Crystal Cruises Travel Insurance - 2024 Review

Crystal Cruises are considered by many to be the World’s Most Awarded Luxury Cruise Line. Their stated mission is to be the premier provider of world class luxury. The awards and industry accolades they have amassed is impressive.

- They have been named ‘the best’ in Condé - Nast Traveler’s 2020 Readers’ - Choice Awards during Crystal’s 30th Anniversary year. - Crystal Cruises was named #1 in the "Best Medium-Ship” category and Crystal River Cruises won Travel & Leisure’s World’s Best River Cruise Line in 2020. - The 2020 awards mark their 27th year of earning Condé Nast Traveler’s top acclaim.

Crystal Cruises offers one choice for cruise travel insurance: the Cruise Protection Plan, provided by Allianz, a well-known travel insurer.

Generally speaking we are not a fan of the one size fits all travel insurance option offered by many cruise lines. In our experience, most cruise line travel insurance plans are lacking in coverage and are excessive in price.

In this review of the Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan, we look at the coverage, benefits and limits available to the traveler to be able to compare and contrast against other travel insurance plans available in the wider travel insurance marketplace. In order to show like for like pricing, we need to set-sail on a Crystal Cruise.

Our Cruise – 7-Night Bahamian Cruise

Our trip is a 7-day Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas, March 5 - 12, 2022 for 2 travelers aged 62 and 60. It leaves from Miami, FL and cruises to Bimini, Nassau, San Salvador, Great Exuma and Long Island before returning to Miami.

Total cost for the cruise after discounts is $4,014 per person for a total cost of $8,028. As pricing for airfare to Miami, if needed, can vary greatly depending on when purchased, we have not included it in our example. However, you will want to protect all parts of your travel plans with travel insurance, including flights, transfers, hotels and hire cars.

Whereas most cruise lines offer you their branded travel insurance during the purchase of your cruise, Crystal are somewhat different. In fact, Crystal Cruises makes it very difficult to obtain an insurance quote. You must email or call Crystal Cruises to get information, since there is no way to quote during your cruise purchase. Upon contacting Crystal Cruises, they state the insurance is approximately 7.5% of the total cruise cost, which for our cruise would be $602.10.

What Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan Insurance Includes

The Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan is a basic policy covering Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption, $50,000 for medical coverage and $250,000 for medical evacuation. It is a standard policy and does not provide a Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR). CFAR as the name suggests allows you to cancel for any reason that is not on the policy schedule and still receive a large percentage of your trip cost back. We will discuss this excellent benefit in more detail below.

Comparison Quotes

Based on our sample couple, ages 62 and 60, we created comparison quotes using TravelDefenders travel insurance marketplace engine. The trip cost used for the comparison is the cruise cost for both travelers is $8,028.00.

When traveling outside the United States, the team at TravelDefenders recommend a minimum coverage of $100,000 in Medical Insurance, $250,000 in Medical Evacuation, and we strongly suggest you seek a travel plan with a Pre-existing Medical Condition Waiver if at all possible. We will explain more on this below. We used these criteria to choose the selected quotes.

The least expensive plan with adequate coverage on our quote from TravelDefenders is the Trawick Voyager. This plan would be comparable to the Crystal Cruise Protection Plan which does not have the Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) option.

This policy provides $250,000 of medical coverage and $1 million of medical evacuation per person. Similar to the Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan, it also provides a waiver to cover any pre-existing medical conditions provided you purchase the policy on or before the final trip payment is made. Total cost for both travelers is $534.09. This policy has 5x times the medical coverage and 4x times more medical evacuation coverage for $68.01 LESS than the Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan.

Should we prefer to have more options for trip cancellation, we chose the Trawick Voyager (CFAR 75%), because it is the least expensive plan with Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) benefits which the Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan does not provide.

This policy is similar to the Trawick Voyager but adds the Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) benefit. This policy also provides $250,000 of medical coverage and $1 million of medical evacuation per person as well as a waiver to cover any pre-existing medical conditions provided you purchase the policy on or before the final trip payment is made. Finally, it provides the ability to cancel for any reason not listed in the policy and receive a 75% refund in cash of the non-refundable trip cost. Total cost for both travelers is $907.84. Though more expensive than the Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan by $305.74 this policy has 5x times the medical coverage and 4x times more medical evacuation coverage. For travelers concerned about border closures, travel bans or shelter in place orders due to COVID, this would be a very wise choice to protect your vcation investment.

In order to see the benefits, coverage limits and prices of the plans available, the easiest way is with a side-by-side comparison table.

Benefit	Crystal Cruises Protection Plan	Trawick Voyager	Trawick Voyager CFAR 75%)
Trip Cancellation	100% of trip cost	100% of trip cost	100% of trip cost
Trip Interruption	100% of trip cost	150% of trip cost	150% of trip cost
Medical Insurance	$50,000	$250,000	$250,000
Medical Evacuation	$250,000	$1,000,000	$1,000,000
Baggage Loss/Damage	$3,000	$500/article up to $2,500 per person	$500/article up to $2,500 per person
Baggage Delay	$1000	$600	$600
Travel Delay (Incl quarantine)	$1000pp (300/day)	$2000pp ($150/day) (optional upgrade to $4000 or $7000)	$2000 pp ($150/day) (optional upgrade to $4000 or $7000)
Missed Connection	No	$1,000 per person	$1,000 per person
Cover Pre-existing Medical Conditions	Yes, if provided on or before the final trip payment	Yes, if purchased on or before the final trip payment	Yes, if purchased on or before the final trip payment
Cancel For Work Reason	No	No	No
Interrupt For Any Reason	No	No	No
Cancel For Any Reason	No	No	75% of trip cost
Accidental Death & Dismemberment	None	$25,000	$25,000
Cost of Policy	$602.10 (7.5% of trip cost)	$534.09 (6.65% of trip cost)	$907.84 (11.3% or trip cost)

Cost Comparison

In our opinion, we feel that overall, the Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan has several important gaps in coverage as well as low medical coverage for travel outside the United States. They do not provide a Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) benefit, so if cancellation is due to a reason not listed in the policy, your entire trip costs would be lost in this situation.

By shopping for cruise insurance through TravelDefenders, our two travelers can save $68 purchasing the Trawick Voyager policy and have much better medical coverage and medical evacuation coverage than they would get from the Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan. If the traveler wants the added security of being able to cancel for any reason, then the Trawick Voyager (CFAR 75%) would be a great option as it also has much higher medical coverage and medical evacuation coverage than the Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan, plus it provides a 75% refund in cash for cancellation reasons not listed in the policy.

In the following sections, we discuss know what to look for when shopping for travel insurance for your Crystal 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 Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan permits cancellation for the following reasons:

• Unexpected injury, illness, or death of traveler, traveling companion or family member.
• Hijacking, quarantine, jury duty, subpoena
• Residence uninhabitable by natural disaster, fire, flood, burglary
• Traffic accident on the departure date resulting in medical treatment or the vehicle is unsafe to operate
• Terrorism within 100 miles of destination
• Termination of employment
• Strike
• Revocation of military leave
• Inclement weather causing a travel delay of 24+ hours

Unfortunately, Crystal’s list of cancellation reasons lacks some important coverages.

We recommend policies also include:

• Default or bankruptcy of the common carrier or travel supplier
• Cancel For Work Reason (should a traveler be required to work during the trip)
• Employer-initiated transfer of 250 miles or more
• Destination uninhabitable or unreachable by fire, flood or natural disaster
• Mechanical breakdown of a common carrier
• Mandatory evacuation
• Hurricanes
• Documented theft of passports or visas.

Also, the Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan does not cover any travel arrangements booked outside Crystal. Both the Trawick Voyager and the Trawick Voyager (CFAR 75%) policies can cover all travel arrangements, regardless of where you booked them. In addition, they both offer a 150% refund for covered Trip Interruptions, and a broad list of covered reasons, including cancelling due to contracting COVID.

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 Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan, Trip Interruption benefits share the same list of covered reasons as Trip Cancellation with a 100% refund of trip costs for reasons listed in the policy.

Travel insurance plans like the Trawick Voyager and Trawick Voyager (CFAR 75%) offer 150% of trip costs for interruption. Therefore, they cover up to 100% of the unused 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 Crystal cruise for a reason not listed in the policy, there is no refund of your trip costs.

Alternatively, travel insurance policies like Trawick Voyager with Cancel For Any Reason included pay a 75% cash refund of all prepaid, non-refundable trip costs including arrangements made outside of Crystal 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.

TravelDefenders 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.

The Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan provides a $50,000 benefit for Medical Insurance. Trawick’s Voyager policies includes $250,000 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. TravelDefenders 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.

The Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan does include Medical Evacuation up to $250,000 total, which is the minimum we suggest when traveling outside the US. The Trawick Voyager plan provides $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, no matter how far from home you’ve traveled.

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 Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan covers pre-existing medical conditions as do the Trawick Voyager policies as long as you purchase the insurance on or before the final trip payment.

Price and Value

The Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan carries minimal coverage and can be more expensive than other comparable options. In addition, the medical insurance coverage is only $50,000, which may not be sufficient if you were to be unfortunate enough to suffer from a serious illness or injury. Cancellation reasons are limited, and the policy does not have a Cancel For Any Reason option. Overall, the Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan offers limited value for the price.

In contrast, by comparison shopping with TravelDefenders, we found the Trawick Voyager was less expensive than the Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan. It includes superior medical and evacuation benefits, 100% refund for trip costs for covered cancellations, 150% refund for covered trip interruption, and a robust list of cancellation reasons.

The Trawick Voyager (CFAR 75%) plan was $305.74 more than the Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan but provides much better coverage all around and most importantly refunds 75% of trip costs back in cash for reasons not listed in the policy.

Conclusion

The Crystal Cruises Cruise Protection Plan provides travelers with a decent insurance policy, but it could leave travelers unpleasantly surprised during an emergency. Medical coverage is low, and there are a limited number of covered cancellation and interruption reasons. Though they have a strong partner in Allianz, the insurance itself is rather weak. Overall, we rate it a 7 out of 10.

Travelers planning a Crystal cruise vacation will find the best value for their money and peace of mind when they shop for travel insurance at TravelDefenders 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, TravelDefenders recommends having at least $100,000 in travel medical coverage and $250,000 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 Disney 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@TravelDefenders.com or alternatively call us at +1(786) 321 3723. We would love to hear from you.

Safe Travels!