Travel insurance

[Momo81]

I'll be taking my first disney cruise In April. Do you you think travel insurance is necessary? Does it have to be purchased through Disney?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'll be taking my first disney cruise In April. Do you you think travel insurance is necessary? Does it have to be purchased through Disney?

Yes, I think it's necessary.

No, it doesn't need to be purchased through Disney.

In fact, purchasing travel insurance through a 3rd party is often cheaper and covers more than that offered through cruise lines.

I purchase it for the medical/evacuation coverage mostly.

 

[FightingIrishman]

Depends on how much money you have riding on the cruise. If you live in Florida and are driving to the port for a 3 day cruise, skip it. If you are travelling cross country to catch a boat all on the same day, how could you not buy insurance?

It is true, 3rd party insurance providers offer more for less compared to the insurance Disney provides on the website.

 

[Disneypeach]

Also check with your homeowners insurance company...mine, USAA, offers 3rd party travel insurance with a discount.

 

[Chrissy-Mickey]

I'm with PrincessShmoo, "I purchase it for the medical/evacuation coverage mostly."
Take 5 minutes to Google the cost of emergency international medical transportation, then check if your current healthcare would cover this (most don't).

That said, personally, we luckily didn't have to file a claim for years, until last year for our trip to Alaska. We had some trouble with flights and had to be creative to get to Seattle on time. Extra $$$ had to be spent to make it work, but with the insurance, we received it all that back.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

For cruises, I always purchase third-party insurance that provides me the exact coverage I need. The DCL insurance is expensive, IMHO, and not as comprehensive as other policies I typically purchase.

 

[isabellea]

We have medical travel insurance through DH’s work. We drive to FL and we will arrive 4-5 days before the cruise departure so we decided not to take a cancellation insurance. No risk of missing the ship because of flight delays.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We have medical travel insurance through DH’s work.

Have you checked it to confirm that it will cover you out of country? Many US health care plans do not.

Also, be aware, if you require medical care, you generally must pay for it up front, and submit for reimbursement upon return home. Make sure you have a credit card you can use for large payments, if necessary.

 

[isabellea]

We are Canadians and our medical travel insurance is international. Good tip about bringing a credit card with a high limit.

 

[Momo81]

Thank you everyone. looks like I'll be looking into insurance.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

We have preexisting conditions, so I always buy trip insurance when we cruise However, I generally just cover expenses that are not reimbursable. For example, rental cars and hotels can easily be cancelled at 24 hours and I cover airfare only if not flying SWA.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Like others, I purchase it mainly for the med /evac coverage. It would sting if I missed my cruise and lost the amount I'd paid for it if I had something happen that prevented me from traveling at the last minute, but I could deal with it. What would be much harder to deal with is a $25,000 or higher bill for medical care and/or evacuation. If you are relying on a medical policy you have already, make sure it covers the cost of transporting you back to your home country if you've suffered a medical emergency.

 

[Travel60]

Check your credit card. Ours includes trip insurance including evacuation. Before this card, we never bought trip insurance for Caribbean, Alaska, Canada cruises (yes, we know the risk but we travel enough that buying insurance every time would be expensive and we have the resources in the very unlikely event we had to pay to evacuate). For non-North American trips, we always bought coverage.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Check your credit card. Ours includes trip insurance including evacuation. Before this card, we never bought trip insurance for Caribbean, Alaska, Canada cruises (yes, we know the risk but we travel enough that buying insurance every time would be expensive and we have the resources in the very unlikely event we had to pay to evacuate). For non-North American trips, we always bought coverage.

We've purchased an annual travel policy. Much less cost for those who travel frequently.

 

[mevelandry]

I'll be taking my first disney cruise In April. Do you you think travel insurance is necessary? Does it have to be purchased through Disney?

IMO, it's important.

You don't have to book through Disney.

 

[CM Dad]

We've purchased an annual travel policy. Much less cost for those who travel frequently.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you purchase your annual policy thru? I asked about that at insuremytrip.com and they told me that there weren't annual policies that covered cruises that left the US. Didn't make sense to me.

 

[CM Dad]

Like others, I purchase it mainly for the med /evac coverage. It would sting if I missed my cruise and lost the amount I'd paid for it if I had something happen that prevented me from traveling at the last minute, but I could deal with it. What would be much harder to deal with is a $25,000 or higher bill for medical care and/or evacuation. If you are relying on a medical policy you have already, make sure it covers the cost of transporting you back to your home country if you've suffered a medical emergency.

This fall my wife and I had two cruises booked in October. A 5 night Bermuda cruise out of NYC a one day break then a 8 night Eastern Caribbean. This summer she was diagnosed with cancer and had surgery in September. Chemotherapy was scheduled to begin in November. The doctors said she was OK to travel, but we ended up cancelling both of them at the last minute when she did not feel up to traveling. Lost the cost of both of those cruises. Did not have travel insurance for either of them. She is still undergoing chemo, but we have an upcoming cruise next month. My wife insists that we will go on this one. I was able to add trip insurance before we paid in full.

For all future cruises, I will be purchasing trip insurance.

 

[Chemist]

Another reason for insurance. It’s not just for travel but for cancellation.

A few years ago my kid got sick and we nearly had to cancel out Hawaii vacation. We were looking at eating 3k between flights and the non refundable hotel deposit. (Airlines generally are non helpful about rescheduling. Except Southwest)

Thankfully antibiotics finally kicked in.

If it had been a cruise we couldn’t have boarded and eaten the whole cost of the trip.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

If you don't mind me asking, where did you purchase your annual policy thru? I asked about that at ************.com and they told me that there weren't annual policies that covered cruises that left the US. Didn't make sense to me.

Well, our annual policy is just for medical/evacuation coverage. We got it through GeoBlue. It doesn't cover cruises, per say. It's for any travel outside the US.

 

[vegs1]

Having worked for years in insurance, I know from experience that many people think they are covered when they are not. Know your pre-existing condition clause and how many days ahead those pre existing conditions count. Know how much out of country medical insurance you are covered for as well as for medical evacuation. And just because you purchase a cruise departing in a short period of time, things happen.

Better to be safe than sorry