The best cruise insurance covers everything from the swine flu and last minute trip cancellations to lost luggage and delayed flights. Whether purchasing travel insurance independently or purchasing cruise insurance through the cruise line, be sure to compare costs versus benefits. Here is some basic information on how to purchase cruise insurance.
What is Included in Cruise Insurance?
Cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Lines and Princesss Cruises all offer some type of insurance plan at the time of booking a cruise. And for those who want to shop around, independent travel insurance companies such as Travel Guard, TravelEx and American Express all offer cruise insurance.
Choose from a comprehensive insurance plan that covers a range of protections to choosing select coverage that is required for a specific trip. Here is a list of protections that may be included in a cruise insurance policy.
- Trip cancellation insurance
- Trip interruption insurance
- Cancel for any reason insurance
- Travel evacuation insurance
- Accident medical expenses
- Sickness medical expenses
- Trip delay insurance
- Baggage delay protection
- Baggage and personal effects protection
- Lost travel documents assistance
There are a number of websites that provide online insurance quotes, such as InsureMyTrip, that compares insurance policies and costs among various providers. For example, a 50-year old American traveling to the Caribbean over Christmas on a cruise costing $3,000 with a $50,000 medical limit would expect to pay anywhere from $99 to $220 for their insurance policy (3.3% to 7.3% of the cost of the cruise).
Book Insurance with Cruise Lines
BerkleyCare Insurance is the dominant insurance provider used by the majority of the cruise lines including Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean and Princess Cruises. Yet, each cruise line has customized their insurance plan differently. Here are some examples.
- Carnival Cruise Insurance – Premiums top out at $189 per person based on the cruise fare paid being $1,801 or more, whereas many other cruise lines charge even higher premiums for higher cruise fares. New for 2009, Carnival has introduced severe weather watch protection and job loss protection to its Cruise Vacation Protection Plan cruise insurance.
- Princess Cruises Insurance – For passengers that upgrade to Princess Travel Care Gold, the 'voluntary cancel for any reason’ protection will give up to 90% in cruise credits. Other lines generally only give up to 75% of the total cruise cost.
- Royal Caribbean Insurance – Although many cruise lines will not reimburse the cost of flights booked independently, Royal Caribbean CruiseCare gives refunds in cash. Trip cancellation for independently booked air has a maximum benefit of 100%, whereas trip interruption for independent air will be reimbursed up to 150% of the original airfare cost.
Purchasing cruise insurance independently may save money, but make sure the benefits will meet the required needs. Also, beware of insurance policies that include a pandemic clause which nullifies coverage once a pandemic is declared.
References:
Royal Caribbean website, Royal Caribbean CruiseCare, accessed October 24, 2009
Carnival Cruise Lines website, Carnival's Cruise Vacation Plan, accessed October 24, 2009
Princess Cruises website, Princess Travel Care, accessed October 24, 2009
Renee Ruggero - Renee is a published travel writer and cruise industry insider with more than 1,000 days on cruise ships, visiting over 50 countries.
