2 insurance questions, please

[mocro]

I was reading a very helpful travel insurance thread and happened to notice that X had added $139pp for CRCR Vacation Protection Plan to our invoice. I checked to see what it is and (as everyone but me knows) it gives us trip cancellation coverage if we need to cancel for a medical reason for us or immediate family. That seems like a good idea as if something serious happened to a close family member we'd have to cancel. Do you usually take this coverage?

 

Nobody has offered us health insurance. I called our insurer, PPO Blue Shield of CA, and they say we're covered anywhere in the U.S. as we are in CA and we're covered in Canada for all emergency services. We're sailing from Vancouver to Alaska and back. I'm thinking about not taking any additional medical coverage. We're in our 50s and healthy, but I know that can always change. I assume we wouldn't be covered for helicoptered medical evacuation off a ship, but that seems a chance we'd take. Do you agree we're sufficiently covered? Thank you.

[BurBunny]

The standard Celebrity insurance covers pre-cruise cancellations for medical reasons, but it also covers on-board situations after you've sailed, including medical and evac, or interruption if you have to leave the ship to go home. It's good, basic coverage - nothing fabulous or high limit, but it's a good general policy.

[Host Anne]

Most trip insurance plans you can purchase include trip cancellation/interruption and medical. For $139, you should be able to find coverage that includes both of these so you would have medical evacuation included. That's my big one....if needed, I want to be covered to get back to a hospital in the US.

 

Did you ask X to include the cancellation insurance or did they automatically add it? Can you ask them for a detailed brochure so you can see exactly what is covered. This is one instance where it pays to read the fine print. I always do.

 

There are many insurers out there that offer these types of coverages and we don't always use the same one. It depends upon where we are going, how much coverage we want, and what it costs for the insurance.

 

I hope that helps a little.

[larronry]

....

[larronry]

When you go to make your reservation be it on celebrities site or just about every other site if not every site insurance is automatically added and you have to deselect it. If you did it over the phone then something should have been said, but could have been missed with everything else you were listening to. Since you are cruising Alaska and Canada you may not need the medical coverage as much as you would in the Caribbean or Europe however should anything happen having to do any last minute plane arrangements could be costly. As far as whether trip cancellation insurance is necessary I'll tell a quick story.

 

We were booked last Dec 10 on the Millennium. About 3 weeks before the sailing was canceled. Because our friends were flying in we scrambled around looking for a sailing with the exact same dates and ended up on the Caribbean Princess. We booked two weeks before sailing paying in full immediately. We ended up sailing without our friends because his father ended up being diagnosed with lung cancer. He is now doing fine and is in remission. The point is they are greatful they had paid for the insurance. It's an extra expense that you hope you never need, but it gives you peace of mind when and if you do.

 

In the future you could look at insuremytrip.com to compare different options.

[cruiseco]

 

Nobody has offered us health insurance. .

 

The CRCR you're seeing is Celebrity's Cruise Care insurance package. It does include a medical component amd also coverage for emergency evacuation and repatriation. You can see the coverages here:

 

http://media.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/content/pdf/insurance/cruise_care_060105.pdf

[Host Anne]

One important bit of info on insurance covering medical - you have to buy the insurance within a certain number of days of booking the cruise (it differs depending upon the company underwriting the insurance and I don't know about Celebrity's package) to have pre-existing medical conditions covered. Just wanted to mention that.

[mocro]

I appreciate everyone's opinion. We did book directly through X and I wasn't asked if I wanted this insurance so I know I can get a refund if I want. But I think this is worthwhile insurance, especially based on everyone's opinions. We have a number of elderly family members and if something medical developed, I couldn't very well be sucking on a margarita on my balcony now, could I? Don't want to give anyone (another) reason to gripe!

 

Because we'll be in places adjacaent to first world medical service, I feel we can skip the extra medical insurance this go round. Thank you so much for your counsel.

[Benjo8]

IMO trip insurance is gold as concerns medical evacuation. For the relative few bucks, insurer will transport you back to your local medical care. If you live on East Coast, try getting evacuated back from Alaska without it. It will deplete your kid's inheritance. Every cruise I take, and every trip overseas I buy the insurance. It really saved me when my wife was taken ill on a long weekend in Paris, some years back, and got her back with a nurse to accompany her. It also got knowledgeable me people who could speak French to my wife's doctors and explain to me what was going on. Don't leave the Continental US without it. For the price of a couple of bottles of wine (when you are spending so many thousands on the trip)you are secure. Priceless.

[alfiemom]

I can add one thing: We were taking a cruise this past April. Two weeks before, my DH ruptured his quadracept muscle. There went the cruise. We had TravelGuard and had our refund within 10 days.

[skandls]

I fell and hurt my knee on a riverboat in Europe. We were in Germany and with socialized medicine we saw the doctors for 50euro. They suggested I return to the states for treatment. I was not able to bend my knee so I got a business class seat home. I kept my knee raised on my carryon luggage. DH was able to use miles to upgrade his full fare ticket (from the insurance).

 

We only used insurance once but that one time more than paid for all our other trips.

[keela1eva2]

Another point I would like to make regarding the cost of a good insurance policy.

Those of you from the US in particular would not cruise and are often very generous with tipping! This is an extra that you do without thinking about it.

Just apply this to the cost of the insurance premium and as someone else has mentioned the cost of a couple of bottles of wine.

Just don't take that chance.

 

Sue

[bug_dan]

Just read an article where a woman went into a coma while on a cruise, subsequently died, but the cost for the medical service on the ship was $30,000, This amount was charged to her credit card. Luckily she had insurance which covered the $30k, but it didn't cover the credit card charges for interest, penalties etc. The writer of the article said it would be a good idea to use a credit card that has medical insurance??? He didn't elaborate, but I suppose it might be something like credit cards that cover auto insurance for rental cars?? Anyone ever hear of such a credit card??

[larronry]

I know our credit card has trip cancellation insurance, but only for planes. I don't remember anything about trip medical expenses. I never thought of that. We don't travel with a credit card with a limit that high so we would have overage charges too.

 

So now my question is if you took out the insurance through the cruise line instead of your own would they not charge your credit card?

[bububr]

But when a horse when awry during a non ship sponsored excursion, I'm glad I bought the insurance.

 

While I used to ride a lot on vacations, this horse got spooked and when into a full run without me being able to stop it, when I did finally, it threw me. Breaking my pelvis im three places, my sacrum , and herniating a disk.

 

While I thought I only had minor injuries and stayed on the cruise, ( the infamous bleach cruise) when I returned home I could not walk and was in excruciating pain.

 

I had paid about 125.00 for the insurance.

 

My personal insurance covered almost everything, excpect the co-pays deductables, etc... Cruise care picked up after that covering EVERTHING my insurance did not.

 

Every 20.00 perscription and dr. visit co-pay, physical therapy, x-rays and mri's. travel expenses...etc. to the tune of about 2,500.00. I got a check in the mail 10 days after I filed my final claim.

 

So for all of my injuries I paid a total of 125.00 plus a 20 co-pay I forgot to send in. ( and of course my regular premium)

 

On that same trip a woman was walking in Mexico and fell into an open hole on the side walk, she lost her teeth and got banged up pretty bad. I don't know if she had insurance, but I hope she did because with ships doctor bills she would need it.

 

Accidents happen, and while our main insurance covers most of our needs, we forget about the co-pays and deductables, perscriptions, and office visits...they can add up quickly.

 

Dave:eek:

[CruiseQueen13]

I always use Tripinsurancestore - just purchased a Travelex policy to cover the 3 of us on our next cruise - it was $110 total for all 3 of us!

[maureenk]

There are a lot of other companies that offer trip insurance with more coverage at a lower cost. It pays to check them out. I was concerned with emergency medical evacuation and bought a policy very reasonably that provided $1M of coverage in that category, among lots of other coverages. You need to watch for exemptions for pre-existing conditions in policies as well, if that's an indivdual's concern. Consumer Reports recently reviewed travel insurance companies. As with everything, it pays to do your homework!

[CaroleSP]

We always purchase non-Celebrity insurance, due to the pre-existing condition issues. On some of the policies, the wording is unclear. You may have a condition, but if there has been no change in the condition, or meds, you're ok.

 

I opted not to purchase the insurance when I paid for my air a few months ago. The insurance was almost $500 and the air was a little over a thousand; final payment was not due until early July. Friends of ours did the same thing. Now, they may not be going. They can get their $900 deposit back, but the air has flown away........

 

We always make the purchase at the time of final payment; I hope we didn't make a mistake this time.

 

DH & I cruised with my mother and our friend 2 years ago. Both spent many hours in the ships hospital the first 2 days. Needless to say, the bills were over $1000 each. Eventually, all the money was recouped for both of them through their trip insurance. My mother had to wait for her rejections to arrive from Medicare before she was reimbursed. However, they both were delighted to get all those extra points on the Celebrity American Express cards that paid the room charges. So, they wound up with 3-4,000 points each, as the cards were giving triple points at that time. So, they actually got reimbursed and received cabin credit!

[larronry]

 

We always make the purchase at the time of final payment; I hope we didn't make a mistake this time.

Most of the plans seem to want you to purchase within a certain time frame of initial deposit.

 

One of the things that drives me crazy because if I go through the cruise line and I cancel before Oct 7 then I get all my money back including travel insurance. If I purchase my travel insurance elsewhere I get better coverage but don't get any of it back if I cancel before Oct 7 unless it is for a covered reason. Go figure. :confused:

[gillianrose]

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/travel/travel-insurance-5-07/overview/0507_travel_ov.htm?resultPageIndex=1&resultIndex=1&searchTerm=travel%20insurance

[WeRockChalkKU]

Good information here. Thanks.

[CaroleSP]

Most of the plans seem to want you to purchase within a certain time frame of initial deposit.

 

One of the things that drives me crazy because if I go through the cruise line and I cancel before Oct 7 then I get all my money back including travel insurance. If I purchase my travel insurance elsewhere I get better coverage but don't get any of it back if I cancel before Oct 7 unless it is for a covered reason. Go figure. :confused:

That's one of the reasons we don't purchase the insurance within the 14 days they request to get the waiver. We often book on board and then change to another cruise. The insurance would then be worthless. I'm buying my insurance tonight; final payment is due (I think) tomorrow.

[larronry]

But then the insurance won't cover certain things. And you are limited in what companies will sell you policies. Also, pre-existing conditions aren't covered.

 

If you are just going for trip cancellation insurance then that's fine. In my case I'll be traveling with a 2 year old who falls all over the place. Who is also an asthmatic (pre-existing condition) He hasn't broken anything... yet and hasn't needed hospitalization due to asthma... yet. My luck the ship will be the first time.

[smtcan]

We have typically been last minute travellers, and since our world wide medical coverage is part of my husband's company plan, we never bothered with trip cancellation or interruption policies. However, last year we booked a cruise to China several months ahead. Since we have elderly parents, we decided to take cancellation insurance in case anything happened to them and prevented us travelling.

 

On the second day of our cruise my husband suffered a heart attack. He was taken to hospital in Shanghai, where he received excellent care. After two weeks in hospital, we were accommodated in a hotel until he was fit to fly home. The health insurance sent a doctor to fly home with us and the cancellation insurance paid us for the twelve missed days of the cruise.

 

I don't know what the actual costs were, but between the two companies all worries were taken off my shoulders. I didn't see a bill, except for the hospital on the ship, which was billed to our credit card and promptly repaid by the insurance. They arranged our flights, transportation to the airport and even had a limo waiting to take us to our home. I can't imagine how I would have coped in China by myself!

 

I will never again travel without insurance. Luckily because our health insurance is on-going, not trip related, there is no exclusion of pre-existing conditions.

 

Sheila

[larronry]

Your lucky to have world wide coverage. That is very rare I believe. Most companies are cutting back on insurance coverage.