Our Pick Of The Best Cruise Travel Insurance

In order to choose our top picks for the best travel insurance for cruises, Forbes Advisor Australia looked at and analysed nearly 30 different travel insurance providers. In doing so, we found the top nine ranking providers after carefully considering a range of factors.

These factors, and the details of such, were:

• The underwriter: who underwrites the insurance policy;
• Cruise cover type: if it is a standalone policy or an optional add-on;
• How the cruise insurance needs to be purchased: whether you need to purchase a domestic or international policy before you can add cruising, or if it can be purchased individually;
• Maximum age covered: what ages are covered by the policy, and if there are any conditions for travellers above a certain age (such as a higher excess);
• Pre-existing conditions: how many, if any, pre-existing conditions are automatically covered, and what requirements are necessary to have other pre-existing conditions covered;
• Onboard medical and dental treatment: whether or not the onboard medical cover is unlimited and, if so, whether dental is included within that medical treatment or if it has its own sublimit;
• Medical Covid cover: if Covid is included within the unlimited medical cover, or any conditions that would make it void;
• Cabin confinement cover: whether or not you are compensated for cabin confinement due to medical reasons or unforeseen circumstances, as well as how long the confinement must be to qualify and the total compensation amount;
• Emergency evacuation: if you are covered for emergency evacuation due to a worsening medical condition onboard when not nearby to a port;
• Stolen items cover: cover for any stolen items such as laptops or phones;
• Formal wear cover: cover for any damage or theft of formal wear, due to the popularity of black tie events on cruises;
• Lost luggage cover: general lost luggage cover, including sub-limits of items;
• Missed ports cover: whether you’re covered if your cruise misses a port if you are unable to dock due to unforeseen circumstances;
• Missed on-shore excursions cover: whether or not there is any compensation and reimbursement for activities and excursions that are pre-paid and missed, whether due to medical reasons or due to not being able to port;
• General cancellation cover: any general cancellation cover available, such as if you have to cancel the trip prior to embarking or due to Covid;
• Average consumer rating: what the average consumer rating out of 5 is from customers via Australia’s independent review site, ProductReview;
• Online discounts: any online discounts available at the time of writing, and whether there are conditions in order to receive such discount (such as being a customer of the insurer already); and
• Customer service: the customer service capabilities of the company, including any emergency lines and ease of making claims.

About Star Rankings

You will note that we have included a star rating next to each product or provider. This rating was determined by the editorial team once all of the data points above were considered, and the pros and cons of each product attribute was reviewed. The star rating is solely the view of Forbes Advisor editorial staff. Commercial partners or advertisers have no bearing on the star rating or their inclusion on this list. Star ratings are only one factor to be considered, and Forbes Advisor encourages you to seek independent advice from an authorised financial adviser in relation to your own financial circumstances and investments before you decide to choose a particular financial product or service.

It depends on the insurer. As there are certain events unique to cruises, as well as certain risks associated with travelling by sea, many travel insurance companies offer cover that’s tailored to cruising. Others simply cover cruising as part of their comprehensive plans, addressing the terms and conditions of cruising in the pds.

Among those who offer cruising as separate from other travel insurance, there are two main ways to ensure you’re covered for cruising: some providers allow you to directly purchase a distinct cruise policy, while others require you to purchase an add-on or a ‘cruise pack’ as an adjunct to one of their pre-existing policies.

When analysing the above policies, we also looked at how these were offered by each provider, and considered what the cruise pack was called (if it was an additional add-on), and the level of difficulty for the consumer in understanding their cruise cover.

Domestic Cruise Cover

If you are cruising in Australian waters, you may think that an Australian domestic policy would cut it: but that isn’t necessarily the case. While some policies will allow you to add a cruise pack to a domestic policy if only travelling in domestic waters, it is common for insurance providers to offer the international policy instead—and then ask you to pick ‘domestic cruise’ as the cruise destination under the international policy.

This is because once your ship leaves the port, you’re no longer covered for hospital or medical expenses by Medicare–meaning you won’t be covered for any expenses incurred on-board the ship even if you are travelling in Australian waters. You’re also not covered by Medicare or private health when you’re on land for cruise excursion even if you’re in an Australian state or territory–instead you will need to pay for the onboard medical staff who are not Medicare registered GPs and often very expensive.

This is why a domestic travel insurance policy isn’t enough coverage; you need, at the very least, international comprehensive insurance, with unlimited medical cover.

Travel insurance is encouraged when travelling overseas, and cruising is no exception. With a different travel style comes different travel needs, so here is a brief outline of some of the common events and coverage unique to cruise insurance.

Missed Ports Cover

Weather can be unpredictable at the best of times, and can play havoc with cruising schedules. While your itinerary will have planned ports to stop at, allowing you to go onto land and visit different destinations, changes may be made to your itinerary due to unforeseen circumstances, such as weather restrictions, natural disasters or mechanical failures.

If you are unable to dock at your designated port or ports, some insurers may offer compensation–known as missed ports cover. Commonly, there is an amount of cover for each port missed (such as $250, for example) and a total maximum cover. This is commonly $750 across the insurance market.

You will usually need a written statement from the cruise company confirming the reason for missing the port, and proof that the port was part of your original itinerary, in order to make a claim with most insurance providers.

Missed On-Shore Excursions

Similar to missed ports cover, missed on-shore excursion cover is for excursions and activities that you cannot attend at a port: whether because the port was missed, or due to other unforeseen conditions.

These unforeseen conditions included cabin confinement, medical reasons, circumstances outside of your control or other unexpected events as covered under the particular policy.

There is usually a limit to the amount of cover the insurer will provide (commonly around $1000), and it can only be put towards the nonrefundable cost of a pre-paid excursion.

Stolen or Damaged Formal Wear

It’s a common occurrence on cruises to have formal evenings, including Great Gatsby-themed nights and black tie events. Because of this, the majority of cruise-goers often have formal attire in their luggage, from tuxedos and evening gowns to expensive jewellery.

As with all insurance policies, the details of the formal wear cover will vary from provider to provider. Commonly, you’ll have a monetary value of cover if your formal wear is stolen, accidentally damaged or permanently lost, however, some other providers may provide cover if your formal wear is delayed before the time of vessel departure and also cover the cost to hire or replace the formal wear in the meantime.

Some policies do not have formal wear cover specifically, but rather include formal wear as a sub-limit with the general lost luggage cover included in the policy.

Cabin Confinement

As we learnt during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, cruise ships can be a breeding ground for infections. The Ruby Princess was a clear indicator of this, with the Australian cruise ship playing host to more than 850 infected passengers.

Cruise ships have since had to adapt–as have cruise insurance policy providers–to ensure travellers are protected should an outbreak of a Covid happen again (or of any other virus, for that matter).

Commonly, cruise providers will offer a cabin confinement allowance if you are confined to your cabin or in a medical facility for a certain period, up to a maximum amount. This can cover a daily stipend for you to use on room service or for any needs you require while confined.

The maximum cover is usually around $1,500, so anything around that ballpark is considered a good cabin confinement offer.

Most cruise insurance policies offer unlimited medical cover while on board the ship, and most ships have extensive medical facilities to help protect you should you fall ill or injure yourself. But in this day and age, Covid is something all travellers would want to be covered for, too.

Of the top nine cruise insurance providers Forbes Advisor Australia chose, all of them offered Covid cover. Any insurer that didn’t offer this specification was ranked lower, due to the increased need for Covid cover in general–but especially while sailing at sea.

The level of cover for Covid varies across providers, but it is expected that travellers are covered for hospital and medical needs under the unlimited medical cover. Some providers may have certain excess requirements for certain Covid-related claims, and may also cover cabin confinement should you fall ill with the virus.

More premium providers will also include Covid as a reason for cancellation prior to embarking on your trip, and a reason to be able to claim missed ports cover or missed on-shore excursions. There may be excess requirements with these claims, or certain sub-limits depending on the provider.

It’s essential that you read the product disclosure statement before taking out a cruise insurance policy so you know exactly what you’re covered for, Covid-related and otherwise.