Princess Insureance (Travel Care)... Anyone Really Have It Come In Handy?

[ManhattanCruiser]

I've gotten Princess travel care the past few trips... I guess I was one of the ones who thought it was too good to pass up the "free upgrade to Gold Travel Care for Platinum and Elite passengers". But, I just realized...maybe I'm just a sucker. Has anyone ever had THIS specific insurance through princess really pat off? If so...what was your experience when making a claim?

 

Or, conversely...is there some reason that ANOTHER insurance would be a better bargain?

 

(I wish I could edit the title...I hate that "insurance" is mis-spelled. Ugh!) :-)

[hb1491]

I've gotten Princess travel care the past few trips... I guess I was one of the ones who thought it was too good to pass up the "free upgrade to Gold Travel Care for Platinum and Elite passengers". But, I just realized...maybe I'm just a sucker. Has anyone ever had THIS specific insurance through princess really pat off? If so...what was your experience when making a claim?

 

Or, conversely...is there some reason that ANOTHER insurance would be a better bargain?

 

(I wish I could edit the title...I hate that "insurance" is mis-spelled. Ugh!) :-)

we had to cancel 3 days before departure medical reason it paid off within 3 weeks we had a refund of more than $ 12000.00 (35 Day cruise,)

Berkley Ins. very good to work with

[Tak8]

I don't know if Princess Care insurance is vital, but some form is. Just do a search, the boards are filled with "don't yell at me but I don't have any insurance and what will Princess do for me" threads. I had to use cruise insurance only one time. I severely sprained my ankle on a cruise and the insurance covered the medical bills onboard. I hope to never use it again, but I will always purchase some form of insurance.

[ManhattanCruiser]

we had to cancel 3 days before departure medical reason it paid off within 3 weeks we had a refund of more than $ 12000.00 (35 Day cruise,)

Berkley Ins. very good to work with

 

Yes...the "cancel for any reason" is what makes me go with Princess. They're changing their insurance next year (I think in June of 2009) and then the "cancel for any reason" will give you 100% back if you're platinum... either as a cash refund (if it's an allowed cancellation) or "future cruise credit if it's some other reason. It looks to me like the only major "downgrade" to next years insurance is that it won't cover minors. The current plan covers them now if BOTH adults in the same cabin have insurance.

[Arnold Don]

We had to cancel a cruise last year to Alaska about 3 weeks from sailing, got the form filed out by the doctor and submited. About the time I expected a lettle requesting additional info, a check for thetotal amount arrived(2or 3 weeks). Princess added back in my Future Cruise Credit to by Princess account

[ManhattanCruiser]

I don't know if Princess Care insurance is vital, but some form is. Just do a search, the boards are filled with "don't yell at me but I don't have any insurance and what will Princess do for me" threads. I had to use cruise insurance only one time. I severely sprained my ankle on a cruise and the insurance covered the medical bills onboard. I hope to never use it again, but I will always purchase some form of insurance.

 

Thanks Tak8... I've done some searches. But I haven't found anyone who said that they ended up really using it all that much.

 

I've often wondered if it would come at all in handy if one were to miss the ship at one of the ports. Not that I would ever miss the ship...I'm a "back too early" kinda guy.

 

But I'm curious what the most beneficial (or unusual) advantage has been for someone who has this insurance.

[LARGIN]

In 1975 my father passed away one week before our Hawaii cruise. Princess Travel Care paid in full within 2 weeks after I sent them the death certificate. No hassles or problems.. I prefer Princess Insurance over the others because age does not matter. The price is the same regardless of age.

[wwinfl91]

We had to cancel a Princess cruise in 2006 when my wife had health problems. We actually had our travel insurance with another company, CSA, but they paid us back for our cruise and our flight home, from Rome. We have gotten it for each our cruises since then.

 

By the way this was the first time we had ever gotten travel insurance since our first cruise but we needed the health insurance portion as our current policy doesn't cover anything outside the USA and we were going to be spending a week in Rome after a transatlantic cruise.

 

Here is a good link that has good info on travel insurance.

 

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Have a great next cruise.

[kendon]

We have used it for ear infections, flu, I was bitten by a stingray in Grand Cayman and was on antibiotics for three months along with blood tests every two weeks, my son got his finger caught in the hinge side of the stateroom door (ouch!), sunstroke.... Princess Travelcare Gold covered every bit of it. Are there better plans out there? Probably. But I would NEVER travel without insurance of any kind. It's foolish.

[BJS]

We had to cancel at the last minute twice because of medical reasons. I called the insurance company and they emailed the forms. I took them to the doctor for signature after I filled them out that day. Mailed them back in and had the money credited to our credit card within 3 days!

 

We have been very pleased with their insurance. We will never look any place else especially with the cancel for "non covered" reason and get credit for another cruise. For seniors having the premium be based on the cruise cost and not on age is another big positive.

 

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[cactusrose]

Last December my DH was taken off the ship in Gibraltar. After spending one night in intensive care there he was transfered to a hospital in Spain where he had surgery and spent another three nights. Then we had to spend another three nights in a hotel before they would release him to fly home. Most of the expense was covered by Princess Travel Care. Additionally, they had a company called On Call that checked with us every day and coordinated all the transportation, hotels, medical with our primary care provider, etc. It was worth every penny we paid for the insurance. We were reimbursed for the portion of our out of pocket expenses that were covered within a few weeks of submitting the bills.

[Chick's pal]

I've never had to use my insurance, but take out a policy for each cruise. While I could probably handle the cost of a cancelled cruise or pay for some minor on-board medical attention, there are some catastrophic expenses that I wouldn't be able to take. Long term care out of the country; medical evacuation; repatriation of remains in case of death on foreign soil.

 

I've been on board when a passenger was airlifted from the ship. This poor person was young and not a risk-taker: He contracted appendicitis! Imagine the costs of that transportation? And for a completely unavoidable condition.

 

The peace of mind is so worth the price.

[monalloh]

This past January I got to Auckland and the ship on Monday, my luggage arrived on Wednesday. When I reported the missing luggage to customer service they noted that I had Princess Travel Care and immediately issued a $50 on board credit; so I got a new pair of swimtrunks from one of the ship's shops and had a fun day at the pool. Now I pack swimtrunks in my carry-on too.:)

[annpharm]

We booked an Alaskan cruise, the first segment of our flight was cancelled. Because we had Princess insurance the ship waited for us (and about 40 others). Because of the altered flight, one of our bags was lost and ALL of my parents was lost.

 

We were travelling with our 8 yo son, we were informed we had $1500 to spend for our lost luggage--even though it was only one bag. My parents got $1000. We were very leery to spend the money, the purser assured us that Berkley was very reliable and not to worry. The only "catch" we had to spend ALL the money before we got our bags at the first port (2 days later) and of course it had to be spent onboard.

 

We managed to spend about $1300, including a book to read by the pool. ALL of it was covered, no questions asked. The ship even provided tuxes for my husband and father, as our lost bag was our formal wear. The Future Cruise Consultant heard me mention that I was finally getting my hubby in a tux and I didn't have anything to wear (gift shop formal wear is geared toward older women). She lent me one of her personal gowns, absolutely beautiful. I, of course, filled out a comment card for her kind and generous efforts.

 

Princess also laundered my parents clothes free of charge until they received their luggage (they literally had only the clothes on their backs). Needless to say, I have no hesitation in recommending this insurance, you just never know. I think our total cost for the insurance was less than $200.