Cruise travel insurance
Adds the things a standard policy leaves out once you are at sea.
What it is
A cruise policy is a normal travel policy plus a set of cover items that only make sense on a ship. Standard travel insurance does not exclude cruises outright, but several of the situations most likely to cost you money on one fall outside it.
The additions are specific and worth knowing by name.
Missed port cover pays when the ship cannot dock and you lose an excursion you had paid for. Cabin confinement pays a per-day amount if the ship's doctor confines you to your cabin. Medical care at sea matters because a ship's medical centre bills privately and an evacuation from a vessel is among the most expensive things in travel medicine. Itinerary change cover applies when the operator reroutes and you miss what you booked for.
What it covers
- Emergency medical treatment on board and in port, at sea-appropriate limits
- Medical evacuation from the vessel, including by helicopter
- Missed port departure — getting you to the next port if you miss the ship
- Cabin confinement, paid per day of confinement by the ship's doctor
- Unused excursions when a port is cancelled or the itinerary changes
- Any ocean cruise, and especially long or repositioning itineraries
- River cruises, where the missed-port and itinerary-change cover still applies
- Cruises calling at countries with their own entry-insurance rules
- A cruise visits several countries, so the area of validity has to cover all of them — a policy written for one destination is not enough.
- Some policies exclude the cruise line's own medical centre or cap it separately. Check that shipboard treatment is covered at a real limit.
- The most expensive scenario is evacuation at sea. Look at that limit specifically rather than at the headline medical figure.
The most expensive type here, because it prices in evacuation from a vessel and a longer average trip. Itinerary length and whether the route includes North America move it most.
See what drives the priceCommon questions
A normal policy will usually cover you medically at sea, but it will not pay for a missed port, cabin confinement or a cancelled excursion, and its evacuation limit may be well below what a helicopter lift from a ship costs. Whether that gap matters depends on how much of your trip's value sits in the excursions and how far from shore you will be.
Only if the area of validity says so. This is the thing to check first on a cruise policy. An itinerary crossing between regions — say the Mediterranean into North Africa, or the Caribbean into the United States — can cross a pricing tier boundary, and cover written for the cheaper tier will not extend to the other.
A fixed payment for each day the ship's doctor confines you to your cabin, usually for a suspected infectious illness. It is not a large sum and it is not medical cover — it compensates you for the holiday you paid for and did not get. It is one of the more commonly claimed items on cruise policies.
packset.travel is an independent trip-planning tool, not an insurer or broker. This is general information, not insurance advice — always confirm cover levels and entry requirements with the insurer and the relevant consulate before you travel.
Whether insurance is legally required depends on your passport and your destination, not on which policy you buy. Check the corridor first — it decides whether you need a certificate or just sensible cover.