Trip Insurance

[carebear2003]

Hello,

 

I just booked our 4th cruise on the Dream. I normally never purchase trip insurance but I think it might be a good idea to do so considering both of my children are young. Does anyone have any good tips or suggestions about purchasing through Carnival or using another company? Any info would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thank you

[KoalaWala]

If you purchase through another company, you can get your flights covered if you don't book flights through Carnival.

 

If you get insurance through Carnival, you get the 'Cancel for any reason' deal which you can get 75% of the non-refundable amount back in the form of a future cruise credit, to be used 24 months from the date of cancellation.

[kona_wahine]

under "cruise discussion topics" there is a topic of insurance. We bought it for our upcoming trip (first time) and there was a lot of good info there.

[Purvis1231]

We use Travel Guard and actually had to use it once when I had to have emergency surgery right before a cruise.

[dolfndreams]

I prefer to go through insuremy trip.com you can compare policies and they cover much more than through carnival for similar or less price. I usually end up with Travelex or travelsafe since they have primary coverage so I don't have to deal with personal insurance first.

 

finally (unfortunately) the policies I routinely get as part of my travel costs definitely paid off since my sister had a heart attack in Dominca two days into our Journey cruise. It took us 3 days to get home (hotel, meals flight, medical costs, taxi etc etc ).

 

Peace of mind alone knowing I had contact with someone to help me when we were put off the ship in a strange place was worth it. First call from the medical center was to the trip insurance people. There was a port agent assigned to us by Carnival who was available but still at a cost so someone outside also helped. I have to say Carnival was amazing also, kept in contact with us every day and had a amazing agent who even kept following up after we got home helping with paperwork sail and sign etc etc.

 

Still pending payment but process was smooth and no doubt will be reimbursed for flights/ medical etc.

 

It is a frightening enough experience to be sent off the ship and to find your way home with assistence from the port agent assigned by Carnival at least, knowing at least all that money going out will be returned helps a bit.

 

And by the way learned that the advice from this site to always have a credit card with high limit on you came in very handy. Horrified to think what would have happened if I did not have resources for a decent hotel and for the expensive flights. The medical facility was so bad they didn't even ask for info so still no idea if they will be charging but I can still send their bill to the trip insurance for up to a year.

 

Learning experience for sure.

Edited March 20, 2016 by dolfndreams

[ready2cruzagain]

We use insuremytrip dot com. Easy to use and can compare several different companies. It is ALOT less expensive than Carnival's insurance and covers ALOT more.

[rainbowflag]

We use the Cruise Critic site as intended and go to the forum where this topic is discussed in detail: the Cruise/Travel Insurance board.

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

[shellsd]

I also use insuremytrip and purchase travelguard.

[jordanaire]

I use squaremouth.com for travel insurance.

[Guest maddycat]

For several years I have purchased our travel insurance through the Trip Insurance Store. The link is below. Call and speak to one of their agents. Discuss your needs and they will suggest which policies best meet those needs. The agents are very knowledgeable and helpful.

 

https://tripinsurancestore.com/

[DaKa2002]

Here is our two cents:

1. Make sure the insurance you purchase is "primary."

 

2. Have a credit card with you with a high charge limit and make sure the company knows where and when you are traveling.

 

3. Be sure to have insurance that covers evacuation and return to your home.

In this regard, we have MedJet family coverage, which covers medical evacuation home (or hospital near home of choice) anytime we are more than a hundred and some miles away from home (not just cruise related)

[GeezerCouple]

If you purchase through another company, you can get your flights covered if you don't book flights through Carnival.

 

If you get insurance through Carnival, you get the 'Cancel for any reason' deal which you can get 75% of the non-refundable amount back in the form of a future cruise credit, to be used 24 months from the date of cancellation.

 

We would ONLY get insurance through an independent insurer (not affiliated with the cruise line). That way, if there is a problem due to the cruise line, there is no conflict of interest between them and the "insurance".

 

We recommend

TripInsuranceStore.com

 

But CALL them, don't just look at the policy summaries.

They'll help you figure out what coverage you need (or do *not* need).

 

Also, I don't know about the above-mentioned "75%... back... future cruise credit", but the policies we get have CFAR (Cancel For Any Reason) with a 75% MONEY BACK TO YOU.

You can then apply it to any cruise line, a non-cruise vacation, or whatever you want. No need to be tied to that same cruise line (especially if the cancellation is due to something they did that you didn't like).

 

We've had two claims from policies we purchased with TripInsuranceStore.com, and they helped us a bit with each claim.

No funny business with collecting.

 

Good luck.

 

But check soon, as there are some deadlines in timing for certain types of coverage (or lower prices for them).

[KoalaWala]

And to clarify, you are not getting insurance from Carnival. It is a third party company called Aon Affinity.

 

Do any of the above companies offer 'Cancel for any reason' clause in their policy?

[GeezerCouple]

And to clarify, you are not getting insurance from Carnival. It is a third party company called Aon Affinity.

 

Do any of the above companies offer 'Cancel for any reason' clause in their policy?

 

As I mentioned, TripInsuranceStore.com offers policies from several vendors, and they have several policies that do offer CFAR coverage if one wishes.

These offer "money back", not a "credit for another cruise with the same cruise line - and with a time iimit"!

[carebear2003]

I prefer to go through insuremy trip.com you can compare policies and they cover much more than through carnival for similar or less price. I usually end up with Travelex or travelsafe since they have primary coverage so I don't have to deal with personal insurance first.

 

finally (unfortunately) the policies I routinely get as part of my travel costs definitely paid off since my sister had a heart attack in Dominca two days into our Journey cruise. It took us 3 days to get home (hotel, meals flight, medical costs, taxi etc etc ).

 

Peace of mind alone knowing I had contact with someone to help me when we were put off the ship in a strange place was worth it. First call from the medical center was to the trip insurance people. There was a port agent assigned to us by Carnival who was available but still at a cost so someone outside also helped. I have to say Carnival was amazing also, kept in contact with us every day and had a amazing agent who even kept following up after we got home helping with paperwork sail and sign etc etc.

 

Still pending payment but process was smooth and no doubt will be reimbursed for flights/ medical etc.

 

It is a frightening enough experience to be sent off the ship and to find your way home with assistence from the port agent assigned by Carnival at least, knowing at least all that money going out will be returned helps a bit.

 

And by the way learned that the advice from this site to always have a credit card with high limit on you came in very handy. Horrified to think what would have happened if I did not have resources for a decent hotel and for the expensive flights. The medical facility was so bad they didn't even ask for info so still no idea if they will be charging but I can still send their bill to the trip insurance for up to a year.

 

Learning experience for sure.

 

 

 

I am really sorry to hear about your sister, I am happy to hear that Carnival helped out. Thank you for the advice!