Travel insurance

[Im A Happy Cruiser]

 

I noticed on the booking confirmation we received for our cruise deposit (made one week ago) that Celebrity had automatically added the cost for a vacation protection plan. This insurance was not even discussed with the Celebrity agent I booked with. We have never gotten insurance before but had already planned to take out trip insurance this time because the total cost of our air/ cruise is approximately $11,000.

 

Does anyone have an insurance company or certain agent you would recommend that we could contact for a comparison to what Celebrity has added to our confirmation?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice you might have!

[north29]

"Insure my trip" and you will see many travel insurance packages.

 

On a side note, X's only has a $25K evacuation amount, that might get you home from the Bahamas you live in Florida. Also the medical is secondary some plans are primary. Meaning you have one less hoop to jump through if you need medical care. I know this from experience, not a big deal but sometimes a lot of hoops.

[TeeRick]

 

I noticed on the booking confirmation we received for our cruise deposit (made one week ago) that Celebrity had automatically added the cost for a vacation protection plan. This insurance was not even discussed with the Celebrity agent I booked with. We have never gotten insurance before but had already planned to take out trip insurance this time because the total cost of our air/ cruise is approximately $11,000.

 

Does anyone have an insurance company or certain agent you would recommend that we could contact for a comparison to what Celebrity has added to our confirmation?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice you might have!

 

This happens frequently on booking. Just call them to remove the insurance if you don't want it. Try "Insure My Trip" or "Square Mouth". Decide if you want total trip insurance including trip cancellation (which is expensive) or if you want just enhanced medical coverage and evacuation coverage (GeoBlue, Medjet Assist). You can also get an annual plan just for medical which is inexpensive, but a good option if you go on multiple trips every year.

[bobndee]

It is recommended not to get travel insurance from your cruise company for one simple reason - if the cruise line goes out of business, so does your travel insurance. There goes your bankruptcy protection!

 

And I've always found that independent travel insurance gives you better coverage for (usually) less money. As north29 says, search for "travel insurance" on the web and you'll find a number of companies. I've used Insure my trip and Square mouth.

[Iamcruzin]

I have used both cruise line insurance and private insurance. I purchased cruise line insurance this time because I am more concerned with cancel for any reason than for medical or evacuation.

 

 

Check out the insurance board.http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=635

[JMG]

We prefer to use 3rd party insurance for the simple reason that it covers us door to door.If anything happens to us on the way to the airport we are covered as well as cancel for any reason.

 

We also always get insurance within the time required for pre existing conditions. You can insure the amount of your deposit keeping your out of pocket cost down. I have read that some people get insurance for $0 deposit since the deposit is refundable. Whichever way you do it...when your expenses increase, you increase the value of your insurance and pay the additional premium.

[Caribbean Chris]

We always buy TravelGuard through our big box travel agency. Thankfully have never had need to test it due to problems during the trip. But we were very pleased with the full refund when we had to cancel a few days before a cruise due to the death of my mother-in-law.

[Wine-O]

Sometimes they automatically add the cruise insurance -- just cancel it.

 

We use Travel Insured International. They are reasonable with great coverage. We normally only purchase the emergency evacuation/medical since the trip is already paid. Reimbursement for trip expenses can be costly. If you are a USAA member, you can get 10% off.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We prefer to use 3rd party insurance for the simple reason that it covers us door to door.If anything happens to us on the way to the airport we are covered as well as cancel for any reason.

 

We also always get insurance within the time required for pre existing conditions. You can insure the amount of your deposit keeping your out of pocket cost down. I have read that some people get insurance for $0 deposit since the deposit is refundable. Whichever way you do it...when your expenses increase, you increase the value of your insurance and pay the additional premium.

 

Thanks for this information. I am unable to buy independent insurance for our upcoming trip because I just got a new pain medication on Monday for a pre existing condition that is well under control. I do have the ships insurance for this trip.

[Merriem]

I checked the one for USAA and wanted to know if anyone had experience with AMEX travel insurance.

[Lazz]

I always include trip cancellation and interruption when buying travel insurance. I have had to use it twice. We had to leave a ship at Cozumel due to a family emergency at home on one occasion. The Insurance paid for everything, including first class plane tickets because nothing else was available, rental car, food, taxi, even a separate plane trip and hotel for me to get my car that was parked at the port. On the second occasion my wife was hospitalized and advised not to travel. We cancelled and got all of our money back including plane fare and shore excursion money.

Edited December 5, 2015 by Lazz

[Wine-O]

Thanks for this information. I am unable to buy independent insurance for our upcoming trip because I just got a new pain medication on Monday for a pre existing condition that is well under control. I do have the ships insurance for this trip.

 

You can still get travel insurance, and it will cover everything else except the pre existing condition. I've purchased it with Travel Insured up to the day before we travelled.

[Iamcruzin]

You can still get travel insurance, and it will cover everything else except the pre existing condition. I've purchased it with Travel Insured up to the day before we travelled.

 

It doesn't help if you are canceling the trip due to the previous existing condition.

[Wine-O]

It doesn't help if you are canceling the trip due to the previous existing condition.

 

Of course it doesn't, but you can get travel insurance to cover anything else up to the day before you depart on vacation.

 

To cover pre-existing conditions, you have to get the insurance within a week or 10 days to making your initial deposit.

[k9x8]

Also, see what your credit card company might offer.

We have all our vacation expenses on one card, and if our current claim pays out, we will consider using them for our next trip.

 

The trip insurance we purchased when we booked our cruise through the airline covered 100% of my hospital stay in Italy, but I have to submit a claim to my private insurance for the huge bill from the ship's medical center. This was Allianz, and they do have different plans, I have discovered since our return.

 

They only cover change fees for rebooking on the same airline, so I've put in a claim with Chase to recoup our outrageous one-way tickets to get home. (We were victims of the Lufthansa strike.) The trip insurance would have covered our flights had we come home upon my release.

 

We are indeed jumping through hoops. Isn't that the way? But if we don't get back another penny, it was worth it for the four days in a hospital where hardly anyone spoke English.

[BBsails]

Be sure to check the travel insurance that may be provided by your credit card. If you have a card that provides insurance, you may or may not need to buy a separate policy. You can find your card's benefits on line. Read it carefully.

Also determine what your medical insurance covers when you are out of the country. Getting this information may help determine what, if any, additional insurance you need.

 

Bon voyage

[dkjretired]

Be sure to check the travel insurance that may be provided by your credit card. If you have a card that provides insurance, you may or may not need to buy a separate policy. You can find your card's benefits on line. Read it carefully.

Also determine what your medical insurance covers when you are out of the country. Getting this information may help determine what, if any, additional insurance you need.

 

Bon voyage

 

Good point about the medical insurance, many people do not know that Medicare does not cover out of country.

[ghstudio]

Good point about the medical insurance, many people do not know that Medicare does not cover out of country.

 

However, some of the standard medigap policies like Plan F (no longer offered) do provide up to $50K of coverage outside the US. Check your medicare plan and see if yours provides this...or consider changing plans to one that does.

[az_tchr]

Chase Sapphire Preferred covers $10K worth of trip insurance for cancellation due to medical issues. It also has primary coverage for car rentals even in Italy! It does not do medical but this part is half the battle.

 

For those concerned with medical evacuation understand it is rarely over about $20K. People think it is hundreds of thousands of dollars but is much cheaper. Need something like GeoBlue.

 

Also read you existing medical coverage. Mine is a HMO with United Healthcare and it pays 50% of the first $10,000 for medical and then 100%, so one might already have coverage of some sort. The cancell for any reason policies are crazy expensive, but guess they should be.

 

Last, Medicare for US citizens does cover you in Canada if you are heading either to or from Alaska. Also covers in Puerto Rico.

[ghstudio]

 

For those concerned with medical evacuation understand it is rarely over about $20K. People think it is hundreds of thousands of dollars but is much cheaper. Need something like GeoBlue.

 

Be a bit careful....there are two evacuations that you have to be concerned about. First from ship to hospital, then from hospital home. If you are in US waters and you are evacuated from the ship by the US coast guard, they do not bill (for emergency service). Not true in many other waters....and in some areas, it's free if the gov't picks you up, but sometimes they give emergency calls to non government companies and they do charge...very well.

 

But that's just getting to the first hospital. Then you have to get home...and if you aren't "cured", you may be on a plane with a doctor or nurse....sometimes it will be a private jet, other times, you'll be on a commercial flight. That flight can get very expensive very fast.

 

I'd be a little cautious about $20K covering all evacuations unless you are in the lower US and cruising alaska or the Caribbean. IMHO, a person living in the US cruising in other areas might get a real financial surprise with only $20K coverage.

[Responder]

However, some of the standard medigap policies like Plan F (no longer offered) do provide up to $50K of coverage outside the US. Check your medicare plan and see if yours provides this...or consider changing plans to one that does.

 

I'm not sure I agree with your Plan F comment.

It is and has always been offered in Florida.

Both the standard plan F as well as high deductible plan F

 

And, the $50K emergency coverage outside the US has a lifetime cap of $50K.

[Flatbush Flyer]

We prefer to use 3rd party insurance for the simple reason that it covers us door to door.If anything happens to us on the way to the airport we are covered as well as cancel for any reason.

 

 

 

We also always get insurance within the time required for pre existing conditions. You can insure the amount of your deposit keeping your out of pocket cost down. I have read that some people get insurance for $0 deposit since the deposit is refundable. Whichever way you do it...when your expenses increase, you increase the value of your insurance and pay the additional premium.

 

 

We use a combo of Travelex "Select Traveler" (one of the very few "primary payer" policies for combined travel/international medical coverage) with our regular health insurance (my Medicare supplement changes to "basic" when abroad) and travel coverage by United Explorer Visa for things purchased with the card (e.g., airline tix). For the Travelex, figure about 10% of cruise cost for premium expense. Buy it direct or through broker like InsureMyTrip.

Note: some folks will suggest annual coverage for multi-trips like GeoBlue. Read the fine print about any requirements for primary carrier, payout limits, etc. Also, can get pricey over 70 years old.

Finally, never buy cruise line insurance for all of the obvious reasons.