Do you buy Travel Insrance?

[Little Rascal]

We are considering a World cruise for 2023. Do you buy travel insurance and does it cover your medical in case you get sick?  I read that Oceania offers medical 🏥 insurance with their world cruise price. When do the 2023 World cruises itinerary come out?  I’m thinking Viking or Oceania. Also, does your travel agent offer any incentives to transfer the booking to them?  

[ArtsyCraftsy]

Lots of questions there -- I'll try to focus just on the insurance questions.

 

I'm currently booked on the Regent Seven Seas 2020 World Cruise (131 days) so I'm dealing with this at the moment.  

 

There are two types of insurance you need to consider:  

1) Trip cancellation insurance -- what happens if, after you've paid your fare, you can't make the trip?  Cruise contracts offer a sliding rebate depending on how close you are to embarkation but let's say your house burned down or you were in an accident the day before you were to leave.  How do you get your money back?  

2)  Medical insurance -- what happens if you get sick on the ship and need medical care in the ship's medical office?  Are you covered for expenses incurred onboard? How about if you have to see a doctor or go to a hospital in port -- are you covered?  How about if you need to fly home for treatment?  And worst-case scenario, what about if it's an emergency and you need to be medically evacuated from the ship in the middle of nowhere?

 

A LOT depends on your particular circumstances -- your age, employment status, current insurance, etc.  I'm retired and on Medicare -- Medicare doesn't cover me outside the US, so I need to carry separate medical insurance when I cruise.  If you're still employed, your specific employer-funded insurance may cover you outside the country with some limits, or you may have another policy that provides some coverage.  Just make sure it's enough to cover the worst-case scenario (medical evacuation from a ship can cost over $125K).

 

Also, some credit cards have built-in travel insurance, but again, there may be limitations on total amount.  World cruises tend to be pricey -- especially for the cruise lines you're considering (Viking and Oceania).

 

The Regent world cruise is a huge investment for me -- and I want to be protected in case the worst happens.  I had to split the coverage between two policies:  there's usually a limit as to what a single policy will cover and my cost exceeded that limit, so ... two policies.

 

I'll be working out the details of the medical insurance in the next month or so.  The Regent world cruise includes free onboard medical -- anything they can do onboard will have no charge associated with it.  So I need to make sure I'm covered for the more serious stuff.  There are also some special limitations pertaining to pre-existing conditions that may cause problems -- there's a "window" within which you have to purchase your medical in order for pre-existing conditions to be covered based on when you booked your cruise.  I'm well beyond that window but it shouldn't be a problem for me.

 

There are a couple of good travel insurance companies who specialize in cruise travel that are excellent at sourcing the best policy(ies) for your specific situation.  I use TripInsuranceStore and have been very happy with them.

 

I think that's all -- sorry for the length, but as I said, I'm right in the middle of sorting all this out for my cruise next January.

 

Lana in Bellingham, WA

[Heidi13]

We are taking the 2020 Viking WC, which is the 2nd half of the Ultimate 245-day WC. We booked in April 2018, which was about 20 months before departure.

 

Contacting Viking directly we received a provisional booking, which I had 3 weeks to confirm. During this period I contacted local insurance brokers and the online outfits frequently mentioned on Cruise Critic. My insurance requirements were Trip Cancellation/Interruption and also Medical Insurance. I required the deposit covered from day 1 and full fare upon payment at 6-months before departure. No broker was prepared to accept that value of risk, so far in advance.

 

To receive insurance coverage we had to purchase the Viking plan. The cruise line covers the trip cancellation/interruption & a insurance company covers the medical and a few other benefits. While expensive, it does have some benefits - pre-existing conditions clause waived if purchased with the cruise, cost of insurance is based on cost of cruise and is not based on age and medical history.

 

Viking, similar to many cruise line's policies only provide $100K of medical benefits, so we will also purchase supplementary medical insurance to $5M to $10M.

 

We had our TA transfer the provisional booking to her and then confirm the booking. Viking restricts the amount of benefits that TA can provide, based on the length of the cruise. Over 15 days they permit $500 pp. 

[SargassoPirate]

We carry an annual travel insurance policy so that we don't have to buy coverage for each trip.  Plus, it covers us for any travel more than 150 miles from home - ROAD TRIPS!

 

 We have had two claims over the years, one for shipboard medical expenses - which they paid promptly once we returned home an filed the claim - and the other was for an incident when She Who Must Be Obeyed was on a road trip to visit a friend 300 miles away and became ill while there.  The travel insurance paid whatever our personal health insurance didn't cover while she was there, PLUS they paid for me to fly down and drive her home since she was unable to drive at that point.  

 

The trip interruption and cancellation coverage would not fully cover a big cruise, but I figure that what I've saved over the years by not buying cruise line and airline travel insurance more than makes up for it.

 

The bottom line is how much risk are you willing to assume and buy insurance accordingly.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

We found it very difficult to buy cancellation insurance here in Canada for our WC.  In fact, only about 2/3's of the cost will be covered.  This was after a very extensive search.  The agent said it had nothing to do with our age or health, but was entirely because of the cost of the trip.

 

Fortunately we have travel medical coverage separately, through my husband's work pension, including evacuation.  (This makes spending 6 months a year in Florida much simpler and cheaper, btw.)

 

Our cruise line will provide routine medical care on this cruise, included in the price.  But obviously major medical events that require hospitalization would happen off the ship.

[ArtsyCraftsy]

8 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

We found it very difficult to buy cancellation insurance here in Canada for our WC.  In fact, only about 2/3's of the cost will be covered.  This was after a very extensive search.  The agent said it had nothing to do with our age or health, but was entirely because of the cost of the trip.

 

Fortunately we have travel medical coverage separately, through my husband's work pension, including evacuation.  (This makes spending 6 months a year in Florida much simpler and cheaper, btw.)

 

Our cruise line will provide routine medical care on this cruise, included in the price.  But obviously major medical events that require hospitalization would happen off the ship.

 

Wendy, I had to get two separate cancellation policies for exactly that reason.  Travelex and Travel Guard each cover a maximum of $50K.  Since my World Cruise fare was more than that, the amount was split between the two companies:  $50K from Travelex, and the remainder from Travel Guard.  So I'm covered for the full amount.  I don't know if this would be an option for you in Canada, though.

 

I'm still working out the details of the medical policy.  I currently have GeoBlue's Trekker annual policy that covers any and all trips of 70 days or less each.  Obviously, that won't work for the world cruise, and their next policy is for ex-pats, with slightly different coverages and limits.  I'm working with the guy who worked out my cancellation insurance to come up with a solution that will cover what the Trekker plan covers ($50K medical expenses; $500K evacuation to my home).  

 

Lana in Bellingham, WA

[Wendy The Wanderer]

4 minutes ago, ArtsyCraftsy said:

endy, I had to get two separate cancellation policies for exactly that reason.  Travelex and Travel Guard each cover a maximum of $50K.  Since my World Cruise fare was more than that, the amount was split between the two companies:  $50K from Travelex, and the remainder from Travel Guard.  So I'm covered for the full amount.  I don't know if this would be an option for you in Canada, though.

 

I too have the insurance split across two companies, just not for the full amount.  I was flabberghasted, but we've got our heads around 'self-insuring' the other part of the cost (gulp!)

[ArtsyCraftsy]

15 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

I too have the insurance split across two companies, just not for the full amount.  I was flabberghasted, but we've got our heads around 'self-insuring' the other part of the cost (gulp!)

 

Yikes!  Yeah, that kid of sucks.  I have a couple more "big" cruises either currently on the books or will be booked next week, for late 2020 and mid 2021, but I have a little time before I have to worry about the insurance for those.

 

Lana

(just double checked the limits on Travelex and Travel Guard:  Travelex is $50K but Travel Guard is $100K)

Edited August 5, 2019 by ArtsyCraftsy
to correct earlier numbers

[Little Rascal]

On 8/3/2019 at 6:56 PM, ArtsyCraftsy said:

Lots of questions there -- I'll try to focus just on the insurance questions.

 

I'm currently booked on the Regent Seven Seas 2020 World Cruise (131 days) so I'm dealing with this at the moment.  

 

There are two types of insurance you need to consider:  

1) Trip cancellation insurance -- what happens if, after you've paid your fare, you can't make the trip?  Cruise contracts offer a sliding rebate depending on how close you are to embarkation but let's say your house burned down or you were in an accident the day before you were to leave.  How do you get your money back?  

2)  Medical insurance -- what happens if you get sick on the ship and need medical care in the ship's medical office?  Are you covered for expenses incurred onboard? How about if you have to see a doctor or go to a hospital in port -- are you covered?  How about if you need to fly home for treatment?  And worst-case scenario, what about if it's an emergency and you need to be medically evacuated from the ship in the middle of nowhere?

 

A LOT depends on your particular circumstances -- your age, employment status, current insurance, etc.  I'm retired and on Medicare -- Medicare doesn't cover me outside the US, so I need to carry separate medical insurance when I cruise.  If you're still employed, your specific employer-funded insurance may cover you outside the country with some limits, or you may have another policy that provides some coverage.  Just make sure it's enough to cover the worst-case scenario (medical evacuation from a ship can cost over $125K).

 

Also, some credit cards have built-in travel insurance, but again, there may be limitations on total amount.  World cruises tend to be pricey -- especially for the cruise lines you're considering (Viking and Oceania).

 

The Regent world cruise is a huge investment for me -- and I want to be protected in case the worst happens.  I had to split the coverage between two policies:  there's usually a limit as to what a single policy will cover and my cost exceeded that limit, so ... two policies.

 

I'll be working out the details of the medical insurance in the next month or so.  The Regent world cruise includes free onboard medical -- anything they can do onboard will have no charge associated with it.  So I need to make sure I'm covered for the more serious stuff.  There are also some special limitations pertaining to pre-existing conditions that may cause problems -- there's a "window" within which you have to purchase your medical in order for pre-existing conditions to be covered based on when you booked your cruise.  I'm well beyond that window but it shouldn't be a problem for me.

 

There are a couple of good travel insurance companies who specialize in cruise travel that are excellent at sourcing the best policy(ies) for your specific situation.  I use TripInsuranceStore and have been very happy with them.

 

I think that's all -- sorry for the length, but as I said, I'm right in the middle of sorting all this out for my cruise next January.

 

Lana in Bellingham, WA

Laura,

thank you for your reply and answer. Your trip sounds amazing. I did hear about a woman who bought the insurance from Viking and got hurt on the ship a few days in. They only refunded $30,000 out of $80,000. I believe she got $50,000 after hiring an attorney. 😏. Yes, it’s a huge investment so that’s why I’m trying to learn what I need. I buy trip insurance for my cruises now but a W/C you have so many more things to consider like you stated. I hope you have a wonderful voyage. Did your travel agent help you at all with your insurance?  

[Little Rascal]

On 8/3/2019 at 7:33 PM, Heidi13 said:

We are taking the 2020 Viking WC, which is the 2nd half of the Ultimate 245-day WC. We booked in April 2018, which was about 20 months before departure.

 

Contacting Viking directly we received a provisional booking, which I had 3 weeks to confirm. During this period I contacted local insurance brokers and the online outfits frequently mentioned on Cruise Critic. My insurance requirements were Trip Cancellation/Interruption and also Medical Insurance. I required the deposit covered from day 1 and full fare upon payment at 6-months before departure. No broker was prepared to accept that value of risk, so far in advance.

 

To receive insurance coverage we had to purchase the Viking plan. The cruise line covers the trip cancellation/interruption & a insurance company covers the medical and a few other benefits. While expensive, it does have some benefits - pre-existing conditions clause waived if purchased with the cruise, cost of insurance is based on cost of cruise and is not based on age and medical history.

 

Viking, similar to many cruise line's policies only provide $100K of medical benefits, so we will also purchase supplementary medical insurance to $5M to $10M.

 

We had our TA transfer the provisional booking to her and then confirm the booking. Viking restricts the amount of benefits that TA can provide, based on the length of the cruise. Over 15 days they permit $500 pp. 

Thank you Heidi. I’ll be looking forward to your post if you do while on your trip. The trip your taking is the one we would be interested in also. I wonder how they decide where they are going?  The insurance sounds complicated. 😏. I’m glad we are 4 years out. 😳. ( not really, I want to go now). My hubby will retire then we will go. Is this your first W/C?  It sounds like it’s addicting. 

[Little Rascal]

Thank you!  It’s good to know we can split into two policies. 

[Little Rascal]

23 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

We found it very difficult to buy cancellation insurance here in Canada for our WC.  In fact, only about 2/3's of the cost will be covered.  This was after a very extensive search.  The agent said it had nothing to do with our age or health, but was entirely because of the cost of the trip.

 

Fortunately we have travel medical coverage separately, through my husband's work pension, including evacuation.  (This makes spending 6 months a year in Florida much simpler and cheaper, btw.)

 

Our cruise line will provide routine medical care on this cruise, included in the price.  But obviously major medical events that require hospitalization would happen off the ship.

I have heard of those policies. I guess it’s worth  looking into. Who do you have your policy with?  As I get older (56) I tend to not take the gamble of not having insurance. 

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Little Rascal said:

Thank you Heidi. I’ll be looking forward to your post if you do while on your trip. The trip your taking is the one we would be interested in also. I wonder how they decide where they are going?  The insurance sounds complicated. 😏. I’m glad we are 4 years out. 😳. ( not really, I want to go now). My hubby will retire then we will go. Is this your first W/C?  It sounds like it’s addicting. 

This is our 2nd World Cruise, with the first one being in 2015. I will be completing daily blog posts, if you wish to follow the adventure and gain a perspective of life aboard - www.andyandjudi.com

 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

1 hour ago, Little Rascal said:

I have heard of those policies. I guess it’s worth  looking into. Who do you have your policy with?  As I get older (56) I tend to not take the gamble of not having insurance. 

 

I don't think it would be relevant to you since we're in Canada.  One policy is with Allianz.  When US carriers would cover us, we used CSA or Travelguard.

[Little Rascal]

Thank you!  We do have Allianz here in Ca. I’ll look 👀 not it. I’ve used Travelguard  also and am heir prices for trip insurance was good. 

[Little Rascal]

2 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

This is our 2nd World Cruise, with the first one being in 2015. I will be completing daily blog posts, if you wish to follow the adventure and gain a perspective of life aboard - www.andyandjudi.com

 

I will!  Thank you. 

[baz48]

We bought our insurance for our World Cruise from Travelex through our TA.  At the advice of someone here on CC, we bought a policy at the time of the deposit, but only enough to cover the $1,000 that we would lose if we cancelled before final payment.  Then when we made the final payment, we increased the coverage to the full amount of the cruise.  By doing it this way, we activated the pre-existing condition exclusion waiver, but we didn't have to spend thousands of dollars up front to cover $1,000.  I verified that this was possible with two separate people at Travelex.

 

And, yes, our TA gave us extra incentives when we booked through her agency - we could select either on OBC, or a check mailed to us at the conclusion of the cruise.

[ArtsyCraftsy]

5 hours ago, Little Rascal said:

Laura,

thank you for your reply and answer. Your trip sounds amazing. I did hear about a woman who bought the insurance from Viking and got hurt on the ship a few days in. They only refunded $30,000 out of $80,000. I believe she got $50,000 after hiring an attorney. 😏. Yes, it’s a huge investment so that’s why I’m trying to learn what I need. I buy trip insurance for my cruises now but a W/C you have so many more things to consider like you stated. I hope you have a wonderful voyage. Did your travel agent help you at all with your insurance?  

 

I don't use a travel agent;  I book directly with the cruise line (Regent Seven Seas).  I just can't wrap my head around the idea of handing complete control over something that big to someone else to act as a go-between between me and the cruise line.  I'd rather deal directly with the cruise line myself.  I may be missing some perks/etc. by not using a TA, but I'm a nervous enough traveler as it is, and using a TA would only add to the stress level for me.

 

I got most of the info re: insurance from reading Cruise Critic, including the names of two companies that seemed to have a lot of happy customers.  I had such a good experience with tripinsurancestore.com that I've stayed with them for all subsequent cruises.  My two policies for the world cruise are with Travelex and TravelGuard.  I'm covered for 100% of the cost if I have to cancel.

 

This will be my first world cruise.  I also have a 68-day "Grand Cape Horn Adventure" on the books for late 2020 (also Regent -- starts in Los Angeles, all around South America include the Amazon, ends in Miami), and I'm getting ready to book the Regent 94-day Grand Arctic Adventure for mid 2021 - R/T from New York through the North Atlantic to Murmansk, Russia, then back around to the Baltics, and finally back home.  That's the year that the insurance prices will go up for me -- I turn 70 in 2021.  If my health holds out, I'll keep going.  If not, I'll adopt a couple of cats and call it a day. 😉  

 

Lana in Bellingham, WA  

[love_the_sea]

On 8/5/2019 at 3:39 PM, baz48 said:

We bought our insurance for our World Cruise from Travelex through our TA.  At the advice of someone here on CC, we bought a policy at the time of the deposit, but only enough to cover the $1,000 that we would lose if we cancelled before final payment.  Then when we made the final payment, we increased the coverage to the full amount of the cruise.  By doing it this way, we activated the pre-existing condition exclusion waiver, but we didn't have to spend thousands of dollars up front to cover $1,000.  I verified that this was possible with two separate people at Travelex.

 

And, yes, our TA gave us extra incentives when we booked through her agency - we could select either on OBC, or a check mailed to us at the conclusion of the cruise.

 

I didn't think of insuring my deposit since it is fully refundable until final payment (not until next September) and really didn't want to pay the steep price for an insurance policy that would be non-refundable if I decided to back out before final payment. I, too, was concerned about the "pre-existing condition" clause and so I asked a lot of questions about that and looked at what the clause actually said in the policy I was considering.  It isn't the same as a pre-existing condition with regular insurance.  this is a quote taken from the policy by TravelEx:

PRE-EXISTING MEDICAL CONDITION EXCLUSION: The Company will not pay for any loss or expense incurred as the result of an Injury, Sickness or other condition (excluding any condition from which death ensues) of an Insured, Traveling Companion, Business Partner or Family Member which, within the 60 day period immediately preceding and including the Insured’s coverage effective date: (a) first manifested itself, worsened, became acute or had symptoms which would have prompted a reasonable person to seek diagnosis, care or treatment; (b) for which care or treatment was given or recommended by a Physician; (c) required taking prescription drugs or medicines, unless the condition for which the drugs or medicines are taken remains controlled without any change in the required prescription drugs or medicines.

The effective date will be the date I actually purchase the insurance and that will be at the time of final payment. If I have a health problem that has manifested itself in the 60 days preceding that date, I really don't want to do the cruise anyway! So this does not seem to be the big problem I had always thought it was. If I find that the clause has a different definition with the company I want to buy from at the time, I may kick myself and cancel the trip!

[baz48]

love_the_sea, I understand what you're saying.  It's fortunate that you wouldn't lose your deposit, so no need to get insurance for that.  However, I'm afraid that the insurance company would interpret this clause very loosely.  For example, if your doctor changes your blood pressure medication dosage within 60 days of payment, that could initiate this clause.  But that wouldn't necessarily be enough to make you cancel the trip.  If later  a heart attack caused you to cancel the trip or have to go home during the trip, they could look back at the medication change and invoke that clause.  I just wanted to cover all our bases.  Insurance is really rolling the dice.  I look at it as just another cost of the trip.  I hate to pay the premium and then not use it.  But I suppose I'd hate to have to use the insurance also.   If possible, stay away from doctors for 60 days before payment!

[love_the_sea]

1 hour ago, baz48 said:

love_the_sea, I understand what you're saying.  It's fortunate that you wouldn't lose your deposit, so no need to get insurance for that.  However, I'm afraid that the insurance company would interpret this clause very loosely.  For example, if your doctor changes your blood pressure medication dosage within 60 days of payment, that could initiate this clause.  But that wouldn't necessarily be enough to make you cancel the trip.  If later  a heart attack caused you to cancel the trip or have to go home during the trip, they could look back at the medication change and invoke that clause.  I just wanted to cover all our bases.  Insurance is really rolling the dice.  I look at it as just another cost of the trip.  I hate to pay the premium and then not use it.  But I suppose I'd hate to have to use the insurance also.   If possible, stay away from doctors for 60 days before payment!

 

Yes, I will have to be careful!  But also have to watch my budget! Had I thought to insure just my deposit like you did that would have worked but it is too late now to do that. 

[Go-Bucks!]

On 8/5/2019 at 4:37 PM, ArtsyCraftsy said:

I just can't wrap my head around the idea of handing complete control over something that big to someone else to act as a go-between between me and the cruise line.  I'd rather deal directly with the cruise line myself.  I may be missing some perks/etc. by not using a TA, but I'm a nervous enough traveler as it is, and using a TA would only add to the stress level for me.

 

With a travel agent, you have total control of your booking. I've used TA's for 30 years. They do the "leg work" for you, not the decision making. 

 

For a world cruise, you don't just miss "some perks", you miss very valuable ones! My roommate and I each got $3,500 of onboard credit or the same amount deducted from final payment (a solo would have gotten $7,000), plus more things!  You can usually transfer your booking to an agent before final payment. I do suggest using an agent who is experienced in booking luxury and/or world cruises.

[Go-Bucks!]

On 8/3/2019 at 8:23 PM, Little Rascal said:

We are considering a World cruise for 2023. Do you buy travel insurance and does it cover your medical in case you get sick?  I read that Oceania offers medical 🏥 insurance with their world cruise price. When do the 2023 World cruises itinerary come out?  I’m thinking Viking or Oceania. Also, does your travel agent offer any incentives to transfer the booking to them?  

 

I was on the recent 2019 Oceania world cruise. One of our perks was free medical, but that was valid only on the ship...not if something happens to you in port or if you have to be taken off the ship for medical care. One of our passengers had a heart attack on the ship! He got care on the ship to stabilize him, but was quickly transferred to a local hospital by squad and spent about 7-10 days there. Luckily he had private travel insurance!!

 

Comprehensive travel insurance covers trip cancellation, trip delay, baggage loss, baggage delay, medical, medical or emergency evacuation, and more. I always get this...for my world cruise the policy cost me $5,000+, but was a small amount compared to what I could have lost. The premium is based on the price of the cruisefare, length of the cruise and the applicants age. I would NEVER have done a world cruise without it. I use www dot insuremytrip dot com, then compare policies. The one I chose was from Berkshire Hathaway. 

Edited August 21, 2019 by Go-Bucks!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

12 hours ago, Go-Bucks! said:

y roommate and I each got $3,500 of onboard credit or the same amount deducted from final payment (a solo would have gotten $7,000

 

Probably if you book direct you will still get an obc. But you won't get a cash rebate,  something that many TA's provide. In our case it's about $10k (for two.)

[Little Rascal]

29 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

Probably if you book direct you will still get an obc. But you won't get a cash rebate,  something that many TA's provide. In our case it's about $10k (for two.)

Wow!  That’s a great deal. I think my agent said $1,000. Maybe I need to look for a new agent. ☺️  We were wondering how much the travel insurance would be for the W/C. Thank you now we have an idea. We will for sure buy the travel insurance. The cost is so high it’s silly not too. Thank you both for your replies.