Princess Cruise Travel Insurance - 2026 Review

Background

Princess Cruises is one of the most well-known cruise companies in the world, offering cruise vacations to 380 destinations on 7 continents. Award winning immersive itineraries, allow travelers to discover the uniqueness of each port-of-call while foodies can dine on fresh regional cuisine daily. Whether looking to relax, be entertained, sample regional delicacies or explore new destinations, Princess has it all.

Princess Cruises offers their own travel insurance called Princess Vacation Protection. The plan is underwritten by Nationwide and administered by Aon, two well-known names in the insurance industry.

Cruise Itinerary

For our cruise with Princess, we chose a 10-day cruise for two travelers aged 55 and 60, from San Francisco, CA to the coast of Alaska, April 30 - May10, 2022. The price was $1,798 per person and including taxes and fees, the total cost is $4,246. The cruise stops in several ports in Alaska and in Victoria, Canada. We have not included airfare in our total trip cost as the pricing can vary greatly, so cruise cost only will be used for our example.

At checkout, we’re asked if we’d like to include Princess Vacation Protection for our trip. This is Princess Cruises’ own insurance.

Princess offers both ‘Standard’ and ‘Platinum’ cruise insurance to its customers. Let’s see the differences between the two.

Princess Cruise Vacation Protection Insurance – Standard Protection Levels

• Cancellation – up to 100% of trip cost if you cancel for illness, injury, death, etc.
• Cancel Any Reason – 75% of cruise cost given in future cruise credits
• Accident or Illness Medical Expense - $10,000
• Emergency Evacuation and Repatriation of Remains - $50,000
• Pre-Existing Medical Condition Waiver: No
• Trip Interruption 150% of trip cost
• Baggage Delay - $500 per Trip
• Baggage/Personal Effects - $1,500 per Trip
• Trip Delay (en route to the Trip) - $500 per Trip*
• Trip Delay (returning from the Trip) - $1,500 per Trip*

*Not to exceed $1,500 in the event of both pre- and post-cruise vacation trip delays.

Princess Cruise Vacation Protection Insurance – Platinum Protection Levels

Listing of Benefits - Maximum Benefit

• Cancellation – up to 100% of trip cost if you cancel for illness, injury, death, etc.
• Cancel Any Reason – 75% of cruise cost given in future cruise credits
• Accident or Illness Medical Expense - $20,000
• Emergency Evacuation and Repatriation of Remains - $75,000
• Pre-Existing Medical Condition Waiver: No
• Trip Interruption 150% of trip cost
• Baggage Delay - $500 per Trip
• Baggage/Personal Effects - $3,000 per Trip
• Trip Delay (en route to the Trip) - $500 per Trip*
• Trip Delay (returning from the Trip) - $1,500 per Trip*

*Not to exceed $1,500 in the event of both pre- and post-cruise vacation trip delays.

Let’s take a look at the pricing difference between the two plans:

The Platinum Plan is $71.92 more than the Standard Plan and doubles the medical coverage to $20,000 total and increases the medical evacuation coverage by $15,000 to a $75,000 total.

While the Accident Medical Expense and Emergency Evacuation that Princess offers in its Platinum policy are mildly better than in Standard, it is still too low. If a helicopter must evacuate you from the middle of the sea back to the US, $20,000 for medical expenses and $75,000 for evacuation would not be enough. AARDY recommends a minimum of $100k for medical insurance and $250k for medical evacuation.  

What Medical Insurance Benefits do I Need when Cruising?

Any form of travel insurance is designed to cover the financial costs of an event that we would rather not happen. Some are just frustrating, such as lost luggage or missed connection. Other events can be financially devastating, such as a medical evacuation.

For cruise travel insurance to be of use, the benefits must support the likely worst-case scenario. We will never recommend that a traveler take less than $100,000 of Travel Medical Insurance protection. That may seem like a lot of coverage, but in a worst-case scenario, it is the minimum amount of coverage we recommend. Why so high? Because traumatic injury or illness can result in significant medical expense.

International private hospitals can charge up to $3k-$4k per day. The only time that we could consider less protection than this is if a traveler has alternative medical insurance that will cover them overseas. This option is rare.

As a tourist, you will not be entitled to use any state medical facilities that may exist when you are overseas. Some countries have good public health care systems, but they are not available to visitors and other non-residents. This means that you will pay full cost to use local private health facilities. In addition, the US State Department will not offer financial support to US residents needing to pay for overseas health care – your medical bill is solely your responsibility.

What Medical Evacuation Benefits Do I Need When Cruising?

If you find yourself in a serious accident you may well need to be medically evacuated to a facility that can help you.  Those who suffer from the highest level of trauma may need to be evacuated in a private jet and be accompanied by an on-board medical team.

The costs of these medical evacuation trips can be extraordinary. Those who are traveling within 3-4 hours of the USA need $250,000 of Medical Evacuation coverage whenever they buy cruise travel insurance. When venturing further afield, $500,000 of evacuation protection should suffice.

Comparison Quotes

Based on our sample couple, ages 55 and 60, we created comparison quotes using AARDY’s travel insurance marketplace engine. The trip cost used for the comparison is the cruise cost for both travelers $1,798 per person plus taxes and fees of $650, for a total of $4,246.

As mentioned previously, when traveling outside the United States, we recommend a minimum coverage of $100,000 in Medical Insurance, $250,000 in Medical Evacuation (more if traveling far from the US), and a Pre-existing Medical Condition Waiver. We used these criteria to choose the selected quotes.

The least expensive plan with adequate coverage on our quote from AARDY is the Trawick First Class. This plan would be comparable to the Princess Cruise Vacation Protection Standard Plan.

For a Cancel For Any Reason policy, we chose the Trawick First Class (CFAR75%), because it is the least expensive plan with Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) benefits and would be comparable to the Princess Cruise Vacation Protection Platinum Plan.

Next, we broke down the benefits of each policy in a side-by-side comparison.

Benefit	Princess Standard Trip Protection	Princess Platinum Trip Protection	Trawick First Class	Trawick First Class (CFAR 75%)
Trip Cancellation	100% of trip cost for illness, injury or death   75% of trip cost in cruise credit for reasons not listed in policy	100% of trip cost for illness, injury or death   75% of trip cost in cruise credit for reasons not listed in policy	100% of trip cost	100% of trip cost
Trip Interruption	Up to 150% of trip cost	Up to 150% of trip cost	150% of trip cost	150% of trip cost
Medical Insurance	$10,000	$20,000	$150,000	$150,000
Medical Evacuation	$50,000	$75,000	$1,000,000	$1,000,000
Baggage Loss/Damage	$3,000	$3,000	$500/article up to $2,000 per person	$500/article up to $2,000 per person
Baggage Delay	$500	$500	$400	$400
Travel Delay (Incl quarantine)	$1500	$1500	$1000 per person	$1000 per person
Missed Connection	No	No	$1000 per person	$1000 per person
Covers Pre-existing Medical Conditions	No	No	Yes if purchased within 14 days of deposit	Yes if purchased within14 days of deposit
Cancel For Work Reason	No	No	No	No
Interrupt For Any Reason	No	No	No	No
Cancel For Any Reason	75% of cruise cost (cruise credit only)	100% of cruise cost (cruise credit only)	No	75% of trip cost if purchased within 10 days of deposit
Accidental Death & Dismemberment	None	None	$25,000	$25,000
Cost of Policy	$287.68 (6.77% of trip cost)	$431.52 (10.16% of trip cost)	$231.00 (5.44% of trip cost)	$392.70 (9.25% of trip cost)

Cost Comparison

To compare to Princess’ Standard Plan, our recommended plan is the Trawick Frist Class at $231.00. This plan provides $150k of medical coverage and $1 million of medical evacuation coverage and is $56.68 LESS than Princess Cruises’ Standard Plan. Coverage is also about FIVE TIMES what Princess will provide!

To compare to Princess’ Platinum Plan, our recommended plan is the Trawick Frist Class (CFAR 75%), at $392.70. This plan provides is identical to the Trawick First Class but adds the Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) option. This plan also provides $150k of medical coverage and $1 million of medical evacuation coverage and is $38.82 LESS than Princess Cruises’ Platinum Plan. Coverage is also about FIVE TIMES what Princess will provide!

Overall Princess Cruises Standard Protection Plan and Protection Plan Plus have low coverage for travelers venturing away from home. Their Platinum Plan does increase coverage from their Standard Plan, but not by much.

By shopping for cruise insurance through AARDY, our two travelers can save anywhere from $37.82 - $56.58 - which can be applied to other things like shopping.

In the following sections, we discuss know what to look for when shopping for travel insurance for your Princess cruise.

Trip Cancellation

A significant concern for travelers is Trip Cancellation. If you became ill or had an accidental injury prior to your departure date, you may have to cancel your travel arrangements, resulting in financial losses. While disappointing, Trip Cancellation is doubly painful without cancellation insurance.

The Princess Cruise Vacation Protection Plans permits cancellation for the following reasons to receive a cash refund of the full trip cost:

• Unexpected injury, illness, or death of traveler or immediate family member
• Involvement in a traffic accident en route to your departure causing you to miss the cruise
• Called to jury duty or subpoena
• Residence made uninhabitable by natural disaster, fire, flood, hurricane etc.
• Called to active military duty to respond to a national disaster

For any reasons outside this limited list, Princess will provide a cruise credit of 75% of the total trip cost in the form of a cruise credit good for one year. If you cannot use the credit during that timeframe, the cruise cost is lost. Also, Princess Vacation Protection Plans do NOT cover any travel arrangement made outside of Princess Cruises.

Both the Trawick First Class policy and the Trawick First Class (CFAR75%) policy can cover ALL prepaid, non-refundable travel arrangements, regardless of where you booked them. In addition, they both offer a 100% refund for covered Trip Cancellations, a 150% refund for covered Trip Interruptions, and a broad list of covered reasons, including cancelling due to contracting COVID. The Trawick First Class (CFAR 75%) will pay a 75% refund in cash (NOT cruise credit) when canceling for a reason not listed in the policy. We think cash is always a better option than cruise credits which may or may not be used.

Trip Interruption

A Trip Interruption is a situation during your trip that causes you to miss some or the rest of your vacation. It’s like Trip Cancellation but happens during your travels.

The most common trip interruption is the injury or illness of a traveler. If you had an injury or illness on your vacation but can continue traveling after treatment, trip interruption reimburses the unused portion of the trip, and the cost to rejoin the trip in progress.

Trip interruption also includes a family member who had a sudden grave illness or passed away. If your covered situation requires curtailing the trip and going home early, Trip Interruption also reimburses for the unused portion of the trip, plus the added cost of going home early.

In the Princess Vacation Protection travel insurance policy, Trip Interruption benefits include reimbursement of unused trip costs paid to Princess Cruises plus the added cost of transportation home. They will not reimburse for any travel arrangement made outside of Princess Cruises.

Travel insurance plans like the Trawick First Class and Trawick First Class (CFAR 75%) also offer 150% of trip costs for interruption. Therefore, they cover up to 100% of the unused trip costs, plus up to an additional 50% to cover transportation costs to return home.

Cancel For Any Reason

Cancel For Any Reason cruise insurance provides the highest level of flexibility and reimbursement if you must cancel your trip for any reason not covered by the policy.

If you cancel your Princess cruise for a reason not listed in the Princess policy, they grant future credits for 75% of the prepaid, non-refundable cancellation fees paid to them. Credits expire after one year, are non-transferrable and not redeemable for cash. Princess, not their insurance policy, provides this part of the Vacation Protection Plan. When it comes to refunds, we always prefer cash since future credits may not be used.

Alternatively, travel insurance policies like Trawick First Class with Cancel For Any Reason included pay a 75% cash refund of all prepaid, non-refundable trip costs including arrangements made outside of Princess Cruises. This could include flights, hotels, rental cars, excursions, and transfers.

Cancel For Any Reason policies have several stipulations:

1. Purchase the policy within 10 - 21 days (depending on policy), of your initial payment or deposit date and
2. Insure 100% of the prepaid trip costs subject to cancellation penalties or restrictions. For additional prepaid non-refundable payments made after the purchase of the policy, insure within 10-21 days (depending on policy), of each subsequent payment added to your trip, and
3. Cancel your trip 2 days or more before your scheduled departure date.

Medical Insurance for Emergency Treatment

One of the most important factors in selecting trip insurance is having adequate Medical Insurance when you travel. Anything can happen, including accidental injuries or sudden illness.

If you have a medical emergency when traveling and don’t have proper medical insurance coverage while overseas, you could find yourself with huge, unexpected hospital bills. Many Americans mistakenly believe countries with universal health care will treat them for free. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Instead, Americans receive treatment at private hospitals, not public, and must pay like anyone else. Admission for inpatient care can cost $3,000-$4,000 per day, plus the cost of treatment, x-rays, surgeries, and specialists.

A common misconception is that Medicare will pay for hospitalization overseas.  Unfortunately, they won’t. Medicare does not pay providers outside the US. Some Medicare supplements do cover overseas, but have lifetime limits or reduced benefits, and pay for emergencies only. They can still require you to pay 20% of the costs. As a result, you could go on vacation and end up with medical bills in the thousands.

AARDY urges overseas travelers to take travel medical insurance of at least $100,000 per person. In a medical emergency, $100,000 provides ample health care and helps protect your retirement savings from unexpected financial burdens.

Princess Vacation Protection Plan provides a $10,000 benefit for Medical Insurance on their Standard Plan and $20,000 for the Platinum Plan, which is far below our recommended minimum of $100,000. Both Trawick’s First Class policies includes $150,000 per person of Medical Insurance, so you can receive proper treatment without ending up in debt.

Emergency Medical Evacuation

Medical Insurance isn’t the only potentially expensive part of a trip. Emergency Medical Evacuation transports you from the place of injury or illness to the closest hospital. Once you’re stable enough for transport, Medical Evacuation brings you home via commercial flight or, if necessary, private medical jet.

Medical flights can cost up to $25,000 per hour and regular health insurance does not cover it. In addition, the US State Department does not offer any medical treatment or evacuation assistance for US citizens. AARDY advises travelers to get at least $250,000 Medical Evacuation to assure there’s enough coverage to get them back home from almost anywhere if they experience a serious medical event.

Princess’ Vacation Protection Plan includes Medical Evacuation up to $50,000 per person on the Standard Plan and increases to $75,000 on the Platinum Plan.  The Trawick First Class policies provide $1,000,000 per person for Medical Evacuation, so you can feel secure knowing you have adequate coverage to transport you back home if needed.

Pre-existing Medical Conditions

A significant concern for senior travelers can be pre-existing medical conditions. A Pre-Existing Medical Condition is one in which you’ve received medical treatment, testing, medication changes, added new medications, or received a recommendation for a treatment or test that hasn’t happened yet. Most travel insurance policies exclude pre-existing conditions unless you purchase the policy within the required time period from your initial trip deposit date (called the Time Sensitive Period). Otherwise, the insurer will look backward 60, 90, or 180 days (depending on the policy) from the date you purchased the insurance to see if there are any pre-existing medical conditions they won’t cover. This is called the Look Back Period. Any medical conditions older than this Look Back Period, unchanged or stabilized with no medication dosage changes are covered, as are any new conditions that arise after you purchase the policy.

If you must cancel, interrupt, or seek medical treatment for a medical condition while traveling, travel insurance policies typically exclude claims related to Pre-existing Medical Conditions. However, if you purchase the policy within a few days of your Initial Trip Payment or Deposit date, many policies add a Waiver to the policy that covers Pre-existing Conditions. As a result, there is no Look Back Period and Pre-existing Conditions are covered.

The Princess Vacation Protection Plan covers NOT cover Pre-Existing Medical Conditions. However, the Trawick First Class policies will cover Pre-existing Medical Conditions provided you purchase the policy within 14-days of your initial trip deposit or payment.

Price and Value

The Princess Vacation Protection Standard Plan and Platinum Plan carry minimal coverage and are more expensive than other available options. The medical insurance coverage is at most $20,000, and $75,000 for medical evacuation when choosing the Platinum Plan, which may not be adequate for a serious illness or injury. Cancellation reasons are limited and the Cancel For Any Reason coverage only grants future cruise credits that expire after a year. Overall, the Princess Vacation Protection Plan offers limited value for the price.

In contrast, by comparison shopping, we found the Trawick First Class policy comes in at $231.00, ($56.68 LESS than Princess). It includes superior medical and evacuation benefits, 100% refund for trip costs, including those made outside of Princess Cruises, for covered cancellation, a 150% refund for a covered trip interruption, and a robust list of cancellation reasons.

Choosing the Vacation Protection Platinum Plan from Princess didn’t provide much better value. It carries the same benefits as their Standard Vacation Protection Plan and similarly, the Cancel For Any Reason option will only provide a 75% cruise credit for up to one year. Again, by comparison shopping, we found the Trawick First Class (CFAR 75%) for $392.70, ($38.82 LESS than Princess). It includes $150,000 medical insurance and $1,000,000 medical evacuation. Plus, it includes a Cancel For Any Reason provision that refunds 75% of trip costs back in cash, rather than future credit. It has superior coverage over Princess’ policy and costs less.

Conclusion

Princess Cruises Vacation Protection Plan insurance provides travelers with a minimal insurance policy for a high cost that could leave travelers unpleasantly surprised during an emergency. Medical coverage and medical evacuation limits are low, and there are a limited number of covered cancellation and interruption reasons, as well as insufficient trip cost reimbursement. Though they have a strong reputation for excellent cruise service, their insurance is rather weak. Overall, we rate it a 6 out of 10.

Travelers planning a Princess cruise vacation will find the best value for their money and peace of mind when they shop for travel insurance at AARDY Travel Insurance Marketplace. There, you can review dozens of options and select the best policy to fit your needs.

To help you find the best policy, AARDY recommends having at least $100,000 in travel medical coverage and $250,000 - $500,000 (depending on distance from the US) for emergency medical evacuation when traveling outside the US. And, if you purchase the policy within the 14-21 days of initial trip payment, please consider a travel insurance policy with the pre-existing condition waiver included to ensure the most coverage for your money.

If you are planning a Princess cruise in 2022, be sure to pack insurance before you travel. You never know when you may need it.

Have questions? Chat with us online, send us an email at agent@aardy.com or alternatively call us at (650) 492-6298. We would love to hear from you.

Safe Travels!