Name that policy...Real Life Stories

[JCJR]

I have been on 9 cruises and this is the first time I am buying a policy. Chalk it up to being young and naive. Since I have been around many who have cruised and cruised my self I have seen and lived many close calls.

 

Tell me your real life story, if you had to use your insuarance (details) or if you had no insuarance what coverage would you need and how much.

 

Eventhough this is my first time buying insurance I strongly recommend purchasing as I have been rolling the dice and have been extremely lucky.

 

My closest call.

 

7 day cruise with my wife, 1.5 yr old and 3 yr old. Second room, my mom and sister. Day of cruise my 1.5 yr didn't look right, mother's intuition when we woke up around 7am. Since we live in the port city our plan was to be on the ship by noon. Wife panics and takes my son to emergency room around 9am hoping to get a prescription to make him feel better.

 

Doctors could not tell what was wrong with him, test results would take a while. Doctor recommends that we do not take the cruise as they don't know what is wrong. Spent couple hours then called our sons regular doctor. Went to a second clinic, no one can tell what's wrong with my son. Son was a little warm and wife can tell he is not well just by looking at him. It was an intermitten thing that he looked blah then fine, everyone agreed it was not life threatning or serious just a precaution. Around noon son looked fine.

 

2:00pm deciding what to do, no travel insuarance. I suggested every one go on the cruise and I wait behind with my son and catch up next day in Bahamas. I live in Miami and flight not that expensive. Family doesn't want to leave no one behind. I felt terrible to ruin my mom and sister's vacation.

 

3pm decide to go to Cruise terminal to make arrangements to meet ship in Bahamas, RCI person I was talking to said why don't we go on the cruise, Navigator of the Seas had 2 doctors, 3 nurses and 2 operating rooms and are equipped to handle most emergencies. The Ship was 4 months old at the time and RCI very proud of their medical facilities. 3:30 on my way to the port called everyone to meet at port and we will decide once my wife is assured the ship can handle a fever. Got to port and son looked better so we boarded. Last one to get on ship started boarding at 4:30 for 5pm departure.

 

Son was fine but during dinner around 8:30 he started to look a little pale and straight to the ship's doctor we went. Everyone nervous started to second guess our decision. This was around 12 yrs ago and I will never forgot Sven (Ship's doctor). One look at my son and he said "how long has he had asthma?" we were surprised, he didn't have asthma we said. Sven started rattling symptoms and my wife kept answering yes to all his questions. Don't recall what he prescribed (wife knows the details) but son looked and felt better instantly.

 

Eventhough my wife took my son to the doctors as a precaution in the first place as we were about to commit to a 7 day sailing, you can never be sure about anything in life. That is what insurance is for.

[Suzanne123]

Insurance is one of those things you buy but hope you never use. In any case, I've only had to use it twice -- once for a rental car from Washington D.C. to Harrisburg (about two hours drive) when our flight from Dulles to Harrisburg was delayed. They let us drive home rather than wait for the next flight and reimbursed every penny.

 

The other time was for a land vacation to Europe. I had everything arranged months in advance and then had a medical emergency out of the blue. Insurance paid for several thousand dollars of flights, tours, train tickets, and hotels that I bought in advance.

 

I won't leave home without it, as they say. I started buying insurance after the first time I saw someone air-lifted from our cruise ship by helicopter and I wondered aloud to a fellow passenger if the cruise line paid for it. (talk about being young and naive. :) )

[Happy2cruise]

We always buy insurance but thought for two healthy people with no medical conditions it really wasn't needed. Four years ago, made final payment and a week later I had a brain bleed that affected my entire left side. Needless to say, cruising was out of the question for a long while. Insurance covered everything. Nothing in this life is guaranteed or goes as planned......you never know what is waiting around the corner!!

[gdpups]

A year ago January I went on my annual "girls cruise", 5 of us young healthy "50ish" ladies. One was not feeling too well the morning of the cruise, but we went on and as the day went on she felt worst. We took her to the ship infirmary that evening and they discovered she had a bleeding ulcer (never had one before), so was air-lifted by helicopter back to Miami and spent about 5 days in the hospital there. Her husband had to fly out to stay with her. Luckily for her (she didn't have travel insurance) the Coast Guard didn't charge for the transport, but if it had happened a day or two later at sea it might have cost her a fortune (quoted $60,000) to be airlifted to a non-US port. Her health insurance covered the hospital bill, but she was out the cost of the cruise, last minute airfair home and all her husbands expenses.

 

Last October I was on a New England cruise with my sister, who had a pre-existing condition so I had purchased CSA Luxe policy, which covers pre-existing coverage for traveling companions. My sister ended up ill during the cruise and we ended up having to leave the cruise mid-cruise at port in Canada. She was in the hospital there for 9 days and I had to stay in a hotel taking a taxi every day to visit her. My policy paid me for the lost cruise days, hotel stay and my expensive last minute plane ride home. I was very happy I had purchased that policy!

 

I have also talked to several cruisers who have fallen or been injured during a cruise. Let's just say I will never cruise without insurance!

[internetwhiz]

We buy cruise insurance. We have never been ill, but in Sept 2007 our granddaughter was born with congenital heart defects and we didn't know ahead. We were to sail that December on Freedom of the seas. By December Mallory was still gravely ill so we cancelled and RC cruise care reimbursed every dime, including independently booked air in just three weeks. Another time, another grandchild had a horrible injury 6 days before we were to cruise on Mariner. Again, cruise care reimbursed it all. We never go without cruise insurance.

[Barrheadlass]

Last year our cruise ship got delayed and we missed our flight home. We flew home later that day, but the tickets cost us about $700 more. Our insurance covered it.

 

A few years ago we were camping about 6 hours from home. My husband became ill and was hospitalized for 8 days while I stayed at the campground. When we started traveling internationally a couple of years later, I had no hesitation about buying trip insurance. I will never go without it.

[wheninrhome]

We had a cruise booked for Feb. 3rd this year. I had a back injury and had to cancel. We have always bought insurance but this was the first time we had to use it. I was skeptical on how hard it would be to claim. We had insurance with CSA. It was fairly easy to complete the claim forms and they reimbursed every last penny. Very quick refund. I will not ever book a trip without insurance. You never know what life will bring.

[bigmama9224]

I have a big questions maybe someone can help me. I really want to purchase insurance but this is the catch i have been reading alot on the board now i feel bad that i didn't purchase it when i booked my cruise.

 

I booked my cruise back in Sept 2012 it has been paid in full i am leaving on May 9th, can i still purchase it without any catches. I am afraid that when i call Carnival they will tell me sure you can buy it, then something will go wrong and i will not be able to do a claim.

 

What is this about i read that you have to buy also insurance if you have a pre-condition. What do they consider a precondition; i have hight blood preasure but controlled with medication cholesteral alittle high but no medication is thast considered a pre condition. I really want to know before i buy it, i dont trust any reps after reading the board.

[Algebralovr]

I have a big questions maybe someone can help me. I really want to purchase insurance but this is the catch i have been reading alot on the board now i feel bad that i didn't purchase it when i booked my cruise.

 

I booked my cruise back in Sept 2012 it has been paid in full i am leaving on May 9th, can i still purchase it without any catches. I am afraid that when i call Carnival they will tell me sure you can buy it, then something will go wrong and i will not be able to do a claim.

 

What is this about i read that you have to buy also insurance if you have a pre-condition. What do they consider a precondition; i have hight blood preasure but controlled with medication cholesteral alittle high but no medication is thast considered a pre condition. I really want to know before i buy it, i dont trust any reps after reading the board.

 

First, don't buy through Carnival, look for a private policy.

You can probably still buy an emergency medical policy, but may not be able to get them to cover cancellation unless it is a medical issue. Unknown at this point.

 

If you have a pre-existing condition, it must have been controlled and you must not have had an incident for X months (it varries based on the company/policy) if you don't buy the insurance within a few days of making the initial.

 

Best bet is to contact a major travel insurance company, or go to insuremytrip or one of the other companies that give information on multiple different policies. You'll need to ask your questions of the insurance company, they are different.

[internetwhiz]

Insuremytrip should give you good options. The main thing with any cruise insurance is to read all the fine print.

[fridaythe13th]

CSA purchased at final payment (through TA). One week later my sister was diagnosed with breast CA, she was also on the cruise. Let my TA know we had to cancel. NCL refunded half the cruise fare and all of the taxes and fees. CSA covered the rest. I handled all the paperwork for everyone (3 couples) and it wasn't bad as long as you have access to a copy and fax machine. They will ask for proof of payment, proof of refund from the travel agency, ID (I sent a copy of our passports), a form filled out by your doctor. We had no hotels or airfare as we were driving to the port. If you do though, they are going to want copies of your non-refundable invoices and proof that you paid. Check from CSA received four weeks after filing.

[skbaw]

On our first cruise, Hawaii 2006, I bought insurance mainly because DH has pre-existing conditions. Two weeks prior to leaving I was in a car accident and broke my ankle requiring surgery. I was in a cast and on crutches (could not put weight on the ankle) for 12 weeks. Insurance reimbursed us for the entire cruise and air fare. It was relatively painless to submit the claim - I had plenty of time to find all the paperwork - I think it was less than a month to get our refund. We rebooked six months later (with insurance)

[Happy2cruise]

On our first cruise, Hawaii 2006, I bought insurance mainly because DH has pre-existing conditions. Two weeks prior to leaving I was in a car accident and broke my ankle requiring surgery. I was in a cast and on crutches (could not put weight on the ankle) for 12 weeks. Insurance reimbursed us for the entire cruise and air fare. It was relatively painless to submit the claim - I had plenty of time to find all the paperwork - I think it was less than a month to get our refund. We rebooked six months later (with insurance)

What insurance company was this? Thanks!