Travel Insurance

Hi! 

I am just curious, does anyone typically purchase travel insurance for their cruise? If so, do you get the travel insurance directly through Royal or do you purchase it from another company (Generali, AXA, etc.). This is my first time cruising so I want to make sure I'm doing everything right! 

Thank you in advanced for all the advice! 

I always purchase insurance.  I buy it outside of Royal.  I insure my trip from the minute I leave my house to the minute I get back to my house, and we usually spend a day or two in the embarkation port prior to sailing.  I want that covered as well.  Anything can happen on your cruise (trip on a cobblestone street, break your leg, you want to be covered for that!).

We have an annual travel insurance plan that covers us when we travel 100+ miles from our house.  It’s through Allianz.   This isn’t an endorsement of Allianz, they simply have a plan that fits our needs at a price we are happy with. 
 

We used to insure each trip individually, but once we started doing 3+ trips a year, and annual plan made sense. 
 

On our third ever cruise, my wife and I watched someone get taken away by a Life Flight helo from the pier at Labadee.    We both looked at each other with the same thought….. damn, I bet that’s expensive.   We started researching travel insurance once we got home.  

Travel insurance comes in a variety of forms because each of us has different needs.  What works best for me probably doesn't fit best for someone else.  

Here is a podcast you can listen to:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/podcast/episode-315-travel-insurance-101

Also consider this blog post:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/11/18/should-you-buy-annual-travel-insurance-plans

Don't purchase through Royal. There are tons of other and better options out there. But definitely get something. You never know what will go wrong. We spend about $129 per person. You don't have to spend a ton. But well worth the extra protection.

Everything you need to know about travel insurance 

https://clark.com/travel/travel-insurance/

6 hours ago, teddy said:

We have an annual travel insurance plan that covers us when we travel 100+ miles from our house.  It’s through Allianz.   This isn’t an endorsement of Allianz, they simply have a plan that fits our needs at a price we are happy with. 
 

We used to insure each trip individually, but once we started doing 3+ trips a year, and annual plan made sense. 
 

On our third ever cruise, my wife and I watched someone get taken away by a Life Flight helo from the pier at Labadee.    We both looked at each other with the same thought….. damn, I bet that’s expensive.   We started researching travel insurance once we got home.  

 

Another vote for an annual plan, mine is through Trawick International, as @teddy mentioned, it covers us anytime we are 100  miles or more from our home address. 

Just be sure you get the coverage on an annual plan needed to cover the cost of the cruise(s) in that year. Allianz cancellation/interruption values are per policy, not per person like the single trip plans.

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

Just be sure you get the coverage on an annual plan needed to cover the cost of the cruise(s) in that year. Allianz cancellation/interruption values are per policy, not per person like the single trip plans.

Good advice, the Trawick plans have a CAP per policy year as well.

Always! And I've used it three times on two separate cruises.

I buy mine through insure my trip dot com. They let you browse policies in your price range or with features that are important to you, compare them, and choose the one you like best.

12 hours ago, She Sails Away said:

Always! And I've used it three times on two separate cruises.

I buy mine through insure my trip dot com. They let you browse policies in your price range or with features that are important to you, compare them, and choose the one you like best.

Me too, although I must confess that I always feel like I'm just muddling through choosing my option at insuremytrip. I really have no idea what levels of coverage and specific details on a plan might actually be the best to choose and I really hope I'm never in a situation where I find out I selected the wrong plan for my emergency. I usually just try to choose a company I know with cruise specific plans (when I'm crusing). 

1 minute ago, jbrinkm said:

Me too, although I must confess that I always feel like I'm just muddling through choosing my option at insuremytrip. I really have no idea what levels of coverage and specific details on a plan might actually be the best to choose and I really hope I'm never in a situation where I find out I selected the wrong plan for my emergency. I usually just try to choose a company I know with cruise specific plans (when I'm crusing). 

Everyone's needs are different of course, but I've found that the default coverage for most categories is fine. It's the trip cancellation/interruption coverage you should check if that covers your cruise.

 

Just now, smokeybandit said:

Everyone's needs are different of course, but I've found that the default coverage for most categories is fine. It's the trip cancellation/interruption coverage you should check if that covers your cruise.

Thanks, this last time there were no options for "cancel for any reason" but we wouldn't cancel UNLESS we had a specific reason so that didn't worry us. But the different plans we looked at seemed to have a WIDE range of coverage for different areas of coverage.The other thing someone mentioned elsewhere was the medical evacuation coverage - that plans may not provide coverage to get you all the way home if you end up hospitalized outside of the USA. 

Allianz gives $500k per person for emergency transport. That should be enough for most itineraries.

We always purchase our policies from travelinsurance.com--- I enjoy their comparison tool.

We've never had to make a claim with a travel insurance policy but its certainly one of the things I wouldn't travel without 

How soon should you book insurance? Do you have to do it far in advance?

You should do it right away.  If you do it within 48 hours of booking, then you are covered for pre-existing conditions.  Otherwise not.

Ditto on an annual travel insurance plan if you travel more than twice a year...particularly for those of us over 60.

We use Allianz based on our specific needs, but there are certainly other solid plans out there as well.

Just be sure to understand the coverages you need and choose based on that.  

It is my understanding that if you want to have coverage for your entire trip to include flights, hotel, etc you need to purchase from a third party.  Rates are generally cheaper and cover more through a 3rd party anyway.

On 6/25/2023 at 9:01 AM, Cassandra C said:

Hi! 

I am just curious, does anyone typically purchase travel insurance for their cruise? If so, do you get the travel insurance directly through Royal or do you purchase it from another company (Generali, AXA, etc.). This is my first time cruising so I want to make sure I'm doing everything right! 

Thank you in advanced for all the advice! 

I always buy travel insurance.  And use a 3rd party company.

On 6/27/2023 at 3:20 PM, JimnKathy said:

Just be sure to understand the coverages you need and choose based on that.  

Do you know of any reputable source that lays out (specifically, in detail) what we should look for in a plan, and how much coverage in certain areas would be good for different situations? I'd love to see someone lay out the different categories of coverage with commentary or advice on what range of coverage would work well for different scenarios!

31 minutes ago, jbrinkm said:

Do you know of any reputable source that lays out (specifically, in detail) what we should look for in a plan, and how much coverage in certain areas would be good for different situations? I'd love to see someone lay out the different categories of coverage with commentary or advice on what range of coverage would work well for different scenarios!

The sources depend upon such factors as where you are going and your risk factors (age, health).  We sometimes use the cheap Royal/AON policy when we are in popular destinations for which evacuation costs aren't prohibitive.  However, we went overboard on a policy with Allianz for the South Pacific next year (a different cruise line), as we will be in remote areas; travel agents there recommend higher health coverage than the typical house policy provides.  So you can Google numerous references but keep your own risk factors and the destination in mind.

1 hour ago, jbrinkm said:

Do you know of any reputable source that lays out (specifically, in detail) what we should look for in a plan, and how much coverage in certain areas would be good for different situations?

Insuremytrip.com has a lot of articles that explain different coverages. They also will do quotes and compare policies but the information on the site is a good place to start to understand what you are looking for even if you shop for coverage elsewhere.

Effectively you want to make sure you have coverage for the things that would financially devastate you which are usually medical related. You can recover from a financial hit of losing your airfare or cruisefare, but a medevac will hurt way more.  Usually travel insurance policies have coverage for both but you can shop the policies for price relative to the max coverage they have for each type of loss.

9 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Insuremytrip.com has a lot of articles that explain different coverages. They also will do quotes and compare policies but the information on the site is a good place to start to understand what you are looking for even if you shop for coverage elsewhere.

Effectively you want to make sure you have coverage for the things that would financially devastate you which are usually medical related. You can recover from a financial hit of losing your airfare or cruisefare, but a medevac will hurt way more.  Usually travel insurance policies have coverage for both but you can shop the policies for price relative to the max coverage they have for each type of loss.

We've bought policies from insuremytrip for our last 3 vacations - I've never checked out their articles but thanks for letting me know they exist!

What I'd love to see is a list of all the coverages available (i.e. lost luggage, delayed luggage, medical coverage, etc.) with a range of their values (lowest coverage to highest coverage, approx) and a *short* paragraph explaining who & when different people should think about each level of coverage for different types of trips. Something really easy, so I don't have to become an expert to feel like I can choose a decent policy for my family/my trip. Or a site that has a slider to choose each item, with a sentence that pops up, like "this is a good level of coverage to have if you are/have/want/care about..." Then recommendations of plans that most closely match my selections. 

On 6/27/2023 at 2:56 PM, WoodsTravels said:

How soon should you book insurance? Do you have to do it far in advance?

From my understanding you should book it the moment you make your first deposit/payment. But you can book it up to any point before the day you are expected to leave!

15 minutes ago, jbrinkm said:

We've bought policies from insuremytrip for our last 3 vacations - I've never checked out their articles but thanks for letting me know they exist!

What I'd love to see is a list of all the coverages available (i.e. lost luggage, delayed luggage, medical coverage, etc.) with a range of their values (lowest coverage to highest coverage, approx) and a *short* paragraph explaining who & when different people should think about each level of coverage for different types of trips. Something really easy, so I don't have to become an expert to feel like I can choose a decent policy for my family/my trip. Or a site that has a slider to choose each item, with a sentence that pops up, like "this is a good level of coverage to have if you are/have/want/care about..." Then recommendations of plans that most closely match my selections. 

Most travel insurance customers have zero concept of what travel insurance covers so I applaud you for trying to do your due diligence.

I'm not sure any site out there is that comprehensive to that extent. The comparisons will show you the different coverage amounts and respective premium prices but usually not in tangent with what the different kinds of coverages would be used for when making a claim. The best you can do is learn about the different coverages and what scenarios would apply to those coverages so you can make the best choices for you and your family.

The majority of travel insurance customers will never have to file a claim. Having to file a claim is often the first time they ever begin to look into what a policy covers. Most insurers don't publish their policy language publicly and you have to purchase a policy to get the list of definitions and exclusions and what that policy considers a claimable "loss".  Most do have a free look period where you can cancel the policy after purchase and review for a refund.

I've become a proponent of insurance for trips and not just cruises.  We will probably look for an annual plan.  We bought insurance for a land based trip to Whistler Canada.  Low and behold, an ice storm in DFW canceled the first day of our trip out of Nashville.  Called the TA and got a refund for the first day from the hotel in the package.  We live about an hour from the airport, so we checked into the Gaylord Opryland Resort and the insurance paid for that night, plus meals and other incidentals. 

On 6/25/2023 at 11:54 AM, teddy said:

We have an annual travel insurance plan that covers us when we travel 100+ miles from our house.  It’s through Allianz.   This isn’t an endorsement of Allianz, they simply have a plan that fits our needs at a price we are happy with. 
 

We used to insure each trip individually, but once we started doing 3+ trips a year, and annual plan made sense. 
 

On our third ever cruise, my wife and I watched someone get taken away by a Life Flight helo from the pier at Labadee.    We both looked at each other with the same thought….. damn, I bet that’s expensive.   We started researching travel insurance once we got home.  

 

We get a very similar policy with Allianz and also don't necessarily endorse them; just their service is very good.  If you get insurance for each cruise, the annual policy is a better deal then insuring three separate cruises.  So, even if you go on 2 per 12 months, it's a good idea since it will cover any trip that's at least 100 miles from your home.  With one child in NY and another in Chicago, it's a no-brainer (we live in Maryland). 

On 6/27/2023 at 3:20 PM, JimnKathy said:

Ditto on an annual travel insurance plan if you travel more than twice a year...particularly for those of us over 60.

We use Allianz based on our specific needs, but there are certainly other solid plans out there as well.

Just be sure to understand the coverages you need and choose based on that.  

I have a January cruise and want to get a yearly policy with Allianz. it won’t let me book a yearly policy beginning after September 9. Trawick which I’ve used before lets me book to at least days before my cruise for it to begin. I guess I’ll have to wait if I decide to use Allianz!

On 7/12/2023 at 4:26 PM, Kathleen said:

I have a January cruise and want to get a yearly policy with Allianz. it won’t let me book a yearly policy beginning after September 9. Trawick which I’ve used before lets me book to at least days before my cruise for it to begin. I guess I’ll have to wait if I decide to use Allianz!

The annual plan also covers any travel you do (not just cruise vacations...think rental cars, hotels, airplane, trains, etc.). If you travel anywhere more than 2 or 3 times annually, the cost-savings works to your favor. 

Safe Travels!  

On 7/12/2023 at 4:26 PM, Kathleen said:

I have a January cruise and want to get a yearly policy with Allianz. it won’t let me book a yearly policy beginning after September 9. Trawick which I’ve used before lets me book to at least days before my cruise for it to begin. I guess I’ll have to wait if I decide to use Allianz!

When I purchased mine, Allianz allowed a 30 day window to purchase. So, a start date of September 9 should be available August 10 or 11.

Typically if you want "Cancel for Any Reason" you need to purchase the plan within 14 or 15 days of putting down your first deposit on the trip.  I'm kicking myself that I forgot to do that for my next 2 cruises.  For me, a sick family member can keep me from going on the cruise. But according to insurers, dogs/horses are NOT considered family members, so they don't fall under policies that don't cover CFAR.  With a 32-year-old horse and 2 senior dogs ... well, I'm just an idiot.

I've purchased travel insurance for all of my cruises through Costco Travel, which is administered by Zurich. Their pricing and coverage has always felt like the best value when shopping around! They do have a "Cancel for Any Reason" option as well, but I have never included it before. 

I always buy trip insurance when I travel out of the US. I use Allianz through my travel agent. I also take on the cruise line insurance. ALWAYS MAKE SURE IT INCLUDES MED-EVAC FEES COVERAGE.

Jim

Why double insure @JEH106?  The Allianz policy should cover everything in the cruise line policy.  Am I missing something there?

 

Why double insure @JEH106?  The Allianz policy should cover everything in the cruise line policy.  Am I missing something there?

Having two policies is just an invitation for neither to pay out, but rather argue about who is liable

I have done this a few times but only had to use the insurance once due to back surgery. Everything was repaid for that cruise plus. My travel agent has been supportive of my decision to double insure. Many You Tube cruise bloggers also recommend it.

Jim

On 7/20/2023 at 9:54 AM, TXcruzer said:

Having two policies is just an invitation for neither to pay out, but rather argue about who is liable

With the correct allianz policy this is absolutely correct. If you take cruise line insurance you are setting money on fire. If you are taking cruise line insurance on top of another appropriately researched and applicable policy you are using napalm to set money on fire. Who are these youtubers? Are they insurance agents? 

We purchase before every cruise.  Aardy Travel Insurance.  Usually around 225 for two people.  Gives us a peace of mind just in case something happens.