We Will Get Travel Insurance From Now On!

[abitaturbodog]

My family just returned from a fabulous cruise on the Costa Fortuna but it could've easily been ruined by medical issues and their costs. I have learned from this experience that I will purchase travel insurance from now on.

 

My 10 year old had just gotten stitches out of his knee prior to leaving. After 15 minutes on the slide (before we left Ft. Lauderdale) his knee began to open back up. After banging it on a table in the dining room that evening and playing in the pool the following day it completely re-opened! :eek:

 

We had some nurses in our roll call (thanks to Chantal and Linda!) that gave us good advice and we decided that rather than taking him to the ship's doctor to get it re-stitched, we would just wrap the daylights out of it and let it heal from the inside-out. He's going to have an awesome scar to impress all the girls!

 

Then, I got strep throat. I've gotten it many times in the past and after suffering for over a day I was just about the drag myself to the ship's doctor, when a friend that we were traveling with said that she had brought a prescription for Amoxicillian with her. (She has an great doctor at home that wrote a prescription for her...just in case). After 2 doses of the medicine I was on the road to recovery. I actually just finished the prescription this morning!

 

Anyway, the reason for my rambling is that I never thought that I would need insurance. My family is relatively healthy and those type of things only happen to other people! Wrong! If I had to take my son to get re-stitched and myself to get treated for Strep, I'm sure our bill would have been way more than the insurance cost. So for now on, I'm not traveling without insurance.

[G.M.T.]

Abita,

 

We always take out travel insurance (cancellation, baggage and health) one never knows. Our health insurance not only covers treatment locally but also being repatriated on medical grounds.

 

Luckily we have never had to use it, but it certainly gives one a nice warm feeling.

 

One reads alot about a person being medivacced of a cruise ship by Coast Guard helicopter, I often wonder who foots the bill for it. The person in question of the US taxpayer?

 

Ron

[abitaturbodog]

Ron--You hit the nail on the head when you said it "gives a nice warm feeling." I want to go on my future cruises with that feeling. It was a little scary this time....

[wrp96]

One reads alot about a person being medivacced of a cruise ship by Coast Guard helicopter, I often wonder who foots the bill for it. The person in question of the US taxpayer?

 

The US Coastguard does not charge to medivac people off the ship. So basically it's picked up by US taxpayers.

[commonsense2]

sorry for all your troubles, dog.

 

i've not had to use it for medical reasons, but when !$&*#*! air france stranded me in a suburban hotel outside paris, the insurance covered the 80 euros i spent at disney village for clean undies, socks, a sweatshirt and a hat.

[billie5]

One of the more intelligent threads I have read. I think you people hit the nail on the head. Insurance be a must for (a) people who can not afford the risk of high medical bills, and (b) people who are comforted by the protection offered.

 

On the other hand, until this year I have never bought medical insurance, or any other travel insurance. From the money I have saved by not buying insurance for innumerable trips, to more than 90 countries, I can pay for many future disasters. It is all a question of whether you want to, or can afford to, self-insure. If you do self-insure (ie, do not buy insurance) and are lucky, you will come out ahead. If you are unlucky you will lose. On average, you will --- still come out ahead, as you can be certain the insurance companies are in this business to make money.

 

Now, in my 60's, I have accumulated enough medical issues that self-insuring no longer seems wise, so I have bought annual travel insurance, but only for medical issues, not for loss of a cruise. I still figure that if I can afford to pay for a cruise, I can afford to lose that amount, unhappy as the event would be. Obviously, I do not need the warm fuzziness of insurance coverage. But I appreciate that others, most people probably, do prefer it.

 

Bill

[monicajay]

Had to de-cruise do to a death in the family (off the Dawn) in St. Thomas, went straight to the airport and bought 4 tickets to Burlington, Vt. the bill ? $3, 200.00, and yes, after a bit of haggling (I was supposed to call them before buying tickets but in an emergency who has a brain?) they paid the bill in full.

 

I would NEVER travel without insurance.

[billie5]

And I've saved much more than that in NOT buying insurance.

 

Different strokes for different folks.

 

Bill

[abitaturbodog]

Bill-I agree with different strokes for different folks.

 

I learned from this cruise that bad things can happen even on vacation, and with 2 tween boys, the chances of something bad happening is pretty good! Kids....can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

[G.M.T.]

Bill-I agree with different strokes for different folks.

 

I learned from this cruise that bad things can happen even on vacation, and with 2 tween boys, the chances of something bad happening is pretty good! Kids....can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

I totally agree that it is up to each individual to decide what is best for them.

 

For myself, the further I am aways from home, the more I enjoy it knowing I have the necessary security behind me.

 

It is not only knowing that certain charges that have been incurred will be covered, but knowing that (at least the Insurance companies here in Germany) there is a help desk manned (or should I say personned) 24/7 to help and give advice for any eventuality that may arise.

 

On our Med transatlantic cruise last April a fellow passenger passed way, the deceased and his family left the ship in Madeira. If the family had to do all the arrangements and carry the cost of returning the dear one back home for burial it can be very hearbreaking. With the correct insurance all formalities and costs would be covered and the family would have less stress in such a trying time.

 

Ron

[racingraysswimmom]

Travel Insurance helped out one family in our group who had their flights canceled on Friday, March 21, due to snowstorm in Chicago.

 

The insurance company they purchased their plan with, helped with securing a rental car to drive to Indianapolis airport ( they had rain only) and pick up a flight ( that the insurance company found and booked for them ) there to Florida. This was for 5 people in her family. Otherwise it would have caused them to miss the ship in Fort Lauderdale.

 

Chicago weather in March is iffy, so they feel that travel insurance is very important and inexpensive considering what they could have lost.

[SPARKYCRUISER]

Now that we have a child we always get the insurance. Never know with kids what comes up. Also, even though we have medical insurance that will pay to medivac, etc. on our Costa Med cruise we came close to having to use it last year.

 

My wife was swimming in the pool and an eight year old girl picked off a small piece of mosaic tile from the pool and threw it. It hit my wife right above her eye and cut her forehead If it would have been one inch closer to her eye we would have had to medivac off the ship. The deck steward was very attentiive and they escorted my wife to sick bay where she was attended to by the doctor.

 

I was pleased to find out later that had there been any costs incurred, the insurance would have taken care of it.

[Brian Raine]

This is oneitem that all travellers should have. In the UK your TA will ask about insurance, theirs or yours, some companies will not take your booking without valid travel insurance details . We always take out a yearly policy which covers medical, repatriation luggage etc. May moons ago in our Spanish hotel a gentleman from Denmark walked through the plate glass door, with the resulting damage to his body, he received cursory treatment and was sent packing from the hospital, no money no treatment. Ever since then we always take out our insurance.

[rman738]

I've been purchasing the insurance for about 8 years now. It really came in handy during a cruise to Bermuda in the summer of 2005. I had chest an arm pains while docked in Hamilton, Bermuda. I was taken off the ship by ambulance and to their local hospital. I was admitted, tested and observed. The total charges for the on-board physician was $1700. The hospital in Bermuda was over $1500 for one night. My regular health insurance paid most and the cruise insurance paid the balance, including the 2 days each that both my wife and I missed during this illness. By far the largest cost, medical transportation back to the US was avoided. I did not want to have any procedure done in Bermuda. The medical facility was incredible. I was in a four person ward with 3 indigents, one who I caught rifling thru my bags in the middle of the night. Fortunately, the ship let me back on. They do not have to let you back on. The ships doctor spent about 1/2 hour going over the medical records from the Bermuda hospital. I promised to take it easy and did. Generally, I use one sight on the internet to search and compare multiple policies. Our last cruise cost only $125 total for both my wife and I and had no exclusions for past health problems. Be careful to look for that as well as the medical transportation. All in all I've spent over $1200 on cruise insurance during the last several years. One little illness can made it all worthwhile.

Rich M

[elton]

If you have a Discover credit card you might check if you have automatic travel coverage thru your card. We purchased travel ins before we knew of this. Received a brochure in mail from Discover about travel coverage. You do have to purchase your trip on the card to received the coverage. So you might check with Discover about details.

[Goldryder]

One thing that you need to be aware of when buying travel insurance is the age of those covered.

 

There were several well publicised accounts of cruisers who had paid the premium...usually to a TA in their shop...and signed the forms and then something had happened on the cruise but they discovered that as they were over 79 yrs old they weren't covered at all.

 

One case that was very upsetting was a gentleman on a Baltic cruise last summer passed away whilst the ship was in Stockholm. He had done the travel insurance but the family discovered after his demise that he was too old for the cover sold to him by the TA, thus it was null & void.

 

It cost the family in excess of £3500/$7000 to get their dad's body home.

 

Another case was a friend of mine, she did the Southampton to Sydney portion of the P&O world cruise a couple years back. She had booked to do the reverse trip back home to the UK but she had fallen ill and was medevaced off the ship in Brisbane. She spent 3 weeks in hospital there and then flown home to the UK. The insurance she had paid for was null and void due to her being 85 yrs old. The TA in the shop where she booked the cruises signed her up for the insurance too despite knowing she would not be covered due to her age...that TA has since been fired. The entire medevac & treatment cost my friend's family over £30,000/$60,000.

 

Make sure that you read all the small print before you sign the dotted line or agree to pay for the cover. If you are over 79 you might find it harder to get cover and it will be more expensive. There aren't too many companies willing to insure you at that sort of age either...so be careful!

[shelsgram]

My family just returned from a fabulous cruise on the Costa Fortuna but it could've easily been ruined by medical issues and their costs. I have learned from this experience that I will purchase travel insurance from now on.

 

My 10 year old had just gotten stitches out of his knee prior to leaving. After 15 minutes on the slide (before we left Ft. Lauderdale) his knee began to open back up. After banging it on a table in the dining room that evening and playing in the pool the following day it completely re-opened! :eek:

 

We had some nurses in our roll call (thanks to Chantal and Linda!) that gave us good advice and we decided that rather than taking him to the ship's doctor to get it re-stitched, we would just wrap the daylights out of it and let it heal from the inside-out. He's going to have an awesome scar to impress all the girls!

 

Then, I got strep throat. I've gotten it many times in the past and after suffering for over a day I was just about the drag myself to the ship's doctor, when a friend that we were traveling with said that she had brought a prescription for Amoxicillian with her. (She has an great doctor at home that wrote a prescription for her...just in case). After 2 doses of the medicine I was on the road to recovery. I actually just finished the prescription this morning!

 

Anyway, the reason for my rambling is that I never thought that I would need insurance. My family is relatively healthy and those type of things only happen to other people! Wrong! If I had to take my son to get re-stitched and myself to get treated for Strep, I'm sure our bill would have been way more than the insurance cost. So for now on, I'm not traveling without insurance.

I had to use the dr. on board once on a cruise for a sprained ankle. The $60 tab was added to my bill but my medical insurance reimbursed me once I got home. It'll pay to check with your insurance co. before you leave. Travel insurance would be helpful for trip cancellation, etc.

[Morgsmom]

...while I know that we cannot overtly spell out websites, can you allude to the site that compares travel insurance and their coverages? I think that would be most valuable. Many thanks!

[scouse mouse]

I had a simple ear infection onboard a ship which did not respond to oral antibiotics. It finally responded to IM antibiotic injections twice daily, IM pain relief, and frequent trips to the ships hospital.

 

Luckily we always take out travel insurance. We would not think of going on holiday without it. We ususally take out an annual policy and that covers us for a good number of holidays during the year.

 

Well worth the money.

[fireofficer5]

Never brought it. Never will.

[rman738]

...while I know that we cannot overtly spell out websites, can you allude to the site that compares travel insurance and their coverages? I think that would be most valuable. Many thanks!

 

I have used insuremytrip.com for purchasing cruise insurance. They have multiple packages. One is with Access America (I believe) with their Classic coverage. That package has a waiver of pre-existing conditions if you purchase with 10 days of booking your cruise. You can also add any airfare, although I never have.

Rich M