Cruise Insurance and Covid

[sonomaphil]

I've never purchased cruise insurance for any of my past cruises but because of Covid I'm thinking of it for my next cruise in early 2023, full transit Panama Canal.   I see the "Book with Confidence" literature and that seems to be what I'm looking for but it appears to only be valid until September 30, 2022. So my question is would a Princess policy that I pay for cover me for this scenario of coming down with Covid during my cruise?  Might Princess extend the "Book with Confidence" program?  I'd hate to pay $500 for a policy I don't need or have ever purchased before. 

[suekel]

One should always have insurance.  Whether you get it from Princess or not, it's a smart thing to do.  One never knows what could happen.  Read the policy on the website, the difference between standard and Premium.  Also check Allianz and other travel insurance companies.  

[Babr]

Princess insurance as well as most third-third party policies cover COVID as any other illness, meaning that you will be covered for cancellation if you are diagnosed  before embarkation or medical and trip delay/interruption if you are diagnosed at some point during the cruise. A comprehensive travel policy will cover a broad range of travel and medical risks in addition to COVID.

 

Since you are new to travel insurance, I suggest you consult a professional like the people at Trip Insurance Store. The owner often posts on the insurance forum here on CC. He or his agents can help you avoid the pitfalls of choosing a suitable policy.

[Steelers0854]

If you have a stroke on a cruise and need to be medivac’d off can you pay the 30,000ish dollars for the bill?  If you then need care in a foreign hospital can you pay, up front, several thousand dollars or more in cash before they will provide you care?  Many US based insurance doesn’t cover foreign care, or if it does it can be limited and will most likely be secondary coverage, meaning you’re out of pocket until they decide to reimburse you, if they decide to reimburse you.  We will never travel outside the country without it even though we are young and healthy, we are not independently wealthy and don’t want to roll the dice on losing our home and all our savings for what could have been avoided with an extra $400 up front (most of the time its even less than that, usually around $250).  Sorry for the rant, but a lot of people don’t understand what foreign hospital care looks like, or truly understand how or what their current insurance will and will not pay for and that can quite literally bankrupt you.  Last time I checked most people with medical emergencies, car accidents or trips and falls didn’t plan for them to happen, but they can easily happen to anyone.  Ultimately the decision is yours to make.

Edited March 24, 2022 by Steelers0854

[Senga]

2 hours ago, Steelers0854 said:

If you have a stroke on a cruise and need to be medivac’d off can you pay the 30,000ish dollars for the bill?  If you then need care in a foreign hospital can you pay, up front, several thousand dollars or more in cash before they will provide you care?  Many US based insurance doesn’t cover foreign care, or if it does it can be limited and will most likely be secondary coverage, meaning you’re out of pocket until they decide to reimburse you, if they decide to reimburse you.  We will never travel outside the country without it even though we are young and healthy, we are not independently wealthy and don’t want to roll the dice on losing our home and all our savings for what could have been avoided with an extra $400 up front (most of the time its even less than that, usually around $250).  Sorry for the rant, but a lot of people don’t understand what foreign hospital care looks like, or truly understand how or what their current insurance will and will not pay for and that can quite literally bankrupt you.

We are Canadians and always purchase travel insurance even for a one day visit to the U.S.  My Mum was on a seniors trip for 3 weeks to Daytona Beach and knew she had retirement travel coverage.  What she didn’t know was….it was limited to $25,000.  She passed away after 2 weeks in hospital and we ended up with a bill for over $100,000. U.S.  Definitely not worth traveling without adequate coverage!

[Thrak]

2 hours ago, Steelers0854 said:

If you have a stroke on a cruise and need to be medivac’d off can you pay the 30,000ish dollars for the bill?  If you then need care in a foreign hospital can you pay, up front, several thousand dollars or more in cash before they will provide you care?  Many US based insurance doesn’t cover foreign care, or if it does it can be limited and will most likely be secondary coverage, meaning you’re out of pocket until they decide to reimburse you, if they decide to reimburse you.  We will never travel outside the country without it even though we are young and healthy, we are not independently wealthy and don’t want to roll the dice on losing our home and all our savings for what could have been avoided with an extra $400 up front (most of the time its even less than that, usually around $250).  Sorry for the rant, but a lot of people don’t understand what foreign hospital care looks like, or truly understand how or what their current insurance will and will not pay for and that can quite literally bankrupt you.  Last time I checked most people with medical emergencies, car accidents or trips and falls didn’t plan for them to happen, but they can easily happen to anyone.  Ultimately the decision is yours to make.

 

We pay for the Princess insurance and also buy an annual policy from MedJet. If we are admitted to a hospital elsewhere they will get us home. If you are able to fly commercial they will have medical staff go with you. If you can't go that route they will fly you in a medically equipped jet with medical staff onboard. I agree with you about the cost of medical evacuation back to the US and about having to pay up front for care in other countries. MedJet not only covers us when cruising but it also covers us when we do our multi-week camping trips across the US and into Canada. Hopefully we will never need to use it but it's comforting to know it's there "just in case".