OK ~ who else doesn't get trip insurance?

[lillygator]

We didn't purchase trip insurance and don't plan on it for our next cruise either.


Does anyone find this really useful? I figure we will know 60 days prior if we would not be able to cruise due to illness (barring any accidents). I am not worried about losing luggage.....(I think the trip insurance covers that) ~ great excuse for new clothes.

 

[DisneyBill]

We usually are in a catagory 4, & would always buy for a 7 day, too much money at stake to risk for a couple hundred bucks. Besides, that black cloud still follows me to Port Canaveral.

 

[clori]

A few years ago my mil who was only 58 and in good health (to all our knowldege) went to a play then at dinner. At dinner she said she felt dizzy. She had a heart attack and passed away. This was completely unexpected. So yes even though I would not foresee anything happening while on my cruise I don't think I could ever chance not having trip insurance for the cruise. The small amount of money over the cost of the cruise is worth it to me personally. I'm not concerned about small things like lost luggage.

 

[SandraLee]

My first cruise was the day the Atlanta airport was shut down due to security problems -- the guy running security to get to his flight. He basically shut down the airport for more than 24 hours. I had booked my air and purchased insurance thru Disney and my flight from Atlanta was still IN Atlanta at 12:30 on departure day. Let me tell you I was SCREAMING into the phone about DCL keeping the ship there until our flight got in. There were 25 people on that flight into MCO that the ship had to wait for. If the ship sailed and we missed it due to the problem w/ the air, we would have been out the $5,000 the cruise cost us.

The second cruise I did purchase the insurance. I read about a family that was just walking the streets and a child was hit by a car. They ended up evacuating the family. Good thing they had insurance.

My Uncle was on a Carnival cruise. He slipped and fell and broke his hip onboard. He did end up getting out at the first port, but they didn't have insurance, either. It cost them $$$ to fly out.

Moral: Get the insurance . . . It is cheap and you never know what can happen that you need to get back.

 

[jeanniec]

We have always bought trip insurance, mainly worrying about something happening to keep us from getting to the ship in time to sail. On our last cruise, we saw a woman get evacuated from ship (broken leg -- must have been a reallty bad break) and I am sure it cost thousands and thousands of $$ to pay for that evacuation. I will never go without trip insurance. Also, coincidentally, on that same cruise, I had a really bad case of bronchitis. Medical bills on board cost around $600 which included 2 breathing treatments a day. Our hospitalization would not cover the costs, but travel insurance sent a check for the whole amount.

 

[SweetSpot]

We booked our vacation in November. Are we still able to purchase insurance months after you booked your cruise and if so what is the latest you can purchase insurance? Is there an insurance that is most commonly used that someone could recommend? Also, if you cancel the cruise you booked before the 60 day mark when you can still get a full refund from Disney is the insurance amount you paid refunded or is that lost?

 

[SandraLee]

I know you can purchase the insurance through companies like accessamerica up until the day of departure (I think). Any pre-existing conditions won't be covered, but all the other benefits of having trip insurance are included.

If you call accessamerica, they'll give you details. And, they will define what is a pre-existing condition.

I do know that if you cancel your trip, you forfeit the insurance money. It is non-refundable.

 

[CheapMom]

I think you can buy insurance up to 90 days before your vacation begins.
What if one member of your party is sick before the cruise and we all can't go? Are we reimbursed for the trip? What if one member of our party gets sick onboard and is confined to cabin per captains orders?

 

[Lilly's Dad]

Insurance boils down to one simple thing: Gambling. It is an emotional gambling scenerio that the insurance industry is well aware of, making them the richest, most profitable bisinesses in the world. Statistically the mathematical equation involves RISK and RETURN. Also consider all the fine print restictions connected to travel ins. policy claims. The risk for most people that they'll file a valid claim is very low: maybe one out of thousands. The return on your insurance investment should you file a claim is relatively low: maybe $2000 for a cruise (from a $50 premium). Would you buy $50 in raffle tickets for a one in 5000 chance at winning $2000 ? I think not. $200,000 maybe. So don't take the same bet with travel insurance. Don't let Insurance Company's emotional scare tactics get you sidetracked from your personal common sense and mathematical logic.

 

[scottygirl]

Lilly's Dad,

Although I agree with your logic and most of your argument (we don't purchase "extra" insurance policies like extended warranties, whole life insurance, etc.), one still has to consider the economic impact of a thwarted vacation or a medical evacuation. Will you be able to pay for the evacuation and medical bills? Will you be able to book another cruise or is this a once in a lifetime trip for you? Insurance is to cover events that would have devistating economic consequences in your life. JMHO.

 

[SandraLee]

scottygirl . . . I'm with you. I DID the math to figure out if I wanted to risk my $6,000 vacation for the very small amount of insurance dollars. I think I paid $150 or so for the coverage of my entire vacation. Mostly, I was willing to pay that amount for the risk of having to shell out over $30,000 if the UNLIKELY event of a medical emergency. And, in fact, my Uncle's family did have to pay out of pocket for a medical emergency.

I would hate to think my vacation would be ruined because of some unforseeable event that prevented me from getting to the ship. And, that would cause me to lose the money for the trip. I don't think so. I am not a rich person, but I am smart. I do not ever purchase extended warranties, but, in this case, I think the extra insurance dollars is enough to buy me peace of mind.

 

[The4OfUs]

I agree with Scottygirl. Look at the cruiser who just recently had a MAJOR problem, in that her dad nearly drowned snorkling on the cruise (the report is in the trip report forum). Without insurance, you're looking at THOUSANDS upon thousands of dollars...to save what? For us, about $200, because we cancelled the DCL and went with a different, better plan for us - my DD is severely asthmatic. This insurance included pre-existing conditions, so if she had had an attack and the cruise had to be cancelled, we would not have had to worry about the money.

Maybe I'm superstitious, but why tempt fate and cause additional stress, at least for me.

 

[outahere]

While I would not like to lose the money paid for a vacation, because I couldn't get there or because of illness, it wouldn't be a huge loss. However, whenever I travel outside the U.S., I always purchase the insurance for the medical evacuation coverage, because that would be a huge loss. I have been on 4 cruises and people were evacuated from two of them. One, from the Norway, had to be taken by boat from the ship to San Salvador and then flown back to the U.S. The other was from the Wonder while we were docked in Nassau. Both of those had to be expensive. Not buying the insurance may save you $150 or so, but I prefer to pay upfront....... just in case.

As the old American Express commercial says.......... "don't leave home without it".

 

[DoomBuggieDriver]

I agree that ordinary trips within the US don't really require insurance, and I have never purchased it for that. However we are spending big bucks to cruise in June, and I don't want to absorb the cost if something happens that we have to cancel. I hadn't thought about the medical emergency side of it until I read posts here, and that gave me another (I think better) arguement for insurance.

Incidentally, I get the insurance within 10 days of booking from Insuremytrip.com, choosing AccessAmerica. In the meantime, we upgraded to a category 3, which meant more $$$, and also changed our travel dates to get to FL sooner. I had no trouble making these changes to the insurance.

Kathy

 

[ruttie]

we usually do 3 or 4 day and do not get insurance but we live right near the port I called ins company and they will cover us out of country we just have to pay then get reimbursed (which is the case with the cruise insuance also you still have to come up with the money and they will reimburse you) and we nevr pay that much for a cruise so we are fortunate that if we had to we could eat the money or... However for any cryis ethat is 7 days or longer or that we have to fly to we get the insurance just for the getting to the port and hotel bills stuffif the palne is late or something....

 

[ColeenD]

I did not purchase the insurance on a RC cruise to Bermuda 4 yrs ago. Bad weather...too sick to move! Saw the ship's doc for a seasick shot. $154! Our medical insurance threw it against our deductible. Lesson learned. Now I ALWAYS get the insurance.

 

[makaylee]

I would NEVER sail without insurnace. I for one do not have upwards of 50k ( yes i heard it can be that much depending how far you are out) to cover me or my family if god forbid one of us needs an evacuation. I know that chances are VERY slim that we will, but what if...it has happened to others and I would not want to have to sell my home if it happened to me. If you purchase seperate from DCL it is quite cheap compared to the peace of mind I will have. Also for those who have childern, we know how often they get sick, I wouldnt want to have to cancel my trip and loose $4000 because my daughter came home with the flu or pink eye a couple days before we were supposed to sail. No...I think i'll pay the $150 thank you. I do not care that they will probaly just pocket my money at the end of my trip, they can have it, they earned it by giving me peace of mind and letting me enjoy my vacation more!

 

[jrabbit]

Have never purchased trip insurance for our cruises, but am thinking that it might be a good idea.

Is it "worth it" for individuals. Depends upon your situation. Can you afford not being able to complete your trip and get pay to be evacuated back home? Family of 4 on a 7 night cruise may spend 6,000 for their cruse and to be evacutated back to the US may cost them another 5,000. So is the "$200 gamble" worth covering $11,000 in real, out of pocket expenses? It's sounding better to me all of the time.


Lets tackle the issue of the "big bad insurance company"
I'll work on the math making some very huge assumptions (because I really don't know the frequency of insurance claims nor the cost of the insurance. I do know that most insurance companies have to have losses under 65% of the premiums collected to break even).

2000 people on the ship and lets assume 40% of the people have trip insurance and if the insurance costs $50 per person. So the insurance company collects about $40,000 per week. Break even = $26,500 in claims. If the frequence of medical evacuations occur once every other week and may cost 25,000 (12,500 per week average) that leaves $14,000 per week to cover accidents / illness before leaving home and other "minor" incidents during the cruise (like the norwalk outbreaks). 14,000 really only covers about 4 families per week. So I don't think that the insurance companies are "ripping us off".

 

[mmouse37]

I never used to buy insurance before but now I most certainly do....all I can think of is something happening to one of us on one of the islands....car accident, heart attack, ect....I do not know about you but I for one would much rather be evacuated to a GOOD OLE USA hospital....

A helicopter evacuation can run upwards of $25,000 just for the flight....not counting medical coverage.

The most we ever spent on insurance for our family of five is about $275.00....well worth it in my opinion!!!

Nobody ever wants to think tragedy will happen to them on vacation....but the facts are things can and do happen all the time.

My parents had a 2 week cruise tour through Asia planned and 2 days before the trip my mom had a stroke. Obvioulsy they were paid in full and in penalty.....AccessAmerica had a check for their complete trip cost in about 3 weeks. The trip itself was costing about $8,000. The insurance cost them $67.00 each. They were very happy to have had the insurance!!! BTW...mom made a complete recovery!!

MJ

 

[makaylee]

Originally posted by mmouse37


Nobody ever wants to think tragedy will happen to them on vacation....but the facts are things can and do happen all the time.

MJ

My thoughts exactly!