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Travel Insurance for a cruise


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Hi.


Can someone explain travel insurance to me? I've never purchased it for a trip before just wanted to know how it works. Also, I wasn't asked when I booked my cruise so can it still be added. Can you add it anytime with any company? Please advise.


Thank You,

 

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Like any form of insurance from personal property, liability, health, life or travel, insurance coverage is designed to cover you for unexpected events.  If all goes well with your trip you will never need to make a claim against an insurance policy. 

Just like other forms of insurance there are different coverage options available for travel insurance.  You can get very specific coverage that might cover just one type of covered event such as lost luggage or you get can a policy that covers a variety of covered events such as lost luggage, trip delays, medical coverage out of country, emergency medical transportation, and repatriation (getting back to your home country after a covered event).   There is one type of travel insurance called Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR).  With that type of policy if you decide you no longer want to go on the trip for any reason as outlined in the policy, you can cancel and get some or all of your money back.  Each policy has terms and conditions or restrictions.  CFAR typically can't be purchased as the trip date gets closer.  Other forms of insurance can be purchased closer to trip date.  

Different policies provide different coverage amounts.  One company or policy might provide $50 if your luggage is lost while another one might provide $500 for lost luggage.  One might provide $1,000 of medical coverage while another provides $50,000 of medical coverage.  You need to research each insurance option to determine which one provides the type of coverage you seek and which policy provides the dollar amounts of coverage you desire.

Insurance is offered by cruise lines but it's typically one policy with fixed coverage.  Often these forms of insurance must be purchased when the trip is booked.  Insurance purchased directly with a broker or insurance company may be available with a variety of options and costs.  These insurance policies can usually be purchased after the trip is booked but before the trip starts.

In many cases a travel insurance policy may require you to pay expenses upfront and submit receipts for reimbursement.  A cruise ship has a medical facility on board but they don't accept any insurance, you pay out of pocket and then you must file a claim with your insurance provider to seek reimbursement.  The same may occur if something happens in a foreign country.  That hospital or clinic will most likely require you to pay out of pocket and then you must file a claim with your insurance provider to seek reimbursement.  There are some insurance policies that work with medical facilities in some countries.  These are all items to research as you consider different insurance options.

The credit card you use to book a trip may provide some limited forms of travel insurance.  Check with your credit card company.

Travel insurance is available to cover one specific trip and there are annual insurance policies that can cover multiple trips.

Without assuming anything about you, your country and/or state of residence can play a part in determining what insurance options are available for you.  

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I just bought a policy yesterday. I bought it through the same travel agent that booked our cruise the day before. It was important to get the policy quickly after booking because of the stipulation: "Purchase within 14 days of your initial trip deposit for pre-existing condition exclusion waiver"

I'm sure research will show better deals out there.....cheaper rates, etc. I like the travel agent, his company, and we have friends who had just gone the same route and were good with it.

I feel we are adequately covered for all situations, just hoping we don't have to use it. Normally I am reluctant to get insurance....usually opt out. This was different.....at our ages need to think a little different than we used to.

You can message me if you want details of our policy, rates, etc.

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8 hours ago, nrgMike said:

Hi.


Can someone explain travel insurance to me? I've never purchased it for a trip before just wanted to know how it works. Also, I wasn't asked when I booked my cruise so can it still be added. Can you add it anytime with any company? Please advise.


Thank You,

 

Before deciding on travel insurance,  make sure you do your due diligence as they are all not the same. Below is a brief pros and cons synopsis and is not all inclusive:

The pros:

Travel insurance is for emergencies. If your flights are cancelled or you miss them, your insurance can help you get your booking costs back. If you lose your baggage, or if the travel company you’ve booked through goes bankrupt, you may be compensated. Be sure to save the original copy of your airline ticket, hotel booking etc. for filing your claim. If you contract malaria on holiday or have a gall bladder attack while feasting on Peking Duck on your Chinese vacation, your medical insurance policy may not cover you out of network. That is where your travel insurance company can step in to help with your treatment costs. This can greatly lessen your financial load. Cancelled trips due to natural disasters, bad weather or faults in cruise ships can also be covered by travel insurance. If a tsunami causes your hotel to close or if an earthquake causes flight cancellations, you can find yourself paying out of pocket. But if you have travel insurance, it can help you meet most of the costs, if not all of it. Many policies will also provide coverage for stolen, lost or damaged luggage, which can otherwise set you back by hundreds of dollars. Consequently, when you’re buying travel insurance, it’s always a good idea to make sure that your luggage is covered in the policy.

The cons:

However travel insurance can be costly. Despite its benefits, if you have a smooth holiday you will have spent a small fortune on insurance that you won’t need. Sometimes, the price you pay for insurance may not outweigh the cost of your trip. If your trip costs $3000, you spend $150 on travel insurance and then don’t file a claim you’ve already spent 5 percent of your trip budget. If you hadn’t bought the insurance, you could have spent that money on your holiday instead. As a result, many people don’t find the cost worthwhile, and take a chance with the weather, illness or lost luggage. After all, if you are reasonably healthy with no existing medical conditions, a truncated weekend holiday to California or cancelled flights from Amsterdam will hardly be a financial blow. In fact at times, travel insurance may be completely unnecessary. You may not need it if you’re on a weekend golfing trip to Florida. Another problem with travel insurance is that it may not cover everything that you need coverage on. The cheapest insurance usually provides the least cover, and it may not make sense to spend a hundred dollars on coverage that can’t protect you when something goes wrong. Therefore it’s important to read the policy carefully and make sure that the particular issues you want coverage for is covered in it. For instance, if you’re carrying expensive equipment on a policy that only covers $500 worth of it you need to look for another policy. Sometimes, it may make more sense to purchase insurance at lower rates through your credit card company if you’re paying for your holiday with your credit card. If you’re booking through online travel websites, you’ll find that many of them throw up a trip insurance check-box. You can use these, or you can go to other companies online like Allianz Travel Insurance or Travel Guard and get quotes to compare.

The trick is to shop around as you would any other insurance, so you get the best prices and the most coverage. Therefore when you plan your next holiday, decide whether you can afford to lose the cost of the trip if you have to cut it short at the last minute. Does the policy cover what you need, can you afford the premium or is there anyone in the group or family you are traveling with liable to be sick on your holiday? Ask yourself these questions, and then decide whether you need travel insurance or not.

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In addition to guarding against any medical mishaps, one of thIngs that I make sure my policies have is "cancel for work reasons".  I can, and do, get subpoenaed for court on short notice, and not showing up is not an option (yes, they WILL fly us back mid vacation if the case is big enough).  So it's good to think about your own personal situation and make sure you are covered for whatever reasons are important to you.

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Great information from all.  We needed to use the medical facility on one of our cruises and we learned that they are an outsourced operation.  My wife received great service and Tamiflu but unfortunately my wife was quarantined to the room.  The doctor even gave me Tamiflu as a preventive.  They will charge you for the service and you will have to file an insurance claim when you get back home.  In our case, $348 and it goes on your SeaPass card.       

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  • 2 years later...
On 3/2/2019 at 9:09 AM, twangster said:

Like any form of insurance from personal property, liability, health, life or travel, insurance coverage is designed to cover you for unexpected events.  If all goes well with your trip you will never need to make a claim against an insurance policy. 

Just like other forms of insurance there are different coverage options available for travel insurance.  You can get very specific coverage that might cover just one type of covered event such as lost luggage or you get can a policy that covers a variety of covered events such as lost luggage, trip delays, medical coverage out of country, emergency medical transportation, and repatriation (getting back to your home country after a covered event).   There is one type of travel insurance called Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR).  With that type of policy if you decide you no longer want to go on the trip for any reason as outlined in the policy, you can cancel and get some or all of your money back.  Each policy has terms and conditions or restrictions.  CFAR typically can't be purchased as the trip date gets closer.  Other forms of insurance can be purchased closer to trip date.  

Different policies provide different coverage amounts.  One company or policy might provide $50 if your luggage is lost while a different might provide $500 for lost luggage.  One might provide $1,000 of medical coverage while another provide $50,000 of medical coverage.  You need to research each insurance option to determine which one provides the type of coverage you seek and which policy provides the dollar amounts of coverage you desire.

Insurance is offered by cruise lines but it's typically one policy with fixed coverage.  Often these forms of insurance must be purchased when the trip is booked.  Insurance purchased directly with a broker or insurance company may be available with a variety of options and costs.  These insurance policies can usually be purchased after the trip is booked but before the trip starts.

In many cases a travel insurance policy may require you to pay expenses upfront and submit receipts for reimbursement.  A cruise ship has a medical facility on board but they don't accept any insurance, you pay out of pocket and then you must file a claim with your insurance provider to seek reimbursement.  The same may occur if something happens in a foreign country.  That hospital or clinic will most likely require you to pay out of pocket and then you must file a claim with your insurance provider to seek reimbursement.  There are some insurance policies that work with medical facilities in some countries.  These are all items to research as you consider different insurance options.

The credit card you use to book a trip may provide some limited forms of travel insurance.  Check with your credit card company.

Travel insurance is available to cover one specific trip and there are annual insurance policies that can cover multiple trips.

Without assuming anything about you, your country and/or state of residence can play a part in determining what insurance options are available for you.  

I'm sorry to bring this up, but I want to say thank you for the clarification. I was recently going on a cruise with my wife, and no one I knew could clearly explain what kind of insurance to take out. So when we arrived at the hotel https://www.onholidays.com.au/rainbow-beach-holiday-houses/, they put my wife in quarantine for suspected coronavirus. I paid a lot of money just to buy her medicine, not to mention seeing a doctor. All in all, I spent a lot more than our honeymoon trip cost.

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If you are a frequent traveler you should consider an annual plan. Either way, make sure your plan covers Covid related illness and medical transportation…ie, Epidemic Coverage Endorsement. An Embassy letter showing you are covered for Covid is good to have.
With Royal’s Cruise with Confidence program…trip cancellation for any reason (48hrs prior) is covered with a future cruise credit. Provided your booking takes place before Aug 31 and your sailing is before Apr 30. The FCC has an expiration date so it’s important to know if you have other cruises planned or not. Royal has been pretty good so far with Covid related issues onboard as far as partial reimbursement and transport. So the big expense potential is if something happens while off the ship…or if you are transported to a medical facility while in another country. Medical care and potential air transport home (especially if it’s a medical flight) can be very expensive.

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30 minutes ago, BrianB said:

If you are a frequent traveler you should consider an annual plan.

Amid my YOLO booking spree, and after considering that I also had a couple of other out-of-town trips planned in the next year, I did this exact thing this weekend. I added up the per-trip protection costs offered by the airlines and/or cruise lines involved, and it ended up being cheaper buying the annual plan. And now, on top of that, I have higher benefit limits.

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A few interesting articles I found. We are looking at both inclusive (covers cancellation, etc also) and just the medical/evac/repatriation policies.  We will buy something annual before our next trip.
 

https://www.safesmartliving.com/finance/insurance/travel/annual/

https://money.com/best-travel-insurance/

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/best-travel-insurance/
 

 

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2 hours ago, stevendom57 said:

Can anyone give some examples of annual policies that cover Covid issues?

 

There is a website ‘InsureMyTrip’ which gives you comparisons of different insurance policies.

 I have the annual Alltrips Prime from Allianz…I have had it for years (except of course this past year). They have an app so it’s easy to access the benefits and use their resources or make a timely claim. They email me the Embassy Letter which is used to prove I have medical and emergency transportation coverage…and specifically anything Covid-related. Allianz has several annual policies and each one has the Epidemic Coverage Endorsement…but the coverage limits are different for each.

Take your time and research each company, policy, coverages and specific exclusions to determine what’s right for you. 

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I have always purchased the insurance through Royal and I'll admit I haven't looked at this close enough.  I see the coverage amounts of their plan and have looked at Allianz which mentions Epidemic Coverage Endorsement and I don't see that on Royals Vacation Protection plan.  Does Royal cover this and I assume all of these plans require you to pay out of pocket and then you are reimbursed after filing the claim?

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On 8/19/2021 at 5:29 PM, BrianB said:

There is a website ‘InsureMyTrip’ which gives you comparisons of different insurance policies.

 I have the annual Alltrips Prime from Allianz…I have had it for years (except of course this past year). 

Do you mean Alltrips Premier from Allianz?  I'm looking now and I don't see Prime.

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I decided I didn’t really need to focus on expanded trip cancellation coverage because I drive to the port. So no flights or hotels. With Royal’s Cruise with Confidence covering up to 48hrs prior to sailing up until April 30, I’ll risk having to cancel within that two day period. Insurance does not apply if you are compensated with FCC. Also, medical coverage amounts are secondary…which means whatever amount my health coverage pays is deducted from the insurance benefit. But I do like the peace of mind knowing I will likely be reimbursed for out of pocket medical expenses…up to the limits. As they say on their website…Prime is like a warm, comfortable coat…and Premier is like an Arctic winter parka. Get whatever makes you feel confident to travel.

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