Purchase Insurance or Not?

[firstcruiser]

Here's a subject I haven't seen. What are everyone's
thoughts on purchasing the cruise insurance or not.
We have until we make our final payment to decide.
It's $300 I could spend on other things. Anyone have
any recommendations?

 

[CGC33A]

Insurance or not. You have to think about your likelihood of needing it. Such as for cancellation: are your kids sickley or do you have elderly relatives that have health problems at any moment that could cancel your plans. If you are traveling a far distance, flying or driving, there could be delays unless you have a lot of extra time built in. Baggage coverage may be duplicated from your homeowners policy but medical might not be. My nephew fell & split his chin necessitating stitches in port where his regular insurance didn't cover.
You don't need to purchase from Disney. Your TA should have some other options to choose from. Also quotesmith.com has some good rates on some major companies.

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

There was quite an extensive thread on this a month to 6 weeks ago. IF the search function within the forum is working you might look for that. It depends on your comfort levels - personally I won't book a major trip without travel insurance. You just never know what might happen.

For example - both of my kids are healthy. But our upcoming cruise is scheduled to start the week-end after my DS completes football camp. Stuff happens....I'd rather be prepared for the unexpected.

Deb

 

[CamColt]

I wouldnt do any big trip without it either. We recently had a Disney trip booked, room only, no insurance. We booked the trip 4 months in advance never thinking anything would go wrong. We then found out FIL was ill and exactly 1 month before our trip we were told he had about 1 month left. We werent going to cancel unless we absolutely had to because we had others going with us. If we had to cancel it wold have been last minute so we were very worried about losing our money...and that was only about 500.00. I cant imagine taking a risk with thousands and thousands of $$$$.
Good luck deciding!

 

[ducklite]

I have an even bigger potential expense. On the 8/24 Magic, we watched as someone was medivaced off Castaway Cay by a Life Flight helicopter. I'm not sure what happened. Funny thing, he was able to walk from a wheel chair, up a set of stairs, and across the tarmack onto the helo. So whatever the problem was, they didn't take him out on a stretcher, but he was sick or injured enough that the ships Dr. (and Captain Tom who was also there) felt that he needed immediate care that couldn't be provided ont eh ship--and we were going to be back in Port Canaveral in 14 hours... He did have an IV line hooked up, but that and a bit of wobbliness was the only indication something was wrong.

You never know when you'll become ill, get an infection or wound, anything. MY DS fell down a flight of stairs on board and thought he broke his wrist. Turns out it was just bruised, but if it had been a bad break, he would have been taken off to a stateside hospital (there was no WAY he was going to the hospital in St. Maarten.)

The average cost for a medical evacuation is $10-15K. That's a LOT of money. Just like with your car or homeowners insurance, you may never need it. But if you do, you'll be glad you had it.

Anne

 

[4nana]

We have a lot invested in our trip and would rather be safe than sorry, so we won't be leaving home w/o it. I highly recommend this site to help you decide.

http://insuremytrip.com/p/myquote?pid=2520

 

[my3kids]

Oh My Goodness....I struggled with this. I looked at insuremytrip.com and got an idea of the cost. For our family of 5, CSA Travel Protection was only $155....but still I struggled. (Several companies were about the same price, but that one had been mentioned here on this board) We'll spend more than that for a dinner for the 2 of us, but still I wondered if it was worth the investment. It came down to the wire, and.............I bought the insurance. We are driving so I wasn't too worried about lost luggage, our health insurance will pay for claims while out of the country....but 3 things stuck in my head that made me go ahead and get the policy.

If one of us had a bad break.....slipped while hiking and broke an arm, or had a ruptured appendics....our insurance wouldn't pay to get back to the US for treatment here, even if the injury was serious enough that it couldn't be handled at a small island hospital. That concerned me. The insurance would pay to medivac a covered participant to the states for treatment of serious illness or injury, if it couldn't be treated at the port.

If by some terrible stroke of luck, the interstates become unpassible due to a terrible wreck or weather condition....the insurance will cover.

And last...I thought about my parents. If one of them died the week we were leaving, we'd be out the money. We wouldn't go. By paying the policy prior to the date the final payment was due, that scenario is covered.

So for those reasons, I got the insurance. Although I waffled about to buy or not to buy, I felt very good after I did it, and have not felt guilty for adding yet another cost to the trip. The Disney insurance was more expensive, and I couldn't tell that it was any better coverage. The travel agent also offered their own policy, but I went with the independant company. insuremytrip.com was a great resource, although I ended up calling CSA and ordering it directly over the phone.

 

[Willowwind]

I struggled with this as well. Finally I just asked my husband what he thought we should do. We got it.

It's one of those things that everyone hates to pay for, but man are you glad you have it when you need it.

 

[Tay N Evie's Mom]

I started buying travel insurance after our kids were born. Our kids are unpredictable about getting sick and usually don't give us any indication until it's too late. DD has been hospitalized 3 times for unexplained bouts of vomiting. Usually she tells us she doesn't feel good and within 4-5 hours we're in the ER. Also, you never know when family members are going to become ill or pass away. Last year DH uncle unexpectedly passed away on a Thursday and his grandmother (the uncle's mother) passed away the following Monday. We went to 2 funerals in one week. It was quite a shock to our entire family-not to mention DS was in the ER the days between the funerals for croup and was almost admitted. Even if you think you have a healthy, unexciting family- you never know when something's going to happen.

 

[PhillyCB]

I had never bought trip insurance before last year but with so many unexpected things happening around the world, let alone with my older family, I decided it was worth the investment. That way, I have peace of mind and it's one less thing to worry about. I most definitely would not want to be treated at a hospital on Nassau.

 

[SueEllen]

Just a thought, I didn't get it for our trip, but wish I had have had it on my vacation back in July. 2 days after arriving at the beach I was miserable. I ended up having an appendicitis and had to go to the emergency room and spend time in the hospital. SURE do wish I had have purchased the trip insurance that we were offered! Oh well, lesson learned. You NEVER know what could happen.

Sue Ellen

 

[rae519]

Please forgive me if I am out of line on this - but it's insurance related.

When we purchased our life insurance, we also had policies for our children. Now people scoffed at us and said, "Why?" Well, we just felt that it would be a good idea at the time.

In 1994 when our daughter passed on, my husband needed the time to grieve. Since we had the policy on her, we didn't have to worry about the loss of income while he was off work. No one wants to think about the loss of a child, but it's reality and no one should have to worry about grieving and supporting their family at the same time - especially if you can do something about it.

Again, I am sorry if this is out of line and offends anyone. My intention is only to give information and an example.

Rae

 

[Bob Noble]

Oh well, might as well hear from the "other" side.

I am not a travel insurance type of guy. I've just had bad experiences with it. Most times by the time you argue as to who was covered for what and why was it really an insurable event, you are ready to have fits. In any case as indicated in all the very valid points suggested here above you have to make your own decision in the end. And you have to be able to live with it. I roll the dice. Maybe we will get burned, but if not I will be enjoying my $400.00 plus of personal shipboard credit. Its a gamble no doubt, but a call that I feel comfortable with. Our kids are not sickly. If you wait until the 60 day final payment is due date to make the decision, I would have to say you should have a good idea of where your family falls in the risk curve.

If you do take the insurance, READ THE FINE PRINT. Most people make assumptions about insurance that are not correct. Make sure you understand what the insurance companys definition of Force Majure is.

 

[Wishing on a star]

That is a GREAT site for travel insurance.

I found that we can insure all three of us for what we could only insure DH and myself with the Disney coverage! That may help to convice DH that we should get the insurance. I am thinking that there is no benefit to taking coverage from the company offered thru DCL?

Can we assume that all of companies listed are as good as the other? I noticed that CSA was not the absolute cheapest, and another company had a little more coverage for less.

 

[Rootee]

Before you make up your mind one way or another about insurance, be sure to read what Eileen Ogintz wrote about this subject in her column "Taking the Kids". Cruising to St. Maarten is specifically mentioned.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/livi...vel/3688572.htm

On our 8/17 cruise, while boarding the tender in Grand Cayman, I head a cast member on a walkie-talkie discussing the guests in a certain stateroom. One of the guests was being admitted to the hospital in Grand Cayman per orders of the ship's doctor and the cast member was lining up some help clearing out their stateroom as the whole family was leaving the ship (and the vacation) to stay with that family member. So that makes two cruises in a row that we know of where a family was left ashore due to an emergency situation.

I guess Grand Cayman would be adequate, but I sure the heck would NOT want to be admitted to a hospital in Cozumel!!

 

[4nana]

rae519 ...
Thank you for sharing your heart breaking story with us.
Your daughter 'Kayla Renee' is beautiful, as are both poems.
So very sorry for your loss....God speed ^i^

 

[rae519]

4nana - thank you so much for taking the time to see the site.
I never felt sorry because I lost her, I only feel grateful that I even had her in my life. Every life has meaning, and so does every death - if only we can see that through our suffering.

If only one person will consider organ donation because of her site and the poem, even if that person decides against it - at least they have given some thought to it and maybe, just maybe they will decide to give someone that second chance.

Much love,
Rae

 

[Denine]

If we are cruising or traveling on points, no insurance.
If we have to hand over a huge chunk of change prior to the trip, definitely insurance.
We always get our trip insurance independent from the TA or cruiseline.
Try insuremytrip.com

 

[pagemaker]

In the past, we had never purchased travel insurance for any of our trips.

That all changed on August 22 when I suffered a massive pulmonary embolism out of the blue. After a long hospital stay and anticoagulant therapy I was able to go home.

One of the first calls I made when I got home was to my TA. I knew my final payment for our cruise was due that day, and I wanted to add the insurance if it was still possible. If we couldn't, we would have to postpone. Thankfully, we were still able to do it, but by the skin of our teeth.

Now we have the peace of mind, and the option of cancelling, if I am still not well enough to go when the time comes. It cost us $384 for our family of four, but that's nothing compared to what we would lose it we have to cancel.

Get the insurance!
Deb

 

[TootyJane]

We always purchase trip insurance!! Yes, (1) it may seem like a waste of money or (2) you justify not getting it because you can use the money for excursions or other incidentals but when you have to cancel a trip it well worth it!! JMHO.