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Opinions, Suggestions, etc.. on Cruise Travel Insurance


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First let me Say.    We Will Not Go On A Cruise WITHOUT INSURANCE

 

We are Senior’s 67 and 66, I am Retired Military and we are Florida Residents

 

Should we buy travel insurance when we purchase the cruise because of pre-existing conditions ? 

 

Should we wait until we are sure of the cruise so that we can cancel and not lose out on the money for the insurance ?

 

This question comes to mind because.  We are going on the Harmony of the Seas on April 28, 2019.  We have Travel Insurance.  The price of our cruise dropped $450.00 and I am being told, nothing can be done since we are past final payment and every cabin is now booked so we are unable to upgrade. We are also about to purchase another cruise.

 

BACKGROUND

 

About five years ago, my wife woke me up saying I just had a seizure.  I told her, I was fine and went back to sleep.  After she left for work, I started feeling strange and drove myself to hospital.  They did an MRI and found a fairly large non-cancer meningioma tumor.  They were able to remove most of the tumor.

 

Seven months after that, and no driving for six months, I drove the car to an Auto Repair Shop.  While they were working on car, I had a seizure and woke up in the Hospital.  There was a fluid buildup where the tumor was removed and they had to do another brain surgery.

 

Three years ago, the wife and I are driving to Ft. Lauderdale for a cruise on the Oasis of the Seas, and I am feeling sick, unable to urinate and feeling like I have the flu and it was flu season.  So, being stubborn and against my wife’s advice to see a doctor, I insist on getting on the ship.  Well, as soon as all hands drill is done, I go down to sickbay (Medical) and the doctor gives me some pills to take and tells me to go up to the cabin and rest.  Later that night, I am worse and go back down to medical.  That is about the last thing I remembered for a while.  I was diagnosed with chronic urinary sepsis.

 

The Ship had to get a Helicopter and I was taken to a Hospital in Santiago. I was there for almost three weeks and then another Air Ambulance to Tallahassee, Florida where I spent 3 more weeks at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and transferred to a Rehab facility for another 4 weeks.  They said I was in bad shape and lucky to be alive.  Total bill was over $400,000.00.  Boy was I glad I had Insurance. 

 

 

Then a week before Christmas 2017, I am having severe pain in my chest.  Go to hospital and they do a catheterization.  They said there was blockage but not severe enough for them to do anything.

 

Because of my medical history, of course I will not go on a cruise without insurance.

 

But the question comes up.  When should I get the insurance and where.

 Thanks

Joe

( Proud Military Veteran and Retired Navy Submarine Sailor )

 

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A lot goes into shopping for an insurance policy.  They all have different rules for when you have to purchase and if they cover pre-existing conditions.  There are even annual policies you can buy that cover all trips.  Insuremytrip.com is a good place to start to compare different plans and see what they offer.  You also need to look into your current policies for health insurance and also your credit card may have some travel insurance benefits. 

What coverages do you need?  Do you want medical, medical evacuation, travel interruption, cancel for any reason coverages?  There are a lot of different coverages to choose from out there.

My personal thought is if you have the pre-existing conditions you want to get the coverage as soon as you buy the trip.

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4 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

My personal thought is if you have the pre-existing conditions you want to get the coverage as soon as you buy the trip.

We had to get the pre-existing condition one for our Alaska trip and for our particular policy i believe we only had 14 days after booking to do it. I'm sure it varies from policy to policy.

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One thing to keep an eye out with an annual policy is still the preexisting conditions clause.

This is an example from an annual Allianz travel insurance policy 

Quote

Definition

Pre-existing medical condition
An injury, illness, or medical condition that, within the 120 days prior to and including the policy purchase date:
1.Caused a person to seek medical examination, diagnosis, care, or treatment by a doctor;
2.Presented symptoms; or
3.Required a person to take medication prescribed by a doctor(unless the condition or symptoms are controlled by that prescription, and the prescription has not changed).
The illness, injury, or medical condition does not need to be formally diagnosed in order to be considered a pre-existing medical condition.
For example, a sprained knee you have had treated in the 120 days prior to and including the policy purchase date will be considered a pre-existing medical condition.  If you later have to cancel your trip because, for instance, the sprained knee now requires surgery, or because your recovery is taking longer than expected, or for any other reason arising out of the knee sprain, this would be considered a pre-existing medical condition.

Quote

Pre-Existing Medical Condition Exclusion Waiver

This Pre-Existing Medical Condition Exclusion Waiver describes the circumstances in which a  pre-existing medical condition MAY be covered under this  policy and NOT excluded from coverage.
Because  your  policy includes  this  waiver,  you can  still  be  covered  for  losses  due  to  a  pre-existing  medical condition if  you were a U.S. resident when the  policy  was purchased and:
a. The  trip  was purchased during the  coverage period; or
b. Your policy  was purchased within 14 days of the date of the first  trip payment or deposit.
IMPORTANT:    The  amount  payable  for  claims  for  Trip  Cancellation  Coverage  or  Trip  Interruption  Coverage due to  a  pre-existing  medical  condition cannot  exceed  the  Pre-Existing  Medical  Condition  Limit  listed  on  your Declarations.  Amounts  payable  for  claims  under  other  coverages  are  subject  to  limits  listed  on  your Declarations.

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Joe, first of all, thank you for your service! I'm a former surface sailor (DLG 34 Plankowner)

I'm by no means an experienced pleasure cruiser but there are plenty on this forum and I've been sponging off of them....like good geedunk.

I've read your post above and glad you made it through.....that had to be close to worst case.

When we booked our cruise (February for Christmas cruise) we booked through a travel agent - Crown Cruise and got insurance from a link on their website (CF Travel Insured International). I didn't shop around for the TA or the insurance as some friends recommended them and we went with it. Now I know, like anything else, you get a lot of "You could have got it cheaper here" yadda yadda yadda, but we are pleased with what we got.

We aren't getting any younger and I'm 100% VA disabled so I don't think it would be wise to go off on a voyage like we are going on without insurance. Like I've been telling folks lately, I'm playing on house money..... and every day is a new adventure.

Y'all take care and I hope you have a great cruise!914796919_USSBiddle.thumb.jpg.cf3ab08212c3e7ee9597c7f4fac23d70.jpg

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Like most insurance policies, you want to do some research into what the policy covers and does not cover. Travel insurance policies are not all the same, and depending on what you want included, the policy, price and offerings may vary drastically.

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