Don’t miss your cruise!
The most common reason people miss their cruise is due to a missed connection. Usually, it is a delayed flight, but there are those who’ve missed the boat due to a late train, or traffic jams. The solution to these problems are to play it safe, and plan to arrive at the cruise port a day early before your ship is scheduled to set sail.
Go Port sells hotel packages to take care of cruisers before and after their cruise. It’s a simple, easy, and economical solution to the surprisingly complicated problem of getting people to their ship on time. The history of cruising is full of people who didn’t make it onto the ship in time, and we don’t want you to be one of them.
What about those situations where prior planning doesn’t help? The other common reasons that people miss their cruise is illness, a medical emergency, and a death in the family. None of which are things you can plan for, and the last can’t be fixed or replaced. For situations like this you need travel insurance.
Types of Coverage
There are two types of travel insurance. Although you hear the term travel insurance bandied about a lot on cruise forums that particular term actually refers to insurance for professional business travel. The coverage cruisers are actually in need of is called a vacation plan. A normal part of basic vacation plans is medical care, covering costs if you need medical treatment while on your cruise, and medical evacuation if you need it, meaning that if you have to be taken off the ship in a helicopter, and treated in a hospital you’re covered. At least you are as long as you have a vacation plan. Now, the sorts of coverage that cruisers in particular need are extras, and a policy that covers them will need to a little extra searching to find.
Missed Connection coverage provides reimbursement for the costs caused by a flight delay. This coverage is so specific to cruise travel that its often called cruise insurance. Unfortunately, this is something of a misnomer as what it really covers is the cost of making it to another connection. The policies we looked at provided up to a $1,000 dollars in coverage for this eventuality, and it only kicks in after a 3-hour delay. Nice to have, but it doesn’t necessarily cover every outcome caused by a flight delay or cancellation. There are last minute international flights that exceed these reimbursement costs. It also isn’t much help if there is no other flight to catch, say in the case of a large storm that closes flights across a whole region. What’s really needed is coverage that reimburses you if you have to give up on your vacation entirely.
Flight delays happen too often. Go Port’s hotel packages are, in a way, a type of travel insurance, with many perks! Plan ahead to fly in a day before the cruise, book a fly snooze cruise package and enjoy an evening without having to worry about the flight not making it by sail time. Call our toll free number to speak with a travel expert 855-755-4637.
Cancellation Coverage protects you if you do have to cancel, and if you’re going to get a policy that includes this then you’ll want to get a comprehensive one. If you do, you’ll be covered for the cost of your cruise—up to a point—no matter why you have to cancel. Illness, family emergencies, jury duty, terrorism, and even being laid off from your job. At least it does if it happens before you’re scheduled to travel. If your travels are cut short after you’ve started, then you will need a different sort of coverage.
Interruption Coverage is a policy that covers you if your travel is interrupted mid-trip. Such diverse circumstances including but not limited to injury, vehicle accident, felonious assault, and much more are covered. The list of situations that are covered actually exceeds the total length of this article. It is comprehensive to such a degree that it would tend to suggest that if your cruise was diverted by a terrorist attack, and the US government sent a helicopter to collect you because they thought you were the one man that could prevent another attack you would be entitled to compensation for both events under the terms laid out.
If you’re John McClain, then vacation insurance would definitely be a wise investment.
Who Needs Travel Insurance?
Vacation Insurance, and travel insurance, is a wise investment for anyone looking to travel abroad. Insurance that is applicable in the US isn’t applicable in foreign ports. Meaning that health care abroad is an out of pocket expense. A sprained ankle overseas would be expensive, a heart attack or other condition that required hospitalization would be ruinous. A medical evacuation from the ship doesn’t bear thinking about.
These situations are covered as a standard part of most vacation plans regardless of the policies mentioned previously. It is worth it for most cruisers to buy one of these basic plans just be sure that they’ll be covered while on vacation. Basic vacation plans start at around $30 dollars and seem to be well worth the costs given the alternatives. As for more comprehensive plans…
Well, that depends on the cruiser and cruise in question. For a multi-generational cruise that is likely to cost many thousands of dollars, involve people flying in from all across the country, and will involve grandparents who have preexisting issues then you should certainly pay the extra costs. If you’re taking a 3 or 4 night Bahama cruise over a long weekend with your spouse then you’re probably safe with basic medical coverage, and if both of you are in good shape then you may not even need that.
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