Trave Insurance - Worth it?

[Herfnerd]

Hello from a fellow Charlottean!

 

I echo everyone elses replies - ALWAYS buy travel insurance and never buy from Carnival. We use either InsureMyTrip or SquareMouth

 

And its not just for cruises - we buy travel insurance for all our vacations.

[cruisin froggy]

I do independent insurance thru insuremytrip.com also instead of Carnival's insurance and we purchase it every time. A few years ago we were delayed coming back into port and didn't debark til 9 pm. We're facing 10+ hour drive home. Only drove around 3, pulled off and got hotel for night. We're reimbursed that expense due to travel delay. That is a small illustration. Last year a couple we knew, husband passed a kidney stone 2nd to last night of cruise, was in the infirmary for a while with fluids and pain meds. Without insurance would hate to know that cost, regular health insurance wouldn't cover it. Too many possibilities to not be prepared. That is us. I know folks who never get it but it's worth it for my peace of mind

 

 

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We were on a cruise to Hawaii with friends when she developed kidney stones and had to leave the ship and return home. They said it was an incredibly expensive lesson. We also get insurance now...just in case. BTW, they also had to pay something for home land security for leaving the ship. It would have been more had they no had the ship's doctor's blessing.

[poobears]

I don't buy insurance because the cost of the trip is usually something we can absorb and our med insurance will pay out of country. Their coverage is always changing though so I'm thinking I will pick up a Geoblue trekker plan to cover us on our trip all year. That way we don't have to worry about how many cruises we take we will be covered.

 

My only issue with that is, it doesn't cover the cost of the cruise if I have to cancel. Are there any cheap plan out there that only cover trip cancellation without the medical? Would be a waste of money to buy another medical plan on top of the geoblue plan. If could spend a few dollars a trip to just buy cancellation insurance that would be perfect.

[jensloser]

To paraphrase an old saying: better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. Have only not bought it once (first cruise) .mostly out of ignorance we were not aware we could get insurance for a cruise. Didn't need it till our last planned cruise. I got sick and ended up being hospitalized 2 days before we were supposed to leave. Insurance company was prompt to respond once notified. Total 3 weeks from date of notification to reimbursement of refund. $150 well spent. Actual used refund tho book next cruise

[elliair]

Thanks for all the great advice. Booked Cruise yesterday and purchased insurance today.

Now we just wait . . . .

 

And you are waiting worry free! That's how I feel about booking cruises and having the insurance.

[texast518]

Hi Everyone!

Planning to cruise in Sept of 2017 for Daughter's 21st BD but going to book now for early saver discount. Sail from Jacksonville FLA 4 days to Bahamas. We live in Charlotte NC and will be driving down. Looking for opinions on if the $49 per person travel insurance is really worth it? Thoughts?

Anyone ever had to use it and how was that experience? I know its only $49, but hey that's almost a endless drink card :).

 

It is like car , house, life,etc, only if you need it. I would NOT travel without it, get it promply after you pay for cruise so you will get pre-existing conditions, if not it will not pay for anything your Dr has diagnosed.

[texast518]

I don't buy insurance because the cost of the trip is usually something we can absorb and our med insurance will pay out of country. Their coverage is always changing though so I'm thinking I will pick up a Geoblue trekker plan to cover us on our trip all year. That way we don't have to worry about how many cruises we take we will be covered.

 

My only issue with that is, it doesn't cover the cost of the cruise if I have to cancel. Are there any cheap plan out there that only cover trip cancellation without the medical? Would be a waste of money to buy another medical plan on top of the geoblue plan. If could spend a few dollars a trip to just buy cancellation insurance that would be perfect.

 

Does that cover emergency air-vac?

[yogibear]

I didn't always buy the insurance. I did though when I was traveling to Arkansas to see my daughter in 2013. Traveling solo too.

1st day there, I fell down 1 step and broke my ankle. Spent vacation in hospital. They covered all hospital/dr expenses.

 

Now, I never travel without it!

 

Karen

[poobears]

Does that cover emergency air-vac?

 

The Geoblue Trekker? Yes it covers Evac, dr bills, hospital coverage etc. They have single trip coverage too called geo voyager. But like I said it doesn't cover your cruise cancellation or anything to get that money back.

[poobears]

We bought Carnival insurance for our upcoming March cruise. While I'm thinking about the trekker plan I may go ahead and purchase the voyager plan for our October cruise. Just to give us extra medical coverage since we have a high deductible insurance plan. Looks like it would only be around $40 to cover me and the girls at the highest coverage with no deductible. Can't beat that price for the peace of mind it brings.

[Herfnerd]

The Geoblue Trekker? Yes it covers Evac, dr bills, hospital coverage etc. They have single trip coverage too called geo voyager. But like I said it doesn't cover your cruise cancellation or anything to get that money back.

 

I just looked into this - so in other words, you ARE buying travel insurance.....

[cortneyward]

Absolutely worth it! I wouldn't use carnival because there are too many conditions. We used travel guard and loved it. They were not expensive and were very quick when we had to cancel. They will cover even if there is a pre existing condition if you call within 14 days of booking

[poobears]

I just looked into this - so in other words, you ARE buying travel insurance.....

 

I haven't purchased it before but think I will this trip. I've seen great reviews on it from people on this board and others that have used it. If I start taking as many cruises as I'd like I will buy the multi trip plan, for now I think I will buy the single trip plan for our Oct cruise.

 

The downside is this doesn't cover you if you have to cancel your trip, you are still out your cruise money. This also doesn't cover you inside the US just internationally.

[Herfnerd]

I haven't purchased it before but think I will this trip. I've seen great reviews on it from people on this board and others that have used it. If I start taking as many cruises as I'd like I will buy the multi trip plan, for now I think I will buy the single trip plan for our Oct cruise.

 

The downside is this doesn't cover you if you have to cancel your trip, you are still out your cruise money. This also doesn't cover you inside the US just internationally.

 

Gotchya! We just prefer buying travel insurance as the plans we purchase cover us for lost luggage and airline issues.......

[VALBS]

Thanks Everyone!! - I will check out insuremytrip.com for sure.

So do I book cruise first and then buy insurance?

How soon after booking cruise do I have to purchase insurance?

 

Each Insurance company is different check out what their requirements are. I get mine through my USAA membership which I have yet to find a better premium. They will cover Pre-existing conditions but have to purchase within so many days of deposit on cruise. As a side note a helo evac will cost you $30k+ and then if you have to be medically escorted back to the States that could be 50k+. Also will help if you have an accident enroute and miss your ship departure. There are polices out there that offer a variety of coverages.

I hope this helps.

[poobears]

Gotchya! We just prefer buying travel insurance as the plans we purchase cover us for lost luggage and airline issues.......

 

yeah that's why I'm hoping somewhere out there is a travel insurance that covers, I dont' know, just travel lol Everyone I can find lumps it with health coverage. I want one that does strictly travel insurance, then I could do geo for the health side and buy a cheap travel plan to go with it when needed. I'm sure they are out there, I just haven't found one yet.

[poobears]

Each Insurance company is different check out what their requirements are. I get mine through my USAA membership which I have yet to find a better premium. They will cover Pre-existing conditions but have to purchase within so many days of deposit on cruise. As a side note a helo evac will cost you $30k+ and then if you have to be medically escorted back to the States that could be 50k+. Also will help if you have an accident enroute and miss your ship departure. There are polices out there that offer a variety of coverages.

I hope this helps.

 

If you don't mind me asking, where did you find it on the USAA site? DH looked when we booked our March cruise but it took him off site and all of the quotes there were really high. He couldn't figure it all out so we just went with Carnival insurance. Maybe he wasn't looking in the right spot.

[VASOXFANN]

We're middle-aged, and we always get travel insurance. We even had to use it once when DH had to have emergency surgery.

 

You just never know what could/will happen :confused:

[VALBS]

If you don't mind me asking, where did you find it on the USAA site? DH looked when we booked our March cruise but it took him off site and all of the quotes there were really high. He couldn't figure it all out so we just went with Carnival insurance. Maybe he wasn't looking in the right spot.

If you go to the USAA site, then to Products and Travel Discounts. It will take you to a third party site. I am booked on a 7 day cruise and for both it was $108 for the mid level plan. That is much less expensive than Carnival which was $188 for the same cruise with less than half the coverage.

[poobears]

If you go to the USAA site, then to Products and Travel Discounts. It will take you to a third party site. I am booked on a 7 day cruise and for both it was $108 for the mid level plan. That is much less expensive than Carnival which was $188 for the same cruise with less than half the coverage.

 

I think that is the same place it took DH but he couldn't figure all the options out. Carnival I think was $49pp on our 7 day so we just went with theirs. He didn't see anything on USAA that was cheaper. I may go in and look for myself though I'm not sure you can cancel Carnival insurance once you buy it, I don't know.

 

Thanks for the info.

[simplelife]

the insuremytrip websire allows you to select type of plan and you can just check "trip cancellation" if you don't want other features and it will show you just those

 

 

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[EastTex]

Food for thought. My wife and I travel a number of times a year and found that an annual travel policy suited our needs the best.

 

I'm not here to sell any particular policy but for comparison sake you might begin by looking at the costs of a policy that Nationwide offers on an annual basis as opposed to buying single trip policies. If it makes sense in your particular case or with your traveling habits then you can expand your search for other insurance companies that offer annual plans.

[poobears]

Food for thought. My wife and I travel a number of times a year and found that an annual travel policy suited our needs the best.

 

I'm not here to sell any particular policy but for comparison sake you might begin by looking at the costs of a policy that Nationwide offers on an annual basis as opposed to buying single trip policies. If it makes sense in your particular case or with your traveling habits then you can expand your search for other insurance companies that offer annual plans.

 

I was just checking out Nationwide, I like that it covers domestic and international travel but it looks like it just pays for delays and medical. It still wouldn't refund your money for your cruise that you missed would it? Or am I missing that part of the policy.

[tallyho8]

Is it worth it? Insurance is a gamble. Some people like to gamble especially if the odds are in their favor. Others like to play it safe. For every $100 that travel insurance companies take in with premiums, they pay out $10 in claims so the odds are that for every 10 people who take out insurance, 9 will get no return for the money they spent and 1 will at least get the amount of his premium back.

 

So it will not be worth it for those 9 people unless you count having peace of mind, but that one person (who might be you) will find it worthwhile to get trip insurance.

 

I have always liked to gamble when the odds were in my favor, so since I had a healthy family and felt lucky, I went without health insurance from age 20 to age 65 when I got Medicare. Instead I put the amount that my premiums would have been into a special bank account marked Health to use for any medical reasons.

 

I have a lifelong friend whose pay for those same years was about equal to mine but he was not a gambler, preferring to get health insurance all his life.

 

When I became 65 my Health account had over $100,000 in it and I changed the name on it to Cruise account since I had insurance through Medicare then. Now I am trying to cruise at least 5 times a year just using money out of my cruise account. :D My poor friend can not afford to cruise because he spent all his money on insurance over the years. :(

[zippyjet]

absolutely worth it. Even if you don't get it through carnival, get it through somewhere. You never know what could happen between now and when you cruise. We see so many postings on here where they ask if carnival will reimburse them because for one reason or another, they couldn't take their cruise. If you have insurance, it will reimburse you if you have to miss your cruise. Do try to get a policy that will cover cancellation for any reason though.

 

yes!

 

Yes, it is. From what I've learned here at Cruise Critic; don't get it through Carnival. There are lots of loopholes in their product. (From what I gather). I've used http://www.insuremytrip.com the past 4 years and have that piece of mind. I did this because my mom with Alzheimers was still with us but not for long. I wanted the ability to be covered in case I had to get back to the city for an unplanned emergency. Mom is with dad and the angels now but, I still invest the small amount in case of my own health or hurricanes as I now cruise right after Labor Day which is ground zero for hurricane activity. Go to their website. they compare and contrast a plethora of plans from the famous insurance companies. The best thing is so far not having to use it and I hope this streak continues![/font