Cruise ship insurance

[beaniele]

I have cruised many times, Crystal, Silverseas, Oceania. . I booked an Alaska cruise 2019, on Viking, yesterday. . My TA said if I put the cruise line insurance, if I cancel within the guidelines, I will not get the insurance refunded. I have always received the insurance back if had to cancel, on other cruise lines. Has anyone had experience with this?

 

I also had to cancel a cruise last year, second thoughts. I had not added the insurance, so the $200 kept was a penalty. Can not use toward a cruise. I canceled within a few days.

 

Thanks in advance if anyone can shed some light.

 

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

[Azulann]

Did you pay just the deposit yesterday or the total price of the cruise?

I would have your TA send you a copy of Viking Insurance terms of the policy. Read the policy and ask your TA for any clarification.

I just paid my total payment today. I bought insurance from a company I found on Cruise Critic fourm on insurance. I paid $50 till final payment. Now I will call them and pay the full cost of my policy. I bought insurance mainly for any health/medical reasons that might come up pre curise and during my cruise. I was happy with the terms and the price of the policy, but was not through Viking or my TA.

[mhb1757]

It is usually advisable to buy your trip insurance from an independent insurer and not your cruise line. You can get much better coverage at a lower cost. If you go to a site like insuremytrip.com you will be able to compare coverage and costs of different policies and decide what coverage is best for you.

[garycarla]

As so many others have indicated, you can also get insure from places like insuremytrip

 

I am not speaking to policy, but it sure seems only right to me that if you buy insurance, you buy insurance. Deciding you dont want to use it later does not seem right. Just me I guess.

[beaniele]

Yes I verified with Viking. Non refundable insurance. . I have cancelled cruises before and received everything back. . I know the situation now so I will look for insurance elsewhere. . The cruise is in 2019 and a lot can happen. . I just paid a deposit. I am looking forward to our first Viking cruise and going back to Alaska.

 

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

[beaniele]

Did you pay just the deposit yesterday or the total price of the cruise?

I would have your TA send you a copy of Viking Insurance terms of the policy. Read the policy and ask your TA for any clarification.

I just paid my total payment today. I bought insurance from a company I found on Cruise Critic fourm on insurance. I paid $50 till final payment. Now I will call them and pay the full cost of my policy. I bought insurance mainly for any health/medical reasons that might come up pre curise and during my cruise. I was happy with the terms and the price of the policy, but was not through Viking or my TA.

Thanks. Will look into that for sure.

 

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

[stretchcruz]

I always buy insurance through insuremytrip. On many occasions I have had to cancel or reschedule a cruise, and they always transfer the insurance to my new trip so that I don't lose the premium. I can also increase coverage as needed if the new trip is more. I also usually buy just the minimum insurance (say $1,000) when I book, and the premium is low, but my preexisting conditions are covered. Then, at final payment, I increase the amount of coverage (and the premium). And if my hotels, etc are more I can increase as needed. The folks at insuremytrip are always very helpful and when I book I always call to make sure that the company I choose will allow me to transfer the premium to another trip. This way I don't worry about losing premium if I have to cancel, plus I save a ton of money over booking insurance through the cruise line.

(I also had to file a big claim once when I had emergency surgery 6 days prior to our cruise. I didn't lose a penny. They even reimbursed my nonrefundable priceline hotels and a few tour deposits, plus paid to put my FF miles back into my account. And it was done promptly!)

[beaniele]

I always buy insurance through insuremytrip. On many occasions I have had to cancel or reschedule a cruise, and they always transfer the insurance to my new trip so that I don't lose the premium. I can also increase coverage as needed if the new trip is more. I also usually buy just the minimum insurance (say $1,000) when I book, and the premium is low, but my preexisting conditions are covered. Then, at final payment, I increase the amount of coverage (and the premium). And if my hotels, etc are more I can increase as needed. The folks at insuremytrip are always very helpful and when I book I always call to make sure that the company I choose will allow me to transfer the premium to another trip. This way I don't worry about losing premium if I have to cancel, plus I save a ton of money over booking insurance through the cruise line.

(I also had to file a big claim once when I had emergency surgery 6 days prior to our cruise. I didn't lose a penny. They even reimbursed my nonrefundable priceline hotels and a few tour deposits, plus paid to put my FF miles back into my account. And it was done promptly!)

Thank you for the information. I will check it out.

 

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

[luvnps]

Thank you for the information. I will check it out.

 

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

I have no experience with insurance through Viking. But several years ago we purchased trip insurance through HAL and needed to cancel the cruise. We received all of the trip money, but we were not reimbursed for the cost of the insurance. At a later date we booked a trip with Gate 1 and purchased insurance through them; again, we had to cancel for emergency health reasons and were reimbursed for all of the trip; but we were not reimbursed for the cost of the insurance. Perhaps lines differ. I have purchased insurance through insuremytrip, but in those cases did not need to cancel so I am interested to see the responses from folks who booked through them and had to cancel. That is a big plus!

[H2Otstr]

There is also a forum just for insurance questions:

 

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

[luvnps]

Thank you, H2Otstr, I will definitely go to that link.