Most travel insurers will cover cruises for an extra fee
Beware of exclusions – you won’t be able to claim for events that occur because you’ve had too much to drink
You need to make sure you declare your pre-existing medical conditions
Cruising is more popular than ever. More than 1.45 million Australians cruised in 2025 – that’s 1 in 20 people – and a new record for the number of Australians who opt to holiday at sea.
There are a lot of things that can go wrong on a cruise, so if you’re planning one, read on to discover the cover you need to look for and which travel insurance policies are the best for cruises.
Most travel insurers will cover cruising holidays that start and end in Australia as an optional extra, so you’ll need to make sure you select this option and pay an additional fee.
Some providers also offer tailored cruise travel insurance, which can give you access to additional inclusions that are unique to cruising and that may not be covered in standard policies, such as cover for missed ports, missed departures, or cabin confinement due to illness.
When choosing a policy, it’s important to make sure the region you’re visiting is covered, and that the policy suits your needs and itinerary.
Travel insurance for cruises: What you need to know
How much does travel insurance for a cruise cost?
The price for your trip will vary depending on where you’re going, the length of your trip, how comprehensive your cover is, how old you are, how far in advance you purchase your policy and how much excess you’re willing to pay.
Text-only accessible version
The average length of a crusing holiday to the South Pacific is 11 days, and the average cost of travel insurance is $271.
The average length of a crusing holiday to the Asia is 21 days, and the average cost of travel insurance is $471.
The average length of a crusing holiday to the UK and Ireland is 37 days, and the average cost of travel insurance is $776.
The average length of a crusing holiday to the Europe is 42 days, and the average cost of travel insurance is $1018.
The average length of a crusing holiday to the Americas and Canada is 30 days, and the average cost of travel insurance is $1206.
HOW WE CALCULATED: We looked at how much the average travel pays for travel insurance for a cruising holiday to the South Pacific (including quotes for travel to Fiji, Indonesia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Vanuatu); to Asia (including quotes for travel to South Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Phillipines, China, India, Thailand, Japan, Singapore, and Cambodia); to Europe (including quotes for travel to Italy, France, Spain, Turkey and Germany); to the UK and Ireland (includes travel to United Kingdom and Ireland); and the Americas and Canada (including quotes to America, Brazil and Canada). Quotes obtained in March 2026. Average prices and average trip length based on between 7500 and 32,000 quotes for market-representative scenarios from 28 policies, including additional charges for cruise cover when appropriate.
Cheapest insurers for cruises
Zoom Comprehensive was, on average, the cheapest travel insurance policy for cruising in all the regions we looked at, except for New Zealand. The cheapest policy with cruise cover in New Zealand was Virgin Australia Travel Safe Plus International.
Allianz Comprehensive, Travel Insurance Direct Basics, World Nomads Standard, NIB Essentials and Wordcare Comprehensive were the other low-cost options.
Note that all these policies mentioned have different levels of cover. It’s essential you understand your needs and compare cover options, including reading the policy documents, to determine the right policy for you.
Cheap, but are they the best?
These may be the cheapest travel insurance policies for cruises, but are they the best? For example, the Zoom Comprehensive policy provides no cover for pandemics other than COVID-19. You might want more protection than that.
Log in, or become a CHOICE member, to find the best value travel insurance policy for your destination.
Unlike other insurance comparison websites, we don’t get paid by any of the insurers we’re comparing. So we only recommend the best insurance policies for you.
Travel insurers that cover international cruises
Almost all insurers we review cover cruises as an optional extra for an additional fee to some of their policies. Only Jetstar, NIB, Travel Insurance Direct and World Nomads include cruise cover by default.
The age limit for policies vary; often a brand’s multi-trip policy has a lower age limit than their single-trip policies. Some policies have no age limit (marked as 110 years in our table), some only cover you up to age 69, with others landing in between.
It’s also worth noting that if you want cancellation coverage in case a relative in Australia becomes ill or dies, the relative will also need to meet the age limit on the policy and satisfy the existing medical condition requirements.
Age limits set by travel insurers that cover international cruises
Virgin Australia Travel Safe International Multi-Trip
Optional
99
Virgin Australia Travel Safe International
Optional
99
Virgin Australia Travel Safe Plus International Multi-Trip
Optional
99
Virgin Australia Travel Safe Plus International
Optional
99
WAS Insurance Discovery
Optional
99
Webjet Travel Safe International Multi-Trip
Optional
99
Webjet Travel Safe International
Optional
99
Webjet Travel Safe Plus International Multi-Trip
Optional
99
Webjet Travel Safe Plus International
Optional
99
World Nomads Explorer
Yes
69
World Nomads Standard
Yes
69
World2Cover Annual Multi-Trip
Optional
75
World2Cover Basics
Optional
110
World2Cover Essentials
Optional
110
World2Cover Top
Optional
110
Worldcare Comprehensive
Optional
110
Worldcare Multi-Trip
Optional
74
Zoom Comprehensive
Optional
85
Zoom Frequent Traveller
Optional
69
Do you need insurance for a domestic cruise in Australia?
Even if you book a cruise that won’t be leaving Australian waters, you’ll still need travel insurance because shipboard medical expenses are likely not covered by Medicare.
Doctors working on cruise ships don’t need Medicare provider numbers. You can check with your cruise line if they have a Medicare doctor on board. But if not, you will need international or cruise-specific insurance. Domestic travel or health insurance won’t cut it.
Domestic travel insurance doesn’t cover medical costs, so you’d need either international travel insurance (check that it covers domestic cruises) or domestic insurance with a cruise add-on, or special ‘domestic cruise’ insurance, which is available from a few select insurers. Unfortunately, we don’t have access pricing data for domestic cruises.
What to look for in cruise cover
The main reason to take out travel insurance is for medical insurance, and this is no exception when going on a cruise.
Even if your cruise doesn’t leave Australian waters, it’s possible the doctors on board aren’t registered for Medicare, which means you won’t be able to claim back medical costs from the government or private health funds.
Regular domestic travel insurance is unlikely to cover medical costs on a cruise, so it’s important that you buy a cruise-specific domestic policy, or an internation policy that covers cruises in domestic waters.
Medical cover
While COVID-19 may seem like a thing of the past, cruise ships are still a high-risk environment for the transmission of respiratory diseases like COVID-19 and influenza, as well as other infectious diseases like gastroenteritis. And they’ll be a high-risk environment again should any other pandemic start.
Sometimes payment for medical treatment is required upfront. If you have a serious case, you may need to be evacuated from your ship by helicopter, so it’s important to look for a policy with a high limit for medical cover.
This advice also applies to local cruises that don’t leave Australian waters. See further information on this below.
Cover for shore destinations and activities
Make sure you check the government advice on the government’s Smartraveller website for all destinations your cruise is planning to visit.
Each destination is given an official advice level, which is updated regularly. If the advice is level 3, which is ‘Reconsider your need to travel’, or 4: ‘Do not travel’, that destination may not be covered by your insurance.
If you plan to participate in onshore activities, it’s important to check out the product disclosure statement (PDS) to see which activities are included and which are not.
Some, such as motorbike or moped riding, come with special conditions. Adventure activities in other countries may not meet the same safety standards as in Australia.
Theft
Theft of personal items has been known to occur both on ships and during shore visits by professional thieves who target cruise passengers.
If you’re taking anything of value with you, read the limits for personal items in your PDS before buying a policy. Many policies let you increase the limits for ‘specified items’ for an extra fee.
Some cruise policies provide specific cover for formalwear as standard, including theft, damage and loss.
Death
While it’s not something that we like to think about, sometimes the worst does happen. If a passenger dies onboard a cruise ship, the cruise line won’t pay for repatriation of remains, and neither will the Australian government.
Death and repatriation of remains are usually covered under medical expenses in an insurance policy, but it’s important to check so that relatives or others are not left with this significant cost.
What’s not covered by cruise travel insurance
Existing medical conditions and pregnancy
As with other types of travel insurance, some pre-existing medical conditions may not be covered, and others will need to be disclosed in order to be covered. If in doubt, contact the insurer to discuss your needs.
It’s also worth noting that pregnancy is considered an existing medical condition. Some insurance policies cover pregnancy up to 30 weeks, but most cruise lines won’t allow you onboard if you are more than 24 weeks pregnant.
Claims resulting from being under the influence of alcohol
Some people liken cruises to a floating RSL club. Sounds fun, but the combination of alcohol and a seagoing vessel can cause accidents.
In an Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) case, Phil* fell down a flight of stairs on a cruise ship, and suffered a moderate brain injury, skull fracture and right lung contusion.
All travel insurers have a clause that excludes cover for claims resulting from a person being under the influence of alcohol
Phil said the area was not well lit and the steps would have been slippery, while his wife said he was walking steadily. He was taken to a hospital in Austria and a test showed that he had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.198%.
The insurer had an exclusion for “any conduct engaged in whilst under the influence or effect of alcohol or drugs”, and AFCA sided with the insurer, determining that Phil’s claim for expenses should be denied.
All travel insurers have a similar clause that excludes cover for claims resulting from a person being under the influence of alcohol.
* Not their real name. Policyholder names are not disclosed in AFCA case records.
Cruises are often booked well ahead of time, so you could be forgiven for forgetting or delaying the purchase of your travel insurance. But if your cruise is cancelled ahead of time and you don’t yet have cover, you could lose your money. The earlier you buy the policy, the better.
On the flip side, there aren’t many insurers that cover you more than a year out from starting your trip. If you book your trip more than a year out, shop around for a policy that will cover you.
The best value travel insurance for cruising
For our members, we’ve analysed the cost of travel insurance for cruises and the level of cover a policy provides, to reveal the best value insurance options for cruising by region.
Log in or sign up to CHOICE to see the best value insurance options for cruises through New Zealand, South Pacific, Europe, UK and Ireland, Asia, US, South America and Canada.
As a CHOICE member, you’ll also gain access to all of our expert independent reviews, including the best value travel insurance policies for cruising in various locations.
Unlike other insurance comparison websites, we don’t get paid by any of the insurers we’re comparing. So we only recommend the best insurance policies for you. Log in to unlock this members-only content, or join CHOICE to get instant access.
How we test
We used our extensive dataset of quotes for top-tier travel insurance for each of the regions, with their cruise option included. The CHOICE Expert Rating, which is the overall score, is made up of 60% cover score and 40% destination-specific cruise-inclusive price score.
Quotes for 29 international single-trip travel insurance policies were analysed. Scenarios used to obtain these quotes use a market-representative range of holiday duration and lead time, covering singles, couples and families with a variety of ages.
To obtain a price score, each quote was assigned a score, with the most expensive in each scenario scoring 0 and the least expensive scoring 100. The average score for each product was calculated. The products listed above had the highest average scores. Cover scores are the same used for our overall travel insurance review. Read more about how we calculate that.
Jane Bardell is a Content producer in the Insurance and utilities team. She writes about home, car, pet and health insurance.
Previously at CHOICE, she checked facts, figures and statistics as a Verifier with the Editorial and investigations team.
Jane has a Bachelor of Science from the University of New South Wales. LinkedIn
Jane Bardell is a Content producer in the Insurance and utilities team. She writes about home, car, pet and health insurance.
Previously at CHOICE, she checked facts, figures and statistics as a Verifier with the Editorial and investigations team.
Jane has a Bachelor of Science from the University of New South Wales. LinkedIn
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