It’s kind of the nature of the beast. Antarctic cruises are going to be full of literal bucket listers who want to see the white continent before they die, and people who have the money to take such a trip, and people who have the time to take such a trip without having to worry about work schedules and paid time off. So it’s going to skew elderly and of course there are doctors who will sign off on such forms if it’s even somewhat within a grey area. And as I was on the exact same cruise as you, I know of several of the people you are likely referring to and it’s somewhat of a miracle that we didn’t have something catastrophic happen that affected our trip, helped in part by the smooth seas.
That said, I would be utterly shocked if they reviewed the medical certificates for the lottery activities or really anything else beyond simply who gets to board the ship.
And then you add to that the fact that we’re still kind of in a global pandemic and you’re on a ship with a bunch of highly vulnerable elderly folks, even if everyone is vaccinated, but who is actually going to quarantine themselves on a trip like this if they think they have covid? So serious illness is also a possibility.
The insurance seems a bit much for someone young and healthy such as myself, but I can see where it could come into play fairly regularly.