Insurance Question

[rcarrosq]

We are booked for a 7 day Alaska cruise with Holland America departing at the end of July.  Final payment is due April 24 and we have not picked up insurance yet as we usually wait for final payment to do that.  We usually use a TA and use the insurance his company provides but this cruise is a reunion of my husbands military unit so it was booked directly with HAL using the same vacation planner.

 

The standard insurance is $139 pp but doesn't cover any medical but if you buy the platinum plan for $189 pp medical is covered.  That seems kind of expensive to me so I looked around and found GeoBlue travel insurance, chose a middle of the road plan which covers a $100,000 benefit after $100 deductible and for that one week will cost $163 for the both of us.  I think it's a good deal but wanted to check and see if anybody here has used this company and what you think of it.

 

Any suggestions on other companies are welcome.  Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions

[Shmoo here]

42 minutes ago, rcarrosq said:

We are booked for a 7 day Alaska cruise with Holland America departing at the end of July.  Final payment is due April 24 and we have not picked up insurance yet as we usually wait for final payment to do that.  We usually use a TA and use the insurance his company provides but this cruise is a reunion of my husbands military unit so it was booked directly with HAL using the same vacation planner.

 

The standard insurance is $139 pp but doesn't cover any medical but if you buy the platinum plan for $189 pp medical is covered.  That seems kind of expensive to me so I looked around and found GeoBlue travel insurance, chose a middle of the road plan which covers a $100,000 benefit after $100 deductible and for that one week will cost $163 for the both of us.  I think it's a good deal but wanted to check and see if anybody here has used this company and what you think of it.

 

Any suggestions on other companies are welcome.  Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions

We purchased a GeoBlue annual plan a couple of years ago, and renewed for this year.  It's only a medical/evacuation coverage plan, and you must belong to a health plan to use it.

 

We've not had to use it, but it seems well worth the cost, due to the multiple (out of country) trips we take each year.

Edited February 25, 2020 by Shmoo here

[klfrodo]

What exactly are you looking for and what exactly are you wanting to ensure against?

You're going to Alaska, I'm assuming you're a US citizen. What medical coverage do you need that wouldn't be covered by your personal health insurance?

Any medical evac from the ship is going to be by US Coast Guard, that's free of charge.

 

Not sure what insurance you even need for an Alaska cruise.

[Canuker]

5 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

What exactly are you looking for and what exactly are you wanting to ensure against?

You're going to Alaska, I'm assuming you're a US citizen. What medical coverage do you need that wouldn't be covered by your personal health insurance?

Any medical evac from the ship is going to be by US Coast Guard, that's free of charge.

 

Not sure what insurance you even need for an Alaska cruise.

I agree with klfrodo.
A.The first question is what risk(s) do I want to be insured against. "Risk" involves
both likelyhood of something happening and the potential costs associated with it.
B. Second question: which of those risks am I already insured against?
C. And then: how much of the remaining risk am I prepared to shoulder myself?
So, A-B-C = the insurance you need.
It's important to tailor insurance to individual needs, otherwise there's a good chance of being unecassarily over-insured for some risks and being under-insured - or not insured at all - for others.

Insurance is a little like a lottery.
When you buy a lottery ticket, you're really buying a dream.
When you buy insurance, you're paying someone else to take over a nightmare.
Either way, it helps us sleep well at night.

[bbwex]

We take out insurance to cover two primary risks: 1) that we have to cancel the cruise after we have made the final payment, and 2) to cover health risks overseas.  The second part might be more limited in a trip to Alaska, though there is likely some exposure should something happen when you are closer to Canada than the U.S.  We have had to cancel a trip at the last minute due to a death in our traveling companions' family.  Fortunately that time, we had "cancel for any reason" coverage.  If you ever have to cancel at the last minute, you will be really glad you had the insurance.

[Jersey42]

18 hours ago, rcarrosq said:

We are booked for a 7 day Alaska cruise with Holland America departing at the end of July.  Final payment is due April 24 and we have not picked up insurance yet as we usually wait for final payment to do that.  We usually use a TA and use the insurance his company provides but this cruise is a reunion of my husbands military unit so it was booked directly with HAL using the same vacation planner.

 

The standard insurance is $139 pp but doesn't cover any medical but if you buy the platinum plan for $189 pp medical is covered.  That seems kind of expensive to me so I looked around and found GeoBlue travel insurance, chose a middle of the road plan which covers a $100,000 benefit after $100 deductible and for that one week will cost $163 for the both of us.  I think it's a good deal but wanted to check and see if anybody here has used this company and what you think of it.

 

Any suggestions on other companies are welcome.  Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions

I think you have gotten some reasonable advice from some of the other responses.  Let me add/expand a little.

• The big question is what are you trying to insure?  Medical/evacuation, cancellation for covered reasons, Cancellation for any reason (CFAR), trip interruption or ???
• The next question is what do you already have?  As @klfrodo said, your primary medical insurance may cover you for most if not all of the trip. Make sure you check with you insurance first.  Some credit cards will provide cancellation (for specified reasons) and trip interruption benefits.
• Another question is your risk tolerance. I don't want to be hit with a potentially large medical bill, but I am often willing to absorb the cost of some cruises in the unlikely case I had to cancel at the last minute. 

Now for a few specifics on the plans you mentioned:

• Holland America's Platinum plan is in my opinion the best cruise line coverage for CFAR.  You can cancel and get 90% back in cash.  Third party plans usually offer 75% back and other cruise line plans only give you a cruise credit, often for only 75%.  So it is a good choice for CFAR if most/all of your pre-paid non-refundable costs are with HAL.  But, if you need medical insurance, HAL's plan is the worst, offering only $10K in medical coverage.
• I have an annual GeoBlue policy, but I would not recommend one of their policies for you because it only covers you outside of the US.  So Alaska would not be covered.  I don't know about coverage while on the ship sailing in US waters. If you need medical, other trip policies would not have this limitation.
• I strongly suggest you discuss your situation with one of the insurance brokers mentioned in this forum.  They will probably not discuss the HAL plan, but at least you can get a third party plan recommendation and then make a decision.  I like tripinsurancestore.com and many others have had good luck with insuremytrip.com.