Booked Princess Cruise Today and Have Insurance Question.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Hello everyone. I booked a cruise today for travel in about 8 months. My question is about travel insurance. What if someone had a small heart attack 3 months ago due to a blocked artery? All repairs have been made (stents) and everything is now fine. The only treatment since the event happened has been doctor appts and cardiac rehab. The cardiac rehab was completed last week. Would Princess Platinum cover the medical expenses if there was a problem at sea or in port? If the cruise was booked today, when do you need to buy the insurance? I doubt that anything like that would ever happen again but who really knows. Thank you so much for your help.

[cruiseco]

Hello everyone. I booked a cruise today for travel in about 8 months. My question is about travel insurance. What if someone had a small heart attack 3 months ago due to a blocked artery? All repairs have been made (stents) and everything is now fine. The only treatment since the event happened has been doctor appts and cardiac rehab. The cardiac rehab was completed last week. Would Princess Platinum cover the medical expenses if there was a problem at sea or in port? If the cruise was booked today, when do you need to buy the insurance? I doubt that anything like that would ever happen again but who really knows. Thank you so much for your help.

 

The Princess plan defines a pre-existing medical condition as one requiring treatment in the 60 day period prior to purchasing the policy. This person was treated (cardiac rehab) as recently as a week ago. So if this person bought a policy today and subsequently needed medical help during the trip for something that could be reasonably traced back to the heart condition there would be no coverage.

 

Twp options:

 

1) Wait until there's been more than 60 days since the last rehab treatment to buy the Princess plan (can usually be bought up until the final payment date of the cruise) or;

 

2) Buy a third-party plan that would cover this right now (as most will if you qualify for their pre-existing condition waiver) as long as the doctor will certify that there are no restrictions on travel as of the date of purchase.

[mellerswa]

Hello everyone. I booked a cruise today for travel in about 8 months. My question is about travel insurance. What if someone had a small heart attack 3 months ago due to a blocked artery? All repairs have been made (stents) and everything is now fine. The only treatment since the event happened has been doctor appts and cardiac rehab. The cardiac rehab was completed last week. Would Princess Platinum cover the medical expenses if there was a problem at sea or in port? If the cruise was booked today, when do you need to buy the insurance? I doubt that anything like that would ever happen again but who really knows. Thank you so much for your help.

 

I would not use Princess Platinum--they do not cover pre-existing conditions. If the cruise is booked today, I would recommend purchasing your insurance within 14 days of today--many policies will cover pre-existing conditions at this point. My husband also has stents, and we always do this. We've been pretty pleased with TravelInsured World Protector, but there are other good policies. If you have kids, TravelInsured World Protector is nice because they insure children free.

[sirwired]

Just about any plan that offers a pre-ex waiver in return for prompt policy purchase will do just fine. Just about all the major 3rd-party providers offer this.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Thank you all for your help. I haven't had time to work on this so I'm still trying to decide what to do. It takes me forever :o to make a decision. I hope to finish this up by today or tomorrow. Is it possible to book a cruise direct with a cruiseline and then buy the insurance from the autoclub or costco? Thanks again!

[cruiseco]

Is it possible to book a cruise direct with a cruiseline and then buy the insurance from the autoclub or costco? Thanks again!

 

Probably yes with AAA but probably not with Costco. But call them and see.

 

The insurers will often design a plan with special features and pricing specifically for an agency like Costco. But they'll usually make it available only to those that book their travel arrangements from that agency. They don't want the other agencies they deal with complaining that they're losing insurance sales (and revenue) to these large discounters.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Probably yes with AAA but probably not with Costco. But call them and see.

 

The insurers will often design a plan with special features and pricing specifically for an agency like Costco. But they'll usually make it available only to those that book their travel arrangements from that agency. They don't want the other agencies they deal with complaining that they're losing insurance sales (and revenue) to these large discounters.

 

Looks like it will be AAA. I'm looking at Allianz and I hope it's a good plan. I usually just go with the cruiseline insurance. Thank you so much for your help.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

I would not use Princess Platinum--they do not cover pre-existing conditions. If the cruise is booked today, I would recommend purchasing your insurance within 14 days of today--many policies will cover pre-existing conditions at this point. My husband also has stents, and we always do this. We've been pretty pleased with TravelInsured World Protector, but there are other good policies. If you have kids, TravelInsured World Protector is nice because they insure children free.

 

I found a policy that will cover pre-existing conditions. Thank you so much for your help. I never knew that having stents could cause so many problems:(

[mellerswa]

I found a policy that will cover pre-existing conditions. Thank you so much for your help. I never knew that having stents could cause so many problems:(

 

Glad to be of help--it does change things, it's true. However, my husband was never as relaxed as he was on his last cruise vacation.

 

You will also want to be careful when it comes to general medical insurance--until the final provisions of the Affordable Care Act come into play, in 2014, you want to make sure you keep your employee medical insurance or COBRA. Until that time, your husband can be denied health insurance because of pre-existing condtions.

[thinfool]

Hello everyone. I booked a cruise today for travel in about 8 months. My question is about travel insurance. What if someone had a small heart attack 3 months ago due to a blocked artery? All repairs have been made (stents) and everything is now fine. The only treatment since the event happened has been doctor appts and cardiac rehab. The cardiac rehab was completed last week. Would Princess Platinum cover the medical expenses if there was a problem at sea or in port? If the cruise was booked today, when do you need to buy the insurance? I doubt that anything like that would ever happen again but who really knows. Thank you so much for your help.

 

Did you have insurance to cover these procedures?

 

If yes, will it continue to cover you outside the US?

 

Some do, some dont...you have to ask. Medicare does not. My Blue Cross does, but other Blue Cross do not.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Did you have insurance to cover these procedures?

 

If yes, will it continue to cover you outside the US?

 

Some do, some dont...you have to ask. Medicare does not. My Blue Cross does, but other Blue Cross do not.

 

Yes, I do have health insurance so I really just worry about being out at sea and having a problem. I called and they sent info about filing a claim for received care out of the US but they never stated what the coverage was. I need to call them again.

 

I always worry about the what if...(insert something to worry about here :o). This is a California Coastal cruise so won't be out of the US that much. I really don't expect anything to ever happen again, just want to be ready if it ever did.