Dialysis at Sea

Can you refer me to a cruise line that offers dialysis at sea? Especially those cruising in Alaska. Thank you.

It's not the cruise lines that offer these dialysis at sea programs -- it is vendors. Companies that provide the techs and the equip. they offer them on certain sailings on certain lines. The big problem is that if they do meet their minimun participants (which ususally they don't) then the "dialysis" cruise is cancelled.

You might want to check out the Nx Stage portable dialysis unit. It's not approved for use on any of the cruise lines (yet) but I think it's something to look forward to in the future. Plus you can do your own dialysis at home .

Candy

Thank you for your response. As technology progresses, it behooves us to avail ourselves to it and keep on traveling.

My wife has been on homodialysis for 9 years now and has cruised 7 to 12 night cruises with Dialysis at Sea 6 times during that time, including twice to Alaska (on Vision of the Seas, and Radiance of the Seas). No problem with any of these cruises. Although you get a slightly reduced cruise rate, they charge about $450 per dialysis treatment. You have to bring your own EPO and be careful to follow your low sodium, low potassium, and low phosphorus diet while on the ship. They will have a nephrologist , a nurse, and a technician on these cruises. They usually have 8 to 12 dialysis patients, and they do a good professional job. You can look up their web site to find the ships going to Alaska in 2006 offering dialysis. Just google Dialysis at sea cruises and look at their calender. Serenade of the Seas is doing most of the Alaska dialysis cruises this summer, and we have sailed on this ship which is beautiful and we loved it. With pre-arrangement via the internet and E-Mails dialysis can be set up almost anywhere on land too, including some cities in Alaska. We have done hemodialysis in Florida, New York, northern Michigan, Vancouver, Jamaica, ande New Brunswick Canada, all with no problem. Travel now if you can as eventually you may not be able to. Good luck. Jim

Thank you for all you information. :)

Thank you for all your information. :)

A question that ought to be asked is, do they allow Hepatitis B positve patients to dialyse using the same equipment, and on the same cruise as non-positive patients with the same staff.

I tried for many years for my wife, but due to the fact that Dialysis At Sea would allow Hep B patients at the same time, we were not allowed to use this company by my wife's consultant in the UK.

We did however take our own Kidney Machine on board Canberra (P&O).

We had an engineer from Gambro meet us, with special dispensation to board the ship to "plumb" in the machine. We then had to leave the ship and board through the usual embarkation process. We had some hair raising moments, but I have to say P&O were absolutely fantastic.

As far as I know the very best dialysis facilities on board any ship is the German Cruise Ship, DEUTSCHLAND, owned by Peter Daillman Cruses. The Dialysis is organised by a Doctor, whom unfortunately I have lost his details. They have a fully functioning Dialysis centre on board the ship.

It is also a fantastic ship, well worth a look.

There is an agency called exactly that Dialysis At Sea. Call them or contact them they are listed in 800 numbers or on line. They will send you everything you need. Hubby and I have been using them for almost 7 years.

from the Explorer of the Seas- departed Miami, March 19, 2006.

Thank you for your response. As technology progresses, it behooves us to avail ourselves to it and keep on traveling.

http://www.dialysisatsea.com/index.cfm

http://calendar.dialysisatsea.com/

They have a great selection to choose from on HAL, CEL & RCCL

Does anyone know the NPI number for dialysis at Sea? I need it for recertification. Thanks.

Does anyone have the NPI number for Dialysis at Sea? I need it for insurance pre certification. Thanks.

I talked to the president of Dialysis at Sea cruises today and asked him if they have an NPI number (for medical providers in the USA) and he said that Dialysis at Sea does not have an NPI number. This is because they are not a fixed provider in America, and do their dialysis at sea all over the world. He stated that medicare does not cover their services, as they are not within the US. The patient getting dialysis with them pays up front, and it is not cheap, but is well done and very convenient. At the end of the cruise you will get an itemized statement of charges, and he said that about 70% of health insurance plans beyond medicare will reimburse you for the medical costs of dialysis. I don't know which companies or plans will do this, or how Obamacare will affect it. You can probably contact your health insurance carrier and ask about this. Also DAS does not provide EPO or IV iron. Bring your own if it is a long cruise. Ship cabins have a small refrigerator where EPO or insulin etc can be stored, or they can store it for you in the medical rooms they use on the ship. I have also written about getting dialysis on shore (at ports with docks) from ships without Dialysis at Sea services: including Jamaica, St Martin, St Lucia, Juneau, St John, New Brunswick, Ipswitch in England, Dublin in Ireland, Bergen in Norway, Vancouver, Ft Lauderdale,etc. Look up previous posts on the search site. Dialysis patients can cruise and see the world safely with confidence. Good luck. Jim

I talked to the president of Dialysis at Sea cruises today and asked him if they have an NPI number (for medical providers in the USA) and he said that Dialysis at Sea does not have an NPI number. This is because they are not a fixed provider in America, and do their dialysis at sea all over the world. He stated that medicare does not cover their services, as they are not within the US. The patient getting dialysis with them pays up front, and it is not cheap, but is well done and very convenient. At the end of the cruise you will get an itemized statement of charges, and he said that about 70% of health insurance plans beyond medicare will reimburse you for the medical costs of dialysis. I don't know which companies or plans will do this, or how Obamacare will affect it. You can probably contact your health insurance carrier and ask about this. Also DAS does not provide EPO or IV iron. Bring your own if it is a long cruise. Ship cabins have a small refrigerator where EPO or insulin etc can be stored, or they can store it for you in the medical rooms they use on the ship. I have also written about getting dialysis on shore (at ports with docks) from ships without Dialysis at Sea services: including Jamaica, St Martin, St Lucia, Juneau, St John, New Brunswick, Ipswitch in England, Dublin in Ireland, Bergen in Norway, Vancouver, Ft Lauderdale,etc. Look up previous posts on the search site. Dialysis patients can cruise and see the world safely with confidence. Good luck. Jim

Thank you very much for the information! I am sailing this weekend and will hope for the best with Aetna when I return. I've sailed with DAS twice in the past and so far I am batting .500 with reimbursement. Each time insurance throws a curve and try's a different angle not to pay.

Thank you very much for the information! I am sailing this weekend and will hope for the best with Aetna when I return. I've sailed with DAS twice in the past and so far I am batting .500 with reimbursement. Each time insurance throws a curve and try's a different angle not to pay.

We WERE frequent cruisers until husband had to go on dialysis. We are VERY uncomfortable thinking about cruising now. Any detail information would be greatly appreciated. We are in Pittsburgh, PA and on medicare and Highmark Freedom Blue... Will start digging into this more now that his dialysis has been successfull for the past year. I see that you posted over a year ago and realize that a lot of changes my have occurred since then. Thanks, Judy

 

 

 

We WERE frequent cruisers until husband had to go on dialysis. We are VERY uncomfortable thinking about cruising now. Any detail information would be greatly appreciated. We are in Pittsburgh, PA and on medicare and Highmark Freedom Blue... Will start digging into this more now that his dialysis has been successfull for the past year. I see that you posted over a year ago and realize that a lot of changes my have occurred since then. Thanks, Judy

Judy,

Medicare will not cover Dialysis At Sea treatments which cost typically $1750 for a seven day cruise. If I can answer any other questions please let me know.

Thanks tonyzee for the info. Had no idea what the cost was. Understand we may have to book thru dialysis as sea. Explorer of the Sea does do dialysis, we sailed her before and me th nephrologist working with the dialysis company.

At that time, NEVER thought we would be in this position. Questions.... How much paperwork and how long before we cruise do we have to get all paperwork. Also, is the dialysis early, we now have 6AM session. I'm sure if we call dialysis as sea, will get all info.... Always nice to hear from "voice of experience" Judy

All of the Dialysis at Sea cruises for 2014 are listed on their website -- a few are sold out or have very limited spaces. Since they take up to 16 clients per cruise and time slots are "first come, first served", it might be difficult to reserve the first time unless you book far in advance. There should be a travel liaison at your husband's dialysis clinic who is responsible for getting the correct information to Dialysis at Sea or a land clinic.

All of the Dialysis at Sea cruises for 2014 are listed on their website -- a few are sold out or have very limited spaces. Since they take up to 16 clients per cruise and time slots are "first come, first served", it might be difficult to reserve the first time unless you book far in advance. There should be a travel liaison at your husband's dialysis clinic who is responsible for getting the correct information to Dialysis at Sea or a land clinic.

Thanks "klauer".... Yes, there is a social worker where Bob has dialysis. She set us up for Florida dialysis. Haven't talked to her yet, will see her next week and pick her brain. Was hoping for cruise out of Bayonne, NJ....that would mean 2-3 days staying close to US coast line...,would you say I'm a little nervous??:eek: So far, the cruise dates we looked at...."no dialysis" ..... Chances are we will have to fly to a Florida port... We enjoy Eastern Caribbean.... If it's to be, it will be. Judy

Thanks "klauer".... Yes, there is a social worker where Bob has dialysis. She set us up for Florida dialysis. Haven't talked to her yet, will see her next week and pick her brain. Was hoping for cruise out of Bayonne, NJ....that would mean 2-3 days staying close to US coast line...,would you say I'm a little nervous??:eek: So far, the cruise dates we looked at...."no dialysis" ..... Chances are we will have to fly to a Florida port... We enjoy Eastern Caribbean.... If it's to be, it will be. Judy

Is there any chance you would be comfortable training to do the dialysis yourselves? My DH has been on home hemo d for 3 years and we cruise with our own machine. He's on the machine at night while we sleep. I take him off in the morning and we are ready to go. If you leave from a US port there is no charge for the supplies. Everything is delivered to the dock and you bring the cycler with you. If you are leaving from a non-US port, you pay a reasonable fee to have the saline and dialysate delivered to the dock. I take a seperate suitcase with our supplies such as canula, syringes, gauze, etc and mark the bag with large signs that say "Life Sustaining Medical Equipment"

That bag and the cycler travel free on the airplane.

Yoletta

Yoletta, Hi my dad has recently been put on home dialysis and we are cruising in Septemeber. We have never cruised with him on dialysis can you tell me who I need to contact about getting the supplies to the boat? We're you worried about them getting it there? Please could you give me any info you know about it. Thanks so much

I'll take anything information from anyone..

Yoletta, Hi my dad has recently been put on home dialysis and we are cruising in Septemeber. We have never cruised with him on dialysis can you tell me who I need to contact about getting the supplies to the boat? We're you worried about them getting it there? Please could you give me any info you know about it. Thanks so much

 

 

I'll take anything information from anyone..

Kari,

We have cruised twice with D and we are booked on a Baltic cruise the end of July. Where are you sailing from? Where do you live? I'm in Southern California. It would probably be easier if we could speak on the phone.

Yoletta

We are cruising in Galveston. Would love to talk on the phone to get all the information. We are a little nervous about getting all the stuff there. Just let me know. We are from Louisiana. Thanks for everything.

We are cruising in Galveston. Would love to talk on the phone to get all the information. We are a little nervous about getting all the stuff there. Just let me know. We are from Louisiana. Thanks for everything.

Ok, it's probably best if we speak when both my DH and I can be on the phone at the same time. let me check with with him an I'll get back to you tomorrow with a couple of options for timing. We are Pacific daylight savings time. Would you be available from about 9 am to noon our time? (weekends are also fine with us.) Let meklnow what works best for you.

Yoletta

karifromla19 and yliebert.....Very interesting reading your post. There is a thread somewhere on CC with VERY DETAILED information about the home dialysis. We did look into this when all the renal failure started 5 years ago. At that time we had a compatible donor, but had to have kidney removed with cancer and wait for a 'clean bill of health' before having transplant. DH was then put on dialysis until transplant. We didn't really think we neeeded HD at that time. March 2013 the transplanted kidney started to reject and after months of trying to jump start, we finally had to go back to dialysis in September. We did look into the home dialysis and decided it was much easier to just go to the clinic 3x a week and let the nurses/techs take care of it. We have heard both sides of which is best. There are three threads about dialysis and , like I said.....one is VERY detailed.....about carrying your machine to having all the supplies placed in cabin. For those who want to do the dialysis on the ship....extra cost, because of the handling of all the medical machines/supplies and liabilities. I keep reading everything I can....but I'm sure we will continue going to the clinic....just like going to work 3x a week. Our time is from 6AM to 10AM and the dialysis does not tire out Bob, so we have the rest of the day to do as we like. Good luck to you "karifromla19"......ENJOY YOUR CRUISE. judy