Hypothetically Speaking...Should Travel Insurance Be Purchased?

[I love my cat Licky]

Being as we are predicted to have an active hurricane season and I am set to sail in August, which is usually a fairly active time for hurricanes / tropical storms in the Atlantic, what would happen if there was a hurricane or tropical storm in the Ft. Lauderdale area and the ship couldn't sail or we couldn't get to the ship? Would I need travel insurance in this case?

 

Thanks,

 

Rita

[FinelyCruising]

Yes, IMHO...YMMV.

 

Rule of thumb is to purchase to cover losses that one could not manage without reimbursement to be whole or nearly whole.

[Route6A]

Yes. It's also a good idea to have it in case anyone in your party become ill and needs to be airlifted for medical treatment. I have seen this happen many times on cruises.

[cruisestitch]

Risk insurance is just that. You are gambling. It would likely cost you as much as $100,000 if you needed a medical evacuation and repatriation. It probably wouldn't be covered by your own insurance back home. How much are you willing to gamble? There are lots of other situations covered by trip insurance. What if your traveling companion took ill just before the trip? Could you afford to just eat the cost of the non-refundable fares and arrangements? There's lots to think about here.

[chicagogal]

Potential weather issues is only the beginning. Trip insurance covers so much more than that...

 

Illness of travelers or their families before or during the cruise

Death in family before or during the cruise

Lost baggage

Delayed baggage

Missed connections

Travel delays

Medical coverage

Emergency transport (We always, always get primary coverage and plenty of it, especially for more exotic cruise locales)

 

Plus lots more ...

Get the insurance.

(No, I'm not an insurance agent) :)

[joramrose]

Don't leave home without it!!

 

As a veteran traveller who has encountered all kinds of crises, I can tell you -- your insurance agent is a traveller's best friend, next to a good travel agent!

 

Ask your TA for recommendations on a good travel insurance program. Research them. Some are easier to get along with others.

But get stranded for one reason or another in a foreign port and your insurance representative will be your best friend, right there beside you to get you through it.

 

It just isn't worth the gamble.

 

 

 

[Tucker in Texas]

I've collected on cruise insurance (third party, not cruiseline) three times:

 

1) Camera lost/stolen. $200.

2) Ship blew up (Norway) cruise canceled Fare refunded by NCL but had non-refundable air. $600.

3) Ear wax build-up rendering me deaf as a post. Ship's charge to unplug it was $179.

 

None of the above were what I ever expected to collect on when I purchased it.

 

I've paid out more in insurance than I have collected but I was ready for the "big one" (MIL passing away, broken leg, medi-vac, etc.) All it would take would be something like that and I would be way ahead of what I have paid out over the years. Actually, I am happy not having to collect on it to be honest.

 

You just never know what can happen.

 

Tucker in Texas

[woodofpine]

You only need travel insurance to cover Real Problems. The hypothetical ones are never a problem! Their not covered.;)

[wwcruisers]

The ONE time we didn't have it was the one time we needed it! :(

[derf5585]

With all the money I spent on insurance I could have bought another cruise:mad:

[Sailing Grandma]

My DH always complained that we should never have started buying travel insurance. Then last February our flight to Hawaii was canceled due to the huge snow storms in the mid-Atlantic region. The insurance covered everything: cruise, airfare, precruise hotel. We were able to rebook the trip for May which we could not have done without the insurance.

[gold1953]

We collected 3 times . One time my mother passed away the day before we were to leave .. all money back . The second time the plane had just landed in Florida when MIL passed away ... all money back, included high airfair to return home. Third time hubby had ear infection on ship. All paid for.

Don't book without it!!!!. You don't actually need to buy it until the day the cruise costs start to become non- refundable. After that you can't get it. Of course the flights must be covered when booked.

[librarylady19]

I agree with all posters. You can't afford not to get the insurance. Think of how much you are spending on the vacation and its only a small %. I am a very healthy person but broken my elbow slipping on ice prior to a planned cruise and was able to get reimbursement for all costs (except the insurance of course).

[teajak]

I agree with all posters. You can't afford not to get the insurance. Think of how much you are spending on the vacation and its only a small %. I am a very healthy person but broken my elbow slipping on ice prior to a planned cruise and was able to get reimbursement for all costs (except the insurance of course).

What they all said!!!!!! (except Derf) Don't leave home without it.:eek:

[eddiesgal]

IMHO, absolutely!:)

[lorriv20]

Ditto from me! On our last cruise I saw a young man fall off of a rock at Horseshoe Bay and land HARD on is ankle/foot/leg. That night I saw him walking on the ship on crutches and some sort of cast. My first thought was "poor kid", my next thought was, " I hope that family had travel insurance".

[UKBayern]

I have seen so many things go wrong with people on vacation whilst working at the airport and at many hotels, that I would not advise anybody to go on holiday without insurance. And it is always unexpected, and very often something really silly.

[kitty9]

With the money I've been reimbursed for missed cruises, I've been able to take six more cruises.

 

I was scheduled to take a Seabourn cruise to South America, but two days before I was to depart for Buenos Aires, I was diagnosed with pneumonia and insurance reimbursed me the $15K for the cruise and airfare. Another time, I was scheduled to cruise two segments of Crystal's world cruise, starting in Sydney, and I had a severe asthma attack where I was hospitalized for three days, and missed the cruise. Insurance reimbursed me nearly $20K for the cruise and flights. When my mom fell and broke her hip on Millennium, we were reimbursed the $9000 for the 1/2 hour flight from Nassau to the Ft Lauderdale hospital.

 

FYI, once a storm is named and it's path predicted, you cannot purchase insurance hoping it will cover the event. For example, if Hurricane Zena is predicted to hit South Florida in 6 days, you will not be able to purchase insurance at that point and have it cover your cruise if canceled.

[Woobstr112G]

Being as we are predicted to have an active hurricane season and I am set to sail in August, which is usually a fairly active time for hurricanes / tropical storms in the Atlantic, what would happen if there was a hurricane or tropical storm in the Ft. Lauderdale area and the ship couldn't sail or we couldn't get to the ship? Would I need travel insurance in this case?

 

Thanks,

 

Rita

 

Never ever leave home without it.....:):):)

 

Bob

[navybankerteacher]

You should definitely have catastrophic coverage - the big one - such as evacuation. However, if you look at things logically, the insurance industry as a whole pays out substantially less than it takes in. The overhead costs of advertising, office space, and salaries must come off the top - then there has to be a profit figure (otherwise they would not be in business) -what is left to pay out claims has to be well less than the premiums collected. This means that the average customer pays more in premiums than he can expect to reap in claims. If you are less fortunate than the average, you will be ahead if you are insured; if you average, then no, if you are more fortunate than average, then certainly not.

 

If you bought insurance to cover every risk, with minimum deductible, (appliance extended warranties, all travel contingencies, multi-million dollar liability coverage, etc,) you would surely be protected -- but you would also surely be impoverished.

 

You should figure which risks you can cover yourself - for my part a cancelled cruise falls in this category. If I had purchased insurance for all risks in the past , I would no longer be able to cruise ever again. Of course, I insure for medevac - something which I might have to have but could not afford to pay for - but a cruise is something which I would miss, but which I can afford to lose.

 

In short - insure against those risks which you cannot afford, but accept those which you can.

[IslandThyme]

Travel insurance can be really confusing, especially when, as in the case of my husband, you have a serious illness. I really recommend thetripinsurancestore.com, where Steve walked me through the arduous details of all the "what ifs" imaginable and made sure that we had exactly what we needed. Having travel insurance seems vital, and having someone to help sort through the options is invaluable.

[derf5585]

Where can I buy Act of God insurance witch will cover everything. Because what isn't and act of God?

[shipshape sam]

Being as we are predicted to have an active hurricane season and I am set to sail in August, which is usually a fairly active time for hurricanes / tropical storms in the Atlantic, what would happen if there was a hurricane or tropical storm in the Ft. Lauderdale area and the ship couldn't sail or we couldn't get to the ship? Would I need travel insurance in this case?

 

Thanks,

 

Rita

 

Hypothetically, no if you are feeling lucky and want to self insure any losses you might have and yes if you are not feeling lucky and do not want to self insure any losses you might have.

 

Are you feeling lucky? We get it for all cruises other than a week-end cruise and hope to never use it for any reason!

 

Have a great trip! :)

[UKBayern]

You should definitely have catastrophic coverage - the big one - such as evacuation.

 

You should figure which risks you can cover yourself - for my part a cancelled cruise falls in this category. If I had purchased insurance for all risks in the past , I would no longer be able to cruise ever again. Of course, I insure for medevac - something which I might have to have but could not afford to pay for - but a cruise is something which I would miss, but which I can afford to lose.

 

In short - insure against those risks which you cannot afford, but accept those which you can.

 

And be savy what you need to insure. If you are a 70 year old retired male, there is no need to get out insurance where you can cancel your vacation in case you get pregnant or lose your job.....

[wwcruisers]

Where can I buy Act of God insurance witch will cover everything. Because what isn't and act of God?

 

Look under "force majeure" in the yellow pages! ;) :D