Cruise passengers ignore the need for specialist travel insurance

A third of all cruise passengers set off without the right travel insurance according to a new survey.

It found that many cruise customers didn't realise that they needed specialist travel insurance for a cruise, wrongly believing that they would be adequately covered by any standard travel insurance policy.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) recommended all cruise customers checked their travel insurance policy to make sure they had the right level of cover.

In particular, cruise customers need to read the small print of their travel insurance to check for cover for repatriation from a ship in case of illness, cancelled shore excursions and problems caused by weather.

Insurance is as important on a cruise as on any other holiday, said an ABI spokesman, especially as you're likely to be visiting several different countries, all of which may have slightly different approaches to healthcare and how it's paid for.""

Many standard travel insurance policies do not provide cover for cancelled shore excursions due to sickness, or missed ports due to adverse weather or a change in itinerary.

Cruise passengers also need cruise-specific insurance so they can be sure they will be covered if they fall ill and need to be airlifted from the ship to hospital or if the ship needs to divert to a port to get them more medical help than is available onboard.

Cruise-specific insurance should also provide compensation to passengers if they miss part of a cruise due to ill-health.

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