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Hey guys, I know that there are already threads on this but I need fresh advice. This will be our first cruise with the baby who's 1 year old. Normally we haven't used any insurance.. ( I know we took chances) but since We're traveling with the baby I'm not comfortable traveling this time without it. I need help. How does one choose insurance for a cruise? What do you look for? I need advice. Any and all help appreciated. may I please have suggestions and any experience dealing with them? Thank You in advance.

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Did you book the cruise yet? Most (if not all) companies require you to purchase insurance within 14-21 days (it varies per company) to get a pre-existing conditions waiver.

 

We use travel insured international (discount if you go through USAA to get to their site). It's very comprehensive. Even if you don't purchase their insurance, if you go through to get a quote, they have a very good description of what they cover. This should give you an idea of what coverages are available, and you can decide what you would want to look for.

 

One of the most important, I think, when traveling out of the country is emergency medical evacuation. Health insurance polices generally do not cover this, and it would be an astronomical expense without insurance. Travel insured international has a very high policy limit for this.

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Hey guys, I know that there are already threads on this but I need fresh advice.

 

Not to be rude, I'm just wondering what 'fresh advice' you are looking for? I think all of your information is in those threads you mentioned. But that is why I am asking. We always use travel insurance and it has saved us a couple of times. The previous poster gave very good advice.

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First, I would consider looking at 3rd party sites like

http://www.tripinsurancestore.com

http://www.insuremytrip.com

 

Second, what are you wanting insurance to cover?

If you cancel entirely will losing $2000 ruin you financially?

Are you driving or flying to port?

Medical? Does your health care coverage extend out of country?

 

Things to know about travel insurance

Travel insurance is reimbursement after the fact coverage.

Break your leg in a moped crash in Cozumel? You pay out of pocket, then file for reimbursement.

Miss the ship in Cozumel and need to return home? You pay out of pocket, then file for reimbursement.

Insurance will pay up front for medical evac.

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I think medical evacuation is extremely important. Just saw a story last night on Nightly News about a woman who was medically evacuated for injuries and ended up with a bill over $30,000 from the medical transport company after her insurance paid only a very small portion.

 

Now I'm sure this was a domestic incident of an accident or injury and the medical personnel where she was taken deciding she needed upgraded care somewhere else. But, if medical flight transport could cost over $30,000 within the US, I don't want to think of the cost if you're out of the country and need to be brought home. I know I don't have that kind of money laying around, and once I leave the US, my medical won't cover me.

 

I always purchase a policy with $1 million in medical evacuation for piece of mind. I suggest you look at www.insuremytrip.com or www.squaremouth.com for more information and the ability to compare policies and the things that are important to you when you travel.

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There are many factors that go into travel insurance and you will have to understand the terms, clauses, riders, and codices for yourself, Then decide which among all the apples, oranges, limes, and lemons varieties of policies available to you that best suits your family.

That aside with a little one in the family (regardless of if on the cruise or not) should look at policies that at least have:

1) Cancel for any reason. Some of these have a pre-existing medical clause and can be tricky to understand, and many will require that you purchase the insurance with-in XX # of days after booking and before XX# of days before departing for the trip.

2) Trip interruption - this way if you need to leave the vacay early for any reasonable reason you will have resources through both the cruise line and your insurance to guide you. Will also protect you if the mode of transportation to the vacay experiences problems and you miss the ship's initial departure.

3) Medical w/evacuation - can be tricky like with the cancel for any reason clauses, but if appropriate care can not be given on board medical evac back to the USA or the nearest port can cost tens of thousands.

Also note if the policy requires passports for all individuals covered. Certain coverages can be negated, like catching up with a missed embarkation, if you do not have a passport to get to the next port. While others will still cost you a pretty penny to provide a way back home, ex. extra hotel expenses in a port of call while seeking medical attention will not be covered if waiting on the consulate to issue humanitarian aid exemptions or expedited passports (which cost plenty on their own).

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Hey guys, I know that there are already threads on this but I need fresh advice. This will be our first cruise with the baby who's 1 year old. Normally we haven't used any insurance.. ( I know we took chances) but since We're traveling with the baby I'm not comfortable traveling this time without it. I need help. How does one choose insurance for a cruise? What do you look for? I need advice. Any and all help appreciated. may I please have suggestions and any experience dealing with them? Thank You in advance.

 

Visit one of the multi-quote sites and look at what the different policies offer. I found a reasonable policy that covered 100% of the costs for cancellation through Quote wright. my actual policy ended up being through travel insured.

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Not to be rude, I'm just wondering what 'fresh advice' you are looking for? I think all of your information is in those threads you mentioned. But that is why I am asking. We always use travel insurance and it has saved us a couple of times. The previous poster gave very good advice.

Thank u Mike and I said fresh because I really wasn't trying to read back through anything today as the baby has been very fussy and I really do need to purchase Something because we leave in 63 days. I'd been struggling with the decision to even purchase because as I'd mentioned I haven't before but now with the little one I want it to have peace of mind. Again thank u.

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[

Break your leg in a moped crash in Cozumel? You pay out of pocket, then file for reimbursement.

 

Not necessarily. I can't speak for every company out there, but most will guarantee payment for hospitals and work directly w/ the hospital to pay for treatment. The trick is to contact them as soon as possible. They review hospitals and will know if the facility you are at is adequate for the condition you have and can get you to the nearest appropriate facility for treatment/stabilizatin.

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Thank u Mike and I said fresh because I really wasn't trying to read back through anything today as the baby has been very fussy and I really do need to purchase Something because we leave in 63 days. I'd been struggling with the decision to even purchase because as I'd mentioned I haven't before but now with the little one I want it to have peace of mind. Again thank u.

 

Also - look for a policy that has kids are free. Can be a significant reduction in cost w/ no reduction in benefits.

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First, I would consider looking at 3rd party sites like

www.tripinsurancestore.com

www.insuremytrip.com

 

Second, what are you wanting insurance to cover?

If you cancel entirely will losing $2000 ruin you financially?

Are you driving or flying to port?

Medical? Does your health care coverage extend out of country?

 

Things to know about travel insurance

Travel insurance is reimbursement after the fact coverage.

Break your leg in a moped crash in Cozumel? You pay out of pocket, then file for reimbursement.

Miss the ship in Cozumel and need to return home? You pay out of pocket, then file for reimbursement.

Insurance will pay up front for medical evac.

Not canceling at all at least I hope not to, and no $2000 won't ruin me especially since this trip set is about $10,000 so that's neither here nor there. I guess my biggest concern was with the ships Drs. for any unforeseen emergency. Medical evacs. Things of that nature. Never had trouble with my bags getting lost thankfully. Everyone is healthy thus far driving 30 minutes to the port so no air concern so I guess it'd be any slips trips falls at beach pool. things of that nature. Thank u for the insight of travel insurance, that's what I was interested in. U were very helpful.

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There are many factors that go into travel insurance and you will have to understand the terms, clauses, riders, and codices for yourself, Then decide which among all the apples, oranges, limes, and lemons varieties of policies available to you that best suits your family.

That aside with a little one in the family (regardless of if on the cruise or not) should look at policies that at least have:

1) Cancel for any reason. Some of these have a pre-existing medical clause and can be tricky to understand, and many will require that you purchase the insurance with-in XX # of days after booking and before XX# of days before departing for the trip.

2) Trip interruption - this way if you need to leave the vacay early for any reasonable reason you will have resources through both the cruise line and your insurance to guide you. Will also protect you if the mode of transportation to the vacay experiences problems and you miss the ship's initial departure.

3) Medical w/evacuation - can be tricky like with the cancel for any reason clauses, but if appropriate care can not be given on board medical evac back to the USA or the nearest port can cost tens of thousands.

Also note if the policy requires passports for all individuals covered. Certain coverages can be negated, like catching up with a missed embarkation, if you do not have a passport to get to the next port. While others will still cost you a pretty penny to provide a way back home, ex. extra hotel expenses in a port of call while seeking medical attention will not be covered if waiting on the consulate to issue humanitarian aid exemptions or expedited passports (which cost plenty on their own).

Thank u soooo much This is exactly why I was asking. It can get so confusing.
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I think medical evacuation is extremely important. Just saw a story last night on Nightly News about a woman who was medically evacuated for injuries and ended up with a bill over $30,000 from the medical transport company after her insurance paid only a very small portion.

 

Now I'm sure this was a domestic incident of an accident or injury and the medical personnel where she was taken deciding she needed upgraded care somewhere else. But, if medical flight transport could cost over $30,000 within the US, I don't want to think of the cost if you're out of the country and need to be brought home. I know I don't have that kind of money laying around, and once I leave the US, my medical won't cover me.

 

I always purchase a policy with $1 million in medical evacuation for piece of mind. I suggest you look at www.insuremytrip.com or www.squaremouth.com for more information and the ability to compare policies and the things that are important to you when you travel.

Thank u. I have also been seeing a lot of medical evac stuff and it's scary to think about.
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Not canceling at all at least I hope not to, and no $2000 won't ruin me especially since this trip set is about $10,000 so that's neither here nor there. I guess my biggest concern was with the ships Drs. for any unforeseen emergency. Medical evacs. Things of that nature. Never had trouble with my bags getting lost thankfully. Everyone is healthy thus far driving 30 minutes to the port so no air concern so I guess it'd be any slips trips falls at beach pool. things of that nature. Thank u for the insight of travel insurance, that's what I was interested in. U were very helpful.

If you’re not worried about cancellation, trip delay, etc. but are interested in medical and medical evacuation,,,, put a trip cost of $0 dollars. This will give you medical coverage but no coverage on everything else.

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If you’re not worried about cancellation, trip delay, etc. but are interested in medical and medical evacuation,,,, put a trip cost of $0 dollars. This will give you medical coverage but no coverage on everything else.
I didn't know that, will check into that thanks.
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We's strongly urge you to contact a travel insurance broker, and ask... ask your questions, and also let them ask you questions and help you get the best policy for your needs/preferences.

 

We also use www.TripInsuranceStore.com

--> But CALL them, don't rely upon the online policy summaries (especially if you aren't all that experienced with travel insurance). The "fine print" can really matter!

 

We also get policies from them using the insurer, Travel Insured.

And we've had several claims, including two large ones. They have paid without any nonsense, and that's what matters, after all.

 

We learned about TripInsuranceStore right here on CruiseCritic, as we were planning our first "major" trip for a special birthday and "pre-retirement" cruise.

And... with less than 2 weeks before departure... DH had a medical emergency and ALL travel plans were cancelled. It was comforting to know that a big amount would be refunded, so we wouldn't have to "pay again" to get to do that trip :)

 

If you are past about 20 days from *first* payment for this trip, then you'll have fewer choices than if you had just recently made that initial payment/deposit.

Otherwise, there is another insurer who would provide coverage if you start the insurance within 24 hours of final payment (narrowly defined).

 

And if you've missed that, you *might* still have a chance for coverage, so call TripInsuranceStore asap. (They have weekend hours, and they *do* return calls, so leave a message.)

 

Good luck, and enjoy your trip!

 

GC

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1. Medical and evacuation is your main coverage needed this close to departure and for your baby. Generali Travel Insurance website http://www.generalitravelinsurance.com has the highest coverages for these categories (they used to be CSA) and are on the aggregator websites mentioned but buy direct because you will be submitting a claim directly.

 

2. Generali ‘s medical network is extensive 100,000s facilities around the world and their 24/7 assistance service will send you to their medical locations so you do not have to pay out of pocket and submit a claim for reimbursement later.

 

3. Re: trip cost, I suggest you cover $500 for interruption while in trip. If you cover $0 trip cost then you will have no interruption coverages. The pricing does not seem to vary anyway.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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  • 2 weeks later...
I think medical evacuation is extremely important. Just saw a story last night on Nightly News about a woman who was medically evacuated for injuries and ended up with a bill over $30,000 from the medical transport company after her insurance paid only a very small portion.

 

Now I'm sure this was a domestic incident of an accident or injury and the medical personnel where she was taken deciding she needed upgraded care somewhere else. But, if medical flight transport could cost over $30,000 within the US, I don't want to think of the cost if you're out of the country and need to be brought home. I know I don't have that kind of money laying around, and once I leave the US, my medical won't cover me.

 

I always purchase a policy with $1 million in medical evacuation for piece of mind. I suggest you look at www.insuremytrip.com or www.squaremouth.com for more information and the ability to compare policies and the things that are important to you when you travel.

Its my understand that the US Coast Guard does not charge for evacuation.

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