Do you need specialist Travel Insurance for a river cruise?
All cruises, whether across the Atlantic or a gentle sail down the Rhône in France, can be affected by unexpected events. For example, you might become ill and be confined to your cabin, or your ship might miss one of its scheduled ports. You need River Cruise Insurance to make sure you’re covered for these risks.
Cruise Travel Insurance, providing protection for river cruises, is included as standard with AllClear’s Platinum policies or can be added to our Gold Plus policies.
If you don’t have River Cruise Travel Insurance, you may not be covered if you need to claim, even for medical emergencies. However, by making sure your AllClear policy includes this cover, you can set sail with peace of mind and relax as you drift down the Danube, the Douro, or any number of amazing rivers around the world.
What’s the difference between River Cruise Travel Insurance and Standard Travel Insurance?
Standard Travel Insurance policies provide a wide range of holiday protection, including:
- Cover for medical expenses and repatriation if you’re ill or injured abroad
- Cancellation cover if you’re unable to travel
- Cover for your luggage, passport and personal items
- Protection against missed departures and travel delays
Travel Insurance for river cruises means that all the benefits of a standard Travel Insurance policy will also cover you while you’re on your cruise. Plus, you’ll have extra cover for cruise-specific events, such as itinerary changes, missed port departure or cruise interruption.
Our experts say…
“If you’re planning to take a river cruise, you may think that standard Travel Insurance will cover you. However, you won’t have protection for your trip without taking out cruise cover. As well as medical cover, River Cruise Travel Insurance also includes extra protection for things like cabin confinement or missed excursions.”
Lydia Cripsin Travel Insurance expert
What does River Cruise Travel Insurance cover?
In addition to the cover provided by a standard Travel Insurance policy, Cruise Travel Insurance will protect you against:
- Missed port departure – cover for travel expenses and accommodation if you fail to arrive at the international departure point in time to board the ship and need to join your cruise at the next port.
- Cabin confinement – cover for if you become ill on board and the ship’s medical officer confines you to your room for 24 hours or more.
- Itinerary change – cover for if your cruise misses a scheduled port due to bad weather or timetable restrictions.
- Unused excursions – cover for pre-paid trips and activities if you’re unable to use them due to being ill and confined to your cabin.
- Cruise interruption – cover for the costs of rejoining your cruise if you require hospital treatment on dry land.
You’ll also be covered by all the benefits of a standard Travel Insurance policy while on your river cruise, including medical expenses, cancellation, baggage cover and more.
What is not covered by Travel Insurance for a river cruise?
River Cruise Travel Insurance will only cover you in the region you choose when you’re buying your policy. You wouldn’t be covered for a trip down the Amazon if your policy only covered European river cruises.
If you need River Cruise Insurance for a one-off trip, we’ll ask which countries you’ll be traveling through when you get your quote. With Annual Multi-trip Travel Insurance, covering unlimited river cruises for 12 months, you can choose from cover for:
- Europe
- Europe excluding Spain, the Balearic Islands, The Canaries, Turkey, Cyprus and Malta
- Worldwide
- Worldwide excluding the USA, Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean
If you have pre-existing medical conditions and need Medical Travel Insurance for a river cruise, it’s important that you tell us about all your health conditions when you get a quote. You wouldn’t be covered in a medical emergency if it was related to an existing condition that hadn’t been declared and accepted.
What our Customers Say
Travel Insurance for a European river cruise
There are many wonderful rivers on the continent, and cruises along them can be covered by AllClear’s River Cruise Travel Insurance for Europe. You’ll just need to let us know the areas you’ll be sailing through on your cruise. For example, if you need insurance for a river cruise down the Rhine through the Netherlands and Belgium, your policy will need to cover both countries.
You can let us know which specific countries you’ll be cruising through when you buy Single Trip Travel Insurance, or choose to cover the whole of Europe with an annual policy.
Read our guide to 6 of the best river cruises in Europe, and start planning your trip today!
How much does River Cruise Travel Insurance cost?
The cost of Travel Insurance for a river cruise depends on a number of factors, including:
- Where you’ll be going
- The length of your cruise
- Your age
- Whether you need cover for any medical conditions
When you get your quote, we’ll ask you all the information we need to give you the right price for you and the cruise you’re going on.
Simple 3 step quote process
1. Call us or click a quote button on our site
Once you are ready to start the quote process, the first step is to provide your personal details and information about your holiday plans.2. Complete our simple medical screening process
You then declare the medical conditions for you (and any other travellers) and answer the specifically designed medical questions.3. Get your quotes
You will then get your quotes and can either proceed to buy, or save your quote, at this stage.River cruises with pre-existing medical conditions
It’s important that you let us know about any medical conditions you may have when you get your River Cruise Travel Insurance quote.
As a Medical Travel Insurance specialist, AllClear has covered over 1,300 different conditions and 58% of our customers have 2 or more medical conditions1.
We’ll ask you a few questions about your pre-existing conditions, then let you know if there’s any additional premium needed to cover them. You will also need to let us know if your medical conditions change before you travel, if you develop a new condition, or change your medication.
Examples of medical conditions we can cover include:
Frequently Asked Questions
When should you buy Travel Insurance for your river cruise?
Experts, such as Martin Lewis, recommend that you buy Travel Insurance as soon as you book your trip.
If something happens and you can’t go on your trip, River Cruise Travel Insurance, including cancellation cover, can help you recover costs that you’ve paid out and can’t get refunded. With Single Trip Travel Insurance, cancellation cover will begin as soon as you’ve bought your policy; on Annual Travel Insurance, cancellation cover begins on the start date of your policy2.
Can you add River Travel Insurance after booking a river cruise?
Yes, you can buy Travel Insurance for your river cruise right up until the time you set off on your journey.
However, if you want to be protected in case something happens and you need to cancel your cruise, it’s recommended that you buy your Travel Insurance as soon as you’ve booked your trip.
Is River Cruise Insurance more expensive than ocean cruises?
No, Travel Insurance covering river cruises doesn’t cost any more than Travel Insurance for an ocean cruise. In both cases, you’ll be covered for cruise-related events such as missed port departure, cabin confinement and unused excursions.
Will you be covered if you have a medical emergency on your river cruise?
Yes, provided your policy covers river cruises, you’ll be covered if you have a medical emergency during your holiday.
All policies include access to our 24/7 emergency medical helpline, cover for medical expenses, and transport home if you need it following a serious medical issue. With River Cruise Travel Insurance, you’ll also be covered for cabin confinement and, if you need to stay in hospital, the costs of rejoining your cruise at a later port.
Remember that it’s important to tell us about any pre-existing medical conditions when you buy your policy, and if they change before you travel. You may not be able to claim for a medical emergency if it is related to a pre-existing condition that hadn’t been declared and covered.
1 Based On AllClear Annual Survey, January 2023. 3,901 responses.
2 Providing you have purchased a policy that includes cancellation cover.
