I have my first Haven cruise coming up but have been cruising on Regent ( plus one Seabourn, Oceania and Viking cruise) for 11 years. I would never go without insurance, though it’s not primarily for cancellation; it’s for medical and medivac coverage. I can afford to eat the $30,000+ for the cost of the cruise( after all, if you paid for the cruise you can obviously afford it) but can’t afford the cost of medical care in a foreign country and especially for medivac coverage that can run into in excess of $100,000. For that reason I choose my policies very carefully. If the coverage for medical is not at least $100,000 and medivac at least $1,000,000, I get supplemental coverage from Squaremouth. Incidentally, I never get cruise ship coverage ( except for Seabourn) as it is almost always universally inadequate. And, yes these policies are very expensive as they are based on the cost of the cruise. I usually pay around $2,000 for the above noted coverage. In addition to this I have an Medjet annual policy that covers medical evacuation from any hospital worldwide to any hospital near my home. Maybe all this is overkill but I was an emergency room Nurse Practitioner and know how bad things can happen anywhere; the cost of the cruise—even a very expensive one—pales in comparison to a serious accident or illness.
And, yes, I had one claim after we missed a Regent cruise 7 years ago after my husband had a bad accident and received a check for $25,000.