Paul Gauguin Cruise Insurance - 2024 Review

Background

Paul Gauguin is a small US-based luxury cruise line sailing the South Pacific. The company’s namesake, Paul Gauguin, spent ten years in the Polynesia area painting and living with locals.

Paul Gauguin Cruises operates the longest continually-sailing cruise ship in the South Pacific, The Gauguin. The ship is fitted to cruise the shallow lagoons of the South Pacific islands and the cruise line maintains an exclusive beach retreat in Bora Bora.

Due to the design of the ship, The Gauguin can cruise into smaller ports that are inaccessible to larger cruise ships, allowing the traveler to experience a unique local Polynesian experience.

In September 2019, Paul Gauguin Cruises joined PONANT’s family, the world leader of small ship cruising.

One thing to note – you cannot book your Paul Gauguin cruise online. You must contact one of their agents for booking.

Our Cruise: South Pacific Islands

Our sample trip is the Paul Gauguin signature 7-night cruise 5/7/2022 – 5/14/2022 to Tahiti for a couple ages 60 and 55. The cruise costs $15,390 for both travelers.

Does Paul Gauguin Cruises offer travel insurance?

The short answer is ‘no’. In their FAQ section they state: “We recommend an Allianz Global Assistance Travel Protection Plan to help protect your travel investments, belongings, and most importantly, yourself.”

Therefore, we’ll look at a representative policy from Allianz and a comparable set of plans found on TravelDefenders.

As Paul Gauguin Cruises does not provide travel insurance but recommends getting a policy with Allianz, when we click the link provided, we’re taken to the Allianz site to get a quote. We provided our trip information for a quote and were presented with the three options below:

Paul Gauguin recommends the Allianz Expedition plan. This plan includes $50,000 of medical coverage, $250,000 of medical evacuation, 100% refund for trip cancellation and trip interruption, $1000 for travel delay, $3000 baggage loss, $1000 baggage delay and the following list of reasons for cancellation:

The One Trip Premier states it has the best coverage for dream vacations and remote destinations and has the best coverage overall, so this is the policy we chose for our comparison. It provides $50,000 of medical coverage and $1 million of medical evacuation. Total cost is $1,354.

Comparison Quotes

Based on our sample couple, ages 55 and 60, we created comparison quotes using TravelDefenders travel insurance marketplace engine. The trip cost used for the comparison is the cruise cost for both travelers is $15.390.

We always recommend travelers leaving the US have at least $100,000 in Medical Insurance and $250,000 Medical Evacuation. Whenever possible, we also urge travelers to get a Waiver of Pre-existing Conditions.

The least expensive plan meeting our minimum recommendations is the Trawick First Class. This plan provides $150,000 of medical coverage and $1million of medical evacuation coverage for $897.82.

The least expensive Cancel For Any Reason plan on AARDY’s website for this trip is the AIG Travel Guard Plus (CFAR 50%). This plan provides $100,000 in medical coverage and $1 million in medical evacuation coverage and provides a 50% refund if cancelling for any reason not listed in the policy and provides a 100% refund if cancelling for a work-related reason. The total cost for the policy is $1,049.16.

Next, we compare all three plans side-by-side:

Benefit	Allianz One Trip Premier	Trawick First Class	AIG Travel Guard Plus(CFAR 50%)
Trip Cancellation	Trip cost ($8,000 limit due to pre-existing condition)	100% of trip cost	100% of trip cost
Trip Interruption	Trip cost ($12,000 limit due to pre-existing condition)	150% of trip cost	150% of trip cost
Medical Insurance	$50,000	$150,000	$100,000
Medical Evacuation	$1,000,000	$1,000,000	$1,000,000
Baggage Loss/Damage	$2,000	$500/article up to $2,000 per person	$2,500 per person
Baggage Delay	$600	$400	$400
Travel Delay (Incl quarantine)	$1,600 ($100-$200/day)	$1000 per person	$1000 ($200/day)
Missed Connection	No	$1,000 per person	$500 per person
Cover Pre-existing Medical Conditions	Yes, if purchased within 14 days of deposit	Yes, if purchased within 14 days of deposit	Yes, if purchased within 21 days of deposit
Cancel For Work Reason	No	No	100% of trip cost
Interrupt For Any Reason	No	No	No
Cancel For Any Reason	No	No	50% of trip cost
Accidental Death & Dismemberment	$25,000	$25,000	$10,000
Cost of Policy	$1354.00 (8.88% of trip cost)	$897.82 (5.83% of trip cost)	$1049.16 (6.82% or trip cost)

Price and Value

The Allianz One Trip Premier only provides $50,000 of medical coverage, which is half of what we recommend when traveling overseas. The medical evacuation coverage is excellent at $1 million and is comparable to our recommended policies from TravelDefenders, but the cost is quite a bit more expensive.

The Trawick First Class gives you 3x more medical insurance then the Allianz One Trip Premier and carries the same $1 million in medical evacuation coverage as the One Trip Premier but is $456.18 LESS than the Allianz policy. This savings could be used for airfare, additional activities, or shopping.

While the Allianz One Trip Premier does not provide a Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) benefit, the AIG Travel Guard Plus (CFAR 50%) does. It will provide a 50% refund if cancelling for any reason NOT listed in the policy. It provides $100,000 in medical coverage which is twice what the Allianz policy provides and has the same $1 million in medical evacuation coverage as the Allianz policy. However, it also provides a 100% refund if cancelling for work-related reasons which the Allianz policy does not cover. Pricewise, the AIG policy is $304.84 LESS than the Allianz policy. The savings can be used for additional expenses or shopping.

In the following sections, we discuss know what to look for when shopping for travel insurance for your Paul Gauguin cruise.

Trip Cancellation

A significant concern for travelers is Trip Cancellation. If you became ill or had an accidental injury prior to your departure date, you may have to cancel your travel arrangements, resulting in financial losses. While disappointing, Trip Cancellation is doubly painful without cancellation insurance.

The Allianz One Trip Premier Plan permits cancellation for the following reasons:

• Unexpected injury, illness, or death of traveler or non-traveling family member
• A non-traveling family member suddenly becomes ill or passes away
• Involvement of a traffic accident that causes you to miss your cruise
• Residence uninhabitable by natural disaster, fire, flood, burglary
• You or your traveling companion are quarantined
• Destination uninhabitable or unreachable by fire, flood, or natural disaster
• Revocation of military leave
• Subpoena or being called to serve jury duty
• Strikes
• Terrorism

Unfortunately, Allianz’s list of cancellation reasons lacks some important coverages and have cancellation refund limitations if the reason is related to a pre-existing medical condition.

We recommend policies that also include:

• Default or bankruptcy of the common carrier or travel supplier
• Cancel For Work Reason (traveler required to work during the trip)
• Employer-initiated transfer of 250 miles or more
• Mechanical breakdown of a common carrier
• Mandatory evacuation
• Documented theft of passports or visas.

Trip Interruption

A Trip Interruption is a situation during your trip that causes you to miss some or the rest of your vacation. It’s like Trip Cancellation but happens during your travels.

The most common trip interruption is the injury or illness of a traveler. If you had an injury or illness on your vacation but can continue traveling after treatment, trip interruption reimburses the unused portion of the trip, and the cost to rejoin the trip in progress.

Trip interruption also includes a family member who had a sudden grave illness or passed away. If your covered situation requires curtailing the trip and going home early, Trip Interruption also reimburses for the unused portion of the trip, plus the added cost of going home early.

In the Allianz One Trip Premier Plan, Trip Interruption provides a 100% refund of trip costs if not related to a pre-existing medical condition, while the Trawick First Class and the AIG Travel Guard Plus (CFAR 50%) offer 150% refund of trip costs.

Photo credit Julius Silver

Cancel For Any Reason

Cancel For Any Reason insurance provides the highest level of flexibility and reimbursement if you must cancel your trip for any reason not covered by the policy.

If you cancel your cruise for a reason not listed in the Allianz One Trip Premier policy, they will not refund trip costs. You must cancel for one of the listed reasons in their policy.

However, travel insurance policies like the AIG Travel Guard Plus (CFAR 50%) will pay a 50% cash refund of all prepaid, non-refundable trip costs if you cancel for ANY reason not listed in the policy such as fear of traveling at that time or border closures.

Cancel For Any Reason policies have several stipulations:

1. Purchase the policy within 10 - 21 days (depending on policy), of your initial payment or deposit date and
2. Insure 100% of the prepaid trip costs subject to cancellation penalties or restrictions. For additional prepaid non-refundable payments made after the purchase of the policy, insure within 10-21 days (depending on policy), of each subsequent payment added to your trip, and
3. Cancel your trip 2 days or more before your scheduled departure date.

Medical Insurance for Emergency Treatment

One of the most important factors in selecting trip insurance is having adequate Medical Insurance when you travel. Anything can happen, including accidental injuries or sudden illness.

If you have a medical emergency when traveling and don’t have proper medical insurance coverage while overseas, you could find yourself with huge, unexpected hospital bills. Many Americans mistakenly believe countries with universal health care will treat them for free. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Instead, Americans receive treatment at private hospitals, not public, and must pay like anyone else. Admission for inpatient care can cost $3,000-$4,000 per day, plus the cost of treatment, x-rays, surgeries, and specialists.

A common misconception is that Medicare will pay for hospitalization overseas. Unfortunately, they won’t. Medicare does not pay providers outside the US. Some Medicare supplements do cover overseas, but have lifetime limits or reduced benefits, and pay for emergencies only. They can still require you to pay 20% of the costs. As a result, you could go on vacation and end up with medical bills in the thousands.

TravelDefenders urges overseas travelers to take travel medical insurance of at least $100,000 per person. In a medical emergency, $100,000 provides ample health care and helps protect your retirement savings from unexpected financial burdens.

The Allianz One Trip Premier Plan provides a $50,000 benefit for Medical Insurance, which is a bit low for international travel. The Trawick First Class includes $150,000 per person of Medical Insurance while the AIG Travel Guard Plus (CFAR 50%) includes $100,000 of Medical Insurance per person, so you be sure to receive proper medical treatment without ending up in debt.

Emergency Medical Evacuation

Medical Insurance isn’t the only potentially expensive part of a trip. Emergency Medical Evacuation transports you from the place of injury or illness to the closest hospital. Once you’re stable enough for transport, Medical Evacuation brings you home via commercial flight or, if necessary, private medical jet.

Medical flights can cost up to $25,000 per hour and regular health insurance does not cover it. In addition, the US State Department does not offer any medical treatment or evacuation assistance for US citizens. TravelDefenders advises travelers to get at least $250,000 Medical Evacuation to assure there’s enough coverage to get them back home from almost anywhere if they experience a serious medical event. However, if traveling to Asia or Africa or beyond, we recommend a minimum of $500,000 for Emergency Medical Evacuation due to the distance from the US.

The Allianz One Trip Premier Plan includes Medical Evacuation up to $1 million per person as do the Trawick First Class and the AIG Travel Guard Plus (CFAR 50%), so you can feel secure knowing you have adequate coverage to transport you back home if needed.

Pre-existing Medical Conditions

A significant concern for senior travelers can be pre-existing medical conditions. A Pre-Existing Medical Condition is one in which you’ve received medical treatment, testing, medication changes, added new medications, or received a recommendation for a treatment or test that hasn’t happened yet. Most travel insurance policies exclude pre-existing conditions unless you purchase the policy within the required time period from your initial trip deposit date (called the Time Sensitive Period). Otherwise, the insurer will look backward 60, 90, or 180 days (depending on the policy) from the date you purchased the insurance to see if there are any pre-existing medical conditions they won’t cover. This is called the Look Back Period. Any medical conditions older than this Look Back Period, unchanged or stabilized with no medication dosage changes are covered, as are any new conditions that arise after you purchase the policy.

If you must cancel, interrupt, or seek medical treatment for a medical condition while traveling, travel insurance policies typically exclude claims related to Pre-existing Medical Conditions. However, if you purchase the policy within a few days of your Initial Trip Payment or Deposit date, many policies add a Waiver to the policy that covers Pre-existing Conditions. As a result, there is no Look Back Period and Pre-existing Conditions are covered.

The Allianz One Trip Premier Plan will cover Pre-Existing Conditions if you purchase the policy within 14 days of your initial trip deposit or payment date. Purchase after this date and pre-existing conditions will not be waived and the Look Back Period is 120 days from the date of policy purchase.

The Trawick First Class covers Pre-existing Medical Conditions if you purchase within 14 days of your initial trip payment or deposit date. Purchase after this date and pre-existing conditions will not be waived and the Look Back Period is 60 days from the date of policy purchase.  The AIG Travel Guard Plus (CFAR 50%) covers pre-existing conditions if you purchase within 21 days of the initial trip payment or deposit. Purchase after this date and pre-existing conditions will not be waived and the Look Back Period is 180 days from the date of policy purchase.

Price and Value

As Paul Gauguin Cruises does not offer travel insurance, the traveler is left with finding insurance on their own. Choosing their recommended insurer, the best Allianz policy quoted only provides $50,000 of medical, which may not be adequate for a serious illness or injury. However, it does provide excellent medical evacuation coverage of $1 million. Cancellation reasons are fairly robust, but it does not offer a Cancel For Any Reason option. Overall, the One Trip Premier Plan offers limited value for the high price.

In contrast, by comparison shopping, we found the Trawick First Class policy comes in at $897.82 which is $456.18 less than the Allianz policy and carries 3x the medical coverage ($150,000 versus $50,000 for Allianz). The AIG Travel Guard Plus (CFAR 50%) also includes better medical coverage than Allianz ($100,000 for AIG versus $50,000 for Allianz). Plus, it includes a Cancel For Any Reason provision that refunds 50% of trip costs back in cash. At $1,049.16, The AIG Travel Guard Plus (CFAR 50%) is $304.84 less than the Allianz policy and provides superior coverage.

Conclusion

Insurance options recommended by Paul Gauguin Cruises provides travelers with an expensive policy insufficient for traveling overseas and could leave travelers unpleasantly surprised during an emergency. Medical coverage is low while the price is high. Overall, we rate their recommendation a 7 out of 10.

Travelers planning a Paul Gauguin cruise vacation will find the best value for their money and peace of mind when they shop for travel insurance at TravelDefenders Travel Insurance Marketplace. There, you can review dozens of options and select the best policy to fit your needs.

To help you find the best policy, TravelDefenders recommends having at least $100,000 in travel medical coverage and $250,000 emergency medical evacuation when traveling outside the US. And, if you purchase the policy within the 14-21 days of initial trip payment, please consider a travel insurance policy with the pre-existing condition waiver included to ensure the most coverage for your money.

If you are planning a Paul Gauguin cruise in 2022, be sure to pack insurance before you travel. You never know when you may need it.

Have questions? Chat with us online, send us an email at agent@TravelDefenders.com or alternatively call us at +1(786) 321 3723. We would love to hear from you.

Safe Travels!