Should I purchase insurance?

[Soham KB]

Hi everyone.
The new itineraries that came out on Wednesday for silver members (me) had fluctuating insurance prices for different cruises.
Higher prices for holiday ones, lower for non-holiday and longer ones.
With the insurance, my budget will be busted, but I still want to travel with safety.
Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi everyone.
The new itineraries that came out on Wednesday for silver members (me) had fluctuating insurance prices for different cruises.
Higher prices for holiday ones, lower for non-holiday and longer ones.
With the insurance, my budget will be busted, but I still want to travel with safety.
Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance!

Short answer - yes.

We always purchase travel insurance. Just for the medical/evacuation coverage. No, we've never used it, but, if we had a medical/injury issue, and didn't have insurance the evacuation alone could cost upwards of $30-50,000.

Use a third party trip insurance comparison site to get the best price for insurance. We've found it not that prohibitive.

 

[LYSE]

Get a credit card with good travel insurance built in.

 

[jdb in AZ]

In 24 cruises we've had to use insurance twice. One was for a European cruise and the insurance reimbursed us $8000.

 

[meliscan]

Yes. I would strongly urge you to get insurance. You can find insurance that won't break the bank. You don't have to do Disney insurance. Last year we were affected by Hurricane Harvey and Irma. Thank goodness for insurance or we would not have been able to go on the cruise. They also helped us when our trip was curtailed. For 3 people our insurance was $206 for 3 people. We went through Allianz and they were easy with the claim process well.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

We always purchase insurance, just in case. But the one time we needed it (Celebrity Cruise line insurance) it was absolutely no help at all. Our luggage never made it to the cruise.

 

[Allison]

First, you can purchase insurance from a variety of sources. Second, if purchasing insurance breaks your budget, imagine what paying for a trip and for some reason not being able to go on it will do when you lose all the money or an expense comes up while traveling.

 

[FigmentSpark]

If you have AAA, check their prices. They give a member discount.

Also, I think there's a comparison site somewhere.... anyone have the link to that?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

If you have AAA, check their prices. They give a member discount.

Also, I think there's a comparison site somewhere.... anyone have the link to that?

Well there's at least one of the comparison sites (the one I use mostly) that DISboards doesn't allow links/directions to. https://www.disboards.com/threads/filtered-cruise-insurance-link.3331750/

But I've also used squaremouth. And there's tripinsurancestore.

 

[tvguy]

Very personal choice. Depends on what your trip cost, and what your other insurances (health, credit card if your trip was purchased with a car with covers, etc) whether you are a U.S. Citizen and where you are cruising..

It is the most profitable product insurance companies offer because so few claims are filed.

In 40 years I have purchased travel insurance once, a Disney cruise that cost $9,000, and was during Christmas when travel loads are heavy and weather bad.

I have never purchased it for a $3,000 trip. I also don't carry collision on a car when it is worth that little.

See what coverage you already have, and then evaluate what, if any additional insurance needs you have.

 

[Sunshine2U]

We've cancelled two cruises - both for pre-existing conditions of elderly parents. On one, we cancelled after the PIF (paid in full) date and got a full refund. We've cancelled a Nov. 2018 cruise because we decided to forego trip insurance and now FIL is having recurring problems. We would have kept the trip if we had the insurance. There are some special criteria for covering pre-existing conditions. That coverage encompasses illness of immediate family members who are not actually cruising with you.

 

[Dug720]

Short answer - yes.

We always purchase travel insurance. Just for the medical/evacuation coverage. No, we've never used it, but, if we had a medical/injury issue, and didn't have insurance the evacuation alone could cost upwards of $30-50,000.

Use a third party trip insurance comparison site to get the best price for insurance. We've found it not that prohibitive.

Agree! If purchasing insurance would bust the budget, having a medical evacuation most definitely would bust it. Not to mention losing the cost of the cruise would not be a good thing if the budget is that tight.

 

[Shanti]

Hi everyone.
The new itineraries that came out on Wednesday for silver members (me) had fluctuating insurance prices for different cruises.
Higher prices for holiday ones, lower for non-holiday and longer ones.
With the insurance, my budget will be busted, but I still want to travel with safety.
Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance!

Yes, get insurance. It is doubly important for a person who lives on a tight budget. Consider it to be an essential part of the cruise cost rather than as an "extra."

 

[gotomu212]

Ehhhh we’ve gotten it twice out of 20 or so big trips we’ve taken. One was in Africa because of the risk if we had a medical issue. Once was because my husband had just had surgery and we thought there might be complications.

It’s a really personal question based on your risk tolerance, but I agree with TV guy I don’t insure cars under $5k for collision so I’m comfortable with the risk/benefit of most of our trips.

 

[Otimon]

Don't leave home without it!

 

[vegs1]

Just ask yourself.....

Can I afford to lose this money if something happens? That’s really all it takes to decide.

Accidents happen very easily and most people don’t think it will be to them. If you have all the money in the world and it doesn’t matter, then don’t buy it.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Accidents happen very easily and most people don’t think it will be to them

Not just accidents. There was a young child who got appendicitis on a Disney Mexican Riviera cruise a number of years ago. I'm sure the parents were glad they had insurance when mom & son had to go to the hospital in Cabo San Lucas.

 

[vegs1]

PrincessShmoo, you’re right. I used “accidents” in a liberal sense. I know of a couple going on their honeymoon that were in a car accident on their way to the airport as well as someone who put their back out and couldn’t walk putting their luggage in the car.

Life happens! Good and bad! I’d personally rather get money back if something happened but to each his own.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Yes, I always buy trip insurance when any component of my trip is non-refundable or non-changeable. That being said, I do not buy the DCL insurance as it only covers travel components that are purchased through DCL. That means my airfare (which I do not buy through DCL), pre- or post-hotels, etc. are not covered through the DCL insurance. I've found third-party insurance tends to be cheaper and more comprehensive. After comparing prices for years, I've found Travel Insured International works best for the way we travel. We travel quite a lot and I've had to submit claims three times - once when DS got sick during a trip, once when he got sick before a trip and once when United lost our luggage. I also have a friend whose mother had to be medicaved from the Fantasy and the insurance covered the expense. Especially with a cruise that has very stringent cancellation policies, I would seriously consider purchasing insurance.

 

[MickeyEarrings]

The OP also needs to realize that even though your have trip insurance, there will likely be out of pocket expenses that will need to be sent to insurance for reimbursement.

For example, on our last cruise we were cleared for takeoff for our flight home when we were sent back to the terminal because of a ground stoppage due to weather in our destination city. We weren’t able to fly out until the next day, so cab fare, a hotel room for the night, meals, and even an extra night boarding the dog back at home were all paid by our trip insurance - two months later.

And our table mate who turned his ankle standing at the rail on deck 4 admiring the sites had to pay $160 to the ship’s medical center for an exam and a pair of crutches.

Make sure your tight budget has room for things like that.