Trip insurance

[ludari]

I've never purchased travel insurance on my 10+ cruises and only once did I wish I had because of I broke my clavicle a week before my trip and I needed surgery. Nevertheless I still went on the cruise with the broken clavicle and plenty of pain meds. As someone who travels a lot I do have separate travel medical insurance which will pay for any medical coverage I may need including a flight home if necessary.

 

[n2mm]

We didn’t buy insurance when we started cruising, but after watching medical evacuations and leaving ports with people left behind, we thought those things could happen to us. We started adding it for every cruise. We also don’t use dcl insurance. Since we are in our 60s our insurance is higher, but when I buy it for my daughter and her family, it’s really cheap and often kids are free. Yes, you want a refund if you cancel, but we really want it for a medical emergency. My MasterCard also offers it, but my entire cruise had to be paid for with it, so I’m working on that for future cruises. Since my placeholders were bought with my visa right now, it won’t work, but I’ll change that on future cruises.

 

[robinsok1]

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.

Thank you, your broad experience is very helpful! It's interesting and reassuring that proper coverage took care of all the peripheral expenses of the sickness that delayed you. Travel on!

 

[robinsok1]

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.

Thank you for the report. I'm sorry about your Dad, but at least the trip expense wasn't handing over your head. I'm being convinced we shall insure our trip.

 

[rcchello]

Depending on the credit card you use, you may already have some trip insurance. My credit card gives me travel insurance if I pay with that card. It does not give me trip medical insurance, but my current medical is good outside the country. The only part I do not have is medical evacuation insurance. Once I go on Medicare I will need to look into insurance to cover outside the U.S.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Thank you for the report. I'm sorry about your Dad, but at least the trip expense wasn't handing over your head. I'm being convinced we shall insure our trip.

Thanks. We replanned the trip after my dad passed so my mom would get to go with the grandkids. The original trip was for my parents 50th anniversary, so it was a pretty big letdown.

We insure any expensive or overseas trips. For overseas trips, medical evac is my biggest concern.

 

[mmmears]

Thanks. We replanned the trip after my dad passed so my mom would get to go with the grandkids. The original trip was for my parents 50th anniversary, so it was a pretty big letdown.

We insure any expensive or overseas trips. For overseas trips, medical evac is my biggest concern.

I'm so sorry for the circumstances, but I am glad that your Mom got to take a trip with the grandkids.

We also insure overseas trips (cruise or not). There is just too much that can go wrong.

 

[oufpat]

Does anyone know if the Disney VISA card has any kind of trip insurance as a benefit? I will call them, but I trust the knowledge of my fellow DIS board members?

 

[mmmears]

Does anyone know if the Disney VISA card has any kind of trip insurance as a benefit? I will call them, but I trust the knowledge of my fellow DIS board members?

If they do it's likely not the comprehensive kind that we buy. But honestly I don't know what they offer.

 

[robinsok1]

We looked at our Capital One and Barclaycard and AAA to make sure we weren't leaving any coverage on the table, then we purchased a reasonable but 'economy' policy for our combo ABD next year. 337 days!

 

[lucky1]

Does anyone know if the Disney VISA card has any kind of trip insurance as a benefit? I will call them, but I trust the knowledge of my fellow DIS board members?

nada, nothing.

 

[Belle2002]

I highly recommend travel insurance. I used to be a travel agent and knowing how many claims I had to process for either cancellation or some type of emergency while travelling. I also had a number of clients who did not buy insurance and I saw how much money they lost if they had to cancel.

A couple of things to note when insuring a cruise. Typically your deposits are fully refundable up to a certain date, so unless you need to insure flights or pre-existing conditions or other non-ref amounts (like pre purchased hotels or tours) you technically don’t need to inure you’re cruise until it has cancellation penalties.

Read your policies. Insurance is very beneficial but not all companies are equal and there can be a lot of grey area and variance in coverage.

I live in Canada so our travel insurance (especially medical insurance) is typically better than US coverage so our premiums typically come out to 10 - 15% of the trip cost but the coverage is very good. Be Leary of credit card insurance. Typically every single dollar of your trip needs to be paid on that card and they may also limit who and who can’t be covered under that policy . I used to sell Travel Guard insurance to my American clients and they offer very good coverage and reasonable premiums. they are great to work with and process claims quickly. I use them all the time!

 

[nordkin]

nada, nothing.

Not exactly. They do offer up to $1500 for airfare. The Chase Saphhire has $10,000 per person of any costs paid for with the card and the American Airlines card through Barclays has $5000 per person. Most of the Chase cards coverage were changed in August. We used the insurance on a Chase card this summer when my spouse had to have emergency surgery 5 days before a river cruse. The non refundable portion of the trip with airfare and the cruise was ~$12000. It took a couple of months and submitting different paperwork several times, but we received a full refund from the credit card insurance,

 

[Otimon]

Don't leave home without it!

 

[lds0191]

We always purchase travel insurance when we cruise. I use Insure My Trip and there are a lot of options. Do a little research as the plans/coverage varies especially when it comes to Medical and Evacuation. I have never had to file a claim but for such a small investment compared to the non-refundable fares involved I can relax and that makes my vacation much more enjoyable.

 

[MomOTwins]

We once had to cancel a WDW trip just a couple of days before we were scheduled to leave due to a death in the family. We did not have insurance for that trip, but we lucked out because a hurricane was coming through that week and they were letting everyone rebook without penalty.

I get the DCL insurance and don't bother insuring the flights. We always fly southwest which lets you change your flights for free. And if we find out once we get to Orlando that we can't cruise (e.g., because someone gets a fever and is and denied boarding), we'll get a hotel at WDW and park tickets and spend the time there instead

I like that with DCL insurance you can cancel for any reason, even if it is not covered by the insurance, and get 75% back--which would mean if I need to reschedule due to a situation at work or something I won't be out the whole cruise cost.