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Cruise Travel Insurance

Apologies in advance for this mega boring thread.
We've booked up for a Carribean cruise with my brother and sister in law for 18 days.
Cruise company recommended Staysure insurance £1000/£1200 for a 62 year old couple, single trip.
Cheapest on comparison sites are £600/£700 for single trip covering cruises.
Someone suggested annual could be cheaper than single policies? Can't see why.
Between us we've high blood pressure, COPD and had cancer.
Any recommendations?

I was taken aback as insurance for me to Dublin for a weekend, booked last week was £20. 
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Comments

  • All Clear is another good company.
    With health issues I would go for one or the other. This is their target client market.
    Others maybe cheaper but if you need help you don’t want a company to be trying to duck out of paying you. Both have good recommendations from Which or Good Housekeeping.
    Make sure you tell them everything.
    Love the Caribbean. Enjoy the rum and have a wonderful time.
  • Health insurance in Europe is pretty cheap because of fairly universal state provision. I'm in dicky ticker territory but my premium for 8 days in Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland is only about £22.
    I imagine the Caribbean is similar to the US and with a cruise there's the possibility of needing a transfer from ship to shore if something bad happens, and possibly repatriation. Your quote sounds pretty good to me, Beds 
  • Carribean counts as USA for travel insurance (which where you might end up). USA is always very expensive, Cruises always more expensive too as you may need helicoptoring off to somewhere. Cancer history gives them an excuse to double almost. 
    Annual unlikely to be cheaper but if you have plans for a further holiday in next 12 months may save you overall.
    Staysure are a solid company and do pay out fairly. I have 2 experiences of claims with them. All Clear also do have a good reputation (both specialising in people with health issues) as well but £1k may well be a decent price. Having said that they wouldn't cover me this year with my health issues and had to go elsewhere. Hopefully the new company I'm with are ok. (insurewith) 
  • I got annual worldwide cover with all clear last year for about £480 as I have issues with heart. 

    When I did original quotes before and after Xmas they where much more expensive than at end of march  . The original quotes where also supposed to be with 20% discount. This was the same with stay sure

    i have had renewal quote for about £750 ! 

    I would wait a couple of weeks and get quotes then 
  • edited March 7
    SE9toDA2 said:
    I got annual worldwide cover with all clear last year for about £480 as I have issues with heart. 

    When I did original quotes before and after Xmas they where much more expensive than at end of march  . The original quotes where also supposed to be with 20% discount. This was the same with stay sure

    i have had renewal quote for about £750 ! 

    I would wait a couple of weeks and get quotes then 
    I forgot about discounts. 
    I bought an annual policy yesterday (not for a luxury cruise in the Carib mind).
    I called both and after saying that sounds to expensive got 20% off.
    I got Gold + for £180 Europe, Spain etc. from All Clear.
    No health problems for last two years following an operation which helped.
  • We’ve always used Staysure or All Clear, found them very good, including when going on cruises. Don’t forget you have to have a certain standard of cover so cheap might not always suffice. I believe P&O require you to have 2 million pounds worth of medical cover. It’s not cheap if they have to divert to another port to disembark someone for medical attention, or indeed have someone whinched off by copter in the middle of the Med.

    We just had to cancel a cruise as I was diagnosed with a heart problem and whilst it’s under investigation I couldn’t get cover and I wasn’t going to pay the balance due just in case. Going on a Med cruise next June instead. 
  • All clear is the usual go to. Our own Garry Nelson is head of corporate affairs.

    Cruise travel insurance is always a lot more expensive usually due to evacuation expense (airlifting from a ship can be very very expensive), confinement increases claim probability etc etc, 
  • I use the Trailfinders annual travel insurance plus additional insurance to cover old gits that includes Caribbean cruises (only been on one) and multi travel up to 60 days per trip. I can’t remember the costs but seemed reasonable. But will check out All Clear on renewal later this year. Thanks for the heads up. 
  • edited March 8
    Any medical care on a cruise costs an absolute fortune. I miscalculated my medicine once on board and was running short of some tablets, so enquired how much they would cost on board. I forget how much exactly but was so shocked at the cost I decided I had to eake them out. My mother needed medical care and the bill was for thousands, (£11000 rings a bell!), which luckily was covered by insurance.

    Plus people are at higher risk, with transfers on to tenders, over exerting themselves on excursions, then people eat far too much, drink far too much, and also the ground keeps pitching and rolling so people are always falling over. Every cruise I have been on involved at least one helicopter rescue, death of a passenger on board, some sort of norovirus or tummy bug being passed among the passengers, or a medical evacuation with ambulances waiting at the quayside when we dock. Also people going on shore often miss the ships departure and have to arrange transport to the next port of call to catch up with the ship, you always  hear the announcements "will passengers watsit and oosit please urgently report to reception" just before departures.

    And then they cram the ships full of old people which cant help, when you see the ranks of geriatrics, many on mobility scooters cutting the queue to embark its like the night of the living dead.
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  • This is the first we have had to declare both our medical conditions on our travel insurance. We always find annual cover is better value and always go with zero excess. This year we have also included cruise cover (canary island) but excludes travel to US or Caribbean. We paid £250 with All Clear.
  • Hal1x said:
    Any medical care on a cruise costs an absolute fortune. I miscalculated my medicine once on board and was running short of some tablets, so enquired how much they would cost on board. I forget how much exactly but was so shocked at the cost I decided I had to eake them out. My mother needed medical care and the bill was for thousands, (£11000 rings a bell!), which luckily was covered by insurance.

    Plus people are at higher risk, with transfers on to tenders, over exerting themselves on excursions, then people eat far too much, drink far too much, and also the ground keeps pitching and rolling so people are always falling over. Every cruise I have been on involved at least one helicopter rescue, death of a passenger on board, some sort of norovirus or tummy bug being passed among the passengers, or a medical evacuation with ambulances waiting at the quayside when we dock. Also people going on shore often miss the ships departure and have to arrange transport to the next port of call to catch up with the ship, you always  hear the announcements "will passengers watsit and oosit please urgently report to reception" just before departures.

    And then they cram the ships full of old people which cant help, when you see the ranks of geriatrics, many on mobility scooters cutting the queue to embark its like the night of the living dead.
    Rob Brydon didn't say anything about that, the bastard!
  • Hal1x said:
    Any medical care on a cruise costs an absolute fortune. I miscalculated my medicine once on board and was running short of some tablets, so enquired how much they would cost on board. I forget how much exactly but was so shocked at the cost I decided I had to eake them out. My mother needed medical care and the bill was for thousands, (£11000 rings a bell!), which luckily was covered by insurance.

    Plus people are at higher risk, with transfers on to tenders, over exerting themselves on excursions, then people eat far too much, drink far too much, and also the ground keeps pitching and rolling so people are always falling over. Every cruise I have been on involved at least one helicopter rescue, death of a passenger on board, some sort of norovirus or tummy bug being passed among the passengers, or a medical evacuation with ambulances waiting at the quayside when we dock. Also people going on shore often miss the ships departure and have to arrange transport to the next port of call to catch up with the ship, you always  hear the announcements "will passengers watsit and oosit please urgently report to reception" just before departures.

    And then they cram the ships full of old people which cant help, when you see the ranks of geriatrics, many on mobility scooters cutting the queue to embark its like the night of the living dead.
    You are not selling cruises to me very well ! 😉🙂
  • Hal1x said:
    Any medical care on a cruise costs an absolute fortune. I miscalculated my medicine once on board and was running short of some tablets, so enquired how much they would cost on board. I forget how much exactly but was so shocked at the cost I decided I had to eake them out. My mother needed medical care and the bill was for thousands, (£11000 rings a bell!), which luckily was covered by insurance.

    Plus people are at higher risk, with transfers on to tenders, over exerting themselves on excursions, then people eat far too much, drink far too much, and also the ground keeps pitching and rolling so people are always falling over. Every cruise I have been on involved at least one helicopter rescue, death of a passenger on board, some sort of norovirus or tummy bug being passed among the passengers, or a medical evacuation with ambulances waiting at the quayside when we dock. Also people going on shore often miss the ships departure and have to arrange transport to the next port of call to catch up with the ship, you always  hear the announcements "will passengers watsit and oosit please urgently report to reception" just before departures.

    And then they cram the ships full of old people which cant help, when you see the ranks of geriatrics, many on mobility scooters cutting the queue to embark its like the night of the living dead.
    Thanks for that I think I’ll cancel 🤣
  • edited March 8
    Stig said:
    Hal1x said:
    ...Every cruise I have been on involved at least one helicopter rescue, death of a passenger on board, some sort of norovirus or tummy bug being passed among the passengers, or a medical evacuation with ambulances waiting at the quayside when we dock...

    Can you do us a favour and post the details of any cruises you're going on, here in advance. Nothing personal, but...
    it happens when they bung thousands of unfit, elderly, over eating people in a crowded moving box. Don't get me wrong I do like a cruise but you don't half need a balcony to get some peace and quiet.
  • This seems like an appropriate place to pass on a story from my plastic surgeon. (He's just about to retire from surgery but he is 82!)
    He's Australian and first came to the UK in the 1960s. 
    He got a gig as an assistant doctor on a cruise ship to get here. Amusingly they charged him 2/6 (that's 12.5p for you post-1971 people) for his "board and lodging" while on the ship. 
    Anyway, the head doctor was an alcoholic. This meant that my man had to deal with all emergencies after around 8pm because his boss was completely out of it.  He had two bad call-outs on the journey. The first one was a drunk who had actually fallen asleep in his soup and asphyxiated.  The other was a call a honeymoon couple in their cabin. The Groom had ruptured his penis. He said he'd never seen so much blood.
    So, be careful out there, cruise ships are dangerous places.

  • Get a Mastercard Gold and book everything with that.
  • cafcfan said:
    This seems like an appropriate place to pass on a story from my plastic surgeon. (He's just about to retire from surgery but he is 82!)
    He's Australian and first came to the UK in the 1960s. 
    He got a gig as an assistant doctor on a cruise ship to get here. Amusingly they charged him 2/6 (that's 12.5p for you post-1971 people) for his "board and lodging" while on the ship. 
    Anyway, the head doctor was an alcoholic. This meant that my man had to deal with all emergencies after around 8pm because his boss was completely out of it.  He had two bad call-outs on the journey. The first one was a drunk who had actually fallen asleep in his soup and asphyxiated.  The other was a call a honeymoon couple in their cabin. The Groom had ruptured his penis. He said he'd never seen so much blood.
    So, be careful out there, cruise ships are dangerous places.

    Been on two cruises where during the night we have had to divert to another port to offload a poorly passenger and another where a helicopter had to take someone off in a medical emergency. That’s why insurance is more costly especially if you have certain health conditions.
  • Get a Mastercard Gold and book everything with that.
    What does that have to do with health insurance? 
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  • edited March 8
    cafcfan said:
    This seems like an appropriate place to pass on a story from my plastic surgeon. (He's just about to retire from surgery but he is 82!)
    He's Australian and first came to the UK in the 1960s. 
    He got a gig as an assistant doctor on a cruise ship to get here. Amusingly they charged him 2/6 (that's 12.5p for you post-1971 people) for his "board and lodging" while on the ship. 
    Anyway, the head doctor was an alcoholic. This meant that my man had to deal with all emergencies after around 8pm because his boss was completely out of it.  He had two bad call-outs on the journey. The first one was a drunk who had actually fallen asleep in his soup and asphyxiated.  The other was a call a honeymoon couple in their cabin. The Groom had ruptured his penis. He said he'd never seen so much blood.
    So, be careful out there, cruise ships are dangerous places.

    Been on two cruises where during the night we have had to divert to another port to offload a poorly passenger and another where a helicopter had to take someone off in a medical emergency. That’s why insurance is more costly especially if you have certain health conditions.
    I think because cruise boats have become so vast now it makes it worse. When I first cruised on P&O Artemis there were about 1000 passengers, now Iona has over 5000 so the odds on someone requiring a medical evacuation, or a death on board occuring, must be five times more likely.
  • Get a Mastercard Gold and book everything with that.
    What does that have to do with health insurance? 
    It gives you travel insurance.  
  • Get a Mastercard Gold and book everything with that.
    What does that have to do with health insurance? 
    It gives you travel insurance.  
    Not if you have pre existing medical issues such as heart problems or cancer . 
  • There’s only 380 passengers on our cruise.

  • edited March 9
    There’s only 380 passengers on our cruise.

    snob!
  • We were on a cruise once when one of the bar tenders told me they had so many fatalities on one cruise, the morgue was full and they had to use one of the food freezer rooms !! 🥶🥶😱😱
  • red10 said:
    We were on a cruise once when one of the bar tenders told me they had so many fatalities on one cruise, the morgue was full and they had to use one of the food freezer rooms !! 🥶🥶😱😱
    Salmonella outbreak?
  • Stig said:
    red10 said:
    We were on a cruise once when one of the bar tenders told me they had so many fatalities on one cruise, the morgue was full and they had to use one of the food freezer rooms !! 🥶🥶😱😱
    Salmonella outbreak?

    Not that I know of, probably more like old age. I have no idea how they even get insurance given some of their ages. I started at 40, now 62 and I still feel young on a cruise !!
  • edited March 10
    Stig said:
    red10 said:
    We were on a cruise once when one of the bar tenders told me they had so many fatalities on one cruise, the morgue was full and they had to use one of the food freezer rooms !! 🥶🥶😱😱
    Salmonella outbreak?
    .
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