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Fact Checked
Our analysis has found that WorldTrips, Nationwide and TravelSafe Insurance are the best cruise insurance companies.
Not all travel insurance policies provide top-notch coverage for cruises, so we evaluated 37 travel insurance policies with missed connection coverage to find the best cruise insurance. We scored policies based on cost, trip cancellation, trip interruption and medical expense benefits.
| Company | Forbes Advisor Rating | Top-scoring policy | Emergency medical/evacuation coverage limits per person | Missed connection coverage per person | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WorldTrips |  |
5.0 |  |
Atlas Journey Premier | $150,000/$1 million | Get a Quote | Via Forbes Advisor's Website | $2,000 | |
| Nationwide |  |
4.5 |  |
Cruise Luxury | $150,000/$1million | Get a Quote | Via Forbes Advisor's Website | $2,500 | |
| TravelSafe Insurance |  |
4.5 | |
Classic | $100,000/$1 million | Get a Quote | Via Forbes Advisor's Website | $2,500 | |
| AIG |  |
4.0 |  |
Travel Guard Preferred | $50,000/$500,000 | Get a Quote | Via Forbes Advisor's Website | $1,000 | |
| AXA Assistance USA |  |
4.0 | |
Platinum | $250,000/$1 million | Get a Quote | Via Forbes Advisor's Website | $1,500 | |
| Generali Global Assistance |  |
4.0 | |
Premium | $250,000/$1million | Get a Quote | Via Forbes Advisor's Website | $1,000 | |
| HTH Worldwide |  |
4.0 | |
TripProtector Preferred | $500,000/$1 million | Get a Quote | Via Forbes Advisor's Website | $1,000 | |
| John Hancock Insurance Agency |  |
4.0 | |
Gold | $250,000/$1 million | Get a Quote | Via Forbes Advisor's Website | $1,000 | |
| Seven Corners |  |
4.0 | |
Trip Protection Choice | $500,000/$1 million | Get a Quote | Via Forbes Advisor's Website | $1,500 | |
| Trawick International |  |
4.0 | |
Safe Travels First Class | $150,000/$1 million | Get a Quote | Via Forbes Advisor's Website | $1,000 | |
| USI Affinity Travel Insurance Services |  |
4.0 | |
Diamond | $500,000/$1million | Get a Quote | Via Forbes Advisor's Website | $1,500 |
Cruise insurance can be any travel insurance policy that has the coverage features you want. It does not have to be a travel insurance policy with “cruise” in the policy name. It’s helpful to have missed connection coverage included in a cruise insurance policy, as the cost of catching up to a cruise can be significant.
Cruise insurance generally covers the following—up to your policy limits— if the expense is caused by a reason listed in your policy or not excluded from coverage:
A cruise travel insurance policy may also compensate you if your cruise ship is disabled and you’re stuck on board without power, food or water for a specified amount of time listed in your policy. For example, the WaveCare plan from Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection provides a flat $500 reimbursement for cruise disablement if you’re stuck on the ship for five hours or more without one of these: power, food, water or a restroom.
Typically, cruise insurance also provides a 24/7 hotline for travel emergencies. You can also get a pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver if you buy coverage within a certain period, usually within 14 to 21 days of your initial trip deposit. This means medical expenses related to pre-existing conditions that arise during your trip will be covered.
Cruise insurance is worth considering if you can’t afford to lose the money you paid in advance for nonrefundable trip costs if you have to cancel your cruise.
Cruise insurance can also pay for costs associated with medical treatment during your trip, emergency medical evacuation, trip delays, lost luggage and more.
The average cost of cruise insurance is $457 per trip, based on Forbes Advisor’s analysis of rates for 37 cruise travel insurance plans.
Cruise insurance costs will generally depend on your age and the cost and length of your trip.
Below you’ll see examples of cruise insurance costs for the best cruise insurance policies.
| Travel insurance company | Top-scoring policy for cruise insurance | Average cost per trip |
|---|---|---|
|
Atlas Journey Premier
|
$408
|
|
|
Travel Guard Preferred
|
$413
|
|
|
Safe Travels First Class
|
$421
|
|
|
Classic
|
$431
|
|
|
Platinum
|
$470
|
|
|
Cruise Luxury
|
$485
|
|
|
Premium
|
$496
|
|
|
Trip Protection Choice
|
$527
|
|
|
Gold
|
$571
|
|
|
Diamond
|
$593
|
|
|
TripProtector Preferred
|
$602
|
Source: Forbes Advisor research. Average costs are based on rates for seven different trips with a variety of traveler ages, without “cancel for any reason” coverage. Policies have different levels of benefits, which can account for price differences.
You can buy cruise insurance from your cruise line, through a travel agent or from a travel insurance agent or company.
Although you can purchase a policy right up to your departure, there are advantages to buying travel insurance right after booking your trip. One is that you can maximize the length of your trip cancellation coverage. For example, if you buy a travel insurance policy three months before your departure and get seriously injured a week before you leave, you can file a trip cancellation claim.
Buying cruise insurance within the first two weeks or so of making your first trip deposit also qualifies you for additional coverage. This can include a pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver or a “cancel for any reason” travel insurance (CFAR) upgrade, depending on the policy.
CFAR allows you to recoup 50% or 75% of your forfeited, nonrefundable trip costs, depending on your policy. You must cancel at least 48 hours prior to your departure. CFAR increases your travel insurance cost by about 50%.
If the dates of your trip change, your travel insurance company should allow you to change the dates of your policy to match the new travel dates. You can also add items to your itinerary later—such as shore excursions—and then add them to your travel insurance coverage.
Whether it’s your first voyage or you’re a cruise veteran, having the right travel insurance is important. This is especially true if you’re a senior traveler who wants a high level of medical coverage while traveling.
Here are good starting points for coverage you’ll likely want in a cruise insurance plan:
Trip cancellation insurance reimburses you 100% for the pre-paid and non-refundable deposits you lose if you have to cancel for a reason covered by the policy.
This will reimburse you for unused trip costs if your trip is cut short because of illness, injury, death, a family emergency back home or other reasons. Trip interruption insurance can also pay for the extra expenses of a trip interruption, such as a one-way plane ticket home on short notice. The reason for the interruption has to be listed in the policy.
This pays for medical expenses associated with injuries and illness you get while on the trip. The top travel insurance plans have $500,000 in travel medical insurance, but you might find $150,000 to be sufficient for a cruise. If you’re a senior, good travel medical coverage is crucial.
U.S. health plans may have very limited or no coverage when you’re outside the U.S. And Medicare doesn’t cover medical care outside the U.S., with only very narrow exceptions.
Medical evacuation travel insurance covers the costs to get you to the nearest adequate medical facility or even back home if it’s medically required. Your travel insurer’s emergency assistance team can also help arrange for the medevac.
Many travel insurance plans give you a pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver if you buy the plan within two to three weeks after your first trip deposit. This is one of the advantages to buying travel insurance shortly after you book your trip. Without the waiver, medical expenses related to pre-existing conditions that flare up during your trip won’t be covered.
Canceling for reasons that aren’t listed in the policy isn’t covered, unless you have already purchased a CFAR upgrade. This typically reimburses you 75% of trip costs, as long as you cancel at least 48 hours before your departure. Adding it increases a policy cost by an average of 50%.
For example, you could make a “cancel for any reason” claim if you’re worried about being seasick—a reason not covered by standard trip cancellation insurance. Buy this coverage shortly after you make your first trip deposit or the purchase window for it will close.
Cutting a trip short for reasons that aren’t listed in the policy aren’t covered, unless you have already purchased “interruption for any reason” travel insurance. This coverage typically reimburses you 75% of trip costs. It usually adds 3% to 10% to your travel insurance cost. You generally must buy it within 15 to 20 days of making your first trip deposit. Benefits don’t kick in until you are a specified amount of time into your trip, for example 48 or 72 hours.
Only a few travel insurance companies currently offer “interruption for any reason” coverage, such as Nationwide, Seven Corners, Travel Insured International and WorldTrips.
A comprehensive travel insurance plan will package additional benefits such as travel delay insurance, baggage insurance and missed connection travel insurance.
The best travel insurance plans offer high levels of reimbursement and short waiting periods for benefits to go into effect when things go wrong. A travel insurance agent can help you match your concerns to the right travel insurance package.
Cruise insurance is worth it if you don’t want to risk losing the non-refundable money you invested in your trip if the unexpected happens. For example, let’s say you missed the boat. Cruise insurance can pay for you to rejoin the cruise if you can’t board on time because of an issue covered by the policy, such as severe weather.
The average cost of travel insurance is 5% to 6% of your trip cost, according to our analysis of travel insurance rates. That means cruise insurance might be worth it if:
To find the best cruise insurance, Forbes Advisor analyzed travel insurance data to score travel insurance policies based on the following factors. We include only travel insurance policies that include missed connection coverage.
Missed connection coverage (up to 30% of score): Plans with higher reimbursement levels for missed connections scored more points.
Average price (up to 25% of score): We analyzed travel insurance quotes for a variety of traveler ages and trip costs to develop an average price for each plan. We scored the average cost for each travel insurance policy for trips to the popular destinations of Italy, Mexico, France and the U.K. for common traveler profiles:
Medical expenses (up to 10% of score): Travel medical insurance was evaluated by coverage amount. Travel insurance policies with travel medical expense benefits of $250,000 and up per person were given the highest points.
Medical evacuation (up to 10% of score): Emergency medical evacuation/transportation coverage was evaluated by coverage amount. Travel insurance policies with medical evacuation expense benefits of $500,000 and up per person were given the highest points.
“Cancel for any reason” travel insurance (up to 10% of score): Policies offering a “cancel for any reason” upgrade earned points. Policies with 75% reimbursement for canceled trips were awarded the most points.
Trip interruption travel insurance (5% of score): Points were given if trip interruption reimbursement was 150% or higher.
“Interruption for any reason” travel insurance: (5% of score): Policies earned points if an “interruption for any reason” upgrade was available.
Pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver (5% of score): Points were given to policies that cover pre-existing medical conditions (if purchased within a required time frame).
The coverage in many travel insurance policies will max out at 90 days, so you’ll need to look for a travel insurance plan that can provide coverage for a long trip length.
For example, Allianz Global Assistance’s OneTrip Premier Plan can cover a trip up to 366 days and includes $200,000 in trip cancellation coverage and $1 million in emergency medical evacuation benefits. It also provides trip cancellation coverage in the event that there is an NOAA hurricane warning at your destination.
If your shore excursions are pricey, insure the nonrefundable deposits for the excursions and the cruise. If your excursions are included in the cruise cost, you would simply insure the cruise trip cost.
Travel medical insurance can cover medical expenses you incur while on and off the ship. But if your excursions involve adventure activities or extreme sports, be aware that many travel policies exclude these from coverage. Still, there are adventure travel policies and optional upgrades that will cover injuries due to activities such as mountain climbing, parasailing, skydiving and hot air ballooning.
Review your policy to be sure the plan you’re buying will cover your adventurous fun. If it doesn’t, ask about an adventure sports add-on, or consider a company such as World Nomads that caters to the adventurous traveler.
You don’t need a travel insurance plan that’s specifically for cruises. Any good travel insurance plan with generous medical benefits and the other benefits you want can work well for a cruise.
You can buy cruise insurance after booking your trip, right up until just before departure. The downside to waiting is that you likely won’t be able to cover pre-existing medical conditions, and you’ll lose the option to add cancel for any reason coverage.
Buying right after you book also lets you lock in trip cancellation coverage right away.
You can cancel a cruise, but may have to pay a cancellation penalty for the cruise and/or flights. You could also lose the cost of pre-paid shore excursions. If you don’t have travel insurance for these losses, check the credit card you used for booking. Some credit cards include trip cancellation coverage.
