Eight of the nine carriers here reach $1,000,000 of emergency medical evacuation, so the headline limit is rarely what separates them. Two things do. Whether the policy also covers non-medical evacuation — unrest, disaster, a security incident — which only IMG and Faye carry as a named separate sum. And whether the medical limit behind it can pay for the treatment once you land, which is a different question entirely.
| What matters here | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Evacuation limit | ×3 | What it will pay to move you to one |
| Emergency medical limit | ×1 | What the policy will actually pay a hospital |
| Cruise-specific benefits | ×1 | Missed connection, missed port, and how fast a delay triggers |
What actually matters here
In rough order of how much it changes the outcome. The first one usually decides the rest.
The evacuation limit itself
$1,000,000 at Travelex, Berkshire Hathaway, IMG, Seven Corners, Travel Insured, Allianz, Freely and WorldTrips. Faye alone sits below it, at $500,000. On a remote itinerary this is the number that matters most, because a transatlantic air ambulance has been put in the region of $90,000 to $220,000.
Non-medical emergency evacuation
A separate benefit, and rare. IMG carries $50,000 and Faye carries $100,000 as named sums for evacuation driven by unrest, natural disaster or a security incident rather than by illness. Most policies here do not name it at all.
Whether evacuation is primary or secondary
Seven Corners' Choice plan is primary for evacuation except in Montana, where it is secondary, and in Missouri both medical and evacuation are secondary. Secondary means claiming on your own plan first.
Who decides where you are taken
IMG markets a Hospital of Choice distinction on its LX plan, which may not be available in every state. Elsewhere the destination is generally the nearest facility able to treat you, which on a remote itinerary may not be the hospital you would pick.
The medical limit waiting at the other end
Evacuation pays to move you; it does not pay to treat you. A million dollars of transport and a $75,000 treatment ceiling is a real combination on this shelf.
The same nine, reordered for this
Every score here is already published in that company’s own guide on this site. This page only changes the weighting — Evacuation limit ×3 · Emergency medical limit ×1 · Cruise-specific benefits ×1.
The movement column is the point of this page.
These are the same nine companies in a different order, and several swing hard between one need and another. A carrier near the top here can sit near the bottom on a different page of this site — not because the scoring changed, but because the question did.
Which is the honest answer to “what is the best travel insurance”. There is no best. There is only best for something, and the something is yours to name.
The trap: reading a big evacuation number as reassurance about treatment
Allianz will spend a million dollars moving you and its top plan tops out at $75,000 treating you. Nothing is hidden about that — both figures are published — but the two get conflated constantly.
Allianz's own page on transport costs makes the point plainly: its estimates cover getting you to a hospital, not what happens once you are in one.
They are separate benefit lines and they run out separately. On a long or remote sailing, check both.
How to use this
Evacuation is the one benefit here you cannot arrange after the fact. This order assumes the worst happens somewhere help has to travel to reach you — on a sailing that never loses sight of a hospital you would accept, the weighting that produced it stops describing your trip.
It cannot price your trip. Premiums are filed at state level and vary by age, cost and dates, so two carriers a place apart here can be far apart on your own quote. Get both.
It cannot tell you what is sold where you live. Plans, names, limits and whole ranges change by state, and the shelf you actually see may be a fraction of this one. That has a page of its own.
And it cannot read the plan document for you. Every carrier here says the same thing in its own words: the certificate issued to you is the binding version. This page is a way of knowing what to look for in it.
Nothing on this site names a policy to buy. No company has paid to appear, and the ranking above weights judgements published openly in each guide — which you can disagree with, because the weighting is printed at the top.
See What Your State Does to Your Own Shortlist
This page catalogues the exceptions. The calculator applies them. Choose your state and it caps the limits, removes the ranges not sold to you, and marks the secondary-cover cases — then works out your purchase deadline from the date of your first deposit.
Work out my deadline →Straight answers
How much medical evacuation coverage do I need for a cruise?
$250,000 is the figure most commonly cited as a sensible minimum for international travel, and it covers the ordinary shapes. For Alaska, Northern Europe or an expedition itinerary, $500,000 to $1,000,000 is the sensible range, because a helicopter may have to reach you before an air ambulance can fly you out. The calculator sets a floor from your own itinerary.
Does evacuation cover getting me off the ship?
That is exactly what it is for. A shipboard emergency typically means a diversion, a tender or a helicopter lift to the nearest capable port, then onward transport to a hospital that can treat you — and potentially a later flight home under medical supervision. Each of those legs is transport, and each falls under the evacuation limit rather than the medical one.
What is non-medical evacuation?
Evacuation triggered by something other than your health — civil unrest, a natural disaster, a security incident in a port. IMG names $50,000 for it and Faye names $100,000. Most policies on this shelf do not carry it as a separate benefit, which matters more on an itinerary calling at ports where conditions can change quickly.
Will the US government evacuate me?
No. The US Consulate for the Dutch Caribbean states plainly that the US government does not pay for medical evacuations, and puts evacuation from those islands at roughly $15,000 to $25,000. Consular staff can help you find options and contact family. The bill is yours.
Ask us about cruise insurance
Tell us about the trip, and who's going.
What your booking is exposed to, which coverage types your group needs, and which deadline is closest to biting you.
Seabound Journeys is an independent travel advisory and does not sell insurance. Answers come from this guide and are general information rather than advice about your policy.
Sources and verification
Every limit, window and benefit named here was taken from that company's own published materials and is recorded with its source in the relevant guide on this site. The ranking re-weights scores already published in those guides — it introduces no new judgements, and the weighting it applies is printed in full at the top of the ranking so you can disagree with it.
Every limit, window and benefit named on this page was taken from that company's own published materials and is recorded with its source in the relevant guide on this site.
The ranking on this page RE-WEIGHTS judgements already published in those guides for this particular need. It does not introduce new scores, and the weighting is stated in full above.
Benefits, limits and availability all vary by state and by plan. The certificate issued to you is the only binding version.
Verified July 2026. Insurance terms change, ratings are revised, and carriers update plan documents without announcement. This page records what the sources said when it was checked and carries that date deliberately. The plan document issued for your state is the only binding version — nothing here replaces reading it.
Joey Boleslawski is the founder of Seabound Journeys and a CLIA-affiliated travel advisor with more than twenty years in the hospitality industry. He researches and writes every guide on this site himself, and books the sailings he writes about. The examples on this page were assembled from carriers' own plan documents, FAQs and disclosures, with secondary reporting used only where identified in the source notes above. More about how this site works →
The same nine companies, in a different order, because you asked a different question. Back to the ranking →
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