Trip insurance -no flight

[mxylpic]

Cruising on Oasis July 23. Had not bought insurance as we usually don't. Only bought insurance on trips where flights were involved. Live in Florida and will drive to the pier.

 

DW is getting jittery over Hurricanes. I

 

However, I told her the chances of RCI outright canceling a cruise are basically non existent. They would change the itinerary maybe even to the point of being a week-long cruise at sea before that.

 

Thoughts? Am I basically correct that RCI would almost never cancel a cruise, meaning we would be on the hook even if we decide not to go? (Cancel for any reason not available and 3X the price)

 

TIA,

Ed

[thinfool]

Did you pay for your cruise with a credit card?

 

Many (tho not all) have insurance that will cover travel that is purchased with the card. If your card has an annual fee it is very likely that some level of protection is included.

 

It is worth looking into. It applies to travel in general, which includes a cruise, a flight or both, as long as you used the card for payment.

 

Less prevalent are CC's that offer medical coverage, but they do exist.

[reallyitsmema]

Hurricane season is six months long, so it is hard to completely avoid. The cruise line is not going to sail into a hurricane but they will do everything possible to avoid one. They will track where the storm is expected to go and change cruise from eastern to western Caribbean if that avoids the storm. They will extend one sailing and shorten another sailing if they need to hide out somewhere for the storm to pass.

 

Each storm is different, so each plan needs to be different. They are not going to put the lives of their passengers in danger and they are not going to send their ships someplace that they are going to get severely damaged.

[Ocean Dancer]

I'd be more concerned with a medical emergency then a hurricane.

[lbjen]

Insurance isn't really going to be of much use with regard to a hurricane, unless it's your own home that is impacted, or if the departure port becomes unreachable, but not in a way that requires the cruise to be canceled. Or you get stranded on an island somewhere, but the cruise line would still get you home even in that instance.

 

They're not going to sail out of a closed port, or into an active storm. The cruise will either be canceled or rerouted, but they're not going to ask you to pay for a cruise that is canceled, and there's no insurance (except maybe 'cancel for any reason') that would cover you if you didn't want to take the reroute.

 

Insurance is more for things like medical issues, and delays.

[Grandma Dazzles]

Would never travel without insurance. Much more concerned with medical coverage/evacuation than hurricanes.

[cruiselvr04]

Would never travel without insurance. Much more concerned with medical coverage/evacuation than hurricanes.

 

 

 

Ditto - we often drive to port. We always get insurance! No one knows what tomorrow brings. The DH is a healthy runner and yet 48 hours before we were to leave for a cruise he was admitted to the hospital. It was a great relief to know we had insurance.

We have seen even healthy children need evacuation from a ship (broken leg) and hoped those parents had insurance or there goes the college fund.

Unless you can lose the vacation money and can cover 25,000 to 50,000 K evac bills without a thought buy insurance.

We will never cruise without it.

[Curly-Q]

We always buy trip insurance, even for cruises that we drive our vehicle. Accidents are so prevalent these days, it would be salt in the wound if you had to pay for a cruise that you couldn't take because of an accident on your way to embarkation. Not to mention, a medical emergency during the cruise...happens more than you think. Just something to think about.

[blackshirt]

Did you pay for your cruise with a credit card?

 

Many (tho not all) have insurance that will cover travel that is purchased with the card. If your card has an annual fee it is very likely that some level of protection is included.

 

It is worth looking into. It applies to travel in general, which includes a cruise, a flight or both, as long as you used the card for payment.

 

Less prevalent are CC's that offer medical coverage, but they do exist.

I don't think any credit card would cover someone choosing not to show up to a cruise that was not cancelled, regardless of the reason. Besides, I don't believe any credit card considers a cruise as "transportation".

[ksadonnab]

I'd be more concerned with a medical emergency then a hurricane.

 

Agreed!

[jamesr3939]

The last several years I have bought Medjet evac policies. They are very reasonable. We have a couple of trips coming up starting in October, so I plan to buy the annual coverage vs weekly.

 

As for cancellation coverage pre-embarkation, I have bought what my TA recommends for that particular cruise. Sometimes RCL is cheaper and doesn't require purchase until final deposit and other times a 3rd party is better.

 

I have used the cruise insurance twice and it's more than paid for all the premiums for all our trips. Once I canceled three days before sailing for a death in the family. Got 100% cash refund. The other time we had to cancel DS & DIL for "any reason" at 16 days prior. I got 25% back in cash and 75% back of the balance in a future cruise certificate.

Edited June 15, 2017 by jamesr3939

[Snit13]

Cruising on Oasis July 23. Had not bought insurance as we usually don't. Only bought insurance on trips where flights were involved. Live in Florida and will drive to the pier.

 

DW is getting jittery over Hurricanes. I

 

However, I told her the chances of RCI outright canceling a cruise are basically non existent. They would change the itinerary maybe even to the point of being a week-long cruise at sea before that.

 

Thoughts? Am I basically correct that RCI would almost never cancel a cruise, meaning we would be on the hook even if we decide not to go? (Cancel for any reason not available and 3X the price)

 

TIA,

Ed

 

Hi Ed,

 

Live about 45 minutes south of you and am having difficulty understanding what hurricane season and trip insurance have to do with one another. We buy trip insurance to ward against unexpected medical issues. As others have told you, no cruise line is going to sail into a hurricane and you will be leaving from Port Canaveral, thus it is not an issue. They would change course to avoid the storm. Their ships as well as their employees are very high priority as are their passengers. Tell DW not to worry.

 

Grace

Edited June 15, 2017 by Snit13
typo

[Mr. Click]

As others have said, the more important reason for trip insurance is the medical side and that is the more costly portion of the policy. Insurance is kind of like a parachute, no one really thinks about it much until you really need it and then you really want to work right. I had the unpleasant experience 3 years ago of being forced to cancel our cruise to the Baltic Sea just days before we were due to fly out. The night before I had a cardiac cath done I was on the phone with the airline, the travel agent etc getting the canellations taken care of. Once I was home from the hospital I got to deal with the insurance company. I did recover most of my cruise/airline costs and that was nice but had I not taken care of myself and said "oh lets just go on the cruise" the medical bills would have been a disaster. Medicare does not cover you when you are out of the US and in many countries they want payment in full before they will discharge you. Yes, insurance is not cheap but when you suddenly need it, it sure is good to have it. Side note, I am fine today thanks to DW for insisting I go to the ER that night and to some great doctors who got me all fixed up so we could do the Baltic the next year.

[KuffMUp]

Our very first cruise we didn't even think of insurance and saw 3 people taken off the ship for medical, one airlifted. DH has heart problems mostly under control. After that, we started buying insurance. It is little price to pay.

 

Then, in 2009 we had a B2B in a GS booked for our 25th anniversary. I blacked out and smashed my eye on the corner of the counter. Did all kinds of damage. 2 weeks before we are set to leave, doctors tell me they need to do another surgery and after it I won't be able to fly. At the time I was trying to save my eyesight so I did the surgery and cancelled the cruise. We got our roughly $15,000 back through insurance. If I knew then what I know now, I should have told the docs to pound sand and we can do the surgery when I return. Plus we would have been Diamonds by now. :mad:

[toyisland8]

I buy it for medical evacuations etc (just in case) since most cruises we've been on we have witnessed some type of medical emergency of one sort or another we realized it would be helpful to have that safety net - one fellow passenger explained that her dad had to be helicoptered off and it cost them over 10k!! Also especially when traveling with my children I always think about the slides, wave thingie, etc heaven forbid they get hurt the insurance can really be a lifesaver - for the cost it's well worth the spend on my opinion for peace of mind HTH [emoji4]

 

 

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[papaflamingo]

Cruising on Oasis July 23. Had not bought insurance as we usually don't. Only bought insurance on trips where flights were involved. Live in Florida and will drive to the pier.

 

DW is getting jittery over Hurricanes. I

 

However, I told her the chances of RCI outright canceling a cruise are basically non existent. They would change the itinerary maybe even to the point of being a week-long cruise at sea before that.

 

Thoughts? Am I basically correct that RCI would almost never cancel a cruise, meaning we would be on the hook even if we decide not to go? (Cancel for any reason not available and 3X the price)

 

TIA,

Ed

As others have said, the medical portion of Insurance is most valuable. I also always get insurance. My Mother passed away 2 weeks before a Greek Isle cruise. I recovered all the costs with insurance.

But you really asked about hurricanes. I believe that if the ship sails, you will have to sail with it, unless it's a matter of your home being affected or you can't get to the cruise, and you'd have to check the policy for that. But Royal Caribbean's insurance offers 75% Cancel for any reason. That may be your best option. That way if you don't like the itinerary changes, you can cancel and recover 75% of the non-refundable portion of the cruise. But you may be too late as you're past final payment. You'd have to check on that.

[mxylpic]

Hi Ed,

 

Live about 45 minutes south of you and am having difficulty understanding what hurricane season and trip insurance have to do with one another. We buy trip insurance to ward against unexpected medical issues. As others have told you, no cruise line is going to sail into a hurricane and you will be leaving from Port Canaveral, thus it is not an issue. They would change course to avoid the storm. Their ships as well as their employees are very high priority as are their passengers. Tell DW not to worry.

 

Grace

 

I perfectly agree. But DW will not believe me, but when I tell her all my friends on CC say not to worry about it, it will be fine.:D

[lbjen]

You could perhaps look up some of the articles from last fall when Hurricane Matthew hit, that affected some cruises as the port was closed. It will hopefully settle her mind. But common sense should make it obvious that you aren't going to be charged for a cruise that doesn't sail.

[Ocean Dancer]

You are sailing in July, the height of hurricane season is September. We have cruised over a dozen times in Sept when the kids go back to school and and only had changed ports, delays, and a bit of rough seas, all in the Caribbean, not in the departing port, I guess we were lucky.:cool:

[Flymia]

Hurricane season is not very active in July. And even if there was a storm, you are driving to port. Worst case is the cruise line cancels and you get your money or credit towards your next cruise. Not exactly sure how trip insurance would help given that if for that situation of a cancelled trip due to a storm.

[mjkacmom]

I buy insurance for medical emergencies, and for the very least, recouping our costs if we need to cancel. We are a family of,y of 7, with aging parents, at least one of my kids ends up in the ER via ambulance most years (lots of sports). I think the only reason we've never had to cancel is because we buy insurance. I remember when Sandy hit, lots of folks missed their cruise, because they couldn't leave home for a week while their homes were damaged, flooded, etc.