Cruise Travel
Insurance

Cruise travel insurance includes a set of benefits that may help address the specific risks associated with cruise vacations. These benefits can assist with unexpected disruptions that occur before or during your trip, such as needing to cancel your cruise for a covered reason, becoming ill while at sea, or losing baggage while traveling. Many standard health plans, including Medicare, may not cover medical care received outside the U.S. or on international waters. Travel insurance benefits may help with eligible expenses in those situations. It may be especially helpful when visiting multiple countries or traveling to remote areas where access to medical care is limited.

AXA’s travel protection plans may include emergency medical expense benefits that can help pay for eligible treatment if you get sick or injured during your cruise. This can apply to care provided by the ship’s medical staff, as well as treatment at a local clinic or hospital when you dock. While ships have onboard doctors and nurses, more serious conditions often require off-ship care or even emergency evacuation. These medical services can be costly and are often not covered by Medicare or other domestic health plans. Having travel insurance can help reduce the financial burden of accessing care while abroad or at sea.

On Cruise Explorer, if a covered delay causes you to miss your cruise departure, the Missed Port of Call benefit may reimburse up to $500 for additional transportation expenses to join your cruise and other eligible costs, after a minimum 6-hour delay. If the delay causes you to miss a connecting flight, the Missed Connection benefit may apply, up to $2,000, after a minimum 3-hour delay. Missed Connection is also available on Explorer Select and Explorer Elite. The delay must meet the conditions outlined in your plan, and the reason for the delay must be covered and documented. Benefits are secondary to any compensation from the carrier.

It may be possible. If you qualify for a waiver of the pre-existing condition exclusion, your plan may cover eligible medical expenses related to a pre-existing condition. To qualify, you generally need to purchase your plan within a certain number of days from your initial trip payment, insure 100% of your trip cost, be medically able to travel at the time of purchase, and meet other plan conditions, such as the booking being the first and only booking for that trip and destination.

The look-back period is the number of days before your plan’s effective date that AXA will review your medical history. If the waiver applies, your condition is treated the same as any new illness during the trip, allowing you to file claims for eligible expenses if your condition flares up. On the Cruise Explorer plan, this waiver requires purchase within 14 days of your initial trip payment and applies a 180-day look-back period.

Cruise itineraries can change due to severe weather, port closures, or mechanical issues with the ship. These changes may result in skipped destinations, shortened cruise durations, or delays returning home. Whether a change is covered depends on your plan and the reason for the change. Itinerary change benefits vary by plan.

On Cruise Explorer, the Itinerary Change benefit may pay up to $500 if the cruise line changes a port of call before you depart and you did not approve the change. The Itinerary Change – Pre-Paid Excursion benefit may reimburse up to $500 in non-refundable, pre-paid excursion costs if a change of port after departure prevents you from taking the excursion. It is not paid if the activity is rescheduled during your trip, and both benefits require verification from the cruise line. If your ship skips a scheduled port because of weather, a mechanical breakdown, or certain other events, the Travel Inconvenience benefit may pay a one-time $250.

In more serious cases, such as needing to leave the cruise early due to illness or a family emergency, trip interruption benefits may help with the cost of return travel and lost cruise days.

The Explorer Select and Explorer Elite from AXA Travel Protection offer an optional Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) benefit, available for an additional cost. This benefit allows you to cancel your cruise for a reason not listed under standard trip cancellation coverage. To qualify, you must meet certain conditions, such as purchasing the plan within a specified time after your initial trip payment and insuring the full trip cost. If eligible, CFAR can reimburse a portion of your prepaid, non-refundable expenses. The percentage reimbursed and other terms depend on the specific plan details.

If eligible, CFAR may reimburse a portion of your prepaid, non-refundable expenses. On Cruise Explorer, it may reimburse up to 75% of your insured trip cost, up to a maximum benefit of $18,750, for a maximum insured trip cost of $25,000. Percentages and other terms vary by plan.

CFAR is available as an optional upgrade on Explorer Select, Explorer Elite, and Cruise Explorer. Cruise Explorer includes cruise-specific benefits like Missed Port of Call and Itinerary Change. Its CFAR upgrade may reimburse up to 75% of insured trip cost for trips costing up to $25,000. The upgrade must be purchased within the required timeframe, and all benefits are subject to the plan’s terms and conditions.