Norovirus hours before boarding plane for cruise

[Madmey]

My 8 year old daughter came down with norovirus 12 hours before our flight to Barcelona to cruise on Disney Magic :(.

 

We were staggered when we called British Airways to inform them that our child was vomiting, and could not keep down water, that they would not stop her from getting on the plane.

 

Luckily Disney were more helpful. Even though it was 2.30 am in their Florida call centre, someone answered the phone. She said that the ship's doctor would not allow her to board without examining her, and if he suspected noro she would be allowed on the boat.

 

My daughter has been checked by our GP, who confirmed viral gastroenteritis.

 

Has anyone else had experience of an insurance claim for a contagious, but non-serious medical condition such as noro? I know that we have done the right thing by not traveling and putting others at risk, but will our insurer try to avoid settling? Our policy is a family multi trip, my daughter has no pre existing conditions, and we live in the UK. The claim will be for £10,000, including flights, cruise and Barcelona hotels for four of us.

[6rugrats]

I have no idea what your insurance policy says, but any travel insurance policy we've purchased covered illness that would not allow you to travel. We turned in a similar claim for a land vacation when my husband was very ill, and we were never asked anything about whether the airline would allow him to travel.

 

I would leave out any BA conversation when you file your claim. Your doctor will have to complete paperwork, and he will state that your daughter was unable to travel and will include his diagnosis, which makes it clear you could not take this trip. I don't know why you would have any problem with this.

 

Good luck, and I am sorry you are missing your trip. Hope your daughter feels better soon.

[Madmey]

She had an uncontrolled episode at both ends (simultaneously) 10 minutes after the plane would have been in the air. She would not have made the loo on a plane, and didn't off the plane as it happened. As this trip was so special to us, we had booked business class. I expect the other customers would have been demanding compensation had she been on the plane. I will not be mentioning BA when we claim. I doubt that what was said could be right anyway.

[D4]

I'm so sorry about your trip. I really admire you for being a responsible parent and traveler.

 

Some people, especially those without trip insurance, might have gone anyway and exposed other people on the flight and cruise. I hope your daughter feels better soon and that you can reschedule your trip.

[Madmey]

Just a quick update. The insurance company paid our claim, so one happy family.

[Keith1010]

Just a quick update. The insurance company paid our claim, so one happy family.

 

I'm glad this all worked out.

 

You did all of the right things.

 

Keith

[6rugrats]

Thank you for coming back with an update Madmey. Hope your family can book another trip. Another example of a wise investment in insurance!

[D4]

I'm so glad to hear your results.

[mistletoe]

My wife and I have been cruising for the last 25 years or so. But we learned something new on our last cruise that might be helpful for some of you at some point in your lives.

 

Last year we went on a Caribbean cruise on the Celebrity Millennium with another couple. It started out great but half way through the cruise one of our friends (Ed) succumbed to a norovirus bug along with many other people on that same cruise. Before the cruise was over, I was the only one in our party who managed to stay "bug free". And I'm sure it was just luck that spared me. The norovirus bug is not something I would wish on anyone and its effect redefines the term "miserable". Ed wasted 3 days in bed before he finally got an effective prescription from the cruise doctor. But once he did, his symptoms got better almost immediately.

 

The cruise doctors don't like giving out these pills unless they absolutely have to. I believe it is because in doing so, they are admitting they have a cruise ship with norovirus. Although this virus can hit ANY ship, this is NOT something they want to admit (for obvious reasons). So Ed suffered needlessly for three days before he got better. Imodium had absolutely no effect on Ed which is what they told him to take at first. I copied down the names of the pills that eventually worked for Ed. They were:

 

1. "Lomotil 2.5 mg" tablets to be taken once every 8 hours.

2. "Metoclopramide 10mg" tablets to be taken once every 12 hours.

 

When I saw how well these pills worked for Ed and my wife, I swore I would never take another cruise without them. These are prescription drugs so you won't (and probably shouldn't) be able to get them without seeing your doctor, but when I explained the situation to my doctor, he wrote out the prescription immediately. I hope I never need these pills but it sure is a cheap security blanket. The total price I paid for both generic prescription drugs was $6.35 at my local Walgreens Drug. Ed gladly paid over 10 times that amount for his pills on the cruise ship.

 

I am not a doctor so I can't guarantee these pills are appropriate for everyone, but they will be with me on my next cruise in February 2012

[happy cruzer]

The tricky part here is that you have to be sick. If you had gone to the doctor and you daughter did not have an illness at the time of the visit or if the doctor had not stated that she was unable to travel then you would not have a claim. So one key is to waste no time in getting the medical opinion in writing if you want to file a claim.

 

PS mistletoe, are you sure your friend had noro?? Most cases last around 24 hours; mine did almost to the exact minute.