Cruise Insurance thru Royal

[mrs.cog]

What does the cruise insurance that is added to your booking cover? I was told we could cancel prior to final payment. Not sure what is included and what isn't. Thanks in advance for the help!

[Cruising89143]

I always stay away from using cruise line insurance. Check out InsureMyTrip.com. You can compare many different companies and policies available and most times you will come out far ahead in price and coverage.

[cruisinfanatic]

What does the cruise insurance that is added to your booking cover? I was told we could cancel prior to final payment. Not sure what is included and what isn't. Thanks in advance for the help!

You don't need insurance to cancel before final. What RCCI's insurance will do is let you cancel for any reason up to sailing time. You would get 75% of what you pd toward another cruise.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Care

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

We always take the cruise line insurance. We used it last time when DH was very sick, they were there every step of the way. It was a very long claim and took a bit of time and good record keeping, but we got back every penny of our out of pocket expense.

 

If you cancel before final payment you will receive a full refund of your deposit.

Once final payment is made, you will be under penalty and therefore need to file a claim.

 

The important thing is you are taking insurance! We never leave home without it! Good luck. :)

 

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[mtsnd1900]

Book your insurance for half the price of cruise line / travel agent prices thru independent resellers like INSUREMYTRIP dot Com. They have tons of options and price points, and a lot less expensive! Never cruise without it.

[39august]

RCI's travel policy covers not only your cruise price, medical coverage and emergency evacuation, but also your privately booked air arrangements, lost luggage, and travel interruption...for instance hotel and meals if you are unable to travel due to weather. My DIL and SIL used that on their first cruise when a hurricane turned our 7 nite cruise to a 9 nite cruise. They couldn't get air home until the next day after we docked, so had to stay in a hotel overnight before flying home. Good job they listened to me and bought travel insurance. If you have any medical issues, call and verify how pre-existing conditions can be covered by RCI's travel insurance. Or read the policy on line and read the very last paragraph under the section labeled "Part B. Medical Protection".

[bradpole]

What does the cruise insurance that is added to your booking cover? I was told we could cancel prior to final payment. Not sure what is included and what isn't. Thanks in advance for the help!

Another great site is tripinsurancestore.com. You put your ages in, cost of trip and they will give you a matrix of different policies with costs and what they cover.

 

The insurance RCL sells is better than no insurance, but the coverages are pretty low compared to third party polices.

 

Travel insurance is a very touchy subject here on cruise critic, but sadly last May we had a trip interruption medical emergency onboard in Alaska. THANK GOD we had good insurance! When we got home I looked into Royal's policy to see if we would have been better off...we would have been screwed financially!

 

The devil is in the details as they saying goes. Royal's would probably be good for cancel for any reason, but medical evac, trip interruption, and some other coverages are rather small compared to buying a third party policy.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[rednancy1]

We always buy the cruise insurance. Sometimes from RCI and sometimes from Insuremytrip. The 3rd party insurer gives better coverage but you have to pay for it right away. With RCI you don't pay for it until final payment. What happens if you have to cancel your trip before final payment? Does third party insurance give you an insurance credit or better yet a refund?

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

RCI's travel policy covers not only your cruise price, medical coverage and emergency evacuation, but also your privately booked air arrangements, lost luggage, and travel interruption...for instance hotel and meals if you are unable to travel due to weather. My DIL and SIL used that on their first cruise when a hurricane turned our 7 nite cruise to a 9 nite cruise. They couldn't get air home until the next day after we docked, so had to stay in a hotel overnight before flying home. Good job they listened to me and bought travel insurance. If you have any medical issues, call and verify how pre-existing conditions can be covered by RCI's travel insurance. Or read the policy on line and read the very last paragraph under the section labeled "Part B. Medical Protection".

 

 

Correct!!! They paid for my hotel, DH air ticket home after he was released from the hospital and was fit to fly, I had to pay up front for my air ticket, they paid for all my transportation to and from the hospital and refunded our original air costs. Like I posted earlier, we got every penny back from out of pocket expense. It was the best $89 ever spent!!!

 

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[mrs.cog]

Thank you so much for the responses!

[Tucker in Texas]

I used to avoid cruise line insurance like the plague because I felt it was the fox watching the chicken coop. But, the coverage is better now than in the past so I do give it a look-see.

 

There are some advantages to cruise insurance. 1) do not have to pay until final payment. 2) cancel for any reason and get some money towards another cruise; 3) One size fits all ages. If you are older, in good health with no pre-existing illnesses of yourself or immediate family, an inexpensive cruise, cruising in a port where you are driving in the day of the cruise so you aren't dealing with air/hotels/food sometimes their insurance is cheaper than third party which is based on age/cost.

 

Disadvantages: 1) no pre-existing coverage for yourself or immediate family UNLESS there have been no issues for a certain period of time before buying the insurance. Can't remember but think it is 60 days. If you think something may be coming up that could be termed "pre-existing" (like your yearly check up is scheduled and you may have some issues as your blood pressure has risen a lot since the last check-up, your pre-diabetes may be progressing, your prescriptions may be changed, etc ), you can go ahead and pay for it before the appointment as the clock starts from that date back 60 days (or however long the look-back is). 2) Air-evac is a little on the slim side. Only 25K vs. 100K and up with most 3rd party policies. 3) They charge for every body where on some policies children are included free if included on the same policy 4) Some post/pre cruise arrangements may not be covered if they are booked independently. Princess, for instance, told me that the return air would be covered but any hotels or tours made independently during the post-cruise period would not be covered.

 

Best is to find out what cruise insurance would be. Then go to one of the above mentioned sites and do a comparison to what you want covered, price, etc. usually third party insurance has better coverage but is it coverage you really need? I've had situations where cruise insurance was a better deal than third party insurance. If I'm taking a cruise of the Med, then 25K for medi-vac isn't going to get it. If I'm cruising to the Mexico and driving to port then cruise insurance might be the best way to go due to my "advanced" age (72).

 

Tucker in Texas