I am looking into trip insurance for my upcoming cruise in May and really don't know where to start as I have never purchased it before. DD and I will be cruising on the Dream May 6. What should I be looking for regards to insurance? Do I include air cost, pre cruise hotel and rental car in the total or cruise cost only? My final cruise payment is due next week so I need to get this before I make the payment, correct?
Any help is much appreciated.
Thanks
If you have nobody in your family who has been sick for any reason in the past 90 days (that includes aging parents who may get suddenly ill and might prevent you from going on your cruise), you can probably get away without pre-existing conditions coverage. If this isn't you, I wouldn't risk it, at least not without breaking out your magnifying glass and going over the policy with a fine tooth comb.
You want to include all non-refundable items, and, if you're renting a car, probably the collision damage waiver as well. So, if the hotel is totally prepaid, include it, and if you'd only be charged for a night or two, include that night or two, and don't worry about the rest. If you book shore excursions through an outside provider (common (and much cheaper) in Alaska, probably wouldn't try it in Mexico), you should include those as well in your total.
If you are within 30 days of your initial deposit, you can get good insurance with pre-existing conditions covered pretty cheaply through TravelInsured, and if you're a vet, or active or reserve serviceperson, if you buy the policy through
http://www.usaa.com/, you'll get a small discount. This is probably the best policy if somebody in your family could face deployment, as they do cover military deployments.
If you are more than 30 days out, and you haven't made your final payment yet, and you want (or need) pre-existing conditions coverage, try CSA. You can find TravelInsured, CSA, and other good policies on
http://www.tripinsurancestore.com/ (they are very good to show you what is good and bad about each policy.). You'll also find good policies at
http://www.insuremytrip.com/ , and
http://www.squaremouth.com/
Whichever policy you choose, I hope you have safe travels and never need to make a claim