Trip Insurance Newbie

Hi,

I booked our cruise today and the final payment is due in a month. The travelers are my very senior father, my husband and me, and our 3 nearly adult children (one is under 18). We are splitting up between 2 cabins. My father is in good health and has no travel restrictions. I have never bought travel insurance before but for this trip, I want to be able to cancel due to illness or death.

I actually bought a policy through the TA, CSA, but all the reviews I have read are that CSA is horrible. So, I am following the advice on this board about getting quotes from different sites, etc. I have a couple questions that would help me understand what I'm reading. I understand this is not legal advice. Can someone explain the pre-existing conditions part? If my dad had heart issues in the past, and he has some sort of issue in the weeks before the trip which would prevent him from cruising, would the cancellation be covered if I buy the policy before the final payment date?

Also, do we all need trip insurance or just get it for one of the cabins, since we are all "family" members, so if one of us has an event could we use that event to cancel both cabins (say I can't travel due to an unforeseen illness, and my husband has the policy, then he and my dad and my kids and my could all cancel due my illness)?

I guess my biggest concern is if I have to cancel so that's where my focus is.

Anyone know how pre-existing conditions work and who has to have the coverage if we have to cancel?

Anything else that I need to think about?

Thanks!!

Hi,

I booked our cruise today and the final payment is due in a month. The travelers are my very senior father, my husband and me, and our 3 nearly adult children (one is under 18). We are splitting up between 2 cabins. My father is in good health and has no travel restrictions. I have never bought travel insurance before but for this trip, I want to be able to cancel due to illness or death.

I actually bought a policy through the TA, CSA, but all the reviews I have read are that CSA is horrible. So, I am following the advice on this board about getting quotes from different sites, etc. I have a couple questions that would help me understand what I'm reading. I understand this is not legal advice. Can someone explain the pre-existing conditions part? If my dad had heart issues in the past, and he has some sort of issue in the weeks before the trip which would prevent him from cruising, would the cancellation be covered if I buy the policy before the final payment date?

Also, do we all need trip insurance or just get it for one of the cabins, since we are all "family" members, so if one of us has an event could we use that event to cancel both cabins (say I can't travel due to an unforeseen illness, and my husband has the policy, then he and my dad and my kids and my could all cancel due my illness)?

I guess my biggest concern is if I have to cancel so that's where my focus is.

Anyone know how pre-existing conditions work and who has to have the coverage if we have to cancel?

Anything else that I need to think about?

Thanks!!

Welcome to CruiseCritic.

If you just booked today (your very first payment?), then you have a nice selection of insurance choices.

We'd strongly suggest that you contact

www.TripInsuranceStore.com

You can read the policy summaries briefly, but please CALL them and explain your family and your concerns. (There is so much more than can be captured in the summaries, plus the reps can ask you some leading questions to help with a better insurance match.)

They are travel insurance brokers (but the insurers pay the commission, not the travelers).

We've had *excellent* service from Travel Insured, whose policies we purchased through TripInsuranceStore.

That includes a couple of large claims, paid with no nonsense.

The pre-existing conditions should NOT be any problem if you purchase the insurance within something like 10-20 days of the *first* payment.

Our TI policies allow 20 days.

However, anyone insured must be -> able to travel on the day the insurance is started, so we usually get it going the day we make the deposit.

Ask them specifically about what would/would not be covered if you insure some of you, but not all of you.

Typically, all family members or those traveling together would be able to leave with someone who is sick, but -->> you should ASK specifically about this. (We have a similar 3 generation trip recently booked, and we had the same questions :) )

IF someone gets sick before the cruise and cannot travel for medical reasons, you'd need a letter from the physician, dated when that determination was made. (For ANY medical claim, a letter from a physician is needed, even if it is overseas. It could be from the ship's doctor, probably, but if someone got that sick on board, they'd be transferred, by medevac or by ambulance at a port. That latter happened to DH, but we were very lucky, and we were able to continue with the cruise, although we had to think long and hard about that...)

Hope you all enjoy your cruise together!

GC

Thank you very much!