Travel insurance for pre-cruise stay

[windjamming]

We usually purchase travel insurance through Royal Caribbean. If we decide to spend a few days ahead of the cruise (or after) at the departure city, can we extend our insurance to cover the entire trip? We would unlikely be booking our pre/post-cruise hotel..etc. with Royal Caribbean.

 

I will also post this in the general cruise questions forum but thought someone here might have experience with CruiseCare specifically.

 

Thanks.

[cruisinfanatic]

We usually purchase travel insurance through Royal Caribbean. If we decide to spend a few days ahead of the cruise (or after) at the departure city, can we extend our insurance to cover the entire trip? We would unlikely be booking our pre/post-cruise hotel..etc. with Royal Caribbean.

 

I will also post this in the general cruise questions forum but thought someone here might have experience with CruiseCare specifically.

 

Thanks.

Not with RCL's. Just the cruise. You'll need to buy other 3rd party. It's much better anyway

[GTO-Girl]

We never buy insurance through the cruise line. You can get much better coverage for less through a third party.

 

We use http://www.insuremytrip.com to compare policies..

[katiel53]

I, also, don't buy insurance through the cruise line as we normally go a couple of days or more before the cruise and many times stay a day or so after. We want everything included, hotel, plane trip and cruise.

 

In January we had flights scheduled to Ft Lauderdale for January 6, which was two days prior to our cruise. I got to Baltimore where I had a change of plane and my sister was flying from AL to Ft Lauderdale, non-stop. That day is when the "shooter" was at the Ft Lauderdale airport.

 

Our flights were cancelled as the airport was closed to everyone that day and most of the next day as well. We both ended up flying to Orlando where we had to get a hotel room and rent a car to drive to Ft Lauderdale. Additionally, my luggage wasn't transferred to the Orlando flight even though I sat at the airport in BWI for 6 hours. I ended up going to the FLL airport in the evening of the 7th to pick up my luggage as it had been sent to there on another airline.

 

All my expenses were paid by the insurance company. I don't know if all of them would have been covered by CruiseCare, but I felt that having outside insurance is far better than using that of the cruise line.

[windjamming]

Many thanks all. Looks like I should get 3rd party for the entire trip. Will need to see if I can cancel the CruiseCare for the cruise.

[Clarea]

Many thanks all. Looks like I should get 3rd party for the entire trip. Will need to see if I can cancel the CruiseCare for the cruise.

If you have not made final payment, you should be able to cancel the RC insurance.

[Kmangel]

We have had a third party company's insurance for our cruises, but only for the cruise itself. For our upcoming cruise we were told we were covered pre cruise, post cruise and the cruise itself. Had never been told that before. Now we know and will make sure in the future to cover the entire time start to finish, not just the cruise itself.

[SRF]

1) 3rd party insurance is NOT always cheaper. You have to shop around. Age makes a huge difference.

 

2) READ YOUR POLICY. If you have any questions, talk to the agent or the insurance company BEFORE you purchase the insurance, to make SURE you have the coverage you want/need and what you think you have.

[kccrzr]

Also check the terms on your credit cards. We have two different cards which include travel insurance at no extra cost for components purchased with those cards.

[internetwhiz]

We use Travel Insured. We are covered door to door. Last year we were in Europe 11 days before our cruise. I love RC, but their trip insurance isn't good. If you don't buy your airfare through RC, it's not covered. Two coverages you might need are medical coverage or evacuation. Rc's policy has limits of 10K for Medical and 25K for Evac. Costs could be twice that and you'd be absorbing what isn't within the limits. RC's limits haven't changed since 2006 when we started cruising. I found our first cruise booklet last week, and was shocked. You also want travel delay coverage, and if needed, coverage for pre-existing conditions. We get it automatically if we buy insurance with 15 days of buying the cruise. Nice to have, and the only plus to a RC policy, is cancel for any reason. Nice to have but not a necessity.

[windjamming]

Thanks again all -- knew I'd get great info here!

[cargo13]

Hotel: If your pre /post hotel is refundable there is no need to insure it. If you are buying refundable hotel, most allow you to cancel 24 -72 hours prior. Of course, if you are buying a prepaid hotel, it must be insured.

 

Flights: Most air tickets are non refundable & must be insured for pre /post cruise. Assume you did not buy Royal's air.

 

We buy from GENERALI Travel Insurance (used to be CSA) which has best pre existing conditions coverage--allows you to buy @ cruise final payment.

[SRF]

BTW, there is travel insurance available when you book your airfare. Like any policy, read the terms and conditions.

 

And most all hotel booking (not pre-paid) are cancelled up to around 4 to 6PM the day of arrival. And if you do not show up, they only charge on for one night. Resort areas typically have different requirements. I have had some that required free cancellation as much as 60 days prior to the booking.