By now you've probably heard about the eight passengers stranded in Africa after the Norwegian Dawn departed without them. While this story in itself is tragic, it could have been easily prevented with a few steps.

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Travel Insurance: Travel Insurance is key when traveling. Travel insurance is so much more than the ability to refund your trip should something come up before the trip begins. Travel insurance also covers medical expenses and transportation and trip interruptions. Contrary to what many people believe, most American health insurance will NOT cover you when traveling abroad. Travel insurance will cover both the medical expenses incurred abroad as well as transportation needed to return you home if it's required to provide care. Travel insurance also covers trip interruption -- if your ship leaves without you, travel insurance is there to cover the costs to get you back to the ship.

Disclaimer: It is important to note that Gustafson Travel, like most travel agencies, is not a licensed insurance provider, and not all travel protection/travel insurance plans are identical nor provide the same protections. It is important to review the specifics of a travel insurance plan with your licensed insurance provider to make sure it is the right fit for you.

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Shipboard Excursions: Often times, shipboard excursions may have a premium in cost when compared to similarly priced excursions that you can book from places like Viator, or directly from the pier. You may be asking yourself, "Why would I book onboard the ship?". The answer is simple. Shipboard excursions come with innate protections that the ship will wait for you if your excursion runs late. I always advise all clients to book onboard the ship for any excursion that takes you away from the local pier/beach where the ship is docked or tendering from. Some third-party excursions may have a guarantee to return you on time -- or they cover the expenses to get you back to the ship. And while this is better than nothing, you are still faced with the prospect of missing the ship and having the hassle of rejoining it at the next port (if there are any next ports).

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While both travel insurance and shipboard excursions may cost you slightly more out of pocket, the protections, assurances, and piece of mind it brings you are priceless.

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