Insurance - we won't travel again without it

[Genessa]

We were on a cruise in February and our dear friend and travelling companion died while on the cruise. Our friend's wife and we were lucky enough to have insurance and, while it took a Loooong time, I am so happy that Access America paid us both for trip interruption and the extremely expensive one way flight home, hotel, food, etc.

 

We also cancelled another cruise we were all going on, we didn't want to go without them, and Travelex paid us for the non-refundable airplane tickets.

 

We will never take another cruise without insurance. Definitely worth it!

[lougee1043]

to check out the insurance policies that are available to you go to

www.insuremytrip.com

[missyal]

So sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing the story. I know purchasing insurance is a personal preference, and some people choose not to. I always take the insurance. No one ever wants to think anything will happen to them, but you just never know. To me it's a small price to pay for peace of mind.

 

Missyal

[royal girl]

What an awful story... So sorry. :(

 

For the little extra it costs per person, it is definately worth the peace of mind knowing you have it.

[Whimsy]

I'm so sorry you had to go thru so much but glad you were able to be re-imbursed.

 

I buy the insurance also. Never have had to use it but nice to know it is there if we ever need it.

[Genessa]

thank you all for your sympathy. DH & I have been referring to it as "the vacation from he##". As you can imagine, the stress level was high on the "freaking out" scale, but at least while the charge cards were burning up, we weren't as worried about how we were going to pay.

[4merlurker]

How tragic!!! Thank you for posting your story - insurance is so important! You never know what could happen.

 

So sorry for you loss.

~Connie

[sbwmail]

We have had to collect on the insurance, also. We will never travel without it. Luckly, it was easy to collect on with proper paperwork.

[Genessa]

We have had to collect on the insurance, also. We will never travel without it. Luckly, it was easy to collect on with proper paperwork.

 

you are so right!

I felt like I was preparing to write a thesis - and I assisted our friend in filing her claims, too! For once, dh was glad that I'm a pack rat and save everything!

[Genessa]

How tragic!!! Thank you for posting your story - insurance is so important! You never know what could happen.

 

So sorry for you loss.

~Connie

 

thank you, Connie!

[GottaLuvCruising]

I'm sorry for you and your friend.

 

I've worked in the travel industry for three years and sailed quite a few times. Stories like yours happen all the time. Sometimes it's an illness, injury or family emergency that happens prior to sailing. It could be something that happens at home while you are away, or to you or traveling companions while on board the ship. Just one visit to the ship's doctor will pay for the travel insurance in most cases. People who travel without it take a great risk.

[CruiseNut7]

So sad to hear of the loss of your friend. I also had to file a claim when my mother died three days prior to my sailing last November.

 

We always use insuremytrip.com too, and CSA paid within a reasonable time. Happy to hear that the other insurance companies do as well.

 

The insurance companies do require a lot of documentation, so keep all your paperwork! Hopefully, you will never need to use it to file a claim!

[Ali-in-Texas]

What documentation do they require for a claim?

[marshacher]

Depends on why you are making a claim. When we had to cancel 2 weeks before cruise because of my husband's illness, we had to supply information from the cruise line that they would not refund us anything and a letter from the doctor stating my husband was too ill to travel. Plus we had to fill out a claim form they sent us. After all was submitted, it took a matter of days before we had our check in hand. Never, ever go without insurance. You never know.

[Genessa]

The documentation you may need will vary, but basically we needed

1. proof we paid - one company wanted invoices

2. proof we weren't getting reimbursed - (airline ticket stamped non-refundable) pages from cruise contract stating no refund

3. proof of expenses - receipts

[cruisy-suzy]

I lost my job last year so my sister and I cancelled a cruise about a month prior to sailing. The rule on the insurance was that you had 72 hours from the "event" to notify them you wanted to cancel and file a claim. We made the claim in about 48 hours, so no problem.

 

We had to submit invoice copies and credit card statements.

 

Happy cruising!

Suzy