Free Cabin Offer, INSURANCE NEEDED?

[CheckersMidwest]

We did not take the insurance either. I know it pays for great stuff - medical attention on the ship, air lift, cancellation, etc. However, I've never bought the travel insurance associated with our trips - Disney, on land Caribbean trips, cruises, etc.

 

For our 'free' cabin, it would have been $98 for the two of us, in the kids cabin next door, it was almost $300.

[iron9er]

Gracias for the answers guys. Since it seems I have time, I'll look into both Carnival's insurance and private co's.

[jimbri]

In the past, I did not buy insurance. Last December my husband had a sudden attack of colitis (no history of this) and had to be hospitalized for 5 days! For $49 apiece it was worth it for me. I even asked the Carnival rep if it covered being taken off the ship by helicopter and it does! Hope we don't have to use it but it's one less thing to worry about :).

[billy10]

I don't think carnival insurance for $49 is for cancel for any reason is it?

[Shepard]

Yeah there's no point in me getting the insurance. You guy's can get the insurance it doesn't bother me. I'll be driving the night before the cruise leaves so I don't have to worry about missing a flight. If it's to much traffic then their would be a huge amount of people missing the cruise also. I couldn't imagine a traffic jam at 4 AM in Houston.

[aprilmay15]

I booked my 'free' cruise 13 days ago, but declined the Carnival insurance at the time. Can I call back and get it at this point or just have to go with private insurance? Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

Where are you getting these free cruise offers?

[thomarvin]

@ Checkersmidwest... you might want to check the small print. If you got the same deal it seems the rest of us have gotten, if you are a no-show, or have to cancel for any reason, you are responsible for the "market value" of the cruise. Not just the taxes and port fees that you paid.

 

@billy10...I was told that yes, the $49 insurance thru Carnival was for "any" reason.

 

My sister just got off the Breeze today and someone got Medi-flighted off on Friday night. She had the back wrap so got some really cool pictures of the helicopter hovering waiting to land.

[megmno]

If you're not going to buy insurance you should at least look into whether your health insurance covers you for trips out of the United States. Mine does not, and also would not cover medevac from a ship.

 

If one of us became seriously injured or ill, those costs could bankrupt us. so we buy insurance. I've heard that the cost for a helicopter medevac is like $50,000. (The US Coast Guard is only going to come get you for free if you're close to the US.)

 

IMHO, too many people worry about insurance coverage for small things (like losing their vacation) and don't think about the worst case scenarios.

[JudyOh]

If final payment has passed yet you normally can add insurance till then. If in this case they won't let you, you can purchase it from an independent insurance company, we use Travel Guard all the time.

 

Shepard - if you paid by cc they still have your number, they can easily charge the cruisefare to it, if you cancel.