These People Made The Worst Cruise Mistake Imaginable - The Fix Takes 24 Seconds! 

Hey guys! Thanks for watching. Here's my full guide, recommendations and step by step instructions emmacruises.com/cruise-travel-insurance-why-you-need-it-and-how-to-get-it-step-by-step-guide/

Emma...... my wife and I want to THANK YOU! After watching your video, we realized that our cruise insurance would NOT cover Sarah if she had an asthma issue, because it was considered pre-existing. NCL refunded our money for the insurance and we ended with with private insurance that covers pre-existing conditions, and, it was also 1/2 the price!!!!! So.....we are SO GRATEFUL to you for this video. Fortunately, the cruise went off without a hitch, and didn't need to use the insurance. THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!!!!

Bruce is from my home state of South Carolina and he and his wife made another tragic mistake. They didn’t have passports. Carnival allowed them to travel with just a drivers license and a birth certificate but when he was transported to a hospital, his wife found they needed a passport to get back home. A hard lesson to learn: always have a passport when leaving the U.S.; you may need one to get back in.

My mom had a heart attack on a Caribbean cruise. She was dropped off in Cartagena Colombia at the Hóspital Boca Grande (Big Mouth, really?) where it was determined she needed a stent. She had travel insurance, who called the hospital and asked if they did that procedure. Their answer was yes, but not very often. She was determined to be stable enough to fly and was air ambulanced to the USA for the procedure, courtesy of the insurance. My parents would be two of the few people to have left Colombia without going through customs, lol.

You quickly touched on the topic of being an organ donor. My heart is shot along with my lungs and kidneys, but skin is an organ and I believe bones are. My grandson had cadaver bone put into his foot at 10 years old to correct his arch. People, even if you THINK your body is shot....please remain on the donor list!!

My husband and I learnt the value of having travel insurance. In 2015, my husband had a stomach bleed on the last full day of our New Zealand cruise, by time he admitted it was more than his stomach being “off”, the medical center on the cruise ship was unable to stabilize him to medivac off the ship and spent the next 15 hours monitoring him while we transit to our next port, Sydney Australia. When booking our cruise, I purchased the travel protection plan with the cruise line and since I booked our airfare separately, I also purchased additional travel insurance to cover the expense of the airfare, which was a good thing. The cruise line plan would have covered everything while we were on the ship but not all of what we encounter outside of the time frame of the cruise. His medical bills were 100% covered, most of extra cost of hotel stay and meals for me were covered as well as the additional week stay we had to do under doctor’s order. The fees for changing our flight were also covered as well. I originally purchased the travel insurance for in case we were not able to go, so glad I that had.

Excellent video on the importance of the right travel insurance. Pay more if necessary with pre-existing conditions, but, NEVER go without insurance.

Well said! So many think this is too expensive - until they need it. My husband wound up in a hospital in Germany for 8 days, interrupting our river cruise and requiring lodging for me and flight changes, too. The insurance was an absolute blessing. I never travel without it, ever. Thanks for this video.

A tough subject but a very important one. I was taught if you can’t afford insurance, you can’t afford to travel. I’d never consider travelling overseas or a cruise without it. But it does make more sense why Americans might not have it. Though you’d think with them knowing what their prices are that they’d get some?

Medical facilities on a ship are awesome "urgent care" units. My husband is a medic and and had to use the facilities and he was highly impressed. He actually said it was better than a lot of emergency rooms he has taken people to.

Emma, this is a much-needed video. I have an annual policy. They are so easy to set up since you do not have to add up the total cost of your vacation. You apply, pay for it, and boom, you have coverage for a year. Highly recommended for frequent travelers. Independent companies offer better coverage than the cruise lines in terms of limits and being primary insurance, so that you do not wait for your regular insurance claim to be denied before getting treatment under your travel policy. Note that even on policies that waive the lookback period for pre-existing conditions, the cap on those conditions may be well under what is covered for other conditions. I am not an insurance agent; please ask a professional any questions you have before buying a policy.

That was well said Emma . I wouldn’t dare travel with out it as I always say “ The time I don’t buy it, is the time I’ll need it” so I rather have it (pay for it) and not need it (use it). Keep up the great work Emma

The medical expenses in the US is a lot higher than most countries, which explains why US based insurance is more expensive that that of US.

A good friend of mine’s father had a heart attack while on vacation in South America. He passed away while they were trying to evacuate to a hospital that could adequately help him. I don’t know if it was a problem with their insurance, but I do know that the delay in trying to get back was the problem. Your advice is invaluable and could very well be lifesaving.

Emma, THANK YOU for the advice on having travel insurance for health issues. My husband and I took our last cruise in 2019. In 2022 our health has become more complicated. He has a pacemaker but I have several conditions related to having had lupus for years that weren’t present in 2019. You may have just saved my life! Thank you!

We went on a Nile river cruise and one of my conditions for allowing it was insurance. Oh I had a fight there as she didnt want to spend £30-40 but I put my foot down on it. Fast forward to half way through the cruise and the entire boat had a viral outbreak. So much so we prohibited from landing anywhere and they actually ordered us to drop anchor mid river and they would send medical teams out to the boat. First thing the wanted to see when they got onboard were your insurance documents. Just to sit and tell them what was wrong with you, well that cost $380! I was lucky and didn't need anything but my partner who'd made such a stink about insurance. Her bill was over $8000 in the end for a, back then, young healthy early 30s gal. I've never had to fight with he about buying annual insurance since

The problem is..... the travel insurance companies have about fifteen gazillion exceptions and loopholes to allow them to deny paying your claim.

What annoys me about travel insurance is that if you are older than 30, then you are bound to have some pre-existing condition. Plus, the insurance companies put the onus on you to tell them what ALL your conditions are, even something you have had once about 30 years ago (a kidney stone in my case.) People can forget what one off but potentially recurring ailments they had years ago.

I’ve seen one man have a medical emergency and get flew to one place. But unfortunately that place wasn’t equipped to handle his condition. But his policy only cover 1 flight.

I purchase a year-long policy that is very generous. It's far less expensive because I travel frequently, and I totally agree that travel insurance is somewhat like mandatory gratuities: yes, you can refuse to do it, but it's not a good idea and people who really know do it.

For a single trip we get it to start when we pay the full balance. That's when cancelling becomes an expensive thing.

Insurance for evacuation can be vital. My boss and his wife were in Cancun with their in-laws. The brother-in-law had a heart attack, was taken to a hospital (they were not on a cruise) and the doctors determined he needed a stent. They refused, however, to place the stent without cash payment up front. They would not take a credit card. The man literally lay on the OR table while family wired money from the States. The process took hours, though, and sadly the gentleman died. Adding to their grief, the family felt they had been completely "shaken down."

I always travel with travel insurance with evacuation, COVID & medical covering any pre-existing conditions. Need to add the 'Cancel for any Reason' option in the future with all the sudden changes the cruise lines are implementing on passengers.

Emma, I have never cruised, and I probably never will (but who knows??? lol) but I enjoy learning new things and listening to different points of view. For some reason RU-vid recommended your channel, and I'm glad it did because I've been really enjoying watching your videos and listening to advice about cruising. I guess maybe because it's a way I can "experience" something that I would not do otherwise. Thank you!!

Thanks for putting a guide on your website to step people through learning about travel insurance. I will spend time learning about this and then using it when I start to cruise again. I have heard many people promote travel insurance, but you took it to the next step by educating people about it. Thanks for doing that.

Very good point! A good friend of mine, Mike was on safari in Africa and fell unconscious (the cause was never found). He was flown to the US and pumped full of antibiotics for several weeks before he regained consciousness. He had insurance that covered this. Thank you!

I would venture to guess that one big reason travel insurance is so much more expensive in the U.S. is the fact that we don't have universal healthcare, so the policies have to cover people that not only aren't covered by default, but the expenses themselves are much higher.

Thank you for this topic. When we are young and healthy, travel insurance is the last thing on our mind. Unfortunately, time and declining health require additional precautions. If one does not have savings, or substantial credit lines, travel insurance is a must.

Thanks Emma we are heading to the Mediterranean in 30 days and for the first time we have Travel insurance Including Pre-Existing great advice

The worst travel insurance policy I ever bought was in early January 2020 from a company with a name similar to "Wellington's" who sent an e-mail to me to tell me that my annual cover basically was completely invalid as the government suggested not travelling abroad (and therefore it was invalid) but since it was also a "suggestion" from the government that I couldn't cancel and claim on the insurance as I was "technically" still able to travel...

94 and still cruising??? Emma your Gran is a LEGEND!!! I've never thought that I've wasted a single dollar paying for insurance. I get as much as my budget reasonably allows and for my house in a hurricane zone, my cars, my life, and my health I feel safe that I've done the best I can. But when I was younger not so much. Learning the difference of what would have been covered if I had played just $50 more a month when I was 25 the cost of an appendectomy with complications would have saved me more than $30,000 out of pocket!! It was a hard way to learn this but it's just how things work here in the USA!!

Emma, well said and I trust everyone will adhere to this video. One would not embark on a foreign holiday without a valid passport so neither should one embark on a foreign holiday without the appropriate travel cover.

Everyone needs travel insurance. You just never know.

California Linda shares thank you for your reminders in this vlog, it has been awhile since many of us have been crusing. Thank you and I am looking forward to next Thursday's live event with you 🇬🇧 and ilana 🇨🇦 . So glad you're back to enjoying crusing.

Great video. I think you've just found a new video segment - titled "What would Emma's Gran do?". Awesome video.

Great video. I have a pre existing medical condition, would not dare go abroad without insurance that covers repatriation and the rest. Boggles the mind why people don't get any cover.

The old saying that the devil is in the detail is extremely relevant when it comes to travel insurance. While it is a quick process to obtain quotes it is really important to spend the time understanding the coverage and its related conditions.

Fab advice. Sorry to hear about Bruce :( -- and totally agree with that bit about organ donation. Regarding travel insurance, my husband had cancer one of the times we travelled. The insurance for him to go on a long weekend to Cork and back was £500. Our friends had bought us the tickets (we hadn't been able to go on a cruise the previous year after he'd had to have brain surgery) but I'm so glad we paid because the photos I took on that trip were the last in which he looks good before dying later in the summer. But please spare yourself the heartbreak of not being insured. I miss Jeremy and there was nothing we could have done -- his time was draining away and that trip was our last holiday together (apart from an overnight trip to a cricket game). But what happened to Bruce just breaks my heart. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

Excellent video Emma! Insurance that covers you and your situation is so important. Insurance MUST be a part of your planning and must be covering all of the appropriate conditions!

Great and timely advice!

Of course you've mentioned this before and I took notice of it, but this video is much more educational. Thanks a lot!

The other issue with this story is not just the lack of health insurance. They were also traveling without a passport which made choices very limiting. It’s unbelievable how people in the US think they can travel abroad without a passport. The fact that there’s a loophole for cruises, doesn’t mean that you should. Please people, always take your passport while on a cruise!

Hi Emma can you add Canada to your list of insurance comparisons ? Next to huge US market we often get forgotten about, but thousands of us Canadians cruise too. Thanks, kindly 💖

Your vids are totally awesome. Thank you for sharing valuable information. I've see a lot of the problems and amities you have covered. Keep up the good work.

Thank you so much for this information. I definitely want a good travel insurance policy and was having difficulty figuring out where/how to get it. You may have saved lives by making this video.

Thank you for this video. Because I've learned to respect your past cruise videos, I took this to heart. Generally buying extended insurance policies for new cars and electronic goods are a gold mine for the resellers and a general rip off for the consumer so I've always viewed those add on policies in a similar light. Thank you for giving me another, well informed perspective

Great video Emma, I will definitely look up your insurance quote next time I travel, I usually add the Carnival vacation protection when I book my cruise because it's convenient. I can easily add it and prepay gratuities before final payment due date. Never cruised without it.

God Bless your Gran! Thanks for all the info you provide.

Just purchased my travel insurance! Thank you for the video and website suggestion.

Absolutely right! I'm amazed that anyone would travel anywhere - especially on a cruise - without travel insurance. I think some banks' included insurance is OK - the important thing is to check it covers everything you need (including emergency evacuation, repatriation, etc.) and that you inform them of all pre-existing conditions and pay whatever extra charge they require to cover these. For me, you have to think "what possible excuses could this insurer come up with for not paying if I do need to make a claim?" and make sure you've covered them all in advance.

Great video! I work in the cruise industry and insurance is the number 1 thing people try to cheap out on. Insurance is always cheap when you NEED it and expensive when you dont,

Thanks you the tip,will definitely be getting some when we start cruising again

Thank you! I just bought insurance for our cruise in January, got a better deal than the cruise line was offering!!!:)

Thanks for this info and the guide with the link you provided. On prior cruises, I never had travel insurance but going forward, it's definitely what is both prudent to get as well as required. My largest concern would be coverage for a delayed return and international travel required to repatriate if the cruise ship itself is not able to return to the scheduled home port. I'll be using your identified resource to evaluate options available. I will also check what coverage is provided by my credit card as well.

Thank you, Emma! Thanks for the link to insurance. For the second time I have used the link to successfully purchase travel insurance. It is so much easier than the way I used to do. I appreciate it greatly!

Thanks for this excellent information.

Emma, I love your channel. I have never cruised and really do not want to however, I love how helpful your channel is. Thanks for your hard work

I like your model behind you on the piano! I have enjoyed learning more about cruising from you as well!

Again, fabulous information. Thanks soo much ♥️♥️♥️

Critically important episode. Thank you.

Every cruise we have ever done, Barr the 2 night Disney uk staycation has had at least one helicopter rescue of a sick/ill person. One trip (norway) had two emergency evacuations! Luckily my dear husband gets travel insurance through his employer and that covers both of us, including our pre existing conditions. No way would I travel without insurance now. (Ashamed to say I did in my 20’s and 30’s) To travel on board a cruise ship, you should have at least a million pounds worth of cover. Helicopters are expensive.

Nicely done!!

Great advice Emma.

Thanks. Tina

Emma, you have truly amazing and valuable information on your website. As a well-traveled person, I was impressed at the breadth of useful details and tools you provide.

Thank you excellent video.

I've had an insurance policy with a credit card that cover's anything on land or air but I don't know about a cruise since all I've is talk about. So you just added this to my check list. Telling it as it is.

Excellent video.

Very valuable information.

Thank you so much for this. I had purchased cruise insurance from the cruise line, but purchasing this supplemental insurance, even though the cruise line's insurance will pay first, is great peace of mind.

I used to have travel insurance from my work policy. Never did read the fine print or needed to use the coverage. I know that it covered medical expenses up to a certain amount and any medical evacuation while travelling. 🙂🙂🙂

The biggest problem with travel insurance for repatriation from a foriegn port to your home hospital is that the insurance company "reimburses" the expense. It will show that this is a "covered expense". Since they don't pay upfront, the patient has to have the tens of thousands or hundredsof thousands of dollars/pounds or there is no flight...therefore no claim. When calling insurance companies you will find they offer a real run-around answer like, "We evaluate all situations and make an appropriate deccision." They never say, "We pay for the flight upfront." Keep in mind if you need medical evacuation you need a dedicated aircraft equipped for med evac, a flight crew, a doctor and tech. Round trip. These flights are extremely expensive.

I always get the insurance, but bc I live in Caribbean, I also carry air ambulance policy at all times. Our little hospital is great; I had my daughter there and gall bladder surgery, but if anything major happened, I would like to be able to get to a mainland hospital.

Thanks for this video. We always buy travel insurance for our cruises. Our TA had a very good policy, but we had to purchase right away after booking our cruise so that pre-existing conditions would be covered....

Thank you for your recommendations. I just bought a policy and I feel so much more at ease now.

Thank you for mentioning organ donation. One of my brothers just passed away and he donated organs.

Good advice as always, we just took out an annual cruise policy as it was better value than per trip, something to consider of you're planning multiple cruises. Extremely pleased you mentioned organ donation, my dad suffered kidney failure in later years and that prompted me to become an organ donor, why waste your body when you could help save and improve the quality of life for so many others, it's makes a lot of sense, so well done Emma 👍

Thank you Emma

I always buy travel insurance for any trip that takes me out of the United States (my home country). We have used it once, and I was so glad to have it.

My siblings and I (Mom pitched in too but it was mostly us kids) took our Mom on a Caribbean cruise for her 60th birthday and the ship that we were on had a hospital onboard.

Thanks Emma sage advice as normal brilliant videos

Here is something that a lot of people miss, if you are combining say a business trip with a holiday on the end of it, generally your company will cover the business trip and indeed might or might not cover an extension.. always check that! But the thing that catches people out is that if you get insurance for the extension yourself.. it generally has to run from leaving your home country, so in my case I often work away for 3 weeks and will add a 1 or so onto the end, my insurance actually has to cover the full 4 weeks and include all the countries while away.

its pretty expensive here in australia too. we looked into getting travel insurance for our very first cruise and it was around $200 each person, but as i could not find any policy from any company here that covered any of my pre existing illnesses we decided not to take it out. and havent taken it out for our next 3 cruises booked either. hopefully as were travelling only in australia all will be ok :)

Its worth mentioning pre-existing medical conditions isn't just diabetes and such, it's also allergies and things like that. If you know you have an allergy (food, insect bites/stings, etc) you need to declare it when getting travel insurance of any kind.

Wise advice 👍🏻

I am so sorry for these people. My heart goes out to them. THE HEALTH INSURANCE IS A BUSINESS AND NOT HEALTH CARE. ITS ALL ABOUT MONEY.

Thank you very much for this video. You may have saved me a ton of money. I always buy the best travel insurance from Princess before cruising. However next year I will be spending 46 days in Europe on a land trip. (Including a week in London!!). It never occurred to me to buy trip insurance for this trip in that it is not a cruise. I just wasn't thinking properly. I did exactly what you did in the video and got an excellent price on trip insurance that includes covid and evacuation. Thank You !!!!

Thank you for doing this video. I have already bought my insurance, through a comparison site. I took the silver policy, so not the cheapest available. I hope I never need the insurance. It is crazy to go without insurance!!

I am from Alabama, and one of the few perks is being at the top of a drop-down menu!! Xoxo

Several year ago (pre Covid) my daughter and son in law were traveling internationally and decided to get travel insurance. Well during their trip they became ill with a respiratory virus and couldn’t fly. The insurance company rejected their claim because they had both had had respiratory illness in the past. Not the same one or anything special and it had been years but the insurance company claimed preexisting conditions. Apparently even a sinus infection can be a preexisting condition for a completely different respiratory illness. The doctor rolled her eyes and said this happens all the time and offered to help them challenge it.

I never bought travel insurance until I started cruising. But I do for every cruise. I think it's more important now that cruiselines are sending you into quarantine and home if you test positive. Overall, it's a necessary cost. Better the $100 than $10s of thousands should something happen. Sucks, yeah but...

Thank you very very helpful 🌈🇺🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿❤️

Emma’s Gran is a legend! And I will make a bet that Emma will be cruising aged 100+!

Thanks Emma for another enjoyable and useful video. I had never considered a mild condition of mine as pre-existing but I’ll certainly be declaring it when I take out insurance for two cruises this year 🛳 Also so glad I’ve looked at insurance COVID cover T&Cs, it varies so much!

I had travel insurance from Allianz when I got covid on a Europe trip. Luckily all it did was force us to stay longer in one place than we planned and we had to cancel a multi day tour. They did eventually pay up for what was covered, but it took 3 months and I had to resubmit the same info and documents two or three times.

My wife and I are both senior citizens, with a few preexisting conditions. The travel insurance we use, in the United States, will only cover any preexisting condition if you purchase the insurance within 30 days of making the initial deposit. after that time frame preexisting conditions won't be covered. Even for cruises 18 months away, we've followed that rule and have had no trouble when we needed to make a claim.

Nice job

I'm watching this in Alabama. We're cruising for Christmas and looking into travel insurance.

some years ago we went to Australia asked about the high cost the agent said how much it would cost for medivac? you fly back with doctors and nurses and kit as necessary that's not cheap!

Thank you.