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Travel insurance is there a policy that covers cruise and airfare?


MarkE
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We are planning a cruise for next June for our 50 anniversary and will be taking the family also. There will be 3 cabins and we will be flying from Florida to Seattle. Is there a travel insurance that covers cruise and air we are looking at the new NCL Bliss does there travel insurance cover both items. Any info on how to get this type of insurance will be appreciated.

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Consider using a third party for insurance - we always use Travelex to insure the full value of all prepaid/nonrefundable travel components of our trip. You can also compare several companies' policies and pricing at http://www.insuremytrip.com

Just be sure you're looking at more than the price as there are LOTS of different coverages out there.

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There are many options for trip insurance that will cover non refundable expenses - airfare, cruise fare, hotel etc. We have purchased insurance through the Trip Insurance Store. They offer lots of different policies and are very helpful if you prefer to speak with someone rather than shop online. They are mentioned frequently on the cruise critic boards.

 

Have also had a good experience with USAA. trip insurance. My son who is active duty AF purchased insurance through USAA and had to file a claim when he received orders to move to a new base during his upcoming cruise. He received a refund of the cruise fare once the claim paperwork was processed. No complaints with their handling of the claim.

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If you include the price of your non-refundable expenses, the insurance will cover it. I've even taken insurance out by a third party insurance company but hadn't purchased my airfare yet. They said, just call later and add it on and charges for the insurance would be added at that time.

 

If you purchase the insurance through Celebrity, which is thought by some to not cover all the expenses should you run into trouble, the cancellation for airfare is covered without paying anything extra over and above what you would pay for your cruise fare with a couple of stipulations. You must book your airfare through Choice Air, you must pay for the insurance prior to booking your airfare and it can only be canceled due to medical reasons or death. Even with that, you can still book your airfare that flies in early or leaves days after your cruise. So, while maybe not the best insurance product out there, it covers my needs so oftentimes, I just purchase this. And ... usually (not always) those with pre-existing conditions must purchase their insurance within 14 days of the booking if you cancel for this reason, but with the cruiseline insurance, it is not applicable. You may not get your money back but you can always apply the monies applied to a different cruise.

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I have always found a clause in cruise line insurance that basically says "if you bought thru us, our insurance will cover it, if you didn't buy it thru us, you are on your own."

So, if you book flights thru NCL, you may be covered. If not, check coverage with your VISA, MC, Amex, etc, or buy coverage thru a site mentioned by other posters.

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Also, its probably worth repeating, but don't forget, the price of the insurance is not refundable. What I mean by that is that people often forget to factor in the prices of insurance in the benefit of insurance. Lets say it costs $1500 to insure your $10,000 trip, and it even has a clause to cancel for any reason and get a refund of 75% of the cost. So you cancel and get $7,500 back, but you also have lost $1,500 for the insurance.

 

I'm not saying not to buy insurance, but there is really no benefit to purchasing it early. Until full payment is due and non-refundable, your biggest risk of lose will be the non-refundable price you paid for the insurance.

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We have a Policy named Cruise Zero Deductible, single trip Basic Cruise - Zero deductible for 16 days Eclipse Cruise $360 x 2 pax, full coverage purchase with TA, Its from a well known insurance provider.

It protects you from the non refundable, Lost baggage, medical protection, dead, etc.

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Also, its probably worth repeating, but don't forget, the price of the insurance is not refundable. What I mean by that is that people often forget to factor in the prices of insurance in the benefit of insurance. Lets say it costs $1500 to insure your $10,000 trip, and it even has a clause to cancel for any reason and get a refund of 75% of the cost. So you cancel and get $7,500 back, but you also have lost $1,500 for the insurance.

 

 

 

I'm not saying not to buy insurance, but there is really no benefit to purchasing it early. Until full payment is due and non-refundable, your biggest risk of lose will be the non-refundable price you paid for the insurance.

 

 

 

While that's true, I believe that for pre-existing conditions to be covered or to get 'cancel for any reason' coverage, it has to be purchased and trip insured in full within so many days of booking. So just something to keep in mind if you need those coverages.

 

 

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IMHO much more important than covering the cost of your cruise and airfare is to make sure you get medical insurance which includes transportation from a foreign port to your hometown (or at the very least back to the USA, or your home country). Remember that Medicare does not cover medical outside of the US. Given that you are talking about a 50 year anniversary I would be much more concerned about that. I can't speak to your individual situation, but many people cruising Celebrity can likely afford to absorb the loss of a cruise fare or airfare (not that they would want to, but could), but might be seriously financially challenged by a $50,000 foreign hospital bill and/or air transport back home. Those are serious potential losses which would be hard to absorb.

 

Be sure to read the fine print. Many policies provide some medical but will only transport you to the nearest adequate facility which could be in a country far from home.

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While that's true, I believe that for pre-existing conditions to be covered or to get 'cancel for any reason' coverage, it has to be purchased and trip insured in full within so many days of booking. So just something to keep in mind if you need those coverages.

 

 

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One thing I learned with the waiver requirements to purchase within x days of booking is that you only have to insure your non-refundable costs. So I generally only insure the deposit amount (even though that is refundable). Then the requirement is to call and increase the coverage whenever you add non-refundable components so I bump it up when I buy air or pay final payment ( you generally only have 14/21 days from these payments to make adjustments or you lose the waiver ).

 

 

Of course you need to confirm this with your insurance provider before purchasing and want pre-existing condition or cancel any reason waivers.

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I'm with Phoenix on the transportation to home coverage. Twice we been aboard when medical evacuations by helicopter were needed taking the patient to the nearest medical facility. Then there would be the return to home when able to travel. You're responsible for all those costs. It also covers a travelling companion. FYI: most medical coverage is secondary to your health insurance. The policy will cover what your health insurance doesn't pay up to the limits of the travel policy you chose.

 

We decided after that to get evacuation coverage. From there we choose the other things that are important to us and select a policy that is the closest to that. We go to Insuremytrip.com and use their compare tool.

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I'm not saying not to buy insurance, but there is really no benefit to purchasing it early. Until full payment is due and non-refundable, your biggest risk of lose will be the non-refundable price you paid for the insurance.

 

For most policies, you have to buy within XX number of days of the first reservation or booking on the trip to be covered for pre-existing conditions if you have medical included. For us, it is the medical coverage itself that is most valuable, and the trip interruption / cancellation is secondary.

 

Trip insurance with medical coverage is the second item I buy, within a day or two of my first deposit for the trip.

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We are planning a cruise for next June for our 50 anniversary and will be taking the family also. There will be 3 cabins and we will be flying from Florida to Seattle. Is there a travel insurance that covers cruise and air we are looking at the new NCL Bliss does there travel insurance cover both items. Any info on how to get this type of insurance will be appreciated.

We get travel insurance for cruise and air from a third party insurance. We got a claim paid for our cancelled flight after the cruise due to a snowstorm.

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For most policies, you have to buy within XX number of days of the first reservation or booking on the trip to be covered for pre-existing conditions if you have medical included.
That's one reason we went with Nationwide's Cruise Choice plan, which we purchased through insuremytrip.com. With that policy (and some others), the pre-existing conditions provisions are waived, "If insurance purchased prior to or on the day of Final Trip Payment," purchase insurance for the "full cost of Your Trip," and, "are medically able to travel," when you purchase the insurance.
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I just want to add something. I always thought if we covered everything on our insurance purchased through a 3rd party we would be covered. But it turns out you aren't covered for everything.

We had a cruise booked and purchased our airfare ourselves not though the cruise line. Then 6 months before the sailing the cruise line cancelled the cruise which was out of San Juan. With no cruise we didn't need the airfare. But guess what the insurance won't cover the airfare because the airline didn't cancel and the flight is still available to take.

Depending on the insurance they will pay up to $200 to cover the charge from the airlines to make a change. Our insurance would only pay $75 leaving us out $125 each. Luckily we found another cruise on a different cruise line at the same time and we were out nothing. I just never thought the airfare wouldn't be covered if the cruise line cancelled the cruise. I mean if there is no cruise why do you need to fly there. Always thought of them as package deal since they are all part of the same trip, but the insurance companies don't.

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I just never thought the airfare wouldn't be covered if the cruise line cancelled the cruise. I mean if there is no cruise why do you need to fly there. Always thought of them as package deal since they are all part of the same trip, but the insurance companies don't.

 

Yes, insurance won't cover unless they cancel the flight. We were stuck in Madrid Airport during the Northeast Blackout of 2003. JFK was shut down. We called to see if we should stay in Madrid and take a flight home in 2 days, but our TA said Insurance wouldn't cover it because our airline had not officially canceled the flight it was just delayed. We left Madrid 11 hours later after sitting in the airport all that time.

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For most policies, you have to buy within XX number of days of the first reservation or booking on the trip to be covered for pre-existing conditions if you have medical included. For us, it is the medical coverage itself that is most valuable, and the trip interruption / cancellation is secondary.

 

Trip insurance with medical coverage is the second item I buy, within a day or two of my first deposit for the trip.

=====================

 

Generali Travel Insurance (used to be CSA) has a plan that covers pre existing conditions right up to final deposit--meaning you are covered even if travel insurance is purchased at time of final payment to the cruise line.

 

However, that timing will not cover trip cancellation which has to be purchased close to original deposit to protect that investment. Given the poster is booking way in advance, trip cancellation for non refundables is a must.

 

Generali let us add non refundable flights later, when we purchased the air tickets. It was not on their website http://www.generalitravelinsurance.com but their Call Center added to our policy that covered our cruise. That way we did not need 2 policies.

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Also, its probably worth repeating, but don't forget, the price of the insurance is not refundable. What I mean by that is that people often forget to factor in the prices of insurance in the benefit of insurance. Lets say it costs $1500 to insure your $10,000 trip, and it even has a clause to cancel for any reason and get a refund of 75% of the cost. So you cancel and get $7,500 back, but you also have lost $1,500 for the insurance.

 

I'm not saying not to buy insurance, but there is really no benefit to purchasing it early. Until full payment is due and non-refundable, your biggest risk of lose will be the non-refundable price you paid for the insurance.

 

The risk is if you wait to purchase insurance you deal with pre-exsisting conditions. I just went over this with my TA today and she said to avoid any problems we need to do the insurance within 3 weeks of booking the cruise. Poster is talking about Norwegian, but do look at outside sources. I passed on the Celebrity insurance. Paying a few dollars less with an outside source, but getting so much more. Instead of $10,000 for medical and $25,000 for evacuation we get $100,000 for medical and $1 mil for evacuation. As we are a bit older, and I obsess about these things, this gives me greater comfort. But you are right, that is probably not refundable - unless my credit card picks it up.

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