Insurance question

[mae]

Wow!! Have been reading with interest the thread "Warning about Princess Cruises". One thing Princess can claim about their cruisers is their loyalty. I have a question and thought it wise to start a new thread. We have always purchased insurance, and hated it, but felt it a necessary evil. We have usually let our TA take care of it, but would like to know how some of you purchase yours. Is there a better way to get really good travel insurance?

[HighRoller]

Personally I never purchase it only for one reason my AMEX Platinum Card has cancellation insurance up $5000.00 per person per incident so it makes the card fees worth while among other things.:cool: :eek: :cool:

[srphnx]

http://insuremytrip.com/

 

I don't buy insurance, never needed to, but the above is very well thought of.

[Paula_MacFan]

We purchased trip insurance thru our AAA office...$43 for coverage comparable to Princess' $89. Seemed reasonable to us for peace of mind. The scenario that really sold us was medical care out of the country. Typically your health insurance doesn't cover you outside the US.

[BJS]

Is their a better way to get really good travel insurance?

Here is a link to a recent thread covering this topic.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=57151&highlight=travel+insurance

[UbiDubi]

Two big reasons to purchase insurance (IMHO). Medical coverage, and more importantly, medical "evacuation". I didn't purchase insurance for the first couple of cruises because I thought "I will never cancel going on this cruise". But the insurance is much more than that.

 

Depending on where you cruise, getting you off the ship and to medical facilities can be astronomical. Ten's of thousands of dollars, in some cases. Remember, this includes getting you back to a home hospital, if needed at some point.

 

On a side note, I don't purchase the insurance from the cruise line anymore. There are many third-party companies that have greater coverage for the same coverage.

 

Ross

[mae]

Thanks BJS, missed that thread and there is a lot of good info there. Thanks.....

[KAJOKG]

We always buy travel insurance. For those of you who don't, here's a story. Our friends sailed on HAL. They always buy insurance, but did not this time. He fell on an excursion and shattered bones in one leg. They were put ashore on St. Lucia...His wife would not let them do what they suggested (turned out to be the absolute right thing to do). They had to get a quick flight to Miami. Since it was a last minute flight, the air line charged them $700 each, plus $700 for his leg, which had to be elevated - total one way air $2100. The cost at the hospital in St. Lucia was exhorbitant (they did put on a cast and splint) and they had to pay for ambulance service to and from the hospital, and his surgical services in Miami were quite expensive. All in all, their costs ended up being $30,000, some of which was paid for by their own hospitalization costs in Miami, but not in St. Lucia. Most young people figure they are not going to get sick, so why have insurance. Our friend didn't get sick, he fell...anyone can fall. If they had insurance all of their expenses would have been covered. And remember.....up front money is necessary, so there should be a good balance in a credit or debit card. The insurance company reimburses and all bills and expenses should be documented for the reimbursement.

[cruznliz]

Call me lazy, but we just buy it through Princess. Being Platinum we are automatically upgraded to the "gold" insurance. We didn't buy it for our first couple of cruises. I originally decided my mother should have the insurance because she is in her 80's and has a nerve wracking tendency to trip nearly every cruise. (Fortunately she has never been serious hurt. Just embarrassing bruises. She even fell going into the tiny WC once! :( ) I had terrible visions of the cost of evacuation from the ship. Then I figured if she could trip, so could I - which I have. I wouldn't book without it now. ;)