Any insurance?

[Lizzie67]

Two quick question:

1) Will DCL honor other trip insurance policies (not just ones purchased through DCL)?

2) The DCL rep said we had to purchase their insurance at the time we purchased the cruise. For those that have purchased outside policies, can I book the cruise first then hunt around for a couple of week and still have it valid? Or do you have to have the policy in hand when you book the cruise?

Thanks!!!!

 

[Mommb]

To my knowledge, DCL is no longer requiring insurance — they did not ask whether I have any insurance for my cruise this month. So any insurance will “work” as long as it covers what you want it to cover.

You can certainly purchase other insurance after your final cruise payment. Most insurance policies will not cover issues caused by pre-existing conditions (conditions for which someone has sought medical treatment or had a medication change within a given time period, such as the past year) unless the insurance is purchased at (or very shortly after) the time of the initial cruise payment. However, you should be able to purchase insurance that will cover new conditions, accidents, travel delays/cancellations, etc. up until your cruise.

 

[Geomom]

We buy 3rd party insurance so that it covers ALL of our trip (flights, hotel, etc) vs DCL which only covers anything purchased thru Disney. Any claims you need to make would go through the insurance company you choose so DCL has nothing to do with it. If you want to include cancel for any reasons/pre-existing medical conditions insurance usually needs to be purchased within 30? (Or is it 15?) days of the first payment (if you're using a placeholder you need to buy insurance around when you buy the placeholder.). We usually wait until the final payment before we buy 3rd party insurance, basically once we have non refundable expenses. We mainly buy the insurance in the hopefully unlikely chance that we'd need medical evacuation as that can cost $50,000 or more. Children are free (1/paying adult) with some insurance companies. If you have a child who will be 18 soon, buy the insurance before their 18th birthday to get that benefit.

Also, some people buy annual travel insurance which covers all their trips in a year.

 

[robinb]

I cruise other lines but I always buy my own trip insurance independently.

 

[cwhiteDE]

We buy 3rd party insurance so that it covers ALL of our trip (flights, hotel, etc) vs DCL which only covers anything purchased thru Disney. Any claims you need to make would go through the insurance company you choose so DCL has nothing to do with it. If you want to include cancel for any reasons/pre-existing medical conditions insurance usually needs to be purchased within 30? (Or is it 15?) days of the first payment (if you're using a placeholder you need to buy insurance around when you buy the placeholder.). We usually wait until the final payment before we buy 3rd party insurance, basically once we have non refundable expenses. We mainly buy the insurance in the hopefully unlikely chance that we'd need medical evacuation as that can cost $50,000 or more. Children are free (1/paying adult) with some insurance companies. If you have a child who will be 18 soon, buy the insurance before their 18th birthday to get that benefit.

Also, some people buy annual travel insurance which covers all their trips in a year.

Where do you buy third party insurance from?

 

[lanejudy]

1) Will DCL honor other trip insurance policies (not just ones purchased through DCL)?

As others have said, DCL does not require trip insurance at all. Some folks buy it, some don't; many who buy trip insurance buy it through a 3rd party vendor, usually for better coverage and better rates. If you are thinking about Covid-related issues, just be sure to ask questions before buying. If you have need for a claim, it doesn't go through DCL so DCL really has no "say" in what you decide to purchase.

Usually you book your cruise and make your deposit. If you think coverage for "pre-existing conditions" is important, or you may need "cancel for any reason" coverage -- you might want to purchase the insurance shortly after initially booking the cruise. Otherwise, you may not "need" insurance until after final payment and the penalty phase comes into play. Your decision.

 

[tvguy]

By "honor" do you mean acknowledge that you have it, or do you mean will they bill the insurance you choose directly if you have a covered expense on board, such as seeing the Doctor on board?

With some cruise lines if you buy "their" insurance, covered expenses are billed directly. If you buy insurance from another source, you may have to pay the bill out of pocket and file a claim when you get home.

 

[lklgoodman]

There are websites that show policies from all different companies. You can compare different plans. Insure my trip is a good site that has plans from different companies. Allianz and Nationwide are both very good companies for travel insurance. If you want cancel for any reason, you usually have to buy the insurance within 30 days of booking your cruise. My dh was in the Air Force, so we bought a plan through USAA.

 

[Lizzie67]

I guess my main concern is that I booked a guaranteed room with no refunds. If the poo hits the fan and we can’t go, I would like insurance as a reimbursement. I paid the total just now (at booking) as it was required so I’m out the cost of the trip regardless. But, if something happens in the next 7 months, insurance would give me a piece of mind.

Anyway, after almost 20 yrs of cruising, we are taking our first Disney and I’m SUPER excited! I just downloaded a countdown ticker. Lol

 

[lanejudy]

But, if something happens in the next 7 months, insurance would give me a piece of mind.

Buy through a 3rd party. Google something like trip insurance comparison, and probably the top 3 will be sites that allow you to input your parameters of what you want covered and will give you some policies to compare. CALL the ones you like, ask a few questions -- if my job changes will it be covered, if great-aunt bessie passes away will it be covered, if my spouse is in a car accident the week before will it be covered, etc.

 

[Akck]

If you’re traveling a lot, including trips to visit family, consider looking into an annual policy. I bought DCL policies for our first 2 cruises, but then I thought about all the other non-cruise travel that we do and added an annual policy. It definitely took the worry about hurricane Ian out as I knew we’d get losses covered as I made changes to our itinerary. Fortunately, there ended up being no additional cost from our changes.

 

[Geomom]

Where do you buy third party insurance from?

I use one of the comparison websites to research policies/companies, then buy directly from a company online. We used Travel Insured international for our 2016 and 2018 cruises, and Allianz for our 2021 cruise. We did not have to make any claims, so I have no experience on how good the companies are from that aspect.

 

[Atlantix2000]

I guess my main concern is that I booked a guaranteed room with no refunds. If the poo hits the fan and we can’t go, I would like insurance as a reimbursement. I paid the total just now (at booking) as it was required so I’m out the cost of the trip regardless. But, if something happens in the next 7 months, insurance would give me a piece of mind.

Anyway, after almost 20 yrs of cruising, we are taking our first Disney and I’m SUPER excited! I just downloaded a countdown ticker. Lol

If you can't go on the cruise (for a reason cover by the policy you purchased), you would contact your insurance company to get reimbursed. Disney won't be involved in the reimbursement because you already paid them for the cruise (unless you purchased the insurance through Disney). Most insurance policies require you to purchase them around the same time as purchasing the cruise. That prevents you from buying the insurance after you already know you need to cancel (because that would be insurance fraud).

 

[Meredisney]

We buy 3rd party insurance so that it covers ALL of our trip (flights, hotel, etc) vs DCL which only covers anything purchased thru Disney. Any claims you need to make would go through the insurance company you choose so DCL has nothing to do with it. If you want to include cancel for any reasons/pre-existing medical conditions insurance usually needs to be purchased within 30? (Or is it 15?) days of the first payment (if you're using a placeholder you need to buy insurance around when you buy the placeholder.). We usually wait until the final payment before we buy 3rd party insurance, basically once we have non refundable expenses. We mainly buy the insurance in the hopefully unlikely chance that we'd need medical evacuation as that can cost $50,000 or more. Children are free (1/paying adult) with some insurance companies. If you have a child who will be 18 soon, buy the insurance before their 18th birthday to get that benefit.

Also, some people buy annual travel insurance which covers all their trips in a year.

Would you be willing to share the company you use?

 

[Geomom]

Would you be willing to share the company you use?

I use insure my trip for comparing, then book directly with the insurance company. We used Allianz in 2022 and Travel Insured international in 2016 and 2018. I haven't made any claims, so can't comment on that!

 

[auntlynne]

FYI - You would have had to buy the Disney insurance when booking - because it was a GT rate and cruise payment was on booking. Otherwise, you have until Final Payment to add on insurance. (Booking after Cruise’s PIF date is affected similarly).

(So, it wasn’t just a ploy to make a sale.)

 

[Flying Fish]

I usually just take the risk and don't book insurance for the cruises. We have been doing this for more years than I care to admit. This morning I started looking at various travel insurance options for an annual policy. I worry that it's no longer worth the risk, but I also think I want some cancel for any reason protection. I was not aware of the "insure my trip" website. I am going to give that a shot, although I am currently heavily considering Allianz. Great time for this thread, and I hope the OP also finds something. The risk of being stranded in a port (mentioned in another thread last month) is what got me thinking about this. I can't imagine having to foot that bill.

 

[Tenkawa]

Be careful about the different types of insurance.

DCL is trip insurance. If you need to cancel your trip, you get your money back.
Many travel insurances are also trip insurances, eg: issue occurs and you cannot go, or something goes wrong and you have travel problems.

Travel Medical Insurance is often separate, which is to cover you in a medical emergency, especially if you need transport home, etc. DCL and some travel insurances only have a small coverage for this, which is often nowhere near what may be needed. So do your research.

And most love pre-existing conditions. Even though my blood pressure is medicated and well under control, if something happens that they deem related to it, I'm NOT covered. Yikes.

 

[Mango7100]

We have purchased Allianz. We purchases them again for our March 2023 DCL cruise. It’s cheaper than DCL, covers the whole trip (flights, car travel, hotels before or after, etc). We need it due to DHs pre existing condition and you have to buy it within 2 weeks of your first payment if you want pre existing coverage. Pre existing conditions as defined by insurance is broad—basically if you have seen a doctor for it or are on prescriptions for it (even if well controlled) it’s pre-existing. So if your policy excludes pre-existing conditions that may be tricky. We have filed claims twice with them with no problems—once when my grandmother died the day before we were supposed to leave for Portugal and another time when I got Covid and we had to cut our vacation short.

 

[Meredisney]

We have purchased Allianz. We purchases them again for our March 2023 DCL cruise. It’s cheaper than DCL, covers the whole trip (flights, car travel, hotels before or after, etc). We need it due to DHs pre existing condition and you have to buy it within 2 weeks of your first payment if you want pre existing coverage. Pre existing conditions as defined by insurance is broad—basically if you have seen a doctor for it or are on prescriptions for it (even if well controlled) it’s pre-existing. So if your policy excludes pre-existing conditions that may be tricky. We have filed claims twice with them with no problems—once when my grandmother died the day before we were supposed to leave for Portugal and another time when I got Covid and we had to cut our vacation short.

DO you book the "One Trip Prime"