Weigh in......travel insurance or no travel insurance?

[endymion6942]

and here's why.

My DW, and two teenage sons and I traveled from New Orleans to Rome in June,2011 The plan was 8 nights in Rome doing the ugly tourist thing followed by a 12 night Holy land cruise on the Mariner of the Seas.

When our plane landed in Rome,my speach was slurred and I could barely walk.

Turns out I had a stroke during the flight. I am currently 53 years of age.

Without being too longwinded, I spent 7 days in a Rome hospital. I had 2MRI's,catscans ,ultrasounds, cardo-dopler and you name it. IV's, drugs. I could not understand the language, so television was bad and the hospital food was terrible. However the medical care there was excellent. They ended up releasing me a day and a half before my cruise. The doctors would not clear me to fly for 2 weeks after my release. I did get cleared for the 12 night cruise by the doctors and the travel insurance company.

The travel insurance I purchased picked up 100% of my medical bill, the cost of two hotel days after the cruise, and the additional airfare for us to change flights. The travel insurance was prepared to pay the cost to re-patrioate me via boat if necessary.

 

In closing, BUY THE BEST TRAVEL INSURANCE YOU CAN. I DID AND STILL DO.

[sousak78]

By the time I set sail, I will have spent over $5k for this trip, and that's just for my own cruise fare, airfare, hotels and excursions. That, combined with traveling during hurricane season from a small dot in the Atlantic plus having an elderly grandfather that has been in and out of the hospital over the last few months means I'd be stupid not to get travel insurance for myself and the other family members I will be traveling with. A couple hundred bucks is nothing compared to the thousands I could lose if something unexpected happens.

[Cruzin-K]

I always buy it as well.

 

My first few cruises, I really didn't even know travel insurance existed, so I was blissfully ignorant :p

 

However, once I started really paying attention on CC, I learned a lot. I also have a couple of friends who missed planes, got sick on cruises, etc. and travel insurance made all the difference in out of pocket expenses.

 

I've never needed to file a claim, but the peace of mind is worth every penny spent on the insurance.

[maxxedout2]

Only Health and MedEvac coverage we buy. About $60 pp for 1 million dollars of coverage for the week...I just sleep better.

 

:cool::cool:

[14Terry]

We simply won't travel without it.

[kipd1]

In 1995 my father died just before leaving on a European cruise. My parents did not have travel insurance and even with a death certificate my mother was refused a refund. That was a $17,000 loss for her.

[teddie]

No...I consider myself self insured. I do have excellent medical coverage, and I can afford to eat the cost of a cruise. BTW, I do the same for every purchase, other than cars.

 

But King, are you prepared to shell out big big bucks for medical transport home? It can be a huge number. Stuff happens.

 

Teddie

[skayebs]

I have been purchasing my travel insurance 90 days out. I used to buy it when I booked the cruise but then I had to cancel one cruise prior to 90 days and could not get a refund on the travel insurance payment.

 

Sharon

[time4u2go]

None for us.

[Coralc]

LOL. :D This is a photo of the tree that split my Mom's house in half, shortly before we were to leave on Voyager in December: http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z78/plhunt2/Moms%20House%20and%20Tree%20Damage/MomsHouse12-3-2011011.jpg[/img]"]

 

I am still collecting insurance paperwork to file a claim with Cruise Care. We will see how it works out.

 

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z78/plhunt2/Moms%20House%20and%20Tree%20Damage/MomsHouse12-3-2011022.jpg[/img]"]

 

They don't actually specify how soon you have to file, and getting the structural engineering report has been difficult.

 

But anyway, travel insurance is a good thing to have for even sort of pricey vacations........you just never know what can happen. :rolleyes:

[Seatravelers]

We buy it each and everytime, period.

[Az's Cruising Nana]

Sudden illness and accidents have no age limits. We always travel with insurance.

 

Sue

[Nebr.cruiser]

We buy it, and we've had to use it three times for trips cancelled. Although it would hurt, we could afford to lose the price of the cruise, can't easily afford medi-evac or other catastrophic happenings.

 

So far we are about $18,000 ahead of not buying insurance.

 

I always buy it within the two-week period after booking the cruise.

 

Cost depends on your age and what coverage you need/want as well as the cost of your travel. I use Insure My Trip to compare policies.

[CVU]

Sudden illness and accidents have no age limits. We always travel with insurance.

 

Sue

We buy it for the whole year, as we have our DD and GDs in the US and we cruise as well.:D

[critterchick]

We have insurance that covers us internationally, including medevac from the ship if necessary (so they tell us, anyway). So we seldom buy travel insurance unless we are travelling to someplace that could cost us many thousands of dollars to travel home from for a family emergency.

 

My sister and I always take it and never had to use it until she had a mammogram last September (2011) that showed she had the early stages of breast cancer. We had to cancel out cruise because she would be starting the first of thirty-two radiation treatments the week we would have been on a cruise.

 

We never would have thought that this would happen to her since she was 64 and never was sick or spent a day in the hospital.

 

Unexpected things happen all the time and it is best to be prepared by hoping for the best but being prepared for the worst.

 

FYI - since her cancer was the early stages her oncologist is telling her that she can consider herself to be 98% cancer free.

 

LADIES - if you haven't done so please make an appointment to get a mammogram done as soon as possible.

 

Glad to hear that your sister is doing well. I'm rooting for 100% cancer-free at her next visit! :)

 

If you are buying an independent policy (not through the cruise line), then you must usually buy the policy within 14 days of initial deposit to get the pre-existing conditions waiver. If you are taking the cruise lines insurance (better than nothing), then it can be added up until when you make final payment.

 

And as I read it, the cruiseline insurance doesn't cover pre-existing conditions, whether the passengers or a family member. If you're buying insurance for that reason, it's best to look elsewhere IMO.

 

Only Health and MedEvac coverage we buy. About $60 pp for 1 million dollars of coverage for the week...I just sleep better.

 

:cool::cool:

 

Where do you find that coverage?

[snausman]

We buy insurance. Its just a piece of mind thing.

 

Laura

[benjoon]

We always buy travel insurance for overseas travel or if we are hiring a car.

 

Our first holiday we scratched the hire car and had to pay the excess. When we got home the insurance paid the money back.

 

I usually buy the insurance a week or two out from the trip. For a change a few years back I bought as soon as we booked our cruise. Not long after my Mother-in-law became gravely ill and we had to cancel. We didn't end up being out of pocket for anything. We even re-booked and the travel insurance was still current for that trip.

 

On another occasion flying into Miami from London we circled the airport for so long that we missed our connecting flight to Orlando. Even thou American Airlines organised our accomodation we had to pay up front for it all. Again returning home we retrieved all the money we had spent and lost on accomodation from the insurance company.

 

We are off travelling again soon and the insurance is fully paid. You just don't know what's around the corner.

[dirtgirl]

I won't put one pinky toe outside of Canada without travel insurance. I can't believe I used to. How stupid of me!! :eek:

[peteukmcr]

When travelling to the US it is recommended that we purchase travel insurance with medical cover of at least £10,000,000 ($15,000,000) due to the high cost of treatment there. Very few insurance policies will provide less than that amount as standard.

 

Included in our polices will be cover for travel delay, baggage loss, personal items, valuables, cancellation, curtailment, hospital stay benefit, money, passport, personal liability, personal accident, legal protection, hijack.

 

Many more options are available and necessary if you undertake winter sports or if you go diving, water skiing etc.

[Vikstar]

I am astounded that the question was even asked. I can't believe people travel without this (although maybe things are different in the US?) The Australian Govt travel advisory make us very aware "if you can't afford travel insurance, you can't afford to travel."

[Moeve]

Never travel without one - even have an annual plan that covers all our trips. They have just had to shell out over 2.500 USD to cover treatment for what was probably either Noro or a bout of some other viral stomach nasty coming off the Constellation

[mommabean]

I am astounded that the question was even asked. I can't believe people travel without this (although maybe things are different in the US?) The Australian Govt travel advisory make us very aware "if you can't afford travel insurance, you can't afford to travel."

 

In the USA many health plans cover medical in any country. We just need to file but that's the case with private travel insurance, too.

 

I haven't found a yearly travel policy that covers anything other than health do it would just end up being dual coverage. If someone knows of a yearly travel policy that covers travel interruption costs, I'd like to know about it.

 

 

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[believer33323]

What's the approximate cost of this insurance (based on what criteria)? What does it cover?

 

Price varies depending on the following criteria. Age, total trip cost, country you are from, country you are visiting, state you are from, dates you are traveling. These are the general questions they ask so I guess they are all taken into consideration.

[tutzig]

2 Years ago, we booked a cruise for the two of us, and had my mom scheduled to come down to watch our kids while we were gone. the day before our flight was to leave, I received a call that my mom was being take to the hospital with a extremely high heart rate.

 

I left work and drove up to PA to be with her at the hospital. n my way, I called the insurance company to see what exactly was needed IF I had to file a claim.

 

This added a piece of mind for us, knowing that if we had to cancel, or if we did go on the cruise, and something happened and we had to get back, we were covered.

 

In the end, she was ok.. And we made other arrangements for our kids.

 

We went on the cruise and everything was fine.

 

As everyone has said.. It is never a waste of money, but is a piece of mind.

 

As a TA, I have had several clients that have bought insurance, and used it.

[bus man]

Better to have it and not need it..than need it and not have it ;)

 

Totally agree.

 

Insurance is basically risk mitigation; you are paying a relatively small amount of money that, odds are, will be "wasted." But in so doing, you are protecting yourself against the very small chance of having to shell out a whole boatload of money. Whether or not it's worth the tradeoff depends on the degree to which you tolerate risk.

 

I will not criticize anyone who chooses to go without insurance; it's their money and their risk, and they can do what they please. But personally, I prefer to be covered.