TRAVEL INSURANCE AND BAD WEATHER

TRAVEL INSURANCE & HURRICANES

The period from June to November is commonly referred to as "Hurricane Season" as several named tropical storms and hurricanes have historically occurred during this time.

Cruise ships are not only SAFE but can also provide advantages over land-based resorts in instances of extreme weather!

Today's cruise ships feature the most technologically advanced weather forecasting systems and equipment available, allowing officers  and company officials to forecast weather-related disturbances in advance. Today's cruise ships are completely mobile and able to alter, cancel, shorten or extend ship itineraries to keep guests safe in instances of threatening weather.

Ships are able to work around port closures caused by severe weather conditions. In the event that ports of embarkation and debarkation are closed, cruise lines can use nearby alternative ports. In these cases, cruise lines coordinate provisioning of the ship as well as transporting guests to and from the original port.

Cruise lines notify guests of all itinerary changes right up until the ships' sailing date. Travelers should monitor cruise-line web sites for itinerary changes prior to finalizing travel arrangements.

While cruise companies are in the business of selling vacations, the safety and security of guests and crew-members is their primary concern. In all circumstances cruise lines take extraordinary efforts to provide a safe and fulfilling vacation experience.

While today's cruise guests purchase air transportaion in a variety of ways, travelers who purchase the cruise-line air transportation receive premium protection and service in comparison with travelers who purchase air separately. Cruise-line air departments invariably stand by guests, working on their behalf to make all arrangements, efficiently reschedule flights and route guests to their ship in instances of travel disruptions caused by extraordinary weather.

The purchase of travel insurance, always an important element of any cruise vacation, assumes additional significance in instances of severe weather. Airline flight delays, which are covered in policies available from several providers, are most often the critical factor when guests experience problems reaching their ship. Guests can purchase insurance to cover these situations and related expenses.

In the rare instance a cruise is cancelled due to weather-related circumstances, cruise lines, on a company-by-company basis, traditionally offer various solutions that extend to guests the opportunity to enjoy a future cruise vacation within a reasonable time period and with the guest's convenience in mind.

CHOOSING CRUISE INSURANCE - Do you need cruise insurance?  You betcha!
 By Anita Dunham-Potter, Travel Columnist, April 24, 2006

"In the 16 years I've been cruising, I've seen many people fall ill and be taken off the ship in port or even evacuated at sea by helicopter.  While I have always hoped for their speedy recovery, I have also wondered if they had purchased travel insurance.

It's certainly tempting not to.  How many times have you returned from a trip safe and sound and kicked yourself for spending a couple of hundred bucks to insure against some calamity that never transpired? (Plenty, God willing!)  But it only takes once, and it doesn't have to be much of a calamity to deep-six your sizable cruise investment.  A jury summons can do it, or an attack of appendicitis, a sick family member, or a missed connection on the way to the ship.

In my opinion, all cruise vacationers should buy travel insurance." 

(CNN) -- You've researched, reserved and deposited. Losing it all to an unforeseen event or illness would be disappointing -- not to mention expensive.

A travel insurance policy can be a saving grace when something unexpected crops up.

"We try to advise everyone to take travel insurance," said Cheryl Hudak, vice president of the American Society of Travel Agents and owner of Travel Dimensions in Boardman, Ohio.

"Because it's based on the unexpected, it's like carrying house insurance," she said. "You don't ever think anything is going to happen, but if it does, you want to be prepared."

Travel insurance can cover a range of situations, from trip cancellation or delay to medical evacuation. You can buy supplemental medical insurance, baggage insurance and policies that cover money lost if a travel vendor defaults.

With all the choices, how do you decide what kind of protection you might need?

Determining whether or not you want to cover the cost of your trip is the first step, experts say.

"If it's a short trip to go see your grandma in Minneapolis, that's something where you can kind of weigh the pros and cons as to if it's worth it," said Kari Swartz, leisure travel specialist.  "But if you're planning on going on a cruise or some type of a big-ticket trip, I think it's a good investment to make," she said.

If a trip is canceled or interrupted -- for reasons including weather, illness or a death in the family -- trip cancellation insurance policies generally cover nonrefundable payments and deposits.

Hudak sells polices that include trip cancellation and medical insurance that run about $75 to $100 on a trip worth about $1,000. The price of the trip and the age of the travelers are factored into the premium. 

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Reading the fine print

Although your health insurance should follow you on trips within the United States, many U.S. health insurance carriers do not cover medical expenses overseas. Some may cover emergency care, but often will require patients to pay foreign providers out-of-pocket and reconcile claims with you later. Medical expenses that arise overseas from pre-existing conditions often are not covered.

"A lot of people don't realize that when you go abroad, the health insurance that you have in the United States doesn't act the same way internationally that it would here at home," said Linda McGee, President of MEDEX Insurance Services in Towson, Maryland.

McGee encourages travelers to find out what their health insurance plan covers before going abroad.

Find out if the carrier will pay directly to a foreign provider, if the company will pay to evacuate you to a higher standard of care or back home and if the company will be able to provide assistance in locating doctors abroad and coordinating care.

If you're concerned about the level of overseas coverage your primary health insurance provider offers, supplemental medical coverage is a good way to cover all the bases.

Medical policies vary among travel insurance providers, so it is important to read the fine print. Some companies do not cover pre-existing conditions and age is a factor in the amount of coverage some policies provide.

Dr. Phyllis Kozarsky, a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at Emory University School of Medicine, advises travelers, particularly those traveling to more remote areas and those with chronic illnesses or who are pregnant, to consider their medical needs overseas.  "It's incredibly expensive if you're overseas somewhere and you become ill or have an accident and you want to be medically evacuated," Kozarsky said. "That can cost in the range of $100,000 if you or your family were to pay for that."

Whatever travel insurance decisions you make, it's best to make them early. Many providers require that insurance be purchased within seven to 10 days of the initial trip deposit, according to Hudak. Some tour companies will sell insurance up to 60 days prior to departure, she said.

Buying from a tour company or a cruise line may be cheaper than buying through third-party insurance companies, Hudak said, but the benefits vary widely. Some travel vendors offer vouchers rather than cash back if you buy their policies, so it's important to determine your priorities when comparing policies.

Third-party travel insurance providers often sell much closer to the date of departure, but it's too late if the unforeseen event has already happened.

"The best bet is just to take it out from the beginning and know that you're covered and have peace of mind the whole time," Hudak said.