travel insurance? do you always purchase it?

[jerseygirl79]

Most polices cover accidental injuries outside of the US. Evac is not covered. Also, if the condition isn't accidental or emergent in most cases the claims will be processed out of network, if you have the benefit.

 

In all cases, the claims aren't paid until after the bills are submitted. So if the provider is demanding cash up front, you could be SOL.

 

From my experience, out of country and cruise ship claims take FOREVER to get paid. Especially if the invoice or claim is not in English. It needs to be translated and converted to US dollars. And normally, the codes needed to process aren't available. It's a mess.

 

I can't believe I never get insurance. I really should know better.

[Ladyevel]

Yes, I always purchase travel insurance, but not from the cruise line. I purchase independently using insure my trip. com . There are just too many things that can go wrong. I know my Blue Cross does not cover me for medical expenses outside of the country, so that is my main concern for insurance. Having to be med evaced off a ship could prove to be a financial disaster for many. I can't afford to "self insure".

 

OMG, I went to the site referenced above, and the quote gave me like 50 or more choices! Do you decide just based on price, or is there some other criteria? Do some have better reputations than others? The price differences are staggering (but almost all much cheaper than through the Carnival site).

[WinnieinWA]

I wouldn't cruise without trip insurance! Twice I've had to cancel cruises at the last minute due to illness. The only thing I lost was $75.00 for the insurance. :)

 

I also carry my passport when going off the ship as you never know!

 

Happy sails:)

[grandmato4]

We did not always purchase insurance when we were younger, now we are a bit older and wiser an do always purchase insurance.;) Life's had a way of teaching us that one never know what is going to happen after you get up in morning ! I remember the day everything was going well until I started walking down our cellar stairs and fell down the stairs breaking my shoulder. Another day quite a few years later everything was great until I slipped and broke my leg and couldnt walk for four months. No, neither of these falls effected a cruise thank heavens but they did prove to me that even when one is healthy one never knows what is going to happen on any given day.

 

If we were driving to a port for a short inexpensive cruise and all family members were healthy before we left I would certainly think twice about purchasing insurance. Our health insurance does cover us out of the country BUT does NOT cover medical evacuations. But if we're flying to port and doing a 7 day or longer cruise where the cost of having to cancel at the last minute could mean the loss of several thousand dollars its more than worth it for us to purchase the insurance.

 

Everyone needs to check with their own insurance company to find out if they are covered out of country or not. Some do and some do not. Some that do may not cover at the same rates since it may be considered out of network when one is out of the country with higher co-pays. All insurance is different.

 

I do also offer the advise to pay attention when purchasing insurance right now for any cruises this coming fall and winter to if the insurance company will pay if swine flu is the reason for canceling or need for medical care. I'm not particularly concerned about swine flu except for the fact that it would appear that many will come down with it this year and we could be some of the unlucky statistics. There are several different insurance companies that do not pay for anything that is considered a "pandemic" under which swine flu may fall. Sure would hate to come down with it the day before a cruise and have to cancel and find out our travel insurance was not going to pay for our canceled trip just because we hadn't taken this into consideration when purchasing our travel insurance. :(

[GTO-Girl]

Do I purchase trip insurance???

 

ABSOLUTELY.....EVERY SINGLE TIME!!!!

[Chasey]

I know my Blue Cross does not cover me for medical expenses outside of the country, so that is my main concern for insurance.

I used to have BlueCross and they would cover any foreign accidents. In fact, most insurance companies will cover an emergency outside the US. What they don't cover is follow-up appointments.

[jeanarch]

we are taking a 5 day pack & go rate so we are not worried about losing the cost of the cruise. However, if we had to go to the hospital or be evacuated it could indeed harm us financially...we took out a policy to take care of these items with no preexisting conditions. we have Medicare & a supplement but know that they are not good outside of the US

[GottaLuvCruising]

I always get travel insurance. I have never used it, but well worth the peace of mind. Over the years, I have heard many nightmare stories from folks who chose not to get travel insurance.

[Tucker in Texas]

I have taken over 30 cruises and insured for most of them. I collected in all that time when the Norway blew up and we had non-refundable air. That was the last thing I ever expected to file a claim on.

 

This last cruise, I purchased it from a new company called Tru-Travel which was on insuremytrip. I'd never heard of them. I asked on cruise critic if anyone had any dealings with them and asked my travel agent. No one had.

 

I did some research and saw that it was underwritten by Nationwide and it was rated A+ (higher than some I had used before) so I decided to take a chance. It had a $50 deductible on medical and lost luggage and was secondary coverage. However, in some cases, their coverage was better than the higher priced companies I had used in the past. Since I'd never collected on anything before, I figured the odds were I wouldn't be collecting on this one either. I just wanted something for "worse case."

 

Wrong. My ears stopped up. I had to go to sick bay and was charged $279 to rotor router them out. When I got home, I contacted them and they immediately e-mailed me a claim form and reminded me I had to file a claim with my primary carrier (Medicare) first. As you know, Medicare doesn't exactly work at top speed. After two or three weeks, I got another e-mail from Tru Travel reminding me to file with primary carrier first. This gave me confidence they weren't just hoping I would go away and someone was staying on top of it.

 

Finally Medicare sent us a check (after two calls) for $68. We sent the paperwork to Tru Travel and had a check for the balance of the bill (less $50) within a couple of weeks.

 

We are going on another cruise this fall and I bought from Tru Travel again with more confidence this time. I paid an optional fee of $30 to raise the medical from $10K to $50K and the medi-vac coverage is $1 million which is a whole lot more than anyone else out there. Even with the optional coverage, it was less than the other policies.

 

Tucker in Texas

[GottaLuvCruising]

Thank you Tucker! I looked them up and bookmarked them! Their "First Class" product offers primary emergency medical which saves a lot of hassle if you do have to file a claim. For us, their insurance was a little more than the cruise line, but much better coverage. I have already purchased it for our next cruise, but will definitely check with them next time.

[G'ma]

Yes, I always buy trip insurance. Not being of wealth, I simply cannot afford to lose the money should something happen and I cannot cruise.

 

And, I certainly can't afford to pay for evacuation if I fall and break something......

[STARFISH*4]

my first cruise...NO from then on YES...you just NEVER KNOW WHAT CAN HAPPEN...NO MATTER WHAT...DONT TAKE THE CHANCE...JUST DO IT...BETTER TO BE SAFE than SORRY and all the TRAVEL HORROR stories how can you take the CHANCE i just always figure its part of my CRUISE COST!!!

[HeidiHo]

We always get insurance when we leave the country and especially for cruises. It's not so much that I want to be reimbursed for the vacation itself but in case we have to be medivaced (sp?) off the ship or something. The loss of the cost of the trip we could afford (it would hurt but we were going to spend that much anyway) but a $25,000 - $50,000.00 bill for medivac would put us in the poor house.

[UpstateCruizer]

I have taken over 30 cruises and insured for most of them. I collected in all that time when the Norway blew up and we had non-refundable air. That was the last thing I ever expected to file a claim on.

 

This last cruise, I purchased it from a new company called Tru-Travel which was on insuremytrip. I'd never heard of them. I asked on cruise critic if anyone had any dealings with them and asked my travel agent. No one had.

 

I did some research and saw that it was underwritten by Nationwide and it was rated A+ (higher than some I had used before) so I decided to take a chance. It had a $50 deductible on medical and lost luggage and was secondary coverage. However, in some cases, their coverage was better than the higher priced companies I had used in the past. Since I'd never collected on anything before, I figured the odds were I wouldn't be collecting on this one either. I just wanted something for "worse case."

 

Wrong. My ears stopped up. I had to go to sick bay and was charged $279 to rotor router them out. When I got home, I contacted them and they immediately e-mailed me a claim form and reminded me I had to file a claim with my primary carrier (Medicare) first. As you know, Medicare doesn't exactly work at top speed. After two or three weeks, I got another e-mail from Tru Travel reminding me to file with primary carrier first. This gave me confidence they weren't just hoping I would go away and someone was staying on top of it.

 

Finally Medicare sent us a check (after two calls) for $68. We sent the paperwork to Tru Travel and had a check for the balance of the bill (less $50) within a couple of weeks.

 

We are going on another cruise this fall and I bought from Tru Travel again with more confidence this time. I paid an optional fee of $30 to raise the medical from $10K to $50K and the medi-vac coverage is $1 million which is a whole lot more than anyone else out there. Even with the optional coverage, it was less than the other policies.

 

Tucker in Texas

 

I'm looking at insurance for my son for our October cruise (we already have it but booked him later). I went to insure my trip and found several familiar companies listed. We've used Access America and currently have them for our October cruise. I figured I'd come here and see what others were using and having positive things to say about. When I saw this post I went back to check as I didn't recall this company on the list ...in fine print at the bottom it says "not availble to NY residents" bummer!!

[Vitamin_Sea]

We havent bought travel insurance once since we been traveling, and that is over 30 years.

[kicia]

The only time we bought insurance was for our Europe cruises. We have Highmark BC/BS and they will cover out of the country claims and have medical evacuation coverage. Our credit card covers some other travel items so we're pretty much covered. I think insurance of some kind is a good idea.

[mek]

Never did until my husband had by-pass surgery seven years ago; now we do. I don't want to take the chance that something happens and we can't take our trip, and on top of that disappointment loose money as well. Then there is the medical evacuation that insurance provides - priceless.

[Tucker in Texas]

Several years ago, I talked to a lady on a cruise whose husband had had a heart attack on a cruise in Nassau. He was taken to the hospital but before they would even see him they wanted $25K up front. No matter they had insurance. They were able to scrape it up by "borrowing" from friends using credit cards. She said they were there several days. She had insurance.

 

Since that conversation, I always make sure I have a credit card with us with a high dollar limit on it. I keep it in the safe as I am more comfortable taking a low-limit card with me when in port.

 

Tucker in Texas

[Drew's Wife]

We never take a cruise without first purchasing travel insurance. It's certainly worth the peace of mind, for such a small fee. We even took a travel policy for our train trip to New York a couple of years ago. Blessed that we have never had to use them...but glad to know it's there in case of an emergency.

For the OP, as far as whether the insurance will cover out of the Country...you would probably need to check with your provider. If you should be old enough for medicare or are retired military...you are not covered out of the US or it's territories.

[familyof4cruising]

I never cruise without it.;)

 

It cost my parents $2000 for 2 airfares from St Maarten to NY when my Dad had kidney stones ( and all the other doctor bills on the ship and hospital). That is something I do not want to pay for out of pocket.

[Shipshape7]

I always buy insurance and it's not cancellation I'm concerned about - it's the cost of medical evacuation. We've never needed it but we had a close call in the most unlikely of circumstances just a couple of months ago. Long story short - totally healthy teenager suddenly developed very scary symptoms while we were sightseeing in port. No warning and she's always been healthy as a horse! The episode also convinced me to ALWAYS take passports off the ship with you in ANY foreign country - even if it's "just" Canada! You really never know. I was only considering missing the ship and the worst case scenario in that port was that I'd have to rent a car and drive to Halifax. No big deal - heck, I could drive back to New York if I had to from there. So I left our passports in the cabin safe because, afterall, it was "just Canada", not exactly an exotic or even faintly hostile locale, right? Lesson learned - never again! Buy insurance and carry your passport. You truly do have no idea what can happen an hour from now.

[DGP1111]

I purchase insurance on every single sailng, even the short (3-nt) extended weekend get-aways.

[bz]

All I'm really worried about on a trip/cruise is medical coverage & med evac, so that's the insurance I buy . . . you can find it if you scroll down on insuremytrip.com. If I have to cancel my trip, I'm out some money, or if I have to fly back for a family death. I can cover that loss, but certainly not a med evac or time in a foreign hospital. Medicare supp. does cover us outside the US, but will not get us home & that's where I feel the danger to my pocketbook really is.

[KimtheCruiser]

I just thought I would post this information I received from my health insurance on my question of whether I would be covered on a cruise - interesting that they cover ER docs or inpatient services. Also that they ask you to translate the bill into English! I'm a medical coding consultant, so I could translate into the billing codes -

 

 

 

"Benefits are not provided for services received from providers or facilities outside Alabama except for treatment of accidental injury or medical emergency (inpatient and outpatient). Physician coverage is only available when rendered by Emergency Room Physician or Inpatient Physician Care. Benefits for these services will be considered at 80% of the allowed amount after your $1,000.00 deductible has been satisfied. You have satisfied $85.00 of your calendar year deductible.

These services are usually payable by the patient at the time of treatment. Before the claims are submitted to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, it would be helpful, but not required, for the charges to be converted to American currency and/or translated into English for reimbursement. Itemized bills should include the date of service, the diagnosis and description of the type of service provided."

[fireofficer5]

Never.