Cruise Insurance: Royal Caribbean or AAA or othe

[PRIDE]

This is a good time to discuss - Who is your cruise insurance provider? Do you use Royal Caribbean or AAA or another company? Thoughts and experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[2CatsInFlorida]

RCI cruise care was less expensive than AAA and had adequate coverage for us.

 

 

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[shutterbug63]

I use insuremytrip.com to pick a policy. I've used different providers on different cruises based on what I think I'll need and price. I don't have any brand loyalty, but I felt the coverage was great for the price I paid.

 

Only time I had to use it, I had a John Hancock plan. When we got delayed in Fort Lauderdale overnight (on the way home), it reimbursed 100% for the costs I incurred because of the delay.

[HS2BS]

I personally use insureandgo, although there has only been one occasion that we almost needed it. A few years ago Delta lost our luggage on the way to FLL and luckily it was the day before the cruise. When I called the insurance company and explained to the represenative what happened - the reply was go shopping and don't forget to get new luggage! Well, six days later Delta found our luggage and delivered it to us in Aruba. The best part was Delta assumed the whole bill for our shopping spree and no insurance claim was made.

We have done many, many cruise and it's worth the peace of mind to have the coverage that you choose, including pre-existing conditions.

Whichever insurer that you go with, read the coverage and fine print to see what, where and when you are covered. Just today we booked and insured our AOS trip this summer, including the grandkids!

 

What ever you do - have a great cruise and worry free vacation,

 

Hal

[Clarea]

RCI cruise care was less expensive than AAA and had adequate coverage for us.

This is especially true as we get older, because Royal's insurance premium is not age based as the independent policies are.

[Keith1010]

We look at all options.

 

Cost is just one factor.

 

What it covers is another one.

 

We use insuremytrip.com for our research.

 

Keith

[Arizona Laura]

I have used RCL travel insurance several times due to cancelled cruises and after I sent in the paper work including physician paper work I had my check minus the cost of insurance within 2 weeks.

[Clarea]

I have used RCL travel insurance several times due to cancelled cruises and after I sent in the paper work including physician paper work I had my check minus the cost of insurance within 2 weeks.

Good to hear. Patti has also reported very good luck with Royal's Cruise Care.

[leisuretraveler223]

Keith nailed it. There is no "one size fits all" choice.

 

First, WHAT are you trying to cover? People around here tend to lump a lot of things into one category. Are you looking to protect the cost of the cruise, such that you can get your money back if you have to cancel? Are you concerned about health coverage should you or a traveling companion have a problem? Are you interested in having medical transport back if need be?

 

The first one is where there seems to be a lot of controversy around here. I am not one who is inclined to insure the cost of my trip. I have opted to self insure as I have better options for investing. However, I KNOW that means that I could lose out some time. So, if I do, I won't come on here and cry that a cruise line won't give me my money back. I'm a big boy and I can live with the decisions I make.

 

As far as medical coverage, the first place to start is with your current provider. Check and see what coverage you ALREADY have. A lot of people will be surprised to discover they already have a good amount of coverage. Of course, most of the time, it's reimbursement coverage. Some hospital on an island isn't likely to take your insurance card, so you're going to have to pony up the payment and submit the expense to your insurer. Chances are it'll still cost you a couple hundred bucks (but if that happens once in five trips, it's still probably cheaper than five gap policies).

 

If you're interested in medical evacuation, look into that specifically. I have a plan through MedJetAssist. I travel a good amount, so rather than buying something for a specific trip, I buy a three year plan. One payment and I'm covered anywhere in the world for three years.

 

The wild card in the first part is the ethereal "peace of mind". And while I get that people like this, I feel like sometimes it's a blanket reassurance that's put in place because it's easier than really looking into these things and determining what you really need.

 

"Peace of mind" is what these companies are really selling. And it's how they make lots and lots of $$$$!

[klepton]

Some good info on this thread... I wish it was around when I first bought insurance. :)

 

I've purchased insurance for every cruise except my very first one, when I didn't even know it existed. While buying insurance through the cruise line has never made sense for me, I won't say it doesn't ever make sense (Bob had a good example about it not being age based). My family is pretty young, but I was surprised when I added my parents to one of our policies how much that cost. You just need to compare the options and see what makes sense for each trip.

 

Like leisuretraveler223, I will sometimes self insure for cancellation/interruption. Insurance costs seem to be tied mostly to the cost of the vacation, so insuring only a portion of the trip costs can get you many of the other benefits (medivac, lost luggage, etc) far cheaper.

 

The other thing I do is purchase multiple policies where it makes sense.

[2CatsInFlorida]

I have used RCL travel insurance several times due to cancelled cruises and after I sent in the paper work including physician paper work I had my check minus the cost of insurance within 2 weeks.

 

 

Glad to hear that. We buy RCI insurance every cruise. Some insurers won't insure seniors, specifically MedJet. A medical evacuation can easily exceed $25,000.

 

We had to use trip insurance once on a river cruise in Europe and it paid the full cost of the trip, about $10,000 less insurance cost and travel agent fee.

 

 

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[jamon]

We use GEOBLUE for medical and evacuation coverage...we self insure for cost of cruise since compared to medical/evacuation we can handle the cruise cost. It is one price for any trip taken outside the US that doesn't last more than 70 days at one time. So if you cruise or travel more than a couple of times a year then this will cover as many trips as you make that do not exceed the 70 days at one time.

[torpeedo]

We use GEOBLUE for medical and evacuation coverage...we self insure for cost of cruise since compared to medical/evacuation we can handle the cruise cost. It is one price for any trip taken outside the US that doesn't last more than 70 days at one time. So if you cruise or travel more than a couple of times a year then this will cover as many trips as you make that do not exceed the 70 days at one time.

 

We also use Geoblue trekker and it was a $400 premium for two for an entire year which was great as we cruise 7-8 times per year. This is just medical/evacuation however and we also just self insure for the cost of the trip. (also covers all pre existing and is primary)

Edited April 4, 2016 by torpeedo

[TexCruise371]

We buy annual trip insurance through DAN which is a scuba diving association. We travel quite a bit and have found that it's a lot less hassle than to buy insurance on every trip.

 

We have had to turn in claims a few times due to elderly parents and a couple of other things. It has definatly been worth it to us. :)

[JaniceB]

Keith nailed it. There is no "one size fits all" choice.

 

First, WHAT are you trying to cover? People around here tend to lump a lot of things into one category. Are you looking to protect the cost of the cruise, such that you can get your money back if you have to cancel? Are you concerned about health coverage should you or a traveling companion have a problem? Are you interested in having medical transport back if need be?

 

The first one is where there seems to be a lot of controversy around here. I am not one who is inclined to insure the cost of my trip. I have opted to self insure as I have better options for investing. However, I KNOW that means that I could lose out some time. So, if I do, I won't come on here and cry that a cruise line won't give me my money back. I'm a big boy and I can live with the decisions I make.

 

As far as medical coverage, the first place to start is with your current provider. Check and see what coverage you ALREADY have. A lot of people will be surprised to discover they already have a good amount of coverage. Of course, most of the time, it's reimbursement coverage. Some hospital on an island isn't likely to take your insurance card, so you're going to have to pony up the payment and submit the expense to your insurer. Chances are it'll still cost you a couple hundred bucks (but if that happens once in five trips, it's still probably cheaper than five gap policies).

 

If you're interested in medical evacuation, look into that specifically. I have a plan through MedJetAssist. I travel a good amount, so rather than buying something for a specific trip, I buy a three year plan. One payment and I'm covered anywhere in the world for three years.

 

The wild card in the first part is the ethereal "peace of mind". And while I get that people like this, I feel like sometimes it's a blanket reassurance that's put in place because it's easier than really looking into these things and determining what you really need.

 

"Peace of mind" is what these companies are really selling. And it's how they make lots and lots of $$$$![/quote

 

Thanks for the info about the Medjet. I have a friend who just retired and plans to travel a lot. He has had many health issues and this sounds perfect for him.

[Barry ATL]

We use TravelEx. If you enter the cost of the trip as ZERO, they will give you a price for medical, evacuation, and trip interruption. We self insure for the cost of the trip, but by their best package because of the medical and evacuation. We found the coverave and the price to work for us.

[YadaYadaJodi]

I use Travel Insured International through a recommendation (and I assume discount) by my insurance carrier, USAA. I access their website by signing in to my USAA account and clicking on a link.

 

I get more coverage for less dollars compared to Royal's plan. Example - a lot more medical evacuation coverage and pre-existing conditions coverage, etc.

Edited April 4, 2016 by YadaYadaJodi

[destiny217]

Good point about Royal's plan not being age based. Does their plan cover air travel not purchased through them? If no, is it a good idea to purchase that separately?

 

Thanks.

[Clarea]

Good point about Royal's plan not being age based. Does their plan cover air travel not purchased through them? If no, is it a good idea to purchase that separately?

 

Thanks.

Royal's plan no longer covers independently booked air. It's up to you to purchase air coverage. We don't when we fly Southwest as we can use the funds for a cancelled flight on some other Southwest flight. However, if you don't want the financial exposure that comes from losing your flight costs, then it's a good idea to purchase insurance for that.

[destiny217]

Royal's plan no longer covers independently booked air. It's up to you to purchase air coverage. We don't when we fly Southwest as we can use the funds for a cancelled flight on some other Southwest flight. However, if you don't want the financial exposure that comes from losing your flight costs, then it's a good idea to purchase insurance for that.

 

We also fly SWA. Most times we purchase the air & cruise insurance together but could be time to rethink that and check on other options.

 

Thanks.

[navychica]

We use USAA- only for military, but I definitely recommend it. It covers cancelled leave and Navy ship movements. Without it, I couldn't really plan more than a month in advance!

[bluedevil72]

We initially used third party insurers for our first several cruise because of the cheaper cost. As we've gotten older we've now started using the cruise line insurance because it is now cheaper.

We now have another reason to use RCCL insurance. We were booked on the Oasis last year and had already made final payment. Between the time that we made the final payment and got past the 75% return window, we had several big expenses come up and we didn't think it was financially responsible to go ahead with the cruise.

We were actually two days past the 75% window and I spoke with several people but no one would bend the rules, which I understand. We did get all of the taxes and port fees along with 50% of our fare back. And then the part that I was unaware of, because we had used the RCCL insurance we got 75% of the amount that we didn't get back to use as a future cruise credit.

We are now booked on the Allure next month using that cruise credit.