SaltysMom

We just booked our first Viking River Cruise for next May. Upon booking they recommended their travel insurance - which seemed very expensive. $719 per person. I have 10 days to decide if we want it. I have never purchased trip insurance before and am unsure if we need it. Has anyone had any experience with this insurance? Like, if we broke a leg two months before the trip, would Viking work with us to reschedule, or would we really be out of luck? Do most of you get travel insurance for River Cruises? Or do you recommend a cheaper alternative? Thanks for any information you can offer me!

janisj

That does seem awfully high but it depends on the total exposure (cost of the cruise/airfares if included, etc)

Check out Insure My Trip and plug in your details and see what else is out there. https://www.insuremytrip.com

thursdaysd

I don't take cruises, but if I did I would probably want to insure the cost, and I would probably not want to buy insurance from the cruise company. I would look at Squaremouth - https://www.squaremouth.com/ - as well as Insure My Trip. Note that coverage of preexisting conditions usually requires you to buy coverage within 14 days of the first payment.

That said, I always buy medical coverage and medical evacuation/repatriation from Seven Corners - https://www.sevencorners.com/ Check whether your existing medical coverage will work abroad, but even if it does you will still need evacuation/repatriation.

Note that this advice is for US residents.

HappyTrvlr

We get insurance for any kind of cruise or tour.That sounds rather high.We’ve had problems with Viking.
When we travel independently which we do most of the time, we don’t get insurance as we can cancel hotels and get credit from airlines.

mlgb

Considering that Viking charges $6K and up per person, depending on what is included, that may not be the worst pricing out there, especially if you are in the uninsurable age group of 70+.

Depends on what it includes, eg Cancel For Any Reason, Pre Existing Conditions, etc... And what other coverage you already have/don't need from them.

For sure shop around.

thursdaysd

Some places will insure over-70s, but the older you are the more it costs, and there may well be quite low limits on the amount of medical coverage.

4holdings

Travel insurance is a must!! Both Squaremouth and InsureMyTrip offer the same policies and you can compare the policies that fit your needs. The cost of insurance is usually 8 to 10% of the cost of your trip. Definitely look into it. I like obtaining coverage the moment I book a trip so as to be covered for pre-existing conditions. Also, if you charged your cruise on a credit card that offers extra benefits, check and see what type of travel insurance coverage your credit card company offers and read the small print. In purchasing travel insurance my main objective is that it be primary coverage on the medical.

Sher

My experience with insurance while taking a cruise is costlier than we would expect.

I also feel that the product from the cruise company is not as comprehensive as I would like in a medical emergency.

Forget about breaking that leg before the trip. What coverage does it have if you need to get home. Medical evacuation is very expensive.

You need to call at least the insurance brokers mentioned above and ask all your questions. But I ,personally would not buy through the cruise company.

aliced

We always insure our foreign trips. But were advised by avid world-travellers to never book air or get insurance from the tour company. Most of the insurance coverage goes to the pre-trip cancellations made by customers.rather than for the trip duration itself. Costs go up with our age. We for some reason forgot this and booked first river cruise with Vantage, got the insurance through Allianz, who had a "partnership" with tour companies, paid $625 or $650 pp, only to have Vantage liquidate and file Chapter 11 in early June. Allianz only paying us back for the $125 pp trip duration, not the rest for pre-trip. That was going directly to Vantage for the pre-trip cancellation, which according to many Fodorites, they never paid anyway. Would not book with Viking, too much advertising, that obviously comes out of customers' pockets. Also while lots are happy with their trips, several are not. Should we book another, going to try Ama.

Sher

First of all, I am about to go on a Norwegian cruise island hopping in Greece. I again purchased travel insurance through an online broker. This insurance was not as expensive as my first cruise insurance when I purchased cancel for any reason insurance. At that time Covid was winding down. We still had to wear masks onboard and many people cancelled.
This time, I was mostly concerned with the medical evacuation part with a little of the other benefits thrown in. Years ago I purchased insurance through the cruise company. My suitcase was stolen on disembarkation day. I did get it back with many pieces missing. The cruise company would nort reimburse me unless I had a receipt for everything. The policy did not even include a minimum.

Aliced, since you mentioned AMA, I will give you my opinion of this company because my first river cruise was with AMA. We sailed on the Danube on AMA MAGNA. This boat, at the time was the widest river cruise ship. It is almost twice the width of most river ships.

we flew to Munich the day before and took the train to Vilshofen. This is a charming little town. We stayed in a B&B,, very basic and just toured the town after dinner. In the morning we walked the two or so blocks to the river . The boat was already docked and they immediately came to greet us and took our suitcases.

Covid was still having an impact on cruises and there were only 90 people sailing on this ship at the time. I was excited because so many excursions were included. This was also my biggest disappointment. You are able to choose two excursions a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Just know that this time frame limits the scope of the visit. I should have realized that the time allotted was really very short to see much on the stops.

This was really my only disappointment with AMA. The service was excellent. The wait staff and service people were wonderful. The food was very good. My daughter was disappointed as there was no food available between meals. She is used to ocean cruising where food hits you in the face all day. I don’t know if there is more availability now when some Covid restrictions have lapsed. For example, in the afternoon there was only a coffee service and no snacks available to just pick up.

Just research the online brokers for your insurance needs. I have used Insure My Trip, Squaremoith and Aardy. They all give excellent customer service. I would not purchase trip insurance from AMA just as I did not purchase insurance from Norwegian for this upcoming trip. The benefits of those policies, in my opinion, is too narrow.

AJPeabody

The usual warning is to avoid the trip insurance offered by the cruise line. If they have a problem. you have no insurance. A cruse bankruptcy simultaneously bankrupts the the insurance they sold. Actually, a lot of what they sell is not legally insurance but some sort of waiver or such. You then have no backup from the legal system.