Insurance question - Please help!

[sona2013]

Hello there,

 

First time cruiser here, booked on Carnival Miracle to Alaska for next summer. I have question on when to purchase insurance. My final payment date is Apr 3rd. The vacation planner on Carnival said that I can get my full deposit back before Apr 3rd, if I change my mind. When do I purchase my travel insurance, now or after Apr 3rd? We do not have any pre-existing conditions. Please advice.

 

Thanks,

Sona

[Keith1010]

If you are going to purchase the Carnival Insurance do it at the time of the final payment.

 

If you want to purchase private insurance you can do it at any point if you have no pre-existing conditions that you would have wanted covered.

 

A good site to examine policies is at http://www.insuremytrip.com

 

Keith

[1025cruise]

I always purchase insurance within a few days of deposit. Only way to get coverage for pre-existing conditions and cancel for any reason.

[paul929207]

While you may not have any pre-existing conditions now, you may when you go to purchase the insurance.

[Cuizer2]

Hello there,

 

First time cruiser here, booked on Carnival Miracle to Alaska for next summer. I have question on when to purchase insurance. My final payment date is Apr 3rd. The vacation planner on Carnival said that I can get my full deposit back before Apr 3rd, if I change my mind. When do I purchase my travel insurance, now or after Apr 3rd? We do not have any pre-existing conditions. Please advice.

 

Thanks,

Sona

 

If you have no pre-existing conditions, then I recommend purchasing insurance when you make final payment. The reason is, after a short period of time to review your policy, the premium becomes fully earned. If you have to cancel before final payment the insurance premium is not refundable. However, it might be transferable to a later cruise.

 

Please understand that pre-existing conditions also applies to a close family member if that is the reason you are not traveling.

 

For example, your father has been sick for months, but is not hospitalized. With medication he is doing fine. One week before you are ready to leave he takes a turn for the worse. Tests are done in the hospital. Then, two days before you are ready to leave you get a phone call. He is not expected to live more than a few more days. If your father's condition was known before you purchased the insurance, then that is a pre-existing condition.

 

However, there has to be some relationship between the pre-existing condition and the cause of you staying home. If your father was in a car accident and kept in the hospital overnight and sent home, and then six months latter (again two days before you are ready to leave) your father suffers a heart attack, the injuries suffered in the car accident would not be a pre-existing condition.

 

Where things get complicated is, supposed after being released from the hospital for the car accident your father is fine and symptom free for six months. Then suddenly something happens and he is hospitalized. After many tests it turns out to be something related to the car accident. I have no idea how that would be viewed. On one hand it is from a pre-existing condition. On the other hand, nobody, not even the doctors, knew about it.

 

Pre-existing implies some prior knowledge. An insurance company cannot claim that poor eating habits as a child led to the heart attack, thus the heart attack resulted from a condition that began 50 years ago.

 

Please note, I am not an attorney and these are just my opinions.

[sona2013]

I lose the insurance money if we decide to change our minds before the final payment. The cruise is only in June and I will be getting the insurance once I make the final payment. Too confusing...

[SPacificbound]

It is important to know what you want the insurance to cover. Take a little time and check out this- http://www.insuremytrip.com/

:)

[SPacificbound]

It is important to know what you want the insurance to cover. Take a little time and check out this- http://www.insuremytrip.com/

:)

 

I apologize for repeating what Paul1010 had already said, and instead just answered based on the OP's post.

 

I am a rookie cruiser and I remember spending literally 3 days combing through travel insurance websites and posts about insurance before I finally figured out what was right for us. I was a little too eager to help in my response. :)

[eatsallinsects]

Interested in keeping up with this thread as planning a trip on April 1, 2014.

[1025cruise]

I lose the insurance money if we decide to change our minds before the final payment. The cruise is only in June and I will be getting the insurance once I make the final payment. Too confusing...

 

That is definitely a risk. Unfortunately, when I book my cruises, my wife will not know if she can get the time off, as they don't do time off until much closer to the date. I'd rather lose $200 for the insurance than the cost of the cruise. I need that "cancel for any reason" policy. The only way to get that is to purchase the insurance within 14 days of the initial deposit.

[beachbum53]

It is important to know what you want the insurance to cover. Take a little time and check out this- http://www.insuremytrip.com/

:)

 

I would like to add that if you want your insurance to cover air travel to and from the port of departure, you'll need to have that information when purchasing your insurance. As others have said, unless you have a pre-existing condition that needs to be covered, you don't have to buy travelers' insurance until you get close to your final payment due date (for your cruise).

[Algebralovr]

I would like to add that if you want your insurance to cover air travel to and from the port of departure, you'll need to have that information when purchasing your insurance. As others have said, unless you have a pre-existing condition that needs to be covered, you don't have to buy travelers' insurance until you get close to your final payment due date (for your cruise).

 

This is only partly true. If you book a cruise and do not yet have air booked, you can often go ahead and book the cruise, book the insurance, then call the insurance company once you book your air and change your insurance to add the air. It all depends on the insurance company.

 

There is an entire forum here about travel insurance. I recommend you read there.

[Steviewonder1]

The bottom line here is two issues. One is the cruise with or without pre-existing issues and what may happen on the cruise. The second is backing out of the cruise for time issues and/or missing the boat due to getting to the cruise. If you have a medical issue on the cruise how much can you afford to pay to handle it?? This can go well into 5 or 6 digits depending on the issue. If you cannot do the cruise or miss boarding the cruise this is way less but still an issue. I always buy full insurance for all of our cruises. My DW had a gall stone issue on one of our Alaskan Cruises and we were medi-vacuated off the ship at the next port. Three days in a local hospital, flight back to Seattle to meet our original flight back home. Insurance paid all the medical, hotel stays, extra flights, and received back a 50% refund on the cruise. If you can afford 5-6 digits of $$$ for a medical issue or missed cruise issue then go for it. Me, I will pay the small insurance fee for the comfort of knowing that "Things are Covered".

[sona2013]

Thank you. My question is about buying insurance now or after the final payment and not whether to buy it or not.

[1025cruise]

Thank you. My question is about buying insurance now or after the final payment and not whether to buy it or not.

 

If you need coverage for pre-existing conditions, or cancel for any reason, then you need to buy it now, usually within 14 days of your initial deposit. Otherwise, wait.

[Overjoyd]

I highly recommended buying insurance, as you never know what could happen. I've used Travelex and have found their rates very reasonable. My motto is its better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it!

 

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[craftygrandma]

I have purchase insurance from the cruise line and insuremytrip. It took a lot of time to determine the best fit. Recently I checked Coscto travel and their insurance is much cheaper and has higher benefits. There are not multilple policies to choose. I am going to use Costco for all future cruises.

[Overjoyd]

How cheap is cheap? I got an extensive policy covering pre-existing issues and evacuation at 500,000 about $60

 

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[cruiser6467]

Hi Sona2013,

My wife and I are booked on a cruise next year and recently I've been doing some research on trip insurance for cruises. Some of the suggestions/comments I was going to make have already been posted by others...however here are possibly new ones.

 

1.) When buying trip insurance for a cruise, you may want to think about purchasing it from a 3rd party (not affiliated with the cruise line). The reason being...if the cruise line goes out of business or suffers financial difficulty in the months leading up to your cruise date, there may be a hidden clause or some fine print that states they will not honor their own trip insurance under certain situations.

2) When considering trip cancellation insurance, many 3rd party companies offer a "Cancel for Any Reason" feature which can also include canceling for work/employment reasons or basically ANY reason. However, most 3rd party companies that offer this feature require you to purchase the insurance "no later than 21 days after the initial deposit". Purchasing after that date, you may lose certain benefits.

3) I recently booked my cruise through Costco Travel and found out they offer discounted trip insurance through a 3rd party called Travel Guard. You may not need to actually book your cruise through Costco Travel, but if you have a regular Costco membership, you can call either Costco Travel or Travel Guard and ask for the Costco discounted price. I can tell you that for our cruise (7-day), the Costco trip insurance was almost 1/2 the price of any 3rd party company. Although, we decided not to get it because it did not have the Cancel for Any Reason feature.

 

Hope you have fun on your cruise...

 

Thanks,

Edited December 27, 2013 by cruiser6467
forgot signature

[BobTroll]

I have one observation. As far as I can see, all of the previous replies are from residents of the USA. If you live elsewhere, the situation may be very different.

 

For instance, if you book a cruise through a travel agent in the UK - or directly with the cruise line's the UK office, the deposit is always non-refundable (irrespective of any reason for cancellation). Furthermore, UK booking conditions stipulate that all passengers MUST arrange travel insurance from the outset - and you must provide details to the cruise line. If you don't arrange adequate insurance, the cruise line will not allow you to travel.

 

Cruise lines and travel agents generously offer to sell "tailor-made" travel insurance. It is no coincidence that they receive substantial commission from the sale. However, it is rarely a good idea to purchase from a cruise line or travel agent, because premiums are often uncompetitive and you can usually get a better deal by shopping around. Provided you have no serious pre-existing conditions, an annual policy can be much cheaper than a series of single trip policies (depending upon your age and whether you arrange more than one vacation within the 12-month period).

 

But as with everything, cheapest might not be the best. It is essential to check the cover, particularly with regard to medical expenses, repatriation costs, and cancellation. Equally, you don't need to pay extra to insure your bags and personal possessions against loss or damage, if you have worldwide cover for these items under another insurance policy (such as your household insurance).

 

A basic travel insurance policy might only pay for cancellation due to serious illness or death of the traveller and his/her travelling companion. More expensive policies should pay for cancellation caused by a much wider range of circumstances, such as serious illness or death of a third party (a close relative or business partner, etc.), destruction or damage to your home by fire or natural disaster, loss of your employment due to redundancy, or being called-up for compulsory jury service.

 

However, no policy will pay out, if you cancel because you have changed your mind (defined as "disinclination to travel").

Edited December 27, 2013 by BobTroll

[Sgt Bob]

What ever or when ever you purchase insurance (and you should) make certain that you have air evac coverage. Some policies do not cover it. If you happen to need it can be very expensive.

[bobbygee]

I would take out Insurance cover when you book. I've had annual cover with Insure and Go, for some years now, and only one claim . relating to missed flight , due to weather conditions. No problem settling claim. I cruise 2-4 times a year, -plus other holidays, and renew anually. I hope this helps

Edited December 29, 2013 by bobbygee

[delliemd]

That is definitely a risk. Unfortunately, when I book my cruises, my wife will not know if she can get the time off, as they don't do time off until much closer to the date. I'd rather lose $200 for the insurance than the cost of the cruise. I need that "cancel for any reason" policy. The only way to get that is to purchase the insurance within 14 days of the initial deposit.

 

 

If you need to cancel ,your ins money will be held for you to use on a future cruise within a year .I always use travel guard through TA it is always the cheapest have used them for 12 years.Just make sure if you cancel, your TA contacts the ins company to hold your funds.

[1025cruise]

If you need to cancel ,your ins money will be held for you to use on a future cruise within a year .I always use travel guard through TA it is always the cheapest have used them for 12 years.Just make sure if you cancel, your TA contacts the ins company to hold your funds.

 

No, the policies I buy will refund me, not be used as credit. I do not purchase the cruise line insurance, but a separate policy. So, yes, I will be out the cost of the policy. I actually had to do this once, we had a cruise booked that we had to cancel due to my wife changing jobs and being told there was no way she could get the time off. Fortunately, I was before final payment so I got my money from the cruise line back, but I lost the insurance money. I got lucky that we decided to take a different cruise and booked it afterwards, and the insurance company decided to let us roll the premium over, but that was definitely not expected.