What Cruise Lines and Tour Operators Don't Want You to Know

 

I know tour operators don't want you to know because I posted some of the following information in a popular FaceBook cruise travel group, and the piece, after garnering dozens of comments, was removed by an administrator with a hand-slap for me — I was told never to supply such information again. Of course, the reason cruise lines and tour operators don't want you to have this information is because it affects their bottom line. When you buy travel insurance from them, they get a kickback from the insurance company.

Travel insurance, according to Ms. Mehta who is the chief executive of Squaremouth, a popular travel insurance company, said in The New York Times on 9 January 2025, that travel insurance costs 5-10 percent of the cost of the cruise or tour. So, a $5,000 trip might cost $250-$500 for insurance. That is, in my opinion, a totally unnecessary expense.

The tour and cruise industry would prefer I not tell you that you may not need travel insurance. But that is the truth. Let me explain why.

 

Most of us have a credit card which we use to pay for a cruise, tour, or an independent trip you've planned on your own. You may not realize it, but your credit card may provide you with protection in the event of a travel emergency. Most of us routinely count on our credit card insurance when we rent a car, but it seems few people know that a credit card also provides many other travel benefits.

To take just one example, if you have a JP Morgan Chase credit card — I have the United Freedom Card — and you use this card to pay for your trip, these are the travel benefits. This is information from the Chase website:

Baggage Delay Insurance

Reimburses you for essential purchases like toiletries and clothing for baggage delays over 6 hours by passenger carrier up to $100 a day for 3 days. 

Lost Luggage Reimbursement

If you or an immediate family member check or carry-on luggage that is damaged or lost by the carrier, you're covered up to $3,000 per passenger.

Trip Delay Reimbursement

If your common carrier travel is delayed more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay, you and your family are covered for unreimbursed expenses made with your United Explorer Card, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per ticket.

Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance

You can be reimbursed up to $1,500 per person and $6,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable passenger fares, if your trip is canceled or cut short by sickness, severe weather and other covered situations.

 Of course, travel benefits may vary depending on the credit card you use so be sure to check on your particular card's benefits. This is easy to do on-line.

 

                 "This patient has a rare form of health insurance."

So, with all those possible travel calamities covered, what about health insurance when you travel? This is a major concern for many travelers, particularly seniors, but doesn't need to be. While it is true that Medicare does not cover you outside the United States, if you have a Medicare Advantage or PPO plan, you will be reimbursed for the care you receive in a foreign country. Just be sure to get receipts for everything, preferably in English.

Here are two recent examples I experienced with my Humana PPO plan. In Mexico, I stepped off a curb and badly sprained my ankle which required x-rays and a cast at a local hospital. The complete bill, which included crutches, came to less than $200 for which Human promptly repaid me after I sent in the claim. On a transatlantic cruise, the "good life" eating rich foods I don't ordinarily eat caused my first-ever episode of gout which required a visit to the cruise doctor plus medicine. Again, I was quickly reimbursed for the clinic visit although I was not reimbursed for medicine dispensed in a foreign country. Still, the medicine was a small part of the total bill.

If you have only Medicare basic insurance, do not despair. Most countries, especially those with socialized medicine, have low medical costs. Several years ago, when my friend broke her leg in Arles, France, Dr. Vladimir Pop (Who could ever forget that name?) x-rayed and examined her leg at the Jean D'Arc Clinic, put a temporary cast on the leg, and gave her a prescription for a wheelchair for a total of $175.

My friend Karen McCann wrote about medical care in Spain just this past week saying in her award-winning Enjoy Living Abroad blog that one of her visitors last year had to go to the emergency room of Sagrada Corazon Hospital in Seville, Spain, to have half a hearing aid removed. The total bill was $341 US for which he was reimbursed upon returning home to the States. But, even if he hadn't been reimbursed, that cost is less than some of us would pay for treatment in an emergency room visit in the USA. 

And, if you're wondering about health care abroad, here's reassuring news. According to international insurance.com, these are the top ten countries in the world with the best health care:

1. Taiwan 2. South Korea 3. Australia 4. Canada 5. Sweden 6. Ireland 7. Netherlands 8. Germany 9. Norway 10. Israel

Many countries in the world rank higher than the United States which ranks 23rd in healthcare according to the CEOWORLD Magazine Health Care Index 2024.

And, if you have a non-emergency medical problem, you will find that clinics/drugstores in foreign countries offer advice and/or provide over-the-counter medicine that solve a multitude of ills. There's almost always a pharmacist who speaks fluent English, understands your problem — from a severe cold, stomach upset, or, in my case, a rash caused by too much walking — and can dispense a medicine to solve the problem.

So, now you know how to protect yourself from lost luggage, flight delays, trip cancellations, serious medical problems, and minor medical issues, but two important considerations remain.

What happens if you suffer from a long-term health crisis that will require weeks or months of care? You may, understandably, want to return home for this care after your health condition has been stabilized. This is the only situation in which I think travel insurance is justified. But please note that medical repatriation policies cost about $100 or less which is a much more reasonable fee than the standard travel insurance policy that covers ALL possible travel disasters and costs three to five times more.

And, of course, there's the other consideration that none of us want to think about — what happens if you die while in a foreign country?

But, even this can be handled in advance. There are three options that I know of. You can opt to be cremated in the foreign country and your travel partner can return to the States with your cremains.

In most US states, you can pay in advance, around $3,400, for a Neptune Society policy which literally takes care of everything. You place one call to them, the body is returned to the United States from any place in the world, cremated, and the cremains returned to the specified next of kin. The Society also helps the traveling partner of the deceased by arranging all the paperwork required in a foreign land and by facilitating the surviving partner's return to the States. When a close relative of ours collapsed getting off the plane after a fifteen-hour flight from Thailand, his distraught wife was comforted by the efficiency of the Society which made all the arrangements for the body to be cremated, handled all the paperwork and ordered death certificates, and eventually delivered the cremains to her in a beautiful container. Without that help and the help of Korean Air which arranged for a hotel room and flights to get her back home, she doesn't think she could have coped.

While my partner has opted to enroll in the Neptune Society, I have gone a slightly different route. I called all our local crematoriums in Tucson to learn if any of them had a similar program to the Neptune Society. Several do and the cheapest requires a one-time policy fee of $1350 to cover repatriation to the US from anywhere in the world, cremation, and, of course, return of the cremains to my partner.

So, there you have it. There's no need to fall prey to all the tactics the travel industry uses to scare you into spending more money than needed. Take that windfall $250 to $500 in insurance savings to enjoy a few special dining experiences. Or, better yet, put the insurance savings into your travel savings account so you have a jump-start on your next trip!

Practicalities

Be sure to check the travel benefits of the credit card you will use to pay for the airlines, accommodations, cruise, tour and/or car rental you will be using. Then, remember to use that card to pay for everything.

Double check with your insurance carrier to make sure you can be reimbursed, with proper receipts, for any medical costs abroad. Get this information in writing if possible.

Consider buying repatriation insurance only.

Consider a Neptune Society policy or something similar if you worry about the worst-case scenario.