Carnival insurance??

[chelseawynn89]

We took our 1st cruise last year (my husband & I) and we both bought the insurance through carnival. This time (we're sailing in August 2014) I didn't buy the insurance. I'm a little nervous about not buying it but I HATE to waste another $200 on it. I would love to hear everyone's opinion on it. Is it worth it? Have you ever actually needed it? And what's the likelihood that they would actually lose your luggage?

 

 

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[goduckies05]

We took our 1st cruise last year (my husband & I) and we both bought the insurance through carnival. This time (we're sailing in August 2014) I didn't buy the insurance. I'm a little nervous about not buying it but I HATE to waste another $200 on it. I would love to hear everyone's opinion on it. Is it worth it? Have you ever actually needed it? And what's the likelihood that they would actually lose your luggage?

 

 

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Buy it or other insurance. You never know what life may throw your way. Your mom could pass away with a brain aneurysm like mine did less than a month before sail away in April. I would have liked to have had the option to cancel. But in the end I am glad I went on the trip.

 

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[Ehpride]

I always buy insurance, but I never buy it from Carnival. I go insuremytrip.com and it costs much less.

 

I've never needed it but I can't afford to pay for a trip that I'm not taking. I also can't afford to be airlifted off a ship.

 

If you don't buy insurance, you are making the decision to self-insure should anything happen.

 

 

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[apdchief]

At the very least I always buy medical evacuation insurance. I can survive if I don't get the money back on the cruise, but the cost to be flown back to the States for me or a family will kill us.

[ChefSusan]

If you travel more than once a year, you may want to check into a yearly policy that could cover you regardless if you travel by cruise ship, airplane, or car. We compared a single policy to a yearly one, and believe it or not, but the difference was only a couple of dollars.

 

Better to be safe than sorry!

[SMSACE6]

Whether you buy it through Carnival or not; one should buy insurance.

 

The only insurance I would buy through Carnival is the "cancel for any reason" one that I bought a few years ago and used. Had no problem.

 

I have personal travel insurance, and usually purchase an extra one, and shop around for it. But I see many on this board recommend insuremytrip. or something like that. But there must be many options out there.

 

I cant believe that I actually travelled all over this world and many cruises when I was younger (20's to early 40's) without any travel insurance. Just had my head up in the clouds, oblivious to what can happen and sometimes does happen while travelling. Has nothing to do with your age. Anything can happen to anyone any age and anywhere. So..now I cant leave home without it.

 

JMHO. Dont go without travel insurance.

Edited July 7, 2014 by SMSACE6

[bm6pm5]

Never heard of a yearly policy where do you get info on that?

[SMSACE6]

Never heard of a yearly policy where do you get info on that?

 

I have a yearly policy that covers me for trips I take anywhere up to 30 days.

 

I pay it once a year through a payroll deduction. this policy however does have some limitations, so I usually take on an extra one time cost insurance, especially when I travel by air, and by sea, that gives me extra coverage, and extra peace of mind.

 

Yearly travel insurance packages are usually available through employer's insurance providers or through any insurance providers and and are usually available at reasonable rates.

Edited July 7, 2014 by SMSACE6

[chelseawynn89]

Awesome! Thank you all so much for your help. I just bought insurance through insuremytrip.com & ended up paying less than 1/2 of what carnival charges. I feel better now & not so worried in case anything were to happen. :)

 

 

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[SMSACE6]

Peace of Mind while travelling is a good thing!:)

[yogi_6977]

I use travelguard dot com. for our trips.

[Rh2458]

I'm glad I read this thread. I hadn't purchased the trip insurance yet so I went to the website suggested and received a boatload of quotes. The only problem was deciding which one would be the one I would actually need. I went with Nationwide Insurance. Hopefully it has the most important coverage I would need.

[CruiseHealing]

I have always book insurance with the cruiseline. We have had to use it twice, once due to our 14 DS having a flu with 104 temp the day before the cruise and the other one for the passing of DW's father 3 days before we sailed. It was good to have and just a paper work hassle. But the price from the cruise lines are getting expensive.

 

On our next 5 day cruise Carnival charges us $98 per person. I was shock at the rate and my PVP said to was due to us being on the 8th deck and a aft balcony. What are they think will happen?

 

The quotes from the various web sites, with similar coverage, totaled around $100 for the both of us. The savings will go to parking at the port. Parking is another expense that has gotten out of control. But that is another issue for a different thread.

 

Thanks to all for sharing. That is what makes CC so important to cruisers!

[pbsteve]

I never thought of insurance on my cruise.. I suppose If I can't make the trip, I can live within carnivals rules, I never thought of an airlift off the boat. I may be reading things wrong but I am finding emergency medical coverage with 500000 in medical evacuation for only 29 for me and my wife. I'll be reading the terms carefully, I've already checked and it covers not just medical evacuation from the ship but also a flight home, 0 deductible and 1,000,000 in medical coverage. But that's really all I'm worried about. For 29.00 it's stupid not to get it.

 

Like others said, can you afford to pay for a helicopter lift off the boat if needed? I don't want everythings covered insurance, I want simply **** hit the fan insurance.

[chelseawynn89]

I also went with Nationwide through Insuremytrip.com. I payed $54 for the two of us compared to the $190 that carnival charges. Be sure to read over everything carefully though.

 

 

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[chelseawynn89]

I'm glad I read this thread. I hadn't purchased the trip insurance yet so I went to the website suggested and received a boatload of quotes. The only problem was deciding which one would be the one I would actually need. I went with Nationwide Insurance. Hopefully it has the most important coverage I would need.

 

I read over the terms & it basically covers everything you would need. If a family member dies or if you get severely sick or stuck in a traffic jam on the way there & so on.

 

 

 

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[todzie]

We always buy the insurance from a third party and have had to actually file claims on several occasions.

 

Just one time more than covered the cost of the insurance on the next 8 cruises.

 

Once, I left a prescription med at home...a quick trip to the infirmary, met with a nurse and got a weeks' supply of my meds. That cost wasn't hardly worth the effort, but the next time was.

 

I went into a cardiac arrhythmia on the ship which would not revert on its own. I had to be on a cardiac monitor and pumped full of various IV drugs for an entire day, with multiple EKG's every 10-15 minutes over an 8-12 hr period. Amazingly the cost I had to sign for on my S&S account was only about $800...filed a claim when we got home, and it was 100% covered by the trip insurance, and we received a reimbursement check within 10 days.

 

The $800 was nothing compared to the anticipated costs of medical evac options discussed for me when my heart rate was very unstable. We were fortunate in that we were on our way back to home port, and I ended up being able to be converted back into a proper rhythm. I did spend a few days in the hospital once I got back home.

 

And the kicker is, it was a pre-existing condition that I had supposedly been "successfully" treated for just a little over a month before sailing. I had a clean bill of health to sail, but because I purchased the insurance within the time frame to waive pre-exisiting conditions, that was not an issue at all.

 

As a further foreshadowing on this particular cruise, our cruise buddies had to cancel their booking completely just two days out as his mother passed away...they were able to cancel with a full refund and book a cruise that ended up being cheaper three months later.

[Engineerstar]

Todzie,

Which insurer did you use---if it's not wrong to ask?

[bingo3]

Whether you buy it through Carnival or not; one should buy insurance.

 

The only insurance I would buy through Carnival is the "cancel for any reason" one that I bought a few years ago and used. Had no problem.

 

I have personal travel insurance, and usually purchase an extra one, and shop around for it. But I see many on this board recommend insuremytrip. or something like that. But there must be many options out there.

 

I cant believe that I actually travelled all over this world and many cruises when I was younger (20's to early 40's) without any travel insurance. Just had my head up in the clouds, oblivious to what can happen and sometimes does happen while travelling. Has nothing to do with your age. Anything can happen to anyone any age and anywhere. So..now I cant leave home without it.

 

JMHO. Dont go without travel insurance.

 

So true, my sister and hubby were on the way to the ship, in the shuttle bus in May, when their 10 yr. old granddaughter suffered a major seizure, first time ever, ended that cruise (though their luggage got to go...)! They did have insurance thankfully! Age does NOT matter, never know when something might happen....

[cdubmom]

Be sure to read the fine print about who's illness can qualify you for a refund. Nieces are not close enough relations and a year with no history of condition is required to cancel. Wishing I would have taken the "cancel for any reason" when I called to book my cruise, but I thought it was a quick money grab since it was the first time I had heard of it and chose to investigate different options. She told me I could call back and add insurance which I did, but then when I tried to cancel, we didn't have the right coverage for a niece with a pre-existing condition. :(

 

To put me at ease, though, I did call several insurance companies and provided the scenario just to check about coverage since I was feeling ridiculous about not getting the proper package in the first place , and only one said I might have qualified for a partial refund.

 

I will never book another Carnival cruise without the "cancel for any reason."

 

 

 

 

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[todzie]

Todzie,

Which insurer did you use---if it's not wrong to ask?

 

We went through tripinsurancestore.com...they are very helpful and the claims process couldn't have been easier. We usually go with Travel Guard or TravelSafe as far as the actual insurance provider.

[LynnTH]

We too always buy Trip Insurance for cruises (but not from Carnival). Mainly we buy just in case something happens right before the cruise and we can't go.

 

We just got back a month ago on the Conquest. Second day there DS15 fell on the basketball court and broke his wrist in a few spots. Went to the ship's doctor where they did x-rays and put a cast on. Then they made us appt in Cozumel the next morning. They arranged everything for us and we had to wait for the Port Agent. He got us in a taxi and told them where to take us. (The hospital was only a few miles away). There we met with an Orthopedic Surgeon and they did more xrays and then said then had to call in the Anesthesiologist where they had to put my son under and rebreak his arm and then they put a full arm cast on. It was a little scary being in a hospital outside of the US and they didn't all speak much English. And of course you have to pay that bill right there. They first showed me the bill and it was $21,000. Thank goodness it was in Pesos and was actually like $2100, which was super cheap compared to back home. The cruise Dr bill was $342 which I also thought was super cheap.

 

Anyway. I had to submit my claim to my Health Insurance Company first and whatever they don't pay then I will submit to my Trip Insurance. It sure gave me some peace knowing that I had bought Trip Insurance and that this would be covered.

 

Brought DS to our Orthopedic Dr when we got home and they said that they did a good job in Cozumel. They did take off the full cast and put a shorter waterproof cast on and he already had that taken off last week.

 

So, that $150 I spent on Trip Insurance was so well worth it. You just don't know what might happen.

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

We use insuremytrip. I would never insure my car with the manufacturer, therefore I don't insure my vacation with the vendor.

[Rosesare]

Thanks for posting this topic. Had the debate recently about wether or not to purchase the carnival insurance on our upcoming cruise in December and eventually opted not to. I think I'll look into some of the companies mentioned :)

 

 

 

 

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Edited July 9, 2014 by Rosesare

[Towel Critter]

We use Travelguard. It's about half the price of the Carnival insurance (Silver level) and we've filed claims with them twice with no problems. In October of 2013 we had to cancel an 8 night cruise due to my mother going into the hospital three days before the sail date. I had to send them hospital records, naturally, but they reimbursed us for 100% of the cruise. Don't cruise without travel insurance, unless you can afford to part with significant sums of money. You never know what might happen before, or during the cruise.