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To Buy 3rd Party Insurance or Not


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For my last cruise, my travel agent (and "best" friend) took my money and didn't book my cruise. I got my money back except for the travel insurance, as his co-worker stated that was what the travel insurance was for.
 
So now I'm wary about whether or not to purchase additional travel insurance. My cruise is in October 2023 and I purchased the insurance offered by the cruise ship, but should I purchase another (or third party) travel insurance?
 
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Personally, I would see about cancelling the ship insurance and only go the 3rd party route (I use Allianz). 3rd party policies usually have more/better coverage than those promoted by the cruise lines, particularly for medical and emergency transport. They'll also cover flights, which I don't think RC's policy does.

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16 minutes ago, KJones said:

Personally, I would see about cancelling the ship insurance and only go the 3rd party route (I use Allianz). 3rd party policies usually have more/better coverage than those promoted by the cruise lines, particularly for medical and emergency transport. They'll also cover flights, which I don't think RC's policy does.

Ditto!  That is exactly what my travel agent said.  

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6 hours ago, mstrawn1991 said:
For my last cruise, my travel agent (and "best" friend) took my money and didn't book my cruise. I got my money back except for the travel insurance, as his co-worker stated that was what the travel insurance was for.
 
So now I'm wary about whether or not to purchase additional travel insurance. My cruise is in October 2023 and I purchased the insurance offered by the cruise ship, but should I purchase another (or third party) travel insurance?
 

So basically they insured a trip they never bothered to book? Hmmmm.

Do you have any proof they actually insured it? Or did they maybe pocket that money?

OK, I gotta add on to this. The co worker said that's what the insurance is for. Insuring trips the agent faild to book? That is not what travel insurance is for. Either you are leaving out a detail, or you were scammed out of the insurance money.

Agents don't insure trips they have not booked yet. Stinks like a fish.

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5 hours ago, CanHardlyWait said:

So basically they insured a trip they never bothered to book? Hmmmm.

Do you have any proof they actually insured it? Or did they maybe pocket that money?

OK, I gotta add on to this. The co worker said that's what the insurance is for. Insuring trips the agent faild to book? That is not what travel insurance is for. Either you are leaving out a detail, or you were scammed out of the insurance money.

Agents don't insure trips they have not booked yet. Stinks like a fish.

I gave the condensed version to save space. 😕 
I booked the cruise in 11/18 for 1/2020. After he gave me the info I went on RCCL to register my cruise. The number he gave me wouldn’t work. (I have receipts 😉) For over a year I would ask about it and he would say he would check. A week before the cruise I had still not been able to register!!! I called RCCL and she told me since a travel agent booked the cruise she wasn’t able to give details but she did say it was booked on 11/18/2018 and canceled 11/19/2020! He never told me this! After a threat to call authorities he returned my money except the travel insurance 🥺

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2 hours ago, mstrawn1991 said:

I gave the condensed version to save space. 😕 
I booked the cruise in 11/18 for 1/2020. After he gave me the info I went on RCCL to register my cruise. The number he gave me wouldn’t work. (I have receipts 😉) For over a year I would ask about it and he would say he would check. A week before the cruise I had still not been able to register!!! I called RCCL and she told me since a travel agent booked the cruise she wasn’t able to give details but she did say it was booked on 11/18/2018 and canceled 11/19/2020! He never told me this! After a threat to call authorities he returned my money except the travel insurance 🥺

A good travel agent would have used your credit card to book the cruise with Royal directly. This provides transparency to the customer and prevents things like this from happening as you would have seen the refund from the cancellation on your credit card statement and balance. Your travel agent operated on the line of fraud IMO and should also be responsible for the travel insurance portion.

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8 hours ago, mstrawn1991 said:

I gave the condensed version to save space. 😕 
I booked the cruise in 11/18 for 1/2020. After he gave me the info I went on RCCL to register my cruise. The number he gave me wouldn’t work. (I have receipts 😉) For over a year I would ask about it and he would say he would check. A week before the cruise I had still not been able to register!!! I called RCCL and she told me since a travel agent booked the cruise she wasn’t able to give details but she did say it was booked on 11/18/2018 and canceled 11/19/2020! He never told me this! After a threat to call authorities he returned my money except the travel insurance 🥺

This was fraud. And possibly insurance fraud as well. I would still go after this individual for fraud for the insurance portion. Which I still question whether they actually even purchased. Did you ever see proof of the insurance? If not your friend just stole that money as well. You still should have gone to the police.

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50 minutes ago, Wheeler825 said:

Any recommendation for travel medical insurance?

Most carriers that offer "travel" insurance also offer medical expense coverage as part of the policy or as an additional rider/endorsement to the policy, but always double-check (never assume it's included)!

As an example, the Allianz plan we purchased for our last cruise included $50K/person in medical expense coverage. You can usually customize the coverage amounts. So, we're covered for both trip cancellation/interruption, etc., and for potential out-of-country/onboard medical expenses under the one policy. 

Here are some good articles/videos/podcasts by Matt on the topic of travel insurance:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/12/03/video-why-you-should-get-travel-insurance-your-cruise

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

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/11/18/should-you-buy-annual-travel-insurance-plans

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On 3/17/2023 at 8:16 AM, DoomSlayer said:

A good travel agent would have used your credit card to book the cruise with Royal directly. This provides transparency to the customer and prevents things like this from happening as you would have seen the refund from the cancellation on your credit card statement and balance. Your travel agent operated on the line of fraud IMO and should also be responsible for the travel insurance portion.

I totally agree! And why he did me this way I will never know. He told me I was lucky I wasn't being sued by HIM because me calling RCCL and asking about the registration number resulted in him losing his commission for that cruise! 

Granted I know nothing about the travel industry, but I was told my numerous people including other agents, that if you book with a travel agent, only the travel agent can cancel.

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5 hours ago, mstrawn1991 said:

I totally agree! And why he did me this way I will never know. He told me I was lucky I wasn't being sued by HIM because me calling RCCL and asking about the registration number resulted in him losing his commission for that cruise! 

Wow. Sounds like the only thing he is sorry about is being caught. 

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6 hours ago, mstrawn1991 said:

I totally agree! And why he did me this way I will never know. He told me I was lucky I wasn't being sued by HIM because me calling RCCL and asking about the registration number resulted in him losing his commission for that cruise! 

Granted I know nothing about the travel industry, but I was told my numerous people including other agents, that if you book with a travel agent, only the travel agent can cancel.

I'm confused. If he never booked and paid for it, what commission was there for him to loose?

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3 hours ago, mstrawn1991 said:

Exactly! He lied and stole from me. I thought this person was a friend and honest, as I had booked trips with him before. 

If he never booked, then there was no commission for him to loose. You don't get commission on trips that aren't booked and paid for.

He could not have insured a trip that never existed. Did he show you proof of insurance? That money is in his pocket. 

I never would have let this go. Is he still in business? 

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10 hours ago, CanHardlyWait said:

If he never booked, then there was no commission for him to loose. You don't get commission on trips that aren't booked and paid for.

He could not have insured a trip that never existed. Did he show you proof of insurance? That money is in his pocket. 

I never would have let this go. Is he still in business? 

I still have the "confirmation" of the cruise being booked. And yes he is still in business.

I will find it and attach it

 

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35 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait said:

OMG. Wow.

Includes insurance and gratuities. We're you told how much they were at the time? Given a breakdown? Fare, insurance, gratuities?

No. I trusted this person. Known him since high school. I had booked with him before. I had no reason to question anything.

 

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