FAQs: Cruise Travel Insurance Benefits

Not all domestic cruise ships have access to a Medicare-accessible doctor on board. If you need to see a GP while on a domestic cruise, the cost won’t be covered by Medicare in these cases and – you may have to pay for it yourself in full.

At Cover-More, we can provide cover for these expenses when you tell us you are travelling on a sea or ocean cruise for two or more nights. An additional premium will need to be paid and cruise cover benefits will then be available on your policy. You don’t need to inform us if you are going on a river cruise, not travelling on a cruise ship, not travelling on a cruise ship for more than one night, if you are only taking a ferry, if the trip is on an inland river cruise in Australia, or if you are sailing. (Note: sailing is not covered in international waters). 

When generating a Cover-More travel insurance quote – the first step in buying our cover – you will be asked if you are travelling on a sea or ocean cruise for two or more nights (This is not required for river cruises in Australia or international destinations). An additional premium will be applied to your policy and the Cruise Cover benefits will be available once the premium is paid and the Certificate of Insurance issued.

To buy cover for a domestic cruise in Australia, select “Domestic Cruise” as the destination in the quote box, and answer the cruise question when prompted.

To buy cover for an international cruise, select the country or region or “Anywhere in the World” as your destination, and answer the cruise question when prompted.

Before protecting your trip with our Cover-More cruise insurance benefits, please read the PDS to ensure our product is right for you.

At Cover-More, we recommend you purchase travel insurance as soon as you’ve booked your trip to help protect against incidents before you even leave home.

If you include a level of cancellation cover on your policy and have told us you are going on a sea or ocean-going cruise for two or more nights, and have paid the additional premium, the cancellation benefits will apply to your cruise as well.

For information on our optional cancellation cover, please read the PDS.

You can also get a quote online now.

No. For cruise benefits to apply, your travel insurance policy must include our Cruise Cover and must be purchased before you leave home. This also includes before you catch any flights or transportation required to get to your departing port.

To find out how much it costs to include our Cover-More cruise insurance benefits in your travel insurance policy, get a quote online now.

When generating your Cover-More travel insurance quote, you can select multiple destinations under “Where are you going?”. You can also select a region – such as “All of Africa” or “All of Europe” – or “Anywhere in the World” for cover in multiple destinations.

Then, when prompted, you must answer yes to the question around travelling on a sea or ocean-going cruise for two or more nights, and pay the additional premium, for the cruise cover benefits to be applied to your policy for cover while you’re on board a cruise.

If you need further assistance with protecting your multi-country cruise, call us on 1300 72 88 22.

There are some scenarios when you don’t need to tell us you are going on a cruise of two or more nights. If you are:

• not travelling on a cruise ship on the sea or ocean
• on a cruise for only one night
• only taking a ferry trip
• only cruising in Australian or international rivers (e.g. on the Murray River, the Rhine or the Danube River)
• sailing (note: sailing is not covered in international waters)

…then our Cruise Cover is not required.

Cruise ships do offer medical assistance, but the medics are only there to stabilise your condition.

If you require urgent medical attention, you may need to be evacuated from your cruise and taken to the hospital.

Our Cruise Cover benefits offer onboard medical and emergency dental cover, and ship to shore medical cover. This means if you get sick or injured, we can help.

Contact our 24-hour Emergency Assistance team as soon as possible if you are hospitalised while on a cruise.

Cruise ships are only equipped with basic medical assistance. If you require medical attention to prevent long-term medical illnesses or death, you will need to be evacuated from the ship.

Our Cruise Cover benefits can protect you from the expenses of being medically evacuated, which is often a costly exercise.

One of our Cover-More customers fractured their leg onboard a cruise ship and had to be evacuated via an air ambulance back to Australia for surgery. The total claim cost was $90,000.

If you don’t want to be out-of-pocket for unexpected cruise holiday expenses, consider protecting your trip with Cover-More. You can read the PDS to understand if the product is suitable for you before getting a quote online.

Our Cruise Cover benefit includes cover for onboard emergency medical and dental expenses and ship-to-shore medical expenses incurred by travellers on multi-night cruises. If you fall ill with COVID-19 while on board a cruise, we can help you financially and provide emergency assistance support if required.

For more information on what is and isn’t covered regarding COVID-19 while you’re on a multi-night cruise, please read the PDS. For example, it’s important to know there is no cover for any cabin confinement claims related to COVID-19 – even if Cruise Cover is included in your policy.

Yes, we can. When you generate a quote, you will go through the same medical assessment process that exists for non-cruising travellers.

If your online medical assessment is approved, and you pay any extra premium to us as part of your policy cost, we will be able to offer you cover for your pre-existing medical condition/s.

If you choose to declare some medical conditions and not others, you run the risk of a claim being denied.

Visit our existing medical conditions page to view a comprehensive list of conditions included in our plans, and quote online to complete our online medical assessment for conditions we can cover for an extra cost.

Please note: if you are not approved for your existing medical conditions, we can still provide cover for other travel insurance benefits, such as lost luggage and travel documents, and any illness or injury not relating to your existing medical condition.

If you miss the boat because of a delayed connection, our Cruise Cover option may be able to set you on your way again.

A group of our Cover-More customers missed their cruise because of a delayed flight. To add to their worries, their luggage still hadn’t arrived by the time they landed in Auckland. By the time they reached the cruise terminal (without their luggage), it was too late to board their cruise. Missing the first segment of their trip, they opted to fly to Vanuatu, where they were able to meet their cruise. Cover-More settled their claim for extra travel costs of $1,560.

If the cruise ship takes off without your bags and your Cover-More policy includes our Cruise Cover option, our delayed luggage cover can reimburse you for any reasonable expenses incurred to replace delayed items.

Travelling with expensive items? Additional cover may be required if you want those high-priced items insured. This extra level of cover can be added to your policy when you purchase it.

For more information regarding our delayed luggage cover and benefit limits, read the Product Disclosure Statement.

If sudden illness, injury, or an unexpected weather event prevents you from experiencing your cruise, our Cover-More travel insurance with Cruise Cover benefits can help. This includes providing cover for non-refundable, unused, prepaid expenses such as deposits or onshore bookings up to the level of cancellation cover you have added to your policy.

One of our Cover-More customers was about to embark on a cruise to Sydney for their 50th birthday. Sadly, a few months before their trip, they were diagnosed with leukaemia. Advised against long-distance travel while undergoing chemotherapy, they cancelled their cruise immediately. As they purchased their policy with the Cruise Cover option and cancellation cover included – plus they had declared all existing medical conditions – Cover-More reimbursed the lost expenses of $1,500.

Note: the benefit limit for cruise cancellation depends on the cover chosen when buying your policy. Please read the PDS for details.

Unfortunately, we do not cover claims resulting from lack of enjoyment. If your ship is unable to visit a port, we will not be able to compensate you for loss of enjoyment.

Depending on the cover purchased and the circumstances of a claim, we may be able to cover cancellation of non-refundable, prepaid onshore tours.