Do I really need.....

[shanshan444]

We are taking a 3 day cruise next June. Do we really need the vacation insurance or is it a waste of money?

Thanks for your input!

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Yes always you never know what might happen before the cruise or during the cruise

 

[STILLWISHING]

I would get it because that is in the beginning of Caribbean storm season - you never know. Look on this board or on Mousesavers for recommendations.

 

[sissy_ib]

It depends. If your flights are not delayed and nothing stops you from getting to the cruise and nothing happens to you, no.

If you miss the flight or it is canceled for any reason or you get sick or hurt while on the ship, yes.

Really, how much is the trip? Would you gamble that money? If no, then you need to buy insurance.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

For big ticket vacations we always buy trip insurance. And for us I would include a three night DCL cruise as a big ticket vacation. We don't for WDW, if we miss a night we will be there the next. If we miss the first night of our cruise, who knows if we will make it the next night or the next, etc. I'm more afraid of missing the ship than anything. We have experienced flight delays ourselves and know others that have had flight complications that have led to several hours of delays that would have caused us to miss the ship.

 

[jdb in AZ]

How can you predict an accident or a flight delay? I kid DH that he's an accident waiting to happen but we had no idea he would have a gall bladder attack on a cruise, or blow out a knee just before another cruise?

Hopefully we won't have a problem on yet another cruise, but we don't cruise without insurance.

A friend of ours is a former insurance salesman but he refuses to buy insurance, even tho we've pointed out insurance has saved us $$$$. The stress of an accident is bad enough without adding the financial loss. Our friend sez he has Medicare, he doesn't need cruise insurance too. Uhm, does Medicare cover international claims?wa

 

[PrincessShmoo]

How can you predict an accident or a flight delay? I kid DH that he's an accident waiting to happen but we had no idea he would have a gall bladder attack on a cruise, or blow out a knee just before another cruise?

Hopefully we won't have a problem on yet another cruise, but we don't cruise without insurance.

A friend of ours is a former insurance salesman but he refuses to buy insurance, even tho we've pointed out insurance has saved us $$$$. The stress of an accident is bad enough without adding the financial loss. Our friend sez he has Medicare, he doesn't need cruise insurance too. Uhm, does Medicare cover international claims?wa

Not that I know of.

 

[jlwhitney]

It is really a personal decision. NO, I do not think it is worth it and have never bought and probably never will. The whole insure this and that is getting ridiculous. There are so many ways that it won't cover you to not make the hassle in dealing with it.

 

[argomANIA]

I would not travel without insurance. My grandmother passed away three days before our trip to WDW and Disney cruise. We were able to continue on the cruise, but had to move the WDW to after the cruise. Insurance paid for any extra fees that were incurred in moving flights and hotel rooms.

 

[Ariel224]

I would not travel without insurance. My grandmother passed away three days before our trip to WDW and Disney cruise. We were able to continue on the cruise, but had to move the WDW to after the cruise. Insurance paid for any extra fees that were incurred in moving flights and hotel rooms.

I have a 91 year old grandparent whose health is failing. I am glad I have insurance in case of unfortunate timing such as this.

I am also glad to be insured with a policy that allows for cancellation for business reasons. MY DH lost his job 2 months ago. The cruise was paid for at that point, and we are flying with points, so we decided to keep our trip plans intact. (I have been working extra hours since then, and I will NEED a vacation soon!) In 4 weeks we enter the penalty phase, and should DH be fortunate enough to find work, he very likely won't be allowed to take a 10 day vacation right away. My own company also has started an alarming trend of revoking vacation time that had been previously approved. If we need to cancel, the lost funds will be recovered.

Could I have anticipated that this would happen to us when I booked the trip 17 months ago? Not in a million years. For us, insurance was the right choice. I'm not being burdened with the decision to cancel or not cancel based on "what if" employment scenarios.

 

[usd2bmd]

The question you should ask yourself is this; If something should happen that makes it impossible for you to go on your cruise, can you afford to just wash that money down the drain and pay for another vacation out of pocket?

In our case, we neer travel without insurance. Some people never buy it. I work hard for my vacation and if something were to prevent me from going, I would not be able to just kiss that money good bye.

 

[cla517]

I always get it. My theory is this -- If you have to cancel and get NO money back, is that a problem? If not, don't buy it. If it is, get it because you never know.

 

[ksucats]

I always get it. My theory is this -- If you have to cancel and get NO money back, is that a problem? If not, don't buy it. If it is, get it because you never know.

This.

We have bought it for our cruises & will in the future. I hope it is a waste of money in the end, but it definitely helps my peace of mind from the PIF date until we are on the ship.

 

[Brumbie13]

For us, the cruise is a huge expense, and I'd hate to put money into it for such a long time, only to lose out big time due to some unforeseen expense.

Not only do we buy cruise insurance, but we make sure to buy "cancel for any reason" cruise insurance, that way, if we have to cancel after the deadline, we aren't out all that money.

 

[tvguy]

It's just a matter of how comfortable you are with risk. Otherwise, you have to have a crystal ball to know if you will need it.
9 cruises here, only 1 that I bought travel insurance for, it was on Disney and I bought the insurance because the cruise was over New years, so packed airports and bad weather were factors, plus it was the most expensive cruise I have taken by far.
As for the other cruises, by not buying insurance, and not needing it, I saved enough to pay for the cruise I took last month.

 

[Piglets Mommy]

I don't think I would ever cruise (even a "cheap" cruise with no airfare involved) without insurance. I would get it just for the emergency medical/evacuation coverage. I could afford to lose the cost of the cruise if I couldn't go for some reason, but have heard horror stories of otherwise healthy people needing to be evacuated from a ship to the tune of 50K or more. That I CAN'T afford and will gladly pay $140 or so for trip insurance to have peace of mind.

 

[jackparts]

It's a gamble, I always buy it and am thankful that I have never had to use it. I rest ezy knowing that I am protected in case of..... Sure makes it easier to rest and enjoy my vacation.

 

[CareBear05]

In all my years of traveling I've purchased it twice. Once for a trip to Vegas...a friend who lives there was getting married. I also bought it for my Alaska trip coming up in September.

The Vegas trip? We bought it for an ailing grandmother who we were worried about passing. She's still alive and well 3 years later, but none of us knew that my father would be hospitalized with heart problems 10 days before we left. One quick phone call the day of our trip to cancel (we waited to see how he was doing) and all the money (prepaid hotel and airfare) was refunded without any hassle what-so-ever.

This time I bought it because we're flying cross-country (the day before, but still...) and I'd read too many horror stories and watched too many youtube videos of medical evacuations from the ship.

If it makes you feel better, you don't have to buy the entire packages. You can get coverage for just evacuation, etc. and it's more cost effective. I went with the entire package because it made me feel better but I did consider the other options. I hope that's it's a "waste of money" this time around but you just never know.