kaleighsgram

All I've read is to not purchase insurance from the cruise line, as they have their own best interest at heart, not necessarily yours. Any suggestions as to what company is best. We are interested in insurance covering our flights and cruise. Thanks.

gail

insuremytrip.com compares many insurance companies.

Hold

insuremytrip.com is a very good way to get what you are looking for. You enter your information and instantly get a whole list of companies, options, and prices for your insurance.

If I recall, you don't even have to enter the cost of your airfare vs. the cost of the cruise. It will just ask you how much insurance you need to cover the cost of the trip as a total.

Look closely at the quotes to see what each covers. Some give you more medical coverage, trip delay coverage, etc.

It's free and no-one will call you, so use it once to see what you think.

bjboothman

I've heard people advise not to take the cruiseline's insurance also --- but seriously ALL insurance providers are in it for the money not be have your best interests at heart, so to speak.

Cruise ship insurance almost always costs more but there are two important differences. First, at least with Princess, who I've bought insurance from, you can cancel after final payment for ANY reason whatsoever and get 75% of your money back as a credit toward a future cruise. Most non-cruiseline-insurers will not do that. And there are many reasons you might cancel a cruise that the those folks would not cover. Reasons such as business or work or even military duties are not valid reasons to cancel. The serious illness or death of a best friend (human, canine, or feline) are not valid reasons to cancel. Quite possibly death or serious illness of even extended family members such as your daughter-in-law's mother or sister. With the Princess Travel care, at least you get 75% of your money back when cancelling for ANY reasons.

The second benefit of cruise line insurance is that it is not based on your age. If you are a couple of senior citizens, the older you get the more you will pay with the other, normally cheaper, insurers. With the cruise line insurance, age is not a factor.

There are lots to be said for both types - just do your homework so you know what is right for your situation.

gail

After comparing costs and coverages, the only real reason not to take cruise company insurance is risk that if cruise company goes belly up, then might the insurance as well.

However, I suspect it is still third party insurance - I do not think the cruise company itself is the insurer.

Do not know your age, but be aware that Medicare does not cover for health outside of US - some supplements do offer that coverage, but not all.

bjboothman

Thanks for mentioning that gail. From the Princess website: The insurance portion of Princess Travel Care is underwritten by Virginia Surety Company, Inc.

I've heard that argument about the cruiselines going broke, but it would seem that by the time final payment was due, the general public would know about the cruiseline's serious financial troubles. I highly doubt this is going to happen to any of the major cruiselines anyway, especially without signicant notice.

gail

We took insurance for recent cruise offered by Celebrity Cruiseline. Just one click and some more moeny - have once before used insurance from another company.

I do not know if cruiseline insurance will cover air portion if you do not buy air thru cruiseline - or even if you want to insure the air portion.

emd

The insurance offered by the cruise line that I looked into did NOT cover any preexisting medical conditions.

I was able to get a policy through CSA (on insurmytrip.com) that covered preexisting conditions. But you must buy the policy within a certain period of time after you make payment on the cruise. Be sure to read the outlines of what the policies offer on insuremytrip (this is on a separate screen from the "quote screen"- you must click on the quote screen, I think at the bottom, to make the details of the policy come up). They are all different regarding preexisting conditions, medical evacuation amts. (and some that are more expensive offer a lot less for this), etc.

emd

Also, a few of the policies offered by insuremytrip will cover having to cancel the cruise for WORK related reasons. The cruise line insurance did NOT cover this. This is key for me as I am self-employed and if I get a big client with time sensitive demands, well I have to cancel to pay the bills. If you have the kind of job where you might have to cancel, look for those policies. You must read the detail screen to know if they cover this or not.

Tkerwin

The key to insurance is: if you purchase from the cruise line, they will credit you with a future cruise; if you purchase from another source; ie, online or from travel agent, if you have to cancel for valid reasons, you will get all your money back. If you can't rebook another cruise, at least you have all your money back.

kaleighsgram

Thanks to all. I'm especially appreciative that I found out about the time limit for including preexisting conditions, something we need. I did purchase insurance that included this and was told that if I had waited two more days, it wouldn't have been an option. One area I was disappointed in was the airline coverage, since I used frequent flyer miles. They only want to cover the out of pocket expenses. I'm thinking positively and hope this will not be a problem. Thanks again to everyone.