DCL Trip Insurance - Has Anyone Had To Use It?

[Scott5150]

Planning my next trip and I am faced with the age old dilemma of insurance - should I spend $300 just to make sure I can make my trip?

Who has purchased the DCL Insurance and used it? Did they deliver like they are supposed to? Any problems with submitting a claim?

If I take 10 cruises and I have to skip one of them - and I haven't purchased trip insurance on any of them - I'm in the same financial boat - out $3000.

Also, DCL insurance seems to be way more expensive than other cruise lines insurance.

Please share your experiences to help me make up my mind.

Thanks,

Scott

 

[Scott5150]

bump

 

[LG123]

You can get the same insurance that Disney uses for a lot less if you go directly through the same company. Access America has a family plan that includes the children for free.

www.accessamerica.com

Happy Cruising!

 

[DISNEYWORLDBORN2SHOP]

My MIL who is supposed to be cruising with us in July purchased the trip insurance last September when we booked. Well, she has been in the hospital since February with an infection and might get out this week. She is still very weak and on IV antibiotics and will probably not make the cruise since it is only a month away. I will let you know how good they are about claims if she doesn't make the trip.

Is the insurance worth the cost? I know my MIL would say yes. You just never know what tomorrow brings.

 

[ohiominnie]

Born to shop....
Was the infection MRSA?
We have a friend who's mom was recently in the ICU for over a month with MRSA and is now in a rehab center. Can only move her fingers and nothing else. Went to her brain and spinal cord. All over, really.
Hope you mom continues to make improvements!

 

[DISNEYWORLDBORN2SHOP]

ohiominnie

As a matter of fact it is MRSA. She had back surgery last June and contracted the infection then. In August they told her it was gone. Apparantly they were wrong and in February when she was admitted to the hospital for blood clots they found the infection was in the bone. She has it in her back and foot.

 

[ohiominnie]

Oops, actually noticed it was MIL instead of mother. Sorry.

Our friends mom fell down the stairs. Broke some ribs and her wrists. The wrists needed internal fixation. They think that's where she got the MRSA from (although impossible to prove) Ended up sending her home, then she got worse within a couple of days and ended up in the ICU. Had lesions on her brain and it was growing in her CSF. Also I think they cultured it out of her joints. She was unconscious for quite a long time and it was touch and go for weeks. She ended up with a trach. Now, as I said, is in rehab, although it is SOOOOOOO slow going.

In the meantime, our friend, her son, went to the chiropractor and ended up with a TIA and a disecting vertebral artery. This person also lost a newborn son during heart surgery several years ago.

I'm thinking they need a break already!
Prayers going out for your family.

 

[Incharge]

My prayers go out to all the victims of MRSA. Praying that your loved ones will recover soon.
Question.... I purchased the insurance. If something were to happen to me where I could not go, would my daughter be made to pay more money? It is 2 adults and an 8 yo DGS. Would she be made to pay the difference in the 2nd adult fare since it would just be her and her son if I couldn't go. Just curious. Not planning on not being there, just wondering. Thanks.

 

[rae519]

So sorry to hear about the MSRA! Just awful.

We get the DCL insurance because of my Mom's age (74) and the other insurance companies won't insure her! Considering her health and ability, she's in better shape than most people MY age!

I'd rather get the insurance and feel that "false security" of knowing that I'll probably will never use it, than play Russian roulette - with MY luck, I'd be the one air evac'd out!

Rae

 

[Mojomanny]

I have NOT needed to use the DCL insurance (yet) but had had to use trip insurance when another trip was cancelled. It allowed us to make the right decision without worrying about the financial impact. Perhaps we would unwisely have pushed things if we were going to lose the money for that trip.

Another point of consideration, you are only truly "on the hook" for the last 60 days before teh cruise, prior to that you can cancel and get a full refund, including airfare if you booked it through DCL.

We do have trip insurance in place for our next cruise.

 

[MrsPete]

I was 100% sure I would buy the insurance -- then I read what it actually pays.

I found that the insurance does not refund your money. Instead it pays a portion (not the full amount) of another cruise within the next year. Since it was 11% the total cost of the trip, I decided to pass.

We are young, healthy, and have good health insurance. Also, our cruise is not that expensive. We're aware that we're taking a chance, but I think it was the right decision for us. If our circumstances were different, perhaps I'd think differently.

 

[ReadyForDisney2003]

I have not gotten any insurance, yet. But, I will. I have researched the Access America and had numerous conversations about the prior conditions clause and feel comfortable.

I finally decided that it is necessary to get the insurance -- not because of the cost of the trip, but because of the cost of an emergency that would cause us to get home. That emergency could be something that happens at home, or something that happens to us in a foreign place.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

My dad just got tickets for 11 of us for next July and did get the insurance as he is 73 and mom is 71. Now I'm worried--what he would want is a refund, not another cruise. I .better have him read the fine print or ask his TA.
Robin M.

 

[ducklite]

I agree with the other poster--the emergency evacuation insurance is where the real need comes in. It can cost tens of thousands of dollars to be medivacced back home if you are injured or take ill. The insurance will also pay legal repatriation costs, a must if you are travelling without a passport. To me it's a small, small cost for a lot of peace of mind.

Anne

 

[figment52]

My BIL was off the coast of South America when his grandmother died and he had to return home. The insurance flew him and his friend back and covered everything, almost $2000.

He would say the insurance was worth it.

 

[DISNEYWORLDBORN2SHOP]

The travel insurance issued through DCL is a refund. It is not another cruise. I have also consulted them as to what happens when 2 people sharing a stateroom have insurance and one of them cannot go due to illness and the other one will not go because they have to stay home to care for the ill person. I was told that both people would have their money refunded.

 

[dvarallo]

I would definitely buy the insurance. We had to use it during our January 2003 cruise. My friends daughter, my son and my niece all came down with gastrointestinal illness and were quarantined to our cabins for 72 hours. Since we had purchased the insurance, Disney paid the cost to fly us home from St. Martin on Tuesday. My travel agent handled all the paperwork with Access America and we received our checks about a 10 weeks later. They take what you paid for the cruise minus what you pay for taxes, transfers and insurance, divide it by the number of days of your cruise and multiply it by the days missed and the number of people. Since we missed 5 days of the cruise, we were reimbursed for 5 days. That included the days we were quarantined. My sister decided to stay on the ship and continue her cruise despite the fact that she was quarantined for 72 hours and they were reimbursed for the 3 days they were quarantined. Since my niece was only 5 and couldn't be quarantined alone, they reimbursed my sister as well. We didn't get reimbursed for our airfare because we didn't buy it through Disney, so we had to eat the $50. per ticket cancellation fee. When we went on our "make-up" cruise in May, we purchased the insurance directly through Access America. That insurance was cheaper than DCL and included our airfare and limo transfers.
You may be young and healthy, but you never know what can happen, especially when children our involved. Fortunately, the kids weren't seriously ill, but if they had required emergency medical attention, that could have been very costly. On my last cruise, I saw a lot of children falling around the Mickey Pool because it is very slippery...spend the extra money and get the insurance.

 

[midnitemist]

Yes the insurance is worth it. I broke my wrist when a little girl ran into me with her bike on Castaway Cay. I used the insurance , I had to pay my doctor bills, but then I got reimbursed for everything. The $99 was worth it.

 

[SlyHubby]

I found that the insurance does not refund your money. Instead it pays a portion (not the full amount) of another cruise within the next year. Since it was 11% the total cost of the trip, I decided to pass

Depends whose insurance policy you get and what level of coverage. As a blanket statement, that is incorrect, though it may be true for the single policy you looked at.

 

[Dancind]

I'm looking at an Access America policy for the Dec. 2004 10 day cruise. What happens if you buy a policy, and then cancel the trip before the penalties kick in? In other words, we get a full refund on the trip, do we also get a refund on the trip insurance? I can't find this information on their web site. Diana