cruise insurance help

[Charzwy]

Hi - We are going on the CB in April and we have only been on 1 other cruise. My question is does anyone recommend taking Princess insurance? If so, have you needed it, was there anything hidden with it, if you used it did you have any trouble getting what they advertise. If you have not gotten it, did you have any problems? For $89 pp and the kids are free is it worth it? Any help you can offer on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Thanks

 

CJ

[LARGIN]

Insurance works.. I had to cancel my last April's cruise to Hawaii 3 days before the cruise date because my dad passed away. Contacted Princess and the Insurance Company. They mailed me a couple of forms to fill out and within 3 weeks I had all of my money back.. No problems whatsoever.... We would not sail without it.

[Crosboro]

It does seem pricey, but if you have to cancel, it will be worthwhile. All depends if you feel like gambling or want peace of mind. Our upcoming cruise is only our second, but I couldn't justify passing it up.

[kruisey]

With Princess Insurance if you have an accident on board and have to be airlifted to a hospital everything is paid for up to certain amount including treatment.What I am wndering about is if one has a heart attack or Stroke and other medical problems not relating to an accident...Princess Insurance pays for you to be taken to a hospital,relatives plane fare....The big BUT is who pays for medications ,doctors surgery ect???

I have paid for Princess Insurance for my next cruise......I will phone them tomorrow and check this fine print......maybe I am not understanding what I reading in my senior years.???????

[paintchip8]

Several years ago we had our flight out of Maine cancelled due to a huge snow storm. I contacted Princess and they informed me that the insurance only covered a new cruise by 50% because of weather, no money back. Ever since that time I purchase travel insurance from AAA where I book the trip. They cover 100% no matter what the reason. I've also learned to fly out a day early. Princess did compensate for the lost luggage. We missed the sailing and caught the ship on the 2nd day but no luggage until the 5th day. So the moral of the story....read the fine print.

[Coral]

We always book through a 3rd party insurance (Access America) - they cover pre-existing conditions better. They paid a cancelled cruise claim within 10 days. Also, if you book air on your own, air will be covered with this insurance. Cruise line insurance only covers air when you book your air through the cruise line.

[rico]

We bought Princess insurance for our first cruise, and have bought third party ever since. Usually Travelex. My FIL is in pretty fragile health, so something happening causing us to cancel a cruise last-minute is always a concern. That and we cruise in January and live in Minnesota. Always a concern of storm closing the airport.

 

One of the best tips I ever picked up on the CC boards was about third party insurance. It's much cheaper than Princess insurance and usually broader coverage. Go to insuremytrip.com and run a quote. Princess usually wants $90 a head. We usually insure our cruises for about $60 each using third party. They sell from probably a dozen or more insurance companies. Purchase whichever you are comfortable with (including Princess), but I wouldn't travel without it.

[Spikesgirl]

We always get the insurance through AAA. I would advise getting some coverage no matter what. Chances are you won't need it, but it's great to have it if you do.

 

Charlie

[madelinerose]

IMHO, insurance is a minimal expense for peace of mind and we wouldn't cruise without it. We use Travelex also. ;)

[billeelou]

for our last cruise, cause my DW may have had a testing time with her employment that would have interferred...at $59 it also provided some other insurance coverage while we were on the cruise....saying all that, I had NEVER before bought trip insurance....and the additional insurance I have is covered by DAN and Padi and my regular insurance.....

[kruisey]

I phoned Princess Insurance.

You have to pay all your own medical bills then claim.

If you don't have the resources they said claim from your own Insurance company first then if they don't pay out they will help.

I am having to now buy some more insurance.

Say for instance one had a heart attack and had to be flown to a hospital shore costing thousands and thousands of dollars.....you could be stuck there for ever unless you paid up:eek:

[kruisey]

I have now taken Insurance out with my usual RBC Insurance in Canada.If something dreadful happens....they pay up front:)

Now I have two insurances for my months trip....My own insurance company price was half that of Princess.

[Charzwy]

I phoned Princess Insurance.

You have to pay all your own medical bills then claim.

If you don't have the resources they said claim from your own Insurance company first then if they don't pay out they will help.

I am having to now buy some more insurance.

Say for instance one had a heart attack and had to be flown to a hospital shore costing thousands and thousands of dollars.....you could be stuck there for ever unless you paid up:eek:

 

 

:eek: Gosh!!!! See what I mean! I live in FL and BC/BS doesn't cover in the caribbean, so if we don't have the money to pay up front then what do you do!!! That's terrible!:( If you pay for insurance thru Princess they should cover you for whatever you need within the limits!!! Makes me want to take my chances without it rather then spend money and it be worthless!

 

Thanks for all the posts! :)

[Charzwy]

IMHO, insurance is a minimal expense for peace of mind and we wouldn't cruise without it. We use Travelex also. ;)

 

 

Travelex question - I went to the website and it said you have to purchase insurance within 21 days of your first deposit. What do you do if your first deposit was in Sept 05 but not fully paid? Does anyone know? I guess I will call but if you have the answer I would love to read your post.

 

 

Much thanks!

[Pam in CA]

One thing to keep in mind when quoting or comparing how much your insurance cost is that they factor in your age as well as the total cost of the cruise. If you're older and take a longer cruise, it's a heck of a lot more than $90.

[FLTXKS]

Go http://www.insuremytrip.com

 

You can check out all kinds of travel insurance and decide for yourself which one best fits your needs. I ordered right off that website and got travelex insurance cheaper than my travel agent wanted for it. Why pay the agent the commission or Princess the commission. My trip is insured from my driveway leaving until I pull back into my driveway when the trip is over...all my airfare, hotels pre and post cruise, everything! Check it out...you'll save money over Princess!

[rico]

If you pay for insurance thru Princess they should cover you for whatever you need within the limits!!!

 

The real lesson from that is to understand what you're buying. Read coverages carefully. Be sure you understand what is included, what they will pay and what they will not. Princess' policy probably clearly states that won't be covered. But how many people make assumptions about the coverage witout reading the policy? Medical is covered under many third party policies. And most third party policies I've seen give a "free look" period, where you have a set number of days to read through the policy and still cancel and get a refund if you don't like the coverages.

 

Just because it says "insurance" doesn't mean their going to cover all possible risks/losses. You can buy insurance that covers just travel, some that cover both travel and medical, others that cover only medical. You really have to know what you're buying.

[whiterose]

We always buy Princess insurance because you can cancel for any reason at any time , even after final payment, and get a credit towards your next Princess cruise - good for two years. We've done that twice. One time we cancelled two months before the cruise and got some cash back and the rest as a credit. We're Elite so automatically get upgraded to Gold Insurance coverage which means a 90% credit. Regular Princess insurance will give you a 75% credit.

Yes you do have to pay for medical care up front but I think this is likely to happen with almost any kind of insurance especially when you're outside of the USA.

[cruiseco]

Travelex question - I went to the website and it said you have to purchase insurance within 21 days of your first deposit. What do you do if your first deposit was in Sept 05 but not fully paid? Does anyone know? I guess I will call but if you have the answer I would love to read your post.

 

Much thanks!

 

You can purchase the Travelex plans at any time up until the day prior to your departure from home. However, coverage for pre-existing medical conditions is only available to those that purchase a policy within 21 days of the date they made the first payment on the trip.

[cruiseco]

:eek: Gosh!!!! See what I mean! I live in FL and BC/BS doesn't cover in the caribbean, so if we don't have the money to pay up front then what do you do!!! That's terrible!:( If you pay for insurance thru Princess they should cover you for whatever you need within the limits!!! Makes me want to take my chances without it rather then spend money and it be worthless!

 

Thanks for all the posts! :)

 

Almost all travel insurance is on a reimbursement basis. If you don't have the resources at hand to pay the bill most plans will advance you the money as a personal loan until the claim has been reviewed. If the claim is denied then you will be obligated to pay the money back.

 

The reason they don't pay up front is that many medical problems that occur on a trip are due to pre-existing medical conditions. Until all of the paper work has been submitted there's no way to tell if it's a valid claim or not. For example, perhaps it's a heart attack and you've been being treated for chest pains in the couple of months before you left home. And say you didn't buy the policy until after the time frame to get covered for pre-existing conditions. If the heart attack is unrelated to the prior chest pains they'll pay -- if it is related they won't. And to establish that your medical records will have to be obtained and evaluated in light of the new information.

 

Even if you did qualify for the pre-existing condition coverage that too would have to be established -- copies of your credit card statements or cancelled checks have to be rounded up and submitted to get the initial trip payment date to compare with the date the policy was purchased.

 

So the choices are to have the insurer pay up front and then try to collect from you if the claim is denied OR have the client pay up front and be reimbursed with the safety net of advancing the money if needed in the form of a personal loan. Insurance companies, being insurance companies would obviously prefer the latter option.

[PescadoAmarillo]

One thing to keep in mind when quoting or comparing how much your insurance cost is that they factor in your age as well as the total cost of the cruise. If you're older and take a longer cruise, it's a heck of a lot more than $90.

Exactly right. I have found that up until about age 58-60, you can do better through http://www.insuremytrip.com. At 60 and over, the cruise line insurance becomes very competively priced, and, if you are at least Platinum, you get a free upgrade to Princess Gold insurance. As mentioned above, that provides one huge advantage over 3rd party insurance in the ability to cancel for any reason and get 90% of your cancellation penalty toward a future cruise. I've done a lot of fine print reading on travel insurance policies, and you'd be amazed at how many things might come up for which you'd want to or need to cancel your cruise that are still non-covered reasons. In those cases, the Princess insurance provides some protection.

 

We always ask for the Princess insurance when we put a deposit on a cruise (especially if it is 12-18 months in advance of the cruise)....this way, we are covered in case, prior to final payment, a new medical condition develops that would be considered "pre-existing" if we went with a 3rd party insurance. You can always ask to have it removed just prior to final payment, after you can access your needs and shop around for other insurance.

 

I generally always have travel insurance (and I'm in my 40s)...too many reasons to get it, especially flying in the winter months when your flight might be delayed. I've had three claims with three different companies, two of them medical and one of them for a lost stone in a ring. I only wish my own health insurance company was as easy to work with as the travel insurance companies are.

[Coral]

We always ask for the Princess insurance when we put a deposit on a cruise (especially if it is 12-18 months in advance of the cruise)....this way, we are covered in case, prior to final payment, a new medical condition develops that would be considered "pre-existing" if we went with a 3rd party insurance. You can always ask to have it removed just prior to final payment, after you can access your needs and shop around for other insurance..

 

You may want to read the fine print on Princess's insurance. It really doesn't go into affect unless Princess insurance is paid for up front (not just added). At least that is how it used to read. And then, it will only cover pre-existing conditions if there was no change in the past 60 days from the day you purchase the insurance.

 

Princess's insurance is great if you don't have pre-existing conditions. I don't have any but those I travel with does.

[alolewis]

Each person needs to make an evaluation if they think they need insurance or not, if you are if good health, all close relatives are in good health, can you fly a day early, price of cruise, etc need to be factors. My personal opinion if you are in good health and cruise is less than an amount you can afford to lose, insurance may not be a good deal. Some think it is worth it for peace of mind, a very good selling point. As to medical insurance covering illness/injury on a cruise, my regular insurance does cover it but I may have to pay and get reimbursed later same as some of the travel policies. I just got a bill for $3500 for a visit to an emergency room for a stomache ache during a ski trip.

I do not get the cruise insurance as my cost benefit calculations don't come out that the benefits are worth it. I do have homeowners, medical, auto and scuba diving insurance but no earthquake (yes I live in California within a mile or so of a fault), life, debt or whatever it is called that pays your credit cards if you loose your job, and only have flood insurance as my mortgage company requires it as we are in a FEMA designated flood zone.

Most on this board will argue with me but I don't get the insurance and hope that I do not have to cancel or get sick or injured.

[Coral]

Most on this board will argue with me but I don't get the insurance and hope that I do not have to cancel or get sick or injured.

 

I won't argue with you. I always buy insurance but have no problems with those who don't. I do have problems with those who do not buy insurance but expect the cruise line to make exceptions and reinburse them or allow them to switch dates because the "unthinkable happened" that they never planned on. If you are cool with the consequences of not taking insurance - then that is your choice.

[Charzwy]

Okay - I am going to narrow the question down a bit... Has anyone on Princess ever lost their luggage or had a major delay in getting their luggage? And if I do not get the insurance and something does happen that I have to postpone the cruise, do you get any money back or towards another sailing?

 

Thank you all so much for all your input!