Travel

[Lipstickdiva]

MY DH and I are taking a cruise in 2 weeks.  We are scheduled to fly out of Cleveland in the early morning on the day of our cruise which leaves out of Tampa at 4.  I am now starting to get concerns.

What if our flight ends up canceled and we cannot get another flight to get to the cruise on time?  That is really all I am concerned about although I know that's not all I can get insurance for.

I'm not concerned about the flight coming home because if that is canceled we can try and get something the next day and if worse comes to worse, we can rent a car and drive home and deal with the airline later.

I didn't take the insurance offered through the cruiseline and being that we made arrangements for our own flights, I'm not even sure that insurance would cover anything.

Does anyone buy separate insurance?  I started to look on-line last night but there is a ton out there and I wonder how good they are.      

[ALRATIBA]

I always buy travel insurance.   I use Travel Guard ... I've had a long term relationship with the company.  My SIL also uses them.

[NicksmomESQ]

 Would never travel without it. I use Travel Guard.I've never made a claim but I know people who have.They were impressed with their quick customer service.

[Yardlie]

@Lipstick Diva ... I don't have the answer for you, but I would check out the insurance very closely. My husband and I have taken insurance through the airlines in the past. Our flight was cancelled at night. The insurance claimed it was "trip cancellation" insurance. As it turned out, they didn't pay a penny for our hotel, ground transportation, food, etc. It was almost a joke...like, "We pay only if the airlines cancelled during a full moon the third week in August."

Good to hear about Travel Guard. I'll check it out also.

[henderson]

Did you book your cruise through a travel agent?  We use AAA and always get trip insurance.  We had a cruise planned in 2009, flying to Puerto Rico and getting on a cruise there.  Thankfully we got insurance thru AAA as we had to cancel because I had a stroke a few weeks before we were to leave.  If we didn't have travel insurance, we would have lost about $6,000.  We use Allianz travel insurance.  You can google them and get a quote online.  The cost depends on your age and the cost of your trip.  We had no trouble collecting from them and we have use Allianz in the past for several other trips.

[Lipstickdiva]

@henderson, we did not use a travel agent.  At the time I booked the cruise, we did not have AAA and now we do.  I was wondering last night if I had booked through them if we could have gotten insurance through them.

I will look at the suggestions here and read carefully to make sure what I want covered is in fact covered.   

[kaydee50]

We have taken travel insurance in the past using Travel Guard but then we checked our credit cards and a lot of items are covered with Mastercard and Visa.  On our last 24 night cruise we did not take travel insurance.  Check out the fine print on your credit cards first to see if they cover what you want.

[toria]

We took the travel insurance through Princess cruises for our upcoming cruise.  I think there is a time limit where you have to get it a certain number of days before so it may be too late.  We are in our sixties and have some health issues so it cover some of that and and also medical evacuation.  Its not far fetched to think you might have to end your trip and be sent home.  I once sprained my ankle very badly in Switzerland.  All was okay since we had a car and it was a sprain.  My friend took a river cruise and tripped and fell in his room and had to visit a German hospital.  Also check your insurance policies because some of them are not valid in other countries.  Medicare does not provide coverage abroad in most cases.

[ScrapHappy]

Is there any way you can fly the day before your cruise?  And stay at a hotel, close to port?  That's what we did last year and so glad we did because husband forgot his passport.  I got lots of information and tips for cruising on the Disboards.com, including travel insurance.  I do believe there is a time limit to purchase travel insurance as your trip approaches but I'm not 100% certain.  I was watching one of those morning shows and the topic was travel insurance.  Asking should you or shouldn't you buy it.  "They" said don't buy because many times you'll have coverage with your credit card.  IMO, I'd still look into it.  Not all credit cards are the same and what if you didn't put the trip on cc. 

[Just Bling]

I would buy the Travel Guard insurance whatever it costs and take that monkey off your back. 

I chalk it up to money well spent, I wouldn't have to worry about anything, I know I'm covered whatever happens or doesn't happen and be done with it.

If this is "renting" space in your head by not having insurance, your brain is telling you something and just buy it.   I wouldn't gamble either and I sure wouldn't rely on my credit card company, dealing with those people is a nightmare.