make sure you get trip insurance you never know

[larasmom]

it was the best $29 i ever spent.

 

i just got back from my very first cruise and i am glad i opted to get the insurance.

 

i was sick with a virus my entire 3 day cruise.

 

i spent $909 on medical aid on the ship and it will be covered by my trip insurance.

 

first they thought i had motion sickness so they gave me a shot and oral meds. the next morning i was still feeling ill and it turned out i did not have motion sickness that i indeed had a virus of some sort. i had an iv in which they injected 2 different meds. my blood pressure was elevated due to all my stress so they gave me meds to lower my blood pressure. they also gave me an iv filled with antibiotics.

 

so.......let this be a lesson..............GET THE INSURANCE......you never know if you will need it or not.

[MGoBlue2]

Doesn't your regular medical insurance cover you when on a ship? Mine does.

[Retired not Expired]

Doesn't your regular medical insurance cover you when on a ship? Mine does.

 

Some medical insurance does not cover you outside the country. It's best that each individual check their coverage before they go.

[Cruisechick82]

Doesn't your regular medical insurance cover you when on a ship? Mine does.

 

I think some do and some don't because on a cruise you are often in a different country.

[Cruisechick82]

Doesn't your regular medical insurance cover you when on a ship? Mine does.

 

I think some do and some don't because on a cruise you are often in a different country.

[Char]

For sure Medicare doesn't cover any expenses out of the US. As soon as you step foot on the ship you are considered to be in the country that the ship is registered in.

[negc]

My son's father in law rather begrudginly purchased travel insurance when he booked a recent cruise, because his travel agent strongly recommended it. He had to cancel the cruise (after he entered the full penalty phase) when his wife experienced serious medical problems, and a few weeks later he had a check fully reimbursing him for his cancelled cruise. I suspect that the next time he travels, he will purchase travel insurance again, this time not reluctantly. :)

[MGoBlue2]

One certainly should be aware of their personal circumstances and make an informed decision regarding purchasing trip insurance. However, I don't believe everyone should "make sure you get trip insurance because you never know".

 

I am glad that it worked out for the OP in her circumstances. I also know that I could have paid the $909 (if it wasn't covered by my insurance) out of the money I haven't spent on trip insurance over the years and still be ahead.

[Retired not Expired]

One certainly should be aware of their personal circumstances and make an informed decision regarding purchasing trip insurance. However, I don't believe everyone should "make sure you get trip insurance because you never know".

 

I am glad that it worked out for the OP in her circumstances. I also know that I could have paid the $909 (if it wasn't covered by my insurance) out of the money I haven't spent on trip insurance over the years and still be ahead.

 

That's well and good if the bill is $909 or if your insurance will cover outside the country. But what happens if it doesn't and you must be med-evaced from another country, say in the Caribbean. That alone can run $25,000 or more, not counting any treatment. Or the case above where they had to cancel within the penalty phase. Insurance ain't so bad then.

 

All insurance is worthless..........unless you need it.

[MGoBlue2]

That's well and good if the bill is $909 or if your insurance will cover outside the country. But what happens if it doesn't and you must be med-evaced from another country, say in the Caribbean. That alone can run $25,000 or more, not counting any treatment. Or the case above where they had to cancel within the penalty phase. Insurance ain't so bad then.

 

All insurance is worthless..........unless you need it.

As I said one should be aware of their personal circumstances and make an informed decision. One thing certain, if travel insurance companies overall weren't taking in a lot more money than they're paying out, there wouldn't be so many of them.

[Retired not Expired]

As I said one should be aware of their personal circumstances and make an informed decision. One thing certain, if travel insurance companies overall weren't taking in a lot more money than they're paying out, there wouldn't be so many of them.

 

Yeap, insurance companies make money. But, believe it or not, it's not because they take in more premiums than pay out. That's almost a break even. They make it off investing that money while it's in their hands.

 

And I hope they stay strong. If they start failing, they will take a lot of this country down with them.

 

And no, I don't work for them. I tried it once and quit. I got tired of people telling me they didn't need my stinking insurance and then hollering for donations when something went wrong and they did.

[dolphincruiser404]

I never thought that I would have needed travel insurance when I booked my all inclusive dream vacation to Cozumel back in 2001. I was 18 and thought "What could possibly go wrong? Nothing will keep me from taking this vacation!" We were scheduled to leave 9-13-01 out of New York. Didn't happen. And guess who didn't have travel insurance. Due to the flights being grounded after 9-11 and the various travel problems accompanying the 9/11 tragedy, my dream vacation to Cozumel was cancelled. LUCKILY, the wonderful people of Cozumel took our country's circumstances into consideration and charged me a $500 penalty. The rest of my money was refunded 3 months later! Had I spent the $49 per person, I could have gotten all of my money back much quicker.

 

So, although your personal situation may not call for travel insurance, it's important to keep other factors in mind as well!

[cattolica]

A family member went on their first cruise in April 2004. Based on my advice travel insurance was purchased. He fell and sustained a serious leg break on the second day of the cruise. The ship made an emergency stop in Cabo and then he was airlifted out of Mexico back to L.A. Final cost paid by travel insurance.......almost $20,000. Plus, the insurance stayed in effect for 1 year after the accident, so when it was time to have surgery to remove pins put in his leg.....travel insurance still covered what his regular insurance did not.

My advice always buy travel insurance, it is worth the price.

[whit53]

I will NEVER travel without purchasing travel insurance. We were scheduled to go on the Mariner on 10-15-05, on 10-4-05 my mom was admitted to the hospital, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor, she passed away on 11-18-05. She was not ill at all until early Oct. so we never thought we would need the insurance, but we did and were fully reimbursed within about 3 weeks of submitting the calim. Please invest the extra $40 or $50 just for the peace of mind of knowing you will not be out any $$$.

[basher83]

All of these stories remind me of why we will NEVER go without travel insurance! My husband and I had planned our honeymoon well in advance with every detail worked out. We had an early 6:30 flight Sunday morning (ship left same day which is another lesson learned-- always get there a day early if you're flying!)-- which would have meant we got in Miami at 11:30 with plenty of time to spare! Wrong!! Our flight got cancelled and we missed the ship! We ended up catching up 3 days later in Ocho Rios Jamaica. Thankfully we had travel insurance! They cover more than you would imagine (for example, our expensive telephone bills from Jamiaca to Miami trying to work details out with Royal Caribbean to catch up with the ship). We too were reluctant in the first place to get it- but now we dont' even question it. You never know what will hapen! Life is just full of twists and turns. :)

 

Happy Cruisin' (with insurance of course :o)!!!

Ashley

[tazboyles]

Last week my MIL was airlifted from St.Thomas to FLL after suffering a heart attack while on a cruise. She is doing well and is very thankful she had insurance!

[Joe1690]

Heck, we just booked our cruise on the Adventure of the seas leaving this friday December 23 on December 7 so less than 17 days from departure and guess what my father had a procedure scheduled to check to see how his arteries were doing since he had several heart attacks about 15 years ago and they had to put stents in him. Well less than 15 days later he is unable to travel due to severe pain discomfort and weakness and the fact that the doctors would not allow him to travel outside the country due to worries about the stents closing. Combine that with me coming down with an ear infection yesterday which prohibits me from flying and my mother suffering a gastro-instestinal illness and you can see why our trip insurance was worthy. Whether we get the full 100% back on our cruise or just the 75% back the $29 per person was well worth it considering the cost of our air tickets and the 2 cabins we booked (an inside and a balcony). We have always paid for trip insurance and the amount of money that we have paid is still less than this 1 event. So to each his own but even when booking travel a few days before leaving I would still recommend getting trip insurance.

[bargainshopper]

Doesn't your regular medical insurance cover you when on a ship? Mine does.

 

As others have pointed out, your med insurance may not cover because you are outside of USA. Even if you are in US, some may have to pay a high deductible before "out of network" coverage kicks in.

[MaryAnnKacz]

We didn't purchase cruise insurance on last 2 cruises, 1st was right after Hurricane Rita and the second after Wilma. We were lucky we didn't need it. Purchased it for January 06 cruise, and plan to purchase it everytime. Main reason for purchasing it this time, is the weather. Flying from NE Ohio. Never know if there can be a blizzard. Also, booked on Delta. Our cruise insurance does cancel bankruptcy of airlines also. Also, checked and our medical insurance were iffy if we would be covered for illness or accident. We are flying to Tampa day before cruise. Will never wake up at 3:00 am to catch a flight again. We just don't buy as many pictures on the cruise now to make up for the hotel room and the trip insurance.

[mechcc]

Before we ever seriously considered a cruise, a co-worker was on a cruise which stopped in Cozumel. There the family rented motor bikes for a trip around the island. Co-worker's wife hit an unexpected pot hole and had a serious spinal injury. Cost of medical care and air evacuation to the States was covered by the trip insurance.

 

1st cruise - a man had a heart attack the night we sailed. We were off the coast of New Orleans and headed North as the Coast Guard headed South in a helicopter. We witness our Coast Guard doing a fantastic job of rescue off a ship using the repelling system. Wife could not join him in the evacuation and had to sell on to Key West Pray they had insurance.

 

Next cruise - lady on shore excursion with us fell and broke hip and unable to return to ship.

 

Apparently if anyone wants to cruise with us they need to purchase travel insurance.

[imatarb]

I view trip insurance much like other forms of insurance...I carry homeowners and auto insurance, and while I may not file a claim for many years, I still have it for the peace of mind and the 'what if' factor. Trip insurance is no different. Just because you don't use it, doesn't mean it's not worthwhile. For me, $29 is a paltry sum for peace of mind.

[jbond]

All insurance is worthless..........unless you need it.

How true. We have been buying travel insurance and never filed a claim, until our last cruise. We were stranded in Barcelona on Brilliance of the Seas because of a strike. We missed our flights out and had to repurchase one way tickets. The check is in the mail. Travel insurance, we'd never leave home without it.

[CJJSmith]

I'm so sorry your trip was ruined by being sick... you poor thing. :(

 

Glad you had the insurance though. It's funny because the cruise I just got off on the Majesty this December is the first cruise I have ever bought insurance for... flying from CA - Miami made me a little more worried I guess. After reading all of these stories I am realizing that it is worth the money. I should KNOW how worth it insurance is. My 5 now year old son was born with a life threatening heart defect, spent 7 1/2 weeks in the hospital after birth and a heart surgery that saved his life... after 7 1/2 weeks our bill for the hospital was well over 600,000 - THANK GOD FOR INSURANCE... I had no clue that life would through that curve at me. :)

[cruisecrasy]

Where do u get $29 insurance and exactly what did it cover?

[zuscruiserz]

Check out insuremytrip dot com and compare rates. Just purchased my insurance from them today for our upcoming cruise in Feb!