Travel Insurance??

[galleygoddess]

So, fellow cruisers, what's the consensus on Cruise Insurance?? We've cruised twice and never thought of it. Now we're booked on CARNIVAL SPIRIT Feb 18th and are wondering if it's a good idea?? Maybe it's because we're off to Mexico??

[jleq]

Main question to ask yourself..."can I afford to spend/lose the money if the worst possible circumstance happens". If the answer is no, then buy the insurance. Many affordable policies at insuremytrip.vom

[galleygoddess]

Guess that's the correct inquiry!!

 

thanks!

[Captain Funtime]

I have not purchased it in the past so I have saved a lot of $$$. That being said...now that I am older I am considering it mainly in the event I had to be flown back to the US for a medical reason.

 

 

[KruznKel]

We always purchase insurance mainly for the trip interruption lost baggage etc. It is pretty inexpensive considering the alternative... I have used http://www.squaremouth.com (recommended from someone on CC) and insuremytrip as mentioned.

[rico]

We did not buy it on our first cruise, didn't think anything of it. We have bought it on every cruise since. Everyone is different, but our primary reasoning is this: 1) we cruise in January, from Minnesota. We like the insurance against weather delays. 2) My in-laws and my grandparents are all between 75 and 86 years old. We like knowing we're protected if something happens to them and we can't make the trip.

 

We're only 39 years old, so we're not too concerned about medical evacuation (maybe we're naive on that point). But it won't be long before our age catches up to us and that is a concern.

 

Everyone has a different financial situation and tolerance for risk, so no one can really answer the question for you. But the above are the factors that cause us to buy insurance for our cruises. I will also add my support for insuremytrip.com. We've used them exclusively for our policies.

[SATXLady]

I've bought travel insurance for all of my upcoming cruises, not so much because I can't afford to lose the cost of the cruise, but more so in case something happens that might require medical attention outside the US or medical evacuation. I first bought it for a trip I'm taking with my mother because I was concerned about something happening to her and I know her Medicare HMO won't cover it outside the US. And then I realized, I'm in my 50s and while fairly healthy. accidents happen. It was just a few weeks ago, a teenage girl on a cruise ship had to have an emergency appendectomy. Things could happen to anyone.

 

That said, I believe there are better options than the Carnival insurance. After researching costs and what was offered (lowest cost may not be best value), I decided to go with Travel Guard.

 

P.S. InsureMyTrip.com was one of the sources of information I used to compare various companies before I decided on Travel Guard.

[marcia014]

I have been on 6 cruises with my seventh in 2 1/2 weeks. I did not purchase insurance for the first 3 (as someone else stated - it never crossed my mind). The 4th cruise was to the Panama Canal and my then-TA recommended insurance for two primary reasons: 1) medical treatment and evacuation. If I needed medical treatment at sea, or in Central America, what are the chances the treatment would be covered by my PPO plan here in the states (pretty slim). 2) if baggage was delayed there would be several days at sea without the possibility of the baggage catching up with me so I would need to purchase additional items before the baggage was delivered and insurance would reimburse the cost. Since then, I have purchased insurance for each cruise for less than the cost of a pre-cruise hotel stay (which is just another form of insurance if you ask me). I also use insuremytrip.com

[cusyl]

When we were young and foolish we did not purchase it. Now that we are older and wiser we would not cruise without it.

Medivac from a ship is $25,000. Could you afford to pay that in an emergency?

[galleygoddess]

Well that really opened our eyes!!

Older and hopefully wiser, we'll get the insurance.

[sandysav]

hubby always made fun of me buying extra deluxe insurance until we got snowed in and missed a cruise once and the ONLY reason we got the entire amount back was due to the deluxe insurance. All our other credit card and work insurance said no way.

[fridaythe13th]

I have used Travel Guard and I'm using http://www.STAtravel.com this time as it is cheaper. $48 for any age up to 8 days of coverage. http://www.statravel.com/cps/rde/xchg/us_division_web_live/hs.xsl/travelinsurance.htm

[Sea Island Lady]

What about buying the air insurance portion of travel insurance?

[KruznKel]

What about buying the air insurance portion of travel insurance?

 

Most policies that I have researched include everything on different levels.. I myself.. don't look for medical as we are covered thru our workplace for that.. but I have not found any polices on the sites mentioned that exclude it.

[Christina M.]

I always get the insurance now just to be safe. My husband got sick and could not go on our honeymoon. We had no insurance so instead of being out $2,800 my mother in law went with me.

[woodey]

I always get the insurance now just to be safe. My husband got sick and could not go on our honeymoon. We had no insurance so instead of being out $2,800 my mother in law went with me.

Ouch Honeymoon with your Mother in Law....

[jleq]

What about buying the air insurance portion of travel insurance?

 

You an, should you wish. Since I include the airfare as part of the cost of the trip, I don'r buy seperate insurance for that purpose..as I'm already covered due to my using a credit card that includes insurance when i buy airfare

[soozles]

We usually always get travel insurance, I've done some extensive traveling (non cruise) and always got travel insurance, fortunatly, never needed it. My dad needed it once when he gat a large gash on his foot on a cruise, he ended up needing a few days of IV antibiotics from the onboard doctor. But, this cruise that I';m going on with a friend, we're leaving from our local port so we don't need to worry about the airlines losing our luggage, flight delays, or things like that. And I guess we fit into the young and foolish category, we're both in our 20's, in good health. Yes, I know, accidents happen, but I think we'll be alright.

 

Course, when I fly or go away for an extended period of time, I always get travel insurance. Never needed it, but wouldn't go without it when I'm gone for 3 weeks+.

[dianef]

I have also used StaTravel for my last couple of cruises.I have found them to be the cheapest and their coverage comparable.They do not charge by age,as the other insurance companies do,or the cost of the trip.They charge by the length of the treat,which can save people lots of money,especially if the book the higher priced cabins.Worth checking out.

[Angelica1973]

So, fellow cruisers, what's the consensus on Cruise Insurance?? We've cruised twice and never thought of it. Now we're booked on CARNIVAL SPIRIT Feb 18th and are wondering if it's a good idea?? Maybe it's because we're off to Mexico??

 

 

My husband and I were to head up to Alaska in Sept. The day before we left he was diagnosed with an infected gallbladder (stones). He had surgery the day of our cruise. I had to cancel, and yes we did have insurance. I received a cheque a few weeks after sending in all the paperwork. Now i'm looking to book again.

[MLAinVA]

We've always gotten insurance, but considered not buying it for a September 2007 cruise since we booked at nearly the last minute and live close enough to the port to drive easily in the same day. But our TA talked un into buying insurance anyway. While we were driving down to Canaveral that morning a neighbor called to say that my stepfather had had a heart attack and was on his way to the hospital. The next call we got was that he had passed. We cancelled and got a full refund. We'll continue to get insurance for cruises and notice that some airlines are offering it now with online bookings. Probably not a bad idea, either.

[klmorg]

Holy Moly... I am soooooooo glad I purchased travel insurance before our last cruise. We just returned from Miami, even tho we sailed out of FLL. Long story short...

 

Our family of four (me, hubby, 2 college age kiddies) were having a blast on our recent Carnival Liberty cruise. Then mid-cruise, my husband had a heart attack on the ship. The ship infirmary saved his life. He is a relatively healthy 47 year old. He WAS a smoker, which most have said is the biggest contributor to heart attacks. We were a few hours from Grand Cayman, so when we got there, an ambulance took him to Cayman Island hospital, then later air ambulanced him to Miami where he underwent surgery (stent).

 

He is fine and we just arrived home (7 days later than planned). I spent about $41.00 PP for the four of us on trip insurance thru insuremytrip.com. I don't know yet what everything has cost, including the air ambulance from GC to Miami, nor his Miami hospital & dr bills, which should be fully covered between primary insurance and trip insurance. So far, I spent over $13,000 out-of-pocket for medical (ship infirmary & GC hospital), Miami hotel, food, transportation (taxis, flights for kids to fly from GC to Miami), etc. which I will be reimbursed for with the travel insurance. My husband's expenses are all covered under the medical emergency part of the travel plan, and the kids and me are covered under the trip interruption portion.

 

The travel insurance people provided fantastic care and service during this entire ordeal, and took care of EVERYTHING. They even sent a nurse/oxygen with him on the flight home just to be safe. And the claim forms were waiting for us when we got home.

 

We never thought we'd really need the insurance, unless we had to cancel pre-cruise or something like that, but got it just to be on the safe side. So the $41 per person for travel insurance was the best investment I ever made!!!!!

[Christina M.]

Ouch Honeymoon with your Mother in Law....

My mother in law is cool she likes to party and have fun. Hated to lose the money. Final did our honeymoon May 2006 on the Elation.