Cruise/Parks/Resort - Trip Insurance

[Princesca]

Hi all! I'm looking for trip insurance advice. I know about the various sites for comparing quotes, but I'm wanting more of a sense-check of what I actually need to get covered, if anything.

We have booked our cruise for April 2023, so we paid the deposit on that 3/21. We are going to be doing parks/resort after that, but I'm not 100% sure of our departure day from FL at this point, which the insurance sites always want to know. I also don't know how much that part of our trip will cost, because package information for that month hasn't been released yet.

Do I insure the trip in two 'phases'? In the past, I've never gotten insurance for just parks/resort, because their cancellation policies seemed really generous, but we're first time cruisers and I'm really nervous about something like our flight getting cancelled and SW not being able to get us on another flight in time to make the embarkation. We are planning to fly in the day before, on the earliest flight we can get, but airlines have gotten pretty bad about cancelling flights and seem to have little available for rescheduling passengers.

We have a Capital One Quicksilver card, but I'm having a hard time finding out exactly what purchase protection it offers. Is Disney's trip insurance enough? I do like the 75% cancel for any reason for the cruise - it costs a lot to get cancellation for any reason added to regular trip insurance.

I'm estimating this trip to be $10k or less. Do we need to insure the full value of this trip? I'm not finding decent coverage for less than $230. :/

 

[lanejudy]

I agree we don't usually insurance a WDW land trip; but when doing a combined trip I include it all. I would insure the full trip through a third-party, it likely isn't much more expensive than splitting it, and possibly less expensive. Usually you can make adjustments to the coverage as needed -- change the date you leave home, add on a post-cruise hotel, etc. You probably should have door-to-door coverage, from the time you leave home until you return. Otherwise, there gets to be a gray area that insurance jumps on for denying claims, assigning "cause" to something not covered.

The insurance offered through DCL isn't necessarily the best, you can probably get something that covers more for a similar price. And a 3rd party coverage will actually give you reimbursement vs the credit that the DCL "cancel for any reason" offers. The DCL "cancel for any reason" isn't actually through the insurance; you submit a claim to insurance who denies it and then DCL will offer the credit.

Just be sure to ask questions of the insurance provider; make sure you understand the coverage and that it includes what you want. So many people assume they understand the coverage, then they submit a claim and find out it isn't covered.

 

[Mango7100]

We also get insurance for any cruise (not DCL insurance since it provides less coverage for more $$) and we do the land and sea combined—starting date when we leave the house to date we return. I have been able to just call and adjust our policy if we add on a day. I insure the full value of the trip and the full time frame to avoid any gaps or worry about something not being covered. A trip worth 9k isn’t that much cheaper to ensure compared to a trip worth 10 k

 

[Mommb]

My understanding is that the insurance sold through Disney Cruise will cover costs related to airfare and hotels only if you purchased the airfare and hotels through Disney. As lanejudy and Mango7100 said, private insurance can cover all costs during your trip, and it may not be any more expensive that what Disney offers.

I found that the company I have homeowners and auto insurance through also offers Cruise insurance which includes pre- and post-cruise costs as well, but as you noted, there are several comparison sites that will help you search.

You could just make a rough estimate of the nonrefundable costs for other parts of your trip, then adjust the insurance if your estimate is way off. Keep in mind that anything that can be cancelled without penalty (e.g., a rental car) doesn't need to be included in insurance.

 

[Akck]

Because of the number of trips we‘re taking this year, I went ahead and bought annual trip insurance. The cost was less than what Disney would’ve charged for 2 cruises and now we’re covered for the trips we have planned to see family.