Insurance...Is it needed?

[vizzle]

Do I need to get insurance on my cruise? What have you guys done, or are doing? Its our first cruise.

[wrp96]

I didn't get it for my first 2 cruises. On my 2nd cruise, I wished I had because the money I "saved" by not getting travel insurance went down the drain along with a lot more money when I got hurt on an excursion. As a result, I do not travel without travel insurance anymore, even for land vacations. I have had to make a few claims since then and they have paid out more than I have ever paid in travel insurance.

 

I do recommend using a site like www.insuremytrip.com to find less expensive travel insurance than the cruiseline offers. Plus you can compare policies to find some that fit your needs.

[sk8teacher]

Do you NEED life insurance? No, but it does help your family out if you die.

 

Do you NEED auto insurance (not counting if your State requires it)? No, but you can find yourself thousands of dollars i debt after an accident.

 

Do you NEED travel insurance? No, but if you get injured while on your cruise and have to be put ashore it can cost thousands of dollars for doctor bills and travel back to the States.

 

We purchase travel insurance for every cruise. Have never used it, BUT . . . .

 

As the previous poster noted, Insure My Trip dot com is a great place to start.

 

Cheers,

[cb at sea]

Whether to buy trip insurance depends on your finances. If you can afford to absorb the loss of the cost of you trip, you don't need it!

[eandj]

Do I need to get insurance on my cruise? What have you guys done, or are doing? Its our first cruise.

 

 

 

If you don't have medical insurance to cover you out of the country, there's no doubt you need the insurance. Check with your private insurer to double check that.

 

There's so many things to take take into consideration re what you should or want to cover. It's a personal decision that you should make after doing the research.

Depending on the cost and destination of the trip, we decide what coverage we want. Personally,we always want the option of being flown to the hospital of our choice, not the just the closest, when traveling in places where medical services might not be up to American standards. Like I said, it's what you want as well as need. No one can tell you that.

[vizzle]

I have insurance that emergencys and all that stuff. Any reason to be taken off the ship is covered. Just of course wouldn't cover any of the trip stuff.

[*Luv2Cruz*]

It's a small price to insure in case you need it!;)

[travelmatron]

Because my folks are in their late 80's we've used travel insurance primarily to cover the cost of a last minute cancelation. As it happens, we've had to cancel three trips. My folks have been fine, but my husband has had problems.

Other posters have mentioned checking your health insurance to be sure of your coverage. Once we were given the final bill of another cabin by mistake. I have no idea what the problems were, but they had over $20,000 in health costs. We do know that someone in that cabin was also taken off the ship in Mexico to a waiting ambulance, so $20,000 wasn't the end of their expenses.

If you are in a position to self insure and accept any losses due to injury, accident, illness, (or airlines) that might happen to you or someone else in your immediate family, by all means, skip the insurance. Chances are that you won't need it, but you're the only one to know your risk tolerance.

[donaldsc]

Whether to buy trip insurance depends on your finances. If you can afford to absorb the loss of the cost of you trip, you don't need it!

 

It isn't the cost of the trip that will hurt you as that is a definable maximum amount. It is the cost for medical treatment and evacuation that con bankrupt you. That is all that I cover.

 

DON

[hajekfam]

If you are going to rely on your health insurance and it says that it covers you when you travel, be sure to check that it covers your travel out of the country. Our health insurance covers us when we travel - but not in another country.

[vizzle]

It covers abroad for emergencies.

[pms4104]

It covers abroad for emergencies.

Does it cover medical evacuation? If so, to the nearest medical facility (wherever in the world) or back to your home city? Does it cover extensive/long term care until one is able to be evacuated or to travel independently back home?

[kitty9]

You have to find a policy that covers medical evacuations. A simple, short evac flight can cost $10,000. A longer flight can run in excess of $30,000.

 

They generally evac you to the closest US city, and most times, you don't have a choice. When mom was evac'd off Celebrity, we wanted to get back home to Wisconsin, but they would only authorize a flight to Ft Lauderdale.

 

They will cover care, up to a certain dollar amount. You can pick the maximum dollar amount you want covered.

 

 

To the original poster, if you can afford not to get your cruise fare back if you have to cancel at the last minute, if your health insurance covers you out of the US, if you can afford thousands of dollars for emergency evacuation, you don't need insurance. But let me tell you a true story---My mom had a stroke last week, and I will probably have to cancel a cruise at the end of the month because of that. If I didn't have insurance, I would lose $12,000. Thank heaven for insurance.

[simplelife]

Do you NEED life insurance? No, but it does help your family out if you die.

 

Do you NEED auto insurance (not counting if your State requires it)? No, but you can find yourself thousands of dollars i debt after an accident.

 

Do you NEED travel insurance? No, but if you get injured while on your cruise and have to be put ashore it can cost thousands of dollars for doctor bills and travel back to the States.

 

We purchase travel insurance for every cruise. Have never used it, BUT . . . .

 

As the previous poster noted, Insure My Trip dot com is a great place to start.

 

Cheers,

 

You said it very well, sk8teacher!:)

[CruisnGram]

I don't understand people who do not get insurance. The cost of an airline ticket and a cruise is at a miniumum $1000. Most people do not travel alone, so that figure is usually at least x 2...$2000. You can get insurance to cover the cost of the trip, plus evacuation, plus medical coveage, plus lost baggage, missed connections, etc. etc. etc. for under $100 per person. For a savings of $100, why would anyone take the risk of having disaster strike and not be insured? If I spend $100 for insurance and complete my trip without using it, so be it. It was worth the peace of mind that I wouldn't have had if I had been risking thousands. To me, it's just part of the cost of my vacation.

 

And for those who say that that would be $100 they could spend elsewhere, if $100 is that important to you, how are you going to feel when you lose a lot more because you weren't insured?

[imawanderlust]

We're pretty cautious people, but I wonder if there's such a thing as too much: we're planning on purchasing cruise insurance through our TA, and also looking at purchasing travel insurance when we book our flights (not with the cruise line).

 

Does anyone know if these are duplicative? Does "travel" insurance cover what cruise insurance already would? :confused:

 

I'd hate to pay twice for something that can be accomplished by paying once. :o

[RDJ]

We did and were glad we did. Last year we had an Alaska cruise booked that was cancelled. Because we had the insurance, we got more than just a refund..we got an additional voucher for the full amount to re-book another date (in addition to our money back). With that we were able to upgrade to a large 2 room suite with butler for the same price we had planned to spend to begin with!

[azalice]

We cover our whole trip, airline costs, cruise or land tours, etc. through one insurance policy. The insurance asks us total costs and our age and gives us the amount we owe. The extra money is nothing compared to what could happen if cancellation needs arise or more serious issues.

[vizzle]

It seems not wise to go through the Cruise line to get insurance. I found mine through AIG travel guard. It covers ever penny of everything, and is half the cost of the Cruise lines. And AIG covers more.

[ehfl]

If someone in your party gets sick, will you be able to afford a helicopter evacuation? They're very expensive. If you can afford it, then you don't need insurance. If you don't want to have to write out a personal check for tens of thousands of dollars, then you should consider the insurance.

[Plant]

We're pretty cautious people, but I wonder if there's such a thing as too much: we're planning on purchasing cruise insurance through our TA, and also looking at purchasing travel insurance when we book our flights (not with the cruise line).

 

Does anyone know if these are duplicative? Does "travel" insurance cover what cruise insurance already would? :confused:

 

I'd hate to pay twice for something that can be accomplished by paying once. :o

 

If you buy travel insurance through your TA you should be covered from the time you leave your house until you're back home. It should cover flights, cruising, hotels, etc.. If your TA can't provide you with this kind of coverage it's time to find a new TA!

 

It seems not wise to go through the Cruise line to get insurance. I found mine through AIG travel guard. It covers ever penny of everything, and is half the cost of the Cruise lines. And AIG covers more.

 

I agree with vizzle! Don't buy the cruise line insurance. Besides being more expensive than other travel insurance, how confident would you be with the cruise line "self insuring"?

[vizzle]

By the way, I did get insurance!

[iamtrustworthy]

I agree with vizzle! Don't buy the cruise line insurance. Besides being more expensive than other travel insurance, how confident would you be with the cruise line "self insuring"?

 

Hi Plant,

 

Here are more reasons to not get the cruise line insurance.

 

The word insurance actually does have a specific legal meaning. If you look closely at the plans offered by cruise lines and tour companies, you'll see that they don't really use the word "insurance" when they describe their plant. Instead they use phrases like "protection plan", "cruise care" or "waiver plan".

 

The use of these phrases aren't accidental, because if they were to use the word "insurance" they would have to abide by all the insurance laws in each of the states.

 

For example, one of the major differences between a travel insurance versus travel supplier plan is that since the travel supplier protection plans aren't really insurance then if there's some kind of a dispute with the company that issued it, the consumer has no recourse if they were to go to their state's insurance department or the Attorney General's office.

 

We often use this quote from Mark Twain to explain the difference between these plans:

 

"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is like the difference between a lightning bug and a lightning bolt"

 

Go to www.google.com & search this: "travel insurance versus travel supplier plans". You'll find some good information there.

 

I hope this makes sense and helps.

[UlvaZell]

Do I need to get insurance on my cruise? What have you guys done, or are doing? Its our first cruise.

 

The real question is, "can you afford to take the financial hit if something happens?" I have cruised without insurance before but its a gamble I was willing to take under the circumstances.

 

The thing you have to realize is with cruising you have to pay sooooo much money in advance, money that after a point is non-refundable if you have to cancel. A few hundred dollars paid in insurance minimizes any potential loss. Go to http://www.insuremytrip.com if you are looking for insurance.

 

Both of our next two cruises are insured...

[Plant]

Hi Plant,

 

Here are more reasons to not get the cruise line insurance.

 

The word insurance actually does have a specific legal meaning. If you look closely at the plans offered by cruise lines and tour companies, you'll see that they don't really use the word "insurance" when they describe their plant. Instead they use phrases like "protection plan", "cruise care" or "waiver plan".

 

The use of these phrases aren't accidental, because if they were to use the word "insurance" they would have to abide by all the insurance laws in each of the states.

 

For example, one of the major differences between a travel insurance versus travel supplier plan is that since the travel supplier protection plans aren't really insurance then if there's some kind of a dispute with the company that issued it, the consumer has no recourse if they were to go to their state's insurance department or the Attorney General's office.

 

We often use this quote from Mark Twain to explain the difference between these plans:

 

"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is like the difference between a lightning bug and a lightning bolt"

 

Go to www.google.com & search this: "travel insurance versus travel supplier plans". You'll find some good information there.

 

I hope this makes sense and helps.

 

Thanks, Steve! DH was in the insurance business (home office and not travel ins) for over 30 years :eek: , the last years in legal. I do understand what you're saying. I just wish everyone did :) !