Can I purchase insurance through DCL if I am paying my cruise with gift cards

[BcIcemen]

I have a cruise booked and someone said if you pay off the cruise with gift cards you cannot use DCL insurance? Does anyone know if that is true or has anyone had this situation arise that they had to cancel after paying with gift cards? TIA

 

[CarolynFH]

We bought the DCL insurance when we booked our cruise, and the cost was included in the total along with prepaid gratuities. We paid the deposit with Disney Visa then paid the balance down over several months, all with discounted Disney GCs. After we were PIF, we received confirmation of coverage and a copy of the insurance policy. So I think you received some misinformation.

 

[mjkacmom]

It’s usually a good idea to buy trip insurance from a third party for better coverage and prices.

 

[Cfabar1]

You can purchase it with gift cards. It gets rolled into the total cost of the cruise if you add it on before the PIF date.

I have found through American Express better coverage for a lesser cost than what DCL sells. I have not had to use the coverage, so I don't know how good it is, but just throwing that out there.

One disadvantage the gift cards have with cruises if if you end up cancelling, they will refund to the original payment. For our recent November cruise we were keeping a massive pile of gift cards in the house "just in case", as the $25 cards were the most affordable inventory at the time. Had we needed a refund, we would have had all these $25 gift cards.

 

[CarolynFH]

I have found through American Express better coverage for a lesser cost than what DCL sells.

Yes, we check AmEx too. In this case, since we live close enough to drive and not have any airfare or hotel expenses to worry about, we felt the DCL insurance would cover most of what we needed. We did buy additional medical and evacuation coverage from AmEx in case of illness in foreign ports.

 

[lanejudy]

You can pay with gift cards, but I don’t think you can add insurance after you have paid in full. As long as you still have a balance you should be able to add the insurance.

 

[plutolovr]

You can purchase it with gift cards. It gets rolled into the total cost of the cruise if you add it on before the PIF date.

I have found through American Express better coverage for a lesser cost than what DCL sells. I have not had to use the coverage, so I don't know how good it is, but just throwing that out there.

One disadvantage the gift cards have with cruises if if you end up cancelling, they will refund to the original payment. For our recent November cruise we were keeping a massive pile of gift cards in the house "just in case", as the $25 cards were the most affordable inventory at the time. Had we needed a refund, we would have had all these $25 gift cards.

Next time combine the smaller cards into $1000 cards on the Disney Gift Card website before paying. Then you have fewer cards to keep and keep track of.

 

[CarolynFH]

Next time combine the smaller cards into $1000 cards on the Disney Gift Card website before paying. Then you have fewer cards to keep and keep track of.

That works if you have numbers of smaller cards to use at one time. We paid ours off in $100-$250 increments with e-GCs. Once I receive an e-GC, I want to apply it/spend it immediately so it can't be hacked!