Cruise cancellation and trip interruption
Life is unpredictable, and unforeseen events like illness, injury or family emergencies can derail your cruise holiday plans. You would be covered for these instances, reimbursing non-refundable expenses if you need to cancel your cruise before departure due to unforeseen circumstances.
If your cruise holiday is cut short and you need to return home for these reasons, this cruise cover helps manage the costs associated with trip interruption, ensuring you’re not out of pocket for the portion of the trip you miss.
Emergency medical expenses
Cruise ships do have medical facilities, but you need to pay for them…and that isn’t cheap, nor are cruise ships equipped to the level that hospitals are.
If you fall ill or suffer an injury during your cruise holiday, this cover takes care of your medical expenses. More importantly, if your condition requires special treatment which isn’t available on board, emergency medical cover includes the cost of medical evacuation to the nearest hospital. This ensures you receive the care you need, without facing a daunting bill.
Not a single person wishes to be needing specialist care in the middle of the ocean without appropriate cover for medical costs. By having specific travel insurance for your cruise holiday, you can get cover for hospital stays, medical evacuation if you need to be transported to a better facility, or in more serious situations, flown back to your home in the UK via an air ambulance so that you can be treated.
To put into perspective how costly having medical treatment abroad can be, it costs $3,000 (around £2,375) per day on average for a hospital stay in the USA – although this can vary depending on the hospital and region. This is why having travel insurance for your cruise holiday is important so that you’re covered for any potential treatment you may require on your travels.
Increased cover for baggage
You get this cover in a standard travel insurance policy, but by having cruise cover you will have increased limits, meaning you’re better protected.
It’s not uncommon to face issues like lost, stolen or damaged baggage during your cruise holiday, as these holidays involve multiple stages of handling your luggage. Bags may be handled frequently by crew members and port staff, or moved around in the hold during rough seas, which can lead to increased risk of damage to your belongings.
Cruise holiday insurance offers cover for these situations, compensating you for the repair or replacement of items that have been lost, stolen or damaged during your holiday. You can also get increased baggage cover by taking out additional cruise cover, including increased cover limits for single articles, and we can adjust this to your needs.
If you have high value personal belongings such as an expensive Rolex, or your baggage is full of designer clothing, you may want to consider adding specified high-risk cover as an extension to your Home Insurance policy. This way, all of your personal belongings would be covered away from your home – whatever the value. Please note this is policy dependent and you should check your cover too.
Missed port departure or delays
Whether it’s a flight delay that causes you to miss your ship’s departure, or your cruise gets delayed and you miss a connecting journey, cruise holiday insurance will cover any unforeseen travel expenses and additional accommodation.
This way, you can catch up to your cruise at the next port or make your way back home without extra financial stress.
Without this cover, you would be liable to cover the cost of transport to the next port which could mean a costly flight; that flight might also be the following day so you may have to pay for accommodation. These expenses can soon add up, so having this cover can help with potential costs.
Cabin confinement
Should you fall ill during your cruise and be required by the cruise medical team to stay confined in your cabin for health reasons, cruise holiday insurance can compensate you for the days you’re unable to enjoy onboard activities or excursions. This cover ensures that you don’t lose out financially if illness impacts your cruise experience.
From entertainment shows to shore excursions, cruises are filled with activities. Therefore, knowing you can be compensated for missed activities is a significant benefit.
High risk, adventurous activities
Some cruise holidays include thrilling activities like snorkelling, scuba diving, kayaking, jet skiing and ziplining. While these add excitement to your holiday, they also carry risks.
In most cases, standard policies do not cover high-risk activities. If you know that you will be partaking in activities that might be deemed as higher risk, you should let your insurer know so that your cruise holiday insurance covers you. It’s important to check your policy to see which activities are included and consider upgrading if your planned adventures aren’t covered. We can do this for you here at Norton Insurance Brokers by working with our range of insurers.
Unused excursions
Excursions are often a highlight of cruise holidays. If you’ve already paid for specific excursions or activities that become unusable due to issues such as extreme weather, medical emergencies or other insurable events, your cruise holiday insurance will reimburse the costs if it’s not refundable from the organisers.
In the event that you are confined to your cabin for medical reasons and you’re unable to attend your excursion as a result of it, you would be covered for both instances.
Itinerary changes
Cruises are meticulously planned, but sometimes cruise ships need to change itineraries due to weather conditions, issues at the ports, timetable restrictions or medical emergencies. When this happens and it results in missed ports or changed destinations, your travel insurance for cruise holidays should offer compensation.
Itinerary changes can be disappointing, especially if you were looking forward to specific destinations or experiences. It could be made worse by not having compensation for missing them, but that’s how having cruise holiday insurance will help.
It can help offset the disappointment and potential loss of value when the places you were most looking forward to visiting are no longer part of your cruise holiday.
Cover for pre-existing medical conditions
This is important for standard travel insurance policies too. For those with existing health issues, it’s vital to have cover that accounts for any potential issues with pre-existing medical conditions while at sea.
Cruise holiday insurance can offer this protection, but you need to disclose any condition/s to the insurance company at the time of purchasing your policy. This ensures that if you need treatment for a pre-existing medical condition while on your cruise, the associated medical costs are covered, providing peace of mind and security.
An Aussie tourist unfortunately found this out in the worst possible way on her three-week cruise to Hawaii. She came down with ‘severe pneumonia’ but wasn’t covered by her insurance after not stating her pre-existing medical condition. As a result, her family set up a GoFundMe to cover her medical bills and flight home to Australia.
