Cruise Insurance

[Mickey527]

I am trying to plan a cruise for my family. There will be 12 adults and 3 children.
This cruise will be a celebration of my finishing chemo and radiation. My final chemo is Feb 11th and my final radiation will be mid April.
I have a wound on my breast where they did that mastectomy in September that has not healed yet. It has been almost 6 months but the Dr said the chemo is slowing the healing process. Once I am off chemo I should heal quicker.
I want to book for the end of May and be on the cruise for my birthday (5/27). A few agents have told me about cruise insurance but when I looked into it they had a "pre-existing condition" clause.
I would only cancel if the wound has not healed by the time the cruise was leaving. Would this be considered a pre-exisiting condition?
I can't get any answer from DCL direct, they skirt around the issue when I asked. Peggie

 

[wnissen]

Hello,

The first thing is to never buy cruise insurance from Disney. Not only is it very expensive compared with third-party providers, but it only covers the cruise portion of the itinerary. Unless you buy airfare through Disney, you cannot be reimbursed for it if you are forced to cancel.

We have been very happy with TravelGuard's ProtectAssist, which covers the basics (but still more than Disney). We paid less than $80/person for the our cruise vacation, although for older people it is considerably more expensive. As it happened, Hurricane Jeanne came through, we didn't go on the cruise, and would have gotten nothing from Disney. Since we had ProtectAssist, it paid $400 toward the hotel we had to book on short notice right before the hurricane. Plus, ProtectAssist exempts pre-existing medical conditions, as long as you buy it less than 15 days after your first non-refundable deposit. Check the fine print for yourself, but I believe you would be in good shape. Whatever insurance you go with, read the fine print!

Walt

 

[UGAFan0829]

I'm sorry that I can't help you on the insurance matter. I can only tell you that on our recent cruise we did purchase the insurance...thru DCL. Thankfully, we didn't have to use it, so I'm not sure how it would have worked had we had to.
But most importantly, I wanted to tell you congrats on finishing up your chemo. I know that can be a very tough thing...so you definitely deserve this cruise..and I hope that you enjoy every second of it...Good luck with your insurance research!

 

[jennifermcb]

Disney's insurance carrier does have a pre-existing condition clause that will deny your claim based on the fact that you knew of the condition within 60 days of booking the cruise.

Definitely look elsewhere for better insurance, and BIG congrats on your graduation from chemo!

 

[snelsonbrown]

Hi Peggie,
congratulations on your endeavors - so happy to see that you are looking forward to the statement that life does go on and I know that blessings will be with you all the way - When you go on your cruise, will you please call me at 800-950-4559 - if fact as soon as you book, please call me -
Always
Shirley

 

[lbgraves]

OK, I went thru this insurance mess with MIL's colon cancer last year when we booked them on the cruise with us. Be VERY careful! Most companies do not allow cancer as a preexisting condition unless it is in remission. Since you are currently undergoing chemo & radiation treatments, that isn't likely. The ONLY company that had a policy that would cover my MIL was Travel Guard's cruise, tour & travel plan. I had to be very specific with my questions to find this out from the other companies. After discussing her cancer & chemo schedule with the agent at Access America she didn't tell me about the cancer clause until AFTER she booked their policy. Then she had the nerve to bill me for the processing fee. ACK!!! It was a little more for that policy (214 for both of them for 2000 worth of coverage in their 60s) but we did have to use it when her doctor decided that she would need a third round of chemo that overlapped the cruise dates. Oh, and AA also told me that if we had to cancel due to her condition it also wouldn't be covered due to it being preexisting.

Good luck to you with your treatments & hope that you have a wonderful cruise!!!

 

[cookielulu]

Hi Mickey527! Congrats on finishing your chemo and radiation - I've had radiation treatments for skin cancer and that was a HAPPY day when I was done.

Now, on to the insurance questions. Check out the webiste - www.insuremytrip.com - this site has several companies and everything is spelled out about pre-existing conditions with all the policies.

Hope this helps and Have a Wonderful Cruise!

 

[jclark3]

A friend of mine is on her last of 7 treatments for leukemia right now. Her husband wanted trip insurance that would allow her entire family (13 people)to cancel their cruise should she become too ill to travel in July. He told me that AAA offered that type of insurance. They booked their Royal Carib. cruise with AAA. AAA also books Disney cruises.

 

[fljelad]

I am buying travel insurance right now for our 3-Land/4-Sea package in late May early June. I am buying it through AAA because it is cheaper and more comprehensive. It also covers our ENTIRE trip (flights and add'l night off site) rather than just the Disney portion.

As to the preexisting condition clause, unfortunately, I do think it would come into play in your case. (I work at a hospital and verify insurance benefits on a daily basis.) If you had to cancel because of anything related to your cancer treatment, I believe that they would deny your claim. If you had to cancel because (Lord forbid) you or someone in your party were in a car accident and could not travel, you would be covered. This is just my take on the situation. You should probably talk with a travel agent about specific policies and then call the insurance company directly to talk about specific benefits and coverages.

Good luck to you!