Disney Cruise Line in a Jiffy: What is a Vacation Protection Plan?

When you book a Disney cruise, you’ll be asked if you want to add the Disney Cruise Line Vacation Protection Plan. As you might guess from the name, it’s travel insurance. But, it’s a bit more than that; the Vacation Protection Plan offers an added “Cancel for Any Reason” benefit. So, should you get the Disney Cruise Line Vacation Protection Plan? Should you get travel insurance at all?

First, know your deadline for the decision. You can add Disney’s Vacation Protection Plan to your cruise at any time, as long as you haven’t made non-refundable payments. (In other words, you can’t add it to get your money back after you know you need it.) You can also remove it up to the same date.

For most travelers, this means you can add the Vacation Protection Plan up until your final payment date. But there are exceptions. For concierge staterooms on Disney Cruise Line, the deposit is non-refundable. If you book a restricted, or guarantee, stateroom, you’ll need to pay in full at the time of booking. In these cases, you’ll need to pay for Disney’s Vacation Protection Plan when you book the cruise.

No matter what, you can’t add the Vacation Protection Plan to your Disney Cruise once your final payment date has passed. And you also can’t get a refund for the policy if you return from your cruise and haven’t used it.

You can see coverage details by visiting this page and selecting your state. (The Disney Cruise Line Vacation Protection Plan is only available to U.S. residents.) You’ll also find instructions for filing a claim if you need to. As a quick overview, the plan includes reimbursement for

• Trip cancellation or interruption: Up to total trip cost ($20,000 limit)
• Trip delay: Up to $500
• Medical expenses from accident or illness: Up to $20,000
• Emergency medical evacuation/repatriation: Up to $30,000
• Baggage loss: Up to $3,000
• Baggage Delay: Up to $500

Most of that reimbursement coverage comes with exclusions. For instance, pre-existing medical conditions may not be fully covered. Air travel is only covered if you bought the flights through Disney. And trip cancellation or interruption is only covered for “major unforeseen reasons”. That includes things like illness and job loss, but not a sudden conflict with your niece’s school play. However, Disney’s Cancel for Any Reason benefit does include your niece’s school play. It’s not a reimbursement, but you’ll receive 75% of the cancellation cost as a future cruise credit.

Perhaps your bigger question is whether it’s worth the price: the Disney Cruise Line Vacation Protection Plan costs about 8% of your fare. My family has used the medical services on board when one of our kids got a concussion. Needless to say, we didn’t plan on that. If we had needed to make an onshore medical visit, our health insurance might have covered some costs. But it wouldn’t have covered the cost for us to catch up with the ship if we were delayed past the all-aboard time.

Cruises are expensive, and international travel is expensive. General insurance advice is to consider how easily you would be able to replace the loss. Unless you can toss off a medical expense in the thousands of dollars, travel insurance is a good idea for a cruise. That’s true whether you go with Disney’s Vacation Protection Plan or a policy from another provider. For more on the nitty gritty of travel insurance, see: Get to Know Trip Insurance – Do You Need It?

Disney Cruise Line in a Jiffy is for first-time Disney cruisers looking to learn about the DCL experience. Got a Disney Cruise Line term that you want to see explained? Suggest it in the comments below!