Cruise Insurance

[cmjaffe]

I've never used the GOLD plan... Usually silver plan and booked on line once.. don't think web-direct was offered when booking. ONce did a phone booking since it was less than 2 weeks to sailing and was a discount that way.

Good luck,

Carolyn

[xpcdoojk]

Mark K

 

You are too subtle.

 

I wonder if the insurance companies are profitable?

 

jc

[MindyBrum]

Mark K,

 

I would agree with you most of the time, however, this travel insurance is very comprehensive in the different areas of "trip" travel that is covered and is not even a consideration as far as "cost". It's a small amount for "peace" of mind to cover anything that will most likely "not" happen. We happen to live in the "shouldn't" but did happen category for accidents. We were ever so thankful to have 0 concerns as to the cost of the medical care required at the time of injury.

 

Of course they stay in business because they make more than they payout.. but so does Vegas. It's just a gamble either way, I just chose to take the "safe" gamble this time due to the immaterial cost effectiveness for the "peace".

 

Travelex is looking good for those of you that have children. My TA recommended Global Alert but they are twice the cost of Travelex.

 

Anyone ever booked with them?

[pcur]

DH and I have used travel insurance once in 30 years, and that was our Med cruise because it cost so much more. I agree with the poster that isn't covered by health insurance out of the country, though. That's a biggee, and one should be protected in that circumstance.

 

I also agree it has a lot to do with age and general health. I would imagine as DH and I get older, we may opt for travel insurance on more expensive cruises. We have health insurance that covers the emergency and out of country situations.

 

JMO

 

Peggy - RCI since 1973

[Ocruise]

I love Teavelex, I would highly recommend them. I always get their Teavel Plus plan.

[MindyBrum]

Couldn't find a better deal or a reason to not go with Travelex. If you are traveling with kids, you should consider this policy. It appears most coverage is included if you purchase within 21 days of your first trip payment. Good Luck and hopefully it was "wasted" money!

[luv2cruise0618]

OK--I need all of you cruise insurance experts' help. I have a family member (brother) who has brain cancer, is terminally ill and was placed on hospice yesterday.

 

DH and I have a May 29th cruise on Empress. We did not purchase cruise insurance. At this point if my brother dies and funeral arrangements are going to conflict we will have to cancel the cruise and lose 50% to 100%--or interupt the trip and return home.

 

From looking at insuremytrip.com it appears that I can purchage insurance now, but if something happens will they reimburse the trip since I knew ahead of time of purchase that my brother would be at home on hospice. The whole pre-existing condition issue is confusing.

 

cmjaffe--did you purchase your insurance before or after you found out that your family member was terminal and on hospice?

 

I appreciate any help anyone can provide. This is seriously stressing me out.

[iroyster]

buy the insurance----cheap for what you get!

 

Now, I sure hope you don't ever need it!

Ira

 

ROLL CALL EXPLORER 9/5/2004

[tamtot]

Luv2Cruise:

So sorry to hear about your brother. I wish you and your family the best.

I was as confused as the next guy about this whole insurance thing. I recommend you call INsuremytrip.com tomorrow morning. I did, and the gentleman there was extremely helpful, when I told him what we wanted in a policy. I'm sure if you explain your situation, they'll be able to find a policy to meet your needs.

God bless,

Tammy

 

Costa Atlantica 3-01

Explorer of the Seas 6-02

Majesty of the Seas 5-03

Mariner of the Seas in just...........

[hdawson]

Unless you bght the insurance withing the 14 day period after initial deposit, I don't think you would be covered. It's kind of like buying fire insurance after there's a fire in the attic but not in the living part of the house yet. The risk is already there and then you want to buy coverage? Every responsible travel agent encourages the purchase of travel insurance, even if not from them. We all make choices and sometimes have to live with the consequences.

[.ewinstien]

LIFE IS A RISK

 

You can get up in the morning and as you are geting out of bed trip, fall fracture hip and end up in a hospital for 4 or 5 weeks depending on your age.

 

You could dress have breakfast get into your car and start to drive and some other individual runs right into the driver's side of your car and either you are killed instantly or again end up in the hospital for 5 weeks.

 

You could be siting at home after work and having a good dinner. you start to feel a pain in your chest that will not go away but was getting more intense.. Guess what you end up in the emergency room and told you are having a heart attack. You may not make out of the emergency room . if you do you are 10 days in an ICCU and 2 additional weeks in the hospital.

 

I can go on and on . All that i am saying lis ife by its own nature is a risk. the only people who do not have these risks are the ones that are dead.

 

One of the things that you can do to protect yourself against the previous described situations is to take out insurance. If you want to be fully protected from the moment you go to sleep at night till the moment that you awake and then survive the full day and go back to sleep I truly doubt that your gross annual income will be enought to cover the insurance cost for all of the risks. Consequently you have to start to make choises.

 

 

I have read all of the horror stories about people who had insurance and due to unforceen circumstances need the insurance.

 

Allow me to tell you about my experience cruising. I and my family have been cruising since 1956, when we were sailing on the Home line Homeric/ oceanic. We must have been on at least 75 cruises. I now have 4 or 5 cruises booked. The most recent one is on the Billance of the Seas in Europe in July 2004. To tel you the truth I can not waite for this cruise. We will be flyig Elite business class on Delta. I have never taken out insurance and i have never had a single occassion where I would have needed it.

 

Lastly I have been involved in the financial markets and to the best of my knowledge i am unaware of a single insurance company going broke. If trip insurance was not a money making situation do you think there would be companies seling trip insurance? It is my understanding that all insurance companies are NOT a None Profit organization. They are selling trip insurance policies so that they can make money.

 

It must be obvious to you now that i am opposed to trip insurance Per-se. I do not believe in life insurance, but when i was young and recently married and my son was born i did take out a term life insurance policy..

 

Before you take out the trip insurance policy why dont you consider taking the monry that you would pay for the insurance and put it in a separate bank account. Each time you go on a cruise add the money that insurance would cost you and spread the risk by being self insured. Basically what i am saying isrecognize that life is a risk, learn to accept certain risks and dont end up insurance poor.

[hdawson]

I would hate to hear that a young couple working to buy their first home, or already paying for one, with a couple of children had a moped accident while on Cozumel or in Belize, with a group health plan that didn't cover outside of the US and had to be medivaced home to the US after treatment in Belize (cash pmt required). Medivac alone begins at about $15,000. The previous poster is obviously well off and can afford that kind of expense. What would a $25,000 medical expense do to most young families? And for the oldsters, Medicare offers no coverage outside of the US.

[.ewinstien]

HDAWSON

 

It is obvious to me that you missed my entire point.

 

First of all please read your post again and count the number of "IF's that you have. What happens if this happens what happens if that happens. what happens if you die. I can not even try to immaine what i would do if what you stated happened. What is more I do not care.

 

 

Lastly to give you a direct answer as to what I would do or what I have done if any of the situations that you are talking are talking about happened.

 

Consequently I took out a Emergency Medical/ life insurance policy for my entre family from American Express that I believe cost me about $150.00 a year. The policy protects my entire family from any emergency medical or dental emergency occures when we are 50 miles or more away from our residence.

 

 

Now let me ask you a question. of all of the IF situations that you described how many of these situation happened to you?

 

 

How many of these situations happened to some one that you know?

 

All that i am saying is that life is a risk, and everybody should learn to be alive you must accept some of the responsibility of being alive. Just as there is no such thing as a free lunch there is no such think as a life with out risk is all what I am saying.

 

 

When I and my family go on a cruise we do not think about what if this happens or what if that happens, all that we are concerned with is having a great time and the last thing that we want is to have something to worry about.

[brn2crz]

So..If I am following your logic here .EWinstein,you have no auto or health insurance here??Because life is a risk?

My insurance for 3 of us on our current trip is 87 lousy dollars...Why is this even an issue?

It should be automaticly part of your purchase.

 

<RCI-Rhapsody- 2003

RCI-Rhapsody- 2004

until the return to the Rhapsody of the Seas

 

[.ewinstien]

BRN2CRX

 

 

Are you sure that your insurance cost is not $261.00 for three (3 ) people, that is $87.00 per person.?

[brn2crz]

positive,29 pp

<RCI-Rhapsody- 2003
RCI-Rhapsody- 2004
until the return to the Rhapsody of the Seas
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=4169e1&cdt=2004;09;12;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0600[/img]
[img]http://heathersanimations.com/Fish2/netdiver.gif[/img]

[hdawson]

EWinstein. So in fact you do purchase insurance to cover you when traveling. Your earlier post sounded to me like you don't. Sorry if I misunderstood your post. Again, since I did interpret your post to suggest that nobody should buy travel insurance, I would hate to see a young family (or oldster) saddled with what could be a devatating medical expense while on vacation.
Personally, I have cruised 14 times and hope to do many more and have seen helicopter medivacs from ships. I've also had 4 major heart attacks and I'm going to keep going for as long as I can. BTW, the first was at age 36 so it can happen at any age. I agree with your comment that the last thing I want is to have something to worry about. My travel insurance helps with that worry. Now I will get back to my claim forms for the cruise I had to cancel last month. Also agree with you that my sentance in the earlier posting was full of ifs and very long and rambling.

[.ewinstien]

BEN2CRX:


I have great difficulty with your statement that you have cruise insurance for $29.00 a person.

How many days is the cruise 13 hours?

Exactly what the the insurance cover?

Is it if the cruise ship get hit by a nuclear bomb between the hours of 1:30 AM and 1>32 AM on the first night of the cruise while the ship is still tied up at the pier and was schuled to sale at 5:00 PM the previous afternoon.

I would truly like to know where you got cruise insurance for $29.00 a person, how many days is the cruise? Latly exactly what are you covered for medically? Does it cover pre-exsiting conditions ? Does it provide for full refund if you wee forced to cancell.

For $29.00 a cruise iinsurance policy is truly unbelievabl.


PLEASE TELL ME MORE ABOUT THIS POLICY!!!!!!!!!!

[.ewinstien]

BRN2CRZ:

I appologize, for I did not answer your question DO I HAVE INSURANCE ON MY CARS??

The stright answer is YES!!!!!!!

The more important question is why do I have insurance on my cars?

The answer to this question is clearly not a YES or NO answer.

I have insurance on my cars because the state that I live in requires that all cars that use the public roads must have insurance.

If it was not required by law I would never have car insurance. What I would do is if I am in an accident where there is potential high risk liability i would post a bond.

I truly would hate to calculate how much money I have spent on car insurance, for if I knew howm much I spent it would most likely make me sick and or give me a heart attack.

[geo_traveler]

What about insurance offered by online travel agencies? My last cruise was booked through cheaptickets.com, and I remember being offered some kind of insurance for something like $14.95. I don't remember what kind of insurance it was for or exactly what it was, or if it was even any kind of insurance. I've never purchased trip insurance before, and reading this post made me think of this, so I thought I'd ask!

[cruiseco]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by tamtot:
Carolyn,
Do you know which CSA plan you went with? Gold, Silver or Web Direct? I'm trying (with little success) to find out why the WebDirect is so much less expensive, <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Go to [url="http://www.travelinsurance-info.com"]http://www.travelinsurance-info.com[/url] for a very good explanation of the differences between the various CSA plans

[cruiseco]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by luv2cruise0618:
OK--I need all of you cruise insurance experts' help. I have a family member (brother) who has brain cancer, is terminally ill and was placed on hospice yesterday.

DH and I have a May 29th cruise on Empress. We did not purchase cruise insurance. At this point if my brother dies and funeral arrangements are going to conflict we will have to cancel the cruise and lose 50% to 100%--or interupt the trip and return home.

QUOTE]

I'd call CSa immediately and ask about the VG40 Silver plan. This plan is different in that the normal pre-existing medical condition exclusions do not apply to NON-TRAVELING family members regardless of the date the policy is purchased. Talk to them and describe your circumstances and see what they say. It's the only plan that even might cover you in this circumstance. Their phone number is 800-348-9505

[Cruisindad]

I would like to respectfully add a few remarks of clarification in response to .ewinstien's post.


"Lastly I have been involved in the financial markets and to the best of my knowledge i am unaware of a single insurance company going broke."

Executive Life comes to mind immediately. See
[url="http://www.house.gov/ose/Press/Press_Releases/2003/April/30april03_Scarsborough.htm"]http://www.house.gov/ose/Press/Press_Releases/2003/April/30april03_Scarsborough.htm[/url]

"Before you take out the trip insurance policy why dont you consider taking the monry that you would pay for the insurance and put it in a separate bank account. Each time you go on a cruise add the money that insurance would cost you and spread the risk by being self insured."

Self insurance only works if the insured can absorb a big financial hit that could occur in the early years of the process. If one puts away $50 pp per cruise, they may very well put away enough in their lifetimes to cover a catastrophic medical expense. But if the event occurs in year 2, they are out of luck. This is the essence of risk management. If one can afford to pull the money from savings to cover a year 2 event, then by all means self insure and replace the savings with self insurance premiums.

Indeed, all of life's events are risks. But all risks are not created equal. Each person much determine their risk tolerance and act accordingly. And everyone has their own notion of the probability of any given event happening (including me).

My question regarding car insurance is not "do you have auto insurance?" My question is "do you have collision coverage?" (which is not mandatory) or do you self-insure for the loss of your auto due to your fault, which you do have control over?

For the record, I have cruised 9 times now, and bought insurance twice, including this time. 50k Medical pp, 250k Evac, 1150 Trip cancellation (interruption at 150%, pre-existing conditions excluded) for slightly over $30 pp. Most of the times I didn't buy the insurance was because I felt the premium was not commensurate with the risk.


None of this is meant to inflame, just clarify.

Tim and Joann
NCL Norway 1987
NCL Seaward 1997
CCL Destiny 1999
NCL Norway 2000
RCI Explorer 2001
RCI Adventure 2003
Celebrity Galaxy 2003
Golden Princess 2003

[xpcdoojk]

.ewinstein, you are kidding right? You would post a bond instead of auto insurance?

PS it is good to see you and your new persona.

jc

[luv2cruise0618]

Thanks to all of you who provided informative posts.

I contacted CSA and explained my situation. The Silver Plan will cover me if my brother passes even with the current knowledge of his condition. And get this the cost is only $106.

We have spent $2800 for the trip--current out of pocket costs. And we will get this back 100% if we have to cancel. We also would be compensated accordingly for a delay due to the need to return home early. Hallelujah!

Thanks again to all of you for your help. I believe that DH and I are now sold out to cruise insurance. I am sure if we purchased it well in advance it would have been cheaper. And please note this is much cheaper than what what the cruise line charges ($170 approximately).

Thanks again.