Third-party Insurance

Generally the third-party insurance policies are better and here’s why: They tend to be more comprehensive. They cov­er you if your flight is can­celled and you miss a day or two of your cruise va­ca­tion; many even cov­er pre-ex­ist­ing med­ical con­di­tions. Plus they of­fer cash back for can­cel­la­tion (typ­ical­ly up to 75%) as op­posed to the fu­ture cruise cred­it of­fered by the cruise line poli­cies. And they’ll cov­er you if the cruise line goes bel­ly up — though some cred­it cards will al­so pro­tect you if that hap­pens. Do note that the extent of coverage can differ from insurer to insurer, so always read the fine print before you commit to a policy.

Policies are available from reputable insurers such as Allianz (tel. 800/284-8300; ac­ces­samer­ica.com), Travel Guard International (tel. 800/826-4919; trav­el­guard.com), and Travel Insured International (tel. 800/243-3174; trav­elin­sured.com). Or check with Squaremouth (tel. 800/240-0369; square­mouth.com) to compare third-party policies.

Read the full article from USA Today at: http://www.usatoday.com/experience/cruise/cruise-101/insurance-and-cancellations/2139135/