Whether you’re taking your first cruise or have been on a few, this question always comes up: “how do I select the right cruise?” It should come as no surprise that every cruise line out here offers something different.

My family & I have taken 3 cruises. The first was Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2 on a transatlantic crossing - as our first cruise this gave us too high a standard to measure the others by.

The second was on the Norwegian Sun in Jan. 2006. They had a really good kids program and the Freestyle Dining (no set dinner seating times) was especially good since our children don’t get hungry on a regular schedule.

The third was Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Sea. The kids prgram was good, but not as good as NCL’s. The ship was very nice & we were happy on this trip, too.

One of the blogs I regularly read has a good article called Find the best cruise for you…. I found this to be a good read especially if you’re wondering if you should use a travel agent or not.

My biggest concern is having to cancel because I don’t get to return from my military deployment at the anticipated time. I can’t find anything in the literature that addresses this concern. How does Travel Insurance handle cancelling or delaying due to military actions? Doug

Thanks for asking this, Doug. Coverage questions relating to military actions are becoming more common.

Other than getting a Cancel For Any Reason plan (which only allows for trip cancellation for any reason), there’s no coverage available if your leave is changed or you are reassigned because of military actions. You can read more about War coverage here.

TripInsuranceStore.com is the first and only (for a while) travel insurance comparison website to offer Travel Insured’s new trip cancellation travel insurance plans:

You can now get quotes on Travel Insured Comprehensive and Gold plans for per person trip costs of up to $30,000. Plus you’ll find the plan costs for person trip costs of up to $100,000.

Here are some of the plan highlights:

- The Gold plan prices have been lowered
- Travel Insured has also added “Cancel For Any Reason” coverage as an optional upgrade (except for residents of NY, OR and WA States when traveling with a family member
- You can get “Cancel For Work Reasons” coverage as an optional upgrade (except for residents of NY, OR and WA States when traveling with a family member
- The Comprehensive & Gold plans now include “Missed Port of Call” as part of their Missed Connection coverage
- The Travel Insured Comprehensive plan has $50,000 & the Gold plan has $250,000 Secondary Emergency Medical coverage
- You can upgrade to Primary medical and eliminate the deductibles for just $25 per person
- Travel baggage coverages are increased to $1500 with the Comprehensive & $2500 with the Gold plans

Go here to see the new Travel Insured plans.

My sister and I put a deposit on a cruise last Feb 2007, to depart in September 2008. We purchased the insurance at that time with the travel agent, for the cruise portion of the vacation. We are now purchasing our air fare and hotel for a pre cruise stay. Can we now get additional insurance through you for just the air and hotel portion, and keep the cruise portion with the other carrier? The final payment for the cruise is due June 18. Thanks, Linda

Yes Linda, you can insure any part of your trip cost with one of our plans. And you can get the plan anytime, even if you’re past your final payment.

The only part of this scenario you should keep in mind is if you end up having a medical claim. It’s likely the cruise line’s plan has Secondary medical coverage. Secondary’s not better or worse than Primary. It just refers to the order in which a claim is paid.

Therefore, if you end up getting another travel insurance plan, you must take care not to submit the same medical claim to both companies separately. I’ve seen people do this because they assumed that’s what they are supposed to do. The problem with submitting the same medical claim to both companies separately is that it has the appearance of committing medical claim fraud. It’s also known as “double dipping”.

In none of the cases I’m referring to, was “double dipping” ever the customer’s intention. However, in those cases it became known to both companies’ claim departments and it created a lot of unnecessary paperwork to get those claims paid.

PS - It’s not just “double dipping” on medical claims you have to watch out for. You have take care not to submit the same claim to both companies separately on any of the coverages where the policies overlap.

Summer and hurricane season are quickly approaching. And even after hurricane season is over, then there’s winter. If next winter is anything like the winter of 2007-2008, you’re going to hope your travel insurance covers you in case of bad weather.

No matter what kind of bad weather you want your travel insurance to cover, you have to purchase your travel insurance plan before the bad weather is forecast. Don’t call us if you’re going to Cancun and you just saw on the nightly news that a hurricane is approaching. It’s too late to buy travel insurance at that time because travel insurance covers unexpected events.

Bad weather can affect your trip in a couple of different ways:

1: it can prevent you from leaving on your trip altogether
2: it can happen en route causing your flight either to be delayed or diverted to a different city
3: it can affect your destination - the place you’re going might be rendered uninhabitable by a prior storm
4: it can happen to you while you’re on your trip forcing a mandatory evacuation by the authorities
5: or, there are various other ways that bad weather can affect your trip

Here’s how the travel insurance plans we offer work when it comes to bad weather:

1: If the common carrier airline you’re flying on has a cessation of services for at least 24 hours due to bad weather, that’s a covered reason to cancel your trip.
2: if bad weather along the way or from your departure city causes you to be delayed for at least 5 hours (or 6 - 12 hours for other plans), then you’ll have a travel delay. Click here to learn more about travel delay coverage.
3: you might be safe and fine at home, but maybe a bad storm renders your lodging uninhabitable, this can be covered travel insurance.
4: you are already on your trip and, if due to an approaching storm the authorities call for a mandatory evacuation of where you are, this can also be covered by travel insurance.

Some of the above scenarios will be a trip cancellation, a missed connection / travel delay or even a trip interruption. The circumstances will determine what kind claim you’ll have. To learn more about bad weather travel insurance coverage, click here to go to our detailed Bad Weather description page.

Sometimes it’s a good idea to have some local currency before you arrive at your destination. Chances are you’ll need some money in the local currency - for a cab, public transportation or even a meal.

You might say “I’ll get money at an ATM”. Unfortunately, if you’re traveling to a developing country an ATM might not even be available. Or maybe the ATM won’t be compatible with your card (this could happen anywhere). Either way, it’s a good idea to have some local currency on hand even before you leave the USA.

There are some other options (though you might get gouged or taken advantage of):

- Go to a restaurant or a store in the airport, pay your bill in US dollars and ask to get the change in the local currency
- Ask a taxi driver to exchange money for you
- Convert some of your money at one of those money exchange kiosks

There is another way: you can get the local currency before you arrive. That is, you can order currency ahead of time, before you leave on your trip and have it delivered directly to you.

If you’re a US Resident, here’s where I recommend you get local currency: Go to www.BuyTravelMoney.com. The cash can be delivered straight to your doorstep. Rates are competitive and two-day shipping is free on orders of US $750 or more.

This is new to me but we are renting a condo next year in Florida for a total of $6,000. There is no cancellation clause in the lease, which we have’t signed yet. Is there any kind of protection we can buy in case of cancellation? We don’t plan on it, but you never know. Sherry

Travel insurance covers prepaid and nonrefundable trip costs. Since the owner isn’t asking for a deposit, then you won’t have any prepaid non-refundable trip costs to cover.

In addition, since there’s no wording that specifically states the dollar amount of money that you would lose for forfeit if you left early, then as the agreement stands there isn’t any trip cost that you can cover with travel insurance.

I suspect that the owner thinks his wording clearly states that you are obligated to pay all or part of the $6,000 for the rental. However, I don’t think a travel insurance company will agree with the owner based on the wording you sent me.

I am going on an organized tour in Asia. The tour operator requires that each person have $75,000 insurance for “repatriation of remains”. Even though I would just as soon leave my remains in Asia, I do want to go on the tour! I looked at your plan comparisons and I can’t see any that specify insurance for repatriation of remains. Which plans offer it? Jane

“Repatriation” means “to bring or send back to his or her country or land of citizenship.”

All our plans include “repatriation” as part of the Emergency Evacuation or Transportation coverage. There are 2 different kinds of repatriation coverage in our plans:

1) Medical Repatriation: Something bad happens to you and you are sent home, for example, via an air ambulance

2) Repatriation of Remains: Something even worse happens to you (you pass away) and your body is transported home

We often hear “I would just as soon leave my remains in _____”, but the reality is that if you passed away, you are removed from the decision-making process. I’m sure your relatives would rather have you repatriated back home. It wouldn’t be fair for them to have to pay the expense, so that’s why all our travel insurance plans include “repatriation”.

We are renting a mid-sized car. Would your Collision Damage Waiver cover driving on gravel and dirt roads?

You’re covered for normal use of the car. Not all roads are paved everywhere, so if in the course of your trip you take gravel and dirt roads, it’s covered by our Collision Damage Waiver.

On the other hand, if you say, “Let’s see what this baby will do!” and drive off road and / or cause damage to the car, then you may have a difficult claim.

No matter what happens, it’s your responsibility to explain what happened to any authorities, the car rental agency & the insurance company.

On Feb. 24, 2008 I wrote about the U.S. Geological Survey’s website where you can see recent earthquakes from the whole world or just the USA.

I was looking at the site tonight & saw 2 recent 5.0+ quakes near Oregon plus a few smaller ones there & towards California. I searched online & found this:

Unusual Earthquakes Measured Off Oregon
By JEFF BARNARD Associated Press Writer

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — Scientists listening to underwater microphones have detected an unusual swarm of earthquakes off central Oregon, something that often happens before a volcanic eruption - except there are no volcanoes in the area.

Scientists don’t know exactly what the earthquakes mean, but they could be the result of molten rock rumbling away from the recognized earthquake faults off Oregon, said Robert Dziak, a geophysicist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Oregon State University.

There have been more than 600 quakes over the past 10 days in a basin 150 miles southwest of Newport. The biggest was magnitude 5.4, and two others were more than magnitude 5.0, OSU reported.

On the hydrophones, the quakes sound like low thunder and are unlike anything scientists have heard in 17 years of listening, Dziak said. Some of the quakes have also been detected by earthquake instruments on land.

The hydrophones are left over from a network the Navy used to listen for submarines during the Cold War. They routinely detect passing ships, earthquakes on the ocean bottom and whales calling to one another.

Scientists hope to send out an OSU research ship to take water samples, looking for evidence that sediment has been stirred up and chemicals that would indicate magma is moving up through the Juan de Fuca Plate, Dziak said.

The quakes have not followed the typical pattern of a major shock followed by a series of diminishing aftershocks, and few have been strong enough to be felt on shore.

The Earth’s crust is made up of plates that rest on molten rock, which are rubbing together. When the molten rock, or magma, erupts through the crust, it creates volcanoes.

That can happen in the middle of a plate. When the plates lurch against each other, they create earthquakes along the edges.

In this case, the Juan de Fuca Plate is a small piece of crust being crushed between the Pacific Plate and North America, Dziak said.

Source: AP News

Hi, I’ll bet you’re afraid to answer this question: Isn’t insurance just legalized gambling? I think every time I don’t file a claim, the company wins. Right? (anonymous question)

I wouldn’t say it’s a gamble, though there’s risk involved with any kind of contract you enter into. Insurance is a unilateral contract because only one party, the insurer, has made a legally enforceable promise, such as to pay covered claims.

Here’s what I say on TripInsuranceStore.com:

Buying travel insurance is a risk: You are trading a known certainty (your hard earned money) for an unknown quantity - the promise of the insurance policy doing what it says. This is why I pre-screen our plans.

People manage the risk of losing money on a trip different ways:
- Some people use the same insurance company for every trip
- Some self-insure
- Some ignore travel / trip / cruise insurance altogether
- Some take their agent’s advice
- Some shop around
- Some forget

Even though I sell travel insurance, I believe insuring a trip is a personal decision. None of these choices is inherently right or wrong, they are just a matter of personal preference.

Now, sometimes you have to lay aside your own prejudices in order to protect other people from the negative result of your decision. For example, when I was a life insurance agent, it surprised me how many people purposely ignored their family’s financial condition should they die young. They always thought they’d beat the system by living long. The trouble is that death is permanent & guaranteed.

If losing money by not traveling, having an expensive medical claim or needing a costly emergency evacuation wouldn’t burden you nor destroy your finances, then the need for travel insurance probably doesn’t exist for you.

If these would cause you distress, consider getting travel insurance for your trip. Go here to get some side-by-side comparison quotes.

Does Travel Insurance cover the flight cancellations by American, Southwest, United, Delta, Alaska & Midwest Airlines? Thanks, Kate

You may not like this answer Kate, but generally the answer is “No” because it’s the airline’s responsibilty to get you to your destination (your ticket is a contract with the airline).

For example, American Airlines has offered to make amends to travelers with refunds, vouchers and compensation for overnight stays. I suspect the other airlines will do something similar.

On the other hand, if you had travel insurance prior to these recent flight cancellations and you have been affected by the recent airline cancellations you may be covered. Due to the recent mass airline cancellation each travel insurance company is handling claims differently. We cannot pre-determine a claim, so we are strongly advising our clients to contact their respective insurance companies’ claim department to discuss and to determine if you have a payable claim.

So far, only American Airlines has a page that tell you what to do in filing a claim with them: Here’s the American Airlines page

PS - Go here to see what else travel insurance doesn’t cover

Since we’ve already paid our final payment can we still get a Travel Insurance plan?

Yes, you can get a travel insurance plan any time until the day before you leave on the trip. Many people get well after their final payment dates. The cost doesn’t change, either.

One thing you can’t do is wait until something unexpected happens and then rush out to buy a policy to cover that event. That’s because travel insurance only covers “unexpected events”.

It’s funny, but you’d be surprised how many calls we get from people when there’s some major bad weather forecasted. They ususally start with “I kept forgetting to buy travel insurance and now I want to order a plan for my trip starting in 3 days”. Of course, we tell them that that event won’t be covered.

Go here to learn what else is or isn’t covered.

If you’ve had an email address for a while, you’ve probably received an email that sounds like this:

“Hello sir/madam,

Before I start, I must first apologize for this unsolicited mail to you.I am aware that this is certainly an unconventional approach to establishing a relationship, but you will realize the reason for my action after going through this email…” or:

“To whom it may concern:

I have a transaction of mutual benefits, which I like to share with you. It involves an amount of Nineteen millions Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars only,in our Bank, which I like to acquire with your help and you will be compensated adequately as your commission.”

These are typical opening lines of what’s known as a “Nigerian Scam”, or “419 Scam” (so named because of the Section Number of Nigerian criminal law that applies to it), an “advance fee fraud” scheme that has been in existence through regular postal mail for more than 20 years, and which has been multiplied many times over since the advent of the Internet and free e-mail.

There are many helpful resources you can find online to protect you, your family & friends. Here are two places I find helpful (you’ll like the the 2nd one if you have a sense of humor):

1) From Penn’s (Univ. of Pennsylvania) Computing Department

2) 419Eater.com - Welcome to the world of Scambaiting! When I need a good laugh, this is one of the sites I visit. I start at the Letters Archive

Seriously, 419 Scams are very dangerous. People have lost their lives pursuing these for the hope of wealth. I personally know 5 families who were involved in one. They lost over $105,000 and one person was lucky to escape Nigeria with his life.

My family and I have received a lot of favor from ticket counter agents over the years. We’re nice to them because it’s the right thing to do, but it’s shocking how badly we’ve seen others treat them!

Peter Greenberg, the Travel Detective has a video that gives you some good strategies for scoring airline upgrades: (you can view his other videos, too)

Are you cruising to Cozumel?

Here’s a useful tip to save you money on souvenirs at Cozumel’s cruise ship docks:

Don’t buy at the shops near the docks when you come off the ship in the morning. Wait until the afternoon when people are starting to head back to the ship. At that time, you’ll see the vendors putting up their “Big Sale” & “Prices Slashed” signs. They do this every day. You may notice the signs are a little worn, too.

I am trying to find a Collision Damage Waiver for a UK car rental. The rental’s CDW is covered for the first 42 days of the trip through an expanded coverage option with Amex; however, the trip is for 49 days, so there is a period of 7 days with no CDW coverage. Is it possible to get coverage for only that period of time? Thanks for your help, Rachel

No, our Collision Damage Waiver plan only covers the entire rental period. And as far as I know, all other CDW plans have the same rules. Your only choice is to return the car after 42 days & rent it as a new rental for the other 7 days. That way you could insure your rental car because you’d be covering the entire rental period.

Does your overseas insurance cover me, for a pre-existing medical condition, if I had to go to a hospital while on my trip, and got a check up? Thanks, Sheng

Hi Sheng, Assuming you live in the US or Canada, then the only way any medical condition (pre-existing or not) is covered is if something unexpected happens that causes you to seek “Emergency Treatment”. Here’s a common definition:

“Emergency Treatment means necessary medical treatment, including services and supplies, which must be performed during the Covered Trip due to the serious and acute nature of the Accidental Injury or Sickness.”

By the way, this doesn’t mean the sickness is accidental - just accidents are accidental. This also means that a routine check-up or any other routine procedure isn’t covered.

But, let’s say you have some pre-existing medical condition & it unexpectedly takes a turn for the worse. If, in the course of you seeking Emergency Treatment, the medical professionals treating you perform a check up or another procedure that’s part of treating you, it will be covered.

Go here to see What Is Covered (Or Not)?.

BOLD TOURISM SHAKEUP:

CANADA TO PURCHASE ELY, MINNESOTA

Deal Could be Final by Early 2009

ELY, MINN. - April 1, 2008 - Today it was announced that Canada has made an unprecedented offer, as a boost to tourism, to purchase the famous Boundary Waters town of Ely, Minn., and relocate it north of the U.S./Canadian border.

In a prepared statement, the Premier of Ontario pledged Ely will retain its worldwide reputation as the entryway to the Boundary Waters, though now from the other side, as well as its legendary lakes, resorts, restaurants, gift shops and museums, including the world-famous International Wolf Center.

Reportedly, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has entered into negotiations with the Minnesota DNR and the Governor’s office to arrive at a satisfactory price. Sources close to the deal say that Ely will become Ely, Ontario as early as 2009.

Minnesota residents are left wondering if this might be the last summer to enjoy the one million acres of unspoiled wilderness Ely is known for worldwide. It’ll certainly be the last summer we can spell neighbor without a ‘u,’ ” says Ely mayor Charles Novak. “And all the schools will have to start using zed instead of ‘z’ when they teach the alphabet, and we’ll all have to learn the value of a loonie, I guess.”

Outraged Minnesotans have launched a counterattack and are petitioning the state and considering a protest at the capitol. Interested citizens can visit ely.org or call 1-800-777-7281 to sign the petition or to volunteer for the protest, or just to book one last summer fling in Ely.