Travel Insurance & Excursions

[Tom O.]

We have never purchased travel insurance in the past, so we don't know that much about it. I was looking at private insurance online. I noticed the rates are based on your total cost of the vacation, including excursions. I was wondering if I should not include the cost of the HAL excursions in the total, because they are easy to cancel and I can get a full refund from them even 24 hours before I cruise.

I haven't gone beyond the initial "receive a quote" online. But if I leave off the cost of the HAL excursions the rate goes down a bit. I was looking at The Classic Plan from Allianz.

Do they have me break down the total cost of the trip (airfare, cruise, hotel, etc.) or do they rely on just my total estimate?

I have always stayed away from insurance in the past, and it has paid off - I never cancelled a cruise or flight ever. But now we are getting older, and the chances of some medical issue is greater.

[POA1]

In short, yes. Your cruise insurance should be enough. Holland America, and almost all cruise lines, self insure their excursions.

Edited February 10, 2016 by POA1

[Tom O.]

Thank you for your response POA1. And I always enjoy reading your posts.

[RocketMan275]

Tom,

 

I use Travel Insured which is associated with USAA. You get a small discount if you go through the USAA website.

 

I called TI and I learned a few things:

- Only include items that are non-refundable. No insurance company is going to pay you for an expense you never incurred or were re-imbursed by a third party. No need to include port costs, gratuities, excursions that are refundable.

- It is beneficial to ensure within a few days of booking the cruise since you can get waivers of pre-existing conditions. TI told me that I only had to insure the deposit amount when I bought the policy. Then, if and when, I made additional payments, I should increase the value of the policy to cover the additional payments.

 

You may not have noticed this, but policy are usually costed at $500 increments. IOW, it costs as much to insure a cruise of $505 as it does to insure a cruise of $995. That said, never reduce the insured cost just to get below a certain level as that can be cause to void the policy.

[Tom O.]

Thanks for the tips Rocket. I am a novice at the insurance game.

[Caribbean Chris]

Very wise move to take the insurance. And it's not just your own health issue that could cause a problem.

 

My mother-in-law was hospitalized a few days before our departure on a Hawaii cruise in 2012. We cancelled and went instead to her bedside and had the chance to say goodbye and be with the family. Every penny was refunded promptly.

 

I would never cruise without it.

[RocketMan275]

Thanks for the tips Rocket. I am a novice at the insurance game.

 

You might find this cruise critic forum useful.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=635

 

Wife would not cruise without cruise insurance.

 

BTW, most folks focus on the money they might lose if they have to cancel. While significant, those costs are not devastating. Suppose you need hospitalization while outside the US. Will your insurance cover? Are you sure? Medicare won't. Some hospitals may want you to pay cash. They don't take BlueCross. Suppose you need air evac back to the states. Those are the really devastating costs.

[freestyling]

I agree with you Rocketman. We now have medjet assist for just that reason.

[CTBob]

In short, yes. Your cruise insurance should be enough. Holland America, and almost all cruise lines, self insure their excursions.

I can attest to that. One of our friends had a near drowning experience while on a HAL snorkeling excursion and had to spend a few days in the hospital and then fly home. HAL picked up all the costs plus.

[teamflames]

You might find this cruise critic forum useful.

 

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=635

 

 

 

Wife would not cruise without cruise insurance.

 

 

 

BTW, most folks focus on the money they might lose if they have to cancel. While significant, those costs are not devastating. Suppose you need hospitalization while outside the US. Will your insurance cover? Are you sure? Medicare won't. Some hospitals may want you to pay cash. They don't take BlueCross. Suppose you need air evac back to the states. Those are the really devastating costs.

 

 

As permanent travellers we have often weighed up the pros and cons of insurance. For us we are not too concerned with luggage etc it's more about medical emergencies (especially if we are visiting the USA) and we wouldn't want to burden our families in the extreme case of death (repatriation expenses). We almost had to cancel our one and only cruise last minute due to a family member passing, insurance meant it was something that didn't have to add to the stress of the situation

 

 

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[Tom O.]

Thank you everybody for all the good advice. We will definitely buy travelers insurance for our next cruise.

In the past my philosophy has been to always buy as little insurance as possible. I am talking about life, auto, homeowners, etc. The reason being that insurance companies pay out a lot less than they bring in. Also for certain types of insurance, like auto and homeowners, there are a lot of fraudulent claims. Most of the time the insurance company just pays out on fraudulent claims rather than go to the expense of fighting them. The honest policy holders pay the bill for fraud.

But it seems it would be difficult to file a fraudulent claim in the case of travel insurance. And even though, I know these companies make a profit, it would be worth the peace of mind to purchase a policy.

[Cuizer2]

We have never purchased travel insurance in the past, so we don't know that much about it. I was looking at private insurance online. I noticed the rates are based on your total cost of the vacation, including excursions. I was wondering if I should not include the cost of the HAL excursions in the total, because they are easy to cancel and I can get a full refund from them even 24 hours before I cruise.

I haven't gone beyond the initial "receive a quote" online. But if I leave off the cost of the HAL excursions the rate goes down a bit. I was looking at The Classic Plan from Allianz.

Do they have me break down the total cost of the trip (airfare, cruise, hotel, etc.) or do they rely on just my total estimate?

I have always stayed away from insurance in the past, and it has paid off - I never cancelled a cruise or flight ever. But now we are getting older, and the chances of some medical issue is greater.

 

I buy travel insurance all the time and do not include items that I can cancel with short notice. No, they do not ask you to itemize your costs.

[iancal]

We never buy cruise insurance from the cruise line or from a travel supplier.

 

We find that buying it independently, directly from the insurer, results in a much lower premium with substantially higher coverage.

[bethwendy]

If you're a Costco member you can get insurance through them. They have an agreement with Travel Guard Insurance, a reputable A rated company and you get a discount as a Costco member.

Insurance provides peace of mind and hopefully you won't need it.

 

Happy cruising!

[RocketMan275]

If you're a Costco member you can get insurance through them. They have an agreement with Travel Guard Insurance, a reputable A rated company and you get a discount as a Costco member.

Insurance provides peace of mind and hopefully you won't need it.

 

Happy cruising!

 

Dumb me. I didn't realize that. I have been using USAA. Thanks to you I see I could have saved about $40 on my next cruise. Too late now but I will remember that.

 

Thanks.

[Billthekid]

There are several one year travel insurance companies which covers medical, evacuation and if needed shipping remains home. Cost is very reasonable less than $200 for spouse and self for a year. Medical is about $50,000 and dental $5000. Evacuation about $100,000. That being said, my medical insurance does cover me overseas so we purchase the one year coverage to cover evacuation more than anything else. Insurance for a cancelled trip, or interrupted trip due to medical, death, accidents, etc is different. You can take the hit or insure against that possibility. Various credit cards do provide that protection if you pay for the complete trip with the CC. Most of the other travel problems are generally covered by the airline carriers such as lost luggage and trip delays. But the CC companies also provide that coverage. Travel insurance is important and the fine print gets ya. So read carefully and understand what it sez.