help educate me

in light of recent event there are tons of post and im seeing the terms travelers insurance, vacation protection etc used quite frequently.

RCL offers something.... is that what people are referring to? are their different levels of protection? are people getting insurance outside of RCL that covers ?

im seriously clueless and would love a wealth of responses to help me understand.

People are referring to both the insurance offered by Royal (sometimes called CruiseCare or Travel protection program), and also third party insurance. There are different levels of protection.

Here are some third party websites for more info:

www.insuremytrip.com

www.squaremouth.com

www.quotewright.com

www.tripinsurancestore.com

Also. Several Credit Cards have travel insurance as well. Some of them include Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase JP Morgan Reserve, Citi Prestige Card. Check with your Credit Card company for specifics.

Also. Several Credit Cards have travel insurance as well. Some of them include Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase JP Morgan Reserve, Citi Prestige Card. Check with your Credit Card company for specifics.

Yep! Our Costco card has it, so that's what we've had in case we needed it. Thankfully (knock on wood), we never have.

Everyone has different needs. Some major concerns are whether your medical insurance covers you out of the country and the cost of medical evacuation. Another consideration is covering pre and post cruise travel days for travel interruption, lost luggage, and unanticipated delays.

I've actually had to use it twice - once for an accident that forced me to cancel an entire cruise and another time for a travel delay because I couldn't make it home in the snow.

Yep! Our Costco card has it, so that's what we've had in case we needed it. Thankfully (knock on wood), we never have.

Be aware that *only* covers trip interruption and trip cancellation. It will also cover rental car collisions. It will not cover anything else. For example any medical costs, medical evacuation, lost luggage, stolen items, missing a connection, delayed flights, etc.

We use http://www.travelguard.com/, you need to read the fine print. Some have rules when you purchase it and what coverage applies.

We use http://www.travelguard.com/, you need to read the fine print. Some have rules when you purchase it and what coverage applies.

Very true, as I just pointed out in another thread. We always purchase independent insurance (not thru the cruise lines) and always make sure that we pick policies that are "primary" insurers...not "third" party, which means that the travel insurance pays without having to go through you own personal insurance FIRST!! However, do read the fine print because coverage such as "Cancel for any reason" still have stipulations that can preclude you from getting coverage. Some examples are:

1. The cruise lines must have cancelled your cruise for 48 hours before they will pay out....sounds OK, but if you have to fly to your port and your air tickets are for BEFORE the 48 hours have elapsed...you are forced to use the airfare to fly to a 'to be' cancelled cruise??? and they won't refund tix.....this happened to us once.

2. Another reason we bought 'cancel for any reason' was for loss of job....DH lost his job, BUT the fine print stipulated he had to be employed for a longer time frame in that particular job....NO COVERAGE again when we tried to use the insurance....made the coverage 'null and void'....so cancel for any reason has RULES which could exempt them from paying out.

We have been on the sad side of having paid for insurance, but unable to CLAIM a penny twice now. Not trying to tell anyone what they should or should not do....but 'buyer be aware' - read the FINE print......lots of stipulations and exclusions (remember, insurance companies are in business to MAKE $$ NOT pay it out!) Insurance is not the end all safety net that many believe it to be!

Insure my trip dot com is great. You input all your info & they show you many, many different choices to buy, along with customer ratings and reviews. You can personalize your coverage as you wish. Whatever you decide to do, always get insurance. It's really a small price to pay considering what you potentially could lose.

That's why we use Chase Saphire Reserve: there is no additional cost if ANY PART of the trip was paid for using the card. At first glance, the fees seem high, but we've found it well worth it. The yearly fee is $450.00, which is startling. However, any money spent for any kind of travel gets a credit on the monthly bills (up to $300), so that gets it down to $150 a year. We cruise a lot, and the card provides our insurance for cruising and flights--it has paid more than $150.00 in insurance coverage we didn't buy elsewhere about 6 times this year.

For something like a hurricane you don't really need to cover your cruise itself. For example, once RCI announced shorter Allure cruise you got the option of sailing for four days with 50% cost back as OBC and 50% future cruise credit. Or cancel and get 100% back as a FCC. This is unrelated to insurance - it is direct from RCI. This is fine if you will be cruising in the future (have heard this FCC must be used in a year and maybe not for a cruise you already have booked). However, they did not cover airline changes, hotel costs or anything else. Cruise line insurance can pay some of these, with fairly low limits. Other insurance policies have higher limits and can cover all the costs from leaving home. See the insurance boards for a full discussion.

That offer was not for all cruises. Some of them they did not offer full credit for no sailing.

But whatever you look at, READ the terms, and SHOP AROUND.

A few years ago, we (late 50s) got a much better deal of price AND terms by going 3rd party. But for my parents (87) the 3rd party insurance was EXPENSIVE, like almost the cost of the cruise. So we insured them through the cruise line.

And we used it. The good thing, was that the cruise line insurance was only $25,000 medical evacuation, and the cost to evacuation my Mother from Halifax to DC was $29,000, but the air ambulance company accepted the insurance payment as payment in full.

Medical evacuation is EXPENSIVE.

Also. Several Credit Cards have travel insurance as well. Some of them include Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase JP Morgan Reserve, Citi Prestige Card. Check with your Credit Card company for specifics.

It is important to note that each has their own set of coverage specifications, and they vary both between each other and between what's offered by private insurers. Also, they may have rules for qualifying for the coverage. There are many people who purchase private insurance even though they are offered some coverage via their credit cards.

It is also to note that when we say "Chase Sapphire Reserve" or "AMEX Platinum" we are not saying "Chase credit cards" or "AMEX credit cards". While some other credit cards may provide some travel coverage (for example, Discover offers flight accident insurance and car rental insurance, but nothing else), only these top-level elite credit cards offer the substantial travel insurance that you're asking about.

We have never used travel insurance for any of our trips - cruise or otherwise - preferring to self insure.

That does not mean we are crazy enough to be without out of country medical insurance and emergency evacuation insurance.

If you decide to go this route check out GeoBlue. But it is not available in every state.

That does not mean we are without protection.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

HOWEVER - I want to also note that we have been fortunate enough to have never needed it.

It is what you think you can afford to cover.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Be aware that *only* covers trip interruption and trip cancellation. It will also cover rental car collisions. It will not cover anything else. For example any medical costs, medical evacuation, lost luggage, stolen items, missing a connection, delayed flights, etc.

Not sure what card you have, but I've read our Costco benefits, it covers many of those things. They have medical and emergency assistance, delayed/lost baggage, flight issues, weather/terrorist issues, etc...

We have travel coverage through several of our credit cards, but we always buy cruise specific insurance from Nationwide.

Things to look for when looking for travel insurance:

Some policies allow you to cancel for work reasons, ie if you lose your job or your job cancels your leave, but there are usually rules regarding the size of the company and your position. If you own your own business, this probably won't cover you. You'll likely need cancel for any reason coverage

Cancel for any reason may be extra, may have a time frame in which it has to be used, may only pay out a certain % and may not pay cash but as a cruise line credit. Check what it covers if you think you might use it.

If you're not flying, you don't need coverage for flight delays. Some policies allow you to drop that for a saving.

If you are booked on a cruise that gets delayed like the current Florida sailings are, your insurance probably won't allow you to simply cancel for a full refund, but it should cover you for extra expenses incurred because of the delay - you might have to rebook your hotel and/or flights, meal expenses etc if you're stranded somewhere.

Not sure what card you have, but I've read our Costco benefits, it covers many of those things. They have medical and emergency assistance, delayed/lost baggage, flight issues, weather/terrorist issues, etc...

The only one they have, the Citi Visa card.

https://www.cardbenefits.citi.com/

Medical & Emergency Assistance is only that they'll help you find medical care, it won't pay for anything.

Nothing on Delayed/lost baggage (the word "bag" and "baggage" isn't even in the document).

The trip cancellation/interruption covers up to $3000. For weather reasons they say:

Severe weather or natural disaster causes all travel to or from the Covered Traveler’s Trip destination to stop for at least 24 hours.

I did miss that they have AD&D coverage though.

in light of recent event there are tons of post and im seeing the terms travelers insurance, vacation protection etc used quite frequently.

RCL offers something.... is that what people are referring to? are their different levels of protection? are people getting insurance outside of RCL that covers ?

 

im seriously clueless and would love a wealth of responses to help me understand.

Hi there,

Cruise Critic has an article that will break it all down for you: https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=274. Hope it's helpful!

in light of recent event there are tons of post and im seeing the terms travelers insurance, vacation protection etc used quite frequently.

RCL offers something.... is that what people are referring to? are their different levels of protection? are people getting insurance outside of RCL that covers ?

 

im seriously clueless and would love a wealth of responses to help me understand.

You first need to understand that the terms travel insurance or cruise insurance are very generic. There are three separate risks, and depending on your circumstances you need to look at all three.

Trip disruption is the first risk, i.e., cancellation, lost luggage, etc. You may already have some or all of this covered through a credit card. And since the worst case loss in this category is relatively knowable, some people of sufficient means choose to self-insure this. Personally I have some coverage through my credit card and self insure anything not covered.

Second risk is medical. Research the extent your domestic health insurance will cover out of country health issues. If it turns out you need it, then you have to decide on primary or secondary coverage, single trip or annual and the need for preexisting coverage. Personally I opted for a GeoBlue annual policy. It provides primary coverage, with no exclusion for preexisting condition and covers for all trips within the 12 month policy period.

Third risk is medical evacuation. This can potentially run into the hundreds of thousands. Some people get this through a completely different policy. Personally I have coverage through my GeoBlue policy.

Check out the sites people have given you for 3rd party insurance. They will have even more info.

Good luck!

AMEX Platinum as well.

 

 

 

It is important to note that each has their own set of coverage specifications, and they vary both between each other and between what's offered by private insurers. Also, they may have rules for qualifying for the coverage. There are many people who purchase private insurance even though they are offered some coverage via their credit cards.

 

 

 

It is also to note that when we say "Chase Sapphire Reserve" or "AMEX Platinum" we are not saying "Chase credit cards" or "AMEX credit cards". While some other credit cards may provide some travel coverage (for example, Discover offers flight accident insurance and car rental insurance, but nothing else), only these top-level elite credit cards offer the substantial travel insurance that you're asking about.

I have AmEx Platinum as well. Do you have to activate the travel insurance through your AmEx Platinum benefits, or is it automatic?

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I have AmEx Platinum as well. Do you have to activate the travel insurance through your AmEx Platinum benefits, or is it automatic?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

This post may have been entered by voice recognition. Please excuse any typographical errors.