Cheap Cruise Insurance Companies

We researched dozens of travel insurance plans to find good deals offering solid cover specifically for cruises, with cruise-specific features such as cabin confinement, emergency airlift to hospital, missed port and unused excursions. Check out our recommendations, which we tailored to specific categories and consumer needs. If you're not sure where to start check out our cruise insurance guide.

The guidance on this site is based on our own analysis and is meant to help you identify options and narrow down your choices. We do not advise or tell you which product to buy; undertake your own due diligence before entering into any agreement. Read our full disclosure here.

Compare Cheap Cruise Insurance

Protect your cruise holiday today.

{"applyCallToAction":"Get Quotes","defaultSelectedItem":"travel","description":"Protect your cruise holiday today.","formType":"Insurance","onCurrent":true,"options":[{"label":"Car Insurance","url":"https:\/\/quote.nimblefins.co.uk\/car-insurance?id=76f4ecd6e1ca7c2f442633593566fdaa","value":"car"},{"label":"Home Insurance","url":"https:\/\/quote.nimblefins.co.uk\/home-insurance?id=76f4ecd6e1ca7c2f442633593566fdaa","value":"home"},{"label":"Motorbike Insurance","url":"https:\/\/quote.nimblefins.co.uk\/bike-insurance?id=76f4ecd6e1ca7c2f442633593566fdaa","value":"motorbike"},{"label":"Pet Insurance","url":"https:\/\/quote.nimblefins.co.uk\/pet-insurance?id=76f4ecd6e1ca7c2f442633593566fdaa","value":"pet"},{"label":"Travel Insurance","url":"https:\/\/quote.nimblefins.co.uk\/travel-insurance?id=76f4ecd6e1ca7c2f442633593566fdaa","value":"travel"}],"title":"Compare Cheap Cruise Insurance"}

We've analysed the features of cruise-specific cover available from Compare Cover, and picked a few that stood out in order to help you learn about cruise cover. There is no "best" insurance plan or company, as we all have different needs and situations, but hopefully this roundup will help you learn about what's available in the market to pick the right cruise insurance for you, whether from Compare Cover or elsewhere.

Summary of Cruise Insurance for Pre-Existing Conditions, Over 75s and Value Options

Here is a quick recap of some of the options available. Sample quotes are for a healthy 65 year old on a 1 Week cruise with worldwide cover. (Note: destinations not including USA, Canada or Mexico would be significantly cheaper.)

Cruise InsuranceSample QuotesEmergency Medical/Cancellation/ BaggageMissed Port/Cabin Confinement/Missed ExcursionStands Out For

Pre-Existing Medical Condition Specialists
Goodtogoinsurance.com Gold£151£10 million/£3,000/ £2,000£500/£100/£750Missed port departure; optional Gadget cover
All Clear Gold£235£15 million/£5,000/ £2,500£1,000/£1,000/£500Missed port departure; cruise interruption
Saga£109£8 million/£2,500/ £1,750£1,000/£1,000/£2,500Missed port departure
Over 75

Sainsbury's Standard

£64£12.5 million/£3,000/ £1,500£500/£250/£500
RAC Silver Essential£65£12.5 million/£3,000/ £1,500£500/£250/£500
Zurich£78£10 million/£3,000/ £1,500£250/£250/£250
Admiral Platinum£97£20 million/£5,000/ £2,500£750/£500/£250Missed port departure
Other Value Options
Insure and Go Light Premium£64Unlimited/£2,000/ £1,250£500/£500/£300Missed port departure
Legal & General Prestige£76£15 million/£5,000/ £2,000£500/£250/£500
P&O Ferries£64£15 million/£5,000/ £2,500£500/£250/£500

Cruise Insurance for Pre-Existing Medical Conditions

Those with pre-existing medical conditions will have less choice of travel insurance cover, but there are a number of companies out there who will provide cruise cover even if you have some health issues. Here are a few that may be more willing to cover your conditions, that offer cruise-specific cover such as cabin confinement, emergency airlift to hospital, missed port and unused excursions, plus missed port departure.

Cruise Insurance for Pre-Existing Medical Conditions: Saga

Consider this if you want cruise cover for medical conditions for any age and missed port departure.

Saga Travel Insurance specializes in cover for older holidaymakers, even those with pre-existing medical conditions such as high blood pressure and cholesterol. Those with higher-value trips may prefer to buy direct from Saga to get a policy with £10,000 of Cancellation cover, but those with lower-value trips can find cheaper plans (roughly 50% cheaper, when we checked).

A catastrophe (e.g., volcanic eruption, earthquake, storm, etc.) that affects your holiday may be covered, so long as it occurred within 2 miles of your disembarkation point or within 5 miles of your pre-booked accommodation, and it was declared by Saga or the appropriate government department. One feature we like if you buy direct from the Saga website is Delayed Flight Assistance, which gives you access to an airport lounge if your international flight is delayed for two hours or more. This feature provides a bit of peace of mind and comfort for international travel but be sure to pre-register your flights with Saga ahead of time to be eligible for this perk.

Pros
  • Open to any age
  • Specializes in Pre-Existing Medical Conditions
  • Access to airport lounge if international flight delayed two hours or more (buy direct from Saga)
  • Catastrophes (e.g., volcanic eruption, earthquake, storm, etc.) may be covered
  • Missed departure (e.g., arrive too late to board the ship)
Cons
  • Not the cheapest if you have no medical conditions

Cruise Insurance for Pre-Existing Medical Conditions: Goodtogoinsurance.com

Consider this if you want cruise cover from a medical insurance specialist with missed port departure and other optional gadget cover.

Goodtogoinsurance.com specializes in cover for pre-existing medical conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart conditions, cancer, diabetes, asthma, stroke, MS, anxiety and depression, including severe and terminal cases. We like that you can add gadget cover to protect your phone, laptop, tablet, etc. Another useful add-on feature is their 27/7 Virtual Doctor you can contact with questions or concerns while you're on holiday. Other nice features include a recuperation holiday and home help if you've had emergency surgery and a 5-day hospital stay abroad. You can buy direct or through some comparison sites to quickly compare prices against other suitable plans.

Pros
  • Most medical conditions covered, including severe and terminal cases
  • Optional gadget cover
  • Optional 24/7 Virtual Doctor
  • Excellent customer reviews
  • Natural Catastrophe
  • Missed Connection (e.g., missing a cruise departure for a valid reason)
  • Terrorism extension (roughly, £2,000 of cover to cancel/cut short if terrorist act occurs within a 40 mile radius of your accommodation)
Cons
  • Not the cheapest travel insurance

Cruise Insurance for Pre-Existing Medical Conditions: All Clear

Consider this if you want premium cruise cover for medical conditions with missed port departure and cruise interruption.

All Clear's cruise insurance includes a few features not seen on some of the cheaper cruise policies. For example, you'll get cover for cruise interruption and missed port departure. Cruise interruption covers reasonable travel expenses to reach the next port if you were in hospital on dry land for a temporary illness. Missed port departure covers reasonable costs incurred in joining your cruise at the next docking port if you fail to arrive at the international departure point in time to board due, say, to a failure of your airline so long as you'd left at least 3 hours between plane arrival and sail departure time.

Pros
  • End Supplier Failure
  • Cruise interruption
  • Missed ship/port departure
Cons
  • More expensive than other options

Cheap Cruise Insurance

Younger holidaymakers have a wide array of plans to choose from—for instance, for those aged 55 there are dozens of policies costing less than £50 from Compare Cover. In that price range, you can get £3,000 of cancellation cover or more from Insure and Go, Zurich, P&O Ferries, esure, Coverforyou and Sainsbury's Bank. Here are some recaps of companies we've written reviews about so far that we feel offer good value for money.

Cheap Cruise Insurance: Insure and Go

Consider this if you want good value cruise insurance.

Insure and Go travel insurance is a popular travel insurer that offers low prices for those looking to pay a low premium. While their cheapest plan only offers £1,000 of cancellation cover, it does give you access to the emergency airlift feature, as well as £500 for missed port and cabin confinement plus £300 for missed excursion. The optional Valuables extension lets you boost cover for items like mobile phones. Missed port departure is also available, making this a solid choice for cruises at very competitive prices.

Pros
  • Competitive prices
  • Scheduled Airline Failure
  • Optional Valuables extension
  • Missed port departure
Cons
  • May not cover some pre-existing conditions or older travellers

Cheap Cruise Insurance: Zurich

Consider this if you want good value, basic cruise insurance.

Zurich travel insurance stands out for attractive prices for cruise insurance (especially from Compare Cover, which you can read more about in our Zurich travel insurance review). Cruise cover is available for protection against missed port, missed excursion and cabin confinement.

Pros
  • Competitive prices
  • Travel Delay and Scheduled Airline Failure on some plans
Cons
  • No gadget cover

Cheap Cruise Insurance: Coverforyou

Consider this if you want solid value cruise insurance with a range of cover options.

Coverforyou travel insurance offers economical prices on their range of travel insurance cover, offering from £1,500 up to £7,500 of cancellation cover. You can read more about the differences in buying direct vs from a comparison site in our Coverforyou travel insurance review. Cruise cover is available for protection against airlift to hospital, missed port, missed excursion and cabin confinement. We like that plans include Scheduled Airline Failure and you can add Gadget cover to your policy to protect your phone, laptop and tablet.

Pros
  • Competitive prices
  • Option: Extended Gadget Cover £1,000, £2,000 or £3,000
  • Scheduled Airline Failure
Cons

Cheap Cruise Insurance: Sainsbury's Bank

Consider this if you want solid value cruise insurance with a range of cover options.

Sainsbury's Bank travel insurance offers competitive prices on cruise insurance cover, with £1,500 up to £7,500 of cancellation cover. Cruise cover is available for protection against airlift to hospital, missed port, missed excursion and cabin confinement. Cruise cover includes Scheduled Airline Failure and you can add Gadget cover to your policy to protect your phone, laptop and tablet (very similar to Coverforyou, mentioned above.)

Pros
  • Longer trip lengths
  • Scheduled Airline Failure
  • Extended Gadget cover available
Cons
  • No travel disruption option from comparison sites

Cruise Insurance for Older Travellers

Older holidaymakers pay more for travel insurance, with the cost of cruise cover more than doubling from age 65 to 75. That said, a healthy 75 year old can still find cruise travel insurance for under £100 for week-long, worldwide cruise cover from Explorer Travel Insurance, Fortify My Travel and Top Dog Insurance (all available from Compare Cover). These plans offer just £1,000 to £2,500 of cancellation cover.

Those wanting more cover will need to pay more, with prices rising up to £200 or more to secure £5,000+ of worldwide cancellation protection. The cheapest providers of £5,000+ cancellation cover when we checked were Fortify My Travel and InsuraTrip.com. Here's a list of providers offering cruise cover for 75 year olds from Compare Cover, in rough order from cheapest to most expensive (left to right):

  • Explorer
  • Fortify
  • TopDog
  • InsuraTrip.com
  • Post Office Money
  • Flexicover
  • Spectrum
  • Now
  • Sainsbury's Bank
  • World First
  • RAC
  • Admiral
  • Saga
  • Goodtogoinsurance.com
  • All Clear

How Does Cruise Insurance Work?

Cruise insurance should have the usual components of travel insurance, plus special features that can help protect you in case something goes wrong with your cruise. Many normal travel insurance plans do not cover cruise-specific mishaps like missing your cruise ship departure or being confined to your cabin due to illness. We explain how these work in the table below.

Features for Cruise Cover
Cruise-Specific Features to Look For
Cabin confinement: If the ship's medical officer has said you have to stay in your cabin due to illness (e.g., so as not to spread the illness to other passengers).
Emergency airlift to hospital: Including emergency helicopter transfers if necessary.
Missed port: If a planned destination on the itinerary is cancelled due to bad weather (e.g., high winds making it dangerous to dock) or timetabling; This is a way to get some money back if you don't get to visit somewhere on your trip.
Unused excursion: If you miss an excursion due to an accident, injury or illness (it might only apply to excursions made with the original cruise booking, not excursions made once on board).
Missed Departure: Not available in all cases, this provides for extra accommodation and travel costs to reach your destination if you arrive at the final point of international departure too late to board the cruise ship due to certain reasons outside your control (e.g. failure of public transport, connecting flight delays, overbooking of a flight, etc.).
Normal Travel Insurance Features You Should Also Get
Emergency Medical: Medical fees and help to get you back to the UK if you can't use your original ticket.
Cancellation: If your trip is cancelled or cut short due to a valid reason (e.g., unexpected illness)
Baggage: If your luggage is lost or stolen

Some plans also cover missed departure, which covers you for extra accommodation and travel costs to reach your destination if you arrive at the final point of international departure too late to board the cruise ship due to certain reasons outside your control (e.g. failure of public transport, connecting flight delays, overbooking of a flight, etc.). Note, this might be called "missed port departure" which is different from "missed port" cover. "Missed port" cover simply reimburses you a daily amount if your ship cannot dock somewhere for instance due to adverse weather.

How To Pick a Good Cruise Insurance Deal for You

To choose the right cruise insurance for you, look for a plan that has many of the cruise-specific features mentioned above and enough coverage limits. For example, consider how much you've invested in your holiday in terms of travel and accommodation—this will determine how much cancellation cover you'll need.

In terms of cruise-specific features, look for a plan that includes cabin confinement, emergency airlift to hospital, missed port and unused excursions—plus missed port/ship departure if available. It's important to note that some regular travel insurance plans will not cover any part of a trip that includes a cruise, so even if you don't think you need features like cabin confinement you might still need cruise travel insurance to get cover for basic cover like medical, cancellation and baggage.

Happy Sailing!

Erin Yurday

Erin Yurday is the Founder and Editor of NimbleFins. Prior to NimbleFins, she worked as an investment professional and as the finance expert in Stanford University's Graduate School of Business case writing team. Read more on LinkedIn.

Comments

The guidance on this site is based on our own analysis and is meant to help you identify options and narrow down your choices. We do not advise or tell you which product to buy; undertake your own due diligence before entering into any agreement. Read our full disclosure here.

Travel Insurance

Get Quotes

  • 4.8 out of 5 stars**
  • Quotes from 20 providers