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 for things like emergency medical treatments and evacuations, trip cancellations and interruptions, travel delays and missed connections, etc. They can also reimburse you financially for medical bills, missed on-shore excursions, missing the ship, missed hotels and flights, and more.
Cruise insurance is a great idea for anyone going on a cruise, but is especially useful for families, seniors.
Benefits of travel insurance for cruises:
- Designed specifically for cruise scenarios
- Protects you on land & at sea
- Coverage before & after boarding the ship
- Covers shore excursions & missing the ship
- Covers medical evacuation to shore & medical bills
Ideal for:
- Families
- Seniors
- Pre-Existing Conditions
Do I Need Travel Insurance for a Cruise?
Just about all major cruise lines recommend buying cruise insurance, mainly because medical evacuations from the open sea to receive treatment onshore can be extremely expensive.
In fact, some cruise lines require guests to have travel insurance before boarding the ship.
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 insurance policy from Squaremouth protects you from departure to return, covering essential expenses such as flights, hotels, and your cruise booking.
Trip cancellation coverage can reimburse you for up to 100% of your trip cost, including things like airfare, cruise bookings, food and beverage packages, and off-shore excursions.
Cruise insurance can cover the cost of evacuating you to the nearest adequate medical facility for treatment. Due to the high costs of medical emergency evacuations at sea, we recommend selecting policies with at least $250,000 of Medical Evacuation coverage.
Cruise insurance can 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 reimburse you if you need to cancel your trip due to inclement weather at your residence, port of departure, or destination. To be eligible for hurrican and weather coverage, you must purchase a policy before the storm is named.
If you’re forced to cut your trip short or need to change your itinerary due to a covered reason, travel interruption coverage can reimburse you for up to 150% of your trip cost and help you with rebooking.
If you run into travel delays on your trip, you can be offered a stipend for the cost of meals, accommodations, and transportation expenses incurred during a significant delay. This can also extend to missed connection coverage, such as missing the ship.
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.
How Much Does Cruise Insurance Cost?
Comprehensive cruise 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 between $177 - $570, proprietary Squaremouth sales data from May 24, 2024 - May 23, 2025 reveals that the majority of cruisers are spending between $300-$850 on their policies. However, this amount varies by coverage type.
Where Can I Buy Cruise Insurance?
You can buy cruise insurance plans directly from your cruise line, from a travel insurance provider, or from travel insurance comparison sites. The best way to find affordable cruise insurance is to use a comparison site like Squaremouth, which allows you to compare coverage and prices from multiple providers.
That said, there are benefits to buying cruise insurance through a third-party travel insurance provider instead of through a cruise line.
Benefits of Third-party Cruise Insurance
While convenient, purchasing cruise insurance directly from a cruise line often comes with higher costs, limitations in coverage, and a lack of options compared to third-party plans.
Choosing a third-party travel insurance cruise plan can provide better coverage limits and more competitive pricing compared to cruise line offerings.
Some cruise ship travel insurance plans only cover specific cruise-related expenses and won’t cover disruptions related to flights, hotels, etc. Third-party cruise insurance travel policies protect your entire trip, including flights, hotels, and excursions. Third-party plans often offer higher medical coverage limits and better Trip Cancellation options.
Cruise lines have a captive audience with their existing customers and don’t usually need to offer competitive pricing for cruise insurance plans. Cruisers can often find more affordable coverage on the open market, which also often offers greater flexibility, giving you better value for your money.
Most cruise lines only offer one or two insurance plans. If you are looking for specific coverage options that aren’t included in the plans offered by your cruise line, you may want to consider comparing cruise travel insurance plans from other providers. Shopping around for cruise insurance allows you to see how different plans compare side-by-side and find the right coverage for your specific needs.
Plans offered by cruise lines typically offer standard coverage with no option to upgrade or customize your plan, which can make it difficult to find the right coverage for your needs. Third-party plans often offer flexible coverage options, including customizing your coverage limits and optional add-ons like Cancel For Any Reason coverage.
Cruise Insurance Reviews by Cruise Line
Here is a look at how travel insurance plans from major cruise lines stack up to third-party travel insurance. Below, we highlight some of the weak points we found when reviewing each plan.
Carnival Cruise Insurance Review
Carnival’s cruise trip insurance plan, dubbed Carnival Vacation Protection, is an optional add-on for customers when purchasing.
Carnival Vacation Protection includes a form of Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) coverage at no additional cost, unlike many third-party options. The plan’s Trip Delay coverage is also respectable, providing reimbursement for delays that exceed 3 hours.
Although the Carnival cruise insurance plan is great for cancellations, it falls short on several fronts, including:
- Trip Cancellation: Only covers a customer's airfare and cruise expenses, and does not provide protection for other non-refundable travel expenses like rental cars, hotel stays, or prepaid excursions.
- Emergency Medical: Includes just $10,000 in cruise medical insurance coverage per person, the lowest of any plan offered by a cruise line.
- Medical Evacuation & Repatriation: Offers $30,000 in Medical Evacuation coverage, which is likely not enough to cover the cost of emergency transportation services at sea.
- Pre-Existing Conditions: Does not provide any coverage if you experience a flare up of a pre-existing medical condition during your trip.
Princess Cruise Insurance Review
Princess Cruises offers its Princess Vacation Protection package, which is available at two different coverage levels:
- Standard
- Platinum
Both plans include Cancel For Any Reason coverage that can reimburse up to 100% of your cruise booking if you need to cancel your trip. Similar to Carnival’s protection plan, Princess Cruise insurance also offers Trip Delay coverage if you’re delayed at least 3 hours.
Although this plan is great for cancellations, even Princess Cruises’ Platinum policy lacks in the following areas:
- Trip Cancellation: Only covers a customer's cruise expenses, and does not provide any protection for airfare or other non-refundable trip costs like rental cars, hotel stays, or prepaid excursions.
- Emergency Medical: Includes just $20,000 in cruise medical insurance, which falls $80,000 short of Squaremouth’s recommended coverage limit for cruisers.
- Medical Evacuation & Repatriation: Offers $100,000 in Medical Evacuation coverage, which is less than the $250,000 we recommend for coverage in this area.
- Pre-Existing Conditions: Does not provide any coverage if you experience a flare up of a pre-existing medical condition during your trip.
Royal Caribbean Cruise Insurance Review
Royal Caribbean is the world's biggest cruise line with routes to more than 270 destinations around the globe. Their travel insurance offering, named Royal Caribbean Travel Protection, is offered to all customers as an optional add-on during the checkout process.
The plan mirrors that of other cruise lines mentioned, with built-in CFAR protection that reimburses 90% of cruise expenses in the event of an uncovered cancellation. Royal Caribbean’s plan also features generous Trip Delay coverage, offering $2,000 for delays that exceed 3 hours.
Royal Caribbean’s cruise insurance is great for cancellation, but the drawbacks include:
- Trip Cancellation: Only covers a customer's cruise expenses, and does not provide any protection for airfare or other non-refundable trip costs like rental cars, hotel stays, or prepaid excursions.
- Emergency Medical: Includes just $20,000 in Emergency Medical coverage per person, falling way short of Squaremouth’s recommended $100,000 coverage limit for cruisers.
- Medical Evacuation & Repatriation: Offers $50,000 in Medical Evacuation coverage, which is likely not enough to cover the cost of emergency transportation or repatriation services while at sea.
- Pre-Existing Conditions: Does not provide any coverage if you experience a flare up of a pre-existing medical condition during your trip.
Disney Cruise Insurance Review
Disney’s cruise insurance policy is known as the Disney Cruise Line Vacation Protection Plan.
Like other cruise protection plans, Disney Cruise Lines’ offering includes CFAR coverage at no additional cost, reimbursing 75% of cruise expenses for uncovered cancellations. The plan also features among the best Baggage Loss protection of any cruise line plan, providing up to $3,000 in reimbursement for lost, damaged, or stolen luggage during a trip.
Before purchasing this coverage, we recommend considering the following:
- Trip Cancellation: Disney cruise insurance covers all trip costs up to $20,000, which may not be enough coverage if you’re planning a long trip or have high travel expenses.
- Emergency Medical: Includes just $20,000 in cruise medical insurance, which falls $80,000 short of Squaremouth’s recommended coverage limit for cruisers.
- Medical Evacuation & Repatriation: Offers $30,000 in Medical Evacuation coverage, which is likely not enough to cover the cost of emergency transportation or repatriation services while at sea.
- Travel Delay: The only major cruise line to require a 6+ hour delay to receive reimbursement.
Is it Worth Paying for Cruise Insurance?
Yes, buying cruise trip insurance is well worth the cost as it can save you thousands of dollars if something goes wrong, whether you are on land or at sea.
Although plans typically cost about 5% to 10% of your trip price, cruise insurance can reimburse you for up to 100% of your total trip cost in some cases. Therefore, it's a small price to pay for the ample benefits cruise insurance offers you, including the peace of mind that comes from knowing you are protected.
Most comprehensive cruise travel protection insurance plans can cover you for:
- Medical Emergencies: If you get sick or injured during your trip, cruise insurance can help pay for expensive onboard medical care or treatment in a foreign port.
- Medical Evacuations: If you need to be evacuated from the ship for emergency care, insurance can cover transportation costs, which often exceed $50,000.
- Cruise Cancellations: If you have to cancel your trip due to illness, injury, family emergencies, or other covered reasons, insurance can reimburse your prepaid, non-refundable travel expenses.
- Missed Cruise Departures: If a flight delay or other travel issue causes you to miss the ship's departure, insurance can help cover the costs to catch up to the next port.
- Lost Luggage: Cruise insurance can reimburse you for lost or delayed baggage, helping you replace your belongings or make essential purchases.
FAQs: Cruise Travel Insurance
No, while many cruise lines offer travel protection to customers, it is not required. In fact, many cruisers opt to insure their cruise through third-party travel insurance providers due to lower premiums and better coverage.
Travel insurance requirements vary by cruise line. In most cases, travel insurance is not required to take a cruise. With that said, almost all cruise lines strongly recommend that customers purchase travel medical coverage before embarking on a cruise vacation.
Opting for cruise cancellation insurance can help recoup prepaid expenses if your trip is disrupted for a covered reason. Be sure to check your cruise line’s insurance requirements before departing for your cruise.
Almost all comprehensive travel insurance plans purchased through third-party providers will include cruise and flight insurance coverage. This includes reimbursing you for lost expenses relating to airfare, cruise bookings, excursions, and hotel stays. That said, travel protection plans offered by cruise ships are more restrictive and typically only cover your cruise expenses.
We recommend purchasing travel insurance for cruise ships within 14 days of making your initial trip deposit. In most cases, this will be your cruise booking.
Purchasing trip insurance for cruises at this stage of your trip planning will provide you with the longest possible coverage period, and may make you eligible for time-sensitive benefits like Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) coverage and Pre-Existing Condition coverage.
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