We have bought it and have never had to use it. But as with all insurance, we pray we will never have to use it, but I am sure we would be glad to know we had it if something were to happen.
It is not that much extra when you consider the overall investment of a trip
Our first few cruises, we didn't buy it, but now that we have a little one, we invest the meager $30-$40 per person for peace of mind.
We've never had to use it, thankfully, but our friend who cruises a lot did. On one of the sea days on his cruise, he was in agony because of an absessed tooth. (Think "Castaway.") He went to the infirmary on board and got some pain killers (cha-ching) and antibiotics (cha-ching!)
His options were to either find a dentist in the next port (Nassau) and take his chances that whomever he found wasn't a quack, or continue to take the pain killers + antibiotics and wait a couple of days until he could return to his home port. He chose the later, and saw a dentist right after he got off the ship. 1 emergency dental surgery and $500 later, he was feeling much better. His travel insurance reimbursed him every penny, from his trip to the infirmary to his trip to the US dentist!
That was enough to convince us to buy insurance.
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I always purchase travel insurance and have had to use it twice...Its a small price to pay for being covered in case of things happening, you just never know.
Insurance is something you may never use but if you don't have it that is when you will need it.
You can check your own personal insurance and credit card insurance coverage and see how well you are truly covered. Some insurance such as Platinum American Express Card (not the Costco Platinum, Delta Platinum or Visa Platinum) can give you fairly good coverage but in most cases supplemental travel insurance is required.
Buy the insurance.
Take care,
Mike
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For the reasonable cost, and peace of mind....there is just no reason why someone could justify not getting it. [jmho] Not using it is a good thing....
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We have bought it and have never had to use it. But as with all insurance, we pray we will never have to use it, but I am sure we would be glad to know we had it if something were to happen.
It is not that much extra when you consider the overall investment of a trip
Exactly! It is well worth it. You never know what can happen.
The costs for an emergency abroad can be staggering.
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We had never gotten it until one of our tablemates had a medical problem aboard ship----long story short it was $7,300 for the two days! Royal Caribbean (although I think all the lines do this) does not accept your Blue Cross, Medicare, etc. they are paid up front---in this case from the credit card he had used for his onboard account. Since then we've purchased insurance 14 times and , thank goodness, only used it once when our luggage was delayed and they paid us $100 per day for essentials. I agree that the peace of mind is worth the expense.
As with all insurance, its so worth it if you ever need it and peace of mind if you never use it, for a relatively small investment. But with every insurance policy, make sure you have enough coverage. On our honeymoon (land based) we had cancelation coverage, but not trip interruption coverage. So when the Hurricane turned toward Jamaica, we werent covered, since we decided to go. So we got stuck with all of the flight change fees, plus almost no return for unused nights. Lesson learned, a very expensive one. So I suggest getting it and hope you never use it.
Randy and Heather
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We just consider insurance as past of the cost of any trip whether it be a land vacation or a cruise. Out of 42 cruises we have used insurance 3 times. Once when one of the kids came down with pneumonia we canceled, the second time was when my Mother had a heart attack and the third time was when we missed a connecting flight home from Europe. Our plane from Edinburgh landed in plenty of time, but we sat on the runway at Gatwick for 40 minutes because there was no gate available. Missed the connection back to the US by 3 minutes. It turned out to be a good thing. United rebooked us for the next day and upgraded us to business class and the insurance company reimbursed us 100% for our taxi fares, hotel, meals and calls home to the US under the missed connection coverage. With children, granchildren and elderly parents the chances that something could happen just keep increasing, not to mention we are getting older ourselves.
How many of you buy it
. How often have you really used it
this is our first cruise and a friend who cruises often convinced me to get it when we booked our cruise.
She told me about a friend who missed her boat because she got sick prior to the sail date. She said the friend had to provide medical documentation detailing her illness, but when it was all said & done she got fully reimbursed for the missed trip.
But this thread has raised some great questions for me. I booked via a Carnival TA & was charged $190 for travel insurance for hubby and me. TA discussed costs as far as cancelling, but not medical, etc. and altho we booked a few weeks back she hasn't sent us any info regarding exactly what that coverage entails. I honestly didn't think about medical problems while cruisnig since we have medical insurance. My friend said she paid a similar price for herself & her hubby, but seeing above that some have paid $30-$40 makes me think we got ripped off.
I just emailed asking her for this info thanks to this thread. I hope $190 covers more than just cancelling the trip if (God forbid) we need more coverage.
Newlyweds,it's really best to buy your insurane from a third party. Since you booked via Carnival, you have there specific insurance coverage. Medical evacuation from a ship, is quite costly,and age has nothing to do with this important need.
Go to insuremytrip,com,and plug in your personal data,and, you can do side by side ocmparisons,to see what coverage suits you best. Baggage loss, and, trip interuption should also show in the coverages.
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Newlyweds,it's really best to buy your insurane from a third party. Since you booked via Carnival, you have there specific insurance coverage. Medical evacuation from a ship, is quite costly,and age has nothing to do with this important need.
Go to insuremytrip,com,and plug in your personal data,and, you can do side by side ocmparisons,to see what coverage suits you best. Baggage loss, and, trip interuption should also show in the coverages.
Thanks Trip, unfortunately we paid for our insurance a few weeks ago when we booked so may not be able to cancel. but TA did send me the info (it is a plan from Carnival) & we're gonna discuss further tomorrow. Wish i'd known about your site before but this one seems to cover a lot (trip cancellation, interruption, delay, 75% cruise credit for any reason; emergency evacuation; reptriation; accidnet medical; sickness medical; baggage/personal effects; baggage delay; worldwide emergency assistance includ. carefree travel, medical & emergency services).
but will find out if any of that means anything when I speak with TA tomorrow. will keep your site in mind for future trips tho, thanks.
Traveling is a wonderful experience, but no one knows, about uncertainties. While planning for a Trip , You should have a Travel Insurance. It is not compulsory for everyone, But it is advisable for all to have a travel insurance, It covers You from all type of inconvenience during traveling.
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Last edited by Trip; March 11th, 2011 at 08:12 AM.
I allways get travel insurance, and have used it twice. Believe me it comes in handy when stuff happens.
It's better to get it from a third party.
It's not only for medical emergencies. We got a refund on a cruise when we had a death in the family three days prior to the cruise.
TM
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I've always bought insurance for all of our vacations that were "pricey", including our cruises. I had a friend, though, who had a cruise scheduled for Feb 2010 and didn't buy insurance. They got hit by a big snowstorm and their flight was cancelled to get to their cruise. Needless to say, they missed their cruise and lost all the money they paid for the cruise. She was heartbroken. They scheduled another cruise for this year, bought the insurance, and they sailed happily ever after. I just love happy endings, which is another reason to buy insurance.
Reading insurance related incidents for over ten years here,and knowing people who have been on ships,where accidents have happend...age should NOT be factored into buying insurance. It is an inexpensive, peace of mind addition, to your vacation cost
SHIP happens
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Go to insuremytrip.com, and plug in all your pertinent info, You can get side by side comparisons to assure you of the best coverergae.Keep in mind also, pre existing conditions if any...you can alo call them.
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Chat Hostess & Board Moderator
Cruise line insurance is often not the best. Sometimes, it is the best. It is group insurance - all share the risk. For elderly, it is often the least expensive.
Generally, Travel insurance to choose from, depends on the type of trip and Your length of stay. A Travel Insurance is not compulsory but it is good, If You have a good Travel Insurance, It covers You from all the risks, inconvenience, or any emergency health problems, during Your Travel.
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***Edited to remove commercial reference***
Last edited by Donna; March 12th, 2011 at 04:44 AM.
Reason: removed hyper link
I've used my travel insurance once when I broke my arm on vacation. Without it, I would have had to pay a lot more money to the hospital since my regular health insurance didn't cover it. I always get it for peace of mind.
We've never cruised without travel insurance! We have it mainly for the medical coverage...and we've had to use it three times.
We paid upfront on board ship for our medical care and THEN we were fully re-inversed by the travel insurance.
Stuff happens. Once, soon after we had set sail for Alaska...an older gentleman suffered a serious fall just going to his Muster Station. He had to be emergency evacuated. $$$$$$$
With aging parents and one grandparent we always buy insurance, sometimes for land vacations in case we need to cut a trip short - and of course any thing could happen to us or our kids as well.
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Always bought insurance and never used it up until the last cruise I booked on Celebrity. My dad passed away 3 days prior. The cost of insurance was approx 79.00 per person..My wife and I got a refund from the issuing company for 2,200 total cost of cruise for both of us. We supplied the death certificate and a notorized letter and approx 6 weeks later received the check in the mail.
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