Are All Travel Insurance Policies The Same
Travel insurance is state regulated, but the policies do not have to conform to an industry standard like your homeowners or automobile policy.
Every travel insurance policy is unique and has different restrictions, and who you buy it from and what you pay can mean a world of difference.
Its vitally important to read and understand whats included in the policy youre purchasing, and make sure it meets your needs.
Even two policies that seem to offer the same essential benefits at first glance could be very different once you read the details.
The amount youll be reimbursed for a particular incident, the specifics of what constitutes a covered reason for a cancellation, and important details like if youll need to pay upfront for an airline ticket to catch up with the ship or even a medical evacuation can make a big difference in stress levels and initial out-of-pocket costs.
As mentioned above, Travel Protection sold directly by the cruise line may not offer all the same benefits as an actual travel insurance policy sold by an insurance company, so its important to do your homework before you agree to a slick sales pitch or bargain add-on when you book your cruise.
Though its costly and may be hard to find, some travel insurers offer Cancel for Any Reason add-on policies in all states except New York.
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What Disney Cruise Travel Insurance Includes
We booked a wonderful four-day trip from Galveston, Texas to the Western Caribbean. Total cost was $1,981 for two passengers.
At check-out, Disney is keen for us to buy cruise travel insurance for $146.
Here is the language that Disney uses:
Add the Disney Cruise Line Vacation Protection Plan
- Enjoy some peace of mind with a plan that helps protect your dream vacation. The Disney Cruise Line Vacation Protection Plan includes travel insurance benefits, a 24-hour helpline, and a Cancel for Any Reason cruise credit feature.
- Trip Cancellation/Interruption
- Trip Delay
- Baggage Loss and Baggage Delay
- Emergency Medical/Dental
- Emergency Medical Transportation
- 24/7 Worldwide Assistance Services
Cancel for Any Reason Provided by Disney Cruise Line
Receive a future cruise credit of 75% of the cancellation fee amount to apply to a future Disney Cruise Line sailing if you need to cancel for any reason not covered by the insurance portion of the plan. Credits are valid for one year from issue date, are not transferable, and have no cash value. Certain restrictions apply.
Reimbursement Can Be A Hassle
As with any insurance claim, sometimes dealing with the insurance company can be a hassle. Youll probably face some phone calls, filling out paperwork, and justifying your expenses. That said, most travel insurance companies offer multiple options for filing a claim, including online, through their apps, or by calling a customer service representative.
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Does Normal Travel Insurance Cover Cruises
Some companies, such as LV=, do include cruise cover as part of their standard travel insurance. Others offer normal travel cover that has the option to add cruise insurance to a policy.
Many of the companies on our list of the best travel insurance policies offer cruise cover as standard or an add-on.
We have a group for cruise insurance that includes a member discount. We’ve also created insurance for people with severe medical conditions that covers river cruises.
In general, travel insurers fall into three categories:
- Specific cruise cover Companies offer policies that are similar to standard travel products but have features that are geared towards cruises or they have specific cover. For example, they’ll offer daily compensation if you’re confined to your cabin because of illness.
LV= offers this sort of cruise cover as part of its travel policies. Other companies may advertise their policies as cruise travel insurance.
They should cover medical and lost baggage even if you are on the boat. Medical cover is the most important part of travel insurance so these policies can be worth considering.
How Is The Coronavirus Affecting Travel Insurance
When it comes to coronavirus, its important to know that circumstances like epidemics and pandemics are not typically listed as covered events under most standard cancellation policies. Also worth noting: Preemptively canceling a trip out of fear for your health and safety is never part of a standard policy. Accordingly, while some insurers honored claims associated with the onset of the epidemic, almost none are paying out trip cancellation claims for travel or policies booked after late January . This is owed to the rationale that once the outbreak became a known event, risk is assumed by the would-be travelers who book.
However, there are now some providers who do not consider contracting the virus as foreseen, even during a global pandemic like the coronavirus outbreak, says Kasara Barto, public relations manager for Squaremouth. In this case, trip cancellation benefits can still apply if a traveler contracts the virus or is physically quarantined and unable to travel as planned.”
Economic-woe scenarios, like having to cancel if you are laid off from your job, or if a travel supplier should declare bankruptcy, are typically covered under standard plans. Squaremouth notes, however, that coronavirus-prompted impacts like travel bans and border closures are not usually covered by standard policies, nor are cases of cruise lines canceling a scheduled sailing .
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Does Cruise Travel Insurance Cover Covid
Most new cruise travel insurance policies offer some kind of coronavirus cover. Depending on the policy, the cover may be limited to only cover your medical expenses abroad if you catch the virus. Some policies also cover you for cancellation for coronavirus-related circumstances.
You can find more about coronavirus and travel insurance in this video from Emma Cruises:
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Is Travel Insurance Worth It For A Cruise Or Do You Need Something Extra
Do you need special travel insurance for a cruise?
Make no mistake: Buying conventional travel insurance to cover your cruise is far better than going on a cruise without any insurance whatsoever.
However, cruises are special sorts of trips, and the best cruise insurance has some very specific coverages that make it worth seeking out.
For instance:
- More robust emergency medical coverage: Because medical emergencies on a cruise can be expensive to treat and health-insurance plans may not cover them.
- Higher limits for emergency medical evacuation: Because getting you off of a cruise ship and to an appropriate medical facility can easily cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
- Cruise-disablement protection: Because being stuck on a disabled cruise ship can be a major inconvenience.
- More coverage for baggage and personal effects: Because when your luggage is lost and damaged on a cruise, you often have few options to replace your things and it can get expensive.
Given all that, you should definitely consider cruise-specific insurance for your next ocean or river cruise.
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Work Cancellation Travel Protection
There are two types of work cancellation travel protection that we should consider. The first helps us if we are made redundant or laid off, without fault, from our work. Disney Travel Insurance offers protection for those who have had three years of continuous service. This restriction is quite limited for many people. Better trip insurance policies require only one year of service. We see this with the iTI Travel Lite policy, for example.
The other type of work cancellation protection concerns those of us who need to request permission for vacation from our employer. In the event that our employer rescinds our approval for vacation, work cancellation protection can kick in, and provide a 100% refund. Disney Cruise Travel protection offers no such protection, whereas the iTI Lite policy covers this eventuality.
So, for Work Cancellation protection, Disney Cruise Insurance is pretty weak. Much stronger Cancel for Work Reasons protection will be found in most regular travel insurance policies.
To Credit Card Travel Insurance
The travel insurance coverages that come complimentary on your credit cards are no substitute for a comprehensive travel insurance policy. With that being said, the coverage that comes with your credit card could be enough to cover some trips.
Here are some examples of trips where you may not need travel insurance and the coverage you have on your credit card could be sufficient.
- The trip consists of only a round trip domestic flight and hotel stay
- The trip is a road trip by car
- The trip does not include any non-refundable trip expenses
- The trip does not have several travel providers involved
- Your health insurance covers you while traveling and you are not worried about having additional medical coverage during your trip
Also, keep in mind that coverage offered on your credit card is generally secondary versus a primary travel insurance policy. This means you must first file a claim with other applicable insurance, including coverage with the airline or travel provider, for example, before the credit card coverage will kick in.
Bottom Line: If you have a significant investment at stake, several travel providers involved, or want medical coverage during your travels, you should purchase a comprehensive travel insurance policy for your trip and not depend on the insurance coverage that comes with your credit card.
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When To Buy Travel Insurance For Your Cruise
You can purchase insurance plans up to 24 hours before your trip departure date, but we don’t recommend waiting that long. If you do wait, you may not be eligible for many important benefits, such as the waiver of the pre-existing conditions clause.
If you want to be covered for pre-existing medical conditions, you should buy insurance at the time you make your final cruise payment. Not all policies offer pre-existing coverage, but among those that do, each insurer dictates its own coverage window. The deadline is usually 10 to 15 days after making that final payment — or after booking your airfare, if you do that first.
If you aren’t eligible for this waiver, your insurer will look back into your medical history and will not cover any condition for which you sought medical treatment during that time.
When it comes to buying travel insurance, don’t worry if you’ve paid for your cruise but haven’t yet purchased your airline tickets. You can estimate the airfare cost when buying your travel insurance and then give your provider your exact travel itinerary once those tickets are booked. Likewise, if you’re arranging your plane tickets first, buy your travel insurance within two weeks of that purchase, and enter your full cruise fare, even if you have not purchased it or have only paid the deposit.
How To Buy Travel Insurance For Your Cruise
You can purchase travel insurance through your cruise line, travel agent, a specific insurance provider or even a travel-insurance aggregator site like InsureMyTrip.com.
Third-party insurance providers and aggregators can often help you with coverage that is specific to cruise travel Ask your travel agent for guidance he or she will have knowledge of a variety of insurance company policies and can help match the best policy to your needs. Always comparison shop, looking at what amounts of coverage you get for what price.
No matter which policy you select, you want to be sure that it is underwritten by a reputable and licensed insurer companies are regulated by state insurance departments. The U.S. Travel Insurance Association is a good place to start to research licensed insurers in your state.
It’s also easy to search online for feedback on particular insurance providers. Travel-insurance aggregators like SquareMouth will show you the underwriter for each policy and how it is rated by the A.M. Best Company , as well as provide reviews from previous purchasers.
When checking for the details of what is covered, it’s best to look at the actual policy documents or coverage details. Links to these are often found within or at the end of comparison charts or broad policy descriptions and may involve downloading multi-page PDF documents to read through.
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Unique Travel Insurance Coverage For Cruises
When you are planning a cruise, you have specific travel needs that are different from a traditional traveler for obvious reasons. This is not your normal fly away, vacation and fly home trip. Youll be meeting up with your cruise, vacationing out on the deep blue sea, probably experiencing some new things through excursions and then coming home to reality.
These differences mean youll need unique travel insurance coverage for your trip. A typical comprehensive plan would be a great option for any traveler, even cruisers. But there are some comprehensive cruise insurance plans that offer specialized coverage specific to the needs of cruisers. Below are some examples of coverage you can find if you look carefully at the plan details:
Norwegian Cruise Travel Insurance Review Conclusion
Norwegian offers two policies that are expensive, with little in the way of critical protection for some of the most expensive risks. We consider the policies that Norwegian offers to be unsuitable for almost all travelers. There are many other options available to cruise customers by searching within the wider travel insurance market.
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Limited Trip Cancellations And Interruptions
Oh, check the Allianz app. I said to Craig on the phone.
If your flight is delayed for a few hours, theyll automatically send you $100 and you can go buy lunch while you wait for the flight.
He and the girls were on the way to Orlando, and their flight was delayed by two hours.
Oh hang on. I dont think that works for us as we have an annual policy.
We checked. Travel delays are covered with Allianz Travel, but for six hours or more. Not the three hours that you get on a single trip policy .
And so therein lies a downside to annual travel insurance. No beer or wine to appease your distress over flights delayed for less than six hours.
Some travel insurance providers wont cover these at all on a multi-trip policy.
Why is that so?
Each trip you take will cost a different amount. You mostly likely wont know all the costs when you purchase your annual plans, and wont even be asked the trip value like you do with a single policy.
This unknown is why there is limited coverage for trip cancellation and coverage.
It may only be available for a flat trip cost amount, and/or, it may only apply to a single trip during the annual period.
Consider how much you tend to spend on trips and whether you can carry the costs of trip cancellations.
For us in our travel blogging business, we road trip a lot, or use points, or work on campaigns, so our potential loss from a trip cancellation, or delay is not as much.
Optional Coverages For An Additional Fee
You may secure any of the following add-on coverages by paying an additional fee.
- Cancel for Any Reason Insurance covers trip cancellation for any reason
- Rental vehicle damage coverage for collision damage when renting a vehicle
- Pet bundle coverage pet care, medical expenses, and adds pet illness to trip cancellation benefit
- Adventure sports coverage coverage for higher risk adventure activities
- Increased lodging expense bundle increases the amount covered under travel inconvenience benefit
- Wedding bundle coverage when a destination wedding is canceled
- Name a family member bundle select a traveler to be covered as a family member
Hot Tip: For more information and tips on purchasing travel insurance, start here in our article on travel insurance basics.
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Sample Trip Cancellation/interruption Policy
Below are the included coverages in Allianz Travel OneTrip Cancellation Plus, a trip cancellation/interruption policy. Allianz Travel Insurance is one of the largest travel insurance companies in the world, and it is one of many third-party insurance companies that offer travel insurance for your cruise vacation.
| Benefits |
|---|
| Included |
Norwegiancruise Cancellation Protection Cancel For Any Reason
Those of us who have ever booked an airline ticket know that airlines love to charge an absolute fortune for the privilege of buying a refundable ticket. Actually, Southwest allow you to cancel your flight and re-credit to a future booking, but they are an exception. Many cruise lines offer similar flexibility to Southwest if you buy their travel insurance. Norwegian is one of those.
So, if you buy Norwegian Cruise Travel Insurance, you will get Norwegian’s version of Cancel for Any Reason protection built in. It is not, strictly, insurance, as you will not get your money back if you cancel. You will get a credit to be used for future cruises, which is a pretty good substitute.
Norwegian Cruise Travel Insurance offers two alternatives Platinum or Standard. Standard will provide a credit of 75% of your funds if you cancel your cruise with Norwegian. You can then use these funds for a future cruise. Platinum offers a 90% credit. The cover is expensive, but travelers may well benefit from it. A sensible alternative to Norwegians Cancel for Any Reason cover would be the Cancel for Any Reason protection that is embedded into many Comprehensive Travel Insurance policies. We will show a few alternatives later in this article.
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