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Have you ever cruised without insurance?


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Ive been on two cruises and have my third booked. Ive never purchased the insurance and (knock on wood) ever had to use it. I know I'm taking a very risky gamble, but its one that I've won so far. Im sure others have made that same gamble and lost.

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Just wondering if anyone has? If you buy outside insurance, what has been your experiences? Ever used it?

I've been on 32 cruises and have never purchased insurance. It is a personal decision based on your individual situation.

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Just wondering if anyone has? If you buy outside insurance, what has been your experiences? Ever used it?

 

I have booked about half my cruises without insurance. My wife fractured her hip just before one cruise and thankfully we had purchased insurance and received a full refund - minus the cost of insurance.

 

We have bought the insurance ever since.:)

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I can't take any gambles. I was just diagnosed with arthritis, and my husband is blind in one eye. I am middle aged, and my husband is quite a bit older than me. So, what I'm saying is if I were younger with no health problems, I would probably take the gamble. Knowing that we already have some health issues, I cannot afford to gamble being without travel insurance. For the amount of money that they charge, it's just not worth it. I think the cheapest I've seen is $79.00 per person (depending on the coverage you need).

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I have not purchased insurance for many trips. 102 cruises. It's interesting that the first time, I have, I ended up in a hospital in Barcelona for 11 days. :) This was an annual policy that was a cheap investment, that I now use. However, I have missed 3 cruises with total loss, in 2013- a really bad year. :) it was losses that weren't significant for me. Insurance has currently lapsed, with no cruise until May, so, I probably will pick up another annual policy. I'm in New Orleans next month on a land trip, so no insurance is even needed. :)

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I wish we could cruise without insurance. We always choose a policy with Primary benefits which is more expensive than on with Secondary benefits.

 

However, I have health issues and Medicare does not cover out of the US. If something were to happen and we had to be medivaced back to the states it would sure take a chunk out of our savings.

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We always do buy a decent inexpensive policy through a 3rd party. We haven't had to use it on a cruise but we did have to use it this past fall on a land vacation when our flight was canceled due to the fire in a air traffic control center in Chicago. We had to pay a lot of money to get flights out the next day plus extra hotel, meals and the lost day at our resort that we had paid for. I was glad we had the insurance as we were reimbursed for all of the extra charges.

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I bought insurance for my first cruise but not for my second. I was a nervous wreck on the second because my husband did not travel with me. He had just been in the hospital the previous month. He was not able to drive. Thankfully, my cruise had 2 American ports so I called him from both ports to check on him. Our son was supposed to call him every day to check on him. I was so nervous I swore never again. I will pay for travel insurance on ALL my cruises. It just was not worth the agonizing & wondering. I was so happy to get home. Most of my cruises will not include my hubby but we both have some health issues so it just makes sense to be prepared.

Edited by PTAngel
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I never did when I was younger and first started cruising in 1980. But now that I'm older and my cruises are usually 10+ days to other continents, I always do. Especially the way things are in the world today, I would rather be prepared.

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As an alternative, World Mastercard (and others) include (generally minimal) trip cancellation and luggage loss/delay coverage. Check your health insurance (other than Medicare) for out-of-country benefits; some at least cover out-of-country under out-of-network benefits. Ken

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My first cruise was with my parents, so not sure on that one.

Next 2, we didn't.

This time is our first time traveling with a kid and he has some disabilities, so I purchased it. (Not through Carnival) It was actually pretty cheap, but we're also local to the port, so no flights.

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Just wondering if anyone has? If you buy outside insurance, what has been your experiences? Ever used it?

 

Our first 3 cruises we didn't have insurance. We had so many close calls on the 3rd that I decided it was a wise investment for us. 4th cruise on we purchase Travel Guard through insuremytrip.com. Had to use it when my DGM passed away the day before a scheduled cruise. They were easy to work with and we had our money refunded within a month.

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I have one been on one cruise but I have 2 more booked and have not purchased insurance. The fact that I live within an hour of the port means travel is not a huge issue. I don't need to worry about delayed or canceled flights. My only big concern would be a major health issue or death in the family. I guess I am just taking a gamble but I do see why people buy the insurance. I probably will in the future, especially if I book a cruise way in advance when you have no idea what could be going on in your life that far away.

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10 cruises. Never purchased insurance yet. So that saved me enough so far to get a free cruise anyway. Pretty healthy tho. Probably will in the future but not for a few years. I would also purchase if I had a sick family member at home.

 

For I what I pay for the insurance, it would take around 20-25 cruises with no problems to get a free cruise. So far we ahead of the game having purchased it for 10 cruises and using it for 1. We've paid appoximately $1000 for insurance on those 10 cruises and received back $1700.

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We have always cruised with insurance even when we were younger.

 

My Mom is elderly (81 now) and I worry about something happening to her and us needing to get back home. Also my DH had a heart attack in Dec. 2013 and we weren't certain of his ability to travel even though we had booked a cruise.

 

There are 6 of us who cruise in my family and I just booked a Thanksgiving cruise and purchased insurance (not through Carnival) for $160.00 total. It includes trip cancellation, delays, baggage loss/damage, cancel for work reasons, medical evacuation, etc. I can certainly lose the $160 if something doesn't happen a lot easier than I could the $4,500 if something did. I just basically consider it part of the price for us taking a cruise.

 

At the end of each cruise, I do always grumble about spending the money for insurance and not using it - but I'd much rather spend it and not use it than not have it if I needed it.

 

With that being said, none of us, it doesn't matter our age have the promise of tomorrow - so it's a no brainer to me.

 

I can give you the website I use to search for the best prices and policies if you are interested. Just let me know.

 

Good luck in whichever way you decide.

 

By the way, just a week or so ago there was a thread on here about a couple who were eating dinner on the first night of their cruise and he had a heart attack. Had to be transferred to Freeport and then airlifted to Fort Lauderdale. I think she said the medivac alone was $12,000. That just confirmed my thinking as far as insurance.

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10 cruises. Never purchased insurance yet. So that saved me enough so far to get a free cruise anyway. Pretty healthy tho. Probably will in the future but not for a few years. I would also purchase if I had a sick family member at home.

 

For younger people, it's not about being healthy, it's about accidents. My PVP told me about a young guy that broke his ankle while ziplining. His group insurance did not cover him outside of US. It cost him over $4,000. The insurance at his age would've been $40.

 

I would think twice about that if I were you.

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