I've purchased medical coverage for trips. Some countries require it I was told by our agent/trip planner. Also check with your current health care provider on whether you are covered out of the country. Mine at the time did cover me when traveling but only paid for treatment at hospitals on their list.

I've never purchased additional health coverage. I have been traveling with a child since she was a wee one, and still not done it.

Never thought it necessary, and we have done some crazy adventure driven trips. None of "graze" the buffet all day-type trips. Three squares (gourmet to die for), snacks offered upon return of afternoon activities and hors de'oeuvre at happy hour prior to dinner. One trip I lost 15 lbs over 3 weeks, despite dining like a queen:))).

Have you contacted your health insurance carrier? Probably a good idea to see what they have to say. Are you doing one of the large cruiseline trips? Haven't ever done any cruises on the big lines, have only done small ship adventures. The internationals always had a physician on board despite the small number of passengers and staff (approx. 128 total capacity).

Trips we've done within/around US borders didn't have a physician on board, but those were also cruises with an even smaller passenger capacity.

In the event you are injured, the ship's physician is probably going to be making the call as to where you will receive your medical treatment. I'd inquire from the cruiseline about that as well. What's their plan for injuries sustained requiring medical attention in excess of what the ship's physician can provide. They must have some sort of policy/guidelines for that. If they don't, I'd be surprised and a little worried.

Also, while the ship is set to sail at 4, I'd bet that doesn't actually happen until at least 5. We've never sailed at the exact departure time :).

I have purchased trip cancellation insurance but only for trips to the OBX. Hurricane season runs through November, and we usually go the week preceding Labor Day (the very height of the season). Have more than once started our vacation on the heels of a direct OBX hurricane hit. I've never had to use the insurance.

Are you heading to Mexico?

If you haven't done so already, you should look up this information on cruisecritic.com There is a wealth of information over there.

We always buy cruise insurance, but never from the cruiseline themselves. Insuremytrip.com gives you various options from all different insurance companies, they are sort of a clearing house. Thank Goodness we have never needed it but it is certainly worth it if you do.

Have a great trip! It's coming up soon! We are going on a Med. cruise at the end of September, absolutely cannot wait!

Here is a link that might be useful: cruise critic, go to the Boards and search...

I'm sorry, I did not read the part that you were going to be on a cruise for your trip. The cruise line will most likly provide some coverage, for some things, that may come up while onboard. It is included in the payment you make to them. You still may want to check with insurance requirments for any countries you visit when docked. When I went to Europe we had to buy extra coverage since some countries had insurance mandates. Some countries have mandates for their own citzens and require insurance for anyone entering the country. Some countries with socialized medicine won't cover non-citizens who did not pay into their system and will hand you a bill. Again, check with your current medical insurance provider as to whether they will pay the bill should anything happen while in another country. I think travelers medical insurance is a good idea, but I never had to actually use it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Countries with insurance mandates

Well I found out through talking with Anthem BC that our plan covers us worldwide. I was quite surprised. It will cover the costs of the ship's doctor and treatment onboard as in network because we have no other option. If it's an emergency say in Belize, it's covered in network because it was an emergency. If we get sick and need to see a doctor but it's not an emergency, and we're not on the ship, we need to call their travel hotline and find a provider in that country or it's out of network.

As far as the flight, I changed it to leave on Sat. I just couldn't take the stress of flying in with 2 hours leeway to get to the ship. We were booked on SW, so there wasn't any fees to change and we actually saved $23 per ticket. I found a hotel in Tampa and am using reward points from our credit card to pay for the two rooms, so it's not going to cost us anything more out of pocket, and I'm feeling so much better!!! I couldn't sleep the last few nights.

Does your Anthem policy cover medical evacuation? If not, you can get inexpensive medical insurance (not the medical evacuation one) on insuremytrip.com. I did an inquiry yesterday for the cruise my sister and I are going on to just get the medical policy, and they had some that were less than $30 for us both. It also covered trip interruption/cancellation and luggage coverage. We're driving to Port Canaveral, so we don't really need travel coverage, and she won the cruise on teh radio, and you can't get any coverage for a free trip (even though we had to pay $300 for port fees and taxes for the "free" trip, GRR!).

Anthem will cover evacuating you to the nearest medical facility that can provide the care you need, so no necessarily to my home hospital, but in the case of an emergency, I would think you would want to go to wherever is closest anyways.

It won't cover transporting you home if your travel plans can't be kept - I guess that's where travel insurance would come in handy.

I'm just happy that basic and emergency medical coverage is covered, and in the case of a catastrophic illness/accident, I guess I'll take my chances and pay the travel costs to get home.