Princess protection plans (platinum)

[Andie 49]

HI there. We are going on our first cruise ever. Pushing 70 years old soon. We took out the platinum protection Plan with Princess Cruises. Has anyone had any experience with this good or bad? I would love to be more prepared for the what ifs.. lol. Please comment if you can.. Thank you.

[TheRabbit]

The big question is how much insurance you need. Our experience is the medical and transportation home in case of injury or a major medical event is not covered as well as you can using a secondary company such as Alliance. Also, I believe princess under certain conditions only provides you with credit toward a future cruise that must be booked within 18 months instead of cash back.

 

All this said, Princess insurance is cheaper. We look at where the cruise is before deciding on coverage. Our up coming coastal is insured with Princess, but our Pacific Rim last year was with at higher level with another company.

 

Our eyes were opened to the need in 2013 when a cruiser broke their hip. Cost was $44K to get home. Princess coverage I believe is only 50K.

 

Anymore questions, just ask.

Edited March 21, 2019 by TheRabbit

[Andie 49]

I am a CAnadian and we are flying early  to spend a few days in LA  with my partners elderly parents. He and I will stay there for a few days then do the cruise home to Vancouver. We will have to take out medical insurance from the time we leave til when we return I am thinking . I hope this does not make this too confusing .

[TheRabbit]

3 minutes ago, Andy49 said:

I am a CAnadian and we are flying early  to spend a few days in LA  with my partners elderly parents. He and I will stay there for a few days then do the cruise home to Vancouver. We will have to take out medical insurance from the time we leave til when we return I am thinking . I hope this does not make this too confusing .

Don't forget the transportation home portion.

[Coral]

Just realize the medical limitations are $20K. I don't have good coverage outside of the US so I don't often buy this policy. If you are traveling in Alaska or Canada/NE, or a CA coastal cruise - it is probably fine as you are in the US for most of the cruise. When I travel far (last year was Europe 2x) - I buy Allianz.

 

Know your coverage outside of the US and then plan accordingly. Not one policy works for everyone.

[TheRabbit]

30 minutes ago, Coral said:

Know your coverage outside of the US and then plan accordingly. Not one policy works for everyone.

Amen!

[JoAnneNYI]

I just priced insurance for a $4100 cruise to the Caribbean (Belize, Roatan, Cozumel). We are 68 yrs old.  Due to those countries definitely wanted a decent amount for medical evacuation. It's too late for me to purchase insurance with the "pre existing exclusion waiver" as past the usual "must purchase within 14 days of first deposit". 

 

I also have a friend that had an emergency evacuation from San Juan to Florida. She had a heart attack on the ship just before sail away. This was 40 yrs ago and cost $20,000 at that time.

 

Princess has a cancel for any reason for cruise credit. Their evacuation policy is $50,000 and $20,000 for medical expenses. I believe the cost is 8% of cost of cruise.....so for us that would be $328. We would be bumped up to platinum level for that price due to loyalty credit. You cannot get the pre existing waiver with their insurance. 

 

A travelex policy (found at Squaremouth dot com) is $270 with $15,000 medical primary payer and $100,000 evacuation. Would be a better purchase especially if bought with the 14 days of deposit. I also have a medicare supplement that pays out of country 80%. 

So you see there are a lot of ways to make a decision.

Here is an interesting story and explanation about the pre existing waiver.

https://www.elliott.org/the-troubleshooter/travel-insurance-didnt-cover-her-princess-cruise-after-husbands-death/

[MauiLvrs]

17 hours ago, TheRabbit said:

Our eyes were opened to the need in 2013 when a cruiser broke their hip. Cost was $44K to get home. Princess coverage I believe is only 50K.

 

Anymore questions, just ask.

👆 This ....

Don't leave without something ... even for a coastal.

e.g the ambulance ride from Ensenada to San Diego border is $1800 (paid in advance) and another $2500 for the 8 miles to the hospital...

 

And keep in mind what is covered if you  book your own air separately

[Andie 49]

I am   69 and super healthy but we cannot account for accidents of course. So if I have the premium platinum protection I am thinking that is mostly for cancellation and does not include medical. Sorry I am not an experienced traveller. I am wondering about medical insurance and if I book the whole trip from Vancouver to LA by ourselves then take the cruise would I not be smart to get medicAl travel insurance for the whole trip. vancouver to la and back?

[Thrak]

2 hours ago, JoAnneNYI said:

I just priced insurance for a $4100 cruise to the Caribbean (Belize, Roatan, Cozumel). We are 68 yrs old.  Due to those countries definitely wanted a decent amount for medical evacuation.

 

I buy medical evacuation from Medjet Assist for about $400 or so and it covers both of us for a full year.

Edited March 21, 2019 by Thrak

[Kartgv]

37 minutes ago, Andy49 said:

I am   69 and super healthy but we cannot account for accidents of course. So if I have the premium platinum protection I am thinking that is mostly for cancellation and does not include medical. Sorry I am not an experienced traveller. I am wondering about medical insurance and if I book the whole trip from Vancouver to LA by ourselves then take the cruise would I not be smart to get medicAl travel insurance for the whole trip. vancouver to la and back?

 

Yes, you would be smart to cover the whole trip.    At our ages, the Princess insurance is much cheaper than many private insurers, but its medical and evacuation $$ are limited.    We bought an annual Medical/Evacuation policy (GeoBlue) in addition to the Princess insurance, and our total price was less than the private policies we found that had comparable coverage.    Plus, we're covered medically for a whole year (that's 3 cruises for us!)    

[JoAnneNYI]

6 minutes ago, Kartgv said:

So if I have the premium platinum protection I am thinking that is mostly for cancellation and does not include medical.

Princess platinum does include medical. See page 6

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/faq_answer_legal/Princess_Vacation_Protection.pdf

[Kartgv]

47 minutes ago, JoAnneNYI said:

Princess platinum does include medical. See page 6

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/faq_answer_legal/Princess_Vacation_Protection.pdf

 

Please note I did not say that - Andy49 made that statement and I quoted him.    I said that the Princess medical coverage is limited.     The Platinum coverage is $50K for evacuation, and $20K for accident and sickness reimbursement.    

Edited March 21, 2019 by Kartgv

[silversneakers]

19 hours ago, Andy49 said:

HI there. We are going on our first cruise ever. Pushing 70 years old soon. We took out the platinum protection Plan with Princess Cruises. Has anyone had any experience with this good or bad? I would love to be more prepared for the what ifs.. lol. Please comment if you can.. Thank you.

If you travel a lot in a year, you might want to consider an Annual Travel Policy.  My husband and I have done this for the past few years and fortunately we have never had to use it but we do have peace of mind in just knowing we have it.

[TheRabbit]

47 minutes ago, silversneakers said:

If you travel a lot in a year, you might want to consider an Annual Travel Policy.  My husband and I have done this for the past few years and fortunately we have never had to use it but we do have peace of mind in just knowing we have it.

You need to read the small print on those. Some only provide transportation too the nearest hospital, not home.

[LeeW]

As I recall, Canadian citizens have pretty decent coverage while in the US - lots cross the border for operations that they need to wait a long time in Canada for.  Cruise ship itself is different.  You need to research what your national policy covers when out of the country.

 

With Princess coverage you won't pay onboard for medical care if you get sick or hurt.  With any other coverage you are billed to your cruise account and you have to file later for reimbursement with whatever company you have.  Princess coverage is minimal before the cruise (mostly just minor reimbursement for delays - no medical).  Dollar limits might not cover major health issues, but combined with your normal insurance and any insurance from the credit card you are using it might be enough.

 

Also recommend you check the Cruise Critic insurance forum.

[PescadoAmarillo]

17 minutes ago, LeeW said:

 

With Princess coverage you won't pay onboard for medical care if you get sick or hurt.  With any other coverage you are billed to your cruise account and you have to file later for reimbursement with whatever company you have.  Princess coverage is minimal before the cruise (mostly just minor reimbursement for delays - no medical).  Dollar limits might not cover major health issues, but combined with your normal insurance and any insurance from the credit card you are using it might be enough.

The bolded is NOT correct. Regardless of whether a guest has travel insurance or not, and regardless of what travel insurance they have, all medical center fees are charged to the onboard account.  

[gottagocit]

One additional thing to consider. 

 

Unlike some travel insurances Princess Protection doesn’t just cover medical issues but also covers trip delay or trip interruption problems. We never needed that until the trip for which we just returned home this week. 

 

During our trip down under that began mid February we had one cruise cut short by a cyclone which meant getting off the ship 1000 miles from our destination and make our own way from Cairns to Auckland where we had independent land tours and hotels booked before boarding a second Princess cruise. This interruption was required when our ship couldn’t return to Brisbane until 2-3 days later than scheduled. 

 

THEN a week or so later on the day 2 of an 11 day NZ voyage we received word of my DW’s mother passing in the USA. We got off the ship at the next port stop and made our own way back to the states, not home mind you but somewhere 700 miles from our home. We finally arrived home by rental car this week after a couple weeks in Louisiana. 

 

We never dreamed any of this would ever happen to us but we so happy we had the platinum protection to help us recover most of the significant cost of these two events. We did have to fork out the money for all expenses but believe we will get most of it back. We have also been assured that we will also get a refund equal to the cost of the unused portions of our cruises which we did not complete.  All of this describes the coverage we’ve been led to believe we have. If not I’ll be back on these boards with more info to share about our situation and to warn others. 

 

Another lesson learned for us is don’t expect any help from USA airlines or easy air during a situation like we had. Neither of them will assist you if you have bought through easyair while you are trying to make sudden changes that do not occur when trying to get to the ship or get home during previously scheduled flights. This is especially true when in a time zone 16 hours different than home and on a Sunday. You’ll need to book your own new one way tickets and hotel or other arrangements as well. Keep all receipts and make notes on the timeline to help reconstruct the description of the interruption when you are finally home and can submit claims. 

 

Chris 

 

 

Edited March 21, 2019 by gottagocit

[silversneakers]

2 hours ago, TheRabbit said:

You need to read the small print on those. Some only provide transportation too the nearest hospital, not home.

Fortunately, our annual policy does cover medical repatriation.

[Andie 49]

Thanks to all. I now understand it a bit more..and will definitely call Blue cross for medical and transport company

 

 

[polmcs]

8 hours ago, JoAnneNYI said:

I just priced insurance for a $4100 cruise to the Caribbean (Belize, Roatan, Cozumel). We are 68 yrs old.  Due to those countries definitely wanted a decent amount for medical evacuation. It's too late for me to purchase insurance with the "pre existing exclusion waiver" as past the usual "must purchase within 14 days of first deposit". 

 

 

Princess has a cancel for any reason for cruise credit. Their evacuation policy is $50,000 and $20,000 for medical expenses. I believe the cost is 8% of cost of cruise.....so for us that would be $328. We would be bumped up to platinum level for that price due to loyalty credit. You cannot get the pre existing waiver with their insurance. 

 

Some insurance policies that are specifically tailored towards cruising, will allow a pre existing conditions waiver so long as you take out and pay for the policy before final payment is due. 

[TheRabbit]

5 hours ago, silversneakers said:

Fortunately, our annual policy does cover medical repatriation.

An anual Allianz policy I got does not. However, we get Allianz cruise policies when cruise is outside the North American area.

[CeeCee59]

On 3/21/2019 at 2:31 PM, LeeW said:

As I recall, Canadian citizens have pretty decent coverage while in the US - lots cross the border for operations that they need to wait a long time in Canada for.  Cruise ship itself is different.  You need to research what your national policy covers when out of the country.

 

 

I don't know where you get your information, but Canadian medical does not cover costs in the USA.  And we don't need to go to the US for operations, we do just fine here and never have to go bankrupt for a simple operation.

[Knickearth]

Andy,.

 

My husband and I did not get insurance for years.   Then when a friend needed to return for surgery from Europe and got an extraordinary bill to fly home with family,. well it changed our minds

 

We are in your age range and now always get the princess platinum insurance  Twice I developed the flu onboard altho when I returned home had to send in the medical paperwork to my present supplemental and medicare - it was put towards the deductible.  anyhow finally sent paperwork to princess and got everything covered and my money was returned for expenses.

 

Have never had to be transported home so don't know about that end of it all.  I was under the impression that with the insurance they will fly you and a family member home.

[Reader0108598]

 I had princess insurance for my trip in November because private is just getting too expensive at our age. Well don,t you know I fell and fractured three ribs. No way could I travel. Got back almost  all our money with a form from my doctor.. very happy with that. Turned out I was on too much medication.