Cruise
insurance is sometimes also called trip
cancellation insurance or travel insurance.
Cancellation insurance is not really
a good name for it, since in addition
to cancellation protection the insurance
will usually cover emergency medical
treatment, lost or delayed baggage,
or trip delay. To understand what this
is all about, you should also read the
section of the FAQs on cruise cancellation
penalties. When you cancel a cruise
for a covered reason, the trip cancellation
insurance coverage will reimburse you
for the portion of your funds that the
cruise line will not give back. If the
cancellation occurs close to sailing,
this is most likely the entire cost
of your trip. Every policy is different,
but valid covered reasons almost always
must involve illness, injury, accident,
or death. The person suffering the malady
does not always have to be the traveler
themselves, but could be a traveling
companion or close family member as
defined by the policy terms and conditions.
It is important to understand that no
insurance policy will cover cancellation
expenses for business or personal reasons.
Proof of covered cause usually requires
producing either a doctor's letter advising
against travel or a death certificate.
As important as the cruise cancellation
coverage is, the health coverage is
also vital. Most passengers have some
form of health insurance such as an
HMO or PPO. Check with your insurance
agent, but we know of no policy that
covers your health care expenses out
of the country or on a cruise ship.
The stakes here are high. Should a passenger
develop a life threatening condition
while at sea, a Medical Evacuation helicopter
will be ordered to transport them to
the nearest hospital. Typical expense
for this is $10,000 which is covered
by your cruise insurance. Also, foreign
hospitals require payment in full before
you are released if you do not have
verifiable insurance. Less critical
medical conditions that can be treated
by the ship's doctors are usually covered
if treatment is medically necessary
or advised before the end of your cruise.
Check your policy, but practically this
means if you develop something that
should be treated with antibiotics or
slip and break a bone, you should be
covered. If you need medication to help
with seasickness, you are probably on
your own
Trip delay insurance most commonly comes
into play when you miss the sailing
of the ship due to airline flight delays
or cancellations. Many clients believe
(falsely) that if you booked your air
through the cruise line, you don't have
anything to worry about. This is not
true. Read your cruise document fine
print, and you will see in black and
white that the cruise line has no legal
responsibility for the performance or
lack of performance of any airline.
Although there are other good reasons
to book your flight through the cruise
line, missed sailing reimbursement is
not one of them. Typically the trip
delay portion of a cruise insurance
policy provides for a maximum amount
of dollars to fly you to the next port
where you may reasonably join the cruise.
It is not unusual for this maximum amount
to be $500 for the policy. This especially
comes into play if you decide to purchase
a family policy. For a single premium,
this type of policy covers married couples
and legal dependents traveling together.
Although the premium may be lower than
getting an individual policy for each
passenger, you must weigh this against
policy maximum coverage. For example,
if a couple were taking an Eastern Caribbean
cruise out of Miami and arrived so late
to miss their ship, they would likely
have to fly to San Juan to join the
cruise. With a family policy they would
have a total of about $500 for the two
airline tickets, but with individual
policies they would usually have twice
the maximum coverage of the family policy.
Again, please be cautioned that all
policies are different, and you must
take the time to read and understand
the coverage that you personally are
signing up for.
Lastly, we occasionally meet clients
that decline the cruise insurance based
upon the fact that "we never get
sick." Unfortunately, even if this
were true they fail to appreciate the
possibility that they might be involved
in something that is unavoidable. We
have known clients that "never
got sick" and: were involved in
an unavoidable auto accident on the
way to the port; or their car unavoidably
broke down; or the airline they were
scheduled to fly went on strike!
Premiums for cruise insurance are sometimes
related to the total cost of the cruise,
and sometimes not. A typical individual
policy for a 7 day cruise has a premium
of $89 - $150 depending on cruise and
coverage.
