Top Cruise Travel Insurance Plans
These plans are some of the most popular cruise policies among Squaremouth visitors. When comparing benefits side by side, these cruise insurance plans stand out for offering high coverage limits for emergency medical treatments and evacuations, missed connections, travel delays, cruise-specific benefits, and more.
See a complete breakdown of what these plans offer and why we chose them in our full list of the Best Cruise Travel Insurance Companies of 2026.
What is Cruise Insurance?
Cruise insurance is a specific type of travel insurance designed to protect you while on land and at sea during your cruise vacation.
These plans can protect you from things like emergency medical treatments and evacuations, trip cancellations and interruptions, travel delays, missed connections, and more. They can also reimburse you financially for medical bills, missed on-shore excursions, missing the ship, missed ports of call, and unexpected itinerary changes, and more.
Cruise-specific travel insurance is especially useful for families, seniors, or those with pre-existing medical conditions, but it’s also a smart choice for anyone going on a cruise.
Benefits of travel insurance for cruises:
- Designed specifically for cruise scenarios
- Protects you on land & at sea, across multiple ports of call
- Coverage before & after boarding the ship
- Covers shore excursions & missing the ship
- Covers medical evacuation to shore & medical bills
Ideal for:
Cruise Travel Topics
Quote, Compare, & Buy Cruise Insurance
Compare top plans & providers to find the best travel insurance for your cruise. Compare Cruise Insurance
Do I Need Travel Insurance for a Cruise?
All major cruise lines recommend buying cruise insurance, mainly because medical evacuations at sea can be extremely expensive.
Some cruise lines require passengers to show proof of travel insurance before boarding the ship, such as on cruises to Antarctica or other riskier destinations.
We recommend reviewing your cruise line’s recommendations and guidelines before boarding to see if travel insurance is required.
Additionally, most U.S. health insurance plans, including Medicare, do not cover medical care outside the country. Not having a travel insurance plan could leave you on the hook financially if an emergency arises at sea.
In an emergency, quick access to medical support is essential. At a minimum, we recommend buying a travel insurance plan that provides strong emergency medical and evacuation coverage.
What Does Cruise Insurance Cover?
A comprehensive cruise travel insurance policy protects you from departure to return, covering a wide range of disruptions like:
- Medical emergencies
- Ship-to-shore evacuations
- Itinerary changes or cancellations
- Flight disruptions & delays
- Missed port departure
- Hurricanes & severe weather
- Missed shore excursions
- Cabin quarantine due to illness
- Mechanical breakdowns
- Shipboard service disruptions
- Luggage and personal items
Here is a detailed look at some of the main benefits offered by cruise travel insurance.
Trip cancellation coverage can reimburse you for up to 100% of your prepaid nonrefundable trip cost.
For example, if you, a family member, or a travel companion gets sick, trip cancellation coverage can let you cancel your trip and reimburse you if a licensed physician deems you unfit to travel.
Without cancellation insurance, many cruise lines only offer vouchers for rebooking at a later date, which only addresses part of the total cost of your trip.
Look to include the following trip costs when insuring your cruise: airfare, cruise fare, food and beverage packages, shore excursions, hotel stays before and after, tours, transport services, and more.
Medical Evacuation Coverage can pay to evacuate you to the nearest adequate medical facility for treatment.
This is perhaps the most important coverage for cruise vacations, as ship-to-shore evacuations can be extremely expensive, and onboard medical facilities are limited.
We recommend selecting policies with at least $250,000 of Medical Evacuation coverage.
Having the proper medical coverage in place is important as cruises often travel in international waters, and U.S. health insurance and Medicare don't work internationally.
The best cruise insurance plans can fully cover the cost of emergency medical expenses, such as hospital bills and emergency dental services.
We recommend opting for plans with at least $100,000 of Emergency Medical coverage.
Travel insurance can cover you for hurricanes if you purchase your policy before the storm is named.
Your policy’s Severe Weather coverage can reimburse you if you are forced to cancel your cruise due to severe weather or destruction at your residence, port of departure, or destination.
According to a recent NOAA report, hurricane seasons are becoming more active, so purchasing this coverage is an important consideration if you plan to take a cruise during hurricane season.
Trip interruption coverage can reimburse you for up to 150% of your trip cost and help you with rebooking if you’re forced to cut your trip short or need to change your itinerary due to a covered reason.
For example, this coverage can pay for alternate arrangements and new bookings to help you pick up where you left off if you fall ill and need to be hospitalized for a few days.
Cruise travel insurance plans often include Travel Delay coverage, which can reimburse you for meals, accommodations, and transportation expenses incurred while you await your new departure time.
This coverage is especially important if you have a complex itinerary or plan to fly to the port of departure.
Each plan has different waiting time criteria for when this coverage takes effect, so we recommend looking for policies with shorter wait times.
Cruise travel insurance often includes missed connection coverage, which can protect you if you miss your ship’s departure due to a covered reason, such as flight delays.
Missed connection coverage can pay to help you catch back up with the ship and continue your vacation, and often reimburses you for missed tours or excursions as well.
All plans sold on Squaremouth include 24/7 travel assistance services. If you run into issues while traveling, you can call and get emergency assistance with things like managing emergencies, finding a nearby doctor, help with rebooking, and more.
Financial Default coverage offers protection if your cruise line or other travel supplier goes bankrupt or becomes insolvent.
This cruise protection can allow you to cancel your trip and receive a full reimbursement, or it can reimburse you for alternate travel arrangements needed to continue your initial planned itinerary.
Optional Cancel For Any Reason coverage (CFAR) lets you cancel your trip for reasons that are excluded from standard trip cancellation policies.
As an optional upgrade, CFAR increases your premium by 40%-60%, but can offer a partial reimbursement of 50%-75% of your total trip cost when you cancel within 2-days of your planned trip departure date.
This coverage is especially useful for foreseen events that commonly affect cruises. For example, CFAR can cover hurricane cancellations even if you bought your plan after the storm was named. It can also be useful if the cruise before yours is quarantined for a Norovirus outbreak, for example, and you decide to cancel your trip out of fear of contagion.
Keep in mind that the CFAR is a time-sensitive benefit, available only within 14-21 days of making your initial cruise deposit, and requires you to insure 100% of your trip cost for eligibility.
How Much Does Cruise Travel Insurance Cost?
Comprehensive cruise travel insurance policies typically cost between 4% - 10% of your total insured travel expenses. According to these industry benchmarks, a $10,000 cruise vacation will cost anywhere from $400 - $1,000 to protect with comprehensive coverage.
While industry-wide reports estimate the average cost of cruise travel insurance to be between $177 - $570, proprietary Squaremouth sales data from the past 12 months (May 1, 2025 - May 1, 2026) reveals that the majority of cruisers are spending between $100 - $790 on their policies. However, this amount varies by coverage type, age, trip length, and optional upgrades like CFAR and IFAR.
Here is a look at how choosing different types of coverage affects the cost of cruise insurance.
| Policy Type | Avg. Cruise Insurance Price |
|---|---|
| Travel Medical | $100.59 |
| Comprehensive (Medical + Cancellation) | $541.99 |
| Comprehensive with CFAR Add-On | $801.65 |
Methodology: This analysis is based on anonymized purchase data from Squaremouth’s proprietary travel insurance quote and booking engine from May 1, 2025 - May 1, 2026. Premium amounts reflect finalized purchase prices, segmented by policy type. All sales included in this data set had Squaremouth’s ‘Cruise’ filter activated at the time of purchase.
Where Can I Buy Cruise Insurance?
You can buy cruise insurance plans:
- From your cruise line
- From a travel insurance provider
- From travel insurance comparison sites
However, the easiest way to compare cruise travel insurance quotes, benefits, and reviews from trusted providers all in a single place is by using a comparison site like Squaremouth.
This allows you to quickly identify plans that offer the best value and coverage from over 20 of America’s top insurance providers, which often outperform cruise insurance policies from the cruise lines.
Here is a look at the main benefits of buying cruise insurance through a third-party travel insurance provider instead of through a cruise line.
Benefits of Third-party Cruise Insurance
Despite being quick and convenient to purchase, cruise-line-sponsored plans are often more expensive, offer limited coverage inclusions, and less flexible options than buying a third-party travel insurance policy.
Plans on Squaremouth often offer better overall coverage limits at a more affordable price than buying directly from your cruise line.
For example, third-party cruise insurance policies typically offer:
- Full-trip protection (not just the cruise)
- Higher medical and evacuation limits (important when at sea)
- Stronger trip cancellation protection
- A greater list of coverages (more scenarios covered)
- Optional upgrades for CFAR
Many third-party cruise insurance travel policies often offer higher medical coverage limits and better Trip Cancellation protection overall than plans from the cruise lines. They are able to insure your entire trip and reimburse you for cancelled flights, hotels, and on-shore excursions.
Cruise lines typically only cover cruise-specific scenarios, meaning you may miss out on coverage before and after your time on the ship, including coverage for flight delays, late or lost baggage, or reimbursement for hotels.
Third-party travel insurance offers monetary reimbursements for covered cancellations and can deliver funds directly to your bank account. In many cases, this cash-in-hand reimbursement offers cruisers greater flexibility than the vouchers offered through cruise lines.
For example, many cruise lines have strict cancellation policies and only offer “Future Cruise Credits” when you cancel your cruise. This can pose a problem if it comes with an expiry date or the future cruise is more expensive than your initial one.
When you buy cruise protection insurance on the open market, you can often get a better deal as providers compete on price. Before buying from your cruise line, be sure to check the price versus the benefits offered.
Many third-party cruise insurance policies cost the same as plans from cruise lines but offer more benefits and higher coverage limits.
Third-party plans are more flexible as they typically offer options for raising coverage limits, covering sports and activities, pre-existing conditions, and choosing valuable add-ons for coverages like Cancel For Any Reason.
If you have specific coverage needs that aren’t included in the plans offered by your cruise line, you may want to shop around.
Most cruise lines only offer one or two insurance plans versus the hundreds of travel insurance plans available on sites like Squaremouth.
Squaremouth makes it easy to accurately compare cruise insurers in the U.S. market to find the coverage you want and a price you can afford. Comparing plans side by side lets you easily identify where each plan excels and where it lacks.
Is it Worth Paying for Cruise Insurance?
Cruise insurance is worth it due to the high cost of ship-to-shore medical evacuations alone, which can exceed $250,000 in out-of-pocket costs if uninsured. Apart from that, at around 4%-10% of your total trip cost, cruise travel insurance policies have a relatively low cost versus the coverage they offer, typically reimbursing 100% trip cost for cancellations and 150% for trips that get cut short.
Comprehensive cruise travel protection is worth having to ensure you are protected for medical emergencies and evacuations, cancellations with non-refundable cruise costs, missing the ship’s strict port departure time, mechanical breakdowns, onboard quarantines, hurricanes, and more.
What to Look for When Buying Cruise Insurance
The three most important things to remember when buying cruise insurance are:
- Medical & Medevac protection should be your highest priority, as medical conditions may require on-shore treatments, and U.S. health insurance isn’t accepted internationally. Opt for at least $100,000 of Emergency Medical coverage and $250,000 of Medical Evacuation coverage.
- Look for policies with cruise-specific benefits, like coverage for missing the ship, reimbursement for missed shore excursions, missed ports of call, cabin quarantine, and shipboard service disruptions.
- Opting for a third-party cruise insurance policy is the best way to get a plan with stronger coverage, cruise-specific benefits, full trip cost reimbursement, and save money in the process.
Squaremouth’s comparison tool lets you accurately compare cruise insurers and get customized coverage based on your specific needs. This is an easy way to find a cruise travel insurance policy that balances value and coverage.
Here is why customers rate Squaremouth as one of the most trusted platforms for comparing cruise travel insurance:
FAQs: Cruise Travel Insurance
Yes, but only if you have Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) coverage.
CFAR insurance is the only type of travel insurance that can cover fear of travel and foreseen events, like known viral outbreaks on board, which are excluded from standard plans. It can reimburse you for between 50% and 75% of your prepaid, non-refundable trip costs.
In most cases you are free to buy travel insurance from the company of your choice, and most cruisers opt to insure their cruise through third-party travel insurance providers due to lower costs, better coverage, and customizable options.
Travel insurance is not required for most cruises, but nearly every cruise line strongly recommends having travel insurance before boarding due to the limited medical facilities while at sea, high medevac costs, and other concerns like missing the ship.
We recommend checking your cruise line’s insurance requirements before departing.
Yes, nearly all third-party comprehensive cruise insurance plans include flight coverage that can reimburse you for costs and expenses related to:
- Flight cancellations
- Flight delays
- Missed connections
- Lost or delayed baggage
- In-flight medical emergencies
- Incidental expenses you incur while delayed or stranded.
Credit Card travel insurance is not strong enough to adequately cover you for a cruise, as nearly every credit card lacks medical protection, the most important coverage for cruises.
Your credit card may offer cancellation protection, but at a minimum you should buy a supplementary medical travel insurance policy for your trip.
Some cruise-specific policies can cover missed ports or unexpected itinerary changes due to severe weather, natural disasters, or mechanical issues. However, voluntary changes due to inconvenience are not covered by standard travel insurance.
Optional CFAR and IFAR coverage are the only types of travel insurance that can reimburse you for voluntary changes, interruptions, or cancellations due to convenience.
Many travel insurance plans with missed connection coverage can help you rejoin your cruise at the next port if you missed the departure due to a covered reason.
However, the legality of joining your cruise after a missed departure typically depends on the cruise line’s policy and local cabotage laws, such as the Passenger Vessel Services Act in the United States.
We recommend buying cruise insurance within 10 days of making your initial trip deposit, as this is the best time to access important time-sensitive benefits like:
- Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR)
- Pre-Existing Condition coverage
- Financial Default protection
- Terrorism coverage
- Cancel for Work Reasons
Buying cruise insurance soon after your initial deposit also extends the amount of time you are covered for pre-departure benefits like trip cancellation protection.
Yes, annual travel insurance can cover you if you take multiple cruises per year without having to buy separate policies for each trip, but it often lacks cruise-specific coverage.
Annual multi-trip plans are best if you prioritize medical coverage, as they have limited trip cancellation and cost-protection benefits. They sometimes carry geographic restrictions, like only offering coverage outside your home country, and limit trip lengths.
Yes, third-party cruise travel insurance policies offer the most comprehensive cruise cancellation protection around, as plans from cruise lines often come with greater restrictions, don’t offer full-trip protection, and may not offer cash refunds.
See our full guide on how travel insurance can help with cruise cancellations.
Some policies offer extension of coverage, which can allow your coverage to stay in place for extra time if you are forced to quarantine.
Some cruise-specific policies may also offer a cabin confinement benefit. However, whether or not this coverage is available depends on the specific policy, and typically requires quarantine to be ordered by a physician or other authority for coverage to apply.
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