Insurance - To Buy Or Not To Buy?

[LMA5876]

To buy or not to buy travel insurance - that is the question. Wondering how many people purchase it and how many don't. I know it's a great thing to have but am thinking I could use the extra money for something else.

[GTO-Girl]

I always buy it and pray I never need it.......

 

No way am I leaving the USA without being protected.

[vacruizer]

I was reminded this week as to one of the reasons I buy it. On Tuesday I bent down, reached under the pedals of my car, and sprained my back. I've been in the worst pain I've ever experienced since then and if my cruise were leaving this weekend instead of three weeks from now I'd have had to cancel. You just never know.

[Room Service!]

We always buy it too. It really is a small amount to pay.

[Ken076]

To buy or not to buy travel insurance - that is the question. Wondering how many people purchase it and how many don't. I know it's a great thing to have but am thinking I could use the extra money for something else.

 

You might also check (1) your Credit card that you charge the Travel to, for (usually minimal) Cancellation and Luggage coverage (e.g., World MasterCard), and (2) your Health Insurance for "Out-of-Country" coverage (e.g, BCBS-FEP). ken

[silvercrikhix]

Besides the above responses, you need to ask yourself a few questions.

If something were to happen and you need medical attention or to fly home will it be a big financial burden?

If you miss the ship leaving a port can you fly yourselves to the next port or home without a huge $ issue?

Do you have any family/friends that are very ill that may may necessitate your leaving early?

 

It is a gamble either way, do you feel lucky?

Only you can decide what is right for your situation.

Either way, enjoy your cruise!

[HeidiHo]

We buy it every time we leave the country, mainly so that we are covered medically and I make sure we get good coverage for medical evacuation in case one of us needs to be taken off the ship by helicopter. I understand that can be extremely costly. That being said, I did have to make a claim once when we had a land vacation to an All Inclusive in Mexico planned. My mother passed away just 4 days before we were supposed to leave. We got all of our money back except for the insurance premium.

[elcuchio24]

We vary rarely do. Our medical insurance and amex perks cover us for medical/evac out of the country. As for the cruise itself, we are young and have no kids so the chance that we would have to cancel is slim, and if so, whatever loss we would take we could absorb pretty easily.

 

You'll find many varying and strong opinions on this subject.

[missypriss19]

Would definitely buy but not through Carnival. They are to expensive.

[bdziewit]

Are you allowed to make any suggesions? I'm not sure what the rules are, or is it better to google?

[katiel53]

We wouldn't travel without it. I don't buy insurance from the cruiseline, but do get it through my TA. We have also gotten it through insuremytrip.com.

 

I think if the passengers are young, the price is very low. When older, the price goes up, but so do the risks. We started buying insurance when we sailed with my dad, but now that he is gone, we still buy it. I'd rather give up a few drinks or whatever to have the peace of mind.

[Kreeb]

Well, how confident are you that something out of the blue will not happen and you won't need to be put up in a hospital in another country, then evacuated from there back to your home city? If you have lots of extra cash to pay for the expenses described above, (and they can be SIGNIFICANT!!!), and you're feeling lucky, go ahead and pass on the insurance. After all it will probably cost you approx $150........Are you really willing to take that risk??????? Seems like a no-brainer to me.

[angeleyes00212]

Our first 2 cruises we never bought it. On our 3rd cruise we watched a man be evacuated after he had a heart attack while snorkeling. So now we buy it every cruise. We were supposed to go on a cruise in March and my grandfather passed 2 days before we were supposed to fly out - we are getting all of our money back from Carnival except the insurance cost. The process was very easy and made a difficult time for my family more bearable. I will never cruise without it again

[beach410]

Buy, it doesn't cost a lot for a little piece of mind.

 

I never bought insurance before a few years ago. But then stuff started happening; parents starting getting sick, son wanted to take a girlfriend, reading mishaps on CC about lost luggage and accidents in port, having to get air lifted off the ship, I just decided, taking a chance is like gambling and I don't spend more than $10 a day, if that gambling while on a cruise.

 

I actually used the insurance when my son broke up with his girlfriend after final payment, I purchased cancel for any reason and it worked out perfectly. I may even be using it for this past cruise, depending on what my insurance pays for the infirmary bill we received when my son became dehydrated one day.

 

I don't think I would cruise without it anymore, if you buy it months in advance it's very reasonable. I never buy it from Carnival though.

[tandemcruzr]

We buy the insurance and have had to use it twice. Once for a land AI due to a hurricane and once for our cruise this past November due to a life threatening issue to my younger brother.

 

We also have an elderly parent and would have to get back quick if something happened.

 

We also have up to date passports.

[kayhold]

I am one of those people who do not buy things for something that is unlikely to happen. For instance, a passport.

That said, because I have health issues, I was going to buy travel insurance, but for the health part only. I was not going to buy cancellation insurance.

I kept putting it off, but was admitted yesterday for a MRSA infection in my ears and sinuses.. Now it's too late to buy a reasonably priced one - before it would have been $20 for all 3 of us, now it's over $400.

 

I won't be buying it now, because I will be fine by time we cruise, but next time I won't procrastinate buying it.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

To buy or not to buy travel insurance - that is the question. Wondering how many people purchase it and how many don't. I know it's a great thing to have but am thinking I could use the extra money for something else.

 

If you already have insurance that covers you , then dont. But its so cheap you may as well if you dont already have coverage.

[mitsguy2001]

I always get insurance, and would never go on a cruise without it; it's too much of a financial risk. However, Carnival's insurance is basically useless, so I get insurance on my own. The problem is, for the "Cancel for any reason" coverage, it only refunds 90% of the cost. I would still have to pay 10%, which is a lot of money for a cruise that you don't get to go on. But it's better than nothing.

[combatboots2jimmychoos]

To me, it's part of the cost of a vacation. I have a spreadsheet of everything that factors into the cost of our vacation: cruise, pre cruise hotel, parking, gas, insurance, excursions, photos, DOD's....I'm not going to spend several thousand dollars on a vacation and not get insurance (especially traveling internationally and doing excursions like atv'ing, ziplining, horseback riding...)

 

I've also read a bunch of threads on CC where the cruiser needed insurance but didn't have any. If you don't buy the insurance, be prepared to be self-insured.

 

Also, the farther out I book the cruise, the more inclined I am to do the "cancel for any reason" since one can't really predict what will happen 9-12 months from now.

[Herfnerd]

We ALWAYS buy it - the cost is usually minimal and we would rather have it and not need it rather than vice versa.

 

Remember - you never know......

[soazlaney]

To buy or not to buy travel insurance - that is the question. Wondering how many people purchase it and how many don't. I know it's a great thing to have but am thinking I could use the extra money for something else.

 

Airlift from Guatemala for a broken hip last April around $36 K - PAID FOR BY INSURANCE that cost us $457. We always bought insurance, and like everyone else, thought we would never have to use it. Thank goodness we are paranoid. LOL

[mitsguy2001]

I was reminded this week as to one of the reasons I buy it. On Tuesday I bent down, reached under the pedals of my car, and sprained my back. I've been in the worst pain I've ever experienced since then and if my cruise were leaving this weekend instead of three weeks from now I'd have had to cancel. You just never know.

 

I occasionaly hurt my neck, for reasons which I still have not yet figured out. It only lasts a few days, but I'm in excrutiating pain when it happens. One of my biggest fears is having it happen just before a cruise. It is unlikely that cancel for medical reason would cover it (nobody can understand how painful it is). As I said in a previous post, I always get cancel for any reason insurance. It only covers 90%, which is lousy (10% is a lot to pay for a cruise that you don't go on), but better than nothing.

 

I got lucky last year (sort of). I was on a cruise (and my neck was completely fine during the cruise) the week of Saturday, June 25 to Saturday, July 2. And then I hurt my neck the morning of Tuesday, July 5, 2011. I was lucky since if I had hurt my neck a week earlier (or if the cruise was a week later), that would have ruined the cruise.

 

Though it put me in a bad situation, since Tuesday, July 5 was the day I was supposed to return to work after the cruise (Monday, July 4 was a holiday). It was almost impossible to drive, and I nearly got into an accident when I was unable to twist my head to look for merging traffic (I was on a ramp ending with a yield sign, and no accelleration lane). I knew that if I called in sick on July 5, they would have accused me of extending my vacation, plus I feared being fired for failure to return from a vacation. So I had to deal with it and drive to work that day; and the driving caused me to hurt my neck even more.

 

I called in sick on July 6 (having worked July 5, they knew I obviously did return from my vacation), and arrived several hours late on July 7 and 8 (got up early those days, and waited several hours, until my neck was somewhat numb, and took a longer route to work that didn't involve a merge that required me to twist my head). Unfortunately, my boss tried to claim that I took that whole week off anyway; he never saw me on July 5 (I think he took that day off), and he noticed I was missing on July 6 and in the morning of July 7 and 8 (not bothering to look for me again in the afternoon). I think he did beleive me in the end, though I doubt he beleived how much pain I was in.

[vacruizer]

I occasionaly hurt my neck, for reasons which I still have not yet figured out. It only lasts a few days, but I'm in excrutiating pain when it happens. One of my biggest fears is having it happen just before a cruise. It is unlikely that cancel for medical reason would cover it (nobody can understand how painful it is). As I said in a previous post, I always get cancel for any reason insurance. It only covers 90%, which is lousy (10% is a lot to pay for a cruise that you don't go on), but better than nothing.

 

I got lucky last year (sort of). I was on a cruise (and my neck was completely fine during the cruise) the week of Saturday, June 25 to Saturday, July 2. And then I hurt my neck the morning of Tuesday, July 5, 2011. I was lucky since if I had hurt my neck a week earlier (or if the cruise was a week later), that would have ruined the cruise.

 

Though it put me in a bad situation, since Tuesday, July 5 was the day I was supposed to return to work after the cruise (Monday, July 4 was a holiday). It was almost impossible to drive, and I nearly got into an accident when I was unable to twist my head to look for merging traffic (I was on a ramp ending with a yield sign, and no accelleration lane). I knew that if I called in sick on July 5, they would have accused me of extending my vacation, plus I feared being fired for failure to return from a vacation. So I had to deal with it and drive to work that day; and the driving caused me to hurt my neck even more.

 

I called in sick on July 6 (having worked July 5, they knew I obviously did return from my vacation), and arrived several hours late on July 7 and 8 (got up early those days, and waited several hours, until my neck was somewhat numb, and took a longer route to work that didn't involve a merge that required me to twist my head). Unfortunately, my boss tried to claim that I took that whole week off anyway; he never saw me on July 5 (I think he took that day off), and he noticed I was missing on July 6 and in the morning of July 7 and 8 (not bothering to look for me again in the afternoon). I think he did beleive me in the end, though I doubt he beleived how much pain I was in.

 

Ugg - that sounds like no fun! I've read a lot of posts here over the years where people say "I'm young and healthy" and think they won't ever need the insurance. You just never know. I'm 39, work out regularly, no health problems - it was just a fluke what I did this week.

 

I was also in Hawaii a few years ago when there was a tsunami (small one, but originally predicted to be large.) We don't normally insure domestic trips but did that one due to the costs involved for cancellation. It was the last day of our trip, we were separated from my parents due to the road closures. It was scary waiting for that wave and not knowing if we'd lose all our clothing, meds, etc. back at our beachfront condo and not knowing when we'd be able to get off the island. It thankfully turned out fine but I was glad we had insurance just in case.

 

I've also been in the position of almost missing the ship (even flying the night before.) I was thankful then as well that it would have covered our flights to cozumel and hotel/meals until we could catch up to the ship. Turns out we made the ship but same day - the insurance did reimburse us the cost of our pre-cruise hotel we never made it to.

[dingoguy]

First few cruises no insurance but as we took excursions and seen the world, we realized we were risking our financial security. It is so easy to have a misshap.:eek: My wife woke one morning on one of our cruises eyes swollen closed (allergic reaction to the linen.) Cost $165 for ship Dr and meds. Insurance would have been $75.00.All cruises from that time, we

have had insurance. We had to cancel one cruise because of a knee infection after knee replacement surgery. Insurance pd no problem. We were 2 weeks away from leaving on cruise and if we were in a 3rd world country ( yes Caribbean is the 3rd world) I would have died. ICU for 5 days... cost $125,000.

Health insurance would not have covered it out of country. Also Medicare doesn't pay well outside. I will always buy cruise insurance. the only exception may be a short 3 to 5 day to Bahamas, if DW and I feel great. Cost to get back may not break us.:rolleyes:LOL

[richfret]

Buy the insurance and then hope you never use it since then you are a real winner. To complicate matters, Carnival does not cover pre existing conditions. That can be covered if you buy from another insurance company (Your TA will certainly have one they can recommend). Note also that that type insurance must be purchased at the same time as the cruise. You cannot buy it later and still have pre existing conditions covered.

 

I just bought my cruise insurance and today I received a copy of the entire coverage. It is 14 pages long and written in very small print. That gives you some idea of the complexity of this matter and I can assure you not all will be covered here .