The Good, The Bad, The Ugly of RCI CruiseCare

[karen s]

I've never bought trip insurance before, but am now considering purchasing a policy for an upcoming cruise. Any information, experiences, and advice regarding RCI's trip insurance package greatly appreciated. A good deal or steer clear?

[ryano]

I've never bought trip insurance before, but am now considering purchasing a policy for an upcoming cruise. Any information, experiences, and advice regarding RCI's trip insurance package greatly appreciated. A good deal or steer clear?

 

Most here will tell you to buy it elsewhere.........I always purchase Cruise Care through RCI though. I find it covers everything I need and I like the cancel for any reason coverage. My health insurance covers me out of country though.

 

People say you can find much better coverage for cheaper elsewhere. I have no idea where they are looking because I have yet to find it.

[CENTEX CRUISER]

insuremytrip.com;)

[bigeagle12]

insuremytrip.com;)

 

ditto

[COMBOY]

I've never bought trip insurance before, but am now considering purchasing a policy for an upcoming cruise. Any information, experiences, and advice regarding RCI's trip insurance package greatly appreciated. A good deal or steer clear?

 

There are so many options when it comes to travel insurance that you really need to compare all policies and find the one that fit your needs. Buying traveling insurance is no different then buying homeowners & car insurance, etc. The cruise lines insurance may seem like a good deal until you find out it doesn't cover what you need and by then it's too late. I would agree it's best to buy a third party insurance and to find the best policy for you needs use http://www.insuremytrip.com. They also have a 800 number so you can speak to a live professional if you have questions. Here is an article on Cruisecritic regarding travel insurance:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=274

[emelvee]

People say you can find much better coverage for cheaper elsewhere. I have no idea where they are looking because I have yet to find it.

 

I've always found in cheaper through insuremytrip.com, as others have suggested. The "cancel for any reason" adds a fair amount though. This time, I decide just to have "cancel for work reasons" coverage, which was included in one policy that wasn't much more than others without that coverage.

 

I always purchase travel insurance for cruises, or anytime there is a significant portion of a vacation that is nonrefundable.

[39august]

Please be aware that if you purchase RCI/Celebrity Cruise Care, in order to have coverage for a pre-existing condition, the insureds must have had no change in medication(s) and no diagnotic tests done within the 60 days PRIOR to puchase of Cruise Care. For many (not all) other insurnace policies to cover pre-existing conditions, you must purchase the coverage within 10-14 days of initial cruise payment. Some policies do not covered pre-existing conditions at all. And CSA offeres a policy that will cover pre-existing conditions provided the coverage is purchased before or within 24 hours of final payment, and that the insureds are fit to travel on the purchase date.

[endymion6942]

Here is a thread from earlier this year dealing with subject.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=32826458#post32826458

 

You might find it helpful. You will see a few posts from me. I really suggest you read through it.

[Scotty G]

I've never bought trip insurance before, but am now considering purchasing a policy for an upcoming cruise. Any information, experiences, and advice regarding RCI's trip insurance package greatly appreciated. A good deal or steer clear?

USAA has it. If you are a customer check their website. We have no experience despite being customers. We use our TA offered insurance. We have had to cancel last minute for medical reasons and received all our money back less the cost of the insurance.

[Baseball fan]

I use insuremytrip dot com. Depending on where I am traveling to, I buy coverage accordingly. As my parents get older, I always make sure they cover pre-existing conditions if I purchase my insurance within 14 days of initial deposit (that is fairly standard timing). I also look at the trip delay and lost luggage coverage although I always carry one change of clothes in my carryon. This next cruise we are on, I purchased it from my travel agency, big box club, and their coverage was great (and a lot less expensive).

 

Luckily I have never needed it but I always buy it....I'd rather lose the cost of the insurance than the total cost of the vacation.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Since the OP asked specifically about cruise care, I will give her our first hand experience.

 

We always take cruise care, used it a few times with absolute flawless claims.

 

Firs time was for medical, DH saw the ships doctor, normal procedure is to be billed to your sea pass.

 

Fast foreword to getting home and making a claim. Followed normal guidelines of filing with your own medical insurance and get an explanation of benefits. Ours was denied because it was out of network, we knew that ahead of time, but was just following the policy of filing claims. Then we submitted the explanation of benefits to cruise care and the entire amount was refunded to us with no questions asked. Simple and fast!

 

Second time was trip delay due to the ship turning around to Honolulu for a medical emergency. This caused us to be delayed in arriving back in SD. We had to change our flights and get a hotel. That was fully covered along with cab fare and food. Again a fast and simple claim.

 

You are wise to get insurance no matter what company you go through, I just wanted to give you our personal experience with cruise care, we won't cruise with out it! ;)

 

***

[Greek50]

Four years ago we cancelled a cruise VERY last minute for our family of six-the speed and ease of our $30,000 plus reimbursement thru RCCL (including airfare not booked thru RCCL) was beyond my expectations-given the grief we were already dealing with that caused the cancellation of the trip it was so nice to have something go right. If I recall all we had to do was provide a short letter from the doctor stating my son's diagnosis and copies of our airline ticket receipts. It was so simple and quick. Berkeley (RCCL insurance company) was a joy to deal with! Yes insurance can be obtained that costs less but we have continued to use RCCL's Cruisecare since we had such a favorable experience. Good luck in your decision process.

[KuffMUp]

In 2009, we were booked on AOS out of San Juan and had always gotten trip insurance because DH gets chest pains. So we were looking forward to our B2B in a OS. 4 months before the cruise - and everything booked and paid for - my blood pressure takes a dump and I passed out striking my eye on the corner of the counter rupturing it :eek:. Yes it hurt :mad:.

 

So a couple of months later, my retina is becoming detached again so they perform a 4th surgery and put a gas bubble in. Bad deal is I can't fly with a gas bubble. We do the math and figure out that it should be dissipated. Then 1 week before we are set to leave, the retina is becoming detatched yet again. The doctors gave me a choice but at the time I was trying to save my eyesight - which never materialized - so I go ahead with the surgery. Can't fly. No way to get to the port. Not like we can drive or take a train to San Juan.

 

So, the trip for everything was a little over $10,000:eek:. I submitted the paperwork and got every penny back. Looking at it now, no pun intended, we should have postponed the surgery and just went. It was all paid for. But it turns out probably was best anyway because a month later, my husband lost his job of 22 years when they closed the mill he worked at so the $10G came in handy.

[knittinggirl]

We also canceled our cruise at the last minute, and got everything refunded. On our very first cruise, we were about eight hours late arriving back to port. We got a suite in the Hilton and meal vouchers and they also rebooked our flight. That was all on Royal's insurance. With Travel Guard, the airline lost our luggage. Travel Guard, American Airlines and Princess were all looking for it. It didn't arrive at the hotel, but it did arrive in our stateroom a day later. Travel Guard wouldn't reimburse anything until we tried first with American Airlines. As it turned out, we only had a few long distance phone call charges, so we didn't bother. We also have the Medjet Assist evacuation insurance.

[Mickeymouse22]

We just returned from a 9 day cruise on the Explorer. When we checked in at the pier we checked in 4 bags. We only had three delivered to our cabin. The last bag never materialized. It unfortunately included most of our good dress clothes (tux, gowns, suit, etc). I filled out a form on board and also had to provide them with a list of what was in the bag and an approximate $ value. Hopefully the insurance I purchased thru Royal will cover this. I believe the contract says they will reimburse you up to $1500. If no receipts then 80% of the estimated value.

 

Has anyone ever had this happen to them?

 

Fred

[avazah]

I am glad that others have had positive experiences with the cruise insurance through RCI. I have researched other travel insurance, but price-wise for us it doesn't seem to be all that much cheaper. Not to mention running the risk of getting a policy that would be a pain in the butt to deal with!

[JohninDC]

I've never bought trip insurance before, but am now considering purchasing a policy for an upcoming cruise. Any information, experiences, and advice regarding RCI's trip insurance package greatly appreciated. A good deal or steer clear?

 

Based upon your USAF logo you may be able to find better coverage for less money through USAA -- that's where we've been buying our trip insurance from for years! Good luck!

[DROOPALONG]

I will never, ever travel again without insurance. My wife and I were on a cruise a few years back and had to be taken off the ship in Tortola. We did not have the insurance and had to pay out of pocket for everything. She was in the hosp. for a week and I lived out of a hotel for a week, not at all fun. Needless to say, it was a very, very expensive vaction.

I always thought those things could never happen to us but, they did.

GET THE INSURANCE.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

I will never, ever travel again without insurance. My wife and I were on a cruise a few years back and had to be taken off the ship in Tortola. We did not have the insurance and had to pay out of pocket for everything. She was in the hosp. for a week and I lived out of a hotel for a week, not at all fun. Needless to say, it was a very, very expensive vaction.

I always thought those things could never happen to us but, they did.

GET THE INSURANCE.

 

 

 

Your story is a great testament of it will never happen to me. :eek:

Sooner or later it will happen and unfortunately it did and you paid the price.

 

Like you we never cruise without it!!!!!! ;) ITA...get insurance!

 

***

[Cheryl H]

We usually do insuremytrip.com. I'm curious though for the ones that bought the RCCL cruise care....so if they refunded the air that you hadn't purchased from RCCL.....at some point, did you have to add the flight cost to the policy? and did they charge more for the policy then?

 

We purchased insurance for this last cruise and I wanted to just insure the cruise portion, but we were told it had to be the entire trip cost or we would lose the pre-existing condition waiver. So I called them back after we did airfare and added that cost onto the trip and paid more premium.

 

So if you book a cruise and the cruise care...and then months later book the air, did you have to call RCCL back to add the flight cost onto the cruise care?

 

Glad to hear that some of you were refunded 100% of your cancelled trip. I was thinking that only 80% would be refunded on most insurances. I wish I knew more about all of this.

[Kellie Poodle]

Insuremytrip is a good place to start. Once you have a list of a few companies you are interested in, check them out on the internet.

 

Look for a company with Primary coverage. Many companies, like CSA, for one, are secondary coverage and you may have to pay the bill and they will cover whatever is not reimbursed. Primary might cost more, but so does having a huge credit card bill you have to carry for several months.

 

Always call a potential insurance company and ask if they will pay the hospital bill if you are hospitalized in a foreign country where most of us don't have medical coverage. You don't want that bill on your own credit card.

 

TIP: If you need to buy insurance within a week or so of booking a cruise, call the company and ask if you can purchase coverage for their lowest trip amount. I use Travelex and I can buy a policy based on $5,000 (for 2) and then add to it as I get closer to the cruise. This helps when I have the information available for airfare, pre/post cruise hotels, pre-paid excursions, etc. So while you need to buy travel insurance for someone with a pre-existing condition, you don't have to pay the whole price when the trip is a long time away.

 

Evacuation: After a horrible experience in Europe, I now purchase a MedJet Assist policy. It is up to me and the physicians to determine if a patient can be medically evacuated. I have learned the hard way to never leave that determination up to the insurance company.

 

My personal advice: Avoid Travel Guard and Access America. I had horrible experiences with both.