Bought insurance for a cruise for 1st time

[Icc5]

We have been on about 15 cruises without buying insurance. This time with scheduled back to back cruises and extra 3 days before and after we decided to spend the $150 on insurance plus we are now in our 70's.
Good thing. After 5 days of 11 on our Australia cruise I got a pinched nerve in my back and could barely move. Received a pain shot from ship Dr. but still couldn't walk and needed to rent a wheelchair. When cruise came back to Port we canceled the 2nd cruise to New Zealand,canceled flight home from New Zealand, canceled 2nd set of hotel stays. The New Zealand flights home had been booked at $650 each.
Had to rent a hotel near airport for one night and get New flights from Australia at $2200 each x 2 so $4400.
Insurance paid us $3300 and got another $700 for cruise add on. Lost money (not allowed reimbursement for canceled cruise). What we got back on our $150 was $3300 which I was happy with.
Bart

 

[Talent312]

In our youth, when we had no health issues, we went
places and did things w/o thinking about insurance.
Now that we're old & decrepit, it's only smart to get.

We knew a woman who fell & hit her head on a pier.
She had to be medivaced from a Caribbean port to
a Tampa hospital.

So now, we always get trip insurance via SquareMouth
and our medigap plans (F+G) include foreign medical.
.

 

[SDawn]

I've always gotten insurance, even as a young adult. It was engrained in me by my mom! Although being intoxicated probably cancels it out somehow, so technically I probably wasn't covered in those days! Ha.
But, I'm in Canada and worked for an elected official and saw many sad cases of people that were only half an hour across the border and suffer a heart attack, etc. and saw a lot of their retirement savings wiped out. People think nothing will happen to them, they're just going across quickly to shop or whatever. I've told my kids don't put a toe across the border without additional medical insurance!

 

[Sandy VDH]

My advice is this,

If you can afford to lose the price of your vacation and added expenses in having to cancel and return home then you don't need insurance. If losing that prepaid vacation and fees if you have to return mid trip, then PURCHASE insurance.

 

[elaine]

If you can afford to lose the price of your vacation and added expenses in having to cancel and return home then you don't need insurance. If losing that prepaid vacation and fees if you have to return mid trip, then PURCHASE insurance.

IMHO, it's the possibly medical evac that could wipe out $$$. Now, even if we're "self-insuring" the rest of the trip, we get cheap medical/evac only policy.

 

[MabelP]

Any suggestions for cheap medical evacuation insurance?

 

[Passepartout]

My advice is this,

If you can afford to lose the price of your vacation and added expenses in having to cancel and return home then you don't need insurance. If losing that prepaid vacation and fees if you have to return mid trip, then PURCHASE insurance.

Not necessarily a BAD rule-of-thumb, but a bit of oversimplification. It's one thing to cut a vacation short- or not take it at all, but especially for American Seniors, who usually have no or limited medical coverage outside the USA, having a medical emergency in a foreign land and having to pay for the care upfront, then get yourself home, is well worth the cost of travel insurance.

 

[Passepartout]

Any suggestions for cheap medical evacuation insurance?

I used to buy this one, https://travelassist.goodsam.com/ but never had a claim, so I can't speak to that. Since then, evacuation has been included in the other travel insurance we've bought. It did bring us home after my heart block in Germany, but wasn't cheap and I don't remember the carrier.

Jim

 

[Sandy VDH]

I myself buy an annual policy. Given the amount of trips that I take to overseas countries, it just makes mores sense. It ensure that I have some level and cancel and interruption that I need, and is has decent med evac. I also purchase an additional divers annual policy that also includes a top up on med evac, and it covers diving related things that other policies specifically exclude. It covers not only dive but other travel related injuries.

 

[elaine]

I use squaremouth to compare and purchase. We got a 30 day policy for Europe with $30K medical/$200K evac (per person) for $44 total from Tin Leg.

 

[MabelP]

Thank you everyone for your time and energy.

 

[rapmarks]

IMHO, it's the possibly medical evac that could wipe out $$$. Now, even if we're "self-insuring" the rest of the trip, we get cheap medical/evac only policy.

Where do you find these policies a? Going on my first cruise in November and wondering what happens if I have a medical issue?

 

[elaine]

I use squaremouth.com where you can compare and buy. Since it costs the same, and they offer hassle free, I just buy from them as a broker. I feel like they might get involved if a claim was improperly denied as well.
I compare and get a well-known insurer. One thing to consider: if you’re past 10-21 days since deposit, pre-existing medical will have “look-back” period. Choose wisely. A short look-back (60 days) with controlled conditions (same medicines, no changes) coverage is what I usually pick.
For Canx coverage also, You can also get coverage from cruise line, premium is not age-rated, so it can be a better deal sometimes for those over 65.
If you choose medical/evac only and not trip cancelation, it is usually a lot less.
Enjoy your cruise! Where are you going?

 

[Passepartout]

Where do you find these policies a? Going on my first cruise in November and wondering what happens if I have a medical issue?

You should have travel insurance. We shop through squaremouth.com/ You can compare policies side-by-side. As stated above, to be covered for pre-existing conditions, you must buy within a short time (2 weeks ish) after making the deposit on your trip.

As to 'what happens', cruise ships have a medical infirmary, and staff. Some have dialysis available. If the issue is serious, they will send you to a hospital ashore.

I had a complete heart block in Germany while on a river cruise. Their staff got me into the best hospital in the area, helped my wife pack us up and got her into a hotel. And 10 days later, at home, the owner of the cruise line (AMA) had flowers and a personal letter delivered. They discounted a subsequent cruise, too.

Jim

 

[rapmarks]

I use squaremouth.com where you can compare and buy. Since it costs the same, and they offer hassle free, I just buy from them as a broker. I feel like they might get involved if a claim was improperly denied as well.
I compare and get a well-known insurer. One thing to consider: if you’re past 10-21 days since deposit, pre-existing medical will have “look-back” period. Choose wisely. A short look-back (60 days) with controlled conditions (same medicines, no changes) coverage is what I usually pick.
For Canx coverage also, You can also get coverage from cruise line, premium is not age-rated, so it can be a better deal sometimes for those over 65.
If you choose medical/evac only and not trip cancelation, it is usually a lot less.
Enjoy your cruise! Where are you going?

Oasis of the seas to coco cay, Haiti and Labradee.
haiti will probably be changed
a friend heard I had never been on a cruise and invited me. She has been on 66 cruises with Royal Caribbean.

 

[dioxide45]

Since we travel so much we now just have a medical and evac only annual policy through GeoBlue. Price seems reasonable for the coverage. We used to just buy individual trip policies for cruise and international travel.

 

[jrb916]

Oasis of the seas to coco cay, Haiti and Labradee.
haiti will probably be changed
a friend heard I had never been on a cruise and invited me. She has been on 66 cruises with Royal Caribbean.

That itinerary is one of our favorites. Enjoy & Haiti situation changes so you can go to Labadee. We loved the islands but also sea days in between.

Great info on travel insurance. We always buy it since we normally go during hurricane season.

 

[RX8]

Historically, we never purchased trip insurance. However, the last couple of trips we have purchased trip insurance. With it, I am just a little more relaxed to enjoy the vacation. This last time, I purchased trip insurance through Costco Travel (with Cover-More a Zurich company). It was essentially the same price as the cheapest quote I received shopping around but with a little more coverage. I also added rental car coverage for only $5/day. In case anyone was not aware, you can request a trip insurance quote through Costco Travel as long as you have a Costco Travel confirmation number. That could be anything booked through Costco Travel including a vacation package, cruise, or even just a car rental confirmation.

 

[elaine]

Good to know about Costco. We usually rent a car one way to/from airport from Costco. Next time I’ll also check about trip insurance. Thanks.

 

[WinniWoman]

We have always purchased travel insurance, even for our timeshare vacations.

For our upcoming trip to Italy we even went so far as to purchase cancel for any reason insurance - now since COVID where you only get half back if a non covered reason. Used to get 100 percent back on those policies.

We also have refundable airfare for that trip.

Have not purchased it for our past 2 vacations. The Florida one we bought refundable airfare and the resort had a decent cancellation policy so didn’t worry about it.

The vacation in Vermont we are wrapping up today- the resort also had a fair cancellation policy so it was not worth it to buy insurance.

We also have Medigap Plan G.

 

[WorldT]

Square mouth is the comparison website that I used. I like how they laid out each policy for comparison. Last one I bought was with Berthshire Hathaway. Thanks for the Costco tip. I will look into that.

 

[dioxide45]

Used to get 100 percent back on those policies.

There may well have been some policies that provided 100% on cancel for any reason, but my experience looking at these policies pre-covid was that they usually only covered 75%-80% of the trip cost.

 

[dioxide45]

Square mouth is the comparison website that I used. I like how they laid out each policy for comparison. Last one I bought was with Berthshire Hathaway. Thanks for the Costco tip. I will look into that.

The only issue with the Costco policy is that it will only cover what you purchase through Costco Travel. If you bought airfare separately, it probably won't cover that. This is why it isn't suggested to purchase policies through the carrier as they only cover what the carrier is selling you. Even though the insurance is still third party buying from a completely independent source is probably still the better option.