that offer an activities/sports exclusions waiver. I never just buy the cheapest plan that appears to have good coverage; I thoroughly read through the entire plan document ever single time even when purchasing a plan sold by a company that we've used before.

 

I have fortunately never had to file a medical related claim so I don't feel that I can actually recommend a specific insurer for medical coverage since I can only speak to my purchasing experience and the appearance of a quality policy but not the actual reality of how an insurer may be when it comes to claims and pay outs. 

[Clairescurtains]

I fell and broke an arm last year on a European Carnival cruise, ended up going to the ER in Belgium The cruise lined did not charge me anything for setting the break and a splint as I fell due to a trip hazard, the Belgian hospital only charged 156 euro for x/ray and another splint.  

I had AIG insurance that did reimburse me for both the ER and the cab rides back and forth but it took them about 6 months to finally pay. 

For my next cruise I chose the NCL insurance, with the low deposit, I feel like I am self insured on that and we do have Medjet ins as well. 

[GeezerCouple]

There are quite a few recent posts about this:

 

One of our posts is #11 in that thread, and I think we posted again later.

 

The 3rd party insurance made a HUGE difference on several different occasions, including the first time we purchased it!  (Thanks again to *all* at CC whose comments we read here on CC, and the recommendation to work with www.TripInsuranceStore.com - I wish we hadn't had so many claims, but at least all were paid, including the large claims!)

 

GC

 

[chillyw]

11 hours ago, omahabob said:

I don't use third party travel insurance, so I can't give feedback on them. I almost always buy a temporary policy with Medjet though. The NCL insurance and most travel insurance policies (except for the most expensive) don't cover medical evacuation back home. They only cover transport to the nearest medical facility. They do provide management and coordination for evacuation back home, but not for the flight, unless the medical care you need absolutely requires you to go back. I don't want to recuperate from an accident or illness in a foreign hospital where they may not even speak my language, and that becomes more important as my wife and I get older. What we usually end up with is the Medjet policy, the NCL insurance and the airline insurance (we book our own flights). And, since that combination does not cover missing the cruise due to delayed flights, or missing a flight home due to a delayed cruise ship, we always book to arrive one day before the cruise, and to depart at least a day after. That is, IF we're flying. We usually plan on driving to the port if feasible.

 

I think the medijet terms do require you to be admitted in a hospital already in order to do an evac. Makes sense you're doing it in combination with NCL's.

 

I've heard geoblue is pretty good about approving coverage for moves, but it does require it to be deemed medically necessary, which is a difference.

[omahabob]

4 hours ago, swmichigan cruiser said:

You might want to check your Medicare insurance if you added  Medicare advantage. Of course it would depend on the Medicare Advantage policy added. The one we added there is no additional cost and it has a  lifetime $50.000 coverage . I had a problem on the Joy in April and went to the medical center and the bill was over $1,800. Just got word yesterday that the claim was approved.

There may be some sort of disconnect here. We were told our standard Medicare would cover us, but not at the provider. We had to pay the bill ourselves, file a claim when we got back home, and they'd reimburse us, assuming it was a covered event (no medication coverage under standard Medicare). Medicare Advantage isn't necessary for treatment coverage. Now, I will qualify that by saying probably nothing is more complicated than health insurance coverage, and they throw curve balls sometimes that even their own people don't understand. So there's never any guarantee. We also have Tricare, but that probably doesn't matter because they're always secondary, by law.

[omahabob]

2 hours ago, chillyw said:

 

I think the medijet terms do require you to be admitted in a hospital already in order to do an evac. Makes sense you're doing it in combination with NCL's.

Yep. Don't need Medjet if I'm not hospitalized. Both the airline and NCL insurance cover trip interruption, so I can get back home on a normal flight. Medjet is also technically a membership program, not insurance, so there's far less paperwork and red tape involved. Also forgot to mention, many credit cards include varying forms of travel coverage. My American Express includes a 24/7 crisis response center to organize medical evacuations.

Edited July 1, 2023 by omahabob

[jclinard]

Only take recommendations from people who made claims.  It's foolish to take them from people who only know how fast the company deposited the premiums.

[omahabob]

So.... only take life insurance advice from dead people? I understand your motivation. But statistically speaking, you'll get almost zero responses that way. I don't have to actually have a heart attack to know something about them.

[iamtrustworthy]

6 hours ago, swmichigan cruiser said:

You might want to check your Medicare insurance if you added  Medicare advantage. Of course it would depend on the Medicare Advantage policy added. The one we added there is no additional cost and it has a  lifetime $50.000 coverage . I had a problem on the Joy in April and went to the medical center and the bill was over $1,800. Just got word yesterday that the claim was approved.

Hi swmichigan,

 

The $50,000 lifetime maximum coverage for outside the USA is on a Medigap (Supplement) plan. Advantage plans have a wide range of non-USA coverage limits

 

If you bought your own Medicare Supplement, here's how it covers you outside the USA

https://tripinsurancestore.com/medicare-does-not-cover-you-outside-the-usa/

 

Steve Dasseos

 

[swmichigan cruiser]

52 minutes ago, iamtrustworthy said:

Hi swmichigan,

 

The $50,000 lifetime maximum coverage for outside the USA is on a Medigap (Supplement) plan. Advantage plans have a wide range of non-USA coverage limits

 

If you bought your own Medicare Supplement, here's how it covers you outside the USA

https://tripinsurancestore.com/medicare-does-not-cover-you-outside-the-usa/

 

Steve Dasseos

 

Steve I never looked up  original Medicare coverage  for outside the US as I always have an Advantage (part C)  for no additional cost. What we have is a combined $50.000 lifetime plan coverage for emergency care, urgent care and transportation for services outside the US. There are some small deductibles. And we did have to pay onboard and then file the claim when we got back home. We will  need to refile our claim with the our trip insurance company to pay for the deductible. Did you ever find a company you liked for an annual policy?

 

Bob

[iamtrustworthy]

32 minutes ago, swmichigan cruiser said:

Steve I never looked up  original Medicare coverage  for outside the US as I always have an Advantage (part C)  for no additional cost. What we have is a combined $50.000 lifetime plan coverage for emergency care, urgent care and transportation for services outside the US. There are some small deductibles. And we did have to pay onboard and then file the claim when we got back home. We will  need to refile our claim with the our trip insurance company to pay for the deductible. Did you ever find a company you liked for an annual policy?

 

Bob

Hi Bob,

 

Thanks for explaining this about your Advantage plan. I've never heard of an Advantage plan with the combined $50.000 lifetime plan coverage, so this must be a newer addition to the wide range of coverages.

 

> Did you ever find a company you liked for an annual policy?

 

I haven't found an Annual Trip Cancellation plan that is good enough for me to sell due to their plan limitations with what's needed to cover the changes in travel since Covid started.

 

If you want good medical and medical transportation coverage, I suggest you get the Geo Blue Trekker (Multi-Trip) Essential or Choice plan for your trips outside the USA that aren't longer than 70 days for any one trip. The Essential and Choice plans cover pre-existing conditions. You may see all the Geo Blue Trekker plan details here:

https://tripinsurancestore.com/geo-blue-trekker-travel-medical-plans/

 

Steve Dasseos

 

[GeezerCouple]

4 hours ago, omahabob said:

We were told our standard Medicare would cover us, but not at the provider. We had to pay the bill ourselves, file a claim when we got back home, and they'd reimburse us, assuming it was a covered event (no medication coverage under standard Medicare). Medicare Advantage isn't necessary for treatment coverage.

 

This is how most "medical travel insurance" works (and most non-medical travel insurance).

One needs to pay first, and get reimbursed later.  It's *not* like going to your local physician and handing over your insurance card, etc.

[I think there *are* some coverages that will "provide the care", but I think one needs to go to a network provider overseas, same as "at home".]

 

In some cases (depending upon insurer and the provider), there may be some assistance with either "guaranteeing" payment or actually wiring funds, but this is not common and certainly not automatic with most coverages.

 

This is why we always keep high limits available on our charge cards, should we suddenly find ourselves confronted with significant and "non-optional" costs.

 

One example of the "guarantee" is what I saw at one ER billing office overseas.  While they were starting to care for DH, I had been "guided" to the ER billing office. 😉  I simply handed over our Amex Plat card (which doesn't have the same sort of "limit" that many other cards have).  But while they were taking the information (for the bill to be determined later), I saw several notices on the wall.  One of them stated that the hospital would NOT accept any "insurance guarantees" *except* from the following insurers...  There was a short list following that had the names of several well-known travel insurers. 

 

There can also be other relatively high cost expenses, such as last-minute, high cost air tickets home, so again, a charge card would come in very handy!

 

Our travel insurance has paid our claims usually in about 2 weeks from receiving all of the documentation, so it's not a long lag time.  (And some of our larger insurance claims have been for the cost of fully paid, non-refundable cruises and air, so those were already paid, and we just end up reimbursing ourselves when the check arrives.)

 

RM

 

 

[MtnGolf4]

As I read all your different opinions, I do have a question about on board medical. 

If for some reason my wife or I need on board medical assistance. Do we pay upfront before outside insurance kicks in ? Does NCL coverage cover on board incidents without upfront pay ?

[omahabob]

No, you pay at the clinic, and then file claims for whatever insurance coverage is in effect.

[klfrodo]

6 hours ago, MtnGolf4 said:

As I read all your different opinions, I do have a question about on board medical. 

If for some reason my wife or I need on board medical assistance. Do we pay upfront before outside insurance kicks in ? Does NCL coverage cover on board incidents without upfront pay ?

After more than 20 years on this board, it seems to work like this. (NOTE: fingers crossed, I've never had to seek medical attention while on the ship)

If you go to medical for some reason on your own, upset stomach, cold/flu/norovirus/covid, stubbed toe, chest pains,etc., they will bill your on board account. You pay the bill before you leave the ship, then you file a claim for reimbursement. (Get copies of all documentation, patient notes etc. before you leave the ship)

 

If you are involved in a slip and fall, the wind blows a door into you, the ship safety team has to get involved, etc, then most likely the ship will absorb the expenses and you will not see a bill.

Ships DO NOT direct bill an insurance company.

[omahabob]

We, unfortunately, have had to use it. But, it turned out okay, so no big deal. Yes, you pay on board. It's unlikely the cruise line will pay anything, absent their negligence. And in the event where they might pay something, they usually don't pay everything. The nurse (technician?) explained it all to us.

[blue_water]

www.insuremytrip.com is a great first start for comparing some insurer policies. But not all of the best policies are included in the list there. We look at Allianz, Trawick, and other insurers. They offer different plans, and we always look for PRIMARY medical/medivac coverages with at least $50k/$1m limits. 
So do your due diligence by reading the various policies, and then it’s just a matter of price…