Trip Insurance

[SusieV]

I know there's a site that compares different kinds of insurance but I forgot to bookmark it- can someone help me?

 

Recommendations are also appreciated. I just booked my mother and her boyfriend on a 14 days B2B Alaska on Summit July 1-14. They need cancellation insurance ONLY- no medical. They're Canadian so their medical plan already covers out of country stuff including all the big costs.

 

Thanks!

[AstridSJ]

Try

insuremytrip.com

[CaribbeanBound]

Here are 14 good tips to consider when buying cruise insurance:

*****

[wa.mama]

We just bought our insurance through http://www.insuremytrip.com. They were very helpful, and their comparison charts made a decision easy. We saved over $200.00 for our familiy. However, it won't save everyone money - we used it because we are young, healthy, and have kids traveling with us - Celebrity charges a flat fee for trip insurance,regardless of age, which might be a deal for older folks but definitely not a savings for us.

[TEXASMUNK]

covers everything...have you checked to see if it covers medi-vac?

 

This runs upwards of $25,000 when required and is not covered by many governmental medical plans.....

[northerncruszr]

I suggest you double check their medical insurance!...we are also Canadian and our insurance does NOT cover us in the United States over the amount they would normally pay within Canada. We carry $2,000,000 medical insurance for all our travel and consider this to be a bare minimum. Medical evacuation from the ship to a hospital is extremely expensive plus even just a visit with the ship's doctor and perhaps a few meds or an IV for a couple of hours can cost several hundred dollars. Don't assume anything ..... we speak from experience!

[tinker]

I always us http://www.tripinsurancestore.com as they have a toll free number you can call and a live person will help you chose the right insurance for your particular situation as it can be very confusing with so many policies available. (the insurance companys like it that way ;)!)

 

Sounds like you need an insurance that is secondary but they will answer your questions. I just called them today and bought CSA Comfort Plan for our upcoming Bermuda cruise per their recomendation. (We ALWAYS buy insurance and have actually used it 2 out of our last 3 vacations!!!)

[debbruce]

Just purchased trip insurance for the 3 of us with CSA. Purchased the Comfort Plan after speaking with several different companies. We live in Florida and weather is a big concern - we are travelling in Oct. on the Adventure.

 

The people at CSA were absolutely terrific.

 

Have a Magical Day.

 

Debbie:)

[Momto5]

The OP may have been referring to an extended health plan. Mine covers more than a lot of the standard travel packages.

 

If you find cancellation only for Canadians, please let me know. I ended up paying for both, as I could not find just cancellation.

[Sky Sweet]

I always use Celebrity's insurance because they don't penalize you for being in your fifties, and you don't have to buy it untill you make your final payment.

[JAB8408]

I called citiBank, to ask what their free "trip insurance"actually covered.

(Since we paid for our next cruise with the card, to get air miles.)

 

The gentleman said- all activities on board any common carrier, the planes, the ship, the tenders. No extra cost for trip insurance.

 

Is this too good to be true?

 

JAB8408

[tinker]

Sounds to me that it may just be some sort of accident coverage, which is very inexpensive coverage to buy. I would call back and ask how you get a copy of the policy which most companys have online.

 

The best type of trip insurance is a policy that covers you if you have to cancel due to illness, or family member illness or death, interuption coverage if you have to catch up with the cruise for some reason, amount to cover lost luggage, medical coverage for any medical or dental treatment needed and most importantly, transportation should anyone have an emergency while on the ship or in port and need to get back home or to the nearest medical facility. (That in itself can be over $25,000!)

 

So again, we ALWAYS get insurance, and I like to call tripinsurancestore.com for advice as this year I am taking two different types of vacations with one being a cruise with my husband who has medical issues, and another is a girls trip with my sister and daugters where we will be flying.

[aloanldy]

If you are buying other than the cruiselines insurance, compare the coverages.

We were on a cruise where my best friends dad had to be taken to the hospital in the Caymans and he was flown back to Tampa. All of that was covered because they purchased the insurance directly thru the cruiseline.

 

For the slightly higher premium i'd get it thru the cruiseline.

 

Charlie

[CaribbeanBound]

The cruise line is really one of the places you shouldn't buy it.

The purpose of cruise insurance is to cover all of your risks.

It won't do you any good to buy insurance from your travel supplier if they go under. (Same can be said of your travel agency. Don't buy their insurance, but feel free to buy independent insurance through your travel agent). Those are two things you want to have covered when you buy cruise insurance!

 

Clearly, there are folks who are willing to risk this. And that is a trade-off if you chose to do so. It WILL come back to bite you some day.

 

You really should read this: *****

It's sage advice!

[cruiseco]

The cruise line is really one of the places you shouldn't buy it.

 

Blanket statements like that are just meaningless. With many cruise line policies providing future cruise credits for cancellations for "non-covered" reasons they're a very legitimate and cost-effective option for many cruisers.

 

The big knock is that a cruise line policy won't cover you if the cruise ine goes out of business. But how big of a risk is that really? The lines of Carnival Corp and RCI/Celebrity are making money faster than they can spend it. Financially, they're as rock-solid as you can get.

 

But besides that, if you pay for your cruise with many credit cards (especially AMEX) you're covered for financial default anyway so the whole thing is a non-issue for many cruisers.

 

So, let's take a look at one VERY common scenario. A traveler may be facing a 50% chance that a last-mimute work conflict that will force a cancellation. With almost every third-party policy you're out of luck -- you've lost the cancellation penalties and there's no getting them back.

 

But wth, for example, the Princess plan this same client would be able to get up to 90% of those penalties applied to a future cruise.

 

So what should this cruiser do? Avoid at all costs the Princess plan because of the one in a million chance that Carnival Corp (parent of Princess) will go bankrupt before the departure date or cover the much more probable chance of that work situation ruining the trip.

 

In this scenario and many, many others where the biggest real risk is something that would not otherwise be covered you'd be nuts NOT to seriously consider the cruise line's plan.

[CaribbeanBound]

Not to toss the rock back into your pond about blanket statements, but "Financially, they're as rock-solid as you can get" is not an accurate statement about Carnival and RCI.

 

While they are the industry leaders, and I'd agree today the risk is low, these two cruise ship titans are far from AAA-rated entities.

 

I think you'll agree that lesser operators are riskier still. I stand by my statement. However, I understand your point.