Can someone please enlighten me regarding insurance

[marivigi]

We have booked our cruise, but didnt buy the insurance since I had no idea what it covers.

Ayone know? Is this a must have?

Thank you!

 

[Bruiserknits]

If there is a hurricane it covers it. Also covers if your luggage gets lost or damaged. Or if you have to fly home on an emergency. When my travel agent says she doesn't cruise without it, I buy it. Also helps if you get delayed getting home and have to rebook airline flights or rental cars.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

We have booked our cruise, but didnt buy the insurance since I had no idea what it covers.

Ayone know? Is this a must have?

Thank you!

You really really require trip insurance.

Cruises get delayed, cruises can alter ports, change home ports, people eat more, and drink more and eat in foreign ports and do things like zip lining that they never normally do.

It's a 100% must.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

We have booked our cruise, but didnt buy the insurance since I had no idea what it covers.

Ayone know? Is this a must have?

Thank you!

The one thing that it covers that is important to us is cancellation of the cruise for any reason. I believe the policy and coverage are out on DCL's website. The carrier is AON Affinity, so you may also be able to pull up the policy language on their site. From a medical standpoint, it is secondary coverage, so it kicks in after your primary coverage, and that isn't always easy to sort out.

We've only had to use it once, for a medical cancellation at the last minute (literally three days before we were due to sail), and we got all of our money back in about 45 days (other than the cost of the insurance itself). without it we would have been out several thousand $$.

 

[TChrist05]

You really really require trip insurance.

Cruises get delayed, cruises can alter ports, change home ports, people eat more, and drink more and eat in foreign ports and do things like zip lining that they never normally do.

It's a 100% must.

Real quick store about insurance. My DW and I have cruised 35 times and only took the insurance 3 times for long cruises. We had booked a 7 night Alaska cruise on DCL last June. Week before the cruise I got an infection in my foot and ended up in the hospital. We did not have trip insurance so I talked the doctor into letting me out so we could go on the cruise. Most foolish thing that I have done in my life--because I did not want to lose a $3000. vacation I put my life in harms way. Had a miserable time since I did not feel well and upon return from the cruise ended up back in the hospital for a week. I will never again cruise or even vacation without it - not even a 3 night cruise.

 

[marivigi]

Well, there you go!!!

I will go ahead an add it. Better safe than sorry

Thank you very much for all your replies!

 

[Weedy]

FYI There are outside companies that offer insurance. If you book it through Disney you pay their markup.

 

[lanejudy]

We have booked our cruise, but didnt buy the insurance since I had no idea what it covers.

Ayone know? Is this a must have?

Thank you!

"What is covers" will vary depending on policy and from whom you purchase the insurance. You probably want to think about your whole trip and the expenses involved, and possibly shop around. The coverage offered through DCL will ONLY cover those portions of your trip purchased through Disney. Basically, the cruise and medical during the cruise. If you have flights, pre- and/or post-cruise hotels, car rentals, etc. none of that will be covered by DCL's policy. If anyone in your party, or sometimes even family members not traveling, have "pre-existing conditions" then the DCL policy will not cover if you must cancel for related reasons. Some 3rd party vendors will cover PECs if purchased within a X days of making deposit. Medical coverage levels may vary by plan.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[icesk8abc]

I don't have much to add other than we never travel out of state without it. We have only used the insurance through Disney once because we were driving to Disney World that trip so there weren't any expenses that were booked outside of them.

We usually use Travel Guard through Costco. If you have a membership, it is worth looking into. There are many other companies with varying policies. If you or any of your family members have any preexisting conditions, you will want to look quickly. Most policies only cover them if you book the insurance within a week or two of booking the trip.

 

[KLB9]

Cruise insurance is interesting as not a "no brainier" at all.

Say for example you take a similar priced cruise annually, or more frequently than that. If the Insurance is around 5%, and you take it every time, after 20 cruises you have paid for 21. If the insurance never kicks in, you are paying for 21 cruises and going on 20. Even if insurance kicks in once you are paying for 20 cruises and going on 19.

Say you chose not to take insurance, and you missed 1 out of 20 just as above, you still paid for 20 cruises and went on 19, so you didn't loose anything by not taking it.

If you cruise often, and take insurance every time, you can say you like the protection, but eventually you are still paying for a cruise you don't sail.

Remember the insurance companies are selling the insurance for one reason; they believe the premiums will be greater than the claims.


If the cruise is not a frequent thing, or one in particular is more costly then you normally spend, that may be different, you may say you don't want to take the risk and can justify the insurance.

For every poster who has made a claim on their trip insurance, there are many more who have purchased trip insurance 5, 10 or more times and never made a claim. That money could have gone to upgrades, excursions or even another cruise, and is just as "lost" as money you spend on a cruise you miss with no insurance.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Cruise insurance is interesting as not a "no brainier" at all.

Say for example you take a similar priced cruise annually, or more frequently than that. If the Insurance is around 5%, and you take it every time, after 20 cruises you have paid for 21. If the insurance never kicks in, you are paying for 21 cruises and going on 20. Even if insurance kicks in once you are paying for 20 cruises and going on 19.

Say you chose not to take insurance, and you missed 1 out of 20 just as above, you still paid for 20 cruises and went on 19, so you didn't loose anything by not taking it.

If you cruise often, and take insurance every time, you can say you like the protection, but eventually you are still paying for a cruise you don't sail.

Remember the insurance companies are selling the insurance for one reason; they believe the premiums will be greater than the claims.


If the cruise is not a frequent thing, or one in particular is more costly then you normally spend, that may be different, you may say you don't want to take the risk and can justify the insurance.

For every poster who has made a claim on their trip insurance, there are many more who have purchased trip insurance 5, 10 or more times and never made a claim. That money could have gone to upgrades, excursions or even another cruise, and is just as "lost" as money you spend on a cruise you miss with no insurance.

With respect to cancellation insurance, many of your points are correct.

And further, even if you purchase insurance which covers a particular cancellation, the money you get back may not be sufficient to rebook a similar cruise. As we know, DCL prices increases as it gets closer to sail date and from year to year.

And even if cancellation coverage is important to you, it may be available at a better price, such as included with annual fee on your credit card. We recently cancelled a 4 night sailing on the Dream due to the 'flu and received a full refund based on the credit card to which we charged the cruise.

However, many will say the the most important coverage is for medical evacuation. After I read about families who mortgaged their homes to pay for loved ones to be flown home following injuries in Thailand caused by the tsunami in 2004, I realized that this is exactly what many of us may need insurance to cover. -- Suzanne

 

[JCinMN]

Trip insurance will pay your unexpected costs of catching up to the ship in the unlikely event you miss the ship in a port. It happened to me. I only buy insurance for my more expensive and complicated cruises. Decide how much you can afford to lose if there is a problem and purchase (or not) accordingly. It's also helpful if you have elderly or ill family members who could take a turn for the worse and cause you to not be able to travel (due to funeral, etc). Decide the risk of bad things happening and make a judgement call.

 

[JLMDisneyCruise]

Can someone get insurance anytime before their trip? And what outside companies might one recommend, if you can do that here...if not, feel free to message me! Thanks

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Can someone get insurance anytime before their trip? And what outside companies might one recommend, if you can do that here...if not, feel free to message me! Thanks

We always buy through a travel insurance comparison site. There are several out there. You put in the parameters of what/how much you want covered, and they show you policies from several different insurance companies for you to compare.

You can purchase at any time, however, as noted, Pre-existing condition coverage usually requires purchase within a specified time period from initial payment (usually 14-21 days - varies by company).

 

[MelSpees]

We use USAA. You have to purchase within first 30 days of first payment to cover pre-existing conditions.

 

[MunFam]

We use Travel Guard. Our DD has food allergies so the pre-existing conditions plus medical evacuation coverage is critical for us.

Do read your policy as not all policies are created equal and not all companies will pay out as easily as others. Some need a ton of proof while others will sort of take your word for it.

Other reasons we like travel insurance: lost baggage coverage, delayed flight coverage, missed flight/boat coverage, medical care coverage. Our 14 night cruise through the Panama Canal with air and hotel pre trip was less than $200 to insure with Travel Guard.

 

[MillauFr]

I always self insurance all of our vacations. I don't think it is worth paying inflating premiums for the insurance. The only insurance that I might consider is the medical evacuation.

 

[JLMDisneyCruise]

We use Travel Guard. Our DD has food allergies so the pre-existing conditions plus medical evacuation coverage is critical for us.

Do read your policy as not all policies are created equal and not all companies will pay out as easily as others. Some need a ton of proof while others will sort of take your word for it.

Other reasons we like travel insurance: lost baggage coverage, delayed flight coverage, missed flight/boat coverage, medical care coverage. Our 14 night cruise through the Panama Canal with air and hotel pre trip was less than $200 to insure with Travel Guard.

Thanks, I just input all my info and came back at 278...I will do it, but not today.
Thanks!

 

[Marita916]

My family and I are going on the Wonder for Thanksgiving this year. I am in the process of researching travel insurance. I spoke to a cast member at Disney yesterday, and she said the cost of their insurance will be 8 percent of our trip cost. So, if you do airline, and cruise through them, it would be 8 percent of the cost. But, if you do airline tickets outside of Disney, it would not be covered by the Disney insurance. Also, I went to look at some popular vendors online, and found them to charge about 1/2 of Disney's price for trip insurance. It is a big difference. The next step is to compare the travel insurance coverage offered by Disney and outside vendors. I want to get good trip insurance, but I don't want to pay a fortune for it either. It appears, it pays to do a little research.

 

[MelSpees]

Another thing is DCL insurance may not be available, depending on what state you're from. I haven't checked to see if it changed, but in 2013 you couldn't use DCL in WA state.