How to Protect Your Cruise Ahead of a Busy Season
If you’re looking for sunshine and shores in 2026, a cruise might be your ideal getaway.
For a record-setting number of Americans, those plans are also in sight: An analysis from AAA projects that 21.7 million Americans will set sail in 2026. That figure has been rising consistently since 2022.
While planning adventures and day trips may be front of mind after booking a cruise, it’s also important to protect your trip and your finances with travel insurance.
Cruise ports, as well as starting and end points, can be changed at the last minute for reasons ranging from bad weather to dockworker strikes and beyond. While it’s rare, cruises can also be cancelled altogether. And, there can be outbreaks of illness on board: The Centers for Disease Control found about 20 outbreaks of Norovirus and other sicknesses on cruise ships in 2025.
Like standard travel policies, cruise insurance can help with lost baggage, flight cancellations or delays, and getting sick abroad. Most policies also help you recoup your costs if you have to cancel a trip or cut your plans short due to a covered situation at home. But it’s also useful for cruise-specific situations, like a mechanical breakdown on the boat causing delays, or a missed departure.
Here’s how cruise-specific travel insurance could help protect you financially.
Travel insurance can cover weather and hurricane disruptions
Travel insurance won’t cover your trip if you decide to cancel because of rainy conditions. But, if weather complicates your trip, travel insurance could be a big help.
Both flights to and from ports, as well as cruise itineraries and routes, could be affected by weather. Travel insurance could help you catch up to your departed cruise after significant flight delays or help compensate you if you have to change plans due to a storm.
However, in order to have these scenarios covered by your policy, you need to buy coverage before a storm is named. Getting travel insurance when you book your trip can make for smooth sailing later.
The Caribbean is expected to be the most popular destination for American cruisers in 2026, with 72% of passengers choosing this route, AAA predicts. However, hurricanes, tropical storms and other weather events are common in this area as water temperatures have risen in recent years due to climate change. An average Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June through November, has 14 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
It can cover medical issues abroad and on board
Many U.S. health insurance plans, including Medicare, don’t work abroad. If you have to seek medical care onboard a cruise or at a port of call, you could be stuck paying the bill entirely out of pocket.
C&F Travel Insured International Travel Insurance
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Policy highlights
Single-trip and multi-trip/annual policies and cruise insurance. Add-ons include Cancel for Any Reason coverage and a travel inconvenience benefit
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Cancel For Any Reason coverage
Add-on to Worldwide Trip Protector Deluxe or Platinum plan that reimburses 75% of nonrefundable costs when purchased within 21 days of initial trip payment
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Pre-existing condition waiver
Available if policy is purchased within 21 days of initial trip deposit.
And, if an illness can’t be treated onboard, you might have to be evacuated from the ship. Medical evacuation coverage can pay for this expense, which can be large considering the remote nature of cruises at sea.
Travel insurance doesn’t typically cover pre-existing conditions, or those that you knew of or have gotten treatment for before setting sail. However, many travel insurance companies waive the pre-existing condition exclusion if you purchase travel insurance within a few weeks of booking your trip. Nationwide Travel Insurance is one of our top picks for those wanting pre-existing condition coverage, as it has a generous 21-day window from booking to buy a policy and still receive a waiver.
Nationwide Travel Insurance
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Policy highlights
Single- and multi-trip plans and cruise insurance, plus add-ons like CFAR and rental car coverage.
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Cancel For Any Reason coverage
Add-on to Prime plan that reimburses 75% of nonrefundable trip costs if purchased within 21 days of booking (Not available in New York or Washington state)
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Pre-existing condition waiver
Available with single-trip plan purchased within 20 days of initial trip deposit (14 days for cruise insurance)
You may not be able to avoid air travel issues, but you can get protection for them
Booking a cruise also typically involves booking a flight to a port. But when you’re on a cruise, you’re on a strict schedule — even a short flight delay can mean missing the ship.
Across the U.S., about a quarter of flights between January and June were delayed or cancelled, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
While it’s always a good idea to build in some extra time before your cruise, even the most careful planning can be sabotaged by a delay. Coverage for missed connections is typically included in cruise travel insurance, which can pay to help you catch up to your cruise after a travel delay to your embarkation point.
Additionally, this kind of coverage can pay for other air travel headaches, like lost or delayed baggage. We like Faye Travel Insurance for its relative ease of filing claims and a digital wallet that can make paid funds available in minutes, even on the go.
Faye Travel Insurance
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Policy highlights
One single-trip plan with optional add-ons for pet care, adventure sports and damage to vacation rentals
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Cancel For Any Reason coverage
Up to 75% reimbursement of nonrefundable trip costs if purchased within 14 days of initial trip deposit.
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Pre-existing condition waiver
Available if policy is purchased within 14 days of initial trip deposit.
Cruise travel insurance FAQs
Who has the best cruise travel insurance?
Is travel insurance required to go on a cruise?
Most cruise lines don’t require travel insurance for destinations like the Caribbean or Alaska, but it may be required for more adventure-based travel like a cruise to Antarctica. However, even if it’s not required by your cruise operator, getting a policy could help you financially if you’re in a situation where you need medical attention or miss a connection, for example.
How much is cruise travel insurance?
Cruise travel insurance typically costs about 4% to 10% of your trip’s total non-refundable expenses. However, your age and the destinations you’re visiting will influence the total price you’ll pay.
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At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every travel insurance review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of travel insurance products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.
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