Excited for Disney Fantasy but a few questions!

[chisnpeke]

everyone!

I currently have a cruise on hold for October! My first cruise was a Disney cruise (22 years ago) and I’ve done several Royal Caribbean but I’m excited to take my son for his first cruise and mom on Disney!

I have a couple questions.

Does anyone have experience with Disney’s travel insurance they offer? I hear horror stories of travel insurance so I’m being cautious. I also thought of getting a travel credit card like the Chase Sapphire which says it covers in case of cancellation. Anyone have experience with that? Or can anyone recommend a travel insurance company that will actually pay for trip cancellation for any reason?

My son may be on the spectrum…just hyper active and still learning to play with other kids. He will be six on this cruise. I’m sure the kids club has dealt with similar children in the past but looking for confirmation/comfort that this is something they could handle.

Lastly, does Disney allow price adjustment if a price would happen to decrease before/after final payment? Royal offers this is you ask so wondering what Disney’s policy is on it?

Thank you everyone!!!

 

[Marc D]

Lastly, does Disney allow price adjustment if a price would happen to decrease before/after final payment? Royal offers this is you ask so wondering what Disney’s policy is on it?

In general, DCL prices do not go down and they do not offer deals across all stateroom categories and cruises like other cruise lines do at specific periods.

When they need to fill a ship, DCL will release *GT deals or x% rebates on specific categories or guests (like Canadian residents) that only apply to new bookings. The only exception to that rule is the Florida resident discount that can be applied to an existing booking.

 

[pearljammer]

everyone!

I currently have a cruise on hold for October! My first cruise was a Disney cruise (22 years ago) and I’ve done several Royal Caribbean but I’m excited to take my son for his first cruise and mom on Disney!

I have a couple questions.

Does anyone have experience with Disney’s travel insurance they offer? I hear horror stories of travel insurance so I’m being cautious. I also thought of getting a travel credit card like the Chase Sapphire which says it covers in case of cancellation. Anyone have experience with that? Or can anyone recommend a travel insurance company that will actually pay for trip cancellation for any reason?

My son may be on the spectrum…just hyper active and still learning to play with other kids. He will be six on this cruise. I’m sure the kids club has dealt with similar children in the past but looking for confirmation/comfort that this is something they could handle.

Lastly, does Disney allow price adjustment if a price would happen to decrease before/after final payment? Royal offers this is you ask so wondering what Disney’s policy is on it?

Thank you everyone!!!

Congrats on your first Disney cruise as a mom. It’s going to be awesome! I can’t speak to travel insurance as I’ve never purchased it. Disney has such a great refund policy. As far as spectrum, I’m sure they deal with all sorts of temperments, including most of all……spoiled. I wish you luck in your planning. Don’t exhaust either of you by trying to ”fit it all in”. That’ a great age if possible to have him turned into a pirate for pirate Night. *wink*

Correct from other post, Disney doesn’t go down. If anything, you may receive a refund from where port taxes went down and I think that has happened a few times but never has the price gone down.

Keep in mind, you won’t be paying to “drink packages” and can even bring wine or beer onboard at each port (and soda) where other cruise lines don’t allow that.

Also, if something is “too much’ for him, you can walk out easily enough and possibly go back for another go at it later if he is so inclined. *smile*

 

[Heatherdbby]

We are also going on Fantasy in October!

My son is on the spectrum and we have had zero issues with kids clubs. Be sure you get the lock for his band!

As far as disney insurance I would consider the way you are getting there as disney insurance only covers the cruise itself

 

[auntlynne]

 

[Carohs]

As far as I'm aware, DCL doesn't do price adjustments. If you see a lower price it's a cancel and rebook, subject to cancelation fees/policies.

 

[MonaMN]

If you opt to buy travel insurance from an outside source, check on buying it before you book. I believe this is the best way to get “cancel for any reason.” Most travel insurance (not from the cruise line) will cover many aspects of your trip - cruise airfare, lost luggage, missed ports…
Do an internet search for travel insurance. You should see something like this:

View attachment 749818

Then start looking. A policy will be based on age, state of residency… I do not know if they offer family policies. I have started buying annual travel policies to cover all my trips in a year. I have purchased from 2 different companies. One was $200+, the other < $100 (USAA sponsored).

There are a lot of old name companies. Any one of them have probably declined claims or been difficult to work with, but I am basing my purchase on the expectation of fairness. My car insurance companies have always taken care of me, so I extend that goodwill to my unused travel policy.

Credit cards (usually ones with a fee - more benefits) may provide coverage.

DCL insurance has been mentioned as providing a 75% credit if cruise fare toward a future cruise. I don’t remember any posts of failure to follow through on their part when applicable.

If you buy DCL coverage (and if it only covers cruise fare), consider a refundable airline ticket or insurance for that, too. Anything that costs enough that not recouping the cost is significant (financially or emotionally distressing) should be insured.

(Delta sells Allianz insurance for their flights. There’s a name for you. I recognize all the names on the short list shown in the screen grab I have included.)

I personally started buying insurance after age 60 to specifically get medical evacuation coverage. I read too many stories about the cost for this service being $30km $60k or more).

Insure My Trip also has a great comparison tool to help figure out options.

I don’t get trip insurance for regular vacations within the US but for a cruise where lots of things can happen, it is worth a little more $ for the peace of mind.

 

[DCLForLife]

I have used that site before with success, though thankfully I've never had to make a claim. For travel insurance (and any insurance) it's really important to read the fine print about what is and isn't covered.

I also don't bother with trip insurance for about 90% of my trips. I just make sure I fly in at least a day early, and take my chances. In the long run the price of one screwed up trip is a lot less than buying trip insurance every time you travel. If it wasn't, the trip insurance people wouldn't be making money.

Personally, I only buy trip insurance when I know there's a high chance of last minute cancellations due to unexpected work demands, and in that case I buy the "cancel for any reason" coverage.

Insure My Trip also has a great comparison tool to help figure out options.

I don’t get trip insurance for regular vacations within the US but for a cruise where lots of things can happen, it is worth a little more $ for the peace of mind.

 

[auntlynne]

i was booking a cruise today and noticed how much I underestimated what DCL insurance covers.

 

[TxT365]

We took our son on the Fantasy when he was 5. He is ADHD and very tactile in things. He loved the kids club and would have stayed there most of the time if we'd have let him. There will be enough to keep you son happy. The CMs are great with kids of all types so don't let this be a worry for you.

 

[Hubie]

I never purchased travel insurance for any of my numerous trips and expeditions when I still climbed throughout the world. But now that I'm old and taking cruises we do. On our cruise last fall to St. Martin, Antigua and St. Thomas on the Fantasy, DW and I saw someone being taken off of the ship four times. Once while not in a port and on our WBPC cruise on the Wonder the ship had to stop offshore of Guatemala for a person who had a heart attack to be evacuated. Also, while on our DCL Norway cruise a man broke his leg while hiking and had to be helicoptered to a hospital in Stavanger. Can't imagine how much that would cost him if he didn't have insurance! And it was the first port we stopped at while on the cruise. We used to purchase from Allianz but now use Disney.

 

[chisnpeke]

I never purchased travel insurance for any of my numerous trips and expeditions when I still climbed throughout the world. But now that I'm old and taking cruises we do. On our cruise last fall to St. Martin, Antigua and St. Thomas on the Fantasy, DW and I saw someone being taken off of the ship four times. Once while not in a port and on our WBPC cruise on the Wonder the ship had to stop offshore of Guatemala for a person who had a heart attack to be evacuated. Also, while on our DCL Norway cruise a man broke his leg while hiking and had to be helicoptered to a hospital in Stavanger. Can't imagine how much that would cost him if he didn't have insurance! And it was the first port we stopped at while on the cruise. We used to purchase from Allianz but now use Disney.

Debating between Allianz or just booking through Disney. Is the Disney insurance just as good in your opinion?

 

[chisnpeke]

i was booking a cruise today and noticed how much I underestimated what DCL insurance covers.

View attachment 750067

Thank you!

 

[Hubie]

Remember Disney only covers the cruise not your flights, but we found that Disney was cheaper for us and covers more than Allianz regarding our cruises. If we decide to cover our flights, we just add the ins. offered by Delta., which is Allianz.

 

[kiford]

I believe that the main issue with DCL insurance is that it only covers the cruise/starts coverage the day of your cruise unless you've also purchased flights through DCL and ends the day of the cruise. So if you come in a day or two before or stay some time after the cruise, anything that happens outside of those days is not covered. So if, for example, you purchased your flights not through DCL and you stay a day before the cruise and something happens to prevent you from cruising, you would not be covered for those costs. Also, you'd have to investigate under what circumstances you'd be able to rebook or get a refund from DCL if you are unable to make the cruise or there is an interruption in your trip once you're there.

We always purchase 3rd party insurance so that we can pick and choose what we want to cover. We typically get travel medical insurance, trip interruption and sometimes lost luggage and we cover all of the non-refundable/non-cancellable costs. We've only ever got cancel for any reason insurance when we had very high cost flights that were non-cancellable and the insurance was a reasonable price.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Debating between Allianz or just booking through Disney. Is the Disney insurance just as good in your opinion?

Look at the dollar limits for things like medical evacuation and medical expenses. I think the DCL insurance limits are much too low at $30K and $20K compared to our Allianz policy at $250K and $50K, at lower cost.

 

[Dznypal]

We actually have and used the chase sapphire card. Things couldn’t have gone any better. Although this was just before Covid hit. My mom was just put in hospice care. We we’re going on the Hawaii and didn’t want to be in the middle of the ocean having something happen and then trying to get back. Disney refunded the cruise minus the deposit which I sent the papers to the insurance they paid real fast. The airlines were a bit tricker since they gave you at least at that time a year credit but after the year all I needed was to send them them a statement saying credit expired without use. Air Canada was great got the letter right after the year. United kept extending the credit date. Every so often I woukd contact them and finally I got someone who could do a refund which we just got back early last year. Cruise was supposed in may of 2020. Not sure now how the airlines do credit since Covid I think most of them now have credits don’t expire. The insurance people at chase were grestvto work with Just my experience