Trip insurance

[HumblePie]

I'm in the process of booking my first Disney Cruise, for January 2019. I'm working with an agent who is strongly encouraging me to purchase travel insurance. I've never gotten trip insurance on anything, ever, so I'm on the fence.

In your experience is this something worth paying for? It adds 8% to the cost of the cruise which seems like a lot.

Thanks for any insight...

 

[jcarwash]

We do buy trip insurance for cruises. I don't purchase it via DCL; I use the web site Insure My Trip to pick out coverage.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We have gone to on board medical service, however, the main reason we get it is in case we need medical evacuation! Last year, I needed a surgery after PIF date, we got our money back. We do not normally get DCLs insurance, but sometimes we do otherwise Alliance, not sure of spelling.

 

[Chemist]

Trip insurance isn't only for something happening on the trip. Its what protects you from losing ALL your money if you can't go because:

1. Grandma dies two days before you are supposed to leave and you want/need to go to the funeral
2. Your kid has norovirus and you can't take him on an airplane
3. As a PP said, you end up needing surgery and cant' make the trip.

You pay in full FAR ahead of cruise date. Its a lot of money to loose if someone gets sick, etc.

I don't buy through Disney, though. You can buy it after the fact for substantially less money. Don't forget to insure your plane tickets also!

 

[Ralph&Pam]

We agree that trip insurance for out-of-country travel is a good idea, unless you already have personal insurance that covers medical emergencies and medical evacuation. You have to balance the risk against the added cost. This can be substantial if you have a medical emergency under these circumstances.

For many cruisers, the Disney flat 8% rate is on the high side. It is also more limited in coverage in that it includes only those portions of your cruise booked through DCL and has lower medical evacuation coverage limits than many third-party providers. When we have used a travel agent, they have suggested third-party coverage (from Allianz in the particular instance) that covered the entire trip, including air, pre- and post-cruise hotel stays, and airport transfers all at lower total cost than the DCL insurance to cover just the cruise itself. We also got much higher medical evacuation coverage through this plan. A TA might have a particular preferred provider, but you could use one of the travel insurance comparison web sites to get an idea about alternatives and their cost so you can make an informed judgment about which way to go on this.

 

[wanderlust7]

Agree 8% is too high. You can do better by shopping around. Our last cruise trip insurance came out to less than 3% of insured amount (kids were free).

 

[lindsay0526]

Buying insurance through DCL will only cover what you have paid for the cruise (non-refundable). If you get your own 3rd party insurance, it will cover ANYTHING non-refundable (cruise, airline tickets, rental car, hotel, excursions, etc.) up to the designated amount on your policy. For example, when we were quoted for travel insurance through DCL, it was $600 to cover our cruise $8300. I had the company we usually use for travel insurance quote me for a 10k policy and it was only $300. We always buy our insurance the day after we book the trip, because we get the "Cancel Anytime" policy because you never know what is going to happen (plus my husband's job is not predicable). I would much rather loose $300 that we put towards trip insurance, than the entire $8300+ we paid out for the trip.

 

[MNtwinsplus1mom]

We always get trip insurance for larger budget trips (that include non refundable items like airfare). It's not expensive, especially considering the peace of mind it gives me. For our upcoming Alaska cruise we bought insurance from Allianz (their "classic" plan) and it only cost 2% of the amount we insured (I selected an amount that covered the cost of cruise and anticipated airfare & excursions). A great deal compared to 8% from Disney that wouldn't cover airfare (bc we will book it on our own with credit card points).

 

[czmom]

Ditto to what everyone else said! Definitely look at insure my trip website.

 

[MelSpees]

If you have any pre-existing conditions that could flare up and cause you to miss your trip you need to get your insurance right away. Most companies offer this coverage only within 30 days of your first deposit. If you have USAA you might consider going through them. You can add to your policy as you make airline, hotel or other reservations.

 

[meliscan]

I used Disney on first four Disney cruise but used Allianz on my last cruise. it was invaluable as I live in Houston and all the flights were cancelled due to Harvey. We were able to get our last minute flights from Dallas covered and the hotel for the night before the flight. Then when that cruise was cut short due to Hurricane Irma we were also covered for our car rental and other expenses. I would never book a cruise without it. I also had a good friend who had to be airlifted off a ship when we were young the insurance saved her family from massive medical bills. Small expense that you may never use but when you won't regret that small expense in the face of a disaster.

 

[lovewdwfun]

Consider a Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. They offer trip insurance if you pay for any portion of a vacation on the card. The annual fee is $450 per year, but you get a $300 annual credit for travel which will show up once you pay for a portion of your cruise on it.

 

[LizGirl]

We always buy insurance for this type of trip. There are too many things that can go wrong and make you miss the trip or have to cut it short. Shop around for a better rate. Travel Guard gives online quotes so you can get an idea of what coverage would cost. I normally expect coverage for a ~$6k cruise to be $200-300. I hope that helps.

 

[robinsok1]

Dear travellers - I am looking at Insure My Trip to cover my first ABD. If Disney's 8% insurance is steep, has anyone noticed some particular coverage they add in to explain the cost? That is, should I be careful to include something unusual when pricing with Allianz (sp)?

Thank youuuu

 

[Chemist]

Dear travellers - I am looking at Insure My Trip to cover my first ABD. If Disney's 8% insurance is steep, has anyone noticed some particular coverage they add in to explain the cost? That is, should I be careful to include something unusual when pricing with Allianz (sp)?

Actually, quite the opposite. Disney insurance only covers what you bought through them. It will not include your plane tickets, for example, if you buy them independently.
The "add in coverage to explain the cost" is probably their mark-up.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

I generally don't recommend the insurance through DCL or ABD - it is not a very good policy. Definitely shop around (or ask your travel agent) for other options that cover more costs. (We use Travelex and Travel Insured.)

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

Dear travellers - I am looking at Insure My Trip to cover my first ABD. If Disney's 8% insurance is steep, has anyone noticed some particular coverage they add in to explain the cost? That is, should I be careful to include something unusual when pricing with Allianz (sp)?

Thank youuuu

We used Allianz. My (adult) sister called them on the phone, and what she liked is that they listened to her concerns and what she wanted to make sure was covered, and then made sure that the policy she chose had those things. Then we just got the same coverage since our family was going with hers. I remember it being more in the 2.5-3% cost range, even though the coverage was better than DCLs. We also called back later as we added other non-refundable items to the trip and they increased the price to cover them as needed. Anything fully refundable we did not cover.

Our particular concerns (to give examples of things that MIGHT matter to you) were that we might need to cancel even at the last minute because of my BILs job, which was unpredictable. Also, we wanted to make sure that if a person in ether family had to cancel we could all cancel if we wanted to. Or that the unaffected members could continue with the trip if they'd prefer. This sort of flexibility was wonderful for us. It really reduced my BILs stress levels too, since he knew that if things got bad at work, we'd have all our options and could go either way.

Another thing is about medical coverage on the ship. At one point my (Senior Citizen) mother wasn’t feeling well and we thought she might have to see the doctor on the ship. Maybe get her some meds. We inquired. They had 3 office hours in the morning, 3 in the evening: $150 to see the doctor at that time; $300 any other time. So we called the travel insurance company, since we knew our trip insurance covered medical expenses (which, since we were not in the US would not have been covered by our regular Medical insurance at full amount). The insurance company said it would be 100% covered; Medicines too. We would pay on the ship, file the claim when we got home, and then they would pay us back. No problem. So that was good to know, even though we didn’t end up using the doctor.

 

[lanejudy]

has anyone noticed some particular coverage they add in to explain the cost?

The policy from DCL does offer a form of cancel-for-any-reason in that if your claim is denied (from the insurance policy), DCL will give you a credit towards a future cruise. I believe it's 70% credit and must be used within a year, or something like that.

That plus an extra layer of administrative fees, since I'm sure DCL takes their cut before passing along the paid premium to the insurance provider. You'll find less expensive coverage by going through a 3rd party vendor, and it likely will cover more as well.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[lucky1]

we have been on 11 cruises with DCL, 3 of them we did not use Trip insurance, 2 cruises we used insurance through Disney and the rest we got our own through different means.

Things to consider... DCL insurance only covers what you purchase through them. When we shopped around we had to get different policies because MIL lived in a different state and she was over 70, so that changed what insurance you can get.

The times we did not use insurance, these were quick trips, we didn't travel with anyone who we felt might cause use to miss or need medical attention.


The only times we have had to use the insurance, was both times we had used what was offered through Disney. First time, DH went into the hospital 2 days before the cruise, we got the cruise money back and rebooked for another date, but airfare we were out the change fees for the airline tickets since that was separate. At that time DCL was using Allianz and we had no complaints was in 2009 and had to do everything via mail.

Last time, we had booked everything through DCL (Airfare, preCruise Hotel Stay, transportation and Adventures by Disney add on), too big of a bill to let go by without insurance. Insurance was 2% of the total expenses. On the day of travel I got sick and was not allowed to board the plane , so we had to postpone travel for a day. Insurance covered, Hospital, Ambulance, airline fees, missed transportation and Pre Cruise hotel as well as expenses. Luckily we got to go on the cruise. It was fairly simple to work with the insurance which was AON Alliance and everything was done online.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Dear travellers - I am looking at Insure My Trip to cover my first ABD. If Disney's 8% insurance is steep, has anyone noticed some particular coverage they add in to explain the cost? That is, should I be careful to include something unusual when pricing with Allianz (sp)?

Actually, quite the opposite. Disney insurance only covers what you bought through them. It will not include your plane tickets, for example, if you buy them independently.
The "add in coverage to explain the cost" is probably their mark-up.

Not sure it’s still true, but 5 years ago when we planned a Disney trip (WDW, not ABD or DCL) the insurance was a flat $200 and covered everything. My dad was diagnosed terminal a month before our trip. I sent a letter from the doctor and everything was refunded: Park tickets, Disney resort reservations, etc. We booked flights with points and it was $150 to cancel and return our points. The insurance covered that too. So, while I’m pretty sure DCL insurance doesn’t cover anything but the cruise itself, not sure about ABD and WDW packages. Must read fine print.