New Ruby level, some questions

Hi all

We just hit Ruby after our last cruise (and 13 days away from Platinum:D). I read about some of the benefits, but have a couple of questions and I'm hoping some of you more experienced cruisers can help.

1) It says that we get "Exclusive Shoreside Access to the Captain’s Circle Help Desk Phone Line". There is no number given, so how do you use this "benefit" or do you just call the regular CC number?

2) We have never used Princess insurance. Is it and than the Platinum insurance that is included a better deal than buying your own insurance? I have to say that we don't buy insurance because it has always been too expensive (I used a lot of the advice posted here to check our different companies and offerings). I am not trying to turn this into a debate about getting insurance or not, please don't provide that sort of answer. I am just trying to understand Princess Insurance and whatever additional Platinum gives us. From what I have read, it sounds pretty good and maybe some of you can give me first-hand experiences with the cost and coverage.

Thanks in advance,

ML

Basically, the benefits of Ruby are nothing.

Insurance--you need to read the fine print on the policies. When I looked at the Princess policy, the cost was almost double what we'd pay to get it from the company my TA recommends. TA policy also had much better coverage IMHO. The one thing you get thru Princess that you won't get with a private policy is that if the insurance company rejects your claim for any reason, you get a percentage of your cost credited toward a future cruise within the next year. There is fine print to this too...so if someone dies or is too ill to cruise within that year, they will lose this benefit. The coverage does improve when you get the "free" platinum upgrade, but again, verify the cost of doing it privately.

Insurance costs, when purchasing privately, are based on your age, where you are going, and the amount you are insuring. You are able to insure your air, non-refundable hotel, etc. as well as what you book thru Princess. Princess coverage will only include what you book thru them.

When you get to Platinum level, you do get some nice benefits.

Basically' date=' the benefits of Ruby are nothing.

 

Insurance--you need to read the fine print on the policies. When I looked at the Princess policy, the cost was almost double what we'd pay to get it from the company my TA recommends. TA policy also had much better coverage IMHO. The one thing you get thru Princess that you won't get with a private policy is that if the insurance company rejects your claim for any reason, you get a percentage of your cost credited toward a future cruise within the next year. There is fine print to this too...so if someone dies or is too ill to cruise within that year, they will lose this benefit. The coverage does improve when you get the "free" platinum upgrade, but again, verify the cost of doing it privately.

 

Insurance costs, when purchasing privately, are based on your age, where you are going, and the amount you are insuring. You are able to insure your air, non-refundable hotel, etc. as well as what you book thru Princess. Princess coverage will only include what you book thru them.

 

When you get to Platinum level, you do get some nice benefits.[/quote']

 

LOL--that was my first reaction but I thought I would post here and find out :)

 

Thanks for your explanation, it is helpful. I am looking for a 14-day cruise to take, just for the free internet:D

Hi all

 

1) It says that we get "Exclusive Shoreside Access to the Captain’s Circle Help Desk Phone Line". There is no number given, so how do you use this "benefit" or do you just call the regular CC number?

 

Thanks in advance,

ML

Something else to consider about Princess insurance vs. DIY.

Travel insurance carriers put a lot of emphasis on age. AFAIK the Princess insurance does not.

When I check insurance on insuremytrip.com (and others) the price is always significantly higher than Princess.

That's what I get for getting old.;)

I have been Elite with this benefit since 2005, and I still don't know what it is.

Actually, that makes me feel better. I thought it was odd that they claimed a benefit, but no number was provided!

Something else to consider about Princess insurance vs. DIY.

Travel insurance carriers put a lot of emphasis on age. AFAIK the Princess insurance does not.

When I check insurance on insuremytrip.com (and others) the price is always significantly higher than Princess.

That's what I get for getting old.;)

I didn't think about age, but we aren't that old (64 now and in good health). I will take a look a Princess insurance but as noted above, if it only covers things booked with Princess that might be a problem.

Thanks for the help

ML

It does depend on age if you go private, but we found it better financially to go private and that allowed us to cover stuff not booked thru Princess.

I won't book a cruise unless I book the insurance at that same time. It makes a difference as to what is covered. Also, I've been told that the cost of the insurance is dictated by the length of the cruise, not your age. Princess Platinum insurance covers pretty much everything involved with the cruise ... read the policy. If I'm flying to and/or from, I get the policy to cover cancellation, etc., from the airline. If I'm staying in a hotel, I make sure it is refundable if I have to cancel. Unfortunately, I've had a few cruises/trips that had to be cancelled, and it has never been a problem. I did a comparison of the TA policy, an independent policy and Princess Platinum, and have stuck with the Platinum. The one time I had to cancel a cruise because my travel companion was ill and he needed open heart surgery, we had no trouble getting a full refund, a week before. The airline was more like trying to get in to see the President with the amount of documentation we had to provide! But we did prevail.

That being said, if you travel a lot, there is one policy that covers you for a year. I don't know the name, but I have heard nothing but raves about it. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than I will chime in.

Maureen

Hi all

 

We just hit Ruby after our last cruise (and 13 days away from Platinum:D). I read about some of the benefits, but have a couple of questions and I'm hoping some of you more experienced cruisers can help.

 

1) It says that we get "Exclusive Shoreside Access to the Captain’s Circle Help Desk Phone Line". There is no number given, so how do you use this "benefit" or do you just call the regular CC number?

 

2) We have never used Princess insurance. Is it and than the Platinum insurance that is included a better deal than buying your own insurance? I have to say that we don't buy insurance because it has always been too expensive (I used a lot of the advice posted here to check our different companies and offerings). I am not trying to turn this into a debate about getting insurance or not, please don't provide that sort of answer. I am just trying to understand Princess Insurance and whatever additional Platinum gives us. From what I have read, it sounds pretty good and maybe some of you can give me first-hand experiences with the cost and coverage.

 

Thanks in advance,

ML

We made Ruby our last cruise. When you get your Ruby pin there is a welcome letter with the "exclusive" phone number on it.

I won't book a cruise unless I book the insurance at that same time. It makes a difference as to what is covered. Also, I've been told that the cost of the insurance is dictated by the length of the cruise, not your age. Princess Platinum insurance covers pretty much everything involved with the cruise ... read the policy. If I'm flying to and/or from, I get the policy to cover cancellation, etc., from the airline. If I'm staying in a hotel, I make sure it is refundable if I have to cancel. Unfortunately, I've had a few cruises/trips that had to be cancelled, and it has never been a problem. I did a comparison of the TA policy, an independent policy and Princess Platinum, and have stuck with the Platinum. The one time I had to cancel a cruise because my travel companion was ill and he needed open heart surgery, we had no trouble getting a full refund, a week before. The airline was more like trying to get in to see the President with the amount of documentation we had to provide! But we did prevail.

 

That being said, if you travel a lot, there is one policy that covers you for a year. I don't know the name, but I have heard nothing but raves about it. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than I will chime in.

 

Maureen

Interesting. I've booked private insurance many times, and it has never had anything to do with the length of the cruise, other than than trips over 30 days do incur an extra fee. The information they need is the age of the people being covered, the country or area of the world we are traveling to, and the amount we are covering (essentially the cruise cost + air), and the start/end dates of the coverage. On my TAs advice, we actually cover a day or two prior to the cruise; if we plan to do some land days, we are sure that they are included in the dates. By purchasing the insurance within 21 days of placing the deposit on the cruise, we get pre-existing coverage at no additional cost. There is no difference in purchasing the coverage at the time the booking is made or within a few days; we just need to be within the 21 day period. We've never needed to make a major claim, but have filed at least two small claims. These were processed with no difficulty and just the paperwork one would expect to document the incident.

I’ve never booked private insurance and what I posted was about Princess Platinum. Getting the insurance while booking does matter with coverage for pre-existing conditions and at my age pretty much everything is pre-existing so that’s VERY important to me.

We made Ruby our last cruise. When you get your Ruby pin there is a welcome letter with the "exclusive" phone number on it.

Yes, you're right:D I went and looked at our letter and there are phone numbers on it. I didn't check to see if it's any different than the regular number but now I can sleep again at night :D;)

Thanks

ML

Interesting. I've booked private insurance many times' date=' and it has never had anything to do with the length of the cruise, other than than trips over 30 days do incur an extra fee. The information they need is the age of the people being covered, the country or area of the world we are traveling to, and the amount we are covering (essentially the cruise cost + air), and the start/end dates of the coverage. On my TAs advice, we actually cover a day or two prior to the cruise; if we plan to do some land days, we are sure that they are included in the dates. By purchasing the insurance within 21 days of placing the deposit on the cruise, we get pre-existing coverage at no additional cost. There is no difference in purchasing the coverage at the time the booking is made or within a few days; we just need to be within the 21 day period. We've never needed to make a major claim, but have filed at least two small claims. These were processed with no difficulty and just the paperwork one would expect to document the incident.[/quote']

 

This has been our experience too. But it always comes back pretty expensive, I'm not sure why. Maybe because we live in New Mexico.

 

Do you use the same insurer or do you check for each cruise? Can you share the name of the vendor you use?

 

I’ve never booked private insurance and what I posted was about Princess Platinum. Getting the insurance while booking does matter with coverage for pre-existing conditions and at my age pretty much everything is pre-existing so that’s VERY important to me.

 

This is good to know. I'll be sure and read all the insurance notes before I book.

 

Thanks

ML