Cruise insurance

[yeahdisney]

Princess insurance for the cruise is $939 for four, and it does cover pre-existing conditions.

Blue Geo. Is $760 for three of us .out of one state and $142 out of another state (florida) and does not cover pre-existing conditions, but it has more medical. Which of course no one plans on using.

So basically the same money.
The only existing condition is hypertension for one person.

thought would go with princess, since the cruise is from them and it might be easier to get a claim if needed.

never bought cruise insurance. What are your thoughts?

TIA

 

[slo]

When we went on our most recent WDW we used Allianz trip insurance, which was recommended by our town travel agent. Take a look at them to see what they offer.

Have fun on your cruise

 

[mjkacmom]

It’s usually better not to use the cruise lines insurance (it’s not actually theirs but a third party anyway). Try a site like insuremytrip, How about evacuation insurance? Is this secondary insurance (which usually means it takes longer to get refunded because they will try to collect from your regular insurance first)? What if the person with HBP had a heart attack? Call and ask questions.

 

[sam_gordon]

It’s usually better not to use the cruise lines insurance (it’s not actually theirs but a third party anyway). Try a site like insuremytrip, How about evacuation insurance? Is this secondary insurance (which usually means it takes longer to get refunded because they will try to collect from your regular insurance first)? What if the person with HBP had a heart attack? Call and ask questions.

This! Look deeply into what's covered and what's not. Getting your own 3rd party insurance will generally mean cheaper and more coverage.

Things I look to be covered:
* Medical (self explanatory)
* Evacuation (If you need to be airlifted from the ship or another country to a hospital)
* Return home (If you have to leave the ship in another country and need to get a flight home)
* Pre-existing Conditions (self-explanatory)
* Cancel for any reason (You NEVER know what might happen between the time you book and when you go on the trip. If you can afford to "eat" the cost of the trip, you can forgo this, but it's generally a relatively small add on)
* Coverage from Home-Home, not just on the ship.

Bonus coverage:
* Lost/Delayed Bag
* Missed flight (added hotel room and/or transportation to next port of call)
* Rental car coverage if flight is cancelled

We got off a cruise last year in the midst of the Delta Crowdstrike issue. Our flight ended up being cancelled, and we got two rental cars to get our party back home. Delta reimbursed us for the flights, but travel insurance covered the rental cars, fuel, and food for the trip home. I'm sure they would have covered hotel, but we drove through the night and didn't use one.

 

[mmbrad02]

We have taken four cruises with a fifth scheduled this June. DH and I are both Type 1 diabetics so insurance is so important to us. Thankfully we have never had to utilize any of the insurances so I can't really tell you how well any of it worked, but I can share what we used.

The first cruise I was naïve and really didn't know what I was doing, but I booked Carnival's insurance because frankly it was just easy to add on to the trip.

Next cruise was Disney and after scouring the internet, I booked our insurance with Allianz. Mainly because at that point, I realized it was cheaper.

Next cruise was Disney and we were driving, so while anything still could have happened, I didn't feel I needed the airfare coverage. And again for simplicity, I went with Disney's insurance this time.

Next cruise was Carnival again. I think I got lazy and this time also went with their insurance.

This summer we are sailing with Carnival again, longer cruise, and I went back with Allianz because it truly covers so much more. Like others have said - delayed trip, lost baggage, etc.

Again, I haven't had to use it, but I would definitely look into outside options for more complete coverage.

 

[lanejudy]

Are you flying in? Is there need for coverage for pre- and/or post-cruise plans? That includes flights, hotels, ground transportation, etc.

What time of year is the cruise? Is it possible there could be a delayed embarkation date? Insurance purchased through the cruiseline typically only covers "the cruise" itself. If you arrive in FL and find the cruise before yours has been delayed returning to port due to a hurricane, you'll need to make additional pre-cruise plans.

 

[hertamaniac]

I have taken 4 cruises this past year (same cruise line) and have always gone through the cruise line's offering.

My next cruise (same cruise line) is in few weeks in which I researched and went through the same exact provider as the cruise line's, but much better coverage and about 25% less expensive. For the person traveling with me in a separate stateroom, we saved her about 35% by not going through the cruise line's offering.

The tipping point was the medical evacuation coverage limits. I wanted a higher limit than what was offered.

I do not plan to go through the cruise line's insurance in the future.

 

[yeahdisney]

So far no one wants to offer cancel for no reason.
Alaska. August.
Princess offered covering the pre-existing
Geo. Did not.
I shall look around some more.
The other company had very bad reviews

 

[_19disnA]

Not surprising companies don't offer 'cancel for no reason' policies. Anyone selling insurance is running a for-profit business where they expect to take in more in premiums than they payout in claims. Costs are based on the expected 'risk' or probability something might happen. No one can predict if people will cancel for no reason, so they either charge more or don't offer that option. Always read the fine print as there are several older threads on here where people assumed coverage for things it really didn't and they had issues when trying to collect. As with most things, cheaper isn't necessarily better and might not provide the same level of coverage.

Think about how often in that past you had to suddenly cancel a scheduled vacation. If this happens rarely, might be better off putting aside whatever 'premium' the insurance company wanted to charge and not bother with it.

 

[mjkacmom]

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

 

[sam_gordon]

So far no one wants to offer cancel for no reason.
Alaska. August.
Princess offered covering the pre-existing
Geo. Did not.
I shall look around some more.
The other company had very bad reviews

https://www.insuremytrip.com/

I think you can only get Cancel for Any Reason if you buy the insurance within 'x' (14?) days of putting the deposit down on the trip. Or maybe that's for pre-existing conditions.

I just did a sample trip to Alaska for four people for a week, and got 12 results back with "Cancel for Any reason".

 

[sam_gordon]

Not surprising companies don't offer 'cancel for no reason' policies. Anyone selling insurance is running a for-profit business where they expect to take in more in premiums than they payout in claims. Costs are based on the expected 'risk' or probability something might happen. No one can predict if people will cancel for no reason, so they either charge more or don't offer that option. Always read the fine print as there are several older threads on here where people assumed coverage for things it really didn't and they had issues when trying to collect. As with most things, cheaper isn't necessarily better and might not provide the same level of coverage.

Think about how often in that past you had to suddenly cancel a scheduled vacation. If this happens rarely, might be better off putting aside whatever 'premium' the insurance company wanted to charge and not bother with it.

But they do. Yes, you pay a premium (the made up trip I did, the premium for adding cancel for any reason range from ~$180-$500 to cover all (I had four adults listed) passengers. On a $10,000 trip (guessing), an extra $500 in case of a last minute cancellation is worth it to me. Maybe not someone else.

 

[tvguy]

First thing to do is to see what, if ANY coverage you already have.
1) If you pay for your entire trip on the same credit card, they may throw in coverage for free.
2) If you have an employer plan CHECK that. My employer health coverage always covered you anywhere in the world and medical evacuation because some employees did travel internationally for word and it was less expensive to include it in the group insurance
3) If you are on Medicare, realize it covers nothing outside the U.S.
4) If you have a Medigap plan with your Medicare, check that. Mine covers me anywhere in the world with medical evacaution.
5) Decide how much risk you are willing to take. As a U.S. citizen going on cruises within reach of the U.S. Coast Guard, medical evacuation has never been a concern. The Coast Guard would evacuate me for free, it's illegal for them to charge. And in much of the Caribbean, the U.S. Coast Guard is the only option. Few of the other nations operate their own Coast Guard that is equipped to do medical evacuation, and there are few if any private medical evacuation services.

Covid turned the cruise insurance business upside down. It went from coverage that generated few claims, to coverage that started generating huge claims. My Princess cruise in September, their entry level insurance is about 10% of the total cost of the trip, the top of the line coverage is about 12%. My Celebrity Cruise, 7 days, in 2019, they were running a promo for their top of the line coverage was $25 per person!

 

[robinb]

I used Insure My Trip to find cruise insurance. I actually had to use it in November when my MIL died 3 days before we were supposed to sail. I realized something in the process. I paid for more insurance than I needed. I was refunded everything except for the base cruise rate prior to sailing. My taxes, port fees, gratuities and prepaid extras were all automatically refunded by NCL. So, my claim was for $1099 each instead of the $2,000 each that I estimated. My claim was finally paid this week. It took forever!

Read the policies carefully and understand what is covered and under which circumstances. You probably don’t need Cancel For Any Reason unless you or your family going on the trip have preexisting conditions that may prevent you from sailing. Also, compare apples to apples. The Princess insurance is more comprehensive while Blue Geo is medical coverage only.

Even though I used insurance for a cancelled trip, we went with a medical only annual plan with Travel Insured last month. We will “self insure” for cancellation in the future. I am most concerned about falling ill on a ship or in a dinky little county and needing to be flown back to the US. Those costs can add up fast. Someone was medically removed on my cruise last month in the Panama Canal .

 

[sam_gordon]

You probably don’t need Cancel For Any Reason unless you or your family going on the trip have preexisting conditions that may prevent you from sailing.

I disagree with this. "Any reason" should mean just that (or close, need to read the fine print). So not only if someone gets sick/injured before the trip, but job loss, natural disaster. If one loses their job, they may want to "save" the money from the trip. You even pointed out another example where it could be necessary, death of a close relative. Now, I'm not saying everyone must (or even should) get CFAR, but to say someone doesn't need it is irresponsible IMO, unless they know that person's situation.

Of course one needs to look at the cost of the insurance vs the trip, and what money you could be "out" if the trip needs to be cancelled. Airfare? Prepaid hotel/rental car (which I don't recommend, but possible)?

 

[robinb]

I disagree with this. "Any reason" should mean just that (or close, need to read the fine print). So not only if someone gets sick/injured before the trip, but job loss, natural disaster. If one loses their job, they may want to "save" the money from the trip. You even pointed out another example where it could be necessary, death of a close relative. Now, I'm not saying everyone must (or even should) get CFAR, but to say someone doesn't need it is irresponsible IMO, unless they know that person's situation.

Of course one needs to look at the cost of the insurance vs the trip, and what money you could be "out" if the trip needs to be cancelled. Airfare? Prepaid hotel/rental car (which I don't recommend, but possible)?

To be fair, I said to read the policies carefully and to see what is covered. Many things are covered by regular vanilla travel insurance, including the death and illness of a close family member.

Each person needs to gauge their individual needs. If someone has an insurance need that is not covered by a policy (like job loss) then of course they should buy CFAR insurance. But IMO, CFAR is overkill for most folks and just a waste of money which is why I used the word “probably”.

 

[mjkacmom]

To be fair, I said to read the policies carefully and to see what is covered. Many things are covered by regular vanilla travel insurance, including the death and illness of a close family member.

Each person needs to gauge their individual needs. If someone has an insurance need that is not covered by a policy (like job loss) then of course they should buy CFAR insurance. But IMO, CFAR is overkill for most folks and just a waste of money which is why I used the word “probably”.

I agree, I’d go for a policy that covered job loss or death of a family member, policies will be cheaper than CFAR.

 

[Magical2017]

We use Allianz. They have a lot of options, so just read over whatever you purchase.

 

[yeahdisney]

An insurance has been picked.
Ugh. The process.
I did read at many sites. They I would go read reviews of the top products and many would say they had claims still pending months outs.
And others at the top site had bad BBB reviews. Or not great ones.

Geo blue when I called them back said: we will not cover you for the Alaska part - the first person never even mentioned that.

I picked one from the top 3 that had good reviews. We just insured the cruise price. It did have cfar up to 48 hours prior to cruise. Better preexisting issues. And was bought within 10 days of cruise purchase - so that did something too.

We have never had any travel issues. We don’t normally buy insurance. Just need our bodies back home.

Currently on the bus to fly to DD. With no insurance (!) one night Disney - even though we said we were NOT going there. We are hoping honeymoon island is open. It was a quick morning.

Thanks gang.

 

[mjkacmom]

We always buy with cruises because unlike other vacations, it’s not refundable or able to be rescheduled, plus like most people, our health insurance doesn’t cover us out of the US, which could lead to a financial disaster.