An insurance question

[Bridge Maven]

My husband and I will be taking a Mexican Riviera Cruise on the Mercury in January and plan to buy Celebrity's insurance when we make our final payment. We did not purchase our airline tickets through the cruiseline, so I realize we are not covered until we arrive at the ship. At the same time, we will be flying to San Diego two days before our cruise so I am not too concerned. Do you think we are taking a risk by having coverage that begins when we arrive at the ship as opposed to when we leave our home in Connecticut.

 

"Leonardo da Vinci" to West Indies, March 1976

"Sovereign of the Seas" to Bahamas, December 1999

"Destiny" to Canada, August 2000

"Infinity" to Alaska, August 2001

"Millennium" to Eastern Carribean, December 2002

"Century" to Western Carribean, December 2003

"Mercury" to Mexican Riviera, January/February 2005

 

[Guest]

Since you are going in January from Connecticut, I would definitely get the insurance for the flights, hotels and the cruise. Nothing like a nasty January snow storm.

 

Don

[hdawson]

Why not insurance from a travel insurance company?

[lougee1043]

you might want to check out insuremytrip.com

 

lougee1043

 

 

Since we last sailed on the Oosterdam

<img src=http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&prgb=2325FF&cdt=2004;03;28;08;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800>

 

til our next cruise on the Galaxy

<img src=http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&prgb=2325FF&cdt=2005;03;21;18;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800>

 

9/87 HAL - Noordham

10/92 HAL - Westerdam

4/01 HAL - Zaandam

5/02 HAL - Maasdam

8/02 HAL - Zaandam

3/03 HAL -Statendam

cancelled due to surgeries

12/03 HAL - Statendam replacement cruise

3/04 HAL Oosterdam

3/05 Celebrity Galaxy

[CarolC]

another vote for www.insuremytrip.com.

We got this from a previous poster, compared their coverage and prices to Celebrity's and that offered by our travel agent and chose Travelex, which had better coverage and was less money. Might be different for someone else depending on age,etc. but worth a look.

[wieslaw]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hdawson:

Why not insurance from a travel insurance company?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

I read in the Celebrity rules that:

When an insurance is purchased from Celebrity (Cruisecare Vacation Protection Plan) and one voluntarily cancels one's cruise for a reason that is not covered by the insurance portion of the CruiseCare, Celebrity will give 75% of the normally nonrefundable cancellation charges in a future cruise credit.

I am not sure but I believe that any other insurance cancellation charges are not refundable so perhaps that is something to consider if the possibility exists that one might cancell the cruise for some voluntary reason.

 

Wes

[sasset]

Another reason not to use Celebrity's (or any cruiselines insurance) is if for some reason the line goes bankrupt, so does your insurance.

Ppart of what are you are insuring is the trip itself. If the line goes belly up, what good is the insurance that they offer?

 

We always use a separate insurer, like Access America.

[theawesome1]

I checked out Celebrity's Cruise Care package, since we bought air for the free transfers also, and it was as good as others we've used.

 

If you purchase your own air, then you are not covered for blizzards in January. So a travel insurance like CSA, TravelGuard or others may be for you. Especially the medical if god forbid, something major happens.

 

My logo: When we disembark, I just have to book another!

[CaribbeanBound]

I have seen the topic of Travel Insurance surface almost daily. I am not an agent for any travel insurance company. I thought I would post the important considerations under a tempting header to make it easy to find. If you have any hints to add, please do so!

 

1. Check out InsureMyTrip.com for a comparison of the most popular travel insurance policies. This is a great place to start.

 

2. In conjunction with InsureMyTrip.com, check out InsureMyTrip.com for comparitive information about the plans on the InsureMyTrip.com web site plus hints on what the different covereages mean and what to look for.

 

3. Many companies offer two different policies. A premium policy with all the "bells and whistles" and a less expensive alternative with a little less coverage. Buy the policy that fits your needs.

 

4. Make sure your insurance coverage is considered "Primary". This way if your problem is covered by the policy, the insurance company pays you. Period. You do not want "secondary" coverage wherein you have to submit your claim elsewhere first (like to your Homeowners, Health, or other insurance).

 

5. Make sure your policy is real insurance. Don't get fooled into buying "travel protection" offered by non-insurance companies. These other companies are often fly-by-night outfits who are not governed by the same rules and bonding/reserve requirements that insurers are.

 

6. Do not buy travel protection or insurance issued by your travel agency, airline, or cruise line. There is bound to be some contention here from fellow travels, but think about why you are buying the insurance. What good is insurance if the airline, travel agency, or cruise line you are traveling with goes under? You never know. Now, this is not to say you shouldn't buy your travel insurance from any provider, like your TA. Just make sure the insurance is independant of the provider.

 

7. Make sure the insurer is rated "A+" or "A++" by AM Best. Make sure the company has the financial wherewithall to pay your claims.

 

8. Buy the policy within the first 14 days (or so) from when you make your first trip payment, so that all Pre-Existing Conditions are waived. This way you never have to prove that a pre-exiting condition didn't exist.

 

9. Read the entire policy before buying. Usually the policy and the exclusions can be found online. Make sure it covers you for any scenareo you want covered.

 

10. Make sure the policy includes "financial default" coverage. This is important.

 

I have purposely not mentioned any insurers by name to this point as everyone seems to have a preferred insurer. I like Travelex's (rated "A+") Travelite product and have bought it 3 times now. Other folks have mentioned CSA (rated "A-"), Travel Insured (rated "B++"), and Travel Guard (rated "A++"). Of these four, CSA and Travel Insured are rated below A by A.M. Best and therefore would be disqualified from my immediate consideration given the other choices available. It is surprising how dificult it can be to actually find the ratings on some companies.

[gracecarmo]

Caribbeanbound: I am shopping around for insurance. How can I get a copy of the Travelex Lite policy to read? Previously I have used CSA and Travel Guard, but never had to put in a claim.

I went to www.cruisereviews.com and there is an article re insurance (scroll down). Funny, the writer mentions Travel Insured as the best policy. But, of course they advertise on the web site!

 

Thanks for the recommendation of Travelex. I will look into it.

 

Grace

[SandyR5]

O.K. experts...more help needed here. I checked insuremytrip and compared policies but...how much do we need for evacuation for example? What amounts are we looking for? Thanks.

 

Sandy/Long Island NY