Trip Insurance

[cherbear711]

Hi

 

We're first time cruisers, and I have a question about trip insurance. We are wondering if buying medical as opposed to a package is a good idea. We are driving to the port (no air travel), no hotel costs, just parking at the port and the cruise. We're pretty inexperienced when it comes to all of this, so any advice will be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[uppitycats]

Hi

 

We're first time cruisers, and I have a question about trip insurance. We are wondering if buying medical as opposed to a package is a good idea. We are driving to the port (no air travel), no hotel costs, just parking at the port and the cruise. We're pretty inexperienced when it comes to all of this, so any advice will be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

You should first examine your current medical insurance to see what it covers. The biggest expense you could encounter (besides the loss of whatever you paid for the cruise itself) is if you became ill or injured on the cruise and needed to be medically evacuated, you're talking about anywhere from $30,000 or more for that. Most medical plans won't cover that, but you'd need to check to be sure.

 

And then the issue of whether you might need to interrupt your cruise and return home (because someone there died, or is ill and needs your attention, or...). You'd be responsible for flights, and you may or may not have the assets to cover that.

 

Trip insurance isn't mandatory, of course. Some folks who take the short quick cruises from nearby ports don't spend the money for the insurance and take the risk that all will go well, they'll drive there, cruise, drive home. And it happens regularly. So you might want to think about just how risk-adverse you are.

 

Have a great cruise!

[wwinfl91]

When we started getting cruise insurance because our new insurance we had to pay for ourself would not cover us outside the USA I looked at getting just medical but found it was about the same cost as getting full cruise insurance. As it turned out my wife had a medical emergency that required us to cancel a transatlantic cruise, air travel and hotel in Rome and the cruise insurance paid us back for everything.

 

Check the costs and also check what your insurance will cover outside the USA and then make the decision but IMHO get the total cruise insurance package just in case.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[6rugrats]

Now, I would never go on an expensive vacation without trip insurance. We've had to cancel two trips because of medical reasons, and because we purchased a policy that cost us less than $120 each time, we've received all our money back; well over $5000. Worth it to me.

 

Recommend you go to insuremytrip.com and compare policies. We always purchase our insurance through TravelGuard, and they've been easy to work with. Call the companies and speak with an agent to find what you may need.

 

Be aware that if you did not purchase insurance, usually within 15 days of when you put down the first deposit, you won't be covered for any pre-existing condition (though this can depend on the policy).