Cruise Travel Insurance

The core of any good cruise travel insurance policy, trip cancellation coverage reimburses you for the full cost of your prepaid and nonrefundable travel expenses—up to your policy maximum—if you have to cancel your cruise due to a covered reason.

Here are some scenarios that are covered under Atlas Journey Elevate, Atlas Journey Explore, and Atlas Journey Escape:

• You fall ill or are unexpectedly injured and your physician insists that you cannot go on your cruise
  
  
• Your traveling companion or non-traveling family member falls ill, becomes injured, or dies unexpectedly and you have to cancel your trip
  
  
• Inclement weather causes the destruction of your accommodations, a delay of your common carrier for more than twelve (12) hours, or a cancellation from your common carrier, causing you to cancel your trip
  
  
• You or your traveling companion are directly involved in an accident (substantiated by a police report) that causes you to miss your cruise ship's departure
  
  
• A terrorist incident occurs in a city listed on your cruise itinerary and your cruise line is unable to modify its route (the incident must occur within the 30 days prior to your scheduled departure date)
  
  
• A natural disaster occurs unexpectedly in your destination and renders it uninhabitable
  
  
• A last-minute legal obligation, such as jury duty, requires you to remain in your home country

Note that these situations must occur after your policy goes into effect to be eligible for reimbursement.

The Trip Interruption benefit reimburses you if you are unable to continue your cruise due to one of the same situations covered under the Trip Cancellation benefit explained above.

Unlike the Trip Cancellation benefit, Trip Interruption provides you with reimbursement if one of these covered situations occurs after you depart on your cruise.

Say you've just set foot on Paradise Island when you receive the devastating news that your father has passed away. Depending on the circumstances, you may wish to return home immediately.

Under the Trip Interruption benefit, you would be reimbursed for your unused, prepaid, and nonrefundable land or sea expenses. You would also be reimbursed for the additional transportation cost for you to reach your cruise ship's scheduled return port early.

This benefit reimburses you for your covered expenses—up to the maximum benefit of your policy—if you are delayed for a certain number of hours due to a defined hazard.

Imagine heavy fog causes your initial cruise departure to be delayed until the following morning. Not only do you now need to find a last-minute hotel room and transportation, but you also have to pay for meals you hadn't accounted for when making your budget.

Luckily, your Travel Delay benefit reimburses you for the reasonable cost of accommodations, local transportation, meals, and telephone calls.

The Emergency Accident and Sickness Medical Expense benefit covers health care expenses for necessary services and supplies required to treat a covered injury or illness.

Depending on your plan, a benefit like this could cover eligible expenses such as:

• Ambulance service
• Physician services
• Charges for cruise ship infirmary and prescribed medication
• Hospital room and board in one of your stopover destinations
• Charges for anesthetics, X-rays, and labs

Note that this benefit could be primary or excess depending on the plan. Primary means your cruise travel insurance pays your eligible claim first. Excess means this policy is in excess of all other insurance (like Medicare or another primary health insurance). If your other insurance is in place when the expenses are incurred, your cruise travel insurance will only cover the excess of the amount paid by your other insurance.

While touring your cruise ship's first destination, your child takes a nasty fall that requires a trip to the nearest emergency room.

Since you've been traveling by ship and don't have a car, you rely on a local ambulance to transport you and your child to the hospital. Once there, he is admitted for X-rays and later scheduled for surgery.

If your son's broken arm qualifies as a covered injury, your Atlas Journey plan will cover eligible expenses for the ambulance ride, physician consultation, X-rays, operating room, and hospital room and board charges up to the medical maximum.

How your Atlas Journey plan covers eligible expenses depends on the plan level you choose:

A Medical Evacuation & Repatriation of Remains benefit covers your physician-ordered, emergency air or ground transportation from a hospital or emergency care facility that is ill-equipped to treat you to the nearest hospital that can provide adequate care.

This benefit may also cover travel expenses home for your travel companion if you are expected to be hospitalized for 24 hours or more. If you are traveling with a minor, you could also get coverage for their necessary transportation, accommodations, and meals while you are being treated.

In the unfortunate event that you pass away during your trip, this benefit can also cover repatriation expenses to return you to your home.

You become seriously ill during your cruise. You visit your cruise ship's medical facility in the hope of being treated onboard, but it cannot provide the care you need. You must be transported to the nearest on-shore hospital that has sufficient equipment and the necessary specialists to treat you.

According to the CDC, emergency medical evacuations can be expensive, ranging from $25,000 to over $250,000.

Thankfully, you have an Atlas Journey plan which includes a Medical Evacuation & Repatriation of Remains benefit. Atlas Journey plans cover medical evacuation starting at $250,000, with the Atlas Journey Elevate plan benefit going up to $1,000,000.

The best cruise insurance is the plan that offers the benefits you need at a price you can afford.

WorldTrips offers trip cancellation coverage for cruises in three different plan levels, so you can choose the coverage and cost that are right for you:

Click here to get an Atlas Journey travel protection quote in less than five minutes.

You'll fill in information about your age, residence, destination, departure date, return date, and trip payment. Then you'll be prompted to compare plans and make your selection—or save your quote so you can return to it later.