Insurance

[Polar Bear]

I have a question about Celebrity's/RCCL insurance policy....why is it that all other cruise lines sell insurance to Canadians, but Celebrity/RCCL...do they have something against us???? Have asked the company...and got no where...was hoping someone here on CC might have the answer?

[Booyakasha]

I am in the U.S. but I wouldn't buy insurance from Celebrity anyway. It is way overpriced. So consider yourself lucky. :D

 

I use this site. www.squaremouth.com

 

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[BBsails]

I'm not at all sure about this, but it could be that Celebrity would love to sell its insurance to Canadians, but is prevented from doing so by the laws of Canada. When I was looking for insurance for our upcoming cruise, I found there were a few companies that could not sell insurance to residents of my state. At any rate, it's possible to get more extensive coverage at a lower price from other sources, such as insuremytrip.com or tripinsurancestore.com, to name a couple. There are others.

[everbell]

not sure what kind of insurance you want, but I always do ours' through PC Financial. Way cheaper than the options provided by most travel agents.

[Polar Bear]

I'm not at all sure about this, but it could be that Celebrity would love to sell its insurance to Canadians, but is prevented from doing so by the laws of Canada. When I was looking for insurance for our upcoming cruise, I found there were a few companies that could not sell insurance to residents of my state. At any rate, it's possible to get more extensive coverage at a lower price from other sources, such as insuremytrip.com or tripinsurancestore.com, to name a couple. There are others.

 

If this is the case then why is it that HAL, Princess, Carnival, and NCL can sell in Canada. I have found so far that the cruiseline insuance is far cheaper than outside insuance companies in Canada. As an example..I have some pre-exsiting things.....our Blue Cross here was going to charge us over $ 700.00 for insuance and they could not give us a guaranatee. Just an FYI there is a thread on HAL about their insurance policy...very interresting, all about their pre-exsiting, cancellation policy etc.

[sharkwl]

I would never buy a cruise ship Insurance package. They are over-priced with minimal coverage. I purchased my All Inclusive Insurance with Manulife (Canada) and am very happy with the package! 5 million dollar coverage across the board, with medivac back to my home city! As a Canadian, I would be very careful which company you purchase through! Most are USA based companies and many will only evacuate you back to the port of origin, which would be the USA! Medical costs there could bankrupt you! Better to buy with a Canadian travel insurance company than take a chance! Do your homework, compare them together, and read the fine print!! Good luck with your choice. :)

[purplethorn]

Where can we buy insurance on Celebrity's web site? Or do i have to call?

 

Can I buy insurance after I have paid for the cruise (sailing on Sunday)

[Gonzo70]

Where can we buy insurance on Celebrity's web site? Or do i have to call?

 

Can I buy insurance after I have paid for the cruise (sailing on Sunday)

 

I am not sure if you can at this point or not, but there are some policies you can purchase (separate from the cruise line). As others have mentioned, buying it through the cruise line is generally a poor idea - you are paying more for less. It is usually better to cut out the middle man and purchase insurance privately (with the exception being if you are eldery as the cruise line insurance in that case may be cheaper than what you can purchase independantly).

 

Be advised that you cannot at this point purchase insurance and be covered for anything that is pre-existing. For example, if you just found out you may need surgery you cannot buy the insurance today and then use the insurance if have to cancel the cruise because of the surgery. The insurance you bought today would only cover new events that come up after you purchase the inuruance that have nothing to do with pre-existing conditions.

 

Unless you have health insurance that covers out of the country emergency medical care AND medical evacuation of a ship (precious few policies cover this) it is highly advisable (and many would say necessary) to have travel insurance. A medical evacuation off a ship can easily cost $25,000 or more! And this can happen to even the young and healthy (i.e. falling and hitting one's head, developing appendicitis, etc.).

 

I recommend you go to insuremytrip.com and research policies.

 

Edit: I see in other posts you've made today you are referencing concern over current tropical storms. It is doubtful insurance you purchase today would cover this issue as it would likely constitute a pre-existing condition. It would be like waiting until you are already injured/sick to purchase health insurance.

[purplethorn]

Thank you sir .... I was actually only asking the type of insurance where the cruise line would refund your money if they dont sail through the ports due to weather or something else? Or is there no such thing?

 

A friend of mine told me thats what the "insurance" is for ... With some much storm activity in the Western Caribbean I am afraid we might miss most ports or maybe the whole cruise?

[Gonzo70]

Thank you sir .... I was actually only asking the type of insurance where the cruise line would refund your money if they dont sail through the ports due to weather or something else? Or is there no such thing?

 

A friend of mine told me thats what the "insurance" is for ... With some much storm activity in the Western Caribbean I am afraid we might miss most ports or maybe the whole cruise?

 

I am not aware of insurance that would reimburse you for missed ports; perhaps it exists, but I have certainly not heard any reference to it. In the highly unlikely event your cruise is cancelled the cruise line would give you a full refund (would not matter if you had insurance or not). They may also offer some incentive towards a future cruise that would help offset the loss of money you incurred from anything such as plane tickets, hotels etc., but they would not have to do that. It is very, very rare for a cruise line to cancel a cruise because of weather. Occasionally a cruise is shortended or lengthended by a day or two, and often itineraries are adjusted. The way travel insurance can help here is lets say the storm causes your ship to have to detour from its normal route and you arrive back to port seven hours late. Most policies would cover some or all of the fees involved in having to change your airline flight (if this caused you to miss a flight) as well as money towards meals, hotels etc. while stranded and waiting for a flight back home.

 

Unless you are already insured for medical emergencies AND medical evacuation though, I still would encourage you to look into a travel insurance policy.

 

The nice thing is the S-Class ships are so amazing that even if you miss some ports, the ship is a destination in and of itself.

[purplethorn]

Thank you !

[cruisestitch]

Keep in mind that cruise ships can skip ports for many reasons, and they are not required to give any kind of compensation. Sometimes you may get your port charges refunded, but that's usually it. I am not aware of any kind of trip insurance that will pay you if the cruise line should decide not to stop at any given port.