Does anyone going on a cruise not take the trip insurance?

[BevvylynnC]

Does anyone not take the trip insurance for a cruise. 

[Mary229]

I use only the insurance provided by my Chase Sapphire credit card, $10000 per person.  My hotels and flights are usually by points and cancellable.  On my next cruise I will also be purchasing an annual health policy which is actually not badly priced.

Edited June 26, 2021 by Mary229

[BevvylynnC]

Thank you for replying. I am going as a single. 2022, no pre conditions and have medical coverage. I am vaccinated. Some people say yes, but other friends say it is just a wasted expense. Hmmm, trying to make a decision. 

[Crew News]

Just emergency evacuation insurance. 

[iancal]

...not from the cruise line, our TA, or any travel vendor for that matter.

 

Credit card cancellation insurance.   Out of country medical/evac  through the insurer or through an  insurance agent.  Better coverage, lower premiums, more knowledgeable staff.

Edited June 26, 2021 by iancal

[KirkNC]

2 minutes ago, Crew News said:

Just emergency evacuation insurance. 

We have that and credit card  insurance.  If you really want insurance go to GeoBlue, much better and cheaper than cruise line.

[Mary229]

10 minutes ago, BevvylynnC said:

Thank you for replying. I am going as a single. 2022, no pre conditions and have medical coverage. I am vaccinated. Some people say yes, but other friends say it is just a wasted expense. Hmmm, trying to make a decision. 

Travel medical insurance is not simply medical need, it is also trip evacuation for medical need.  That is what is the expensive incident

Edited June 26, 2021 by Mary229

[kazu]

We have medical insurance for the first 30 days and top it up if we are gone longer than that (covers evacuation).

 

As to trip cancellation - yes I buy what is needed after my credit card.  I was very glad I did last time as covid hit and we cancelled in the penalty phase.  HAL gave us FCC for 50% of the cruise and my insurance covered our forfeited 50% and non refundable air portion. 👍 

That more than made all of my past insurance premiums for travel worthwhile 😉 

[sansterre]

27 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I use only the insurance provided by my Chase Sapphire credit card, $10000 per person.  My hotels and flights are usually by points and cancellable.  On my next cruise I will also be purchasing an annual health policy which is actually not badly priced.

We have Chase Sapphire, but not aware of any insurance provided.  Is it specifically for international travel?  If so, many thanks as we will cancel a policy we took out for a cruise this Fall.

 

[iancal]

8 minutes ago, kazu said:

We have medical insurance for the first 30 days and top it up if we are gone longer than that (covers evacuation).

 

As to trip cancellation - yes I buy what is needed after my credit card.  I was very glad I did last time as covid hit and we cancelled in the penalty phase.  HAL gave us FCC for 50% of the cruise and my insurance covered our forfeited 50% and non refundable air portion. 👍 

That more than made all of my past insurance premiums for travel worthwhile 😉 

We used cancel insurance once-for a land trip.  Premium credit card.  What we recovered from the credit card insurance represented 15 years of the cost of our premium credit card. We only had that card for three years prior to the claim.

Edited June 26, 2021 by iancal

[tamsno]

The Chase Sapphire insurance is for any travel charged to that card but not medical.  I buy Amex travel insurance for medical and evac at a good rate.  This time I bought HAL premium insurance to cover the medical and evac unknowns of the world today which includes pandemic and was actually cheaper than Amex.   I would never travel outside of the country without insurance.

[BevvylynnC]

Thank you everyone. I live in Florida about an hour from cruise port. So no airplane ticket. No excursions, as I am planning a rest and reading kind of trip for myself. Will look into all these suggestions. I can absorb the cost of trip if it comes to that but at $279-309 through the cruise line of which I think on advice of TA not to get until final payment because of being able to have deposit refundable, I have missed getting the premium trip insurance package anyway. I agree at least to get medical evacuation. This is all confusing to me as this is only my second cruise. Still a newbie. Last one many many years ago and didn’t take the insurance then. But that was pre Covid and who knows now! Thank you thank you all! 

[DaveOKC]

53 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I use only the insurance provided by my Chase Sapphire credit card, $10000 per person.  My hotels and flights are usually by points and cancellable.  On my next cruise I will also be purchasing an annual health policy which is actually not badly priced.

Ditto here.

 

[syesmar]

Nationwide has several cruise-specific policies I’ve been happy with. As others have said they do, I also take into account travel insurance my credit card provides (factoring this in can be quite helpful with your limits). Some premium cards provide really good insurance, so look the policy over.

Another issue I wasn’t aware of (until it happened to me) was that if a European flight is delayed by a certain amount of time, you could be entitled to a set payment from the airline, if certain conditions apply (EU Regulation 261/2004).

 

Also, once when our luggage was delayed for several days (for a 19 night cruise!), the airline reimbursed us for clothing and essential items purchased.

 

My last international trip, AA wouldn’t fully reimburse us for our hotel when they canceled our flight (they told us to find a hotel and then when we filed afterwards, said the rate was too high, though they didn’t give limits, hard to find a European airport hotel at the last minute...long story), and our insurance kicked in.

 

Having extra medical coverage and evacuation coverage gives me peace of mind. My experiences were BC (before coronavirus), so YMMV.

 

Good luck!

Edited June 26, 2021 by syesmar

[sansterre]

17 minutes ago, tamsno said:

The Chase Sapphire insurance is for any travel charged to that card but not medical.  I buy Amex travel insurance for medical and evac at a good rate.  This time I bought HAL premium insurance to cover the medical and evac unknowns of the world today which includes pandemic and was actually cheaper than Amex.   I would never travel outside of the country without insurance.

So, would Chase Sapphire pay clothes allowance for delayed luggage, missing/damaged luggage, or extra day hotel and meals due to bad weather delays - things like that (assuming you paid for cruise with the credit card)?

Edited June 26, 2021 by sansterre

[tamsno]

I believe it is only for charges made but I haven't looked at the particulars in a while.  That's why additional coverage is needed.   Most full coverage policies pay for the extras.  The HAL policy only pays I believe up to 90% of of cruise fees paid so Chase would cover the rest.    

[Mary229]

Here are the Chase general table of benefits.  There are different tiers of Chase card, ditto Amex which offer fairly decent insurance.   The higher tiers will cover more and you need to do the cost benefit analysis as to which card.  Geoblue has an annual health policy which is very, very affordable.  Always check current benefits, the credit card companies are notorious for changing benefits.  

 

https://www.chase.com/card-benefits/sapphirepreferred/travel

[docruth]

Never have taken travel insurance, as we always go with a travel credit card like AMEX Platinum or one of the good competitors. Haven’t regretted the decision, even after encountering mre than our share of travel glitches. We’ve found that the huge companies like Chase or AMEX have better worldwide service and better benefits to help in the event of a meltdown. We do maintain separate evacuation and foreign medical insurance, but that’s for all travel, not just cruising.

 

One piece of advice, “read the fine print carefully”, lots of exceptions are hidden in those policies.

 

Hope that helps!

[dfish]

I was glad I had the cancel for any reason insurance when I fell and broke my hip a week before our cruise.   We got 90% back and that included air fare and hotel. 

 

My sister was very glad they had insurance the time her husband had a heart attack on board.  They were able to wait until the end of the cruise in Copenhagen where he was hospitalized for 3 days.  Then, they had to wait a few days and stay in a hotel because the airline wouldn't let DBIL fly until it had been a certain length of time after the heart attack.   Insurance took care of everything for them including finding the hotel and making the air arrangements.

[ontheweb]

Think of it like your homeowners or car insurance. You hope you never have to use them, but knowing you have them gives you peace of mind.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Ge O Blue and Med Jet ..

[The-Inside-Cabin]

My philosphy on insurance - travel and in general.

 

I only insure potential costs that have  unlimted exposure - medical/evacuation.

 

I don't insure something if my exposure is fixed - e.g. Cruise ship fare 

 

Here are my two exceptions that I recommend

 

If  you have to forfeit the fare and you will  be all stressed out and be kicking  yourself for weeks (I had to forfeit a $10K fare once but I am still ahead over the years) and can't STAND the thought of losing a fare....

 

OR

 

if losing the trip fare would preclude your future travel or affect your future travel.   If you saved up for a big cruise and if you lost that fare - and that meant the end of your cruising - get the insurance. 

 

If losing the fare means your travel and lifestyle continue as normal, but your heirs will get a little less....then I would forgo the insurance..

 

If you cruise a lot, I suspect that you will come out ahead in the end.   After all, thats how insurance companies make money...

 

 

 

[Sir PMP]

2 hours ago, BevvylynnC said:

Does anyone not take the trip insurance for a cruise. 

Always take insurance..

[kazu]

17 minutes ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

If you cruise a lot, I suspect that you will come out ahead in the end.   After all, thats how insurance companies make money...

 

 

I agree with your caveats, but we tend to insure.  Our cruises are usually pricey and money is not something I like to throw away.  Who knows what can happen?  I broke my elbow one year and had surgery.  It was touch and go if I would be able to cruise, thankfully I was but…

 

I guess we don’t cruise as much as you but my one claim for my forfeited cruise was more than worthwhile not to mention the claim for a stolen camera on a cruise that more than paid for that cruise’s insurance. 😉 

 

Everyone has their own level of risk.  Insurance has a purpose and if you are willing to forego the cost versus the risk, it’s all good.

I’ll definitely insure my next trip.  Things can happen that stop you from going.  No one has a crystal ball.  Heck none of us saw covid coming.

 

[The-Inside-Cabin]

28 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

I agree with your caveats, but we tend to insure.  Our cruises are usually pricey and money is not something I like to throw away.  Who knows what can happen?  I broke my elbow one year and had surgery.  It was touch and go if I would be able to cruise, thankfully I was but…

 

I guess we don’t cruise as much as you but my one claim for my forfeited cruise was more than worthwhile not to mention the claim for a stolen camera on a cruise that more than paid for that cruise’s insurance. 😉 

 

Everyone has their own level of risk.  Insurance has a purpose and if you are willing to forego the cost versus the risk, it’s all good.

I’ll definitely insure my next trip.  Things can happen that stop you from going.  No one has a crystal ball.  Heck none of us saw covid coming.

 

Great reason to insure - good thoughts

 

Cruise insurance is usually about 5-7% of the fare depending on age etc....If you cruise more than 15-20 times you will probably come out ahead (not getting insurance), but sometimes its easier to accept a small loss every time rather than a big one once in a while.   For me - the thought of losing a fare at the last second would be unfortunate - but no big deal.  For many others, that is not the case.    You have to reflect on your own risk tolerance and make the decision based on what you are comfortable with.   

 

 

Edited June 26, 2021 by The-Inside-Cabin