Travel Insurance for a cruise

[cinmell]

We are going on a Carnival cruise next March. I booked 2 days ago and said I wanted the insurance. They noted the insurance to our reservation but said it doesn't have to be paid for until the final payment is due.

Now I'm wondering if it's best to buy the insurance from Carnival or a trip insurance company. If I should buy from somewhere other than Carnival, who should I go with? I don't know a thing about travel insurance and when I googled it, so many choices came up.

 

[4nana]

When we decide not to go with the ship's insurance offered we always use: Insure My Trip.com http://www1.insuremytrip.com/p/myquote?pid=5882 .
They offer many plans you can compare and are most helpful with questions.

 

[4nana]

sorry for double post

 

[golfgal]

There are only a handful of companies that actually issue travel insurance but there are a load of brokers out there that you can get the insurance through. Chances are the Carnival and whatever policy you find on the internet are the same company. Read the policy carefully before you sign up for anything since some don't really cover much. If you are going on a cruise on important coverage is getting air lifted off the ship.

 

[kellermomof3]

We used Travel Guard, for a family of 5 it was $100.00 for our cruise in July. I purchased it right after I booked our cruise because you never know what could happen!

 

[a1tinkfans]

insuremy trip dot com, will show you all ins carriers with their individual quotes thereby giving you options.
Most important, generally speaking are the EXclusions....Like pre-existant and what their "look back" date is. I have used them, they are very reputable, and competitive, good prices. So, you can do that yourself, likely get Better, cheaper coverage. A cruise is expensive, so I think its a smart investment. No need to go overboard, but be SURE to meet the requirements, by that I mean, if they say insure the Whole trip, do that, don't cut yourself short because in event of having to get paid you will need to show proof. We had to use ins once and we got back Thousands! Its important to know what you actually need (in other words, if your FIL was sick (heaven forbid) and you had to cancel they look back XXX days and say, oh, he was sick a while ago, that is PRE existent, thus NO coverage, so THAT is something that is important to note, especially if there are any sick people that you may want to be covered for. Hope this helped! Good Luck, its actually rather simple, and can all be done online. Usually the DIRECT coverage (FYI: like thru Carnival or Disney for that matter) does NOT cover pre-existent! ALWAYS check the exclusions!!
*oops, meant to add, you can get ins up to day of travel BUT you will pay more.....

 

[janets]

Most travel insurance, if purchased within, say, 14-21 days of paying the first costs of the trip, waive the pre existing conditions clause. You can see if they do by reading the different policies.

Policies through the cruise lines are usually more expensive than through secondary companies (unless the traveller is over 65).

Also, the coverage is not as high as you might want...if you needed to be transported home from a foreign port, it can costs thousands of dollars. Also, you need to know if your policy is "primary" or "secondary" coverage. If secondary, you need to have a high enough limit on a credit card to cover your costs, then put in for reimbursement from the insurance company.

There are a number of reputable companies in the market, and their prices are reasonable. Look to pay no more than 5% of your costs for the insurance.

 

[rwdavis2]

We buy Travel Guard. We actually had to use it 2 years ago and they paid with no problems. It was the co-pay for avery expensive hospital stay. Over $2000 plus extran hotel and air fare.

 

[Poohlovr]

Generally, insurance bought through the cruise line will cover only the cruise. If you can't make the cruise, that's covered. If you are flying, that cost isn't covered.

You generally get more covererage by buying your insurance through one of the other companies. Like a PP, I always go through www.insuremytrip.com . Prices are reasonable and all aspects of your trip are covered.

 

[Green Tea]

If you said you wanted it at the time of booking though, I am not sure they will let you cancel.

 

[cinmell]

Thank you for the information. I'll check out insure my trip dot com and travel guard.

 

[mjkacmom]

I got insurance from a company I heard about on Cruise Critic - it seems like it's always a good idea to get it from a separate source rather than the cruiseline, and to get it within 30 days of booking, to make sure it covers pre-existing conditions. I'm too lazy right now to go through my emails to find the name, but go to cruise critic and use the search function, and you'll get answers.