I don’t think that I phrased my post very well. I was meaning that the insurers never suggested, when I specifically asked, that I needn’t worry about a medical evacuation at sea on the basis that whoever provides it (coast guard, air ambulance etc) would always do so free of charge. They said that they would cover the cost, which lead me to assume that there was one. I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that people, or insurers, have had to pay tens of thousands of pounds for such things but, thankfully, I’ve never had to find out! There have been a few on cruises that we’ve been on though, as well as unplanned port calls to drop off sick passengers.