"Insurance" for your cruise

Where did you buy your insurance?

Trip cancel, Medical etc.

There seems to be a huge variance in prices....

Where did you buy your insurance?

Trip cancel, Medical etc.

There seems to be a huge variance in prices....

You should take a look at the Travel Insurance sub-forum:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=635

Ask questions there, but *also* read through some recent threads; there is a LOT of information there.

GC

I always use a website called Insure My Trip dot com, no spaces. It gives you a list of insurance options from all different carriers.

We've purchased policies we got from

www.TripInsuranceStore.com

But we *strongly* recommend that you CALL them.

Don't rely upon the "online summaries" of policies and comparisons.

This is an area where the "fine print" can really matter!

And a lot of the complaints we read about (usually on the Travel Insurance sub-forum) are due to misunderstandings about what is/is not covered, etc.

So we do it ALL by phone, and then have the policy emailed to us.

Make sure you ask about the pre-existing conditions if that is even vaguely an issue.

It is, for us, and we solve that by starting the coverage within the first 20 days (other policies might be 10 days).

And the type of policy we get, we only need to insure that first deposit, and add coverage as we make other payments.

(There is at least one company where one can have the pre-existing conditions covered if policy is purchased later, but there are other parts of the policy that aren't as good, for us, as the policy we get.)

Good luck!

GC

We always purchase through Travelguard (AIG). We get the "gold" plan. Have made claims 2x, and have been very pleased with the re-imbursement process.

We always purchase through Travelguard (AIG). We get the "gold" plan. Have made claims 2x, and have been very pleased with the re-imbursement process.

Ditto. Nothing but good things to say about Travelguard. Thankfully I haven't had to make any claims but the process and price from start to finish is outstanding.

Have used www.squaremouth.com.

Like them a lot. You can compare lots of different providers and companies.

We've always just used what our TA's company sells with bookings, Allianz. I think their current premium is 8%. Fortunately, never had to use travel insurance yet.

Here is our experience with NCL's insurance. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2428364

Never had to use it so I can't say how great the protection is, but, I've been booking cruises with a Chase Sapphire reserve card. Its a $450 annual fee. But you get a $300 travel credit to use on any travel so its basically $150. As long as you pay with the card the cruise is covered. I cut and pasted some of the fine print below

 

Up to $10,000 per covered trip and a maximum limit of $20,000 per occurrence and a maximum benefit amount per 12-month period of $40,000

 

 

 

 

What’s Covered

 

This is not an exhaustive list. Examples include:

• Accidental bodily injury, loss of life, or sickness experienced by the Cardholder, a traveling companion or an immediate family member of the Cardholder or a traveling companion
  
• Severe weather that prevents the start or continuation a covered trip
  
• Terrorist action or hijacking
  
• Jury duty or a court subpoena that cannot be postponed or waived
  
• Financial insolvency of the Cardholder’s travel agency, tour operator, or travel supplier
  

What’s Not Covered

 

This is not an exhaustive list. Examples include:

• Travel arrangements canceled or changed by a common carrier, tour operator, or any travel agency unless the cancellation is the result of severe weather or an organized strike affecting public transportation
  
• Change in plans or financial circumstances
  
• A pre-existing condition
  
• Traveling against the advice of a physician
  
• A declared or undeclared war
  
• Trips that exceed 60 days in duration are not covered
  

You also earn 3x points for all travel and when you redeem points you redeem its at 1.5% so if you have $1000 worth of points its worth $1500 in travel

This is not okay for anyone with pre-existing conditions, so it's "out" for many of us.

Also, it seems that a mechanical problem with the plane that causes a delay *might* not be covered, either.

But the pre-existing condition exclusion makes this a non-starter.

And the "maximum per trip" is usually going to be too low for us, although if the exclusion weren't a problem, we'd be willing to deal with eating any amount over $10k, should it ever come to that.

And the other fine print... it's important for those planning to us this make *sure* there aren't other "gotchas" that would be relevant.

For those where this coverage fits, it really looks great. Too bad about that exclusion.......

RM

We have credit card insurance, but are still insuring our next trip with “cancel any reason” due to potential family health issues. We probably over-insured, but this is a more expensive overseas cruise.

We used Nationwide from InsureMyTrip.com.

We have credit card insurance, but are still insuring our next trip with “cancel any reason” due to potential family health issues. We probably over-insured, but this is a more expensive overseas cruise.

 

We used Nationwide from InsureMyTrip.com.

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I have 'insuredmytrip' for an European vacation and the rate was quite expensive I thought. You can purchase travel insurance (not trip cancellation insurance) from NCL after final payment is due quite cheaply. I believe that it pays for medical evacuation/treatment if necessary.

I have 'insuredmytrip' for an European vacation and the rate was quite expensive I thought. You can purchase travel insurance (not trip cancellation insurance) from NCL after final payment is due quite cheaply. I believe that it pays for medical evacuation/treatment if necessary.

InsureMyTrip allows you to compare policies and pick the one that suits your circumstances. For example, we are returning to Venice in October and have a flight schedule around noon on the day of disembarkation. This is Venice’s foggy season so the possibility of a late disembarkation is greater. Therefore, one aspect of coverage for us was short qualifying trip delay to cover possible airline change fees and overnight room. As mentioned, we also wanted cancel for any reason. However, medical coverage was not that important because we already have worldwide coverage through employer insurance.

We evaluated policies based on coverage and insurer reputation, then price.

I’ve had both Chase Sapphire Reserve and AMEX Platinum for a little while. I travel a lot for both business and pleasure.

I originally had the Sapphire Reserve because they gave me 100,000 points (paid for a cruise with them). Now, I think they “only” give 50,000 points to sign up. I had originally thought some of their “perks” were better than AMEX. But, they’ve scaled back on them. They do offer some decent travel insurance options, though.

I canceled the Chase card.

Now, I just use my AMEX. Travel insurance is a little light, and not as good as the Sapphire insurance. But, I get a lot of points (mostly 5X) for my travel charges. That translates into at least one free vacation/year.

Neither card has good travel insurance benefits, though. It’s good insurance for rental cars, but not so much for cruises. Someone mentioned no coverage for pre-existing conditions. That’s a biggie, because when push comes to shove, everyone probably has a pre-existing condition unless you are very young.

Mostly, I buy insurance that covers pre-existing conditions with a “look back” period (60-90 days). In short, if you haven’t seen a Dr for any condition over the past 2-3 months, you’re covered.

I don’t think I’ve ever spent more than $100-$150 for travel insurnace that ends up being pretty comprehensive. It will go higher if you want to throw in cancellation for any reason. But, if you want to cover the big stuff....enough money to treat you for a deblilitating illness or accident, get you home safely, airlift you to a hospital, provide some enumeration if your luggage is lost or stolen, get you to the next port if you miss a flight for any reason, etc....then, the squaremouth and insuremytrip web sites will have all sorts of policies for you to look at and compare.