Cruise Care?

[HardyVA]

This may be the wrong place to ask but what do you think about Cruise Care?  I thinking anything can happen, especially when you pay in full so far in advance?  

[39august]

I would never cruise without insurance.  Have had a couple of claims with Cruise Care that were taken care of promptly.  But they were not medical claims. They were cruise delay claims.

[Dar & Bob]

2 hours ago, HardyVA said:

This may be the wrong place to ask but what do you think about Cruise Care?  I thinking anything can happen, especially when you pay in full so far in advance?  

We have decided with as many trips as we take now that it is better coverage and less money to take out an annual policy.  A couple of our trips will exceed our upper limit but I am thinking that we possibly wouldn't have a claim for the full amount anyways.  Airlines, hotels etc can sometimes be rescheduled.

That said we are more concerned with medical issues while abroad.  We have been on several trips now where someone has misstepped and had a serious injury.  Most of them they were able to get home but we could see the potential for a major hospital bill. 

 

[Cruise till you drop]

So is  CruiseCare sufficient for medical coverage ?

[horseymike]

Not really. Independent travel insurance will provide better coverage especially for medical and emergency transportation if required.

[horseymike]

Trip insurance store

[Luvtoeat]

i always check insurance quotes on both insure my trip and squaremouth. The same policies on both will be exactly the same price. The coverages are much better then through the cruise line insurance especially for pre-existing conditions and medical. 

[Dar & Bob]

12 hours ago, Cruise till you drop said:

So is  CruiseCare sufficient for medical coverage ?

That is an individual consideration.   If you have a medical coverage that will reimburse you and sufficient funds to pay your medical bill up front - you may decide to go without it.  Remember that many countries will require your bills to be paid before leaving their country. 

The summary of CruiseCare coverage is:

Travel insurance benefits underwritten by Arch Insurance Company

• Trip Interruption: up to 150% of total trip cost if you can't start or finish your cruise vacation because you're sick or hurt, there's a death in the family or another covered reason
• Trip Delay: up to $2,000 ($250/day) for catch-up expenses if your are delayed for 3 or more hours
• Missed Connection: up to $300 if you miss your trip departure for covered reasons by 3 or more hours
• Accident Medical: up to $25,000 if you get hurt on your cruise vacation
• Sickness Medical: up to $25,000 if you get sick on your cruise vacation
• Emergency Medical Evacuation: up to $50,000 if you need emergency medical transportation
• Baggage Protection: up to $1,500 if your bags are lost, stolen, or damaged
• Bag Delay: up to $500 to buy necessary personal items if your bags are delayed for 24 hours or more

 

Personally I am not sure that $25,000 for medical expenses or $50,000 for emergency medical transportation is enough.  We chose a plan that has $50,000/$500,000 coverage but that is our personal preference. 

Compare prices, as I said before for us - we have decided on an annual plan that covers us anytime we are more than 90 miles from home.  The cost was slightly more than covering our most expensive cruise this year.  

You need to do some homework. 

[espresso68]

Cruise care is not good for medical problems.We had an incident where my wife had to be sent to a== barbadoes hospital for 5 days which was terrible but they saved her life. She almost had to be medevacked to the states which is about $100,00. She did not need. Our cruse ins was very good & kept in touch with me. They took a lot of time to get get my money but I didn,t care.So get a good plan.

We had  April ins. I would try something else.

[keldorama]

I never thought about Trip Insurance until my family has needed to use it on three separate occasions. My dad needed to be medevac'd from Ketchikan to Seattle and the cost would have been $130,000; mom broke her leg three weeks before a cruise and needed to cancel; my sister needed to cancel a cruise 2 days before departure when mom had a stroke. We also had a couple traveling with us to Antarctica test positive for COVID while we in Punta Arenas and couldn't get on the boat. So I am a firm supporter of it now. But we never use the carrier's (airline, cruise line, etc) provider. Those policies are designed to protect the carrier. We have used Allianz and Seven Corners in the past, but given our travel schedules over the next 2 years will go with an annual policy from here. Do your research and find one that works best for you. You want medical, emergency evac, AND trip interuption and and/or delay. Allianz has several tiers of coverage.

[REEtired]

To travel these days without trip/travel insurance is a no brainer. Several years ago DH was disembarked to hospital in Cork, Ireland. Spent 10 days in hospital for tests and a procedure. Trip insurance covered just about everything but my Guinness every night.  Like AmX, you don’t leave home without it.  Seriously it really is cheap insurance compared to total trip cost. 

[RTR 21-0]

I would also add to make sure you purchase it within 10-21 days after booking your cruise to be eligible for CFAR (cancel for any reason).  After 15 cruises we recently purchased our first travel insurance but it’s been a year after our initial booking.  We were able to find what we feel is a good policy with great medical & medical evac coverage as well as trip cancellation and interruption coverage but obviously would have to meet their guidelines for the cancellation & interruption.  We purchased this time b/c it’s a Mediterranean cruise and wish we had done our research last year at time of booking. 

[Dar & Bob]

On 2/9/2023 at 4:53 PM, keldorama said:

I never thought about Trip Insurance until my family has needed to use it on three separate occasions. My dad needed to be medevac'd from Ketchikan to Seattle and the cost would have been $130,000; mom broke her leg three weeks before a cruise and needed to cancel; my sister needed to cancel a cruise 2 days before departure when mom had a stroke. We also had a couple traveling with us to Antarctica test positive for COVID while we in Punta Arenas and couldn't get on the boat. So I am a firm supporter of it now. But we never use the carrier's (airline, cruise line, etc) provider. Those policies are designed to protect the carrier. We have used Allianz and Seven Corners in the past, but given our travel schedules over the next 2 years will go with an annual policy from here. Do your research and find one that works best for you. You want medical, emergency evac, AND trip interuption and and/or delay. Allianz has several tiers of coverage.

Your story about your dad is the REAL reason to get insurance because when something like that happens the cost is Unknown.   Most of us while unhappy can eat the money we have put out for the trip.  The medical cost and evacuation costs can mean life or death and could bankrupt many of us. 

One thing for anyone on Medicare is that it does not cover you outside the US, if you have supplement that may reimburse you when you get home.  However, many foreign countries require that you pay the bill in full before you are allowed to depart. 

[Babr]

Travel insurance reimburses covered expenses when you file a claim. Always be prepared to pay up front.

 

GeoBlue has a network of providers that will care for patients, but you may or may not have access to them in an emergency. Other policies may guarantee payment in order for you to be admitted to a hospital.

 

In short, travel insurance does not perform in the same way your primary insurance does at home. 

[Dar & Bob]

7 minutes ago, Babr said:

Travel insurance reimburses covered expenses when you file a claim. Always be prepared to pay up front.

 

GeoBlue has a network of providers that will care for patients, but you may or may not have access to them in an emergency. Other policies may guarantee payment in order for you to be admitted to a hospital.

 

In short, travel insurance does not perform in the same way your primary insurance does at home. 

That is why you have to look at the policies closely.  We have an annual policy that states that they will make the arrangements AND pay for the transportation and care.  

Our annual policy was slightly more than the CruiseCare for one of our trips. 

[Babr]

16 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

That is why you have to look at the policies closely.  We have an annual policy that states that they will make the arrangements AND pay for the transportation and care.  

Our annual policy was slightly more than the CruiseCare for one of our trips. 

They all pay for covered events including transportation and care. The question is when. 

[Dar & Bob]

3 hours ago, Babr said:

They all pay for covered events including transportation and care. The question is when. 

Ours arranges and pays for not reimbursement - that's the difference.  Just a portion of our policy  . We will identify the closest appropriate hospital or other appropriate facility, make arrangements to transport you there, and pay for that transport;

The difference is they Pay not reimburse.

Edited February 11, 2023 by Dar & Bob

[jelayne]

4 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

Ours arranges and pays for not reimbursement - that's the difference.  Just a portion of our policy  . We will identify the closest appropriate hospital or other appropriate facility, make arrangements to transport you there, and pay for that transport;

Key words in that closest appropriate hospital, 

that could still leave you thousands a miles from home in a foreign country.  
 

We use MedJet for evacuation which will get you to an appropriate facility that can be located in your home town or near family.  

[Babr]

25 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

Ours arranges and pays for not reimbursement - that's the difference.  Just a portion of our policy  . We will identify the closest appropriate hospital or other appropriate facility, make arrangements to transport you there, and pay for that transport;

The difference is they Pay not reimburse.

That is typical for medical evacuation. Does it pay your hospital bill before you are discharged?

[Dar & Bob]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

Key words in that closest appropriate hospital, 

that could still leave you thousands a miles from home in a foreign country.  
 

We use MedJet for evacuation which will get you to an appropriate facility that can be located in your home town or near family.  

I didn't print the complete terms - no one wants to read all that.  Ours also gets you home after you are stable to travel - Again the point is that it is a personal choice and you have to decide what is right for you.  But the question was about Cruise Care.  CruiseCare doesn't cover nearly enough to get you taken care of in a catastrophic situation. 

[Dar & Bob]

1 hour ago, Babr said:

That is typical for medical evacuation. Does it pay your hospital bill before you are discharged?

The way it reads .. we have Allianz - if you go to there webpage for the annual policies it lists the coverages.

[Babr]

58 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

The way it reads .. we have Allianz - if you go to there webpage for the annual policies it lists the coverages.

All Allianz annual plans provide secondary coverage. That means you must first file a claim with your primary insurance. Then you file a claim with Allianz for any remaining expenses.

 

In other words, be prepared to pay for medical care and hospital bills up front and file claims when you return home. Foreign countries and cruise ships do require that you pay in full before departing.

[SPacificbound]

13 hours ago, Dar & Bob said:

That is why you have to look at the policies closely.  We have an annual policy that states that they will make the arrangements AND pay for the transportation and care.  

Our annual policy was slightly more than the CruiseCare for one of our trips. 

If you don't mind, please share who the annual policy is through. I am looking at GeoBlue Trekker Choice right now for our August and September/October trips.

[John.roysden]

On 2/11/2023 at 8:00 AM, Babr said:

Travel insurance reimburses covered expenses when you file a claim. Always be prepared to pay up front.

 

GeoBlue has a network of providers that will care for patients, but you may or may not have access to them in an emergency. Other policies may guarantee payment in order for you to be admitted to a hospital.

 

In short, travel insurance does not perform in the same way your primary insurance does at home. 

Thanks for the Geo Blue tip

It looks Great

[ORD1166]

Back in 2008 I was talking with are a TA about an upcoming cruise.  And she asked if I wanted to travel insurance for it.  For some unknown reason I said yes..  It was the the first time I ever took travel insurance.  The day before the cruise in Feb of 2009 Kiser were in Galveston the day before the cruise.  That night I had a heart attack and had to miss the cruise. I recovered and doing fine.  

 

Then later that year the DW and her sisters were going to take a cruise.  One sister was in an auto wreck.  They missed their cruise.

 

Travel insureance covered both cruise.

 

Have not cruise without it since

 

Vic