Original Medicare generally provides no coverage for care outside the United States, outside limited exceptions. Where a Medigap plan carries a foreign-travel emergency benefit, it is commonly capped at $50,000 for a lifetime rather than per trip. So on an international sailing the travel policy is frequently the whole of your cover rather than a top-up. That makes the medical limit and whether it pays primary the two things worth comparing, well ahead of price.
| What matters here | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency medical limit | ×3 | What the policy will actually pay a hospital |
| Primary vs secondary medical | ×2 | Whether you claim first, or claim second and chase the balance |
| Pre-existing condition waiver | ×2 | Whether the exclusion is waived at all, and on what terms |
| Evacuation limit | ×1 | What it will pay to move you to one |
| Where a carrier's guide does not publish one of these dimensions, it is scored on the weights that remain rather than penalised for the gap. Primary versus secondary medical is published by five of the nine guides; the other four are ranked on the remaining weights. | ||
What actually matters here
In rough order of how much it changes the outcome. The first one usually decides the rest.
The emergency medical limit
This is the number doing the work. Seven Corners, IMG, Travel Insured and Freely reach $500,000; Travelex, WorldTrips and Faye sit at $250,000, though Travelex Ultimate carries an optional upgrade taking it to $500,000; Berkshire Hathaway's own pages disagree, showing $100,000 in one place and $150,000 in another; Allianz tops out at $75,000. On a shelf where Medicare is not backing you up, that spread is the whole question.
Primary or secondary
Primary cover pays first. Secondary makes you claim on your own health plan and then chase the balance — two claims, in order, holding a foreign hospital bill. Seven Corners' Choice plan is primary; its Basic plan is secondary at $100,000. Travelex is primary on Advantage and Ultimate.
The pre-existing condition waiver, and its window
More likely to be relevant with age, and gated on buying within 14 to 21 days of the first payment. It also commonly requires being medically fit to travel on the day you buy, which is a condition worth reading rather than assuming.
Whether the plan is priced or limited by age
Third-party policies commonly price on age where a cruise line's own plan is often flat-rate, which is why the two can swap places for older travellers. Check for age bands and any upper age limits on the specific plan rather than the brand.
The evacuation limit
Separate from medical, and generous across this shelf — eight of the nine carriers reach $1,000,000, with Faye the only exception at $500,000. It pays to move you, not to treat you.
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 — Emergency medical limit ×3 · Primary vs secondary medical ×2 · Pre-existing condition waiver ×2 · Evacuation limit ×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: assuming Medicare or a Medigap plan has it covered
Two figures are worth holding on to. Original Medicare generally provides no coverage outside the United States, outside limited exceptions. And the Medigap foreign-travel benefit, where a plan carries one at all, is commonly capped at $50,000 — for a lifetime, not per trip.
A single serious admission abroad can approach that on its own, and once it is used it does not come back.
So the travel policy is not topping something up. It is usually the cover. Read your own plan document before assuming otherwise — it is the only version that binds.
How to use this
This order assumes the policy is doing the whole job, because over 65 and outside the United States it usually is. Where the oldest traveller carries cover that genuinely travels, the medical weighting driving this list matters less, and you are back to comparing everything else on the shelf.
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
Does Medicare cover me on a cruise?
Generally not once you leave the United States. Original Medicare provides no coverage for care outside the US outside limited exceptions, and those exceptions are narrow. Some Medicare Advantage plans and some Medigap plans carry a limited foreign-travel emergency benefit, but the amount, the conditions and whether it reaches a ship at all differ plan by plan — section three sets out how small that benefit usually is. Check your own plan documents rather than assuming.
How much medical coverage do seniors need for a cruise?
It depends on the itinerary far more than on age itself, but the reasoning changes at 65 because the safety net underneath usually disappears. For the Caribbean a working floor around $100,000 covers the shapes that occur; for Europe, Alaska or anywhere remote, $250,000 upward is the sensible range. The calculator raises its floor for travellers over 65 for exactly this reason, and explains why.
Is there an age limit on travel insurance?
Not usually a hard cut-off on comprehensive plans, but pricing commonly rises in age bands and some plans or specific benefits carry upper age limits. This is a plan-level question rather than a brand-level one — two plans from the same company can differ. The quote you are shown for your own age is the only reliable answer.
Should older travellers buy the cruise line's plan or a third-party policy?
It genuinely varies, and age is the reason it varies. Cruise line plans are often flat-rate regardless of age, which can favour older travellers on price, while third-party policies commonly price on age but carry far higher medical limits. When Medicare is not behind you, the limit usually matters more than the premium — but the full comparison sets out both sides.
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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