carnival cruise insurance

[Sanz]

If you belong to AAA, you can purchase one of three different travel insurance polices that Access America offers to AAA members.

[Ken076]

I will definitely be looking into other policies than Carnival's. My sister and I (67 and 72 years old) will be on a Carnival Cruise Nov 1-5, 2009. I just went with my PVP's suggestion to get Carnival's insurance. Last time I cruised my walker basket was damaged by the time it was brought to my room. I notified the Purser, they gave us some cable ties to hold it on my walker, then I notified the insurance company. No problems arose.

 

However, this trip, I am more concerned about my sister who has asthma, diabetes, and not the best of health. So, like I said, those other insurance companies are worth looking into.

 

Thanks for the information everybody!

 

for ages 67 and 72 you'll probably find that there's not much (or even no) cost savings with the third party policies (which factor age into the premium) but the coverage will still be better. ken

[psblin99]

My main concern is a storm or hurricane messing up the schedule. I dont want 7 days at sea. Any allow me to cancel if a storm threatens.

[Ken076]

My main concern is a storm or hurricane messing up the schedule. I dont want 7 days at sea. Any allow me to cancel if a storm threatens.

 

You need to be very careful on this assumption. Most of the Trip Insurance Policies do NOT cover your cancellation "because a Hurricane/Storm is coming and I don't want to cruise". TravelSafe and as of 7/01/2009 Carnival's Berkely Policy have "Hurricane Warning" coverage, but this is very specific.

 

ken

[arcone]

You need to be very careful on this assumption. Most of the Trip Insurance Policies do NOT cover your cancellation "because a Hurricane/Storm is coming and I don't want to cruise". TravelSafe and as of 7/01/2009 Carnival's Berkely Policy have "Hurricane Warning" coverage, but this is very specific.

 

ken

 

 

Would this be cover under if one purchase a insurnace policy "cancel for any reaason " or does any reason also have fine print, just wondering, I have learned everything may not be what I think it states that some times there is fine print that clarify things, not always to what I thought it meant in the larger print

[Ken076]

Would this be cover under if one purchase a insurnace policy "cancel for any reaason " or does any reason also have fine print, just wondering, I have learned everything may not be what I think it states that some times there is fine print that clarify things, not always to what I thought it meant in the larger print

 

 

Several Companies offer "Cancel for Any Reason" as an added option - usually they charge an added 50% premium for this, so it can be expensive.

 

You have to read how close to sailaway they allow you to cancel - many are up to 2 days, some are more than 2 days.

 

Most state their cancellation coverage as "up to 100%" or "up to 75%" - you have to carefully read these coverage statements. "Up to 100%" usually means they cover 75% if you cancel very close to sailaway and 100% if you cancel very far out from sailaway. There's usually a Table that shows how this is distributed. The point being that they don't necessarily cover 100% of your non-refundable fare/deposit.

 

I agree with the previous poster that indicates the "better deal" is if you need to cancel, to eat the $50 penalty and re-schedule another cruise (instead of paying the extra cost of "Cancel for Any Reason".

 

Along these lines, IMO the best/optimum "Cancel for Any Reason" coverage is offered in Princess's Trip Protection Policy which now includes "Cancel for Any Reason" 75% Future Cruise Credit coverage.

 

ken

[ms simba]

Thanks Ken for the info.

 

As I always say "It's the pits growing old! But wow what a ride!"

 

Ken - are you the person that I did a lot of emailing back and forth with Tampa hotel info (I made a table with the individual hotel info on it)

 

Diane

[grandmato4]

Ken, do you know right now which policies will allow purchasing the policy at the time of first deposit for a scheduled cruise but cancelling your cruise before final payment will allow you to transfer the policy premium that you purchased (not a crusieline policy) to another trip? Its not an areas that I've had to research but due to some unusual (for us)circumstances right now need to collect info on.

[Tofutti]

Also Ken, do you know if you book early saver and the Carnival insurance, can you cancel the insurance if you find a better rate somewhere else?

[Traveler353]

Also Ken, do you know if you book early saver and the Carnival insurance, can you cancel the insurance if you find a better rate somewhere else?[/quote]

 

That is what I did, Carnival insurance can be cancelled anytime up to final payment, it does not matter under what special or program you booked under.

[luvvp]

I haven't made final payment yet but I checked my reservation and it said payment protection plan is non refundable and non transferable.

 

I think I'll call anyway, won't hurt to try.

[luvvp]

Well I called and I was able to cancel. ;)

 

Thanks

[Ken076]

I haven't made final payment yet but I checked my reservation and it said payment protection plan is non refundable and non transferable.

 

I think I'll call anyway, won't hurt to try.

 

If you booked Early Saver the Carnival Insurance is stated as being non-cancellable and non-refundable; this is the specific Carnival Policy given to TA's and PVP's, most of whom are probably totally unaware!

 

with the other bookings, the insurance is refundable along with your deposit if you cancel the cruise, and is apparently independently refundable (prior to final payment deadline) even if you don't cancel the cruise.

 

ken

[Ken076]

Also Ken, do you know if you book early saver and the Carnival insurance, can you cancel the insurance if you find a better rate somewhere else?

 

the specific Carnival Policy that's given to TA's and PVP's is that Carnival's Berkely ITrip Ptotection Plan is non-refundable for Early Saver Bookings.

 

Having said that, I'd guess that most TA's and PVP's are totally unaware of this and if you try (several times) you'll probably be successful, as have several posters above!

 

ken

[Ken076]

Ken, do you know right now which policies will allow purchasing the policy at the time of first deposit for a scheduled cruise but cancelling your cruise before final payment will allow you to transfer the policy premium that you purchased (not a crusieline policy) to another trip? Its not an areas that I've had to research but due to some unusual (for us)circumstances right now need to collect info on.

 

OUCH!!!! Your looking for "Return of Premium" benefit.

 

The CruiseLine's insurance can be cancelled and the premium refunded (upt to final Payment Deadline) which you could then apply toward the next cruise.

 

The ONLY 3rd Party policy I know of with this benefit is CSA's (pricey) Freestyle Luxe Policy which refunds the cost of your plan if you cancel for any reason, if the plan is purchased no later than Final Cruise Payment, and everyone insured on the plan is cancelling the trip. CSA Freestyle is normally thru TA's but there are several insurance sites that apparently sell it also. You'd want to read the Polciy and confirm all this with the Company before purchasing!!!!!! ken

[cruisin1982]

If you use someone other than Carnival for insurance and you need to go see the doctor while on the ship do you have to pay out of pocket and when you get back home send in a claim. This would help me decide against having insurance from someone other than Carnival.

 

Mike

[Ken076]

If you use someone other than Carnival for insurance and you need to go see the doctor while on the ship do you have to pay out of pocket and when you get back home send in a claim. This would help me decide against having insurance from someone other than Carnival.

 

Mike

 

Mike - My understanding is that The ship's Doctor is another of those "contractors' - and do not accept any Insurance including Carnival's Berkely Trip Protection Plan. The Medical Office's charges are billed to your account, you pay your account and submit the bill to your Insurance.

 

ken

[Traveler353]

I am booked ES. When I tried to cancell on-line the program would not let me. I gave my PVP a call and he did it while I was on the phone with him. It only took a couple of minutes for it to show up on the web sit. Very easy and painless.:D

[mikefast]

We are having a problem on choosing insurance. We have a family cruise booked in 2010. We would probably have about 8 or 10 staterooms. My wife's son is a recovering alcoholic, and has cirrhosis of the liver. It is pretty bad, there isn't enough left of the liver to regenerate itself, so we never know. Right now, he is doing fair, he can take care of himself, but that is just about it. He is not going on the cruise. Most of the insurance has a clause about pre-existing conditions, and if we get insurance that cover pre-existing conditions, it is quite expensive, about 30% of the cost of the cruise. Does anybody have any ideas? By the way, the reason he is not going on the cruise is because it is my children and their families together with my wife and myself. He could go if he wanted to, but I don't think it would be a good idea, and I don't think he is too crazy about the idea anyway.

[cruisin1982]

Mike - My understanding is that The ship's Doctor is another of those "contractors' - and do not accept any Insurance including Carnival's Berkely Trip Protection Plan. The Medical Office's charges are billed to your account, you pay your account and submit the bill to your Insurance.

 

ken

 

Wow hope we never need to see the doctor could max out your card :eek: if you are right.

 

Mike

[Ken076]

We are having a problem on choosing insurance. We have a family cruise booked in 2010. We would probably have about 8 or 10 staterooms. My wife's son is a recovering alcoholic, and has cirrhosis of the liver. It is pretty bad, there isn't enough left of the liver to regenerate itself, so we never know. Right now, he is doing fair, he can take care of himself, but that is just about it. He is not going on the cruise. Most of the insurance has a clause about pre-existing conditions, and if we get insurance that cover pre-existing conditions, it is quite expensive, about 30% of the cost of the cruise. Does anybody have any ideas? By the way, the reason he is not going on the cruise is because it is my children and their families together with my wife and myself. He could go if he wanted to, but I don't think it would be a good idea, and I don't think he is too crazy about the idea anyway.

 

You purchase one of the Policies offering "Waiver of Pre-Existing conditions". The CruiseLine's Policies do not offer this.

 

HTH and CSA Freestyle Policies allow you to purchase up to final payment deadline to preserve the "Waiver of Pre-Existing conditions" and most of the other policies require you to purchase w/in 14 days of Initial Deposit to preserve "Waiver of Pre-Existing conditions". You need to read these Policies to make sure they address your situation and I'd call their 800 number to confirm coverage of your situation and to verify that his condition isn't excluded in any manner.

 

These policies should in no way approach 30% of your cruise costs (per person), maybe 5% or so. Knowing your Cruise and airfare costs and travel dates and travelers ages, you can run the numbers at the company's websites. You probably want separate Policies for each family.

 

Post any further concerns or questions!

 

ken

[1of5G]

Thanks for all he gret insurance info. Very helpful

[Byram Anne]

I purchased insurance through Carnival. However, I would like additional insurance just in case we got sick on board. Can I just add additional evacuation insurance? Thanks.

[mikefast]

Just for your information, I got a quote, and our cruise will cost less than $1,500.00 for the two of us, and yet the insurance quote was $385.35. That seems just a bit high for something that we probably will not use. I mean if there are any medical conditions withing the date of the final payment, which is about two months before we depart, we would have a pretty good idea of it. Guess we will just have to check around a bit more.

[Ken076]

I purchased insurance through Carnival. However, I would like additional insurance just in case we got sick on board. Can I just add additional evacuation insurance? Thanks.

 

In retrospect, the better, least expensive plan would have been to not buy the Carnival Insurance and to have purchased one of the 3rd party policies!!! You can't add/subtract with the Carnival Policy.

 

The Carnival Policy has $10,000 medical coverage (which is minimal but probably adequate) and $30,000 which is marginal (for Caribbean).

 

On the sites for any of the popular 3rd Party Insurance companies you can enter ZERO for the Cruise Cost and your quote will be for Medical/EVAC coverage and actually everything but Cruise Cancellation coverage. Since you're enhancing your Carnival coverage I'd go to the less expensive, lower coverage plans like TravelEX TravelLite, PATRIOT T.R.I.P., or TravelInsured Lite (entering Zero for Cruise and Cruisefare cost).

 

Again, I'm not sure this is necessary and that the Carnival coverages are (marginally) adequate, unless you have some unique medical concerns, conditions.

 

Ken