My wife and I are planning a major European cruise for the summer of 2023, and the total price tag will be in the neighborhood of $25,000. The cruise line has a deal with an insurance company, but when I looked up that company’s reviews, they were terrible. As are the reviews for a large percentage of travel insurance companies.
But with so much money in the line, we feel we should have some protection.
Have you bought travel insurance and then needed to make a claim? What company, and how did it go? Any recommendations, pro or con?
I’d prefer replies from people with real-world experience over general suggestions.
We have to decide in a couple of months, before we make the first payment to the cruise line, so I don’t need answer fast.
On the other hand, my parents bought it for their 50th anniversary cruise to Hawaii - my dad died as they were going to San Diego, so Mom was able to get most of their fare back (this was 20 years ago and I expect they didn’t get the top of the line policy.) I’m not sure if they got it thru the cruise line or a travel agent.
Yes we have bought travel insurance and yes we needed it.
While on a trip to Turkey, my wife became ill, and had to visit a hospital. We stayed behind as our tour continued. Later, we rejoined the tour by taking a private vehicle and driver to the group who were several hundred miles away.
While we had to jump through a number of hoops, we did recover our costs for medical and transportation. I would note that the insurance company was a bit of a trial to do business with…but in the end, we were reimbursed.
Thanks. Since my purpose in starting the thread is to find out which companies to consider (or avoid), which company, and overall, would you recommend them?
I purchased travel insurance for a trip to Peru in 2019 - it was required by the travel company. We used World Nomads and it was around $100 for our trip, which was 10 days. Considering the overall cost of the trip and airfare, this seemed reasonable.
I did not need it, but my friend on the trip got ill and spent a night in a hospital getting fluids and antibiotics while the rest of us hiked the Lares Inca trail in the Andes. She stayed a 2nd night at a fancy hotel in a small town with one of our guides. AIUI she was reimbursed for the hospital stay but not for the fancy hotel, since she rejoined the group and completed the rest of the trip itinerary.
I am going to Patagonia in December and will be using World Nomads again. My wife and I are considering it for a trip to Alaska in May.
We bought a cheap policy for a trip to Costa Rica. I mainly do it in case of a severe medical emergency.
My wife had her old iPhone stolen, so we got a couple hundred bucks for it. They even covered the phone case.
Always buy and have needed several times. For example 1. my flight from Delhi to Chennai was cancelled, and indeed the whole airline was shut down. I paid over $600 to replace the flight. For example 2. I was diagnosed with cancer and had to cancel somthing like 30 reservations for a European trip, not all of which refunded me.
Thanks for all the replies, but I guess I haven’t made myself clear. I don’t need to be sold on the idea of travel insurance, and I’m not looking for general stories about how buying insurance was worth it.
I want to know which specific companies to consider and which to avoid. In addition to describing your experiences, good or bad, please tell me which company you used and whether you’d recommend them. If for any reason you don’t want to name them explicitly, please feel free to send me a PM.
So @sunstone, @snowthx, @lost4life, and @susan: what insurance companies did you use? Would you use them again? Any other companies you decided against, and if so, why?
My brother needed health insurance while visiting me in the US in 2005 or so. The reverse if what you are considering. A drunk fall (trip to er, x ray, and bandage from sprained wrist) cost $1500, sure would be 5x that now. Though as far as the US healthcare system is concerned he didn’t have insurance, he had to get the bill for the whole thing and then claim it back. FWIW the same thing happened to me while visiting Croatia (exactly same treatment and cause) and it cost me $75 with no insurance.
I bought travel insurance that covered medical care for a trip to Mexico. I caught a stomach bug and a doctor made a house call with some meds for $300. The insurance company kept throwing up roadblocks to reimbursement until I gave up. Can’t remember the company I used, but I haven’t bought trip insurance since.
I think the problem with giving you a good answer is that there are so many variables with insuring an expensive cruise. You need to first look at all the possible risks that would need to be covered and then figure out if your existing coverage (credit card, personal health insurance) would cover an international trip. There are so many risks with cruises that people don’t consider. What happens if one of you die on the trip? Or if you get so seriously ill that you need to have evacuation coverage to a good hospital, even back to the US. What happens if your flight is late and you miss the sailing and have to pay for hotels and flights to the next port? What happens if your luggage goes missing and you need to buy new clothes? Some of this might be covered if you purchase your flights from the cruise company.
I would suggest going to a better board for people who will have specific knowledge for your specific cruise company and even your specific cruise. The forum at Cruise Critic can provide you with excellent first hand experience and recommendations for your cruise. There are very many seasoned cruise travelers that can provide you with the best answers as to which insurance you should purchase.
On our bigger, more expensive trips I’ve bought it through the travel company because it includes a full refund if for some reason we can’t do the trip. Never had to use it.
However, a guy I used to work with had to use it when he was in India. He had a heart attack and had to be treated and then flown to a hospital in London. The travel insurance picked up the bill but I have no idea which company. But he was quite happy that he didn’t have to pay anything.
My father-in-law had a major health crises while on a cruise. He had to be extracted off the ship via helicopter and flown to a hospital in Belize. The trip insurance paid for everything but again, I have no idea what company.
We’ve never bought it and never needed it until COVID made us cancel our vacation in January. Then again, we were able to reschedule everything with zero loss. We leave for St Martin Saturday, unless a new variant arises and they close down the island again.
I would recommend you asking the same question on the forum of Fodors.com - many many seasoned travellers who’ll be better placed to answer your question, and funnily enough, the forum that directed me here when ten-odd years ago I asked ‘are there any general forums like Fodors?’
I get travel insurance automatically with my bank account, and also managed to make a claim when covid hit and cancelled my trip to France.
I’ve never had to use the insurance so I can’t recommend a company. But in the list of variables, consider whether you need some form of “cancel for any reason”. You normally have to make the final payment on a cruise 2-4 months before the cruise, and cancellation after that date incurs a penalty. I generally get my insurance from the cruise line and if I cancel within the penalty period for a non-covered reason I will get a credit (not a refund) for 75% or 90% of the penalty (depending on which policy I buy). That works for me, because my cruises are in the $2K to $4K range - if I was booking a $25K cruise, I’d want a policy that covered 100% if I had to cancel for any reason.
So I’ve been considering this kind of insurance due to covid (I’m not sure if this is what the OP is considering, apologies if this is sidetrack). Though my issue is what does it actual cover? I mean if there is a big Covid uptick or new variant, and the regulations go back to banning travel (or return) from the country you are traveling to, then you’d get a refund even without insurance, right? Though what about the situation where travel is allowed but either the US or the country you’re traveling to enforces a strict quarantine (the kind where you have to pay a ton of cash to stay in a crappy hotel for two weeks and aren’t allowed to leave, not the “yeah you should really self isolate” US style thing). That would be a deal breaker for me, but would the insurance refund cancellation in those circumstances?
In my case, I got a refund from the airline, but not from the property rental company - their T&Cs stated they didn’t cover cancellations for reasons outside their control, or something to that effect – so I had to make a claim
You would need to check your insurance very carefully. I found after covid hit, insurance companies hurriedly adjusted policies to exclude cancellations due to covid travel rules changing, so when I had to travel, I started buying insurance through a company called ‘Battleface’ which in normal times insures people like journalists going to war zones, but during covid they hoovered up people like me who couldn’t get covid cover elsewhere. I have also got into the habit of paying a bit extra for flexible tickets.