You MUST have travel insurance

[Sherwoodforest]

We were on the Oosterdam Feb.5 thru Feb. 10 and put off the ship in Cabo San Lucas due to a medical emergency. The medical staff on the ship was wonderful and saved Zoltans life. The clinic in Cabo was filthy and everybody there lied to us. We were informed our travel insurance was called and we would have to pay $20,000.00 for an air ambulance back to Tucson. If we didn't have the money we should call our family. And we had to make up our minds in a hurry because the airport was going to close. (It was an International Airport, we found out later). I wanted to call our travel insurance and they said they only had one phone line , so they would have to set up a conference call and that never happened. I finally got in touch with my insurance and they had never heard from those people and they would send a plane for us. The clinic used dirty equipment on Zoltan and there was an open sewer not 10 feet from his bed. He was served no food or water during the 28 hours we were there. Zoltan had congestive heart failure, renal failure and pneumonia. For that fine service we were charged $5000.00. Zoltan is still in the hospital in Tucson, but he is doing better. We want to thank all of the passengers that seen us off , it was touching that so many cared about him. I just had to write so people know that when you have travel insurance, you speak to them yourself or you can get stuck with a huge bill. I will post again to let you know how Zoltans is doing. Since the air ambulance could not take our larger luggage, we had to leave the suitcases at the clinic in Cabo and they were going to ship them to us. Do you think we will see that luggage again?

[RuthC]

I am so sorry for your difficulties; my best wishes to Zoltan---and to you.

 

Thank you for coming here to remind others that cruises don't always go as planned and we need to be prepared.

[zdude]

Glad to hear Z is OK, but I still have a problem believing the story.

[wblynch]

I'm so sorry to hear of the troubles and happy to hear that Zoltan is recovering.

 

I am curious about the phone thing though. With so many cell phones available and international calling cards, it seems a shame that it took 28 hours to get a call placed to your insurance company.

 

I'll remember to keep my international-capable cell-phone handy on our Oosterdam cruise. One just never knows.

[Sea Island Lady]

So sorry to hear of your friends illness and sorry that your cruise ended so abruptly and with problems.

Rev - Did you see any of this?

[mojodani]

Zoltan may have been better off without their food and water, especially since he was in failure. Did he suffer a heart attack that caused his CHF? I only hope their intravenous fluids and medication were administered using a "clean" technique.

 

This is not the important issue of your misfortune but did the ship offer you an alternative with your luggage? Keeping it onboard and having someone else pick it up or have you pay for shipping it? I'm sure it all happened so fast, there wasn't time to think out different scenarios.

 

Thanks for the heads-up and I am hoping for a speedy recovery for the both of you!

[jhannah]

Very fishy.

[Iggipolka]

Very fishy.

 

Why?

[iluvcruzin]

Wow.. what a scarey event to happen to your family. I was at the dentist last week and he was telling me about a similar incident that happened to his parent on a Panama Cruise where Dad & Mom had to get off the ship. They had a heck of a time getting back to the US and the facilities in Panama were horrendous. Thank goodness Zoltan made it back and hope he's back in good health soon.

[CanadianMAG]

Why?

 

ya... why? :confused:

[Ziggy7]

Zoltan is in our prayers :) Speedy recovery!:)

[zdude]

Frankly it could be true, but I don't believe it. If true, my thoughts are with Z. Why do I not believe it? 1st post. No clinic name, no doctor name, if you wish to help people avoid them in the future please list the name of the clinic to avoid. I have never *heard* of an open sewer in Cabo, let alone one 10' ft from the bed, which is the same room btw. If you are so set on insurance, why no mention of the company. Many of the Cabo clinics appear to be pretty decent and never personally heard of a story like this before. Not that it could not be true, I just tend NOT to believe extreme stoies like this on the net without some facts to back them up. Person could work in the insurance industry for all we know. I'd rather be proved wrong, than buy into a scam. So many urban legends and net stories start like this it amazing.

[Esme]

Very fishy.

 

Kind of agree. How come no mention of the Port Agent helping pax after they were off the ship - this is one of his jobs - making sure medicevac patients are taken care of. Anyone else notice that this is OP's 1st post and she hasn't returned to answer any of the questions.

[pollux]

The cruise from 29-5Feb. also had a emergengy in Cabo. They stopped tendering for awhile to transfer the PAX.

The other PAX did not get information on the emercency.

Maybe that PAX can answers us what happen to him/her.

[freddiebud]

Kind of agree. How come no mention of the Port Agent helping pax after they were off the ship - this is one of his jobs - making sure medicevac patients are taken care of. Anyone else notice that this is OP's 1st post and she hasn't returned to answer any of the questions.

 

 

Hey, maybe she hasn't come back to post because it has only been a few hours since her first post!

[xpcdoojk]

I have been to Cabo 3 times since 1996 and have spent a total of 4 weeks there. While I wouldn't rush to get sick there, I have a hard time believing the medical conditions were as bad as posted. By Mexican standards Cabo is very modern. With all of the rich Americans in Cabo playing $200 rounds of golf it is hard to imagine that there isn't a clinic and hospital there that would be of at least satisfactory standards. :rolleyes:

 

jc

[wblynch]

Cabo San Lucas has very advanced medical facilities, at least for cosmetic surgery.

 

It is an extremely popular destination for people seeking minor touchups to full extreme makeovers.

 

There should not be a lack of clean modern facilities.

 

Who knows what all went wrong in this case? At least the patient survuved and is apparently recovering back home.

[TYMAN]

I believe him...but then again I believe everything about Sherwood Forrest. :rolleyes:

[xpcdoojk]

What was the name of the fortune telling machine in the Tom Hanks movie "Big"?:D

 

jc

[DFD1]

I just don't know what to think about this one........

[bookworm0911]

What was the name of the fortune telling machine in the Tom Hanks movie "Big"?:D

 

jc

Zoltar ;)

[Sherwoodforest]

I need to go pick up Zoltan at the hospital and when I get him home I will answer all your question. Please bare with me. Jacqueline

[TYMAN]

Quick recovery...thank goodness!

[Cracker Ken]

Isn't it just possible that Sherwoodforest is actually telling the truth, is sincere, and wanted to make the point she made? Maybe she was really trying to be helpful to others by relating a bad experience she had as an example. She writes about some issues she had with a clinic, tells of the sickness of her DH, and encourgages people to get trip insurance, and out comes the torches. Is everyone sure there isn't such a clinic in Cabo, staffed by a bunch of nitwits? She wrote the message last night, and by noon today people are wondering why she hasn't returned to defend herself. Some (a lot) of folks have something to do other than to lurk on the boards all the time (I do too, but I'm off on med leave right now). I note that she returned to make a quick note, and was still nice about things, despite how she's been flamed already.

 

Ken

[zdude]

This is not flamed, this is legitimate skeptisism. People categorically buying into this stuff is what gets scams started. Its been a day now and no response and like I said, I'd rather be proven wrong than a fool. In about 2 minutes of research I could list 100 net legends of this sort.

 

If the poster wants to convince me, give me the name of the clinic and the insurance company-- thats only a start. Without that there are no real tangible facts to prove this right or wrong and I remain unconvinced.

 

However Z, if you ARE in a bed at Tuscon, best wishes.