Question about Travel Insurance

[Cindelicious]

We are sailing on The Sunshine in December, a family of five, and we always purchase travel insurance, which is pricey when multiplied by 5. I did a little searching in the forums and noticed that many sailers take their chances and don't bother with the insurance. I am not one of those people...however, many of these people were saying that Carnival still treated them as tho they had insurance....when say a family member passes away or gets ill, and they had to cancel or switch the dates they sail. How is this fair to the ones who purchase the travel insurance for these exact reasons? Because of our ages...we are not too concerned about medical issues while cruising and in ports...however we are entering brand new territory (we have never cruised before) I would NEVER feel comfortable without that insurance tho...but still makes me feel like its not fair to those who pay big bucks for this insurance, just to hear that it is not exactly necessary. Do many cruisers not bother with the insurance? Anyone reading this thread had to cancel or change their cruise plans without having the insurance, and was all good when you did? I'd appreciate any input on these questions...

[Lovefuninthesun]

We are sailing on The Sunshine in December, a family of five, and we always purchase travel insurance, which is pricey when multiplied by 5. I did a little searching in the forums and noticed that many sailers take their chances and don't bother with the insurance. I am not one of those people...however, many of these people were saying that Carnival still treated them as tho they had insurance....when say a family member passes away or gets ill, and they had to cancel or switch the dates they sail. How is this fair to the ones who purchase the travel insurance for these exact reasons? Because of our ages...we are not too concerned about medical issues while cruising and in ports...however we are entering brand new territory (we have never cruised before) I would NEVER feel comfortable without that insurance tho...but still makes me feel like its not fair to those who pay big bucks for this insurance, just to hear that it is not exactly necessary. Do many cruisers not bother with the insurance? Anyone reading this thread had to cancel or change their cruise plans without having the insurance, and was all good when you did? I'd appreciate any input on these questions...

 

Check out private insurance (not Carnival's) -- if you go online to insuremytrip, they have bunches and bunches of plans you can compare and select just what you want, which in your case might just be the trip cancellation piece. Another site is travelguard.

[JohninDC]

We found affordable coverage from the same company that provides our home and auto policy; talk to your agent. Good luck! :)

[jmcancruise]

Health may not be an issue because of your age, but I fell and broke my arm mid cruise and was very thankful for insurance. Carnival treated me more than fairly, but they have no obligation to do anything. Buy the insurance. For us it was the best money we ever spent on a cruise.

[Summerlove4ever]

Buy the insurance and not from the cruiseline. There are plenty of places out there that will sell you insurance for less.

 

Several years ago, two days before taking a cruise to Bermuda my husband was hospitalized with a serious infection requiring surgery. There was no way we were able to make the cruise and having paid for it in full by that time, I would of been out a lot of money. My husband continued to struggle with the infection for 8 months so we got our money back and planned something the following year.

 

And we are in our mid-40's and healthy. In fact that was husband very first time in the ER. Taught me that ANYTHING can happen so better to be safe than sorry.

[HarpHarp]

First of all, shop around for travel insurance. You have a couple of good suggestions above for places to look. The insurance quotes are by cost of the trip, not per person like Carnival. I got my insurance for our Med cruise last year for the entire trip for a reasonable amount, less than $200.

 

Accidents can happen anytime & the medical attention can be a huge expense. You might be able to afford to lose the cruise fare, but treatment for an injury can run thousands, especially if you have to be evacuated or left in a foreign port. This is the biggest reason to get travel insurance or make sure you are covered if you are traveling.

 

Carnival MAY let someone reschedule if they have a true emergency and Carnival can do that. They may even give some credit for a future cruise. They will not refund air fare, or cruise fare except for the amount left after the penalty. That depends on when you cancel.

[Midwestgal]

if you booked with a travel agent then give them a call, they will get you what you need.

On our upcoming cruise it cost $47.00 pp for insurance, we range in age of 50 and up.

[nlktx49]

I don't think I've ever heard of Carnival treating someone without insurance like they had it! I've read lots of hard luck stories by people who didn't have insurance and just couldn't believe Carnival wouldn't refund their fare. And if you have to fly to port? And if you have an accident or get seriously ill and have to be careflighted off? I don't know about you, but I don't have that kind of money.

 

Insurance gives you peace of mind. Two years ago a huge wildfire swept through the area we live in, burned nearly 1700 homes, 34,000 acres of beautiful pine trees - I was amazed at the number of people that didn't have homeowner's insurance and lost everything.

[tkportersat]

I wouldn't go without it, but I never buy mine through the cruise line anymore. In all my cruises I have only made a claim one time and I am sure quite a few have never had to use it but if something major happens it could really help make life a little easier. I would hate to put myself in serious debt if it was something that could be prevented.

[bedfordmom]

We are sailing on The Sunshine in December, a family of five, and we always purchase travel insurance, which is pricey when multiplied by 5. I did a little searching in the forums and noticed that many sailers take their chances and don't bother with the insurance. I am not one of those people...however, many of these people were saying that Carnival still treated them as tho they had insurance....when say a family member passes away or gets ill, and they had to cancel or switch the dates they sail. How is this fair to the ones who purchase the travel insurance for these exact reasons? Because of our ages...we are not too concerned about medical issues while cruising and in ports...however we are entering brand new territory (we have never cruised before) I would NEVER feel comfortable without that insurance tho...but still makes me feel like its not fair to those who pay big bucks for this insurance, just to hear that it is not exactly necessary. Do many cruisers not bother with the insurance? Anyone reading this thread had to cancel or change their cruise plans without having the insurance, and was all good when you did? I'd appreciate any input on these questions...

 

I did my first cruise without insurance recently as Carnival wanted 49$ on a 279 plus tax cruise. thought it was a ridiculous price so we went without. We are of good health, was 20 minutes from the port; booked the cruise only two months before etc.. But I did worry about my elderly mother who had just been hospitalized. If I had it to do again, I would have gone private and insured for just piece of mind. Luckily nothing happened on the trip. BTW, I never even think of insuring my European land vacations, maybe I should.

[T. Advisor King]

I encourage people to consider the elements of insurance and buy only what makes sense for them. Too often people talk about "travel insurance" as if it is a single, homogenous product. It isn't.

 

Typical "travel insurance" packages include two main elements: trip cancellation/interruption insurance and medical insurance. The key element is the medical insurance, not the trip cancellation insurance.

 

Despite being in "good health" most people could be financially ruined by having a medical emergency in the wrong place at the wrong time. Travel medical insurance protects against being financially ruined. But before you go out and buy travel medical insurance, check what insurance you might already have through your coverage at work, or through the credit card you used to pay for your vacation. We recently dialed-down the supplementary annual travel insurance package we routinely bought when we found out how good our combined coverage already was.

 

As for trip cancellation insurance, that is a completely different thing. I think someone posted something to the effect of "I couldn't afford to be out the money that I spent on the trip". Well, guess what? If you can afford to spend it to go on the trip, you can afford to spend it and not go. Either way, it is the same amount, so you can afford it. It would be a bummer to pay for a trip that you can't take, but I can't see how it would ever be true to say that you couldn't afford it.

 

So buying trip cancellation is not protecting against a catestrophic loss, it is really protecting against a disappointment of a few thousand dollars. The big difference with trip cancellation insurance is that if you self-insure (i.e., don't buy insurance from an insurance company, simply set aside the premium for yourself in a separate account), most people will go on enough vacations in their lifetime that they will come out much further ahead than if they bought trip cancellation insurance each time. Insurance companies make money because they charge you more for the coverage than they expect to spend on claims. You can easily cover this yourself by spreading your own "coverage" out over many years of vacation travel.

 

In addition, in many cases, even if you have no trip cancellation insurance and you have to change your plans, the costs of change fees ends up still being less than the insurance premium you would have paid.

[1midsun]

We always buy insurance, it is a case of

 

"better to have it and not need it, than to need it an not have it"

 

We buy through a local company though, not the cruise line, we seem to get better coverage for less money.

 

Happy Cruising!!

[Elaine5715]

After seeing a woman taken off the ship in Cozumel on a stretcher, I figure the $60 cost of travel insurance could be the best money I ever spend since the coverage includes up to $350,000 medical evacuation/repatriation coverage.

[WetToes]

We always buy TA, but we don't buy it from the cruise lines, ... anymore.

I have heard of people without TA being compensated, and it does rub me the wrong way.

I just recently read (not on CC) of someone whose MIL was given a possibly very short time to live. The family wanted to cancel as their cruise was very close.

They didn't think it fair that they would lose all their money. While I'm sorry about the situation, it was their choice not to buy TA. Can't/shouldn't have it both ways.

[Sparky2]

We always buy TA, but we don't buy it from the cruise lines, ... anymore.

I have heard of people without TA being compensated, and it does rub me the wrong way.

I just recently read (not on CC) of someone whose MIL was given a possibly very short time to live. The family wanted to cancel as their cruise was very close.

They didn't think it fair that they would lose all their money. While I'm sorry about the situation, it was their choice not to buy TA. Can't/shouldn't have it both ways.

 

 

I think there was something about this on CC recently. Or they were asking if they'd be able to change to another date. I agree that even with a "sob story" you shouldn't be compensated if you chose not to buy insurance.

 

We can afford to lose the cost of the trip. However, if one of us has to be medivaced we'd use up a lot of our savings. The insurance gives us peace of mind.

[WetToes]

I think there was something about this on CC recently. Or they were asking if they'd be able to change to another date. I agree that even with a "sob story" you shouldn't be compensated if you chose not to buy insurance.

 

We can afford to lose the cost of the trip. However, if one of us has to be medivaced we'd use up a lot of our savings. The insurance gives us peace of mind.

 

It is a slap in the face to those of us that 'pay' for insurance.

You are absolutely right about "peace of mind".

[Guest maddycat]

We always buy travel insurance. Lately we have been buying Travel Safe insurance through The Trip Insurance Store. Their site is very easy to understand. If you have any questions you can either email or call one of their very helpful, knowledgeable agents.

 

***Trip Insurance Store***

[Happy2cruise]

We always buy travel insurance. Lately we have been buying Travel Safe insurance through The Trip Insurance Store. Their site is very easy to understand. If you have any questions you can either email or call one of their very helpful, knowledgeable agents.

 

***Trip Insurance Store***

Another recommendation for Trip Insurance Store and Travel Safe insurance;)

[PeterJB]

We always take out travel insurance whenever we do major trips like cruises or overseas holidays. We had a cruise earlier in the year and were called home early because my wife's mother took ill suddenly and passed away before we could arrive home. We took out insurance with Allianz Global Assist and they refused to pay our claim because they "dont recognise anyone over the age of 85 years". This is a disgrace and we have just been advised from Anti Discrimination Queensland Agency that it is discrimination on the basis of age.

Avoid Allianz Global Assistance travel insurance at all costs, as we have found since our experience, there are others who have lost many more dollars due to refused claims by Allianz

[attilamom1217]

We always buy travel insurance when we cruise (or do an all-inclusive). Twice we have had to file a claim.

 

The second time, the claim was not for medical - it was trip delay and trip interruption. There was a blizzard that hit the eastern seaboard in December 2009 causing us to have to spend a night at the disembarkation port; a night at a hotel near the airport where our connecting flight was supposed to leave; and a train ticket since we couldn't get a flight home!

 

We used travel guard and they were great in processing our claims. We got all of our money back for the hotels, meals (those meals for which we had receipts), the train fare and even the cab fare from the airport to the train station.

 

Never in a million years would we have expected 28 inches of snow to fall in December in NJ! Very grateful that we had travel insurance.