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Trip Insurance


Fred567

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I've read through a few documents for coverage but am not really sure whats covered / not covered..

is the insurance offered by RC the best one to get or should I go with someone else?

Does the Insurance cover just the Cruise or also the flight to the cruise and extended days after the cruise ( IE staying in orlando a couple days) before flying home

are delays causing missed flights covered - If ship gets back a few hours late and miss flight, are new flight, transportation, and hotel costs covered? ( relatives just got back 9 hours late, had out of pocket expenses $1500 for hotel and new flights , would this have been covered?)

What if trip delayed - canceled - changed due to hurricane/mother nature?

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52 minutes ago, Fred567 said:

I've read through a few documents for coverage but am not really sure whats covered / not covered..

is the insurance offered by RC the best one to get or should I go with someone else?

Does the Insurance cover just the Cruise or also the flight to the cruise and extended days after the cruise ( IE staying in orlando a couple days) before flying home

are delays causing missed flights covered - If ship gets back a few hours late and miss flight, are new flight, transportation, and hotel costs covered? ( relatives just got back 9 hours late, had out of pocket expenses $1500 for hotel and new flights , would this have been covered?)

What if trip delayed - canceled - changed due to hurricane/mother nature?

Welcome to the forums!

Every insurance policy is different, so you have to decide what you want and find a policy that covers what you expect it to cover.  If I recall, the insurance you purchase through RCCL does not cover your flight, etc, which is one reason I go with someone else.  I have a good working relationship with tripinsurance.com (the poor owner has held my hand through several purchases when I didn't understand something), but there are many places to get trip insurance.  Just be sure you read it and know what it covers and what it doesn't.

Also check out @Matt's podcast about trip insurance here:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/podcast/episode-315-travel-insurance-101

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@Fred567, welcome to the forums!

The insurance offered by Royal only covers the cruise itself, any excursions you have bought through the cruise line, and nothing else unless (if I remember right) you happen to purchase your flights through their Air2Sea service; if do you then the flights should also be included. As @SpeedNoodles noted, nothing else gets covered. That includes any third-party excursions you may have purchased directly instead of through Royal.

The medical coverage offered by Royal's policy is pretty bare-bones as well, and even though it's typically purchased at the same time as the cruise I found they do not have a particularly buyer-friendly pre-existing conditions clause. I've since gone to buying my trip insurance through other providers to make sure that I get everything I'm looking for in a policy.

I had asked about places to get trip insurance a while back here, and while I can't find the thread right now I can tell that the one I went through for a trip coming up in August was insuremytrip.com. They have a really good site and selection tool, allowed me to find a policy with Travelex (part of Berkshire Hathaway) that gave sufficient coverage (trip cancellation and interruption, medical, etc.) for what is going to be a big / expensive trip overall, including an extended stay in Dublin after we disembark. I would suggest looking at them and seeing if they can get you a policy covering the situations you described.

 

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On 1/22/2020 at 8:15 AM, JLMoran said:

@Fred567, welcome to the forums!

The insurance offered by Royal only covers the cruise itself, any excursions you have bought through the cruise line, and nothing else unless (if I remember right) you happen to purchase your flights through their Air2Sea service; if do you then the flights should also be included. As @SpeedNoodles noted, nothing else gets covered. That includes any third-party excursions you may have purchased directly instead of through Royal.

The medical coverage offered by Royal's policy is pretty bare-bones as well, and even though it's typically purchased at the same time as the cruise I found they do not have a particularly buyer-friendly pre-existing conditions clause. I've since gone to buying my trip insurance through other providers to make sure that I get everything I'm looking for in a policy.

I had asked about places to get trip insurance a while back here, and while I can't find the thread right now I can tell that the one I went through for a trip coming up in August was insuremytrip.com. They have a really good site and selection tool, allowed me to find a policy with Travelex (part of Berkshire Hathaway) that gave sufficient coverage (trip cancellation and interruption, medical, etc.) for what is going to be a big / expensive trip overall, including an extended stay in Dublin after we disembark. I would suggest looking at them and seeing if they can get you a policy covering the situations you described.

 

+1 for insuremytrip.com, add "cancel for any reason" if you're within the time frame to do so.

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Just and FYI, I had insurance through RC and had to cancel the day before the cruise.  We DID NOT get refund as they determined a pre-existing condition.  Read all fine print with ANY Trip Insurance.  They did provide us 75% of our cruise fare for future cruises though.  I learned the hard way.

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As a USAA member I utilize the travel insurance provider they offer and while I've never had to use it thankfully, prices are good.  I also read through all the coverage options to know exactly what I was paying for as they had different tier options.  Lots of options out there, but definitely do your research to find the company/coverage that works best for you.

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On 1/22/2020 at 7:00 AM, Fred567 said:

I've read through a few documents for coverage but am not really sure whats covered / not covered..

is the insurance offered by RC the best one to get or should I go with someone else?

Does the Insurance cover just the Cruise or also the flight to the cruise and extended days after the cruise ( IE staying in orlando a couple days) before flying home

are delays causing missed flights covered - If ship gets back a few hours late and miss flight, are new flight, transportation, and hotel costs covered? ( relatives just got back 9 hours late, had out of pocket expenses $1500 for hotel and new flights , would this have been covered?)

What if trip delayed - canceled - changed due to hurricane/mother nature?

Concur with others, including @JLMoran , and we now generally use Allianz.  You can select a "tier" of coverage -- more expensive if you want extra $$ for medical, for example.  We found it easy to submit a delayed baggage claim online with Allianz when we traveled to New Zealand.

One benefit of Royal's contractor is the "cancel for any reason" provision, whereby you could cancel at almost the last minute, forfeit your deposit, and get the balance in future cruise credit.

So it depends upon your needs -- luggage issues, medical issues, schedule/weather uncertainty, etc.

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4 minutes ago, ChessE4 said:

Concur with others, including @JLMoran , and we now generally use Allianz.  You can select a "tier" of coverage -- more expensive if you want extra $$ for medical, for example.  We found it easy to submit a delayed baggage claim online with Allianz when we traveled to New Zealand.

Only comment I'll make regarding Allianz (and honestly, it probably applies to any insurance carrier in the end) is to make sure you have every possible piece of documentation and/or evidence you can get when submitting a trip cancellation or interruption claim. @twangster posted his experience filing for cancellation coverage, and besides needing every shred of evidence he happened to take to finally get the claim processed and approved, he needed the patience of Job to get through the mountain of calls and emails and callbacks and escalations he had to go through.

 

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21 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

make sure you have every possible piece of documentation and/or evidence you can get when submitting a trip cancellation or interruption claim

Agreed.  I work in the insurance industry and they definitely don't make it easy to file the claim.  We had a claim before and it was 72 pages of submitted documentation for our claim.  Not only do you have to document the proof of the loss but you also have to document your total trip cost which is how they establish the maximum levels of coverage for your claim.  There's a lot of moving parts when your trip includes travel to the cruise, hotel, the cruise itself, and travel home.

Also really need to read and understand how the insurance works and how it would be applied to what you are trying to claim.  For example if your plans get disrupted because of weather you still have to exhaust every avenue to get to the cruise and you have to pay for all of that out of pocket and hope it gets reimbursed.  

Basically the most important piece to insure against is what would cause you the greatest financial loss, which for most folks in the US is a medical issue that has to be treated overseas or a medevac.

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Allianz has a new option in my home state called Basic.  For my state it appears to be medical coverage only with no trip delay or cancellation.  

While I had a bad experience with Allianz i don't expect another insurance company would have been very much different.  All insurance companies seek ways to not have to payout.   

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Had recent experience with Aon, RCL's travel insurer. Had to cancel our annual Thanksgiving cruise on Brilliance due to learning late in October that I had to have a surgery done quickly. Well past the final payment date, I cancelled the cruise. After the surgery was complete, I spoke with Michelle at MEI and she sent me the contact info at Aon. I filled out the rather simple form and had the surgeon's nurse do the same for the medical portion and she got the doctor to sign. Filed the forms and final RCL invoice with Aon and had the checks within about three weeks, I believe.

No problems, no need for phone calls, follow-ups, etc. Nice to know RCL has THAT system working, at least!! Lol!

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