A plug for travel insurance, no matter your age

[sparks1093]

We have always taken travel insurance thru NCL. Curious what are the differences of booking with private insurance company?

Thanks for the info

Safe sailling

 

Typically third party is less expensive (way less in some cases).

[GrabMyWrist]

I got it at www.insuremytrip.com and it's Travel Guard Gold.

 

Thanks for the link! I just purchased insurance for our upcoming trip. Very easy and straight to the point.

[sparks1093]

Thanks for the link! I just purchased insurance for our upcoming trip. Very easy and straight to the point.

 

Don't mention it. I found the site through cruise critic so I'm just paying it forward:).

[skbaw]

I curious if anyone has put In a claim and what their experience was. I have read some of the policies and they are pretty specific as far as what you have to do in order to submit a claim. Dr writeup stating you cannot go on a cruise, multiple dr documentation, etc. I would buy it in a heartbeat if I thought it would actually pay if one of my kids got the flu before the cruise, but im not convinced it would pay. Thoughts on NCLs policy?

thx

 

I broke my ankle two weeks prior to a cruise and had to cancel. Our insurance was through NCL. I had to get my doctor to sign a form, provide documentation of purchasing the cruise and a couple of other items. I believe we had our money back in about a month. We had separate insurance for our cruise and flights so had to submit twice - but it was relatively painless. It was all information you ought to have handy if you are going on a cruise.

[Mikkar]

I have 7 cruises this year and took insurance for none of them. The cost of insurance is too high and for what I saved i could easily "absorb" the loss of one cruise fare. I am a senior so you're right, age doesn't need to factor into it. People have different tolerances for risk. In addition you need to add the costs of all the insurances and see if it exceeds the cost of one cruise and then make an informed decision.

 

I never purchased travel insurance but when NCL offered it for $29.00 per person, I accepted. I hope I never need it, but having it gives me peace of mind.

[Clay Clayton]

Wow, Clay. How awful for you. Which port? You were lucky!

Cozumel...the "wild" side was a little too wild! LOL

 

I have 7 cruises this year and took insurance for none of them. The cost of insurance is too high and for what I saved i could easily "absorb" the loss of one cruise fare. I am a senior so you're right, age doesn't need to factor into it. People have different tolerances for risk. In addition you need to add the costs of all the insurances and see if it exceeds the cost of one cruise and then make an informed decision.

Your thoughts were mine exactly until my recent experience. But when I realized that we might have to fly home at last minute tickets at best or in an ambulance plane (or cargo plane if I had been in the casket) and quickly realized that I needed to adjust my thinking. As many others have pointed out, it isn't the sunk cost of the cruise that I am concerned with insuring. It is the other costs that would crop up in case of an accident or illness. Let's presume that I HAD bought insurance for all my cruises and let's presume that the total cost would have been 200 a cruise (higher than what we paid on the one cruise for which we bought insurance). So I would have to date spent about $2,200 on insurance. Last minute tickets home would be over a $1,000 (just checked to fly today). So one could say, "see, you saved $1,200 by not having insurance" whch would be true presuming I could fly home on an airline...but what if I needed the flying ambulance?

 

Like others have said, each to his own, but this each will be buying insurance from here on out.

Edited May 12, 2014 by Clay Clayton

[kmurph22]

my then 10 year old got his finger stuck in the elevator door. Got it x-rayed. Fortunately not broken, but the $150 charge was covered by insurance. Covered the cost of the insurance.

 

on another cruise it was me; a minor respiratory infection developed into a major one and I made several visits to the infirmary which included steroid treatments. Over $750 in medical bills, all paid by insurance with very little hassle.

 

Although neither of my cases would have been "break the bank" situations where we needed an emergency medical flight, or had to miss the cruise, it was still nice knowing we were covered.

 

I will not cruise without it!

[TrumpyNor]

I just noticed the following thread that was posted a few hours ago - it is unfortunately an example on why EVERYBODY should have a travel insurance, just because you NEVER know when you might need it.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2040712

[mikenhe]

I curious if anyone has put In a claim and what their experience was. I have read some of the policies and they are pretty specific as far as what you have to do in order to submit a claim. Dr writeup stating you cannot go on a cruise, multiple dr documentation, etc. I would buy it in a heartbeat if I thought it would actually pay if one of my kids got the flu before the cruise, but im not convinced it would pay. Thoughts on NCLs policy?

thx

 

as I mentioned earlier I ended up with a bill for over 10k.

I called the insurance company from the hospital and they guided me through everything.

 

I collected the documents (or had them sent to me) and sent them in and they deal with it directly - never heard anything else as they settled it all.

 

that was Travel guard and I now always use them. because I know that claims will be dealt with correctly.

[pathubia]

I have been lucky enough to never need the cruise insurance, but have purchased it on out last couple of cruises. Travel guard

 

 

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[mypleasure]

A few years ago I booked a cruise for my 50th birthday along with flights and hotels. Seven weeks before we were due to go I had a heart attack. My insurance was happy to reimburse me.

In January this year I got double pneumonia while on a cruise. They met all of my bills including the flight home as the original one departed a week before I got out of hospital and was from another city.

It would have hurt me massively to pay for the 9 night hospital stay, x-rays, scans, drugs, doctor fees and last minute airfare. I always insure, usually with a 12 month multi trip policy that covers all of my pre-existing conditions.

[$hip$hape]

I'm curious if anyone has put in a claim and what their experience was.

I have read some of the policies and they are pretty specific as far as what you have to do in order to submit a claim. Dr writeup stating you cannot go on a cruise, multiple dr documentation, etc. I would buy it in a heartbeat if I thought it would actually pay if one of my kids got the flu before the cruise, but im not convinced it would pay. Thoughts on NCLs policy?

thx

I am also curious.

Read a review on trip advisor, where someone had a claim, and "jumped through hoops" with no results... but this is just hearsay.

[bingo3]

Also, a lot of people do not realize their health insurance and Medicare may/do not cover them out of the country.

 

My grandneice seems to be fine, they have not found a cause and all tests showed nothing. Hopefully, was a one time event. Certainly not nearly as bad as the family facing treament of a brain tumor with their child, so sad!

debbie

[LMaxwell]

I have 7 cruises this year... The cost of insurance is too high... i could easily "absorb" the loss of one cruise fare.

 

It's not the cruise fare, it is the medical evacuation. If you have separate medical evac coverage and are comfortable self-insuring the trip part, that's one thing. If you don't have medical evac and need a flight out it could be $50K +++

[Hunzi]

Just bought ours.

 

Had DH's uncle keel over with a heart attack on a trip to Europe. Poor aunt had to repatriate his body. I never heard if they had travel insurance for the tour.

 

Another story of why travel insurance is important - my best friend and DH (in their early 40s) went on a cruise a few years back - it was a gift from our company, Mary Kay, so it was all fully paid for - (actually, MK chartered a Seabourn ship to Bermuda for the week - MK is extremely good to us!) Naturally, MK made sure everyone had good travel insurance.

 

Anyhoo - she and DH were only on Bermuda for about 30 minutes. They rented a scooter, headed down the road, hit a patch of gravel on a curve and drove into a fence. She broke her ankle, he had a very serious hand injury (among others - he took the fence so she wouldn't). By the grace of God, a surgeon specializing in hands was on island - he was only there about every 2 weeks. Got them both stabilized, did the preliminary work that probably saved his hand, and they medevac'd back to the States. It took months and several surgeries for things to get back to normal.

 

MK paid all the deductibles not covered by the travel insurance, so they had nothing out of pocket. Their bills were in the six figures.

 

I told her the other day I was headed to Bermuda, and I promised I had travel insurance and no scooters would be employed. ;-)

 

Always ;-)

Hunzi

be careful on those scooters!

Edited May 13, 2014 by Hunzi

[sparks1093]

Just bought ours.

 

Had DH's uncle keel over with a heart attack on a trip to Europe. Poor aunt had to repatriate his body. I never heard if they had travel insurance for the tour.

 

Another story of why travel insurance is important - my best friend and DH (in their early 40s) went on a cruise a few years back - it was a gift from our company, Mary Kay, so it was all fully paid for - (actually, MK chartered a Seabourn ship to Bermuda for the week - MK is extremely good to us!) Naturally, MK made sure everyone had good travel insurance.

 

Anyhoo - she and DH were only on Bermuda for about 30 minutes. They rented a scooter, headed down the road, hit a patch of gravel on a curve and drove into a fence. She broke her ankle, he had a very serious hand injury (among others - he took the fence so she wouldn't). By the grace of God, a surgeon specializing in hands was on island - he was only there about every 2 weeks. Got them both stabilized, did the preliminary work that probably saved his hand, and they medevac'd back to the States. It took months and several surgeries for things to get back to normal.

 

MK paid all the deductibles not covered by the travel insurance, so they had nothing out of pocket. Their bills were in the six figures.

 

I told her the other day I was headed to Bermuda, and I promised I had travel insurance and no scooters would be employed. ;-)

 

Always ;-)

Hunzi

be careful on those scooters!

 

When I was in the Navy my squadron our ready alert aircraft was stationed in Bermuda and the Captain had to prohibit the use of mopeds and scooters by the aircrews because of the number of injuries sustained. I still won't ride on the things.

[JenLovesToTravel]

I offer every client a quote from Travel Guard insurance. Amazing customer service, great coverage

 

 

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[philip_eunice1]

i have seizure all the time and guess what i cant get

yep insurance:rolleyes:

[TrumpyNor]

i have seizure all the time and guess what i cant get

yep insurance:rolleyes:

 

But can't you get a travel insurance that covers the rest, and that just specifies that expenses that are related to your particular illness is not covered? I know that it is possible on regular health insurances, so I thought that would be possible also regarding travel insurance....

Edited May 13, 2014 by TrumpyNor

[danic8824]

My medical insurance covers emergencies anywhere in the world- am I missing something?

[mdvlprof]

If your insurance has world-wide coverage, you're one of lucky ones. Most ins doesn't.

[TrumpyNor]

My medical insurance covers emergencies anywhere in the world- am I missing something?

 

That sounds like a very good medical insurance. But what if you needed to cancel a cruise close to sailing date because of a medical issue (yourself or one of your close relatives)? You would not receive a refund from the cruise line, and also not be able to move your cruise to a later date. What you have paid to the cruise line, on airline tickets, etc, would be "lost"... Your luggage could go missing at the airport - it happens all the time... Your flight to the embarkation port might be delayed, causing you to miss your cruise and you would have to fly to the next port on the cruise itinerary to catch up with the ship - that could get kind of expensive. You could also (unintentionally) cause harm to somebody else, and therefore be responsible for their medical bills. The list goes on and on - even though you are covered for medical treatment anywhere in the world, would that also cover transportation back home in case you got seriously hurt and would prefer to get transferred to a hospital in your home country instead of somewhere abroad?

 

Bottom line is that you don't need a travel insurance until suddenly one day you need it (and it usually happens unexpected) - and if that happens and you don't have one it could be a very expensive lesson to learn... Personally I never travel anywhere without a travel insurance - better safe than sorry....

Edited May 13, 2014 by TrumpyNor

[spidybabe]

My medical insurance covers emergencies anywhere in the world- am I missing something?

 

Wow that's unbelievable insurance. Mine has in state coverage, but beware of coverage differences if out of state . Can't imagine the out of country prices ...If covered at all.

Safe sailing

 

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[danic8824]

That sounds like a very good medical insurance. But what if you needed to cancel a cruise close to sailing date because of a medical issue (yourself or one of your close relatives)? You would not receive a refund from the cruise line, and also not be able to move your cruise to a later date. What you have paid to the cruise line, on airline tickets, etc, would be "lost"... Your luggage could go missing at the airport - it happens all the time... Your flight to the embarkation port might be delayed, causing you to miss your cruise and you would have to fly to the next port on the cruise itinerary to catch up with the ship - that could get kind of expensive. You could also (unintentionally) cause harm to somebody else, and therefore be responsible for their medical bills. The list goes on and on - even though you are covered for medical treatment anywhere in the world, would that also cover transportation back home in case you got seriously hurt and would prefer to get transferred to a hospital in your home country instead of somewhere abroad?

 

Bottom line is that you don't need a travel insurance until suddenly one day you need it (and it usually happens unexpected) - and if that happens and you don't have one it could be a very expensive lesson to learn... Personally I never travel anywhere without a travel insurance - better safe than sorry....

 

I work for an insurance company- the leas they can do is give us good insurance:) we leave friday and this post got me thinking I was going to buy the medical and then decided to look up mine. I am wondering if I can still add insurance for not making it on time or lost baggae.

[TrumpyNor]

I work for an insurance company- the leas they can do is give us good insurance:) we leave friday and this post got me thinking I was going to buy the medical and then decided to look up mine. I am wondering if I can still add insurance for not making it on time or lost baggae.

 

It definitively doesn't hurt to ask. :)