Cruise Travel Insurance Quotes | Save 15% Online with Budget Direct

Whether you’re going on a short cruise in Australian waters, a Pacific cruise, an around-the-world ocean cruise or a river cruise in Europe or Asia, we’ve got wide range of travel insurance for you to choose from.

This coverage includes overseas emergency medical and hospital expenses which, once your ship leaves Australian shores, are not covered by either Medicare or your private health insurer.

What’s covered?

Depending on the type of travel insurance you choose, your cover can include:

Overseas medical and hospital expenses

Unlimited cover for your on-board and overseas on-shore emergency medical and hospital expenses if you get sick or injured on your cruise (excluding pregnancy and childbirth).

Cancellation and amendment fees

Cost of pre-paid travel, accommodation, meals, tours and activities, and visas if your cruise is cancelled due to an insured event (e.g. an unforeseen illness or injury).

Luggage and personal effects

Cost of repairing or replacing your formal wear, jewellery, camera, etc., if they get lost, stolen or damaged during your cruise (sub-limits apply).

Additional expenses

Extra accommodation, meals and travelling expenses – over and above what you’ve budgeted for – if your voyage is disrupted or you have to return home early due to an insured event.

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Cutting your trip short

Cost of pre-paid travel, accommodation, meals, tours and activities if you have to return home early due to an insured event (e.g. you fall ill or a close relative in Australia is hospitalised or dies unexpectedly).

Sports and activities

Cover for more than 90 onboard and onshore sports and activities, including swimming, surfing, snorkelling, scuba diving, parasailing, and jet skiing.

Rental vehicle insurance excess

Any hire-car insurance excess you become liable to pay as a result of the car being damaged or stolen during a shore excursion.

Pre-existing medical conditions

Cover for 27 pre-existing medical conditions. (If your condition is not covered, you would still be covered for unforeseen medical expenses not related to your condition.)

Personal liability

Payments ranging from $1 million to $5 million (depending on your cover) in case you’re held legally liable for accidentally injuring someone else or damaging or losing someone else’s property during your cruise.

And more

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Terms, conditions, limits and exclusions apply. For full details, please read the product disclosure statement.

Choose your cover

You can select from four types of travel insurance for your international or Australian-waters cruise; the following two are popular among cruise-holidayers:

(When deciding what type of cover might suit you, you’ll need to consider your own particular circumstances.)

Comprehensive Travel Insurance

Going on a no-expenses-spared cruise? You may wish to consider our most comprehensive cover, which includes our full list of benefits and entitles you to claim up to our highest benefit amounts.
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Essential Travel Insurance

If you want a critical level of protection at a lower price, this policy – which is cheaper but still includes the essential benefits – might be the one for you.
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Compare all insurance

Compare all Budget Direct travel insurance before you buy and get the cover you want.
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Upgrade your cover

For an additional premium, you can customise your travel insurance policy by adding one or more of the following optional extras to your policy:

Snow Sports Cover

Insures you against loss or injury while skiing, snowboarding, ice-skating and more, including the cost of snow sports equipment, lift passes and ski packs.^§
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Additional Specified Items Cover

Increase the level of cover for your valuables – including cameras, smartphones, portable electronic equipment, and jewellery – by specifying them in your policy (Comprehensive and Annual Multi-Trip policies only).
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Excess reduction

Halve your excess from the standard $200 to $100; or choose to have no excess.

How do I add these optional extras to my policy?

You can add one or more of these optional extras when you get a quote and buy a policy.

If you’ve already purchased a policy, you can add Snow Sports and/or Additional Specified Items cover only. To do this, call us on 1800 444 424 or log into your online account and edit your policy – before you depart on your trip and within 14 days of the purchase date.

Get a quote

Whether you want cover for just the basics or a policy with lots of bells and whistles, we’ve got a big selection of travel insurance for you to pick from.

Get a quote online in 30 seconds or call us on 1800 444 424.

Get a Quote

Find out more

The information on this page is a summary only. For more details about Budget Direct travel insurance, including the terms, conditions, limits and exclusions that apply, please read the product disclosure statement (PDS).

How to make a claim

If your trip didn’t go entirely to plan and you need to make a claim, we’re here to help. Make a claim on your travel insurance policy.

Frequently asked questions

Which overseas destinations does Budget Direct travel insurance cover?

The following table shows the regions and countries covered by Budget Direct travel insurance:

Pacific
Includes American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji Islands, French Polynesia (including Tahiti), Kiribati, New Caledonia, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea; and domestic cruises within Australian territorial waters.
Asia
Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam only.
Europe/Africa
Includes countries in Africa, Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and Russia.
Americas
Includes United States of America, Canada, Mexico, Central and South America and Antarctica (Antarctic cruises only).
Not covered
We do not cover travel to countries: the Australian Government advises people not to travel to (i.e. countries rated ‘Level 4 – Do not travel’). To find out the risk rating of your destination/s, visit the federal government’s Smartraveller website. subject to an embargo from the UN Security Council or any international organisation to which Australia belongs involved in international conflicts or interventions involving the use of force or coercion.

Can’t I get insurance through my cruise line?

Yes – many cruise operators encourage you to buy travel insurance at the same time you buy your cruise tickets; often, all you need to do is tick a travel-insurance check box.

However, you can end up paying hundreds of dollars more (described by consumer advocacy group Choice as a “tick-box tax”) for the policy compared to one purchased through a direct insurer.

Also, the cover provided by a cruise company may be less comprehensive than that offered by a direct insurer (like Budget Direct).

In short, it can pay to shop around.

Am I covered for the time I spend on land during my cruise trip?

Yes – shore excursions of up to 48 hours are automatically covered; any longer, and the stopover destination must be listed on your policy.

Just in case, we recommend you list all destinations your cruise is scheduled to dock at.

I’m going on a cruise within Australian waters – what do I need to do?

If you’re going on a cruise within Australian territorial waters, follow these steps:

Select ‘Australian Waters’ under ‘Pacific’ as your destination, and
If you want covered for on-board medical expenses and evacuation, buy one of our international travel insurance policies: Comprehensive, Essential, Last Minute, or Annual Multi-Trip (our Domestic policy does not include these benefits).

Can I increase the level of cover for my valuables?

If you buy a Comprehensive or Annual Multi-Trip policy you can, for an additional premium, insure an item (or pair or set of items) for more than the standard benefit limit of $750 – by adding Additional Specified Items Cover to your policy.

This optional cover allows you to specify the item/s on your policy, with an individual description and value, up to a maximum of $4,000 per item and $6,000 in total.

You can add Additional Specified Items Cover when you get a quote and buy a policy.

If you’ve already purchased a policy, you can add this cover by calling us on 1800 444 424 or logging into your online account and editing your policy – before you depart on your trip and within 14 days of the purchase date.

Note that, if you have an Annual Multi-Trip policy, you must specify an item/s for each individual trip that you require the additional cover.

Our other policies – Essential, Last Minute, and Domestic – also provide cover for your luggage and personal effects, which is limited to $500 per item (or pair or set of items).

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§ Our Domestic policy does not cover medical and hospital expenses, as these are claimable in Australia from Medicare and/or your private health fund.

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