Travel Insurance for Cruises
Paying for an expensive cruise without insuring it in case you need to cancel means missing a great vacation as well as losing thousands of dollars.
Buying travel insurance for cruises is important in terms of covering your investment, protecting yourself in medical emergencies if you’re outside the U.S. and your own health care insurance doesn’t cover you and protecting against other contingencies that can interrupt your trip.
What Travel Cruise Insurance Covers
Not all policies are the same, but basic cruise insurance covers trip cancellation under certain circumstances either before or during the trip. It covers lost or stolen baggage, medical emergencies and emergency evacuation.
With some plans, you can buy extra coverage for circumstances not normally covered such as having to cancel for work, losing your job, a family member becoming ill or terrorism. You can also purchase “cancel for any reason” insurance, meaning if you see that the weather is supposed to be gloomy, you can cancel the trip at the last minute.
Costs
The price of cruise travel insurance varies depending on who is traveling, the price of the cruise and the coverage sought. The price for most travel insurance plans is usually five to eight percent of the cost of the trip according to Travel Insurance Review.
The more coverage you have, the more expensive the travel insurance will be. However, if you have to cancel or become ill, your savings will be greater with more coverage.
Top Cruise Insurance Companies
Travel Insurance Review recommends against buying travel cruise insurance from the cruise companies themselves because they add a percentage; and Cruise Critic points out that insurance purchased through a cruise company is limited and doesn’t cover the company’s own financial default.
The top three companies recommended by Travel Insurance Review include Travel Guard, Travel Insured and Travel Safe. However, you can also shop on the website Squaremouth to find other options.
Buy When You Book
You should buy travel insurance at the same time or immediately after booking the trip. Travel insurance companies have different numbers of days after making an initial or final payment before you must buy insurance. Frequently you must buy the insurance within 15 to 21 days of booking the cruise.
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