Whether it’s your first voyage or you’re a cruise veteran, having the right travel insurance is important. This is especially true if you’re a senior traveler who wants a high level of medical coverage while traveling.

Here are good starting points for coverage you’ll likely want in a cruise insurance plan:

Trip cancellation insurance: This reimburses you 100% for the pre-paid and non-refundable deposits you lose if you have to cancel for a reason covered by the policy.

Trip interruption coverage: This will reimburse you for unused trip costs if your trip is cut short because of illness, injury, death, a family emergency back home or other reasons. It can also pay for the extra expenses of a trip interruption, such as a one-way plane ticket home on short notice. The reason for the interruption has to be listed in the policy.

Emergency medical expenses: This pays for medical expenses associated with injuries and illness you get while on the trip. The top travel insurance plans have $500,000 in travel medical insurance, but you might find $150,000 to be sufficient for a cruise. If you’re a senior, good travel medical coverage is crucial.

U.S. health plans may have very limited or no coverage when you’re outside the U.S. And Medicare doesn’t cover medical care outside the U.S., with only very narrow exceptions.

Emergency medical evacuation coverage: This covers the costs to get you to the nearest adequate medical facility or even back home if it’s medically required. Your travel insurer’s emergency assistance team can also help arrange for the medevac.

Coverage for pre-existing conditions: Many travel insurance plans give you a pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver if you buy the plan within two to three weeks after your first trip deposit. This is one of the advantages to buying travel insurance shortly after you book your trip. Without the waiver, medical expenses related to pre-existing conditions that flare up during your trip won’t be covered.

“Cancel for any reason” coverage: Canceling for reasons that aren’t listed in the policy aren’t covered, unless you have already purchased ”cancel for any reason” coverage. This typically reimburses you 75% of trip costs. Adding it increases a policy cost by an average of 50%. For example, you could make a “cancel for any reason” claim if you’re worried about being seasick—a reason not covered by standard trip cancellation insurance. Buy this coverage shortly after you buy your travel insurance plan or the purchase window for it will close.

Additional coverage: A comprehensive travel insurance plan will package additional benefits such as coverage for travel delay, baggage delay and baggage loss. The best travel insurance plans offer high levels of reimbursement when things go wrong. A travel insurance agent can help you match your concerns to the right travel insurance package.

Syed Rizvi, VP and Chief Specialty Insurance Officer at Nationwide Insurance, recommends that you “purchase your plan when you book your trip. One of the top benefits of this approach is the simple fact that coverage is locked in, and the traveler does not risk going without coverage altogether because they were planning on ‘doing it later.’”

Cruise insurance costs will generally depend on your age, state and length of trip. Here are average costs for the best cruise insurance plans above.

Methodology