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questions on travel insurance vs. cruiseline insurance


CCJack
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I have a couple questions on travel insurance. I would like to book a Celebrity Cruise (Japan) well in advance (18 months)- however air cannot be booked with most airlines that far in advance. Typically I buy 3rd party travel insurance, but the Celebrity price for their insurance was very reasonable (Celebrity Care). My questions:

 

1) Could I buy celebrity cruisecare to cover the cruise and a separate 3rd party policy to cover air and any other non refundable. I would buy the celebrity cruisecare now (I assume there are advantages to buying right away such as pre existing condition waver etc.) , then purchase 3rd party insurance for the air at a later date. I know sometimes the travel insurance companies want to make sure you include all costs for the trip when you purchase the insurance. I am just wondering if it is an issue to have two policies for two sets of expenses. ( I roughly priced out the 2 options celebrity care + separate policy for air or 3rd party policy for everything and they are roughly the same premium.) 3rd party insurance is likely more comprehensive but likely I would have to guess on my air fare and other costs this far in advance.

 

2) I am wondering if I cancel my cruise reservation well in advance of payment due dates - if the celebrity cruisecare policy might be refunded - similar to a review period on a traditional insurance policy. I doubt it, I could not find anything on that in the Celebrity terms and conditions.

 

thanks.

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here is my feedback

https://www.archinsurancesolutions.com/coverage/Celebrity

 

Travel insurance benefits underwritten by Arch Insurance Company

 

 

  • Trip Interruption: up to total trip cost if you can't start or finish your cruise vacation because you're sick or hurt, there's a death in the family or another covered reason
  • Trip Delay: up to $500 for catch-up expenses
  • Accident Medical: up to $10,000 if you get hurt on your cruise vacation
  • Sickness Medical: up to $10,000 if you get sick on your cruise vacation
  • Emergency Medical Evacuation: up to $25,000 if you need emergency medical transportation
  • Baggage Protection: up to $1,500 if your bags are lost, stolen, or damaged
  • Bag Delay: up to $500 to buy necessary personal items if your bags are delayed

24/7 Worldwide Emergency Assistance, non-insurance services provided by On Call International

 

 

 

No mention of Pre-Existing conditions coverage

$10,000 Medical coverage

$25,000 Medical Evac coverage

* Does include Cancel For Any Reason

 

 

My Opinion Only

 

 

What you are proposing (Purchasing 2 different policies) is just going to complicate any matters concerning any claims and costing more in the long run. Can you imagine the fun you would have should a claim be required and Policy 1 says you have to submit to policy 2 first. Policy 2 says you have to get denial from policy 1 and Medicare, then Policy 2 denies so then you get to go back to policy1

The medical and evacuation coverages are too low, especially if your cruise is in Asia.

Trip Interruption is too low

Trip Delay is too low

 

 

I would recommend that you consider covering the entire trip to included Pre-Existing conditions under 1 3rd party policy.

You do have to cover ALL non refundable costs, however, you don't have to pay all the money up front.

You can pay to cover the deposit now,, then as you add hotel for pre-cruise, pay to cover that, then as you add air fare, pay to cover that. Just so long as it's all paid before you depart.

 

 

Consider looking at these brokers. Nice to have a broker you can work with should you have questions or need help filing a claim.

 

 

www.tripinsurancestore.com

www.insuremytrip.com

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Thank you for the response. I agree 2 policies could be tricky if a claim is required. I think I will do the 3rd party covering all. I was not aware you could add coverage as you pay more non refundables. I did try that once and the company added the costs but seemed put off by me asking. They suggested it was out of the ordinary request. Maybe it was just a poor customer rep. I will give it a try again. Thanks

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Thank you for the response. I agree 2 policies could be tricky if a claim is required. I think I will do the 3rd party covering all. I was not aware you could add coverage as you pay more non refundables. I did try that once and the company added the costs but seemed put off by me asking. They suggested it was out of the ordinary request. Maybe it was just a poor customer rep. I will give it a try again. Thanks

 

We handle everything (Travel Insured is usually the insurer) through Trip Insurance Store.

There's no need to deal with pot luck entry level phone rep at the insurer ;)

 

TIS will also answer more questions AND also help you compare coverages and costs from several vetted insurers.

(For example, for one trip, we used a different insurer, because it fit those needs much better.)

 

But CALL them. Do NOT rely upon the online policy summaries.

Insurance is definitely something where "the fine print" can really matter!

 

GC

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I use Travel Insured and buy it through USAA. I always insure just my non-refundable costs as I pay them. When I add more non—refundable costs, I simply call them and say I need to update my policy.

 

At my age, the cost is about $20per $500 of insurance after the initial fee. So, if you are paying out $750 but you are thinking about prepaying for an excursion that is another $200 per person, insure for $950 (or even $999) from the start. Fewer calls that way.

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But CALL them. Do NOT rely upon the online policy summaries.

Insurance is definitely something where "the fine print" can really matter!

 

GC

That's why we have all our insurance policys arranged by an insurance brooker.

They are specialized in that fine print.

 

We can always and i mean Always contact them in case of trouble or emergency.

 

They really would move heaven and earth to try to be of assistance

 

Don't know how common that is where you people live or are you mostly in direct contact with the company trough mail or phone

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here is my feedback

https://www.archinsurancesolutions.com/coverage/Celebrity

 

Travel insurance benefits underwritten by Arch Insurance Company

 

 

  • Trip Interruption: up to total trip cost if you can't start or finish your cruise vacation because you're sick or hurt, there's a death in the family or another covered reason
  • Trip Delay: up to $500 for catch-up expenses
  • Accident Medical: up to $10,000 if you get hurt on your cruise vacation
  • Sickness Medical: up to $10,000 if you get sick on your cruise vacation
  • Emergency Medical Evacuation: up to $25,000 if you need emergency medical transportation
  • Baggage Protection: up to $1,500 if your bags are lost, stolen, or damaged
  • Bag Delay: up to $500 to buy necessary personal items if your bags are delayed

24/7 Worldwide Emergency Assistance, non-insurance services provided by On Call International

 

 

 

No mention of Pre-Existing conditions coverage

$10,000 Medical coverage

$25,000 Medical Evac coverage

* Does include Cancel For Any Reason

 

 

My Opinion Only

 

 

What you are proposing (Purchasing 2 different policies) is just going to complicate any matters concerning any claims and costing more in the long run. Can you imagine the fun you would have should a claim be required and Policy 1 says you have to submit to policy 2 first. Policy 2 says you have to get denial from policy 1 and Medicare, then Policy 2 denies so then you get to go back to policy1

The medical and evacuation coverages are too low, especially if your cruise is in Asia.

Trip Interruption is too low

Trip Delay is too low

 

 

I would recommend that you consider covering the entire trip to included Pre-Existing conditions under 1 3rd party policy.

You do have to cover ALL non refundable costs, however, you don't have to pay all the money up front.

You can pay to cover the deposit now,, then as you add hotel for pre-cruise, pay to cover that, then as you add air fare, pay to cover that. Just so long as it's all paid before you depart.

 

 

Consider looking at these brokers. Nice to have a broker you can work with should you have questions or need help filing a claim.

 

 

www.tripinsurancestore.com

www.insuremytrip.com

Problem with this is that once you put down a deposit on Celebrity or any cruise line you have to get within 20 days of that booking with some policies and 180 days to cover pre-existing. This coverage through Celebrity is minimal if anything happens far from home. I'm going for more medical and evacuation even though I have the Celebrity Cruise Care. Never know.

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If I purchase through cruisline and I have to visit the infirmary on ship, do they bill to my cruise account and I have to pay upfront for services, then submit to insurance?

 

Thanks.

 

It would depend on the cruise line/policy. Bottom line is that you need to carefully read the policy (including fine print) to determine the benefits.

 

Hank

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thank you for all of the good replies.... I think I will go with a 3rd party travel insurance rather than the cruise line.

 

However, I have another question...

 

I have noticed that Nationwide travel insurance offers pre -existing condition waiver as well as cancel for any reason - with a insurance purchase date of before the final payment. This is different than most insurance that requires purchasing the insurance within a few weeks (or less) of first payment.

 

Is anyone familiar with this? Has Nationwide offered this for a long time and is it a stable requirement, or perhaps this is a promotion or something? Is there a chance if I wait could they change this policy, then it will be too late for me to get pre-existing condition waiver, etc.

 

I chatted with insuremytrip and they confirmed that Nationwide is the only company they deal with that offers this purchase date requirement.

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thank you for all of the good replies.... I think I will go with a 3rd party travel insurance rather than the cruise line.

 

However, I have another question...

 

I have noticed that Nationwide travel insurance offers pre -existing condition waiver as well as cancel for any reason - with a insurance purchase date of before the final payment. This is different than most insurance that requires purchasing the insurance within a few weeks (or less) of first payment.

 

Is anyone familiar with this? Has Nationwide offered this for a long time and is it a stable requirement, or perhaps this is a promotion or something? Is there a chance if I wait could they change this policy, then it will be too late for me to get pre-existing condition waiver, etc.

 

I chatted with insuremytrip and they confirmed that Nationwide is the only company they deal with that offers this purchase date requirement.

 

We've purchased this once, when we missed that window just after first payment/deposit. (We didn't really think we were going...!)

 

This was a few years ago, but at that time, the biggest difference was that CFAR (Cancel For Any Reason), which we need these days, was MUCH more expensive.

The maximum for medical might have been a bit less, but I'm not sure about that.

For us, the cost of the CFAR is a deal-breaker for us, vs. the Travel Insured policies we usually get.

 

We've relied upon

www.TripInsuranceStore.com

for this, and they've helped us compare, especially for our specific current needs.

 

For someone that misses that first deadline but still needs the coverage for pre-existing conditions, yup, this was the policy/company that we used.

 

RM

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