About Cruise Vacation Protection Plan - Is it worth buying?

[newmomtexas]

Have you ever bought the Protection Plan? Is it worth buying? Thank you!

[Soleil09]

What would you do if you had an unexpected medical expense that cost you 20,000? It's peace of mind, IMO.

[makeup face]

Yes

[Scooters]

Yes: Wife became ill just before our trip. Would have lost it all without the insurance. Do a search for my post.

[jabberman_76366]

I will not travel with out it! To use a air medical transport is very costly. For example a simple helicopter ride can be as much as 5,0000. Our health insurance will cover us out of the country. The odds of us using it are slim. However I will not risk doing without it!

[Tapi]

Have you ever bought the Protection Plan? Is it worth buying? Thank you!

 

100% WORTH IT!!

 

We were supposed to take a 7 night cruise last August, but my company cancelled my vacation week less than a month prior to our cruise. Thankfully, I had purchased insurance (not through Carnival, but from Travel Guard) which included a "Cancel for Work Reasons" clause.

 

I made the claim which involved getting a notarlized letter from my employer along with what seemed like TONS of paperwork, (credit card statements, invoices, copy of Carnival's penalty policies, etc). About a month and a half later, I received a FULL REFUND of the money that otherwise I would've lost for cancelling inside 30 days before my cruise!

[manmtnmike]

Have you ever bought the Protection Plan? Is it worth buying? Thank you!

 

Absolutely!!

Unfortunately, we've needed it 3 xs: father passed away in middle of first cruise... just flying out of Barbados was $1500!!, next, lost camera, and then broken tooth first day of B2B cruises. It was all covered.

 

On a recent cruise a passenger had to be medivac-ed from ship....cost could be 10s of thousands!!

 

For $150-200 for a 7 day trip...well worth it the peace of mind!

 

Try insuremytripdotcom, check out package coverage, we use travel guard:)but there are many others, if you call them they are very friendly and helpful!

 

Mike

[soozles]

If you're talking about the Carnival Vacation Protection Plan, then no, I don't buy that. It's overpriced, and doesn't cover airfare unless you book it through Carnival. But travel insurance, then I mostly get it. If I cruise in the winter, then I get it because of the possibility of flight delays. In the summer, I don't always get it because I'm stupid I guess, but I'm young, healthy, and don't take part in any risky shore excursions. That said, now that I cruise with my boyfriend, he insists on travel insurance so now I always get it. But you're better off getting the insurance from someone other than Carnival, you'll save a lot of money and have more coverage.

[Ken076]

Have you ever bought the Protection Plan? Is it worth buying? Thank you!

 

Trip Insurance is a very Good idea. The Cruiseline's Insurance is very pricey, has very low medical coverage and marginal MedEvac coverage. Especially if you're a younger cruiser you can get higher coverages and more benefits for a lower premium with the 3rd party Trip Insurance Policies like Travel Insured, CSA and TravelEx. If you're traveling with kids, look at TravelInsured and TravelEx who insure kids free with insured adults.

 

Checkout http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1303329 Post #7 for general info on Trip Insurance.

 

ken

[Barsnikel]

Never had it, and never needed it. That doesn't mean it's not a good idea to purchase. It just means I've never used it.

[lady_cruiser]

Cruise protection is useful even before you leave on the cruise. One year my sister was very close to serving on jury duty days before her cruise. And since it was a Federal Case there would be no excuses taken. We called our TA and found out that since both of us were were sharing a cabin and we both had bought the insurance we would have received a full refund if she was chosen to serve.

 

It was actually this close -

[newmomtexas]

Thank you all for the valuable information and your experience, which made it clear to me that I need to buy insurance.

My purpose to buy the insurance is to insure (1) any possible cancellation and (2) possible medical issue since we are travelling with two seniors and one toddler.

I didn't know I am able to buy insurance from a third party until I saw your posts. On the other hand, I heard that Carnival's insurance will cover any reason cancellation starting from 1/1/2011. So based upon your knowledge, shall I buy the insurance from Carnival or from other insurance company?

Please advise! Thank you!

[ricew001]

I bought Carnival's. And I think it's a good idea with your circumstances. My in-law's have had some major health issues and I just didn't want to take the risk.

Someone just posted today that she has to have surgery...and Princess nicely post poned her cruise because of her insurance.

 

I'm not a gambler and it's a risk I'm not willing to take...as Zac Brown Band says: There's no dollar sign on a piece of mind, this I come to know!

[tnincy]

have always bought it, never had to use....knock on wood.:D it's a good idea to have because you just never know when you may need it. now whether carnivals policy is right for you is questionable. you can go outside of carnival to get vacation insurance that will suit your needs.

[bluzchick]

If you're talking about the Carnival Vacation Protection Plan, then no, I don't buy that. It's overpriced, and doesn't cover airfare unless you book it through Carnival. But travel insurance, then I mostly get it. If I cruise in the winter, then I get it because of the possibility of flight delays. In the summer, I don't always get it because I'm stupid I guess, but I'm young, healthy, and don't take part in any risky shore excursions. That said, now that I cruise with my boyfriend, he insists on travel insurance so now I always get it. But you're better off getting the insurance from someone other than Carnival, you'll save a lot of money and have more coverage.

 

 

From the Carnival VP Policy directly:

 

Trip Interruption - unused, non-refundable land or sea expenses prepaid to Carnival Cruise Lines and/or the airfare paid, less the value of applied credit from an unused return travel ticket, to return home or rejoin the original Sea/Land Arrangements (limited to the cost of oneway

economy airfare by scheduled carrier, from the point of destination to the point of origin shown on the original travel tickets).Carnival will also reimburse you up to $100 per day, for reasonable additional accommodations and transportation expenses incurred to remain near a

covered traveling Immediate Family member or Traveling Companion who is hospitalized during Your Cruise Vacation.

[Electricflyer]

One word comes to mind: SPLENDOR !

[Ken076]

Thank you all for the valuable information and your experience, which made it clear to me that I need to buy insurance.

 

My purpose to buy the insurance is to insure (1) any possible cancellation and (2) possible medical issue since we are travelling with two seniors and one toddler.

 

I didn't know I am able to buy insurance from a third party until I saw your posts. On the other hand, I heard that Carnival's insurance will cover any reason cancellation starting from 1/1/2011. So based upon your knowledge, shall I buy the insurance from Carnival or from other insurance company?

 

Please advise! Thank you!

 

The Carnival Policy includes "Cancel for Any "reason" but be aware that this isn't a refund, it's a 75% future cruise credit. The Carnival Policy also includes cancellation for job loss and cancellation for Hurricane Warning and covers the non-refundable Early Saver Deposit if you're cancelling for a covered reason

 

You have to look at your personal circumstances and your concerns, and decide if these benefits might outweigh the lower price and the generally higher coverages (the Carnival policy has very low medical coverage) of the 3rd party policies (several of which include free insurance for kids). See the link in my post #9 in this thread for some general info.

 

ken

[newmomtexas]

Ken,

 

I read your post as well as the post you wrote for others regarding insurance. I went to insuremytripdotcom and got very general information. Basically what the web site quoated me is much cheaper than what Carnival can offer. The cancellation includes sickness (subject to doctor's letter). Although the medical insurance coverage is pretty low, I can pick a higher coverage by paying a little extra amount of money. So my question is: Is it too good to be true? Is the web site realiable? Do I miss anything here? Or is Carnival really over priced?

 

Any thoughts? Thanks!

[BlueJacketsFan1]

My wife and I have gotten it for all of our past four cruises and have it again for our up coming cruise. It is worth it to us, just in case something might happen. Some people say it is a waste of money. Well, I hope I waste my money on every cruise. Because that will hopefully mean that nothing bad has happened to us. Anything could happen during a cruise or on and island, and if you only use it once it would prove to be worth it.

[Kartgv]

Another advantage of 3rd party insurance - if by some chance a cruise goes "belly up" with no notice, as Renaissance did not too many years ago, you'll have a better chance of getting your money back.

[Wanna_Cruize]

Ken,

 

I read your post as well as the post you wrote for others regarding insurance. I went to insuremytripdotcom and got very general information. Basically what the web site quoated me is much cheaper than what Carnival can offer. The cancellation includes sickness (subject to doctor's letter). Although the medical insurance coverage is pretty low, I can pick a higher coverage by paying a little extra amount of money. So my question is: Is it too good to be true? Is the web site realiable? Do I miss anything here? Or is Carnival really over priced?

 

Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

The site I use to compare insurance companies is http://www.squaremouth.com/travel-insurance/index.pl

 

It allows you to compare policies side-by-side, and select the parameters that are most important to you. For instance, DH has diabetes and high blood pressure, so I always make sure that the policy I buy includes pre-existing conditions. Some policies only cover that if it is purchased prior to the final payment for the cruise. It makes it very easy to see where the better value is.

[Jen1000]

We buy travel insurance, not what the cruise line offers though.

 

Jen in SoCal

 

Have you ever bought the Protection Plan? Is it worth buying? Thank you!

[Ken076]

Ken,

 

I read your post as well as the post you wrote for others regarding insurance. I went to insuremytripdotcom and got very general information. Basically what the web site quoated me is much cheaper than what Carnival can offer. The cancellation includes sickness (subject to doctor's letter). Although the medical insurance coverage is pretty low, I can pick a higher coverage by paying a little extra amount of money. So my question is: Is it too good to be true? Is the web site realiable? Do I miss anything here? Or is Carnival really over priced?

 

Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

Yes - Carnival IS over-priced and the "3rd Party" insurance companies ARE reliable. You'll find that each Insurer's own Policies are priced the same at all sites including the Insurer's own site - I do my research and purchase direct from the insurer's sites. You'll find that all the policies are slightly different some offering features or higher coverages in some areas, that might be better for your specific situation/concerns, so it pays to compare the different policies.

 

If you're REALLY concerned about (1) included last-minute cancellation for a Hurricane warning, or (2) included cancellation for any reason (and can accept 75% coverage and a future cruise credit in lieu of refund, or (3) included coverage of non-refundable refund for Early Saver cancellation for covered reasons, the Cruiseline policy becomes more attractive - but you have to weigh that against higher premium, extremely low medical coverade, barely adequate MedEvac coverage, etc.

 

ken

 

ken

[4kids3dogs2cats&fish]

Never bought insurance. The chances of you getting sick or injured during that small amount of time of your life, before or during your cruise are very very small. But I am not old. If I was in my 60's, then I would start buying it. As for now, I've gone on approx. 20 cruises and have saved the cost of insurance every time and that adds up to big money.

[newmomtexas]

One more question - does a third party insurance company covers early saver cancellation? Thank you!