Trip Insurance>>to take or not to......?

[linco711]

Do you all think trip insurance in necessary? I hate to spend money if not necessary....would rahter save it for the spa..........Thanks for your opinion in advance!

 

[Doctor P]

I have never bought trip insurance, EXCEPT for the two cruise we took. Ended up that we got caught in the hurricane debacle last fall and the trip insurance paid off (we bought it on our own from an outside vendor). Even with full refunds from DCL and the airlines, we ended up getting a check from the travel insurance for over $800 for the incidental expenses we incurred in trying to make the cruise happen. Made me really appreciate having bought the insurance.

 

[Melrosgirl]

I buy trip insurance for cruises - not for regular trips to WDW though.

 

[betty]

whats the cost for trip insurance?

 

[aprilgail2]

I buy trip insurance for every cruise....we almost had to use it this cruise..my daughter came down with fifths disease a week before the cruise..if it had been the day before the cruise there would have been no way they would have let her onboard looking how she did! I would not buy it if I was traveling alone....but with kids they are always coming down with something at the wrong times! When I had to bring my 76 year old mom to the ships Dr I asked if the insurance would cover the visit and they said most likely it would....

 

[Dreamer04]

I also buy trip insurance. But its expensive thru DCL. So, I went to
www.insuremytrip.com Great rates to choose from.

 

[betty]

how much does it cost?

 

[drakester]

We always buy trip insurance, it's not expensive for alittle piece of mind.

 

[clh2]

I did not buy trip insurance when we went on our cruise 18 months ago. Next cruise - we most likely will. Too many "what-if's" to worry about.

The disney cruise insurance is very expensive, and is the same price for the duration of the cruise. So, if you are shelling out $10,000 for a 7-day cruise in the best accomodations, you will pay the same amount for having the same number of people in a Cat-11. Also, the disney insurance covers airfare ONLY if airfare is purchased through DCL. You don't get a discount if you are driving down or getting the airfare on your own.

So, when I cruise again, I will definitely get insurance, it will most likely be outside of DCL. I would pass along some company names, I just don't recall any right now.

 

[Doctor P]

As I recall, the trip insurance has run us about $50 per person (and the rates go down if you have larger parties) for the two or three of us.

 

[we6clarks]

The price of cruise insurance varies depending on what level of coverage you select, the price of your cruise, the number of people you are insuring, and their ages. We got our policy at insuremytrip.com. It will let you compare as many policies as you want. We decide to go with a plan from Travelex. Kids are covered for free with Travelex from what customer service told me. It cost around 80.00 for our 4 day cruise.

 

[Jeanne B]

We bought insurance for our first cruise in January and thank goodness we did...we had weather delays both down and back (we live in New England) which resulted in a lot of unexpected expenses. I filed the claim in February and we got a $1000 check in the mail about 4 or 5 weeks later.

 

[NancyIL]

I bought travel insurance from Travelex for two cruises - one taken last monh and one this July. My sister was supposed to travel with me last month, but she found out 4 days before we sailed that her DH would be having quadruple bypass surgery the very next day! It was certainly worth the $47.50 she paid to get all her money back. Btw - I sailed solo...and it was GREAT!

 

[Lisa F]

If you answer yes to any of these questions IMO you're foolish for not getting trip insurance:

-Are you traveling during hurricane season (from May through end of November I think, the first hurricane of the season already hit)?
-Are you in an area that receives snow and traveling during the winter? (from Hurricane season through April, there always seems to be that freak snowstorm in mid april)
-Does your regular medical insurance cover any issues you might have outside of the country? Most do not. My father shattered his ankle on an excursion in Bermuda and they had won the trip rather than paying for it with their platinum AMEX (which comes with automatic trip insurance) and for a while it looked like they couldn't get him on a regular plane and it was going to cost over $12,000 to airlift him back to the states. The whole thing still cost them over $10k for medical care in Bermuda and for two first class tickets to the states. This was for a 2 hour flight back to Florida. The further away you get, the more expensive it gets. BTW, you can purchase medical only insurance without trip cancellation and all that stuff and I would never ever travel without it again.

 

[bwvBound]

Do you all think trip insurance in necessary? I hate to spend money if not necessary....would rahter save it for the spa..........Thanks for your opinion in advance!

The first time we purchased trip insurance was for a 14n Alaska repositioning cruise summer 2004. We purchased 'TravelGuard' as recommended by our TA for this purchase. We were travelling with family (2 cabins, 1 couple per cabin) ... and my FIL suffered a stroke in Skagway. Keeping this story really short -- the travel insurance was a blessing in every way. They directed us to excellent care for my FIL in Sitka, covered his hospital expenses there along with hotel/transportation for the rest of our party for 2 nights, covered AirEvac to Seattle (for FIL and my DH), additional hospitalization and medical procedures (pacemaker install) in Seattle ... and made sure each of us made it home safely. Opening the case took only one quick phone call ... and they took care of everything!

Since that experience ... we've purchased travel insurance for each cruise. For our upcoming August REPO on the Magic -- I declined Disney's insurance and bought directly through TravelGuard's website instead. Two adults, between 35-59, for 17n total travel was $108 for the "Pack'n'Go" plan providing medical and medical transportation coverage w/out trip cancellation.

 

[TheWog]

how much does it cost?

depends on your unique situation.... this site will help

www.insuremytrip.com


Having said that. I have bought insurance for two cruises. I have not used it for either one, but am certainly glad it was there if I needed. The medical coverage alone is mostly why it was purchased. You just never know if you slip and fall and need some attention. The price is essentially insignificant compared to the cost of the cruise. $79.00 (Travelex Lite) for our January RCI cruise for two. I say get it and feel safe having it and hope you don't need to use it.

 

[allears]

Do you all think trip insurance in necessary? I hate to spend money if not necessary....would rahter save it for the spa..........Thanks for your opinion in advance!

ABSOLUTELY!!!

The short version of our stories. We've been on 5 DCL cruises and the TA always included travel insurance:

Cruise #3, my wife was hospitalzied the week before we were to leave. We were stresssed about missing the trip, but knew that we would get our money back because we had the insurance. Otherwise we would have lost the entire cost of the trip. Fortuneately she was released the day before we left and we were able to take the trip.

Cruise #4, Hurricane Jeanne. The insurance re-imbursed us $800 in expensed incurred while we were hold up on a hotel in Orlando sitting out the hurricane.

Cruse #5, No problems with the cruise, but the day we were to fly back a major snow storm hit the north east and we were "stranded" in Florida for another day. Insuance covered our hotel, transportation and food expenses.

Insurance has more that paid for itself in actual dollars and peace of mind.

 

[castlegazer]

I am a huge believer in trip insurance for cruises. The ship doesn't wait for you and you can't delay your trip by a week due to unforeseen circumstances, you can't get medical help except for the ship's infirmary or being airlifted out of the ocean, you just never know what will happen on a cruise. I have used my insurance for a spraigned ankle and the subsequent x-rays while in Barbados.

www.totaltravelinsurance.com

 

[allears]

And if you or someone in your party gets ill and is quarantined for any number of days the insurance will pay you back for the "lost" days.

 

[AnnaS]

Okay guys - help me out here - I have only purchased insurance for one of trips once and it was one recommended by our TA at the time. We have not gotten one in a long time. But I have a question re: trip insurance - for my son's high school trip to Italy next summer.

I looked at some of the websites/links that were posted here. I am so confused and do not know what would be a good plan to consider purchasing. I know with the tour company, they are offering two and the top one is $200 and only covers up to $1,500 refund and up to $750 in a credit with the tour company (which is a waste of credit since he will be a senior and will not be touring with them at a later date). Total trip is $2,800 and he is now 17. What do I look for? Any suggestions? Tips? Thanks.