first timer questions...

[Texansonboard]

First time cruiser here...

 

Do you buy your trip cancellation insurance through HAL or an independent company?

 

If HAL were to reduce fares on our cabin/cruise, how do we best find that out?

[Sea42]

We have trip cancellation with our credit card and purchase separate insurance for medical/evac from a provider that is not affiliated with the cruise line.

I check the cruise line website occasionally to check on prices myself. If they are lower I will call and ask for a price adjustment. I call the cruise line if I haven't yet switch my booking over to a TA. I call the TA if the booking has been transfered. Sometimes the special offers will be different though so you have to look at all the the variables (free gratuities, beverage package etc) not just the base price.

[Herfnerd]

We always buy our separate from who we buy the trip from - minimizes the risk that the policy they sell you doesn't benefit them more than you

 

We always buy from InsureMyTrip.com or Squaremouth.com

[Krazy Kruizers]

The last few years we have bought HAL's Insurance -- get 90% back -- no questions asked or forms to fill out.

We do buy separate medical and evacuation insurance.

HAL will not contact you if prices go down. I constantly check to see if there is a price drop or a promotion that we may qualify for.

[Captain Canuck]

have medical trip insurance through work

 

decided a long time ago to self insure on trip cancellation....no claims in over 35 years so if we lose a trip or 2 now we are still far further ahead

 

mind you biggest threat to missing a trip would be my work cancelling my leave so they would have to compensate so I did not worry that much about it

[Occy]

We purchase both cancellation and medical insurance independently.

 

I make a point of checking fares myself up to final payment and if I see any differences I let my TA know right away. Have saved considerably on a few cruises by doing this. Worth the time and trouble.

[KroozNut]

We have trip cancellation with our credit card and purchase separate insurance for medical/evac from a provider that is not affiliated with the cruise line.

I check the cruise line website occasionally to check on prices myself. If they are lower I will call and ask for a price adjustment. I call the cruise line if I haven't yet switch my booking over to a TA. I call the TA if the booking has been transfered. Sometimes the special offers will be different though so you have to look at all the the variables (free gratuities, beverage package etc) not just the base price.

 

Ditto for us..

[KroozNut]

Regarding price drops, isn't there an issue though if one has a package like Explore 4 (as we do on our next sailing). Base fare for our sailing has indeed dropped, but If I understand correctly, we would not qualify for the reduced fare without also giving up our Explore 4 promo.

 

Do I have this right?

[Oregonpoppa]

We booked our trip insurance independently. It is door to door coverage from the time you leave your house until you return, including all medical, evacuation and airlift. It does have some exclusions that need to be thoroughly read and understood, but it actually came in at slightly less cost than the HAL coverage.

[Sea42]

Regarding price drops, isn't there an issue though if one has a package like Explore 4 (as we do on our next sailing). Base fare for our sailing has indeed dropped, but If I understand correctly, we would not qualify for the reduced fare without also giving up our Explore 4 promo.

 

Do I have this right?

Yes you are right. It is important to look at the whole offer and not just the base fare of the cruise when determining whether or not to ask for the lower price.

[Texansonboard]

Just checked my cc company and they are doing away with their travel insurance programs for car/air at end of February and nothing for other travel. How rude!

 

Will check with those companies that were recommended above. Any others want to provide the companies that they used?

[bleacher04]

Besides checking prices regularly on the HAL website, I also ask our HAL PCC if the price has dropped, before we make our final payment. They won't volunteer this information, but if you ask they will check. Several times we have come out ahead.

 

Others are correct, you have to look at the whole cost of the package; sometimes you might have to give up a promo package to get the lower fare. But I have happily given up Explore4 in the past, to get more than its value in savings (to us) in the form of a lower fare.

[Loreto]

Besides checking prices regularly on the HAL website, I also ask our HAL PCC if the price has dropped, before we make our final payment. They won't volunteer this information, but if you ask they will check. Several times we have come out ahead.

 

Others are correct, you have to look at the whole cost of the package; sometimes you might have to give up a promo package to get the lower fare. But I have happily given up Explore4 in the past, to get more than its value in savings (to us) in the form of a lower fare.

 

I insure our cruises through a 3rd party and we did have a claim when the ship sailed without us in the Med....worth every penny we paid for the insurance. We see people evacuated on every cruise, too.

 

I too check prices. I agree sometimes the extras, like Explore 4 aren't a good deal. As 4* we get discounts anyway. I would rather pay a lower fare.

Karen

[CruiseGal999]

I insure our cruises through a 3rd party and we did have a claim when the ship sailed without us in the Med....worth every penny we paid for the insurance. We see people evacuated on every cruise, too.

 

I too check prices. I agree sometimes the extras, like Explore 4 aren't a good deal. As 4* we get discounts anyway. I would rather pay a lower fare.

Karen

 

You've seen people get medevaced every cruise? I haven't been on a lot of cruises, but I've never seen it happen. Why were people medevaced every cruise?

[Trapper44]

We also use a third party insurance. Last year we used HAL cancel for any reason for a 13 day Land Sea to Alaska. This time researching insurance requirements for our 20 day Panama Canal cruise I found a website that had many suggestions/recommendations. One of which was to get primary medical insurance vice the secondary insurance that most medical insurance is. Found a policy, with many higher limits, for not much more than we paid for the Alaska trip. A cancel for any reason rider could be purchased for less than $250. It is also door to door and covers us for the entire time we are gone.

[Rmt1948]

Just checked my cc company and they are doing away with their travel insurance programs for car/air at end of February and nothing for other travel. How rude!

 

Will check with those companies that were recommended above. Any others want to provide the companies that they used?

 

I can vouch for going through Squaremouth. They have a variety of different plans including plans with whatever reason coverage. We had to cancel our original trip due to my wife’s medical condition and while we had to provide some documentation, they reimbursed 100% of our non-refundable costs.

 

Maury

[KroozNut]

Yes you are right. It is important to look at the whole offer and not just the base fare of the cruise when determining whether or not to ask for the lower price.

 

Thank you. And we are quite happy with our cruise fare which includes SBP and PG for two!:)

[KroozNut]

Any others want to provide the companies that they used?

USAA... can't be beat!

[KroozNut]

Others are correct, you have to look at the whole cost of the package; sometimes you might have to give up a promo package to get the lower fare. But I have happily given up Explore4 in the past, to get more than its value in savings (to us) in the form of a lower fare.

 

Yep, you have to look at the whole package. A price drop alone may not be a better deal if you already have other perks such as Explore 4 or PG included.

[KroozNut]

I agree sometimes the extras, like Explore 4 aren't a good deal. As 4* we get discounts anyway. I would rather pay a lower fare.

Karen

 

As others have said, it all depends on your personal situation, gotta do the math. A generic price drop does not necessarily mean a 'better deal' in every case, depending on what your original deal included. ;)

[dee2673]

A price drop really depends on what's important to you. I booked a 7 day cruise to Alaska with the Explore 4 package. When the promo expired, the price fell about $1100.00. A PG dinner for two is worth 70.00 and we wouldn't have used the drink package to it's maximum worth (and didn't want to try!!). So we rebooked and it turned out well for us. For someone who drinks more, it may be better to keep the package