How late can you buy cruise insurance

[vatofla2009]

We cruise in 32 days and mom fell and broke shoulder and hip, has dementia and has probable lung cancer. She is 81. Not sure that I will have to cancel but wonder if I have options this close to cruising. 

[slei15]

1 minute ago, vatofla2009 said:

We cruise in 32 days and mom fell and broke shoulder and hip, has dementia and has probable lung cancer. She is 81. Not sure that I will have to cancel but wonder if I have options this close to cruising. 

I have yet to find an insurance company that will cover you if the insurance is purchased after final payment, unless you booked the cruise within the last 14-21 days. Allianz is 14 days from booking, Travelex is 21 days from booking. 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

43 minutes ago, slei15 said:

I have yet to find an insurance company that will cover you if the insurance is purchased after final payment, unless you booked the cruise within the last 14-21 days. Allianz is 14 days from booking, Travelex is 21 days from booking. 

 

And even if you could find one, you're looking at top price for pre-existing conditions to be covered.

Edited December 17, 2019 by WrittenOnYourHeart

[garyl62]

38 minutes ago, slei15 said:

I have yet to find an insurance company that will cover you if the insurance is purchased after final payment, unless you booked the cruise within the last 14-21 days. Allianz is 14 days from booking, Travelex is 21 days from booking. 

 Not sure of an answer to OP question, but IMO there are plenty of options still after final payment.  I just did a mock purchase for Nationwide Trip Insurance for my upcoming trip which I have made final payment for and we are in the window after final payment was due.  Indicated it was after final payment in the online application and got a quote right away. 

[terrydtx]

Due to your mother's age and medical conditions, someone should have advised you to buy cruise protection insurance at the time you booked. Most insurance companies will not cover any pre existing conditions if the coverage is not purchased with in a certain time frame after you book. I am not an expert but I would think dementia and lung cancer could be considered pre existing. Since she has already suffered a broken hip and shoulder they could now be considered a pre existing condition for this cruise too. This is not any different than trying to buy auto insurance after you have an accident.

 

I do hope that you mother is doing better after her fall, I know what it is like to deal with elderly parents, both of mine are in their 90's.

[Bo1953]

There are a few options....

 

I recommend you head over to the Insurance Forum here on CC for more info and potential guidance.

 

Sorry to hear about the issue with mother..

 

bon voyage

[kearney]

I agree with Bo, try the other forum. Note... you might be able to purchase travel insurance BUT if you have a problem you might find that they will not cover you... check the fine print.   Another idea is to call a company that sells policies for different companies and ask them. For my next set of cruises I used insuremytrip.com. They have multiple companies... I searched... found a few acceptable policies and then called... the agent was very helpful in helping me customize my plan.

[hiccups]

I don't think it's likely you'd be able to find coverage due to your mother's condition, unfortunately.

My 81-year old mother was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this year, about a week before our vacation (we had insurance).  She told us to go on the trip, because there were tests to be done before any decisions could be made.  All that took about a month, and her treatment didn't start for another few weeks after that, so you might still be able to go.  My mother has had success with her treatment, and I hope the same for you.

[fragilek]

I am in the UK so may be different in US but we have specialized medical insurance companies that will cover for preexisting conditions and risks.  They are very expensive (I know as I use one as in remission from Leukemia last year and I also have Lupus and Transverse Myelitis that also have to be covered in case I need medical care abroad). However, these policies also can have very high excess for cancellation due to a preexisting condition, mine is about $600pp for canceling and the policy costs $450 for 2 weeks for my husband and I.  But it may be worth trying to find out if similar exists in US. 

Good luck with getting insurance and with caring for your mum

Edited December 17, 2019 by fragilek
addition

[mayleeman]

You can also talk to a Celebrity rep and explain the situation. If you have another cruise booked, they might be willing to transfer your payments to the future cruise.

 

They did that for me for an April cruise with NRD that we cancelled for medical reasons (but mine was before final payment). I had been expecting to lose the $100 pp and get the remainder of the NRD in future credit, and the rep started doing that, but when I mentioned I already had another cruise she transferred every penny. We did not have Celeb insurance.

 

Good luck!

Edited December 17, 2019 by mayleeman

[fragilek]

4 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

You can also talk to a Celebrity rep and explain the situation. If you have another cruise booked, they might be willing to transfer your payments to the future cruise.

 

They did that for me for an April cruise with NRD that we cancelled for medical reasons (but mine was before final payment). I had been expecting to lose the $100 pp and get the remainder of the NRD in future credit, and the rep started doing that, but when I mentioned I already had another cruise she transferred every penny. We did not have Celeb insurance.

 

Good luck!

They wouldn't help us last year about 4 weeks before travel my mum had to have heart tests done so insurance would no longer cover her (although they did pay up for the canceled fare).  However, when I contacted Celebrity and first rep said my MIL who was now in the cabin  solo had to pay more as now a single passenger (even although my mum had fully paid them and wasn't getting any money back).  Thanks to help on here I phoned a different number and they at least sorted so we didn't have to pay more than the original fare for 2 people to go down to one.  However, at no point was my mum ever offered any refund credit or otherwise.

[Baron Barracuda]

Believe it's too late for anyone to help but I'd call one of the large muti-line brokers frequently mentioned on this site.  Travel insurance is all they do.

 

Insuremytrip

Squaremouth

Travelinsurancestore

 

 

[chemmo]

So sorry, really understand the dilemma you must be in....

 

Firstly I would suggest you arrange to speak to the consultant in charge of your Mom’s care and get an assessment of how stable she is. It sounds like you take a regular caring role and if that is the case you may need a bit of Rest and Relaxation yourselves...If she is fairly stable and there are other family members who can visit/offer support your booked cruise may still be viable and may give you the resilience to come back and face some challenging times ahead. 

 

As others have suggested I would think insurance at this stage would be hefty but worth a few phone calls/online quotes to get actual costings. I also agree it is worth a phone call to X to see if there is any way they may agree to move you to a future cruise...

 

Sincere best wishes to you and your family....

[Bretty]

3 hours ago, fragilek said:

I am in the UK so may be different in US but we have specialized medical insurance companies that will cover for preexisting conditions and risks.  They are very expensive (I know as I use one as in remission from Leukemia last year and I also have Lupus and Transverse Myelitis that also have to be covered in case I need medical care abroad). However, these policies also can have very high excess for cancellation due to a preexisting condition, mine is about $600pp for canceling and the policy costs $450 for 2 weeks for my husband and I.  But it may be worth trying to find out if similar exists in US. 

Good luck with getting insurance and with caring for your mum

Here in uk, very often travel insurance will not cover pre-existing medical conditions for non-travelling relatives or friends or close business associates. I have pretty reasonable cover for my pre-existing conditions but with every policy I’ve looked at in recent years the exclusion for non-travelling relatives has been either hidden in small print, or pointed out up front.

 

I don’t know if things are different in the US, but to the OP I wish you the best of luck and hope you find a way to take your cruise and take care of your mum.

I too know those worries with my own mother’s failing health. Last year whilst we were in Alaska she was taken into hospital, one of several admissions last year. Luckily there are other family members to step in when I’m not around, and they didn’t contact me until I arrived back in port ready to fly home, since they knew there was nothing I could do and no point worrying me unnecessarily. Thankfully, by the time I arrived back home she was also home. It’s a worry that you have to figure out how you want to handle. My mum would always tell me to go, to carry on with plans made, but it is still a worry.

 

I hope things work out for you.

[fragilek]

you cab 

1 minute ago, Bretty said:

Here in uk, very often travel insurance will not cover pre-existing medical conditions for non-travelling relatives or friends or close business associates. I have pretty reasonable cover for my pre-existing conditions but with every policy I’ve looked at in recent years the exclusion for non-travelling relatives has been either hidden in small print, or pointed out up front.

 

I don’t know if things are different in the US, but to the OP I wish you the best of luck and hope you find a way to take your cruise and take care of your mum.

I too know those worries with my own mother’s failing health. Last year whilst we were in Alaska she was taken into hospital, one of several admissions last year. Luckily there are other family members to step in when I’m not around, and they didn’t contact me until I arrived back in port ready to fly home, since they knew there was nothing I could do and no point worrying me unnecessarily. Thankfully, by the time I arrived back home she was also home. It’s a worry that you have to figure out how you want to handle. My mum would always tell me to go, to carry on with plans made, but it is still a worry.

 

I hope things work out for you.

 

Hope this may help you for your next trip. The way to get cover for an additional relative  is use a specialist medical insurer and do a group cover to include anyone that may cause the cancellation (even if they are not travelling).  It cost a fortune but is the only way to insure that if you have to cancel because a relative is ill with a condition that they had when you took out the insurance .  We have done this in the past.

 

[Bretty]

8 minutes ago, fragilek said:

you cab 

 

Hope this may help you for your next trip. The way to get cover for an additional relative  is use a specialist medical insurer and do a group cover to include anyone that may cause the cancellation (even if they are not travelling).  It cost a fortune but is the only way to insure that if you have to cancel because a relative is ill with a condition that they had when you took out the insurance .  We have done this in the past.

 

Thanks I thought it wasn’t possible since I use various specialist companies / brokers for medical conditions. Looks like I’ll have to do more research.

[fragilek]

2 minutes ago, Bretty said:

Thanks I thought it wasn’t possible since I use various specialist companies / brokers for medical conditions. Looks like I’ll have to do more research.

 

I think you may have to take out annual cover for this, but can't remember.  Will find out soon when my daughters book their honeymoons (1 this year and the other next) as I will be on those as a group booking 🤣

[chemmo]

9 minutes ago, fragilek said:

 

I think you may have to take out annual cover for this, but can't remember.  Will find out soon when my daughters book their honeymoons (1 this year and the other next) as I will be on those as a group booking 🤣

 

Congratulations and best wishes to your family!

[MightyMike]

I'm not sure I understand the premise of the original question.

 

It sounds like the original poster wants to purchase travel insurance *after* making the decision not to go. The time to purchase insurance is *before* the unforeseen circumstance happens. I would question the viability of any insurance company willing to take that bet. What's in it for them? I would love to be able to purchase premium auto insurance immediately after getting in an accident, but that's not how insurance works.

 

The only option I see is one to plead your case with the cruise line and leave things up to their mercy. If the cruise is full and they think they can easily resell the cabin(s), then it makes sense for them to work with you on an offer.

 

 

[vatofla2009]

I really wasn’t looking to buy insurance and cancel but to buy it in case we had to cancel if mom doesn’t pull through. 

[Host Kat]

@vatofla2009

 

Howdy!

 

Thank you for your new thread on the Celebrity Cruises forum! However since your thread topic is travel insurance, I have moved your thread to the Cruise/Travel Insurance forum where it will be on-topic.

 

I sincerely hope this will be helpful.

 

Host Kat

[klfrodo]

3 hours ago, vatofla2009 said:

I really wasn’t looking to buy insurance and cancel but to buy it in case we had to cancel if mom doesn’t pull through. 

Sounds like mom has a pre-existing condition.

Even if mom is not scheduled to travel, but you want travel insurance and you want coverage for an issue for a non traveling family member, the non traveling family member rule also includes pre-existing condition waivers AND they also fall under the "must be in a condition able to travel" on the day the insurance is purchased. It doesn't sound like mom meets those conditions.