Travel Insurance

[gene g]

Booked a cruise for may 2015, when should i buy Travel insurance ? ( booked under casino rates )

[GTO-Girl]

Booked a cruise for may 2015, when should i buy Travel insurance ? ( booked under casino rates )

 

You can get better rates & coverage by booking with a third party.

 

go to http://www.insuremytrip.com and compare rates. Also to cover any pre-existing conditions you need to get your insurance within 14 days of booking.

 

We never get ours through the cruiseline...

[montekat]

I always buy insurance within the 2 week time period so that any pre-existing conditions will be covered. As noted, the best rates are from a third party insurer; I use http://www.insuremytrip.com all the time. There are others, but I find this the easiest to navigate. Also, only insure for the price of the cruise and not for the reimbursable things, such as taxes and port fees. It took me years to learn that I was overinsuring.

[SATXLady]

I always buy insurance within the 2 week time period so that any pre-existing conditions will be covered. As noted, the best rates are from a third party insurer; I use http://www.insuremytrip.com all the time. There are others, but I find this the easiest to navigate. Also, only insure for the price of the cruise and not for the reimbursable things, such as taxes and port fees. It took me years to learn that I was overinsuring.

 

More important than the cost of the cruise is the medical coverage and evacuation if needed. What would it take to get you home? What else would be involved? What is your risk? You're young and healthy? Great. I started buying cruise insurance for myself several years ago when I read (I think it was on Cruise Critic) about a 16 year old who got appendicitis and had to be med evac'd. Since I often cruise with my Mom who is now 80, it's a major consideration when she's going. Frankly, getting back the cost of the cruise is very minor considering other things.

[montekat]

More important than the cost of the cruise is the medical coverage and evacuation if needed. What would it take to get you home? What else would be involved? What is your risk? You're young and healthy? Great. I started buying cruise insurance for myself several years ago when I read (I think it was on Cruise Critic) about a 16 year old who got appendicitis and had to be med evac'd. Since I often cruise with my Mom who is now 80, it's a major consideration when she's going. Frankly, getting back the cost of the cruise is very minor considering other things.

Yes, repatriation and medical expenses are quite high. That is why I shop the all inclusives and not just the med and evac policies.

[C Cruise Dude]

Booked a cruise for may 2015, when should i buy Travel insurance ? ( booked under casino rates )

 

 

Back in May I was looking at a cruise in July and was considering not buying the insurance to save a few dollars. In June, I had an accident at work and was off for 3 months. I would have missed the cruise and lost my money for it and airfares. I just returned from a cruise and a relative on the ship decided not to purchase the insurance this time since it was never used in the past. Her husband was in the medical unit the last night and she got a bill for $1600 when she got off the ship. It depends on what you are prepared to financially absorb if things go wrong. :cool:

[goofytoo]

I agree within the others buy it within the first 2 weeks of booking your vacation. Use a third party insurer, Carnival is super expensive. Buy an all inclusive package it is not that much more than medical and evacuation and it covers a lot more than Carnival's insurance.

 

We did use our insurance and I was glad that we had it.

[montekat]

Depending on your age, Carnival's insurance is actually fairly reasonably priced. The problem is that the coverage for medical is too low, only $10,000. My SIL fell on a cruise 2 years ago and broke her hip. This was at lunchtime on the last sea day. She spent the night in the infirmary, then was taken off by ambulance in Bayonne.

 

Unfortunately the Dr. gave her a large dose of blood thinner to prevent clots which was good, but since the surgeon wanted to operate right away, he couldn't due to risk of bleeding. In all, she was at the hospital 2 weeks and had a hip replacement. She had travel insurance but it only covered $15,000 in medical expenses. The bill for everything came close to $300,000. That is a staggering amt. and could easily bankrupt someone. It was good that she was returned to the States, but bad that they sent her to Bayonne Medical Ctr. I couldn't believe the charges, so I checked it out. A semi-pvt. room was $18,000/day, $800 for an EKG, etc. etc. This particular hospital is private, not a non-profit, and is the single most expensive hospital in the entire country!

 

She had medical insurance through her work, so it picked up most of the charges. All in all, I doubt most people could have borne such an expense without taking out a loan. From now on, I buy travel ins. that covers at least $100,00 in medical and $500,00 in repatriation. It is worth a few extra dollars for the peace of mind.

[SteelerCruiser]

travelguard

[fototaker]

I made the assumption that the insurance would kick in immediately if you had an accident or became ill, In fact Carnival insurance is secondary and you have to submit claims to be reimbursed! If you need Medvac'd from a port back to the states, you had better have the financial wherewithal to be able to do that. However, the insurance seems more specific to cancellation and property loss and damage while on the ship. Trip Insurance is confusing! I hate the mumbo jumbo associated with purchasing it. :confused: I once purchased an Eye rider policy that cost me 22 dollars a month, it covered a free exam and free lenses, and frames up $75.00... After my exam and purchase of frames as well as the cost of the insurance, I still paid $500. Sadly I would have paid that with no insurance! I am not saying that travel insurance will be the same way, I am saying that I wish the would just be upfront about the details, or even better there should have to be no reimbursement claim, why can't it be a simple process?

[katiel53]

We buy insurance typically the day we book the cruise. As far as Carnival being the most expensive, it really depends on ones age. My DH and I are seniors so it is less expensive for us to buy Carnival insurance than from other companies found on Insure my trip.

 

Even when we were younger, we purchased insurance because of having elderly parents. I was concerned that if something happened to them, that we would have a very expensive trip from wherever we were. We usually book insurance through an independent company because the medivac coverage is higher than with Carnival.

 

It is my understanding that Medicare doesn't pay for coverage out of the country. One time on a ship I developed shingles and when I submitted the claim for the doctor bill and for the meds, it was approved immediately because they told me I wasn't covered by Medicare out of the country. I don't know if this is still the case, but I haven't been worried as we always have insurance.

 

I also know there are many who feel they will "self insure" and that's fine, but when/if I have to cancel, I want to use that money to book another cruise asap, so it's worth it to us to pay the extra for insurance.

[Ken076]

I made the assumption that the insurance would kick in immediately if you had an accident or became ill, In fact Carnival insurance is secondary and you have to submit claims to be reimbursed! If you need Medvac'd from a port back to the states, you had better have the financial wherewithal to be able to do that. ......

 

 

Actually, the MedEvac is coordinated between the Insurance and the MedEvac provider - you don't have to upfront this expense. Ken

[Ken076]

We buy insurance typically the day we book the cruise. As far as Carnival being the most expensive, it really depends on ones age. My DH and I are seniors so it is less expensive for us to buy Carnival insurance than from other companies found on Insure my trip. .

 

As you become older and older, the Cruiseline's premium becomes less than that of the 3rd party insurers, but you're stick with the (IMO) totally inadequate CruiseLine Medical coverage and the marginal MedEvac coverage. Ken

[GTO-Girl]

Although we are in our 60's we still prefer to purchase our insurance through Insuremytrip. We always make sure the policy we get will serve as "primary" and not secondary.

 

We usually get either Travelguard or Travelsafe....

 

Happy sailing everybody!!!

 

P.S.......WE SAIL THIS FRIDAY.!!!!!L.......(sorry just had to throw that in...:D)

[fototaker]

Although we are in our 60's we still prefer to purchase our insurance through Insuremytrip. We always make sure the policy we get will serve as "primary" and not secondary.

 

We usually get either Travelguard or Travelsafe....

 

Happy sailing everybody!!!

 

P.S.......WE SAIL THIS FRIDAY.!!!!!L.......(sorry just had to throw that in...:D)

 

I only just spoke to carnival this morning in regard to their insurance, I am going to have check into travelguard or travelsafe... I sail in 14 days and hope its not to late!

[djcass4199]

I can speak to the ease of using Travelguard if you need to make use of the insurance. Had to cancel a cruise due to illness and doctors orders. Time to process claim and receive refund was just under 3 weeks. Now we always buy insurance.

[katiel53]

As you become older and older, the Cruiseline's premium becomes less than that of the 3rd party insurers, but you're stick with the (IMO) totally inadequate CruiseLine Medical coverage and the marginal MedEvac coverage. Ken

 

In my post I said we usually purchase insurance through an independent insurer because we get higher medivac insurance.

 

I mentioned that Carnival insurance is cheaper depending upon age as it is better, in my opinion, to have Carnival insurance than no insurance. (For those who feel it is too expensive to buy what we do.)

 

I look for insurance with good coverage for medical and medieval and have found that on insuremytrip.com.

[snowskier]

It is not necessary to purchase insurance within a certain number of days of initial payment to get pre-existing conditions covered. Some providers have this requirement, some do not. I often use a provider that requires the purchase within a specified time related to final payment. The coverage, service and rating is comparable to Travelguard or others, sometimes I get better coverage for smaller premium.

 

Another hint -- check insuremytrip (or one of the others) to do the comparisons but always check the website of the provider you have selected. I have actually purchased the exact same policy for less money when eliminating the "middleman". Doesn't happen often but when it does I consider it time well spent to have checked.

[freagan]

If you cruise/travel more then once a year, another money saving tip would be to investigate annual coverage.

[Budget Queen]

I traveled about half the year this year, so I buy an annual policy, which was the best value for our needs.

 

Key is to be very careful if you are past the pre existing waiver. The policy I use, had a 60 day clause, so it was very important to have had NO additional medical visits, med changes etc. otherwise- that particular medical condition is never covered.

 

So those that travel more often, an annual policy is significantly cheaper than per trip coverage.