All About Cruises

Tag: travel insurance

  • Cruising Complications for Cities at Sea

    Cruising Complications for Cities at Sea

    While there have been very few tragedies involving cruise ships in recent years, there are still many unexpected events which can occur while passengers are on the floating cities at sea. As with anything that is mechanical, there can be everything from slight blips in a system to more catastrophic system failures, but all of these can have an impact on the passengers’ enjoyment of their hard-earned vacation.

    Recently, the Carnival Valor lost power on the second day of a five-day cruise from Galveston, Texas to Cozumel, Mexico. The ship was without power for around an hour. A Carnival spokesperson announced that the power loss was only temporary and only affected certain functions on the ship, one of which was the air conditioning. While this example only cost the ship about an hour on their journey, some issues such as the recent air conditioning failure on the Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas impacts the ship for the entire cruise or even multiple cruises.

    In October while on a cruise out of Port Canaveral, the Carnival Sunshine began to tilt on its side. Crew members stated that the ship began to list, or tilt, because of a technical malfunction. Initially, passenger thought it to be just the rocking motion of the ship, but panic began to rise as the ship did not return to an upright position. One passenger reported that plates and utensils began to slide off of the tables and then the tables began to slide across the deck.

    Carnival Cruise Line took to social media to report that one of the breakers on the Sunshine experienced technical issues causing the ship to list to one side. Officers quickly intervened and corrected the issue. They also mentioned that the stabilization of the ship is a feature for the comfort of passengers only and did not create any safety issues for the function of the ship. A letter was distributed to the passengers of the ship along with a $50 onboard voucher to “make up” for the issue.

    These types of mechanical issues in addition to the illnesses which have been running rampant on cruise ships recently should be enough reason for cruise passengers to seek out some reliable trip insurance which will provide adequate compensation for lost vacation time rather than the token amounts offered by cruise lines. Sites such as https://www.travelinsurance.com/vacation-insurance/ offer a variety of options that can cover just your ability to travel or an interruption in your holiday due to weather or other mitigating factors.

  • Cruise Travel Insurance

    When planning a cruise, there are many factors to consider: which cruise line will you use (Carnival Cruises, Princess Cruises, etc.), what area of the globe will you to travel to, and how long will your cruise last. However, there are also practical factors to attend to when planning a cruise, and one of the major considerations is this: travel insurance for your cruise. Dealing with tedious things like insurance is perhaps one of the main reasons you want to take a vacation, but cruise travel insurance is important just the same. Why? Well…

    Any number of things can go wrong while you’re on a cruise, and in fact many things can go wrong even before you leave. Travel insurance can cover both types of problems.

    If you have problems before your cruise begins, you may have to cancel your vacation, and if you’ve invested a lot of money in your trip, this can be very unfortunate. While you may be able to recoup some of your costs if you have to cancel your trip, odds are you’ll still end up losing a lot of money (because of cancellation fees, for one). However, with the right kind of insurance package, you can protect yourself against this type of misfortune.

    It might seem really unlikely that you’ll have to cancel your trip, but tons of things can go wrong that might force you to do this. First, you or a loved one might have a medical problem, and if it is at all serious, there is a good chance you’ll have to cancel your cruise. Second, extreme weather might flare up prior to your cruise (consider a hurricane in the Caribbean, one of the most common places to take a cruise), causing your entire trip to be ruined. The cruise line might offer some sort of refund if this were to occur, but this is far from a guarantee. A decent travel insurance plan would definitely have you covered. Third, the cruise line you book your vacation with may dissolve because of financial problems (like a bankruptcy), and in this case, you almost certainly won’t be getting your money back unless you have some sort of travel insurance. The point is that a host of uncontrollable problems might derail your trip, and without any coverage, you could be stuck paying a lot of money for a cruise you’ll never enjoy.

    What could go wrong while you’re on the cruise? Again, a ton of things. Perhaps the most obvious problem a traveler may experience is illness or injury, and unless your regular health insurance covers you while traveling, you could end up paying exorbitant fees for medical attention. (For more on this topic, check out our article on travel medical insurance.) Another problem that may befall a traveler is an interruption mid-cruise, like if the ship has a mechanical problem that causes the rest of your voyage to be canceled. Of course, the cruise line would reimburse you for the ruined cruise, but the unexpected out-of-pocket expenses you’ll almost certainly incur while figuring out a way to get home will likely not be covered. Also, with travel insurance, you might have an easier time getting home – you’ll be dealing with your insurance provider while most other passengers are dealing with a cruise’s customer service department in crisis mode.

    How much will this insurance cost? It depends on a few different factors – most notably, the cost of your cruise fare and your age (for medical reasons) – but you should be able to find a solid plan that covers a wide range of potential problems (we’ve only touched on a few things that may go wrong during your vacation) for somewhere in the range of $100 to $200, with the majority (at least as far as we’ve seen) on the lower end of this scale. Sure, it’s a bit of an investment, but your cruise will cost a lot more, and it is for exactly this reason that travel insurance makes sense.

  • Travel Medical Insurance

    Travel medical insurance – no one wants to think about it, but it’s a crucial thing to consider before embarking on a vacation, and that includes a cruise. In a previous article, we wrote about how to prepare for a cruise trip, and one of the most important points made in this article concerns making medical arrangements before you leave. Some preparations are obvious, like making sure you bring your medications along with you, but others are less likely to occur to the average traveler. One such overlooked preparation is travel medical insurance.

    Let us begin by pointing out that there is a difference between general travel insurance and travel medical insurance. The former takes a variety of forms and can cover any number of unforeseen obstacles you may encounter during your travels, like losing your luggage. General travel insurance may also cover not only problems you encounter while traveling, but also the complete dissolution of your trip, like if you need to cancel a vacation that you have already invested a lot in because of a last-minute emergency. Travel medical insurance, one the other hand, is exclusively concerned with possible medical expenses you may incur as you travel. Both are important to consider before leaving on a journey, but in the present article we are concerned only with travel insurance as it relates to your medical needs. (It should be noted, however, that some travel insurance packages include medical insurance, so if you are thinking about getting travel insurance for your trip, it’s worth considering plans that include medical insurance.)

    Travel medical insurance is about one thing: coverage. So, the first thing you need to figure out is if your existing medial insurance (should you have it) provides any coverage for you while you are traveling. This is something that needs to be directly discussed with the insurance company because it can get complicated. For example, perhaps your insurance covers accidents that happen while you are on the cruise ship, but won’t cover medical services provided in a foreign country at port. (Not being insurance agents, we don’t know how plausible of a policy this is, but it indicates the type of questions you need to ask your insurance provider before you leave.) Coverage might also extend only to certain countries, and different rules with respect to payment might apply in different countries as well; for example, some countries may require up-front payment for services, meaning you would have to apply for reimbursement later.

    After you have spoken with your insurance company and determined your level of coverage, it is time to decide if you need travel insurance, and if you do, you must determine what kind of coverage is most suited to your particular needs. There are minimal plans that don’t cost very much a month (some significantly less than a dollar a day), but, as one might expect, these have high deductibles and low coverage. There are also plans on the other end of the spectrum that have low deductibles and offer coverage of basically everything conceivable. Such plans can be well over $100 a month. Most people opt for a middle-of-the-road plan that offers reasonable coverage and requires modest deductibles. Whatever plan you arrive at, you should at least make sure you are covered against a medical crisis that would ruin you financially were you not covered by insurance.

    You might think that travel medical insurance is for the overly cautious, and that it is a waste of money to prepare for something that is unlikely to happen. Of course, to say this would be to exactly misunderstand what insurance is all about: you purchase it with the hope of never using it, possessing it for the sole reason that something might happen that is unlikely to happen. How likely is it that you’ll need to be evacuated from a cruise ship by an emergency medical helicopter? Not very likely, but it can cost you up to $50,000 (or more) if this were to occur. It’s a classic cost-benefit analysis, and like many such analyses, it points toward prudent caution. And besides the catastrophic, there are any number of ailments that might befall you when traveling – certainly as many (and probably more) than when you are simply at home – so travel medical insurance is not for the timid, but for the wise.

  • Travel Insurance Cruise

    Travel insurance is probably one of the best ways to protect your health, your valuables, and your money while on vacation, especially on a cruise. Obtaining travel insurance before your cruise vacation is easy if you know where to look and what to look for. Travel insurance can be defined as any type of insurance that covers problems associated with traveling. This includes (but is not limited to) trip cancellation due to illness, lost luggage, emergency/hospital and medical costs, accidental death, and other incidents that may occur while traveling in one’s home country or internationally.

    While you can purchase customized insurance options that cover all incidents, there are four general types of travel insurance for cruises, air travel, and other forms of travel alike. The four types of travel insurance are: trip cancellation insurance, baggage insurance or personal effects coverage, emergency medical assistance, and accidental death. Trip cancellation insurance protects the traveler in case the cruise line or tour operator goes out of business; if you or an immediate family member becomes seriously injured or sick, or if there is a death in the family or another catastrophe (as outlined in the policy). Trip cancellation insurance policies typically cost anywhere from 5-7% of the vacation cost. So, if your cruise tickets cost $1,000, your travel insurance for your cruise will cost around $50-$70.

    In some cases cruise lines, airlines or tour operators will automatically cover lost luggage up to a certain amount, so it’s a good idea to inquire within before purchasing baggage insurance or personal effects coverage. However, if you find that the amount the cruise line covers is not nearly enough to cover your valuables, you can purchase additional travel insurance at a yearly rate of anywhere from $10-$50 or more. The annual cost will depend on the cost of your valuables.

    Emergency medical assistance insurance is probably one of the most important types of coverage you can carry while on a cruise. Any number accidents, illnesses, viruses or conditions can manifest on a cruise. Your current health insurance may cover travel, so check with your policyholder. If your current health insurance does not cover travel, you may purchase extra travel insurance to cover everything from the cost of hospital stays abroad to an emergency flight home.

    Accidental death travel insurance provides coverage if you or a family member dies on the trip. Check with your life insurance policy first to see if it covers accidental death while traveling or you may end up purchasing duplicate travel insurance.

    If you are booking a cruise through a travel agent, they will more than likely ask you about travel insurance for your cruise. If not, simply ask them. They usually have recommendations for reputable providers. If you would like to obtain cruise travel insurance on your own, you can buy travel insurance online or by phone. Some of the most popular brands include: Access America, CSA Travel Protection, AIG Travel Guard International, Travel Insured International, and Travelex Insurance.

    A word of advice: It’s best not to buy travel insurance for your cruise through a tour operator or directly through the cruise line. If the cruise line or tour operator folds, your insurance coverage may fold with it.

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