DCL insurance vs. InsureMyTrip

chrisd596

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 5, 2000
After reading a few posts, my thoughts might be changing concerning where to go for trip insurance. For my first two cruises, (the last 2 years) after researching, I decided to go w/ insuremytrip. One of the factors was they would cover pre-exhisting conditions.

But since you need to get the insurance w/in 2 weeks or 10 days of your first payment, I can't remember which, to qualify for this, it makes this part of the equation void.

For instance, if you book a "dummy" cruise, or you just want the ability to book a cruise while on board to save the 10% and only put 10% down, then w/in the next 2 weeks you need to get the trip insurance online w/ insuremytrip... that basically takes away your ability to cancel or reschedule your cruise, which is a pretty good feature that you don't want to lose.

And since w/ dcl insurance, if you have to cancel and it's not covered in the policy, dcl will let you use your money lost for a future cruise, this now changes a little of my thinking.

So my question is... What are the benefits of dcl insurance? What are the negatives of dcl insurance? What are the benefits of getting insurance from insuremytrip? (Besides the above information)

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

Chris
 
My mind must be going, I think I remember that dcl insurance doesn't cover the flights unless you use dcl for the flights??? That would be a big disadvantage, being tied into dcl picking when you fly.

Chris
 
I'm glad you opened this thread because I don't know which to choose too. We booked last month so that "per existing" thing doesn't apply to us now.

We are not flying so don't need to insure that. Would my best option be dcl insurance because I can always use unrefunded monies toward future cruise? Does this credit ever expire (we don't cruise as often as most here on DISboard).
 
You are correct about the flights Chris. We used insuremytrip partially for this reason. I found flights not through Disney that were much cheaper and more varied. It's cheaper too.
 


Yep, it's the flight thing that I forgot about. With dcl offering the money for you to use for future cruises, that was tempting and I couldn't figure out why I didn't use them before.

But then all of a sudden my mind remembered that fight problem. Leaving up north, the chance of a canceled flight, or one that leaves too late and screws up your cruise in the winter.... is why I went w/ insuremytrip.

I lose the pre-existing feature because I don't want to commit fully so early, and give up the ability to change/cancel, etc.

So I guess just by writing I answered my own question.

Chris
 
Look at the policies by HTH and CSA, they have historically provided a pre-existing conditions waiver if you purchase the policy at FINAL payment.
 
DCL insurance covers only what you book thru DCL. So, unless you do DCL air, the flights aren't covered. You are right that any amount that is not paid by an insurance claim will be available to you as a credit toward a future cruise. Of course, this doesn't help if you get a huge medical bill for a pre-existing condition.

Many insurances allow you to move the date once and keep the insurance intact. Also, I have been advised that I can purchase the insurance at the time I move a dummy date to a real date (which usually involves a higher deposit as well) and still have pre-existing coverage. Fortunately I have never needed to try out this provision.

As always, it depends on why you are purchasing the insurance. If your goal is to get the cost of your cruise refunded if something happens, the DCL insurance may work fine for you. If your goal is to cover the full vacation (flights/cruise/ possibly WDW stay) or to cover your medical needs on the ship, private coverage may provide more options.
 


I always purchase CSA trip insurance which covers pre-existing conditions, and I purchase at time of final payment.
 
Look at the policies by HTH and CSA, they have historically provided a pre-existing conditions waiver if you purchase the policy at FINAL payment.
:thumbsup2
Many insurances allow you to move the date once and keep the insurance intact. Also, I have been advised that I can purchase the insurance at the time I move a dummy date to a real date (which usually involves a higher deposit as well) and still have pre-existing coverage. Fortunately I have never needed to try out this provision.

If you move the same deposit money from the dummy booking to the "real" cruise date, your initial trip deposit date remains the same - when you made your first trip payment. I wouldn't recommend taking that chance if you have any pre-existing conditions in your family.
 
Nancy, what you said above is exactly what I thought. However, I conferred with a travel professional who had been working with the insurance company on exactly this issue (moving dummy dates)...and they somehow were able to work out the situation in writing so that the insurance clock started running when the dummy was moved to a real cruise. It surprised me too....
 
Cost is a big factor for me. DCL insurance is considerably more expensive. Travelguard only makes you pay a premium for adults and with 2 adults and 4 kids the difference in price between DCL and Travelguard was huge (l paid less than half.) So better insurance for half the cost- it was a no-brainer for me.
 
Nancy, what you said above is exactly what I thought. However, I conferred with a travel professional who had been working with the insurance company on exactly this issue (moving dummy dates)...and they somehow were able to work out the situation in writing so that the insurance clock started running when the dummy was moved to a real cruise. It surprised me too....

I'm glad it worked out and you got it in writing.

If I wait beyond the usual 10-30 day window (depending on the policy) to get the waiver of pre-existing conditions, I buy CSA or HTH (pre-existing conditions are covered as long as the insurance is purchased within 24 hours of making the final trip payment), OR from an insurance company whose look-back period for pre-existing conditions applies only to those traveling.
 

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