Here’s the thing many people don’t realize about cruise travel: It’s only all-inclusive when everything goes right.

• If you get sick or injured on your cruise, the cost of your care isn’t included.
• If your bag gets lost or stolen, the cost of replacing your possessions isn’t included.
• If you have to cancel your cruise last-minute or cut it short, refunds aren’t included.

Luckily, travel insurance is there to help when things don’t go quite as you expect. Get answers to travelers’ most common questions about cruise protection and find out why you should always get insurance for your cruise.

Is it worth getting insurance when going on a cruise?

Always. Here’s the main reason you need travel insurance for a cruise: When you’re on a ship, travel problems can become really expensive, really fast.

• If you have a medical emergency during your cruise and you don’t have travel insurance with emergency medical benefits, you’ll have to pay out of pocket for the care you receive. Shipboard medical care and medical evacuations can cost tens of thousands of dollars (or more), and the cost is not included in your cruise fare.
• If you have to interrupt your cruise (or cancel at the last minute), the cruise line will not give you a refund. The only way to recoup your lost cruise costs is to file a travel insurance claim.
• If you miss the departure of your cruise ship because your travel is delayed, the ship won’t wait for you (or refund any of your money). Travel insurance can help you catch up with the ship at its next port of call.
• If your baggage is lost, stolen, or damaged, you’ll have to buy replacement items on board (which gets really expensive). Travel insurance can reimburse you.

Learn more: What Does Travel Insurance Cover for a Cruise? Six Key Benefits

Does travel insurance cover canceling a cruise?

It can! Travel insurance with trip cancellation benefits can reimburse up to 100 percent of your prepaid, non-refundable trip costs if you must cancel your cruise due to a covered reason.

Should you get travel insurance for a cruise even if you’re sure you won’t have to cancel? Yes. That’s because life happens. You or a loved one might get sick or suffer an injury. You might get into a car accident on the way to the airport. A broken pipe might flood your house the morning of your departure. All kinds of unexpected things can derail your trip.

Cruise lines have very strict cancellation policies. Most will give you no refund at all if you cancel less than 14 days before sailing. For some, that deadline is 30 days pre-sailing.¹ And even if you cancel months in advance, you might only get back a percentage of what you paid, or credits toward a future cruise. When you have travel insurance for your cruise, you can be reimbursed for the full amount of your cancelled trip—your cruise fares and also your airfare, onboard dining or drinks plans, excursions, etc.

Should I get emergency medical insurance for a cruise?

Emergency medical and dental benefits and emergency transportation benefits are the most important elements of any travel insurance plan for a cruise. That’s because Medicare does not cover you on a cruise, and most U.S. health insurance plans don’t either. You’ve probably seen news stories about cruise passengers who were charged $10,000 or even $50,000 for the care they received onboard.

That’s not even counting the much larger costs of medical evacuation, if you need to be airlifted off the ship to the nearest hospital. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), this can cost as much as $250,000 for more distant and remote locations.²

Travel insurance for cruises can pay these costs for a covered medical emergency, up to the limits in your plan. Not only that, but our 24-hour assistance team can monitor your care, update your loved ones, bring a family member to your bedside if you’ll be hospitalized for a while, and arrange your transportation home once you’re feeling better.

Read more: Medical Emergency on a Cruise Ship: What Should You Do?

How much does travel insurance cost for a cruise?

A general rule of thumb is that quality travel insurance for a cruise costs between 4% and 6% of your total trip costs.³ A few different factors affect the cost of cruise travel insurance:

• Traveler age: Older travelers pay more for travel insurance, because they’re more likely to experience a medical emergency while traveling. This applies even if you’re super-fit and have no medical conditions—we don’t check your medical history when giving you a travel insurance quote.
• Trip cost: The more expensive your cruise, the more it’ll cost to protect it. Don’t forget to insure all your non-refundable trip costs, including airfare to reach the cruise port, prepaid excursions, etc.
• Plan scope: A basic plan with lower limits for reimbursement will be less expensive than one with higher limits and more benefits.

Here’s a tip: If you’re planning multiple vacations in a year, whether cruises or other types of trips, you can save a lot by getting a multi-trip plan that can cover you for 365 days. Get a quote for annual travel insurance.

How much medical insurance should I get for a cruise?

That depends on where you’re cruising and the quality of the nearest medical facilities. You want to make sure your insurance is enough to cover your emergency medical expenses, wherever you are.

Say you’re going on a European river cruise, where you’re never far from shore and excellent hospitals are nearby. You may be fine with the $10,000 in emergency medical care and $50,000 in emergency transportation that OneTrip Basic provides.

What if you’re cruising in the Mediterranean or Caribbean? In that case, consider the OneTrip Prime travel insurance plan, with $50,000 in emergency medical and $500,000 in emergency transportation.

For a cruise to a truly remote location, such as Antarctica or the Galápagos Islands, look at OneTrip Premier. With up to $75,000 in emergency medical benefits and up to $1 million in emergency transportation benefits, you’ll know you and your family are well protected.

Can you add cruise insurance after booking?

Yes. It’s best to buy travel insurance for a cruise as soon as possible after booking your trip, so that you’re protected. (For existing medical conditions to be covered, you must buy insurance within two weeks of paying your first cruise deposit. Learn more.)

Maybe you’re a bit of a procrastinator, and you’re wondering: “How close to a cruise can you buy insurance?” It’s better to buy insurance late than not have it at all! You can still buy travel protection even if your cruise ship departs tomorrow. Just know that you can’t buy insurance after something happens to disrupt your trip.

Get a quote to see your options for protecting your cruise.

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