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Which travel insurance do I need for a cruise from Germany?

In short

Which travel insurance do I need for a cruise from Germany? First, travel health insurance with repatriation, because the ship's doctor bills you privately and your German health insurance card does not work on board. For an expensive trip, add trip cancellation cover (Reiserücktrittsversicherung) with interruption. For a trip of EUR 2,500 to 3,000 it costs about EUR 97 to 340, depending on age.

Which travel insurance do I need for a cruise from Germany?

What it costs

Published premiums and costs for people insured in Germany, checked in November 2026.

ExampleTypical range
Trip cancellation, single trip, age 28, trip price EUR 2,500about EUR 97 to 170
Trip cancellation, single trip, age 68, trip price EUR 3,000about EUR 140 to 340
Trip cancellation, annual policy, age 68, trips up to EUR 3,000about EUR 175 to 230 a year
Travel health insurance, annual policy, one personabout EUR 10 to 20 a year
Travel health insurance, annual policy, familyabout EUR 25 to 35 a year
Cruise line cancellation fee by timing and fareabout 20 to 95 percent of the price
Treatment and transport after a heart attack on a cruise, published caseabout EUR 67,700

Guide values as of November 2026 from published premium examples and cases.

The worked example is a guide value from our advisory practice.

Your premium depends on trip price, age and scope of cover; we obtain the exact quote for you.

Worked example

Couple, both 68, cruise at EUR 3,000 each

How the cover adds up when both already hold an annual travel health policy.

Travel health insurance, annual policy for the couplealready in place, about EUR 25 to 35 a year
Cancellation with interruption, single trip, per personabout EUR 140 to 340
Cancellation cover for bothabout EUR 280 to 680
Fee when cancelling three weeks out, assumed 50 percentEUR 3,000 for both

About EUR 280 to 680 in premiums protects against cancellation fees that quickly reach several thousand euros shortly before sailing. If you travel several times a year, annual cancellation cover can be cheaper. Worked example with guide values.

Ill on board: why your health insurer barely helps

The ship's doctor is not part of the German statutory system. Neither your German insurance card nor the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) works for treatment on board, whatever flag the ship flies. You receive a private bill and pay it on board.

Your statutory insurer (gesetzliche Krankenkasse) refunds at most what the same treatment would have cost in Germany. You carry the rest. The EHIC only helps again once you are in a hospital on land in an EU country. A helicopter flight from the ship and the flight home are not paid by the statutory insurer.

A published case shows how fast it adds up: after a heart attack on a cruise off South America, hospital, doctors and transport came to about EUR 67,700. A private travel health policy paid the bill.

Which cover for what

For a cruise, two building blocks are usually enough. Everything else is an extra you should only buy if you need it.

CoverWhat it pays forDo you need it?
Travel health insurance (Auslandskrankenversicherung)ship's doctor, hospital ashore, helicopter, flight homeyes, always
Trip cancellation (Reiserücktritt)cancellation fees if you fall ill before departureyes, for an expensive trip
Trip interruption (Reiseabbruch)unused days and extra cost of returning earlyworth adding to cancellation cover
Baggage insurancelost or damaged luggagerarely, check your contents insurance first
Cruise line packageeverything in oneoften dearer than two separate policies

Cancellation fees: where the big money is

Under German package travel law you may cancel at any time before departure. The cruise line may then claim reasonable compensation, usually as a flat percentage based on days before sailing. With one operator the scale runs from 20 to 95 percent of the price and rises sharply from about three weeks before departure.

Illness does not make cancellation free. Free cancellation applies only to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances at the destination, such as war or a serious epidemic. General worry is not enough: a Munich court upheld a 20 percent fee for a Baltic cruise cancelled early.

Before you cancel, consider a substitute traveller. On a package trip another person may take over your contract; notice received at least seven days before departure is always in time. You then pay only the reasonable extra costs actually incurred, which the operator must prove.

Cruise line package or separate policies

Almost every booking comes with an insurance package. A 2018 consumer test of 68 cruise policies found mostly solid cover, but a separate travel health policy and separate cancellation cover were often cheaper. The test is older, but the comparison is still worth doing.

If you already have an annual travel health policy, you only need cancellation cover for the cruise. Check that the annual policy covers a trip as long as your cruise and every region on the route.

When you do not need cancellation cover

For a short, cheap cruise it can be cheaper to carry the risk yourself. If you booked a flexible fare with low cancellation fees, a policy often saves little.

Know the limits: the insurer pays only for insured reasons such as a sudden serious illness or an accident. A condition treated shortly before booking is often excluded. If you miss the ship after a shore trip you organised yourself, the policy usually does not pay.

Step by step

  1. Check whether you already have travel health insurance and whether it covers the length of the cruise and every region on the route.
  2. Look for repatriation that is paid as soon as it is medically advisable.
  3. Read the cruise line's cancellation scale and work out what a late cancellation costs.
  4. Take out cancellation cover with interruption in time, usually up to 30 days before departure or a few days after booking.
  5. Compare the cruise line's package with two separate policies of the same scope.
  6. Save the insurer's emergency number in your phone and call before going to any hospital ashore.

Checklist

  • Travel health cover applies at sea and in every port of the route
  • Repatriation and helicopter transfer from the ship included
  • Maximum trip length of the policy is longer than the cruise
  • Cancellation sum insured covers the full price including flights
  • Trip interruption included
  • Pre-existing conditions checked in the application and the wording

Common mistakes

  • Relying on the health card although the ship's doctor bills privately
  • Adding the cruise line's package without checking it
  • Buying cancellation cover too late and missing the deadline after booking
  • Insuring only the cabin price and forgetting the flights
  • Not asking the ship's doctor for an itemised bill and a medical report

Questions and answers

Frequently asked

Does my German health insurer pay the ship's doctor?

Only partly or not at all.

A statutory insurer refunds at most the German rate, the private surcharge stays with you.

A travel health policy pays the bill.

Is the EHIC valid on a cruise ship?

No, not even under an EU flag.

It only helps for treatment ashore in a country that accepts it.

Is my annual travel health policy enough for a cruise?

Usually yes, if the cruise is shorter than the maximum trip length in your policy and the route

lies within its territory.

For a world cruise you need a long stay tariff.

Is the cruise line's insurance worth it?

Sometimes, mainly if you have no cover of your own.

Two separate policies are often cheaper.

Compare price and benefits line by line.

Can I pass the cruise on to someone else?

Yes, on a package trip a substitute traveller may take your place.

Notice must reach the operator at least seven days before departure.

You then pay only the actual extra costs.

Does cancellation cover pay if I miss the ship?

If an insured event such as a breakdown or accident on the way makes you late,

some policies pay extra costs up to a limit.

After a shore trip you organised yourself, usually not.

Sources

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