Purchasing Travel Insurance for Cruise

[LuvindisCruiser]

I would like to purchase insurance for our May 15th cruise and our pmt. is due by beg. of March. Should I purchase ins. before I pay for cruise? We are also doing Disney World before our cruise for 5 nights. I have looked on insuremytrip.com to compare prices. But, still have some questions for those of you who have purchased insurance before.

1. Should I only insure the amount of the cruise? (4 day for us) Our plane tickets are transferable.
2. Going thru CSA seems like one of least expensive quotes, has anyone else used CSA?
3. Am I safe using these internet sites for our insurance?
4. What should I really need to know before purchasing our insurance?

Thanks everyone !!

 

[janets]

since I have young children and you never know when one of them will get sick just before a trip and you have to cancel.

I base my insurance purchase on the NON REFUNDABLE portion of my trip. If I were travelling to WDW and hadn't purchased my tickets yet, then I might not include their price in my vacation cost. However, if your airfare and cruise will be non refundable if you cancel just a day or so before (which is likely if a child gets sick), then add those amounts in to the whole.

I used www.insuremytrip.com when I purchased mine. I actually called and spoke with an agent, explaining what I wanted and she went over several policies with me to be sure I was covered for the events that mattered to me.
Some policies differ on some points, so it's good to compare side by side and only buy what you need.

I charged to my credit card and had a confirmation and information in the mail very soon thereafter. Just remember that almost all policies exclude pre-existing conditions unless you purchase the insurance within a certain number of days after making your first payment on the vacation (i.e. buying the plane tickets, putting a down payment on the cruise) so consider that too.

Either way, have a wonderful time.

 

[suwoogie]

Wow, Janet, that was very helpful. Thanks!

 

[TheWog]

I, too, used insuremytrip.com to find insurance. Travelex Lite turned out to be the best option for us. Price and coverage were excellent. Didn't need to use it, thankfully, so I can't comment on claims, but was very happy with the ease to purchase. I believe children under 16 were free. You can insure any amount you want. To insure my entire trip for two it would have cost me more since the total went .65 over $1,000 per person for cruise and air. They asked if I could self insure the .65 and save some money.

 

[Greysword]

I personally see travel Insurance as something that is well worth the money. My wife and I spent $170 for the two of us through Travel Insured. They were a little bit more, but seemed to have a good reputation.

The insurance was initially for a 7-night cruise. We also picked up the Medical upgrade, just in case. We ended up changing our plans to a 4-night cruise and three nights at WDW. I am glad we had the full insurance, too!!

I became ill the second day of the land portion while staying at the WDW Swan. I felt so bad, we decided to call a doctor to make a hotel house call (caught a stomach virus, the doctor said). That visit helped a lot, getting a good diagnosis and the correct medication, but it cost $351. The house call agencies do not take regular insurance.

I am filling a claim now and I am expecting the $351 back. All in all, I will have received a net refund of $180 (after subracting the cost of the Insurance).

The policy we purchase would have covered us if we needed to cancel for any of the prescribed reasons (airline goes belly-up, terrorist attack, home burglary, illness int he immediate family, etc). It would have also covered us if our luggage got lost, as well as, a whole series of other things (including refunds on hotel deposits or emergency hotel stays should DCL decide to cancel the trip due to a convention or hurricane).

Lots of good reasons for travel insurance for your whole trip.

Thank you for your attention.

 

[ivanova]

I base my insurance purchase on the NON REFUNDABLE portion of my trip.

Ditto.

Once exception. I'm doing a 3 night cruise (RCCL) out of Los Angeles in March. The total cost was $350 for two of us. I'm willing to risk losing $350 if something comes up. Whereas with our repo cruise the nonrefundable part (the cruise and oneway airfare) is almost $6,000 for the three of us. I'm not willing to risk that kind of money, so we will be getting travel insurance for that trip.