Trip Insurance—I know this has been asked, but...

[suwoogie]

...the search engine wasn't working very fast and I got frustrated.

I need trip insurance for the 7-day eastern cruise in October. I went to the site that some of you posted here... insuremycruise.com and I found it overwhelming. How do you pick which one you need? It seems that some of them carry higher benefits but have lower prices? Do I need $50,000 in medical? Is is easier to go through Disney's insurance?

My head hurts from this. Someone please be kind and walk me through this.

 

[allears]

We have on our past cruises simply booked with DCL via our travel agent. I have read that you can find better deals booking yourself, but I find that confusing as well. I figure whatever I buy through the cruise line will cover most if not all of the things that might come up.

As far as the medical, I've never paid much attention to the dollar threshold, and have just accept what came with our policy. It may be unlikely, but it could happen that someone needs to be transported off the ship or from a port due to a medical emergnecy, which I have heard is very, very expensive and not covered by most of our regular health insurance programs. I figure, what the heck, you never know, and it's not like you're staying in a major US city with a hospitial on every corner.

We have also not had need to file two claims. On our September cruise, we were hunkered down in a hotel in Orlando during Hurricane Jeanne. Our cruise was delayed by over two days. The insurance picked up all of the extra expenses. On our most recent trip, I booked a seperate policy for our air fare, as we had purchased this independently. We ended up stranded in Florida an extra day due to a major snow storm. The claim for those expenses is in process.

So get tirp insuarnce. If you feel overwhelmed and confused, go with the cruise line package, and consider the extra cost as a premium for saving your time and confusion.

 

[TheWog]

insuremytrip.com was very helpful for us. We chose the "lite" policy which had lower medical coverage and the like. I was getting it for the cruise price and some medical evacuation coverage. Travelex lite was a good choice for us. Thankfully we didn't need to use it.

 

[suwoogie]

Thank you so much. I think I'll do the same and just go with the insurance our TA offered through Disney. It seems like a lot less work.

 

[jrabbit]

Thank you so much. I think I'll do the same and just go with the insurance our TA offered through Disney. It seems like a lot less work.

As with any insurance you need to know what it does and does not cover. Your TA should be a bigger help in that area than "let's put it with Disney 'cause it's easy"

 

[wnissen]

The only situation where I would recommend the Disney insurance is where you are driving to the port, or have air booked through Disney. The problem is that the Disney insurance only covers the cost of the cruise and medical. It doesn't cover your airfare or hotels or anything else outside the cruise. Plus it is significantly more expensive, especially if you are under 40.

We were caught by hurricane Jeanne, and cancelled our cruise. Disney refunded our money, but we had to find lodging for two days in Orlando on short notice, with the hurricane coming. The only Disney rooms were $200 a night. However, our Travel Guard insurance covered a total of $400 of expenses for those two days. Disney Cruise Lines not only flat-out refused to help us find a room, but their insurance would not have covered our expenses for those days. Just a cautionary tale. TravelGuard takes 5 minutes to buy, and it's inexpensive, so I recommend it.

Regards,
Walt

 

[fairytalelover]

What's travel Guard and how much does it cost?

 

[debtman7]

I'd agree that just going through disney is a bad idea, especially if you don't know what their product covers. Do you really want to buy an insurance policy with no knowlege of what you are buying? Also keep in mind that most likely, Disney is not providing the insurance. They are just adding a markup to an insurance policy provided by some other company. I'm not saying it's a bad policy, I'm just saying don't buy it because it's Disney. It's probably not Disney and you at least need to ask to see the policy and see what it covers.

The best way to search is probably http://www.insuremytrip.com. Do a quote search and look through the results. When you view the policies, if you click on the coverage amounts (for example, $750 for trip cancellation) it will give you an explanation of what that coverage is for so you can decide if it's enough. Yes, it will take a while. Just start with the lowest priced one and keep going up until you find one that has enough coverage for you.

You can certainly go through Disney, but please read the policy and at least know what you're buying. You could be in for a surprise if you actually have to use it and it doesn't cover what you thought it did.

For medical coverage, like the insurance policy, whether you buy it or not is up to you. The reason to add that on is that most insurance companies (i.e. your health insurance provider) don't cover you in a foreign country. You should check and see if yours does. If not, you might want to get medical coverage. If you end up sick in the bahamas and need medical care, it would cover you.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

I booked my DCL vacation for Sept 2006 months ago. I didn't want to buy the insurance at the time because it's so far away. How long do I have? Is there a certain cut-off date? I was thinking this fall at the latest.

 

[debtman7]

I booked my DCL vacation for Sept 2006 months ago. I didn't want to buy the insurance at the time because it's so far away. How long do I have? Is there a certain cut-off date? I was thinking this fall at the latest.

Most companies let you purchase it anytime up to the day before you travel. The only catch is that most will also only cover you for pre-existing medical conditions if you purchase within 10-14 days of booking your trip.

 

[wnissen]

TravelGuard is at www.travelguard.com

They sell a range of products, but the "Protect Assist" covers the basics: medical and evacuation coverage, trip cancellation, and trip interruption. No relationship with them other than as very satisfied customers.

Walt

 

[DonaldsGrl103]

www.insuremytrip.com was the best option we found. It costs 79.00 for two adults and the coverage was from a company called travelex

 

[kehouse]

we swithched our dcl insurance to aaa, same coverage, but we didnt have to pay for the kids. they go by your age and how much money you spend on the cruise. it was cheaper for us but not my mil becauce she is over 70.

 

[kimisabella]

I was just going to post a thread asking if anyone used Travelex - I looked on insuremytrip.com and saw the price and the coverages offered and thought that it might be too good to be true. I'm glad someone here used them and were happy with them. Now I feel much better going ahead and buying a policy from them.