I'm going on a cruise with my family this winter, and my cruise travel insurance is essential

The offers and details on this page may have updated or changed since the time of publication. See our article on Business Insider for current information.

Affiliate links for the products on this page are from partners that compensate us (see our advertiser disclosure with our list of partners for more details). However, our opinions are our own. See how we rate travel insurance products to write unbiased product reviews.

• You can never be completely sure that you won't have to cancel a cruise, which is why I got travel insurance.
• My policy was $386 and includes a cancel for any reason benefit that will reimburse most of the cost.
• It also includes medical evacuation and repatriation in case of an emergency at sea.

A few weeks ago, I started researching trips for my family and me over the winter holiday season. After pricing out flights, hotels, and rental cars for vacations in Europe or tropical islands, I decided to pivot my planning.

While it's been 15 years since my last cruise, I was able to find deals that were affordable for a family of three. But I wanted to make sure that if we booked the cruise now, we'd have proper coverage in case something stood in our way from going in December.

With a kid and two adults, you never know who will be sick in the winter months or what types of winter storms will roll through, which makes travel insurance essential. 

While some travel insurance policies cover cruises, not all do. I decided to look into getting cruise travel insurance. Here's what it covers and how much it would cost for a family of three.

I was able to customize what type of coverage I wanted 

While cruise insurance policies offer a lot of the same coverage as travel insurance policies, they also offer additional add-on benefits that are relevant to cruises. I used a cruise travel insurance comparison site to find a plan through WorldTrips that covers all three of us for $386.

As I searched through quotes from different cruise travel insurance companies, I was able to select add-on coverage that I felt we needed. A lot of these options aren't usually offered with standard travel insurance.

For example, I added a hurricane and weather benefit. We live in New York City, and the cruise is in December. In case we're hit with a snowstorm or inclement weather, this policy allows us to cancel the cruise and receive a reimbursement. Without this coverage, we could miss the cruise and lose thousands of dollars.

I added on a cancel for any reason benefit 

One offering that cruise travel insurance companies usually have is a cancel for any reason upgrade. If we decide in the winter months not to go on the cruise anymore for no specific reason, we're able to get 75% of the cost of our trip back. 

This perk is usually an add-on for cruise travel insurance policies, but it is worth it. Even though it doesn't give you a full refund, it allows you to recoup most of your cruise costs if you no longer want to go.

The typical trip cancellation benefit offered by travel insurance companies only provides reimbursement if the trip is canceled due to specific things like illness, injury, or death.

Medical evacuation and repatriation was a must-have for our plan

One of the biggest reasons I wanted cruise travel insurance for my family was to cover any and all medical costs that could happen while we're out at sea. In addition to standard coverage, like emergency medical coverage (the plan I picked offers $100,000 per person in coverage), the plan also covers medical evacuation and repatriation, up to $250,000 per person.

This is important to me because if one of us gets very ill and has to be transported to a medical facility or return back home, this benefit covers the costs of that.