Travel Insurance Expert and Head of Communications
Last updatedNovember 27 2025
10 min read
Whether you’re sailing on the seas or a river, we’ve designed our cruise travel insurance to keep you protected onboard and ashore. With no upper age limit and cover for pre-existing medical conditions, we cover potential issues that are specific to cruise travel.
What is cruise travel insurance and do you need it?
Just as cruises provide a unique style of holiday, they can also potentially come with their own unique issues. For example, bad weather could mean missed excursions or, if you get particularly unwell on a cruise, it could cost tens of thousands of pounds to airlift you for medical treatment. That’s why our cruise travel insurance covers you for any cruise-specific issues you could encounter.
For example, cruise insurance means you’re protected from extra costs caused by:
Missed departures. Traffic jams always happen when you need them least, but this shouldn’t hinder your holiday. Cruise insurance means we’ll compensate you if you miss your cruise departure.
Cabin confinement for any reason. It’s tough enough being cooped up, let alone having to worry about the money you’ve already spent. Cruise cover means you’ll get some money back for every day you’re confined to your cabin.
Any money spent on unused excursions. If you miss an excursion for any reason, such as bad weather or illness, cruise cover means you’ll be compensated.
Repatriation back to the UK. In extreme cases, you may need to be flown back to the UK for treatment, which can be costly. Cruise insurance policies will cover you for this.
Some cruise providers require you to have comprehensive travel insurance arranged to travel – just one more reason to make sure you’re fully covered.
To get cruise travel insurance, you’ll need to buy travel insurance and add the cruise cover option while you’re getting the quote.
What does InsureandGo’s cruise travel insurance cover?
Plus our annual European holiday insurance even includes some countries outside of Europe! You’ll be covered for countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, Madeira, the Azores and more. See below for the full list
What’s not covered?
We strive to provide as much cover as possible. However, there are some situations that no travel insurance will cover. For example:
You cannot cover events or reasons to claim that took place before you booked the trip or purchased insurance. Insurance exists to cover unexpected events outside of the insured’s control
Claims which are less than the excess for that section of cover. For example, you cannot claim a £40 lost item if your baggage excess is £60
All of our travel insurance policies include cover for cancellation of your trip, but there may be some exclusions. For example, you won’t be covered to cancel if you simply decide not to go
We will consider all pre-existing medical conditions, find out more about medical travel insurance. The excess and the amount of cover available will vary depending on the level of travel insurance you buy. To check the policy exclusions and what is and isn’t included, take a look at our policy wording.
Remember that to get cruise insurance, you need to book travel insurance and add cruise cover to that policy.
The best travel insurance for your cruise
Cruise insurance can be added to another type of travel insurance, and we have plenty of options to suit your holiday style. Wherever you’re travelling, and however long for, we’ll have a policy for you:
First time cruising? Simplyadd cruise cover to a single-trip insurance policy. Easy peasy.
Doing multiple holidays or cruises this year? It might work out better to get annual travel insurance and add cruise cover to that.
If you’re already insured for a particular geographical group but want to make changes or add new countries, we can always alter that for you. Just get in touch.
Cruise travel insurance with pre-existing medical condition cover
We cover a wide range of medical conditions on our policies, including those with insurance for a cruise, and we will never refuse to cover a diagnosed pre-existing medical condition without prior consideration.
We consider pre-existing medical conditions to be any illness or condition that has occurred before you take out an insurance policy, ranging from asthma to cancer. We can usually cover any medical conditions, often with no additional premium, and medical cover on your cruise holiday is no exception.
All you need to do is disclose your pre-existing condition during your quote, and we’ll sort the rest.
How to book cruise insurance
We know your to-do list for your next trip can be a long one, so we make getting cruise insurance as simple as possible:
1. Let us know a little info
We need to know a bit about your cruise, who you want to cover and when you want the policy to start. We will also ask you for information regarding any pre-existing medical conditions so that we can ensure we provide you with the right level of cover.
It’s quick and easy to give us this information, either online or by calling our team:
Once we have all the details we need, we will send you your quote. At this stage, you can either buy your policy now or save the quote for later.
Our experts say…
“Cruise cover is an absolute must-have for anyone taking a cruise because it covers for issues you might face, like a missed departure or being confined to your cabin. Regular travel insurance doesn’t cover these, so specific cruise cover is super important. Without it you won’t have any cover while on a cruise.”
You need special insurance for cruises in case you run into any cruise-specific complications. These include things like cabin confinement if you are unwell, missed departures for any reason, and unused excursions, as well as typical holiday issues like delays or cancellations.
Some normal travel insurance plans might cover some of these problems, like delays or cancellations, they won’t cover cabin confinement and might not cover repatriation.
Do you need travel insurance for a domestic cruise?
Whatever the destination of your cruise, you will need to add cruise cover to your travel insurance – even if it’s a cruise around the UK. Cruise travel insurance makes sure you’re fully covered and includes elements of cover that are specific to cruises, such as being airlifted to the mainland.
While typical UK travel insurance usually covers land-based holiday issues, they won’t cover many of the issues you could face on a domestic river or sea cruise holiday.
Can I buy travel insurance after booking a cruise?
Some travel operators may require you to buy your insurance at the same time as booking your cruise holiday. Others are more flexible as long as you purchase your cruise travel insurance before you set sail.
It is a good idea to check with your cruise provider before booking insurance. Some cruise providers have specific requirements for travel insurance, such as having a certain amount of medical cover.
How much is cruise insurance?
Insurance for a cruise doesn’t have to be expensive. The price you pay will depend on where you’re going, how long for, and whether you have any medical conditions. Choose either a single-trip or annual multi-trip policy and you’ll be given the chance to add cruise travel insurance to your policy.
Will my GHIC cover my cruise?
The Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC), or EHIC as it was previously known, does not cover specific costs that you might encounter when on a cruise, and it does not cover repatriation costs either.
Although the GHIC covers some of the medical costs when travelling in Europe, the UK Government website recommends that all UK travellers take out appropriate travel insurance when travelling abroad. It’s also important to note that the GHIC will not cover other cruise-specific issues, such as missing the departure or cabin confinement.
Does regular cruise insurance cover medical expenses?
Our cruise travel insurance covers emergency medical bills, as well as other complications, like delays, cancellations and missed departures.
Be sure to check the wording on your policy to find out exactly what is covered and what is not.
Frequently asked questions
If you’ve got more questions about how our cruise travel insurance works, or more general travel insurance queries, have a read through our FAQs.
Travel advice
Our travel advice section offers handy tips and guides to specific countries, from what documents you need to what you might visit while you’re there.
Travel insurance reviews
If you want to know what our customers think of us, and why they rate us so highly, have a read through some of the reviews they’ve left us.
InsureandGo’s Gold achieved a Which? Best Buy. InsureandGo’s Gold and Black policies have been 5-star rated by Defaqto.
