Aunt and Uncle Removed from Sapphire Princess

My Aunt and Uncle are on a two week Hawaiian Cruise on the Sapphire Princess. My Aunt had been to the ships Doc with breathing problems. When the ship docked in Oahu, the Doc told them: "You can either leave the ship on your own, or the Captain will remove you". They are now stuck in Hawaii. Has this ever happened to anyone?

My Aunt and Uncle are on a two week Hawaiian Cruise on the Sapphire Princess. My Aunt had been to the ships Doc with breathing problems. When the ship docked in Oahu, the Doc told them: "You can either leave the ship on your own, or the Captain will remove you". They are now stuck in Hawaii. Has this ever happened to anyone?

This happened on our last cruise ...an elderly lady over 90 went to the medical centre and was given the same directive. Something to do with her not having health insurance.

My Aunt and Uncle are on a two week Hawaiian Cruise on the Sapphire Princess. My Aunt had been to the ships Doc with breathing problems. When the ship docked in Oahu, the Doc told them: "You can either leave the ship on your own, or the Captain will remove you". They are now stuck in Hawaii. Has this ever happened to anyone?

Welcome to CC!!

So sorry to here of their medical situation.

Did they have the cruise insurance?

Hopefully your aunt is not too seriously ill. The ships infirmary is not equipped to handle long term health issues. If they have travel insurance then it will cover the expense of getting home plus their accommodations in Hawaii and any medical expenses.

My Aunt and Uncle are on a two week Hawaiian Cruise on the Sapphire Princess. My Aunt had been to the ships Doc with breathing problems. When the ship docked in Oahu, the Doc told them: "You can either leave the ship on your own, or the Captain will remove you". They are now stuck in Hawaii. Has this ever happened to anyone?

Firstly, very sorry to hear about your aunt's health issues...

I'm sure there's more to it than the Doc giving the boot to them however and its probably for the better either way. The Doc may not want to take the risk of treating her especially if your next 4 days or so will be at sea back to Los Angeles. Alternatively, if she has some communicable disease that's spread by coughing, wheezing, etc, I'm sure the Doc/Captain have good reason. I'm sure Princess will try to accommodate in some fashion, and if they purchased, travelers' insurance, that's something that will help too. I'm sure they did this for a very good reason, not only for the health and safety of your aunt, but also other travelers on the ship. Also, it must be imperative because princess now risks a PVSA violation (unless Ensenada was the first stop on this cruise).

Be thankful they didn't have something serious happen in a foreign port, my grandfather had uncontrollable nose bleeds and had to be stabilized in Martinique; most of the doctors only spoke french (although my grandma knew some french).

This has never happened to us but it did happen to someone on our Sapphire HI cruise (1/19-2/2) Someone we met had developed a terrible eye infection and needed more care than what the ship's Doc could do. So they were told to get off in Maui -plus she couldn't fly because of the pressure in her eye. I understand that she and her husband were in Maui for at least 4 days..not sure what happened after that.

I believe if the sickness is severe, to make sure they get proper treatment, the medical staff will want them off the ship and to a hospital/dr.

My Aunt and Uncle are on a two week Hawaiian Cruise on the Sapphire Princess. My Aunt had been to the ships Doc with breathing problems. When the ship docked in Oahu, the Doc told them: "You can either leave the ship on your own, or the Captain will remove you". They are now stuck in Hawaii. Has this ever happened to anyone?

there isn't enough info in your post to give you a specific answer. If your Aunt was extremely ill, in one of the ICU beds on the ship, yes, Princess would make arrangements to transfer her to a hospital because the ships resources in this case are very limited.

The statement you made:

"You can either leave the ship on your own, or the Captain will remove you". They are now stuck in Hawaii. Has this ever happened to anyone?

This sounds like something else was going on - more like inappropriate behavior or something to that effect. I actually witnessed Capt. Fortezze say this to an unruly passenger a few years back.

If it was a situation of critical illness, the Captain might know about the situation but the medical staff arranges a medical transfer.

I don't think you're getting the whole story.

Sorry to hear about your relatives - I hope everything turns out all right - but I imagine that avoiding a potential emergency medical evacuation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean would be in everyone's interest.

And, frankly, disregarding the expense, I can imagine much worse places to be stuck than Hawai'i.

My Aunt and Uncle have been on more than 25 cruises. They do have health insurance, and travel insurance, and they certainly are not unruly people. They have been on 25+ cruises. Needless to say they will no longer cruise with Princess.

This happened on our last cruise ...an elderly lady over 90 went to the medical centre and was given the same directive. Something to do with her not having health insurance.

I don't think health insurance is an issue. I have medical insurance and went to the Medical Ctr on my recent cruise. They never even inquired about health insurance before they treated me. However, my insurance, as most, will not cover international waters. We had trip insurance (always get it and hope we won't need it)and are working on getting reimbursed. I really think they want people off the ship if they are more serious and can't be treated properly by the ship's medical staff.

I agree that we are missing part of the story.

1. If your aunt was very ill, the ship's doctor may not have been able to treat her, then it would make sense that the doctor ask her to go to the hospital in Honolulu, which I think is what happened;

2. If your aunt was very ill, it makes no sense that the ship's doctor was so very rude... I have never seen a doctor or his staff be rude to an ill passenger...

3. I think that your aunt and uncle were very upset at the news that they are taking it out on Princess although it was not Princess's fault that your aunt became ill.

This is a good reminder to get travel insurance. I am glad that your aunt and uncle have it and their expenses while in Hawaii will be covered.

My Aunt and Uncle have been on more than 25 cruises. They do have health insurance, and travel insurance, and they certainly are not unruly people. They have been on 25+ cruises. Needless to say they will no longer cruise with Princess.

This happened to some friends on HAL. It was more of a horror story as they had to scale a wall in Italy and was put in a very small Italian town. Thankfully it was just an allergic reaction to some nasal spray.

I am guessing that the doctor thought the condition could get possibly worse and while at sea coming back to LA, may put their medical situation beyond what the ship can handle and with no stops in-between, he made the decision to disembark the passengers. If he hadn't and they got worse, he may not have the resources to stabilize them and things could go down hill very quickly. Also, if he knows he can't treat them, he probably has a duty to get them to someone who can. If he kept them on the ship and things got worse and heaven forbid, they died due to lack of resources for treatment, he could get sued.

I hope your relatives get better soon.

My Aunt and Uncle are on a two week Hawaiian Cruise on the Sapphire Princess. My Aunt had been to the ships Doc with breathing problems. When the ship docked in Oahu, the Doc told them: "You can either leave the ship on your own, or the Captain will remove you". They are now stuck in Hawaii. Has this ever happened to anyone?

If your aunt was having breathing problems, it must have been a relief for her when they arrived in Oahu and she was able to access complete medical care. The ship's infirmary is not equipped to handle all medical conditions and as someone else already posted, getting assistance in the middle of the Pacific would be extremely difficult. I doubt your aunt would have enjoyed herself if she had stayed on the ship, worrying if she was going to have the same problem thousands of miles from land.

My Aunt and Uncle have been on more than 25 cruises. They do have health insurance, and travel insurance, and they certainly are not unruly people. They have been on 25+ cruises. Needless to say they will no longer cruise with Princess.

I'm really suprised that you are not more concerned about your Aunts breathing problems then their traveling with Princess Cruises again.

This was done for her safety. His wording wasn't very elegant but it made very clear that they had no choice but to leave the ship. I'm willing to bet that he tried more subtly suggesting that they leave the ship and seek appropriate treatment but they were probably saying - oh I've had this before or I'll be fine and not really getting the message.

The important thing is that she's getting the appropriate care. I'm not sure why they wouldn't sail Princess again. Seems to me like the exercised sound professional judgement, especially facing a 4 day journey across the Pacific. If her situation would have worsened, they would not have had any options open to them.

I once developed asthmatic bronchitis while In FLL pre-cruise. Very early in the cruise I went to the ship's doc for treatment. I was having significant breathing problems. He gave steroids and other meds. I will say this though, he was my new best friend the rest of the cruise. He was making a point of finding me every day to check on me. I know he considered having me leave but didn't send me. He did ask me not to go ashore one particularly humid and hot day as it would aggravate my breathing. When I saw my doc at home she not only confirmed his diagnosis but was also very pleased with the treatment plan he put in place. She specialized in asthma. Any time I have visited the ship's medical office I have been impressed with the staff. I trust them.

Without more facts, the only plausible reason for asking her to disembark in Hawaii was to get further attention in a hospital for her breathing problem. Crossing the Pacific takes 4 days and should there be an emergency with the breathing problem, an air rescue would not be possible.

If she argued with the doctor who was trying to protect her, he may have said that she would be removed by the captain if she didn't leave of her own free will.

The cruise line seems to care more about her health than she does.

I once developed asthmatic bronchitis while In FLL pre-cruise. Very early in the cruise I went to the ship's doc for treatment. I was having significant breathing problems. He gave steroids and other meds. I will say this though' date=' he was my new best friend the rest of the cruise. He was making a point of finding me every day to check on me. I know he considered having me leave but didn't send me. He did ask me not to go ashore one particularly humid and hot day as it would aggravate my breathing. When I saw my doc at home she not only confirmed his diagnosis but was also very pleased with the treatment plan he put in place. She specialized in asthma. Any time I have visited the ship's medical office I have been impressed with the staff. I trust them.[/quote']

 

My mom had bronchitis on a cruise this summer. The doctor was fabulous. We were told to stop by the clinic every day so he could make sure she wasn't getting worse. I felt we had better care from him then we did from her doctor at home. Her doctor back home was impressed with the care she received on the ship - the ship doctor gave us a packet to give to our doctor so they knew back home what they did on the ship.

 

We asked about disembarking and he indicated that she could stay on the ship as she wasn't that bad.

On my recent cruise around New Zealand a man who looked in his 70s was hit from behind on a luge ride and ended up in hospital with broken bones and missing the ship depart Tauranga.

He rejoined the ship at the next port, the ships doctor had wanted him to return home but permitted him to continue on the ship because he was travelling with his daughter who was a Nurse and able to assist and care for him.

The medical centres on the ships are not designed for long term medical support, and I would be far happier receiving full medical services on shore than ending up in one of the 3 morgue berths on ship.

They have been on 25+ cruises. Needless to say they will no longer cruise with Princess.

Do you, (or they) seriously think any other cruise line would handle the situation differently?? Obviously, it was (or is) serious, and the Medical staff on the ship didn't feel they could handle it should it escalate. I'm sure they had the best interests of your Aunt in mind. As to what "He said, She said" - only speculation, but I've never heard of a ships Doctor being anything but professional.

But you haven't indicated whether or not she required further treatment once off the ship ??

We clearly do not have the full story here, and without that I think it is a worthless exercise to speculate why they were told to leave.

I hope your Aunt is doing ok.

Ok, I agree with other posters:

1. She needed medical treatment the ship could not provide.
   
2. She was highly contagious.
   
3. I doubt the "remove you" language unless they refused to leave or there is more to the story ...
   

Hi All

Simple case of doctor knows based, and while doctor can not remove a passenger from the ship, one quick call to the Captain and he would give that instruction.

May be full details will come out time,

stuck in a port with good health care and straight forward ways to get home, are not a real problems,

her aunt having an illness that bad that the doctor wants you off ship is,

yours Shogun

I doubt the "remove you" language unless they refused to leave or there is more to the story ...

Me too, otherwise they would not have BOTH been asked to leave just because one is ill.... granted that is what most spouses would do or risk a divorce, but that isn't up to the Captain ;)

Just from my recent medical ctr experience, the Dr and his staff were wonderful. I had a 102 temp, had to be quarantined for 2 days with the nurse coming to take my temp several times to monitor -temp had to be gone for 24 hrs before I could leave cabin. This was my first, and I hope only, experience in 20 cruises. Both my DH and I were very pleased with the professionalism and service of the medical team.

was the last day in maui we had 4 plus days at sea and i had gallbladder issues the doc told me he would get off cause 4 days at sea would be to risky had a surgery spent a few days in maui wasnt the best end of a cruise .now i travel with travel insurance one good thing since i was still in the U.S my medical expenses where covered . but hotel and air short notice wasnt great for the creidt card :eek:. my dw did book a return cruise a few months later so i could enjoy the great food i missed :p