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Cruise Travel

Cruise Travel

There is no automatic cover for any trip departing New Zealand on or after 3 February 2026 that includes a multi-night cruise. 

To cover a cruise, simply enter your trip details at check your cover to customise your cover, and then pay the required premium. 

What sections of the policy does this affect?

There is no cover under any policy benefit if your itinerary includes a multi-night cruise and you have not purchased multi-night cruise cover.

This means that all policy benefits, and all parts of your trip, are affected, including parts of your itinerary when you are not on board. 

What sort of cruises does this affect?

Cruise means travelling as a passenger for two or more nights, inclusive of port stops and cruise excursions, aboard a commercially registered cruise ship which sails on a river, in a harbour, on an ocean or at sea during your journey. 

Single day tours, or trips where a maximum of one night is spent on board are not included in the definition of a cruise and multi-night cruise cover does not apply to these activities. 

Information you will need to apply for multi-night cruise cover

In addition to normal trip information such as dates of travel, we will ask you for the total cost of your cruise when you customise your policy to include multi-night cruise cover. It is important to give as accurate an answer as possible. This number provided will be the maximum amount you can recover if you have to make a cancellation claim and if you under insure your cruise, claim payments could be reduced. 

You should include:

  • the cost of your cabin; and
  • the cost of  add-ons such as shore excursions, or food and beverage packs if these are pre paid in advance of sailing; and 
  • the cost for your accompanying spouse and / or your accompanying dependent children; and if applicable
  • the total of all cruises you are taking as part of the same overseas trip (if you are taking more than one cruise)
  • the value you enter when applying for cruise cover in addition to the above, should reflect the amount of deposit required to sail (i.e. 100% of required deposits) and not just the amount of deposits you had paid at the time of applying for multi-night cruise cover.

You do not need to include:

  • any part of your overall trip budget that does not relate to the cruise, such as airfares, or land arrangements, even if you are relying on these items to reach your departure port, or to continue travelling after you disembark; or
  • any costs for meals, entertainment, gratuities or excursions that are not pre paid before you board the vessel; or
  • any costs for persons travelling with you that are not insured under your policy as either your accompanying spouse or accompanying dependent child(ren). If you are sharing a cabin with a person who is not an insured person under your policy, simply divide the per cabin price by the number of people sharing the cabin. 

 

Does multi-night cruise cover include sailing?

No. Sailing in a private vessel is not a cruise, so multi-night cruise cover does not apply to this activity. Normal policy terms, conditions and exclusions do apply though. Ocean or offshore yachting (sailing outside territorial waters), or any form of racing on water, are hazardous activities and are not covered, even if you have purchased multi-night cruise cover.