What does a Travel Protection Policy include?

A typical travel protection policy includes three main benefits:

• Trip cancellation/interruption
• Major medical with medical evacuation
• Baggage protection

Most policies offer some type of travel delay coverage, but it may or may not cover delays to strikes or other labor problems. In general, the insurance portion of a travel protection plan covers medical emergencies, such as a death, illness or injury to you, your traveling companions and any immediate family members.

Many policies also offer round-the-clock travel assistance to help you replace a lost passport, rebook a reservation, or cope with other travel mishaps.

It is important to know that most cruise line travel protection policies do not cover pre-existing medical conditions under the trip cancellation clause. A pre-existing medical condition is usually defined as one for which you have been treated within 90 days of purchasing the insurance.

How much does Travel Protection Insurance cost?

Travel protection premiums can be priced in a variety of ways and may depend on one or more of the following factors:

• Length of the cruise
• Cabin price including port charges, taxes and fees
• Total cost of the vacation
• Your age at the time of travel

Costs and coverage do vary and it is in your best interest to compare insurance plans. A helpful website, insuremytrip.com, allows you to compare more than 100 travel insurance plans from 16 leading insurance providers.

All cruise lines charge penalties if you must cancel your cruise within their penalty periods. And don't expect that they will make an exception--even under the worst circumstances. Travel Protection will refund these penalties if you cancel for a covered reason.