What happens if you get CRITICALLY sick while on the cruise?

[klmorg]

I am planning my first cruise and will buy insurance. My question is...What if someone did get sick and had to see the nurse on board. it was mentioned that you pay up front and inusrance will reimburse you. what if you don't have it to pay upfront. do they not treat you. what if it is a child. will they actually refuse to not treat you if you can't pay.

Now keep in mind, i am going with no worries, just asking a what if.

 

I've seen that question asked many times on here, but have never seen an answer from anyone who's had that happen. For us, luckily I had brought along an 'emergency' credit card with a high limit, which was pretty much maxed out when we got home. We did have to pay upfront to Carnival (infirmary charges go on the S&S account) about $4000, and had to pay Cayman Island hosp around $5000, then all of our expenses in Miami for an week and a half of hotels, transportation, meals, etc. Also kids private flights from GC to Miami and on and on. We didn't have to pay the air ambulance & crew (over $20,000) upfront, or the Miami hospital or cardiologist, probably becasue we were back in the States. But I still wonder myself, what happens to those who can't pay. I know they will also see if you can get money wired to you and such. BTW.. we were fully reimbursed for everything by regular health insurance and/or travel insurance within a couple weeks of submitting the claims. Even got back half of our cruise cost. :)

[G'ma]

ehmmm those ships dr. will want you off their ship as soon as they can- officially it is because you need specialist care they are unable to provide -unofficially they want you off their hands so that you cannot sue them for anything.

 

That's not true......how cynical.

 

The medical facilities onboard can only go so far. It is not a hospital with full-service.

 

If the onboard physician believes you need more than they can provide, they will make arrangements to have you taken from the ship to an on shore hospital or other clinic for treatment.

 

Depending upon the type of emergency, they may wait until the next port or, if it's critical and immediate, arrangements are made to have the person airlifted off.....

[Donray]

What happens if you get critically ill on board is the Coast Guard will fly out to meet your ship and evacuate you to the nearest hospital. They can do this whether the ship has a helipad or not. On ships without helipads, they use a winch and stretcher to get the patient aboard. In ports, a private air ambulance company will evacuate you back to the nearest US city. Either way it gets very expensive very quickly.

 

I don't think the Coast Guard will fly 1000 miles down to the coats of Mexico to get you off the ship. The US Coast Guard only will be used in US costal waters. Bet they don't fly to Italy either.

Most of the time you will be put off in the next port and left to fend for yourself. Seen this happen three times so far.

Always make sure you have at least 10K with of credit on your cards when you travel. Never know what will happen.

[imsulin]

I am planning my first cruise and will buy insurance. My question is...What if someone did get sick and had to see the nurse on board. it was mentioned that you pay up front and inusrance will reimburse you. what if you don't have it to pay upfront. do they not treat you. what if it is a child. will they actually refuse to not treat you if you can't pay.

Now keep in mind, i am going with no worries, just asking a what if.

 

Great question! Yes, you do have to pay upfront to receive medical services from the ship's Clinic. They will not refuse treatment, but charges will be placed on your Sail & Sign card, and it's not cheap. Your US health insurance card will not be accepted. You have to settle up at check-out. I've heard a couple of stories where money had to be charged over the phone by passengers' family's credit card at home before they could leave the ship. Not sure if this was due to medical bill, but more likely due to just over-spending. When I worked as a TA years ago, an older couple had booked a cruise, and the husband had a massive heart attack onboard. He was medivaced to a local hospital in Cancun, where he had to stay for three weeks before he was medically stable. They had to charter a plane to fly back to the US with medical personnel onboard, as he couldn't fly on regular air. They had purchased Travelguard. They just did not have the up-front funds to pay for the medivac, the hospital stay in Mexico, or the chartered plane, so Travelguard monitored the situation daily by phone and fax, and paid for them. They just about reached their $100,00 limit. This was before 9/11 and the demise due to bankruptcy of four cruise lines within a year. Travel insurance companies these days are much more limiting, so make sure you get a policy with good coverage! Also, your US health care company may not necessarily reimburse you for any minor routine care while out of the country, so check before you go! Save all receipts, and take a credit card with a zero balance for emergencies...just in case. I know....it's a lot to think about! Plan, research, and enjoy your cruise!

[David-n-Rita]

We were on the Dream inaugural when a lady was taken off the ship in a serious condition.

 

We were sailing around the heel of Italy. The ship came close to land and stopped and the local pilot boat came out to pick her up along with her partner and one of the medical staff from the ships infirmary.

 

We were stopped for almost an hour before the pilot boat returned with the staff member whilst the lady was rushed to hospital

 

Sure hope she had insurance, Italy has nation insurance, you even have to go to the consulate if you plan to stay more than 9 days (I think is the number) and prove you have medical coverage that will pay for hospitalization and if not you have to buy into theirs on a daily basis until you leave and it is very expensive. Most US insurance will not cover out of the USA or on the ship. We have military insurance as my husband is retired military and they will cover everything all over the world including the $25,000 tab to take you off the boat by helicopter. Carnival does have full compliment of doctors and nurses as well as Xray and alot of equipment for even emergency surgery if they absolutely have to, although they prefer to get you to land. We headed back to Cayman Islands once very fast to rush a passenger to medical help, they really do try but whether you will be stuck with a bill afterwards is probably the norm. We had NY State employee insurance that was very good but switched to military so we could travel and be covered. State gov insurnace did not cover anything out of the US.

[BallFour4]

We saw a lady taken off the Miracle in Costa Maya a couple of years back. Scary because the ambulance was dirty and about 20 years old.

 

While cruising on RCCL's Splendour a few years ago I was enjoying a nice collection of Dos XX's in port at Costa Maya with a friend while our wives and daughters shopped. Cigars were just lit' date=' [i']the day had potential...

[/i]

A very nice woman who appeared to be in her 60's, off the ship by herself stepped down from one of the shops and tumbled. A small tumble turned into a big time fall when she rolled over.

 

My friend is a EMT and I hold a sports medicine degree. This is all the help she had, and we were sober in 5 seconds.

 

I carry a small first aid kit in my backpack, but it was not enough. Here comes that ambulance, complete with circa 1970's first aid kit. The two guys aboard were not sure how to work on this nasty leg wound.

 

We took their stuff, their stretcher and control. After stopping the bleeding, getting her on a backboard and on the stretcher we loaded her in the germ wagon.

 

I know enough Spanish to get fajitas and drunk, but I was able to get across Spendour and hurry. No Alto...

 

While my buddy went to the security folks I calmed her down and assured her we would not leave her in port. In short order all of us were in the the infirmary, treated like royalty and information I gathered from our fellow cruiser shared with the staff. Stitch count was in the 20's.

 

Knowing we were done, we retreated to the trolley train and found our perch in the seat at the open bar. We gave the bartender $20 each and said let the day start over. Bring the choir out to sing the national anthem again :)

 

 

.

 

[afrikaa]

This happened to me almost 3 weeks ago now. I am anemic and at this time for some strange reason I became severely anemic and was having dizzy spells blah blah blah. I still managed to get on the ship though. I know it was stupid but i got on the ship. Anyhow, while on the ship i was taken to the ship's nurses and doctor and was told i needed to be helicoptered to the nearest hospital, which was in Tampa, we were already sailing and it was only the first day out. Sad sad day I missed my much anticipated trip with my bf and spent the time in Tampa General Hospital by myself. I am from NY and I had no family or friends to even visit me. So that's what i experienced. I know to ALWAYS ALWAYS get travel insurance now.

[uppitycats]

I am planning my first cruise and will buy insurance. My question is...What if someone did get sick and had to see the nurse on board. it was mentioned that you pay up front and inusrance will reimburse you. what if you don't have it to pay upfront. do they not treat you. what if it is a child. will they actually refuse to not treat you if you can't pay.

Now keep in mind, i am going with no worries, just asking a what if.

 

I just read my last two trip insurance policies -- two different companies -- to be certain of my reply:

 

You will be billed to your on-board account. You will be treated without asking whether you can pay, but the charge will be on your on-board account. Both policies came with "emergency numbers". When you call those, they'll do whatever they can to assist you, including paying the medical part of your on-board account, and will do whatever financial settling that needs to be done once you are home. They'll work with the ship's doctor, or if you do need to be evacuated, with other medical personnel along the way, to assure them that the bills will be paid.

 

So while ultimately you are "responsible" for any charges -- so long as you have good proper coverage, the bills will be paid by either the insurance company, or in some cases, your personal medical insurance, sometimes insurance available on your credit card, and so on. And all that will be sorted out later when the emergency is over.

 

So it's IMPORTANT to read all that fine print that comes with the trip insurance coverage, UNDERSTAND what you're reading (and ask questions if you don't!), COPY DOWN THE EMERGENCY NUMBERS and know where to get to them. And then cruise without worries.

[TrustNoOneKMC]

A perfectly legitimate question. There is nothing wrong with taking precautions. When I took my father on his first cruise, I bought us both insurance through TravelGuard. My father was 65 years old, and he is type 2 diabetic. Now, while I didn't expect anything to go wrong (and, fortunately, nothing did), I was concerned about the cost if anything were to happen and he needed to be life flighted off the boat. If you do not have some type of travel insurance, the cost of being life flighted can easily exceed $25,000. The insurance I bought did not cover cruise or flight cancellation, stricly medical problems, helicopter evacuation, emergency services (and luggage loss, as a bonus). It cost only $18 dollars for myself for 10 days, and about $40 for my father. Just be careful, because some insurances do not cover pre-existing conditions unless the insurance is booked the same day (or sometimes within 10 days) of booking your cruise.

 

We cruised again last week, and I booked insurance through Carnival for both of us, which included trip cancellation in the case that a medical problem prevented us from sailing. It cost about $60 a person for the 7 day cruse. I booked this at the time of the cruise, because we have both had medical issues the last year. I was a little upset because I was told in the infirmary I would still be charged $80 to see the doctor (standard fee, plus any applicable tests or medicines). Apparently this is reimbursable (I didn't see the doctor, because I didn't find out that this would have been reimbursed until the last day of my trip).

 

While chances are nothing will happen on your cruise, there is nothing wrong with taking precautions in case something does. Nobody wants to have to lose their house because they owe $30,000 for a helicopter evacuation.

[Guienevere_Arianette]

You die.

 

DON

 

Thanks Don...now my notebook is covered with pinot noir wine that shot out of my nose when I read this...

[cruisinmeme]

What is the point of this post? Seriously.

 

you took the words right out of my mouth.

some of us do live in the real world and maybe even know the swine flu stuff is serious stuff right now. i watched 60 minutes last sunday and a perfectly healthy 17yr old football player had the swine flu. he told his parents he was feeling better and was going to take a shower. his dad said within 5 mins he was panting for breath and they had to call 911. it showed him laying in ICU on a vent. they expect him to live and recover, but point is OP has 2 yr old twins and maybe he is acting as a responsible parent making a plan. with a goof ball attitude of stay home, lock the doors...bla bla bla, well having no plan at all may cost a life.

[ladycaveat]

My son is a Coast Guard helicopter pilot and when he was stationed in Miami, he made quite a few Air/Sea rescues from cruise ships. They don't land on the ship . . . they hover over the ship and send a basket down for the sick or injured and do the same for anyone traveling with the person. They are then transported to the nearest hospital where they land if there is a helo port and if not . . . an ambulance meets the helicopter at the nearest airport.

[Manatee Mom]

My question is...What if someone did get sick and had to see the nurse on board. it was mentioned that you pay up front and inusrance will reimburse you. what if you don't have it to pay upfront. do they not treat you. what if it is a child. will they actually refuse to not treat you if you can't pay.

Now keep in mind, i am going with no worries, just asking a what if.

 

A few years ago we thought my son had a fever so we took him to the ships nurse just to get his tempeture taken. They ask for your sail and sign card and say that it will be charged for the visit. We didn't even think about the insurance at the time, which we did have. But now we carry for our children all basic medical needs including antibotics just in case.....it's just not worth the hassle.

[clutchgirl]

I was on Splendor at the beginning of the month and suffered a dislocated shoulder in a port. I was NOT allowed back on board - I was told that I had to have it taken care of at the foreign clinic in port. I had purchased TravelGuard's top of the line medical travel insurance and I also have Blue SHield personal coverage. Upon arrival at the local hospital, I was informed that neither insurance was honored. Blue Shield told me that since I was not being admitted, that they would deny payment. The clinic wanted $$ up front (amount changed twice). I was reluctant to just hand over my credit card.....

TO complicate matters, the ship was sailing in an hour. I had suffered this injury previously (13 years ago) and just wanted it fixed. After multiple phone calls to insurance companies and discussion w/ship, the clinic said they 'would take care of it.' No drugs - just go limp and let the dr. do what he had to.

Blue Shield denies they ever talked to me. TravelGuard just told me they would send me reimbursement papers. Now - it appears I did not get the right medical papers from the clinic in port, so I am stalemated there. I am STILL waiting to hear from TravelGuard regarding my claim.

Once I got back to the pier, the ship still would not let me on board. Seems I needed clearance from the dr in port first. For some reason - he had 'gone home.'

Long story short - finally got back on board ship. The tender ride back and the subsequent leap between ships (rough seas) is a whole other story. Once on board, I was required to see the ship dr. I paid $80 for her to interview me about what happened. That's it - she never even looked at me. Then I am told by medical staff that Xray machine is down for 'upgrades' and don't do anything to re injure before cruise over as they can't fix it. I was told the Xray machine would not be working until we got back to home port. That explains partly why they wouldn't let me back on board initially.

Of course, once I got home - both insurance companies are telling me that I should have been covered - they have agreements with that clinic. That's fine now - but they both left me hanging in the wind at the time to figure it all out myself. Critical point - At the time I REALLY needed them to assist, coordinate and advocate for me - - these companies flaked on me.

[salty dingo]

Along with cruising comes the acceptance of certain risks. At home you may be accustomed to calling 911 and having the EMTs there in minutes. On a ship, they can get to you even faster, but the facilities are limited. If you need immediate emergency surgery you may die.

 

On the other hand, the most common things that can happen, like sudden cardiac arrest, are going to leave you equally dead at home or at sea. In either case they are unlikely to reach you with the defib before 3 minutes passes and the brain irreversibly dies. So, I conclude that is something that is just not worth one second of worrying about.

 

Most of the minor things that can happen can be dealt with on the ship. Surgery which can wait 12 hours or so can often be accommodated by airlifting you off or diverting to a port, if at sea.

[deepnite10]

I had a very serious problem a couple of years ago while on a ship. I got choked at dinner(the Formal one of course) I had a peice of steak lodged in my throat. I could breath but could not swallow. ANY THING! :eek: I spent the night in the infirmary and the plan was to reroute our itn. and take me to St Thomas to see a specialist who the Dr. had gotten me an appointment with. Fortunately the obstrustion went on down shortly before 8 AM' date=' which was the time that I had to make the decision to remain on board(with a waiver protecting CCL for any liability) or go to St Thomas. It was a very long night in that little bed with only a porthole when I had a balcony cabin several decks up. I had to have my esopogus (spelling?) streched as soon as I got home. :eek: So please take the insurance.

Luv's Crusin'[/quote']Did it pass OK? :D

 

Really, get travel insurance..if your sickness does nt kill you..surely when you see the medical and evac bill s, that will kill you..

 

just get the insurance..too much worrying around will just ruin your vacation..

[cruisingsthebest]

I posted about a week ago about our friend who was taken ill on a cruise ship and in the hospital in Italy. I am very, very sad to report to any who might be interested that we just learned he has passed away. They were able to get him home just yesterday. Please keep his wife and family in your prayers.

[FightOnRon]

First to the OP,,,just get insuance.

 

My question,,is it not true you can just buy medical and evacuation insurance without the other things like luggage or trip delayand what have you?

[nonamewillwork]

i was on ncl 10-30-09 and became cricalty ill i had bad insurance and the doctor put me off the ship in the next port , they just left us there arm guard had my daughter pack up everything we had and they just wheeled me off the ship took there wheel chair and told my daughter to call 911 to go to the countries hospital, it was a nightmare

i since learned that the united states coast guard would have helped me as an american citizen and if we were to far away they would have contacted the us consilient (spelling0

i wont go into the horror show with how i was treated on the jewel , but will say they used a charter that got stuck and they left it in me and cut the bag off then tied a rubber band around the opening i could not protect myself had a fever of over 203 and white blood count of thousands

tip get private travel plat insurance and even this may not save you cause they want you to pay up front and then you get reimbursed

current law before congress to force cruise companies in us to treat passengers like human beings also coast guards has some guidelines ship are suppose to follow

this was the worst trip of my life

i spun a month in hospital once i got back and i am still being treated'

what a nightmare

[nonamewillwork]

see just what i said and if you dont have the money????

[nonamewillwork]

they dump you at the next port then leave you there on the street once you can buy drink or shore trip you are of no value and what ever ship dr does to you the ship is ptotected cause they are private companies like the spa

dirty little cruise secert i was a victim and funny thing coast gaurd will help if called

[salty dingo]

current law before congress to force cruise companies in us to treat passengers like human beings also coast guards has some guidelines ship are suppose to follow

I hope your fever of 203 has come down a hundred and five degrees or so.

 

If there is any law that should be passed, it should be to require passengers to buy insurance so stuff like what happened to you won't hurt your wallet so much.

 

There's nothing that can be done when you get so sick the ship can't care for you. They have to put you in a land based hospital. If you happen to be at a port of call that is where you go. If you had medevac insurance they may have send a plane to get you home. That's your responsibility, and NOT the cruise line's responsibiliity.

[Socref124]

We haven't cruised before and planning for an upcoming trip. What happens though if you are critically ill... is there a helicopter pad or a way to get retrieved off the boat and flown back to the hospital in the states? Like...swine flu that leaves you critically sick or anything else. We are hoping to get the swine flu shot soon but who knows just like for others.

 

CK

 

Don't know why you feel this way, however, there is a medical staff on board. If the doctor deems a person to be critically ill. They will stop at the closest port. You will get treated there though, wherever that may be. And you don't want a helicopter ride unless you have trip insurance. I had one a couple years back from the Dry Tortugas to Key West, 140 mi round trip, and the cost was over $20,000. I'm still paying for it.

[read52]

We cruise because there is a doctor 24/7. We always buy insurance.

[Cushing985]

My daily words of wisdom...if you can't afford trip insurance you don't belong on a ship. I have complete faith in the shipboard medical staff but I also know they don't have the equipment to treat various injuries or illnesses. They have to get you to a land-based medical facility not because they're afraid of a malpractice suit but simply because you would be afforded better medical care.

 

Also, if you can't afford to tip (at least to Carnival's guidelines) you don't belong on a ship. Don't go cheap with these two items. One could bankrupt you and the other isn't fair to the employees who take such good care of us while on the ship.