why should i get the disney cruise insurance

[KANSAS]

i thought this was a scam and a big waste of $

for example with hurricane frances, without insurance
i got a full refund from DCL,
all of my DVC points back and unbanked
and full refund from Northwest airlines


I just thought the most I could lose is $85 per person DCL rebooking penalty and $100 per person, airline rebooking penalty
so why spend $50 per person, to only
protect $185 per person

a friend that I really respect told me that DCL insurance is really important to have.

I challenge everyone to please tell me why DCL insurance is such an important thing to have, when booking DCL CRUISE.

 

[Tluvs2talk]

You need insurance if your lugguage is lost and you want to be re-inbursed. You need it if you need medical assistance. You would definetly need it if you needed to fly home in case of illness or family emergency. You also need it if you need to cancel your plans because of illness or family emergency.

Teri

 

[KANSAS]

I have health insurance, why would i need it in case of medical assistance??

if i have to cancell don't i only have a $85 per person booking penalty?

or if the person is sick and can not travel again, can i not rebook
in another person name-$85

 

[disneybride96]

Originally posted by KANSAS
I
or if the person is sick and can not travel again, can i not rebook
in another person name-$85

Unless of course, that person gets sick the night before. My DH had the flu 3 days before our last cruise. If he had been 3 days later....humm?

Insurance is all about how much you are willing to risk. I am not a big risk taker. (Maybe that is why I never miss a Casino on DCL).

 

[ksjayhawks]

Does your health insurance cover you if you are out of the country? What if you would have to have a medical evacuation? What about the family members who would have to go with you?

Just some questions to think about.

 

[antmaril]

I think the biggie is medical evacuation. In the event you or any member of your party has to be flown home due to a medical emergency, this is where insurance is absolutely necessary. This could cost upwards of $25,000 or more. Of course, if you become ill just before the trip and cannot travel, you need insurance for that also. For most folks, it's quite of bit of money to lose.

I just think of it as part of the cost of the trip. I don't like it, but feel like we have to do it!

Just my two cents, of course.

 

[TheWog]

DCL was not obligated to provide you with the refund. They did that a gesture of good will and a very good marketing strategy. If they had not extended the offer to you and other cruisers your options would have been to get to the port the ship was leaving from or not cruise and lose the money (the cancelled Wonder may have been different), but the insurance would kick in and cover your losses. You don't necessarily need DCL insurance but some sort of travel insurance policy. insuremytrip.com is a good way to compare the different offerings.

 

[KANSAS]

Wow this in incredibly valuable information

If my DLC/ECC is april 30,2005 and I am flying in very early
April 29,2005
and if some event occurs and I cannot get into MCO by Noon
on April 30,2005
what would I have to prove to the insurance company, for it to kick in?
what financial reimbursement would it cover?
and not cover?


DCL $,
DVC Points
airline $
???????

 

[KANSAS]

can i wait until about 65 days, before my cruise, to purchase the insurance,or does it have to be booked and paid for immediately.

It seems silly to pay for insurance, when I can get a full refund
from
dCL
all of my DVC points back
easily at 65 days out from DCL cruise date

but insurance, may not work that way?

 

[KANSAS]

if you book your DCL/ECC for April 30,2005 today and get insurance today
but decide not to go in early FEb,2005

do you still have to pay for the travel insurance??

 

[TheWog]

Originally posted by KANSAS
can i wait until about 65 days, before my cruise, to purchase the insurance,or does it have to be booked and paid for immediately.

It seems silly to pay for insurance, when I can get a full refund
from
dCL
all of my DVC points back
easily at 65 days out from DCL cruise date

but insurance, may not work that way?

You have to book with certain companies within a certain amount of days to get pre-existing conditions covered. Such as medical ailments for you or immediate family members. If you decide you don't need or want to worry about pre-existing coniditions you can wait until further on. I think you can even purchase up until your actual date of departure, but that you would want to check on. I am waiting until my 60 day mark and final payment for our Jan RCI cruise to purchase the insurance. I don't think you get a refund once you purchase and do not travel. Hope this helps.

 

[Skatermom23]

Interesting. So what do most of you repeat cruisers do? Buy the insurance when you book the trip or 60 -90 days out?

 

[bobbiwoz]

We always buy cruise insurance. We buy it primarily because of the medical benefits. We have been on ships that have had medical evacuations.

6 years ago, we planned an extended family European vacation cruise. It was a gift to newlywed son and daughter-in-law. 2 days before flying to London, DD-I-L's mother was hospitalized. Cruise insurance sent us a nearly $10,000 check to cover their cruise. The cost of flights, hotel stays, transfers, everything we paid for their trip was returned to us. That's why we will pay for cruise insurance.

Bobbi

PS I hadn't seen the previous question. We usually buy the insurance when we book, then it covers pre-existing conditions.

 

[jrp]

I'll drink to that

 

[fcrouch]

because we have elderly parents - and what elderly parent doesn't have some pre-existing condition! - we pay for the insurance when we book (even knowing that we could cancel and get back all $ if we cancel before th 60-90 day cutoff whatever it may be) but we want the pre-existing condition coverage should we ultimately have to cancel because of parental health issue. I am not sure Disney insurance ever covers pre-existing condition - travelguard does have policies that do (if you don't buy when you book, travelguard will cover you in the event of a death due to a pre-existing condition but not simply because you couldn't go because of yours or someone in your family's pre-existing condition).

It has always been my understanding that if you cancel a cruise - (after you've paid in full and say it was only a week or so before the cruise) that you got no money back - and simply couldn't re-book on a later date for some small "re-booking" charge - that may have been the case with the hurricanes recently, but I think that in the ordinary course, should you cancel you get nothing back (and your insurance will only cover you if your cancel for an insured reason - not just cancelling because of work obligations, for example). Some airlines also don't allow for rebooking for a small fee depending on the type of ticket (we almost always travel Southwest which I believe does rebook for a minimal charge - so to reduce the premium, I don't include the "airline ticket cost" in the cost of the trip).

Most medical insurance (and Medicare for older travellers) won't cover you outside the US - so the risk of the need for medical care is helpful (we used the medical coverage on a cruise with my mother-in-law - she needed to see the ship's MD - the cruise line charged the expense to the room and we were ultimatley reimbursed by travelguard).

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I am pro travel insurance-- we didn't get any on our last trip to Europe--but mostly b/c it involved airplane only and not a cruise--so it didn't occur to me to get it. But overseas, when we rented a car--we got full up insurance--just b/c they do things differently over there and if the car is unusable due to theft or accident--you have to pay upfront for the cost of the vehicle--YIKES . So in that instance we bought full insurance--b/c who wants to buy a totalled vehicle? Actually, we bought the extra moreso for theft since we didn't want to be held financially liable in that event. In the US, we are not as cautious as our insurance works pretty well here.

As far as refunds--the only time an entity would be obligated to refund your money is if they cancelled your trip. They provided no product or service, they owe you money. It gets sticky on less reputable entities who may try to stiff you--perhaps insurance covers that. So the scope of travel before the hurricanes--once one groups starts doing it--they inevetibly all all copy and voila--nobody loses too much. BUT--again, more marketing ploy than compassion and no guarantee of a repeat.

Most health insurances do not cover Medical evacuation. I did find out for our trip to Europe--that our insurance covers doctors visits/medical treatment simply as out of network--but depending on where we were--we probably would have to pay first and file later. I did not ask about medical evacuation as the health systems where we went were in industrialized nations (i.e not third world--not sure if the term would be first world or not).

I say get the insurance--and buy it as part of the package--or once you have a deposit down on a confirmed cruise--go to a third party and get it for less. Evidently some will even insure children for free (what I have seen). I wouldn't cruise without it!

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

Originally posted by KANSAS
i thought this was a scam and a big waste of $

for example with hurricane frances, without insurance
i got a full refund from DCL,
all of my DVC points back and unbanked
and full refund from Northwest airlines


I just thought the most I could lose is $85 per person DCL rebooking penalty and $100 per person, airline rebooking penalty
so why spend $50 per person, to only
protect $185 per person

Disney refunded money voluntarily; generally, a last minute cancellation without insurance would result in a full forfeiture of your cruise payments. The cancellation schedule is as follows:

60 + Days prior to sail: Full Refund
59 - 30 Days prior to sail: Loss of deposit and cost of insurance if purchased
29 - 15 Days prior to sail: 50% of your total and cost of insurance if purchased
7 days or less before sailing: No refund

The airlines gave you a refund because Florida was in a state of emergency and they couldn't fly into MCO; however, if there would have just been delays and you'd have missed the boat, you'd be SOL.

Marcy

 

[erikthewise]

Another thought. I called our human resources dept and asked if we were insured for expenses outside the US. They said yes. I am going to buy insurance anyway. I am insuring myself against the quite likely event that person was wrong.

 

[KANSAS]

what third party insurance companies, would you recommend and why??

travelguard??