Insurance question - pre-existing condtion

[Tampa Girl]

The plans offered through the tripinsurance store are supposed to cover evacuation from the ship, however, it will depend on how far out in the open ocean you are. As mentioned above:

 

 

"As cwn mentioned, you are not going to get taken off the ship in the middle of the ocean. That's because there's a limit to how far various aircraft can fly.

 

In addition, "evacuation" / "transportation" coverage doesn't guarantee it will be by air. It could be by a boat or ship, or while in port using a stretcher & ambulance."

 

 

That's not correct. Helicopters can fly to the middle of the Atlantic, at least according to Travel Insured, Inc. And that insurance will take you off in the middle of the ocean, supposedly.

[DaveOKC]

Our Oct. repositioning cruise from Montreal to FLL has three sea days in a row at the very end, from Maine to FLL. I assume that we will be close enough to shore for a helicopter to reach us if need be.

 

DaveOKC

[sail7seas]

Hi vbmom87,

 

Every plan's different, but the ones I trust all will evacuate / transport someone off a ship. However, it's the definition of what constitutes an "evacuation" / "transportation" that gets in the way of understanding how it works.

 

As cwn mentioned, you are not going to get taken off the ship in the middle of the ocean. That's because there's a limit to how far various aircraft can fly.

 

In addition, "evacuation" / "transportation" coverage doesn't guarantee it will be by air. It could be by a boat or ship, or while in port using a stretcher & ambulance.

 

In my opinion, the important part of the coverage has to do with where you will be taken.

 

Steve Dasseos

 

I know Medjet Assist WON'T. I found this info somewhere on their website so it's not a secret.

 

Does anyone know of a policy that does evacuate from a ship if the ship is close enough to land? I asked this question once before but got only a vague answer about the poster's credit card.

 

 

MedJetAssist does NOT evacuate from a ship at sea, as stated above. We've renewed our MedJet policy for years and only last year did I learn they only evacuate from port. We still have that policy and will continue to but know its limitations.

 

Other coverage does and we have seen people medivaced off a ship at sea. I don't recall how close to shore we were.

 

Among policies which cover evacuation from a ship are TravelEx. Read carefully which policy works best for you, if any.

 

[vbmom87]

Among policies which cover evacuation from a ship are TravelEx. Read carefully which policy works best for you, if any.

 

 

"Read Carefully" is key. We always used Travelex until this year. We were told that with Travelex if we had a loved one at home whose health we were concerned about and we might need to cancel because of it, we should be careful buying Travelex. The reason being that Travelex has been denying some claims to cancel a trip due to a loved one becoming ill. If you are not the primary caregiver of the loved one, they may deny your claim. So, for the very first time we went with TravelSafe.

 

It is best to talk to the professionals who are familiar with the ins and outs of the various plans. Even they may miss something now and then, I am sure. Every plan is so specific. Get yourself educated before you buy is my advice.

[sail7seas]

This is a perfect example of what works best for you.

 

We were discussing medical evacuation and not cancellation in the immediate prior posts.

DH and I never insure for cancellation. We have self-insured for our last 50+ cruises.

 

Whoever might become sick at home is not what WE are insuring.

 

We are insuring should WE become sick while traveling.

 

What works best for me probably does NOT work best for most others.

We have not paid tens of thousands of dollars for cancellation insurance, have been very lucky we never had to cancel and suffer a loss and at this point are very far ahead in premiums we didn't pay.

 

We do insure for evacuation and for medical expenses as that is the form of insurance we want.

 

Read carefully and get what you need and want.

 

[vbmom87]

We have not paid tens of thousands of dollars for cancellation insurance, have been very lucky we never had to cancel and suffer a loss and at this point are very far ahead in premiums we didn't pay.

 

We do insure for evacuation and for medical expenses as that is the form of insurance we want.

 

Read carefully and get what you need and want.

 

 

If we traveled as much as you did, we would likely self insure our trips too except for Medical. It does make financial sense in your case. However, as you said, what works for you, may not work for others. This is our third cruise in four years. None are on the horizon for now. We just can't afford to lose the cost of a cruise and we buy cheap cabins. If we ever do start traveling more regularly, we will be sure to reevaluate.

[sail7seas]

When we first started cruising, we also insured for cancellation. Around the time HAL revamped their coverage and premiums, we stopped writing cancellation coverage with them. Our premiums jumped considerably and we re-evaluated.

 

We would never sail without evacuation. Accidents/illness can happen to anyone.

[cwn]

That's not correct. Helicopters can fly to the middle of the Atlantic, at least according to Travel Insured, Inc. And that insurance will take you off in the middle of the ocean, supposedly.

 

If being able to be air lifted from a ship in the middle of the ocean is what you want from your travel insurance. I assume you are wanting to be covered by insurance that will provide immediate evacuation in an emergency and not have to be cared for on the ship until it is closer to land. If so, you might want a little more detail from Travel Insured, Inc.

 

For instance, from New York, NY to Southampton, England is something over 3100 miles as the crow flies or ~1500 to the middle of the ocean. Googling for medivac helicopter ranges, I get several ranges depending on the type of helicopter, the longest ranges being ~ 350-500 nautical miles. So this means the ship will have to be within 200+ miles of a land base for said helicopter. A ship in the middle of the Atlantic could be at least a day or two sailing to just be within range of these helicopters.

 

Some one who knows about helicopters might chime in here...are there helicopters out there that can fly 1000 to 2000 miles with out refueling?

 

We carry medjetassit, have for a number of years. We have never really thought about the additional cost of a helicopter evacuation...have been more concerned of getting moved to a hospital of our choice close to home.

 

Yes, you can definitely be taken off a ship at sea, it has happened several times in our thrity years of cruising, but the ship had to move lose enough to land to be with in the range of a medivac helicopter. Most of the time, at least on our cruises, passengers have taken care of by the medical staff and are taken to the hostipal at the next port. We have seen this happen at ports that I sure would hate to be left at...mostly parts of Africa, South America and parts of Asia and the Pacific Islands!!!!! So help getting somewhere else has always been important to us.

[sail7seas]

The choice of whether to be evacuated or not is not left to the guest/patient. That decision is made by the ship's doctor and captain and perhaps others but the guest is not the 'final say'.

 

Medical evacuation from a ship can be hugely expensive. I have also read here where U.S.C.G. lifted and there was no charge. Of course, if sailing the Caribbean, there is better chance of evacuation from aboard by Coast Guard than most anywhere else aside from Canada/New England, Alaska, Mexico, Hawaii.

 

[Tampa Girl]

cwn - I need to clarify. This discussion is strictly hypothetical. I have no concern about the necessity of being plucked out from the middle of the Atlantic. I am merely reporting what Travel Insured told me, and I think my initial post registered some doubt as to the accuracy of that representation. I only called Travel Insured because the issue was being raised on this thread. Believe me, if I thought I would need this evacuation, we would not be taking this cruise! Still, it is an interesting question. If you find the answer, please enlighten. I, too, have googled but have not yet come up with an answer.

[cwn]

Yes, I know the captain and ship's doctor will have the final say. It is interesting though...what would happen....

 

Think it was about a year ago, maybe a little more, that a Princess passenger was kept on the ship a day or so as the ship headed back to FtL from the Caribbean?? The passenger had a ruptured bowel, I think. It was a very serious problem and didn't have a good out come in the end, but the care given was good according to what was posted on the Princess board..

 

The SS Mariner, this March, changed course to drop a passenger at Grand Turk on the way back to FtL the frist afternoon out of St Thomas...we still had another full day and night before our arrival in FtL.