Should we buy Travel Insurance?

[suchacrisis]

Hey all,

 

We will be going on our first cruise in September on Carnival Triumph. However, we are not sure whether we should purchase travel insurance, and if we should, through who. Carnival offers their own when purchasing tickets, but I wasn't sure there weren't better options.

 

Do you guys have any advice for us?

 

Thanks!

[TheOldBear]

Hey all,

 

We will be going on our first cruise in September on Carnival Triumph. However, we are not sure whether we should purchase travel insurance, and if we should, through who. Carnival offers their own when purchasing tickets, but I wasn't sure there weren't better options.

 

Do you guys have any advice for us?

 

Thanks!

 

The short answer is yes - buy travel insurance.

 

For the longer answer, see the Cruise / Travel Insurance forum http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=635

[fishywood]

Read the Carnival schedule of cancellation penalties and ask yourself the following question:

 

"Am I prepared to lose this much of my fare with no recourse if I have to cancel?"

 

Once your booking is within our cancellation penalty period, the amount of penalty will increase as the cruise departure approaches. When calculating the days prior to sailing, the day of sailing should not be considered as one of the days. The day of sailing is considered the first day of the cruise.

• From the final payment date to 56 days prior to sailing (or 46 days prior to sailing for cruises 5 days or less, but excluding cruises that visit Cuba), the penalty is the deposit amount.
  
• From 55 days prior to sailing to 30 days prior to sailing (or 45 to 30 days prior to sailing on cruises 5 days or less, but excluding cruises that visit Cuba), the penalty is 50% of the total fare or the deposit amount, whichever is greater.
  
• From 29 to 15 days prior to sailing, the penalty is 75% of the total fare or the deposit amount, whichever is greater.
  
• From 14 days prior to sailing to the day of your cruise, the penalty is 100%* of the total fare.
  
• No refunds will be made if you do not show up for your cruise or if you interrupt or cancel your vacation once it has begun.
  

The total fare is defined as Cruise Fare, Transfer Services, Pre/Post Cruise Vacation Packages and Air Supplements (excluding Restricted Air which is non-refundable at time of booking).

*Note: For full 100% penalties, the refund will ONLY include: Taxes, Fees and Port Expenses and Optional Prepaid Gratuities.

Assuming you have said "no" you can start shopping around. The biggest issue with cruiseline insurance is that the premium is not based on age, so that younger passengers are paying extra to cover the increased liability of older passengers. So if you are below retirement age you should be able to get a better plan independently.

 

Things to concentrate on: do you want cancellation coverage just for medical reasons (which reimburses cancellation penalties if cancelling due to a medical emergency of either yourself or an immediate family member) or will you need 'cancel for any reason' coverage (for example, you employer revokes your vacation time at the last minute--a reason which is excluded on most policies that are not 'any reason').

 

Secondly, medical evacuation. I know if you are young and healthy you might think it a waste. But if you are you should be able to find coverage in conjunction with your cancellation policy very inexpensive. If you are going to the Caribbean, Mexico or Bermuda then $50,000 in coverage is fine; anywhere else, get at least $100,000. Many cruiseline policies have a cap of $25-30K coverage while charging a substantially higher premium.

 

There are several websites that allow you to make comparisons between different companies policies. Be sure to enter your ages and the total cost of your entire vacation (cruise fare, travel to an from the ship, any pre or post hotels) to see an accurate quote.

[helen haywood]

Yes. Unless the possibility of losing all the money you spent on your cruise is insignificant to you. And if that was the case you shouldn't mind spending a little over a hundred bucks for a 7 night cruise.

 

You may be young and healthy. But what if you slip and break a leg? An idiot crashes into your car? You get sick? There is a death in the family?

 

Go to http://www.insuremytrip.com and get some quotes and compare prices.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[NLH Arizona]

Buying insurance is a small price to pay to be protected in case there is an emergency.

[cb at sea]

You only NEED insurance if losing the funds you've spend will hurt your pocketbook. For most folks, that is why they buy insurance. Also, if you DO buy a policy, make sure it covers medical evacuations, in case something should happen where that becomes needed! Very expensive to be airlifted off the ship. And, if you are taken to a foreign hospital for emergency treatment, can you afford to get back home?

[Sea Hag]

Good grief yes! I had to cancel a cruise this week (supposed to be leaving tomorrow) because our cat got sick. You may not have a cat, but that's a simple example of something coming up that can throw your plans right out the window. We had cancel for any reason coverage, so we'll only be out the cost of the insurance, rather than the total amount.

[PROCRUISE]

Hey all,

 

We will be going on our first cruise in September on Carnival Triumph. However, we are not sure whether we should purchase travel insurance, and if we should, through who. Carnival offers their own when purchasing tickets, but I wasn't sure there weren't better options.

 

Do you guys have any advice for us?

 

Thanks!

 

Buy insurance for sure but NOT through the cruise line. Go to insuremytrip.com.

My friend and I went on 29 previous cruises and although we bought insurance always wondered if it was really needed.

We were scheduled to go on a rather expensive Viking Ocean cruise this past January. Rather suddenly he died in mid December from the effects of agent orange. Insurance refunded the full $6598 cost. Without it, the cruise line would have refunded $0.

[Kartgv]

Those who say 'buy insurance but not through the cruise line' are probably right UNLESS you are over age 70, or somewhere in that vicinity. The cruise line insurance charges the same for everyone regardless of age, while other policies will be much higher priced. At our age, we usually get the cruise line insurance, then if we'll be in some more remote areas add a basic medical evacuation policy to supplement it. The evacuation policies are usually pretty inexpensive.

 

Some cruise line policies offer something that most other lower cost insurance doesn't. Example: because of our status, Princess upgrades us from their basic to premium insurance. That provides a form of 'cancel for any reason' coverage - not a cash refund but a 100% credit towards a future cruise. I believe Celebrity offers 75%. Compared to private 'cancel for any reason' coverage, it's a bargain.

[Kiran]

The first trip i bought insurance i asked only for medical and evacuation quote. Quote came back with info and that it would be $40 more for rest of trip insurance coverage so i added it. that February vacation was a series of Blizzards before ,during and after and i was glad i had coverage though i ended up not needing it. People scheduled to fly the day before and after me sure needed their insurance.

[clackey]

Please buy it. November 2015 we had a cruise booked for the 26th and my wife fell on the 4th and fractured a vertebra. She had surgery, had to wear a brace for 4 months and was back to work at 6 months. Our trip insurance took care of everything after cancellation except the $100 that the online TA kept. Even that was returned if we booked with them with-in 12 months of the cancellation, which we did. One year from the day of the accident we were on Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas headed for Belize.

 

So yes. BUY it!

[Nebr.cruiser]

We (now) always buy insurance, and we have had to use it three times, twice for health crisis with parents, once during the SARS epidemic. I admit that when we were very young we didn't.

 

We usually buy private insurance, but may look into cruise line insurance now that we are past 70. We would then add an inexpensive policy that covers evacuation, etc.

 

It's not so much the price of the cruise and incidentals that would be hard to lose (we could eat that cost, though we wouldn't like to) it's the cost of possible serious medical issues that entail expensive procedures and/or evacuation which can mean very, very big bucks.

 

The three trips we had to cancel were all longer, more expensive cruises and cruise tours than we usually take; eventually we received all the money back, amounting in total to over $20,000.00. You do have to go through some hoops, generally, proving real medical emergencies.

 

We still haven't made it to China! (Two of the trips were attempts to tour China and cruise on the Yangtze.)

[Langley Cruisers]

Yes, please purchase insurance. Sadly, I speak from experience as someone who not once, but twice had to cancel a cruise due to cancer and then a recurrence - our travel insurance paid/reimbursed for everything we had already paid for.

 

Life is short and precious and sometimes it "gets in the way" of your plans. Obviously, you hope to never have to use it but we are certainly glad we had bought it.

.

[iahawkfan21]

You only NEED insurance if losing the funds you've spend will hurt your pocketbook. For most folks, that is why they buy insurance. Also, if you DO buy a policy, make sure it covers medical evacuations, in case something should happen where that becomes needed! Very expensive to be airlifted off the ship. And, if you are taken to a foreign hospital for emergency treatment, can you afford to get back home?

 

Agree with this 100%. While we could afford to lose the funds if we had to cancel, our budget isn't as flexible as many so it would hurt a bit. This is why starting with our last cruise we decided to start getting insurance. It's a small price to pay IMO. As mentioned, make sure you're well aware of what it and/or your personal insurance policies cover. The last thing I'd want to do is get medical attention in a foreign country and find out my insurance wouldn't cover it.

 

Do a bit of research as there are very good options outside of what the cruiseline offers and often quite a bit cheaper.

[lenquixote66]

Hey all,

 

We will be going on our first cruise in September on Carnival Triumph. However, we are not sure whether we should purchase travel insurance, and if we should, through who. Carnival offers their own when purchasing tickets, but I wasn't sure there weren't better options.

 

Do you guys have any advice for us?

 

Thanks!

 

Travel insurance is a must in my opinion . My TA's agency gives free insurance ,a great incentive to book with them.

[BlueRiband]

Insurance is all about your tolerance for risk and ability to pay out of pocket if the "if" happens. I've read posts from those who decided to "self insure", reasoning that the money spent on travel insurance over the years would have added up to a nice cruise. That's fine but should there be an accident or sudden onset of a medical crisis one would have to be able to write some hefty checks for medical evacuation.

 

Travel insurance also has to be bought within a certain time frame from booking. You can't decide not to buy it, then change your mind if a tropical storm is heading your way. Nobody will sell you a policy if a named storm has already formed. A few years ago there was a post in the Cunard forum from somebody who didn't insure his transatlantic crossing. A major storm closed east coast airports, resulting in hundreds of flight cancellations, and he couldn't get to his embarkation in New York. Next port after New York? Southampton, UK and the end of the voyage.

[Z'Loth]

Looking at the September, 2017 schedule for the Carnival Triumph, you will be docking at non-US ports. There may be restrictions on medical coverage at non-US facilities while vacationing with your health plan. I would suggest a non-cruise line insurance policy that covers both medical evacuation (can cost six figures) and medical coverage "just in case".

 

Please note.... you have to purchase this policy within 14 days of making your initial deposit in order to cover pre-existing conditions.

[Gwendy]

Australia's foreign affairs and trade dept. DFAT, says on website "If you can't afford travel insurance, you can't afford to travel,"

Good advice, I have purchased travel insurance every time I travel, 2 or 3 times a year, thank heavens never needed it. BUT have seen at least 5 air evacuations from cruise ships, talked to a lovely fit young lady who stepped backwards to take a photo, tripped over a gutter, broken ankle. I don't think it's an option to go without it.

[donaldsc]

Hey all,

 

We will be going on our first cruise in September on Carnival Triumph. However, we are not sure whether we should purchase travel insurance, and if we should, through who. Carnival offers their own when purchasing tickets, but I wasn't sure there weren't better options.

 

Do you guys have any advice for us?

 

Thanks!

 

We can't tell you whether to buy or insurance or what kind to buy. Only you can define what potential losses you are comfortable with. What we do is carry an annual policy that covers evacuation and medical only as I figure that I can afford the loss of the trip cost if bad things happened. Some people can't afford or are not willing to take a chance of this loss.

 

As I said, you have to decide. We can't. However, those people who insist that cruising w/o taking our insurance are at best overly simplistic and basically wrong. Lots of people happily cruise w/o insurance.

 

I will add as with everything else sold as an add on by cruise companies, the insurance policy sold by the cruise company is generally a bad deal as compared with independent insurance policies.

 

DON

[Krazy Kruizers]

We always buy insurance and have had to use it a few times for various reasons.

Better to be safe than sorry.

[DirtyDawg]

We can't tell you whether to buy or insurance or what kind to buy. Only you can define what potential losses you are comfortable with. What we do is carry an annual policy that covers evacuation and medical only as I figure that I can afford the loss of the trip cost if bad things happened. Some people can't afford or are not willing to take a chance of this loss.

 

As I said, you have to decide. We can't. However, those people who insist that cruising w/o taking our insurance are at best overly simplistic and basically wrong. Lots of people happily cruise w/o insurance.

 

I will add as with everything else sold as an add on by cruise companies, the insurance policy sold by the cruise company is generally a bad deal as compared with independent insurance policies.

 

DON

 

I'll quote Don so the OP will read Don's very important comments again.

[6rugrats]

I don't worry so much about losing my cruise fare, I am concerned about medical emergencies.

 

Stuff happens. We never think we'll have a medical emergency when we get up in the morning, but it happens, even to the youngest and healthiest people.

 

People cruise "happily without insurance" until the taxi they're riding in at a port stop gets smashed by a truck. Their injuries are so severe, after they are stabilized at a local hospital, they need to be flown back to the US for surgery and a lengthy hospital stay.

 

The bill for a medical evacuation can be over $50,000, which would have been covered by a travel insurance policy that cost a couple hundred dollars.

 

Not so happy now.

[Strophic]

Last cruise we didn't buy travel insurance and didn't end up needing it. This cruise we are buying a very basic plan. It's not very much money and I like the extra peace of mind.

[knittinggirl]

Yes to insurance.

 

We had to cancel our very first cruise, when DH broke his hip. We rescheduled, and the cruise was late arriving back to port. To make things even more crazy the transfer bus broke down in the airport, and we arrived at the air gate too late for the last flight of the day. We had insurance (Royal Caribbean) and were put up in an suite. We also got meal vouchers, and they rebooked our flight for the next day.

[Lionesss]

Always have bought insurance for all our travels.

 

And

 

It paid off when we were on a land vacation to WDW when Hurricane Charilie attacked.

 

Covered all lost expenses, and more.

 

Save receipts.

 

Safe travels.