I'm not talking about your underwear, rather - the boring topic - insurance.There's a bit of confusion in regards to travel insurance for domestic cruises.
As technically on a domestic cruise you aren't leaving Aussie waters, some people think you do NOT need medical insurance as we have Medicare.
WRONG!
Any medical treatment, emergency, or accident that you have on board will incur an expense. And, while I don't have the exact details about how much it costs to visit the Ship's Doctors, I can tell you it isn't cheap (nor should it be) and it will cost more than getting travel insurance.
(As an aside, I worked with a guy who was a Cruise Ship Doctor for six months. He had some colourful stories to tell that ranged from STIs, horrendous bouts of gastro and even deaths. Yes, there is a morgue aboard.)
99.99% of the time, you'll be fine (Again, don't quote me on my figures), but for peace of mind, and 'just in case', get insurance.
I would NEVER go on a cruise without insurance as I know how clumsy and accident prone I am.Here's a few tips:
- You only pay for adults
- Choose 'domestic cruise' option or 'Australia'
- Check the excess and what is covered
- The going rate for reasonable cover is around $70 for two adults
There are heaps of insurance companies including: Insure and Go, Covermore, Australia Post and even Woolworths.
Today, I actually bought mine from Woolworths as I thought it'd be pretty cool to get the points on my loyalty card. I'm a sucker for those promos.
Insurance isn't just for medical emergencies though, it's for things like missed ports, delays, lost items (we HAVE lost a number of Ipods/Iphones while on our travels) and loads of other things you might not have considered.
So my advice: GET TRAVEL INSURANCE - even for short cruises to 'nowhere'.
