What are your new requirements for Travel Insurance??

[wrk2cruise]

I've always been amazed at how many people travel without insurance and assume it won't happen to them.  I guess those people will just go merrily along until something happens to them.   For those of who worry about things like emergency evacuation, or being hospitalized in a remote location I'm wondering if you have new requirements when shopping for insurance for your next cruise vacation. 

 

I'd like to also point out that there is a special Q&A going on for Cruise insurance on CC hosted by Steve Dasseos of TripInsuranceStore.com.  Steve routinely monitors the CC Insurance board and is very helpful.   Disclaimer - I don't have any affiliation with Steve or his company and have never been a customer although I probably will be when I return to cruising.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/2500-qa-cruise-insurance-with-the-tripinsurancestorecom-december-2020/

 

 

 

 

[4774Papa]

1 hour ago, wrk2cruise said:

I've always been amazed at how many people travel without insurance and assume it won't happen to them.  I guess those people will just go merrily along until something happens to them.   For those of who worry about things like emergency evacuation, or being hospitalized in a remote location I'm wondering if you have new requirements when shopping for insurance for your next cruise vacation. 

 

I'd like to also point out that there is a special Q&A going on for Cruise insurance on CC hosted by Steve Dasseos of TripInsuranceStore.com.  Steve routinely monitors the CC Insurance board and is very helpful.   Disclaimer - I don't have any affiliation with Steve or his company and have never been a customer although I probably will be when I return to cruising.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/2500-qa-cruise-insurance-with-the-tripinsurancestorecom-december-2020/

 

 

 

 

We usually combine a cruise with a land tour, usually self guided.  I always purchase trip insurance from the cruise line as well as the airline.  Also, I always purchase medical coverage and medical evacuation from AmEx.  That insurance is very inexpensive.  Our last trip for three weeks in Europe, that coverage only cost about $50 total for both my wife and self.  Since our land trip is usually on our own, we book our hotels and local tours (if any) that we can cancel 24 hours prior to scheduled, so little issues there with cancellation.

[sanger727]

I fall in the category of the people who travel without insurance. Though I have on the occasional large foreign, very far away trip, purchased medical/evacuation only. The savings over a comprehensive policy are incredible.

 

In terms of cancellation insurance - I've saved enough by not insuring trips to consider myself self insured at this point

 

In terms of medical/evacuation - my medical insurance covers me/provides for medical evacuation outside the country. Yes, I understand that I have to pay upfront and seek reimbursement. 

 

 

[marieps]

We usually buy insurance when the cost of a trip hits a certain threshold.  Cruising in Europe: We buy.  Cruising the Caribbean, we don't.  We insured our TP/Bora Bora trip in 2019 and the policy paid all the bills from DW's bout with Tracheitis.  BTW the doc on Oceania Regatta was superb.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I used to have excellent MedEvac insurance through work.  Since I've retired, I purchase a MedEvac & medical policy only since Medicare doesn't cover me when out of the country.  I self insure for the trip cost.  I've saved thousands of dollars over the years by doing this, and I've never had to cancel a trip after final payment.  

[wrk2cruise]

What I was really looking for was what will you differently when cruising restarts?  Will you require a policy which will cover if you are sick with covid, test positive and are just put off the ship in a foreign country (or for that mater the USA)?   Are contact traced or a traveling companion who is required to quarantine?   Can't return to school or work for 14 days due to exposure?

 

Like many I read about here I have used an annual medical/evacuation policy and use a combination of premium credit card and self insure for cancellation/trip interruption.  If traveling more than the Caribbean I was planning on adding Medjet.

 

The things I'm now most worried about (Covid) are not covered by my previous plans.  

 

I've just not seen much discussion on the topic and I think most are blissfully unaware so I was trying to get the conversation to the forefront.

[Fouremco]

I suspect that the reason why the Celebrity board doesn't have much discussion on travel insurance is because it's not a Celebrity-specific topic and posters are encouraged to go to the travel insurance board: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

[wrk2cruise]

Yea, not too much there either and the participation on Steve's Q&A is very light.  I wasn't trying to make this a Celebrity topic.  Was actually trying to steer some questions to the Q&A while that forum is available.   I believe people think the cruise lines are going to take care of them.  Good luck with that plan.

[wrk2cruise]

Oh well.   I tried but got moved.

[Hlitner]

I will again post our own opinion on this insurance thing.  Most important is that folks need to assess their own needs, personal risk tolerance, and budget and make the best decision for themselves :).  That being said I like to break down travel insurance into 3 separate categories: 1. Health Insurance 2. Cancellation/Interruption Insurance (or waivers) and 3. Evacuation Insurance.  

 

For most folks, their liability for health related expenses is unlimited when out of the country. While it is possible that your regular health insurance covers you anywhere in the world, you should know this for sure before you leave the country.  We think (and this is a personal opinion) that the minimum health insurance coverage should be $100,000!    As to evacuation, $50,000 is normally enough for nearby places (such as the Caribbean) but $100,000 is a safer number.  The way evacuation insurance is priced it is usually pretty inexpensive for amounts above $100,000 because few claims exceed that $100,000 limit.

 

I believe that every traveler should make sure to have both adequate health coverage and evacuation coverage!  Keep in mind that unexpected health bills are the #1 cause of personal bankruptcy in the USA.

 

As to cancellation and interruption I think this is really personals preference.  Since you are spending the money anyway it is likely that you can afford to self-insure your cancellation/interruption.  While it will hurt it will not ruin your life forever....like a $200,000 medical bill.

 

So let me give some of you folks the bottom line.  We have been cruising (extensively) since the mid 70s.  In that time we have never bought normal trip cancellation policies but we do purchase an annual trip medical policy (ours if from Geoblue) that covers every trip we take (up to 70 days per trip) throughout the entire policy year.  That policy used to cost less than $400 a year (per couple) but now costs about $450.  That single payment covered over 100 days of cruising and 10 weeks when we live in Mexico!  Since we do not buy typical cancellation policies we have actually saved more then $100,000 over the past 40 or so years in insurance premiums.  And I should mention that our annual travel medical policy does include $500,000 of trip evacuation.  These days we generally book our trips on a Chase Sapphire card that gives us (free) $10,000 per person in cancellation/interruption insurance.  

 

So while the OP might think most folks get Trip Insurance we are the exception and our bank account has an extra $100,000 + as the proof.  I would finally add by usual "bad mouthing" of most of the cruise line policies which do OK with cancellation but have a wholly inadequate amount of medical coverage (usually $10,000 or $20,000).  The con is that the cruise lines reinsure that small medical coverage and bear the burden of what they call their "cancellation waiver" since it is not a real insurance policy.  

 

And finally I will mention that we have now had 4 major cruises cancelled  because of Covid.  None of them had cancellation insurance and yet, we did not lose one penny on those 4 expensive trips.  The cruise lines simply refunded all or our money.  We also did not lose any air fares since 3 of those 4 cruises were booked through the cruise lines (and all the money was refunded).  The 4th was a cheap booking we made on Southwest and we simply moved that to other Southwest flights that we used (there is no penalty for moving Southwest bookings).

 

Hank

 

I believe (again this is a 

[msmayor]

My husband and I have always purchased third-party insurance for cruises as in our world, the approximate $200-250 investment to protect $5-7k of travel funds has always been worth it.  I always purchased within 14 days of deposit to get the pre-ex condition waiver.

 

Next cruise we booked is in March 2022, deposited around last September.  I have not purchased any third-party insurance, and likely will not.

 

Instead, I will buy HAL's top-line cancellation protection which includes CFAR and includes pandemics.  I am willing to pay more now because I'm still not willing to watch $6-7k go down the drain.

[Smitheroo]

On 12/10/2020 at 11:11 AM, sanger727 said:

I fall in the category of the people who travel without insurance. Though I have on the occasional large foreign, very far away trip, purchased medical/evacuation only. The savings over a comprehensive policy are incredible.

 

In terms of cancellation insurance - I've saved enough by not insuring trips to consider myself self insured at this point

 

In terms of medical/evacuation - my medical insurance covers me/provides for medical evacuation outside the country. Yes, I understand that I have to pay upfront and seek reimbursement. 

 

 

 

[Smitheroo]

What company do you use for  medical/medical evacuation?   My medicare supplement has a lifetime coverage of $50,000 for foreign travel.  Medical evacuation would almost certainly cost more than that.   

[Smitheroo]

On 12/10/2020 at 11:37 AM, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

I used to have excellent MedEvac insurance through work.  Since I've retired, I purchase a MedEvac & medical policy only since Medicare doesn't cover me when out of the country.  I self insure for the trip cost.  I've saved thousands of dollars over the years by doing this, and I've never had to cancel a trip after final payment.  

 

[Smitheroo]

Am I doing this quote thing correctly? This is directed at Happy Cruiser's post. My medicare supplement covers foreign travel with a $50,000 and a $250 deductible.  That's not really adequate so I need to look around.  

[sanger727]

1 hour ago, Smitheroo said:

Am I doing this quote thing correctly? This is directed at Happy Cruiser's post. My medicare supplement covers foreign travel with a $50,000 and a $250 deductible.  That's not really adequate so I need to look around.  

when you hit quote you will a reply box with the persons quote in there. Click within that reply box but underneath the quote to type back to the person.

 

ive used geoblue for medical/eval insurance only.

[iamtrustworthy]

18 hours ago, msmayor said:

My husband and I have always purchased third-party insurance for cruises as in our world, the approximate $200-250 investment to protect $5-7k of travel funds has always been worth it.  I always purchased within 14 days of deposit to get the pre-ex condition waiver.

 

Next cruise we booked is in March 2022, deposited around last September.  I have not purchased any third-party insurance, and likely will not.

 

Instead, I will buy HAL's top-line cancellation protection which includes CFAR and includes pandemics.  I am willing to pay more now because I'm still not willing to watch $6-7k go down the drain.

Hi msmayor,

 

Will HAL's top-line cancellation protection plan ever issue you full or partial Cruise Credits should you need to cancel or interrupt your trip? This is common with many travel supplier plans.

 

If so, I suggest you find out from HAL if you are able to insure the value of the full or partial Cruise Credits when you book the second trip. I don't know the exact details of HAL's top-line cancellation protection plan.

 

The reason I'm asking is many times these Cruise Credits are not insurable when you use them for the second trip, so your real risk is if the second trip is cancelled.

 

I hope this made sense.

 

Steve Dasseos

[msmayor]

52 minutes ago, iamtrustworthy said:

Hi msmayor,

 

Will HAL's top-line cancellation protection plan ever issue you full or partial Cruise Credits should you need to cancel or interrupt your trip? This is common with many travel supplier plans.

 

If so, I suggest you find out from HAL if you are able to insure the value of the full or partial Cruise Credits when you book the second trip. I don't know the exact details of HAL's top-line cancellation protection plan.

 

The reason I'm asking is many times these Cruise Credits are not insurable when you use them for the second trip, so your real risk is if the second trip is cancelled.

 

I hope this made sense.

 

Steve Dasseos

 

Steve, it's my understanding from my PCC and from reading about HAL's Platinum Plan that up to 90% of the cost of the trip is refunded in cash...not cruise credits.  I'm trying to avoid anything close to a cruise credit as compensation as I'm reading too many horror stories of people who accepted them, and now don't think they will ever travel again.  

 

I recognize that in the event I need to cancel the true cost of the plan goes up by 10% of the trip price, but I'll accept that loss easier than the full fare.

 

I was never one who took CFAR.  All I ever wanted was pre-ex covered.  Times have changed...

[Jersey42]

@iamtrustworthy

When I had looked at most of the major cruise line plans (pre pandemic), Holland American was the only major cruise line plan I found which offered cash refunds if you cancelled for any reason.  In fact, HAL's plan does not have covered reasons for trip cancellation. All cancellations are treated the same. The Platinum plan offers a 90% refund of the non refundable portion of the cruise. There are lots of other holes and weaknesses in the plan, but if the primary (or only) reason you want the plan is for CFAR coverage on the cruise fare, it is the best option I have run across.  

[iamtrustworthy]

Wow - That HAL Platinum plan is generous. Good for HAL on not burdening their customers with uninsurable or unusable future cruise credits.

[msmayor]

20 hours ago, iamtrustworthy said:

Wow - That HAL Platinum plan is generous. Good for HAL on not burdening their customers with uninsurable or unusable future cruise credits.

 

The other attractive option that I see as well is the fact that you can add it at final payment and not lose the CFAR provision.  You can elect it sooner, but as soon as elected you pay for it and it is non-refundable.  My PCC already knows I intend to buy it and will add it on when we make final payment in December of this year.

 

Waiting until final payment to purchase still gives you all the benefits, but if there is a need to cancel the trip before final payment when deposit refunds are still at 100%, you aren't out the cost of the plan.  

[Linda W.]

On 12/10/2020 at 10:05 AM, 4774Papa said:

We usually combine a cruise with a land tour, usually self guided.  I always purchase trip insurance from the cruise line as well as the airline.  Also, I always purchase medical coverage and medical evacuation from AmEx.  That insurance is very inexpensive.  Our last trip for three weeks in Europe, that coverage only cost about $50 total for both my wife and self.  Since our land trip is usually on our own, we book our hotels and local tours (if any) that we can cancel 24 hours prior to scheduled, so little issues there with cancellation.

I also have this card and am debating if it is enough.  The $50 (may be $60 now) extra is certainly worth it to have some medical coverage and I have MedJet for evacuation.  My issue is that I didn’t pay for our flight with my AMEX plat card (using flight points) and are going to Florida early and staying with non paid lodging.  Policy says trip starts from the time you leave home….The actual CRUISE portion is paid by AMEX.  Just wanting your specific feedback.  Got 2 different answers from the insurance dept at AMEX so not sure what to do other than take my chances.