Travel Insurance, is it worth it?

When I started in the travel business over 20 years ago, I was very suspicious of travel insurance.  I looked at it as the travel industry's version of an extended warranty.  I saw it as something they sold you to just increase the bottom line, but with no real value.

Unfortunately, I got a quick personal, real life lesson on the importance of travel insurance.  I went a on 3 night Bahamas cruise with my parents and my children in 1996.   Even though we were in the business, my father didn't think it was worth buying insurance for a little weekend getaway.  In this instance, he could not have been more wrong.  My mother took extremely ill on the first night of the cruise and was taken off of the ship in Nassau the next morning and operated on.  Without getting into all of the gory details, she had to be air ambulanced to Miami a few days later, and passed away about 3 weeks after that.  Besides the emotional toll, my father incurred major out of pocket expenses that would have been covered with insurance.

I would never travel without decent travel protection.  It is comparable to living without health insurance or driving a car without auto coverage.  Traveling far, particularly out of the country without insurance is a dangerous risk.  While most people think of insurance for cancellation protection (against penalties for canceling), I believe that the even bigger concern is medical and evacuation coverage.  If you have a medical emergency overseas, it is not unreasonable to assume one can incur hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical and transportation costs.  Many personal policies, including medicare, do not cover these expenses when outside of the country.

Travel insurance is usually not the focus when planning a vacation.  It is much more fun to pick out a ship or hotel, a destination and the tours or other fun things one wants to do.  Travel insurance is a "necessary evil".  But it is not the place to skimp.  When an emergency does happen far from home, one will want the best coverage possible, with a team standing by to assist.  There are various insurance plans out there, and you should always compare to understand what exactly is covered before purchasing (remember to look for pre-existing condition clauses, and if those can be waived).  A travel agent should help you select the policy that fits your needs.

Just like other insurance you buy, travel protection is something you hope you won't actually need to use for your trip.  But when the unexpected does take place, you will feel a lot better knowing you have the coverage to mitigate the impact.

Why does the news always have to be negative?

This morning I was watching the news, and heard the story about a JetBlue plane that experienced bad turbulence.  There were some minor injuries, but the pilot safely landed the plane.  All of the passengers who were taken to the hospital were released.

The news portrayed this is a horrible incident.  I see it as a positive!  Thanks to modern technology combined with great pilot skills, all of the passengers survived this scary situation.  The pilot, airline, and plane manufacturer should be commended for protecting the passengers from serious injury.  Why can't we focus on the positive instead of the negative?  Travel is safer than ever, and we can't forget that.

The Return of the Empress of the Seas

Last week, a few members of our staff were invited to tour the revitalized Empress of the Seas while she was docked in Miami.  I have a soft spot for this ship, as I sailed on her about 19 years ago when our children were very young.  Seeing the ship brought back memories!

This ship is very different from the rest of today's Royal Caribbean.  It is a smaller vessel, at under 50,000 tons carrying under 1900 passengers (compare that with the Harmony of the Seas, at 226,000 tons and 5400 passengers).  While the long term plan is for her to sail to Cuba, she is currently sailing short itineraries of 4-5 nights out of Miami.

If one is looking for a quiet getaway, this is a great ship.  It does not have the "bells and whistles", but brings you back to the earlier days of cruising.  The ship has a nice showroom, and we previewed the shows which looked great.  It has a fairly large casino for a ship this size (and by the way is the only non-smoking casino in the fleet).  There is one specialty restaurant on board, Chops Grill, which is a beautiful, completely new venue.  The other lounges have their old motif, except for Boleros which was redone in a Cuban theme.

The cabins are small, but clean and adequate for a short cruise.  The bathrooms are small, and because it is an older ship none of the standard staterooms have balconies.

One strange part of the ship is the gym.  It was added as a loft to the lounge in the Crow's Nest.  While you have to go up a spiral stair case from the lounge to the gym, it seems strange to me if you want to work out at night to have to walk through an active bar to get there (considering you will be wearing work out attire).  It was obvious they had to find a spot for the gym, so had to make do.

All in all, I would recommend this ship to couples looking for a short, relatively quiet getaway.  I think it is perfect for people who have cruising for a long time and would like an experience to reminisce about cruising of yesteryear.