Best Travel Insurance for cruising

[glrounds]

Have never ever used travel insurance before, but now with time creeping up on me (83) it might be prudent to purchase travel insurance in my future cruising. I've always heard that using Carnival's offering isn't as good as some of the other companies out there. Would like to hear who you use and why. Thank you very much.

[ColeThornton]

There is a forum dedicated to this subject.   Link:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

[glrounds]

Thanks, Cole. 😊

[Jersey42]

Sorry that you have not gotten any responses.  Unfortunately there is no "Best travel insurance for cruising".  Insurance is more complicated than it should be and what works for one person could be a terrible solution for someone else.  Instead, here are a few thoughts that might help:

• How does your current medical insurance cover you outside of the US?  To me, this is the most important part of travel insurance, and you really need to know what you already have. Covered completely with no limits?  No coverage?  Covered completely with a potentially high out of network deductible and co pays?  Covered with a limited lifetime maximum?  Travel insurance must be a good fit with your existing coverage.
• Do you have any medical evacuation and repatriation coverage with your existing medical insurance? Most do not.
• Do you have any pre-existing conditions?  You need to understand the insurance company definition.  
• How important is cancelation and interruption coverage?  Are you concerned about one or more specific cancelation reasons that you want to be sure are covered? Some people look at cancelation as a sunk cost, but care more about the unknowns related to medical.
• How important is Cancel For Any Reason coverage?
• Do you have any planned cruises and when did you make your initial deposit?

 

After you understand the first two bullets I would recommend calling tripinsurancestore.com to discuss options for a specific cruise or in general. They will spend time with you and ask you questions.  If you like what you hear and are comfortable with the premiums, that is all you need to do.  Unfortunately third party insurance premiums increase with age so the premiums are not cheap.  At least you have learned something and will have a basis of comparison if you want to still consider the cheaper Carnival plan.

 

I agree that what you have heard about Carnival's plan is true.  I think most cruise line plans have severe limitations and Carnival's may be the worst ($10K medical, $30K med repatriation, no waiver of pre-existing conditions, CFAR is a limited 75% future cruise credit . . .), but the premiums are not age dependent.  So if you have good existing medical coverage and no pre-existing conditions it may be worth a look at your age.

 

Another non-age-dependent plan is available to members of a major big box store if you purchase your cruise through them.  I have taken a brief look at that plan and from what I can tell the coverage is good.  (apparently they offer another version of the plan if you purchased your cruise elsewhere, but premiums are age dependent)

 

Unfortunately I am only hitting some of the highlights (lowlights???).  Good luck and please share what you find.

Edited September 14, 2023 by Jersey42

[GeezerCouple]

As Jersey42 wrote, there isn't any single "best travel insurance", and each person/family is likely to have their own combination of preferences, needs, and characteristics of the actual trip.

 

Why don't you contact a travel insurance broker?

They handle several different travel insurers, and a good one will spend some time with you (especially for the first trip, when they don't yet know "you" and your travel preferences) not only to answer your questions, but to ask you some questions as well.  That way, they can help find the policy that best meets your needs for this trip.  (It could be a different policy/insurer for a different trip.)

There should be NO extra fee to the traveler for the service.

 

We use - and strongly recommend - www.TripInsuranceStore.com

 

Please CALL them and do *not* rely upon the policy summaries online.  There is just too much fine print, plus not all of the situations and choices may be obvious.

Also, if you happen to need to make a claim, they can help with that if you need/want it.

 

GC

[klfrodo]

You're so far ahead of the game by self insuring, you can afford a couple of losses and still be ahead.

[CruisingAlong4Now]

The real value of travel insurance is the medical coverage.  

 

Cruise cancellation is a limited expense and generally has already been paid so that there is no ongoing, open-ended liability.  Medical coverage for illness or accidents out of the US can be an expense that has no limit.  These liabilities could be tens of thousands of dollars.  This is the purpose of insurance:  to protect against unforeseen, unexpected, and unlimited expenses.