Cruise is booked, now for insurance....

[cthrn27]

hello.  Do I roll the cost of airfare and the precruise hotel into the cost for insurance??  Or, just the cruise?  What if I haven't gotten airfare yet?  Do I guesstimate???  Thanks in advance.

[klfrodo]

I'll give my experience and maybe a couple of suggestions.

I look at travel insurance as a risk sharing venture. Not that I want to lose money or give it away, but what can I afford to lose vs. what can I not even attempt to risk. 

 

Airfare - If I have to cancel do I lose it all or will my airline just give me a credit I can use for future flight?

Hotel - Instead of pre-paying, can I just make the reservation and pay when I get there?

Cruise - Can I afford to eat the cost of the cruise if something comes up?

Medical/Evacuation - Can I afford to pay up front for any medical emergency that may arise and then transportation back home?

 

Myself? Fortunately, I'm in a place where I can risk everything but the medical. Medical can bankrupt me. Therefore, I share the risk for any potential medical emergency. The rest, I self-insure.

 

In your case (and we don't know much about you), you can buy the insurance now and then as known additional cost that you want to insure are finalized, you can call the insurance company to increase your coverage.

 

But also know that if you require any pre-existing medical condition waivers or a Cancel for any Reason rider, you may be required to cover ALL nonrefundable costs. The need for this is based on the rules and regulations of the state you reside in.

[CDNPolar]

All you need to concern yourself with is what is NOT refundable.

 

If as @klfrodo indicates you are booking the hotel but not paying until you get there, there is no need to insure this cost because you will cancel before there is a charge.

 

We typically book airfare that has a cancellation option and there may only be a small fee per person like $200 to cancel.  This is all you would insure.  Many airfares allow you to retain the value of the ticket to be used in the future, and an insurance company will not cover this because you have not lost the cost of the airfare. (You may have to pay change fees and a change in fare when you rebook, but that is not an insurable cost.)

 

Don't just roll every cost into the insurance because you are paying a premium based on how much you are insuring to be repaid if you cancel.  If it is a refundable cost, then insurance will not cover it and you have paid a portion of premium for nothing.

[cthrn27]

Thank you klfrodo and CDNPolar for taking the time to answer.  I appreciate your perspective.

Thanks again & Happy Sailing

[CDNPolar]

4 minutes ago, cthrn27 said:

Thank you klfrodo and CDNPolar for taking the time to answer.  I appreciate your perspective.

Thanks again & Happy Sailing

 

You are welcome!  Happy insurance hunting.  For me it has become a journey of reading policies and multiple calls back to confirm or clarify language, and I am always learning about this nasty necessity called insurance.

[FlightMedic555]

From what I have seen you can insure what is not refundable and then add to the insurance as future non refundable costs hit.  I started a policy with a $100 limit as the cruise was refundable, except for $50 per person.  In this way the pre existing issues are covered.  When a payment of $3k was next made I called and increased the coverage to $3,100.

 

As others have said many components of your trip are refundable (such as many hotels) and do not need to be covered with insurance.

[CDNPolar]

19 hours ago, FlightMedic555 said:

From what I have seen you can insure what is not refundable and then add to the insurance as future non refundable costs hit.  I started a policy with a $100 limit as the cruise was refundable, except for $50 per person.  In this way the pre existing issues are covered.  When a payment of $3k was next made I called and increased the coverage to $3,100.

 

As others have said many components of your trip are refundable (such as many hotels) and do not need to be covered with insurance.

 

Question here, because we have never done this.  And, this may be different in Canada than for the USA and other countries.

 

We have cruises booked already for 2026, so more than a year out.  We have paid our deposit on these cruises at $25 pp, and I get that you are doing this so that pre-existing are covered.

 

In Canada however I don't think we can buy insurance more than a year out.  I have gone online in the past to price insurance and when I keyed dates, I got popups saying my dates are too far out.

[klfrodo]

@CDNPolar

Must be a Canadian thing. I've currently have a policy locked in for a trip that is more than a year out. The trip is for August 2025. I locked in the policy in April 2023 to ensure I get the pre-existing condition waiver.

[FlightMedic555]

I’m not sure about Canadian rules.  If you feel the insurance is importantly you might be able to consider cancelling and rebooking, thereby losing $50, presuming your same cruise rate is available.  I am pretty sure that insurance can be purchased through virtually every cruise line when you make your deposit but that limits your choice of insurance company. 

[CDNPolar]

2 minutes ago, FlightMedic555 said:

I’m not sure about Canadian rules.  If you feel the insurance is importantly you might be able to consider cancelling and rebooking, thereby losing $50, presuming your same cruise rate is available.  I am pretty sure that insurance can be purchased through virtually every cruise line when you make your deposit but that limits your choice of insurance company. 

 

We book with Viking and as Canadians we don't qualify for Viking trip insurance.  We are relegated to a Canadian insurance company.

 

I will have to try to purchase out in advance again, I just know that in the past I was stopped in the quote because the dates were too far out.

[Coral]

7 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Question here, because we have never done this.  And, this may be different in Canada than for the USA and other countries.

 

We have cruises booked already for 2026, so more than a year out.  We have paid our deposit on these cruises at $25 pp, and I get that you are doing this so that pre-existing are covered.

 

In Canada however I don't think we can buy insurance more than a year out.  I have gone online in the past to price insurance and when I keyed dates, I got popups saying my dates are too far out.

Must be a Canada thing.