Do you have experience with travel insurance? I need some feedback. (2024)

We have had 3 instances in our party with the insurance. The first was a friend and his wife going out of New he Orleans. She was hospitalized in N.O the day before they sailed, lost the whole cruise no insurance. Another cruise our good friend was having eye issues so severe her Doctor would not allow her to go. She had insurance and the majority of the trip was refunded, it took a few months but it worked out. The third was a mishap on the pool deck where a teenager ran into one of our cruising partners and our friend broke her hip. She ended up in the infirmary for 4 days. The insurance kicked in for a medical flight on debarkation and other medical needs, again it took a bit but worked out. We live in upstate NY so insurance is a little harder to get but we secured it for our cruise in March.

Good stuff PHYLLIS...it pays to do your homework...

We found there is a BIG difference in cost and coverage between travel agent and cruise line sites. Because of our ages now, getting travel insurance through the travel agent is very expensive. We still book with the travel agent when we get a cheaper price but use the cruise line insurance which is typically much cheaper. However, the difference in coverage is huge. Cruise line insurance covers getting you to the cruise and travel sites cover pretty much everything including medical which cruise lines usually don't. One of the big benefits we found booking with RCL is using their Air to Sea. We find the airfare ourselves and compare it to what they find for us. If our find is cheaper, Air to Sea books the one we found. And THAT is a huge plus. If you book through them and your flights are cancelled or delayed, they are ON IT. We were on the American Airlines flight to Barcelona that turned around in the middle of the Atlantic and went back to Miami due to faulty bathrooms. Air to Sea already had re-booked us to Malaga and booked a hotel with transportation from the airport in Malaga to the hotel and from the hotel to the port the next day before we even landed back in Miami. Not only that, but covered the cost of our meals while at the hotel. We only missed that first day of the cruise. We always use Air to Sea now, as we consider this a form of travel insurance to get us to the cruise.

I buy it for all my vacations especially when flying out during the winter months. Flying out of New York from November - March is a hit or miss with the snow.

The one thing with insurance is there are actually 2 different types which many policies combine in coverage. There is the cancellation aspect and then there is the medical aspect. In our case, because I am still employed (at least for 2 more years ) and have a very good and comprehensive medical package courtesy of my employer I do not need that aspect of it. This just leaves the cancellation portion and the price they want for that one alone in my opinion does not float very well (yep pun always intended). However in a few years once I retire ... well then I will definitely need to be looking into a travel insurance plan.

Beats me how those things work...I sign up for one at a time, and when some one replies, theres supposed to be a email notification of it. Stopped working and no one can figure out why..

[quote=Yankee47]

Its all good VACAY..just out of curiosity, and completely OT, you said your cruise is 8 days away, but your countdown clock is 372 days till next cruise???

[/quot

We do have one in 371 days, I am fairly "new" to the forum, I "added" our cruises on the profile, I'll check again. We are going out of Mobile on the Fantasy om 11/30/19, and out of Galveston next year on the Freedom. HOPEFULLY we can get another squeezed in before then! I went with "Insure my trip", for the insurance, very reasonable, hope and pray we won't need it!! I went in and "deleted" the 371 day away cruise, thinking it would "show" this one coming up. IDK if it will. The profile shows all of our past cruises and it did show both of the upcoming ones.

Its all good VACAY..just out of curiosity, and completely OT, you said your cruise is 8 days away, but your countdown clock is 372 days till next cruise???

You all just talked me RIGHT into buying some travelers insurance! I had been debating on it, and we have been on many cruises without it. But the older we get, the more I worry! I see the "emergency evacuations" by helicopter, and THAT'S what scares me the most! The PRICE of that! We could go bankrupt just from that! So again, THANKS everyone! I feel better ALREADY! :) It's 8 days away!

This last was 22. always bought it cept once. way back when, resented spending a few hundred extra......felt weird the whole cruise. ..hard to explain..need it one time and not have it, you lost THAT gamble over what it costs x the number of cruises you took. some countries will let you sit in the ambulance unless you can guarantee the med services ashore. Not even considering how far in advance some folks book a cruise, and how far in advance different lines require it be paid in full...meanwhile...life happens..And I wonder just how many folks actually understand what their med plan pays, outside of US waters. Something?? Nothing?? If you're a frequent cruiser, theres all kinds of websites analyzing cost/claims services. You "may" find a better deal...but "travel insurance" is far and away the most expensive short term insurance one can buy..we purchase the insurance offered by the cruiseline. NOTE...THEY aren't in the insurance biz, so don't expect them to intervene or go to bat for you....those policies are underwritten by actual insurance co's who PAY the cruiselines (translation: a kickback) in exchange for earning millions of $$ in profits when they get permission to let you merely click a box when you (or your TA) books a cruise. Asking a cruiseline rep or TA EXACTLY "what happens if" is, well, a waste of time.. The terms of that policy (y'know, the ones you DIDN'T read) will determine what gets paid, and how much..Cruise line "infirmaries" can be incredibly expensive. whole epics are written about that. You need it, its there, but caveat emptor.

Sorry about the rant, but its just one of those "hidden costs" very few people understand, and how easy it is to click a box at the end to buy it. Or skip it.

Showing 1 - 10 of 22 Answers