POLL: Travel Insurance

[LauraS]

Do you buy Travel Insurance when you cruise?

[DonLou]

Generally, if the cruise is within 6 months of booking I decline the insurance. Our latest cruise booked was 15 months out so I definitely bought insurance.

[Roz]

I ALWAYS buy it. My med insurance doesn't cover me on the ship or out of the country, and it won't pay for med evacuation. That alone can cost thousands of dollars.

 

Roz

[Krazy Kruizers]

Always buy it.

 

Had to use it once when DH's mother died just a few days before we were to leave for a cruise.

 

Plus it was touch and go until last Friday when DH got the go ahead from his Cradiologist for our upcoming cruises.

[freddiebud]

In the last few years, I have become an always buy - for every out of the country trip. Last year, we booked a trip to Cancun - and then the hurricane hit. We were able to cancel and get a full refund, even on the non-refundable airline tickets. I have seen folks fall and hurt themselves on cruises, had a young girl with appendicitis than needed to be airvac'd out of Mexico on a cruise a few years ago and an older man have a heart attack on the last cruise. A friend went on a cruise where one of the guys on her excursion was bit by a stingray and had to get 20 stiches. My motto - better safe than afraid to get medical help and be broke.

[mrgabriel]

We don't fly to the Port, so don't have to worry about airline delays. However, I did buy insurance for our next cruise because it is right smack dab in the middle of hurricane season, and I wanted coverage in case there have been storms in the previous weeks and our home is damaged.

 

Our credit card provides full medical evac coverage, so that's not an issue. I would probably consider it one of us had been ill, or if we were concerned about our elderly parents.

 

XXXXXCrossing fingers XXXXX that we will NOT need the insurance!

[wrp96]

I made the mistake of not buying it once. NEVER AGAIN! That was the trip that I fell and got hurt and had to visit the infirmary on the ship - and found out when I sent it in for reimbursement that my medical insurance did not cover out of the country expenses.

[MWChance]

We bought it the first time we cruised. We haven't purchased it for the last 3 cruises. Like any insurance, I guess it's a gamble whether you have it and won't need it, or you don't have it and will need it.

[RoseM]

I always buy the insurance..I had to use it the 3rd cruise I took with my daughter because I was in the hosipital with heart trouble, which I thought would never happen. A full refund was nice in cash and not in credits for a future cruise.

 

I have heard of pasengers with broken bones or other things which was very costly because their insurance didn't cover out of the country.

 

And how can you spend a couple thousand dollars for a cruise and not be protected for a couple of hundred? Rosemary

[You Me & the Sea]

When I booked our upcoming cruise (our 1st ever) I didn't add the insurance. Then I started browsing various sites and came across CC and read many unfortunate posts of those who didn't and wished they had when the unforseen happened. I added it the very next day!

 

So thank you all for posting your stories...both the positive and negative. It really helps those of us new to this make informed decisions.

[Sailaway Girl]

When I was a lot younger and thought nothing could touch me, I did not buy insurance. Now a little older (and my family, siblings and mom are older) I take no chances. For an extra $100 or so I can avoid losing all of my money. I tavel with peace of mind. I also use insuremytrip.com for the best coverage.:)

Why take chances?????????????

[Happy ks]

We generally do buy travel insurance, but it can depend on a few things.

 

We live on the West Coast and have taken several 4 day cruises very close to home. For those, we haven't bothered with the insurance because the ports where we do get off the ship are in our home state, so med. ins. isn't an issue, nor is travel cost.

 

But, if we are travelling a distance we will buy the lowest cost we can find. The credit card we use for travel also has an attached policy, so we don't over-insure ourselves. We never buy through the cruiseline, always a third party.

 

Very fortunately, we have never had the occasion to use it.

[Happy ks]

I'll add that since we have no pre-existing conditions and no parents left, we wait until we have made final payment before we purchase our travel insurance. To buy it before would be a waste of money if we did cancel ahead of time.

[FQTCruiser]

I always purchase insurance and I do it through the cruiseline because Princess, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and NCL use Berkelycare, which is not owned by the cruiselines. Unless you have a preexisting condition you do not need to pay until final payment. But with Princess even if you do buy before final and have to cancel before final you get your money back including insurance. After final if you cancel for illness of yourself or travel companion or close relative not traveling, with doctor's note you get all of your money back except the insurance. If you have to cancel for a non-covered reason you get a percentage of credit towards another cruise for the non refundable amount of the cruise. With Princess it is 75%with the standard insurance and 90% with the gold or platinum. It depends on when you cancel if you are under 25-50-75- or 100% penalty. If you cruise 5 times then the 6th time you get the gold for the same price as standard. Which is normally $50.00 per person more than standard.

Age makes no difference in whether you need insurance. I booked a honeymoon couple one year and they did not get insurance. The bride was doing dishes a couple of nights before the cruise and dropped a plate on her foot that cut a tendon and she wanted to cancel, but would lose all the money, so she went anyway with her foot in a bandage and unable to walk or enjoy her honeymoon. It would have been much nicer if she could have postponed it till her foot was healed. Another couple only got insurance for their elderly aunt. When they were coming back from the fire drill, she fell and broke her hip and had to be taken off the ship to a hospital for surgery, they of course had to go with her and missed their cruise and got no refund. He was very mad and thought he should get his money back, but I had to explain that if your house burned down and you did not have insurance you could not expect to collect the same as people who did pay insurance. He never did understand that concept.

Too many unexpected things happen and it is always important to include insurance in your purchase.

FQTCruiser

[GottaLuvCruising]

Anyone who travels without insurance coverage is taking a tremendous risk. The cost of coverage is typically less than 10% of the trip and it gives you peace of mind.

 

You never know what could happen. It's not just about lost luggage or an illness or injury onboard or in a foreign port (happens all the time). But it's also about having to leave the cruise suddenly because of an emergency back home. God forbid you or a traveling companion needs air evacuation without insurance...

[tawanda]

Are we talking about the insurance the cruiseline offers?

 

Am I to understand it covers medical expenses and not just the price of the cruise?

[ILuvCruisin']

I always purchased travel insurance and then one cruise I was paying for 2 others as graduation gifts and decided not to spend the extra money to get all of us insurance. Of course that was the cruise that I developed a blood clot in my leg and had to be ambulanced on a 3 hour ride to a hospital in Cancun. Spent 3 days in that hospital. Thankfully it was Cancun. My health insurance covered the medical but I couldn't get reimbursed for 5 days of the cruise cost because I didn't have the travel insurance. I was just thankful that the medical costs were covered by my health insurance. It was a huge expense. The overnight in the ship infirmary alone was more than $2,000. What if they would have had to airlift me. That could be over $10,000. Another thing, at the hospital in Cancun because I didn't have travel insurance the administrator wanted me to put $10,000 on a credit card. Thankfully I didn't have one on me that had a limit that high because I would have done it just to get her off my back. She buggd me from the time I got in the door until my family at home called in the US Embassy. Two ladies came the next day and talked with her. She never said another word to me. They told me she wasn't suppose to do that. She was suppose to contact my health insurance company and deal with them.

 

Never again. I ALWAYS purchase travel insurance now. Peace of mind!!! Include it in your budget when planning your cruise. Check with your health plan. Some will not cover you out of the country or on a cruise ship. Any trip out of the country I get travel insurance. Domestic, I don't care too much because usually it's only air.

[bkgadget]

My DW and I always have a form of insurance when we travel. We have been able to get a policy thaty covers us for all out of country medical expenses including medical evacuation and airlift home if needed. Also has death benefits and some other perks. It is good for one year and covers all trips, anywhere, up to 15 days out of country. Additional days can be purchared if needed.

 

It costs us about $65.00 p/p for the entire year. (we are both 55 years old)

 

As far as lost luggage, stolen property etc, we have a ridfer on our house policy that covers all of that. I think the cost was under $20.00 per year.

 

The only things we would not be covered for would be a sudden, cancellation just prior to the cruise.

 

Inspector Gadget

[OhMyACruise]

I have been reading and reading on here trying to decide about the Insurance. It concerned me that my medical might not pick up so I went on last night and bought it and feel so much better about doing so. It was only around 109 for the both of us. Such a relief!!!

[ILuvCruisin']

I have been reading and reading on here trying to decide about the Insurance. It concerned me that my medical might not pick up so I went on last night and bought it and feel so much better about doing so. It was only around 109 for the both of us. Such a relief!!!

 

feels good huh? :p

[momofmeg]

We do now that we are older-we used not todo that-flet it ws a waste of money-butneither hubby or I have great health anymore so anything is possible.

 

 

One thing I would like to ask you guys-we need to buy insurance for our european cruise next summer-since it is that far away-still over a year- and hubby works for a bankrupt airline-we want one that covers layoffs-he was all for getting Travleguard but their clause on lay-offs is you have to work for the same company the last 5 years. The thing with him is his company could get bought out-so he could be working for a differant company and as we all know could then get downsized-anyone know of an insurance that would cover that scenaro?

[wrp96]

I have been reading and reading on here trying to decide about the Insurance. It concerned me that my medical might not pick up so I went on last night and bought it and feel so much better about doing so. It was only around 109 for the both of us. Such a relief!!!

 

Believe me, when the cost to just see the doctor runs about $175, that $109 seems like a real bargain. I really wished I had just gone ahead and paid it on my 2nd cruise - but didn't because I thought it would be a waste.

[cindiedee]

I never take a cruise without insurance - a year and a half ago, we were booked on 2 expensive cruises (Europe) - DH, Mom and me - well, Mom was diagnosed with metastisized breast cancer and we had to cancel both cruises. Had insurance for all on both trips and got full refunds (minus the cost of the insurance) - would have been out many thousands of dollars without the insurance. Mom passed away two days before we would have sailed on the second cruise - so at least we weren't out all the money on top of everything else. I never buy the cruiseline insurance because if the cruiseline would happen to go under (not likely but again, who would have ever believe all the brand name airlines who went under), what good would the insurance be? So, never leave home without it unless you are a zillionaire and all this would be pocket change to you!:p

[morgan1312]

I never used to buy the insurance till the cruise where my dh hurt his toe a few days before we left and had to have something dug out of it, he was on antibiotics and changing the bandage regularly and the doc at home thought he'd be fine on the cruise. 2 days out his whole foot swelled up with cellulitis, the ship doc had to cut the infection out and put him on IV antibiotics to knock it out of his system. We had to put the ship medical bills on a cc, about $2700.00, when I got home with the very detailed bills/receipts from the ship's doc I called my insurance and was assured it would all be covered. After sending in the bills 3 times cause the insurance kept losing them, and numerous phone calls and letters disbuting their processing of the claims I got about $250.00 back from the insurance. They excluded all medical supplies and IV drugs cause he wasn't an 'inpatient', excluded multiple visits in the same day as duplicates even though he went back twice a day for cleaning and IV antibiotics, only paid the surgical charges at whatever rate they deemed acceptable. It was a nightmare, so now we always buy the insurance and yes, in answer to someone's earlier post, the insurance covers all medical treatments needed while on the cruise.

[GottaLuvCruising]

Are we talking about the insurance the cruiseline offers?

 

Am I to understand it covers medical expenses and not just the price of the cruise?

 

There are many providers of travel insurance, some better than others. And the coverage / exclusions vary. You really need to do a little research to understand what is best for you. It is available through the cruise lines, travel agencies and private vendors.

 

But, yes, travel insurance is generally for cancellation protection (cost of cruise) if you have a medical or family emergency, as well as medical care on board the ship or in a foreign port (where most HMOs do not cover you) and air evacuation (big ticket item). It also usually covers smaller things like lost luggage or helping you catch up with the ship if you miss the sailing (for a covered reason).