Travel insurance

[RNsoon2beNP]

Ok for those of your who book vacas on your own, have you ever gotten travel insurance on your own, not directly through the cruise line?

 

Any tips or pointers? I would appreciate it!

[Keith1010]

Before I answer I also wanted to recommend that you post on the Cruise/Travel Insurance Board.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=635

 

On our first few cruises we took the insurance offered by the cruise line.

 

For a couple of cruises we took insurance offered by our travel agent.

 

As more experienced cruisers we started to look at policies on our own. There are several travel insurance search engines and I mainly use http://www.insuremytrip.com

 

You enter some information about those traveling in your party and the cruise and it will provide a series of options and has a tool that makes it easy to compare policies.

 

I have found that I can get more comprehensive coverage and at a lower cost then offered by the cruise lines.

 

There are some credit cards that provide travel coverage but as I often say the devil is in the details so the key is to know specifically what they cover and if there are areas they don't.

 

If you have a pre-existing condition when you purchase insurance on your own most (not all but most) of the insurance companies require that you purchase insurance within two to three weeks (some are two and some are three) of the time you make your deposit for the cruise.

 

Keith

[RNsoon2beNP]

Didn't even know they had there own board! Thank you SO much for the information!

[Herfnerd]

We never buy from the cruise line. We use insuremytrip.com or squaremouth.com

 

 

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[Keith1010]

You are very welcome.

 

Keith

[Krazy Kruizers]

Just be certain that you read over the fine print as some of the companies have lots of rules concerning what is covered and what is not.

Being senior citizens we also purchase separate health insurance -- making certain we are covered in case we need medical evacuation which can be costly and not covered by some regular insurance policies.

[bUU]

If the last month has taught the collective membership of Cruise Critic anything, it should have taught us all just how critically important travel insurance is. There have been dozens of threads on a number of cruise line boards, here, within which posters relayed their shock and dismay about how much risk the terms and conditions of the cruise contract place on the passengers' shoulders. And the cruise line's insurance is simply not comprehensive enough to protect passengers as much as these posters made clear that they expected to be protected. A lot of people promote private insurance such as through www.insuremytrip.com as a way of saving money contrasted with what the cruise lines offer. That's not it: If you're paying less than what the cruise lines offer then you're still taking a lot more risk onto yourself than these posters wanted placed on themselves, and you're therefore opening yourself up to a lot more disappointment and dissatisfaction than these posters wanted to be subjected to.

[easyboy]

We compare coverage and rates at https://tripinsurancestore.com/

 

 

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[Hlitner]

Cruise line insurance is a "one thing fits all" kind of thing which often does not meet the needs of a cruiser. Our issue with the cruise line policies is that the policies sold by all the mass market lines fail to offer adequate medical insurance. $10,000 or even $20,000 is just not sufficient in an era when you could easily spent more then that in a single day of hospitalization.

 

We have opted to get a credit card that gives us up to $10,000 (sometimes twice that amount) in travel cancellation insurance as part of the normal credit card benefits. We then purchase an annual $250,000 Travel Medical Policy through GeoBlue which also includes $500,000 in evacuation coverage. That particular policy (which costs less than $500 a year) covers DW and myself for every trip (up to 70 days long) we take during the entire policy year.

 

What we do fits our own situation and more then meets our needs. But each person has different issues, wants, risk tolerance, etc. Like the purchase of any insurance, one is well advised to analyze their own situation and act accordingly.

 

Hank

[iancal]

We never buy any insurance from the cruise line or through a travel agent. We typically deal directly with the carrier. The policies, the questionaires, and the prices vary significantly. Most especially on longer trips.

 

I had a very experienced TA for business travel. Her strong recommendation was to not buy travel insurance for personal travel through her. Of course, she would not let her agency principal overhear that advice. Her comment at the time was why would you pay and extra 25 or 30 percent and probably get less coverage from me or my supplier when you could go out to the market and get a more comprehensive and less expensive product.

 

We have found her advice to be valid each and every time we have shopped/compared.

[SRF]

As with anything, you need to shop around.

 

Our first cruise, for us (late 50s) it was cheaper and better coverage for a 3rd party insurance.

 

For my parents (87), the 3rd party insurance was almost as much as the cruise, so we insured them with the cruise line (RCI), not as good of coverage, but a fraction of the cost.

 

And they used it.

[Toofarfromthesea]

As with anything, you need to shop around.

 

Our first cruise, for us (late 50s) it was cheaper and better coverage for a 3rd party insurance.

 

For my parents (87), the 3rd party insurance was almost as much as the cruise, so we insured them with the cruise line (RCI), not as good of coverage, but a fraction of the cost.

 

And they used it.

 

You make a great point. Outside insurance can get to be expensive or even unavailable at more advanced ages. At that point the disadvantages of a one size fits all cruise line policy may be outweighed by the one price fits all nature of a cruise line policy.

[NMLady]

I don't use the cruise line's insurance because medical and evacuation aren't high enough. Also, it does not cover pre-existing conditions.

 

I've used insuremytrip.com to find insurance. I've also used Travelex.com for their insurance. But now I use TripInsuranceStore.com since it makes comparing policies so much easier. I buy insurance within two weeks of booking so it covers pre-existing conditions.

[pris993]

I buy an annual policy from Travel Guard, for business travelers that anyone can buy... covers us for a year for $518. I don't have to be concerned about buying within a specific time frame of purchasing travel .. This gives us some basic coverage. Good anytime we are 100 miles or more away form home... covers both domestic and international travel... primary objective is to cover health emergencies and emergency evacuation... has some other travel related items of less importance to us. Can be checked out on line at Travel Guard.

[alexspepa]

I offer this thread a couple of times a year...my experience filing a claim...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2207632

[calliopecruiser]

Ok for those of your who book vacas on your own, have you ever gotten travel insurance on your own, not directly through the cruise line?

 

Any tips or pointers? I would appreciate it!

 

Always.....but "travel insurance" means different things. I only buy medical coverage, and I always buy it independently.