Travel insurance - is it worth it?

[pappy3393]

I am a novice traveller and this is our first cruise. When I first saw the cost of travel insurance, I was shocked. Should I get travel insurance for my Alaska cruise? If so, where can I get the best rates and coverage? What does it cover? What doesn't it cover?

[Mike2131]

I am a novice traveller and this is our first cruise. When I first saw the cost of travel insurance, I was shocked. Should I get travel insurance for my Alaska cruise? If so, where can I get the best rates and coverage? What does it cover? What doesn't it cover?

Hi!

There are several types of insurance available - through the cruise line and usually an independent policy (often Mutual of Omaha or Travelguard) through your TA. From there, they have different levels of coverage and items that are covered (luggage, trip delay, trip cancellation, medical coverage, emergency transportation, etc.). In addition, there will be certain things that might be covered by your homeowner's policy (theft, etc.).

 

Is the cost worth it? I have travelled extensively (both with and without it) and fortuantely have never had an instance to need it. If there is a foreseeable event that could impact your trip, you might consider it. I would suggest a lot of homework before you make the decision.

[Host Caroline]

I would never never never spend the amount of money I do on a cruise and not the extra 39-89 to insure it... if you go to http://www.insuremytrip.com you can compare diff. policies and see what "fits" for you.. A few things to note:

1. If you have a pre-existing condition that could cause you to have to cancel a trip or if your travel companion/wife/hubby does, the companies that cover this require you to purchase the insurance within 7-14 days of deposit (not final payment).. IF you have a pre-existing condition that could flare up, get hte insurance and get it in time

2. If one of your children breaks a leg the day before you are to leave, a parent gets sick or there is a death in the family and you don't have insurance you are probably out of luck. It's called peace of mind.

3. If you're stranded by inclimate weather, luggage is lost, you have serious accident or medical condition requiring medivac or something, this insurance will cover it in 99% of cases.

If it's a 3-4 night cruise costing 299 or something, it may not be worth it.. but for Alaska I imagine most of you even if you can drive to port are paying at least 800 pp for the trip, probably more.. Some of these policies are not that expensive.. go to the insuremytrip site and check them out. The cruise lines offer diff. policies and their costs are higher.. Princess for example gives you 'cruise credit' of 75-90% I believe if you cancel to use on future cruise, not your money back...

 

It's a little "homework" but the policies are pretty clear cut and easy to understand...

[GoBucks04]

We are definetly purchasing trip insurance for our group of 11-2 days before my sister in law's European cruise, one of her kids DID break is leg. They did NOT have insurance and lost a lot of money!! Luckily Grandma stayed with the child and the rest still went. I'm clueless on insurance and would have just booked through the ship. This site has some inexpensive (savings of over 300 for our group.)Who has used this site in the past and which company is best?? I only want something in case we have to cancel because someone gets hurt or a death in the family.

[Coral]

Always!

 

Not only is the insurance if you get sick but what happens if your mom needs bypass surgery the week of your trip. This happened to me and I received a full refund of the trip.

 

I can afford to lose the cost of the trip but on one of my last cruises, a 20 year old girl fell and broke several things. She had to have a helicopter do an emergency evacuation from the ship. The helicopter alone can cost in the $25,000 range plus the medical expenses. I can't afford this so I buy insurance.

[laginog]

YES!!! We've used it twice already. Once to pay for a Single Supplement when Mom's friend couldn't go due to a Medical problem and once due to a Hurricane Delay to pay for hotel lodging and food expenses for 3 days. We would have been out quite a bit of money had we not taken the insurance. The "peace of mind" alone is worth the few extra dollars.

[Host Caroline]

I've used Travelguard and Global Alert from Insuremytrip.com.

Had to cancel once for medical problem and claim settled with no problems

[calmac]

For both our flights (United) and cruise (NCL) bookings we HAD to state which company our insurance cover was with (we live in the UK). We have an annual travel insurance policy which covers the family for travel worldwide - saves having to consider insurance each time you book a vacation.

[calee]

Several years ago I booked a cruise out of Los Angeles and for some reason took travel insurance for the first time after 20 or so cruises. Well I was hospitalized a few days prior to departure but was reimbursed for everything except a small hotel deposit in Vegas that I had arranged as a post cruise fling.Since then I always insure major trips especially now that I'm getting older. So, in answer to your question, like all insurance it's a waste of money........until you find yourself needing it and wishing that you had it.

[bill&marti]

My wife fell & broke an elbow 2 days before a cruise this past September. Travelgard settled in about 3 weeks. Had we not had the insurance we would have been out about $2500. When it doubt, buy it.

[vvaish]

If I buy an item over $500, I make sure it has a warranty, I can return it if defective, etc. With a cruise, I think of insurance as the warranty cost. I'm just a first-time cruiser but I can't imagine not buying insurance. Came to less than 5% of the cruise cost for me.

 

To minimize your premium, check out the websites suggested above and compare from different vendors. If you're a non-US citizen, you have no choice other than Patriot TRIP insurance (amongst US companies).

 

Typically, the premium is calculated per person. It depends on their age and cruise cost for each person. If you have younger people in your party, you can save on the premium by redistributing the cruise fare suitably.

 

cheers,

 

Vaibhav.

[GoBucks04]

I think I will do Travel Guard- That was one of the choices for the group insurance. Thank you for the tip-sorry you had to use it, but I wanted to be sure it works!!

[stephenandrew]

I have never purchased travel insurance---I personally think it is a poor value on an "actuarial basis" based on my own circumstances. My own opinion is that from a value perspective it ranks right up there with the insurance that rental car companies charge. For those who have purchased it and had the misfortune to use it, I have no doubt it saved them a lot of money--and that's great. Obviously, if you have a known pre-existing condition, are likely suseptible to falling ill, etc. then it becomes a better and more sensible purchase. I just think if you compare the cost of travel insurance to the cost of other types of insurance, e.g. life insurance, hazzard insurance, that it really is an expensive product.

[GoBucks04]

I think it totally necessary for our group of 11. You never know about 5 kids (daredevils boys) and 2 people older than 73. In my case it is a MUST-If it were just me and my husband, I probably wouldn't do it.

 

BTW, does it cover your flight as well if you add that cost in the total??

[calee]

Depending upon the policy that you select it will cover your flight and any associated problems resulting from your flight(delays,etc.). Go to the web sites noted above and read the specifics on some of the policies....some good info to be found there.

[ken_ll]

As stephenandrew puts it, "... I never purchased travel insurance...", neither do I. In my circumstance, I see little value. For those who purchase travel insurance and redeem on it, it is definitely worthwhile and it may provide peace of mind to all who did not make a claim.

 

When we travel and like many others we arrange to be in the port of departure one day early having made our own travel arrangements. Living in a cold climate with ice, snow and freezing rain and travelling in winter necessitates travelling at least one day before the ship leaves. In a sense, this is our own flight delay insurance. (I would follow the same regime if I took a summer-time cruise.) We have out-of-country medical insurance including repatriation for 40 days at a time to a set dollar limit from our employment. This in itself has reduced the need for additional/duplicated coverage. Many travellers may have similar from employment situations. I will reconsider my position in relation to policies/cost/benefits/exclusions/ limits to coverage/pre-existing conditions as I get older in relation to a higher risk of falling/failing health.

 

For those who book air and cruise through the cruiseline, I would suggest if you are flying on the cruise departure day (99% of the time?) from a distant point or in the winter and there is an air delay which prevents you from making the ship, without flight delay insurance I suspect you are on your own. Flight delay insurance I think is prudent in this situation.

 

Each person/group must consider their risk tolerance and their personal situations and then decide the need for any insurance.

 

(Edited to add - I happened to notice this post today where flight insurance is NOT flight insurance with RCCL on Dec 26/04, an eye opener, see http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=115949 ) Ken

[SEPyle]

Interesting discussion. We always get trip insurance. A Host Caroline mentioned-peace of mind. I'll also add-pretty cheap peace of mind!

 

I'm TA and I always mention trip insurance, but don't want to use scare tactics to illustrate how important it really is: I've had some real sad horror storries, when people lose the entire cost of a cruise vacation. Trust me, from then on they ALWAYS get insurance!

 

So remember, the posts that stated they feel there is no need to purchase insurance are from people who have never had reason to cancel. I especially recommend travel insurance for hurricane season travel and for people coming from areas prone to snow during the winter. Just last week we had a lady from Rochester NY. The weather was fine in Rochester (amazing in itself-I know, I grew up there). Her plane was cancelled because it was coming from somewhere else and was cancelled due to the weather. She couldn't get any other flight out...missed the ship...no vacation. Even w/o weather events we've had people miss cruises due to mechanical problems. In one case the airline delayed the flight assuring the passenger they would still be flying. By the time the airline cancelled the flight he couldn't find a flight on another airline. No cruise!

 

OK, enough. Sorry I bored you with the details. I really want do the same with clients however I don't want to be a hard sell with scare tactics.

 

Sharon

[firebuffgal]

I have only purchased travel insurance once and glad I did. While in Egypt, I got the lovely "mummy's curse" and couldn't leave my room therefor missing a tour of the Valley of the Kings. (So dissappointing). I filed the claim and basically received the amount that I paid for insurance plus the cost of medicine's I received on the trip. Not bad, I thought.

 

I SHOULD have purchased travel insurance when I planned our trip to the Cayman Islands last year. Both Hurricanes Frances and Ivan took a day off each end of thr trip. Most dissappointing. I would have rescheduled the trip had I the insurance. Don't know what I was thinking traveling down there during hurricane season (I'll blame it on hubby! ;) ).

[Happy ks]

We have purchased travel insurance for several cruises, but we make sure we get the bare minimum. Make sure you don't buy through the cruiseline, I've seen the cost as much as 3 times what we pay through insuremytrip.com. I also compare the policies to make sure I'm not duplicating what I already have through my employer/homeowners policies. My peace of mind actually comes from the fact that my flight will be covered and medivac will be covered. We can usually find insurance for the four of us for around $100-125 for a trip worth $5000.

 

If you cruise more than once a year, insuremytrip also has multiple trip coverage instead of single trip purchases.