February 15, 2019 - Kate
Last Updated on 1/6/2022
More often than not, when you’re selecting a cruise, there are several steps you have to go through in order to get your travel plans squared away. Flights to your departure port and back, a hotel for the night before, deciding which cruise package is best for you…you get the picture. So it can be very tempting to buy cruise travel insurance when the cruise line prompts you to during the booking process. You know…when you’re about to confirm your purchase and you see that little box that asks if you want to tack on expensive travel insurance?
If you’re one of the people who’s seen that and thought it was too simple to be true…you’re right. In fact, the lack of coverage that cruise insurance purchased directly through cruises provides has led to several lawsuits and majorly contributes to the myth that travel insurance is a scam. When people obtain travel insurance that has minimal coverage, which is what most cruise companies present, they end up spending a lot of money out of pocket when something goes awry. They blame it on the travel insurance industry in general, when really the problem is that cruise lines simply do not provide sufficient coverage in the policies they advise.
To show you what we mean, we compared general travel insurance and insurance supplied by cruise companies and airlines and discovered that there are major disparities in plan costs and coverage for emergency situations in particular. In particular, as compared to cruise-offered insurance plans, similarly priced general travel insurance quoted:
5-10 times more coverage for emergency medical coverage
10-30 times more emergency medical evacuation insurance
2-3 times more trip cancellation reasons
In general, cruise-offered travel insurance may also lack some standard coverage categories, including security evacuation, missed connections, itinerary change benefits, and change fees. In addition, while most major cruise and airline policies include the most basic coverage, many lack the ability to add or increase coverage, so you can’t alter the plan based on your specific needs. That’s detrimental when you are traveling to many different places and engaging in all sorts of activities while on your cruise.
Insurance from cruise corporations also usually lacks allowable reasons for cancellation, so if you suddenly need to cancel your trip or leave your destination for reasons that aren’t included within their insurance plan, you’ll lose any non-refundable payments and have to cover all related costs out of pocket.
At the end of the day, every traveler should be able to easily access travel insurance that gives them full coverage at a fair price. The truth is that it does exist! And as it turns out it pays (literally) to compare travel insurance options instead of choosing the default option provided by cruise companies. To keep things as simple as possible for you, we created a handy Instant Quote tool. If you have any questions as you’re navigating the process or looking for the best policy for your cruise, we’re here to help.
Tags: cruise
