Talk to me about Travel Insurance

[delluser]

I've traveled all over the world and NEVER had trip insurance but thinking of getting some before my December cruise.  Carnival's is crazy expensive.  I've found CFAR and other less inclusive plans for less money, but really have no idea which way to go.  Have you purchased cruise insurance before?  What kind of coverage and who did you use?  Thanks! 

[Sailin_Pirate]

Insurance board

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

[evandbob]

We are planning to resume cruising and travel almost at our pre-COVID rate of 6 to 10 experiences per year.

 

For us, an annual policy has worked better than individual ones for each trip.  Ours begins Sept 1, 2020, and has COVID coverage in addition to medivac, trip interruption & cancellation, etc.

[Babr]

5 hours ago, delluser said:

I've traveled all over the world and NEVER had trip insurance but thinking of getting some before my December cruise.  Carnival's is crazy expensive.  I've found CFAR and other less inclusive plans for less money, but really have no idea which way to go.  Have you purchased cruise insurance before?  What kind of coverage and who did you use?  Thanks! 

Under the current conditions, you need medical and evacuation as well as trip interruption/trip delay, which is the part of the policy that would pay if your trip were yo be affected by quarantine and you could not return home immediately.

 

I’m not sure what you mean by less inclusive plans. You need to have adequate dollar limits and coverage because Carnival will not provide any financial assistance in an emergency.

 

Is CFAR important to you? It usually requires an additional premium and will return only about 75% in cash reimbursement. It also must be purchased within a defined period of time after putting a deposit on the cruise. Depending on when you booked, you may have already missed the opportunity.

 

An annual policy may not be appropriate for your needs unless you travel often. Most are medical and evacuation only with little if any cancellation coverage.

 

This answer is pretty general because your question is so broad. Insurance can be complicated, and the right policy depends on your needs. If you can be more specific, it would help people guide you in the right direction. What are your greatest concerns? What do you expect from the policy?

[rtdiva]

Do you the patient pay upfront to the attending medical personnel then get reimbursed when returning home? Thus needing credit cards or a check?

Or does your insurance company send money?

We’ve never bought insurance. 
ann

[TheOldBear]

9 hours ago, rtdiva said:

Do you the patient pay upfront to the attending medical personnel then get reimbursed when returning home? Thus needing credit cards or a check?

The insurance typically reimburses after the fact - so for many things you need to pay up front. 

For example, on our 2019 crossing, we needed to visit the ships medical center - and the charge to our credit card was immediate [not part of the end of voyage charge]

9 hours ago, rtdiva said:

Or does your insurance company send money?

For some circumstances the insurance company will make arrangements for shore transportation, hospital treatments and return transport to the US.

This is something to check in the fine print when comparing policies & carriers. You will want more coverage here if you are climbing K2 than on a cruise from Boston to Bermuda.

9 hours ago, rtdiva said:

We’ve never bought insurance. 
ann

Its not an exciting topic, but you should read some of the available information - take at look at the FAQs and blog articles over on https://tripinsurancestore.com - the Q&A session is still active here as well

[klfrodo]

12 hours ago, rtdiva said:

Do you the patient pay upfront to the attending medical personnel then get reimbursed when returning home? Thus needing credit cards or a check?

Or does your insurance company send money?

We’ve never bought insurance. 
ann

You pay upfront with a credit card, then file for reimbursement.

Some, not all, insurance companies "may" work directly with the hospital for major catastrophic surgeries to provide a proof of ability to pay, but otherwise it's you and your credit card.

If you need to be evacuated from the ship, that will be done by a special team of the military and will be no charge.

If you need to be moved to another hospital by evac, that will be coordinated by the insurance company and the medical facilities and paid for by the insurance company.

 

2 examples that I can think of.

 

1. My wife fell in Cancun and required emergency treatment for broken wrist and stitches above her eye. I had to pay (with credit card) $3600 before they would begin treatment.

 

2. An individual with diabetes had a major medical event on a Carnival cruise ship. He was hospitalized in Mexico. The hospital saved his life. However, they had no travel insurance and had no credit cards to pay the $14,000 bill. The hospital refused to release the patient until they received payment. The set up a *****, asked for help from their families, and their church. The bill eventually got paid and they were free to fly back home. Which in and of itself was the next problem. Obviously broke, no plane tickets and no passports.

[rtdiva]

Thank you both for your answers. We’ve traveled extensively for as long as three months at a time by cruising. Well almost three months, as last years World Cruise was shortened. But as we are now becoming octogenarians, time is not in our favor. Shorter cruises are planned for the future.  Chase Sapphire covers lesser days of cruising. 
 

From reports by others who have had accidents, air flights home with a broken limb can be astronomical. I don’t understand why a flight can’t have been booked with first class seating for less than the 7-10% fee paid for insurance. A 3 month cruise can easily cost $6000.00 for insurance. Yes, it would be more comfortable to have someone ie insurance support persons to help. 

Once onboard in my experience the cruise line  is responsible for trip interruption and cancelation. Are you referring to preboarding? 

Our HMO seems to cover most circumstances. They recommend supplemental insurance. I’ll once again study where we will need more coverage.
 

I’ve read and read and read reports pro and con on purchasing insurance, your two answers were the first to clarify payment. GEOBLUE may be our choice.

 

Thanks,

ANN

 

[Babr]

4 minutes ago, rtdiva said:

Thank you both for your answers. We’ve traveled extensively for as long as three months at a time by cruising. Well almost three months, as last years World Cruise was shortened. But as we are now becoming octogenarians, time is not in our favor. Shorter cruises are planned for the future.  Chase Sapphire covers lesser days of cruising. 
 

From reports by others who have had accidents, air flights home with a broken limb can be astronomical. I don’t understand why a flight can’t have been booked with first class seating for less than the 7-10% fee paid for insurance. A 3 month cruise can easily cost $6000.00 for insurance. Yes, it would be more comfortable to have someone ie insurance support persons to help. 

Once onboard in my experience the cruise line  is responsible for trip interruption and cancelation. Are you referring to preboarding? 

Our HMO seems to cover most circumstances. They recommend supplemental insurance. I’ll once again study where we will need more coverage.
 

I’ve read and read and read reports pro and con on purchasing insurance, your two answers were the first to clarify payment. GEOBLUE may be our choice.

 

Thanks,

ANN

 

For a broken limb, you probably would be returned home by commercial air after you had been treated in a local facility and cleared to fly. Medical evacuation by air ambulance is reserved for the most severe cases and is conducted only if the patient requires a higher level of care or more extended care than he could get where he was initially taken for treatment.

 

I’m not sure we have the same definition of trip interruption and cancellation; but in terms of insurance, the cruise line is not responsible for either. It appears you are relying on your Chase card for cancellation and trip interruption which pays if you must cancel or if your trip is cut short. Do the dollar limits for cancellation cover the cost of a three month trip? Is there a limit to the length of trip covered?

 

You say your HMO covers most things but suggests supplemental. Do you mean a supplemental policy for travel? Chase offers very little if any medical coverage depending on which card you have. Medicare does not cover travel outside the US. Will the HMO provide adequate medical and evacuation coverage?

There are a lot of things to consider in purchasing travel insurance. Perhaps you’d benefit from talking to a professional like Steve Dasseos who answers questions here on CC. He may recognize some risks you are not aware of and can recommend a policy that meets your needs.