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Heart Attack on Board Eclipse in South America


johhnnyt
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4 hours ago, Ravbo said:

Thanks for sharing.

Medical and evacuation insurance should be of primary importance when traveling to foreign ports.

Most of our travels to date have been to Caribbean, Hawaii, Alaska and Panama Canal so I have NOT paid as close attention to the insurance as I should have. My bad.

Our future cruises will be further away.  I am now paying very close attention to the the medical and evacuation insurance requirements I think I will need for these future cruises.

Medical limits can be very critical especially if hospitalized for a period of time and/or needing serious operation/medical treatment.

Is medical insurance primary coverage?  Secondary coverage?

Who pays at time of service?  If you have to pay and then seek reimbursement, this could be a lot of money up front (possibly ten of thousands of dollars).

Evacuation insurance is also important.  Evacuation to where? closest hospital in a foreign country? Back to home country?

Who makes evacuation decisions?  Doctor in foreign country?  Insurance company?

Also again who pays at time of service?  I have heard of evacuations costing $10,000 to $50,000 or more depending on situation.

I will also be researching Med Jet Assist.  As I understand, if hospitalized and stable, YOU make decisions on evacuation (not insurance company) as to where and when (ie back to your home country, city etc.).

Understanding this insurance BEFORE you need it is imperative.  I MISTAKE COULD BE VERY EXPENSIVE.

Safe Travels,

Bob

 

Bob, lots of us have the same questions as you! Now that we're moving along age wise, I'm thinking we need to be sure we have adequate med and evac insurance for out of country trips. It would be great is someone could direct us to a clear source of info on this important subject. I've read through a couple of threads, but didn't see any pointing to a reliable resource.

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22 minutes ago, kathynorth said:

 

Bob, lots of us have the same questions as you! Now that we're moving along age wise, I'm thinking we need to be sure we have adequate med and evac insurance for out of country trips. It would be great is someone could direct us to a clear source of info on this important subject. I've read through a couple of threads, but didn't see any pointing to a reliable resource.

This might help

https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherelliott/2018/08/18/the-best-and-worst-travel-insurance-companies/#5424d3ee4fc2

 

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24 minutes ago, kathynorth said:

 

Bob, lots of us have the same questions as you! Now that we're moving along age wise, I'm thinking we need to be sure we have adequate med and evac insurance for out of country trips. It would be great is someone could direct us to a clear source of info on this important subject. I've read through a couple of threads, but didn't see any pointing to a reliable resource.

 

I found the information provided on this site very helpful: 

https://tripinsurancestore.com/

 

There is also a lot of useful information on this forum:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

 

 

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6 hours ago, myjillian said:

Once, on the first Caribbean sailing of the Silly out of Bayonne, while we were at our Meet and Greet ( over 100 were there)  someone got bit...didn't know how but since the ship just hit the states and the trees and greenery etc were loaded at the port...and that person was admiring the plants.....anyway...to make a long story short...it was discovered that he was bit by a brown recluse spider.  Celebrity went all over the ships new greenery and took his cabin apart....treated his bite....first stop was St Thomas and the hospital there told him that the Ship clinic did what any hospital would have done and they really saved his bite from spreading....freak accident but true.

 

Wow, I was on that cruise but never heard this before.  And now I think, it could have been me. You never know...

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23 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

This story reminds me of another recent thread where I learned there were AED's onboard.  One outside OceanView cafe and one at Guest Relations reported on that thread.  I plan on paying more attention to noticing where these may be located on my next sailings.

 

On the subject of AED's, I believe there should be at least 2 on every deck, one in each elevator lobby.  AED's are easy to use as they give step by step instructions that even those who are not trained can follow.   As ships get bigger, it takes longer for medical to get there. Time is of the essence in many situations, and many people are trained to use them in workplaces, me included. 

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2 hours ago, ecslady said:

 

Wow, I was on that cruise but never heard this before.  And now I think, it could have been me. You never know...

Were you part of our M&G?.....I can't remember his name now but he had his hand bandaged for the rest of the sailing....

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7 minutes ago, DiamondDiva said:

Hlitner (Hank),

Can you tell us who is the insurance provider and annual cost of this insurance?  From whom did you purchase it? 

 

Thanks

Sure,  and this topic has also been discussed on the cruise insurance board.  We purchase the Annual Global Trek policy issued by GeoBlue.  It is part of the Blue Shield/Blue Cross network and can be purchased through various insurance brokers (such as the Cruise Insurance Store) or directly through GeoBlue on their own web site.  The annual cost for a couple is about $450 a year (total cost for 2) and covers the first 70 days of every trip (outside the USA) during the policy year.  The price might vary depending on your State and age (we are not sure about this).  I also think there are a couple of States where you cannot purchase the policy (Washington and NY come to mind) although this may have changed.

 

DW and I do a lot of travel (often 6-7 months a year) and buying trip insurance for each trip would be ridiculously expensive.  We purchase the Geoblue policy to cover medical (and evacuation) and use our Chase credit card to cover some of our trip cancellation/interruption costs (the Chase Sapphire cards cover $10,000 ($20,000 if you have two cards).   We had once calculated that we have saved over $100,000 over the past 35 years by NOT buying typical travel insurance.  In a sense we prefer to self-insure and are way ahead of the game.  I have posted (on the cruise insurance blog) about my personal concern about the low limits provided by many policies sold by cruise lines.  While they might do a great job covering a few thousand dollars of cancellation loses, they are not very good if you have a major medical issue and quickly run up $50,000+ in medical bills.  Many travelers are willing to pay all kinds of money to insure their very limited cruise expenses, but forget that their medical liability is virtually unlimited.   If you lose what you pay for a trip you are no worse off (financially) then if you had taken the trip.  But if you have a major medical problem in a foreign country, and do not have decent medical insurance, you could find yourself bankrupt.

 

Hank

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9 hours ago, myjillian said:

Were you part of our M&G?.....I can't remember his name now but he had his hand bandaged for the rest of the sailing....

 

I probably was there as I usually go to all of them, but probably not paying attention. 

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21 hours ago, Hlitner said:

 

 

I mention this to point out that having decent medical coverage is very important unless you want to go to the poor house!  Many of the travel policies sold by cruise lines do not have sufficient limits (IMHO).  In our case, we have an annual travel medical plan that gives us $250,000 of medical and $500,000 of evacuation.  And yes, our insurance did pay nearly all the bills (eventually).

 

Hank

What insurance are you using?  I buy for each trip generally through Travel Insured International but an annual plan might be more beneficial down the road.

 

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2 hours ago, ecslady said:

 

I probably was there as I usually go to all of them, but probably not paying attention. 

Well, it created a little buzz at the time the...became a real topic once the word was out that it was a Brown recluse spider...who would have thought !

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2 hours ago, vermonter16 said:

What insurance are you using?  I buy for each trip generally through Travel Insured International but an annual plan might be more beneficial down the road.

 

We currently buy the annual Global Trek Plan sold by GeoBlue.   GeoBlue is part of the Blue Cross/Blue Shield network and sold in most states (I think you cannot get it in Washington and NY).  You can buy the policy directly on their own web site of through some popular travel insurance brokers such as the Trip Insurance Store.  This particular annual policy covers the first 70 days of every trip (outside the USA) you take during the entire policy year.  I would make it clear that this is a medical policy and does not have any kind of trip cancellation or interruption insurance.  But we use a Chase credit card that includes up to $10,000 of trip cancelation/interruption coverage for no additional charge.

 

Hank

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25 minutes ago, Fishkillbill said:

 

Do other cruise lines not help passengers in the manner outlined here? 

From talking to a few other cruisers who have also had to medically evacuate it does seem to be hit or miss.  Most of the cruise lines will essentially dump you at the port (if you must leave the ship) and put you into the hands of their local agent (these are private companies located in every port).  In our situation, when DW needed medical help in Osaka, the local agent for Princess arranged for us to have a car/driver to get to the hospital (about a 40 min drive) and then the agent had somebody at the hospital most (not all) of the long day.  Eventually when DW was permitted to leave the hospital the agent did drive us back to the ship.  But when we later medically evacuated the ship at another port (Yokohama) Princess did nothing more then get us off the ship and through immigration (DW was in a wheel chair).  At that point we were on our own and had to get to Narita which was a 2 hour drive.   If we had opted to use an ambulance for the transport the local ship's agent would have made the arrangements.

 

Having a rep from the ship actually stay with a passenger is not the norm with most lines.  There actually is an advantage to using the local agents because this is a local company familiar with territory and medical facilities.  When DW had to go to Osaka Medical Centre for emergency outpatient surgery, we were treated like VIPs at the hospital.  The Agent obviously had some contacts within the huge teaching facility and I was impressed by the quality of care and attention we got at the hospital.  

 

We do know one lady who was evacuated off a HAL cruise in a European city and they also were handled by the local Agent...once ashore.  I should add one personal observation.   Our situation (which happened on a Princess cruise in Asia) was really helped by the fact that I had my own working Smart Phone and could directly interact with our insurance company located in the States!  Without that phone ability the situation would have been much more difficult.  We were also helped (in a huge way) by the hospital who was able to assign me a translator during our entire 6 hours at the hospital.  She stayed with me throughout, accompanied me into the OR/Procedure room (that is a long story), etc.   When bad things happen during travel, "luck" becomes a huge factor.  In our case we got very lucky because of having access to world-class medical care.  In some ways we made our own luck....but there was still luck involved.   If the same injury had happened in a place like Senegal I doubt if the result would have been as good.

 

Hank

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3 hours ago, Fishkillbill said:

 

Do other cruise lines not help passengers in the manner outlined here? 

Not sure, but I do know about 8-10 crew are trained on each ship to be "Care Team" members, this is above and beyond their onboard function. Care teams on every RCCL ship/brandm, not sure what the other ones do.  I met two of the Care Team on our Eclipse cruise (one in guest relations, one a restaurant manager), and learned a bit about it after this happened on Eclipse. They are generally people that speak several languages and then undergo specialized training so they can facilitate between port agents,  Miami office, and the ships and the needed off ship facilities (hospitals, police, immigration etc).

 

      BTW Bill I do think it's funny that you are in Fishkill , and I'm the next town over in Wappingers.....small world sometimes

Edited by johhnnyt
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1 hour ago, johhnnyt said:

Not sure, but I do know about 8-10 crew are trained on each ship to be "Care Team" members, this is above and beyond their onboard function. Care teams on every RCCL ship/brandm, not sure what the other ones do.  I met two of the Care Team on our Eclipse cruise (one in guest relations, one a restaurant manager), and learned a bit about it after this happened on Eclipse. They are generally people that speak several languages and then undergo specialized training so they can facilitate between port agents,  Miami office, and the ships and the needed off ship facilities (hospitals, police, immigration etc).

 

      BTW Bill I do think it's funny that you are in Fishkill , and I'm the next town over in Wappingers.....small world sometimes

 

High neighbor. Just got home from Adams Fairacre Farms, in Wappingers.

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When we were younger we never bought travel insurance for our cruises. That has certainly changed now. We buy the best policy we can find. Something like this happening to us while out of the country could darn near bankrupt us.

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  • 1 month later...
On 4/14/2019 at 11:11 AM, Ravbo said:

Thanks for sharing.

Medical and evacuation insurance should be of primary importance when traveling to foreign ports.

Most of our travels to date have been to Caribbean, Hawaii, Alaska and Panama Canal so I have NOT paid as close attention to the insurance as I should have. My bad.

Our future cruises will be further away.  I am now paying very close attention to the the medical and evacuation insurance requirements I think I will need for these future cruises.

Medical limits can be very critical especially if hospitalized for a period of time and/or needing serious operation/medical treatment.

Is medical insurance primary coverage?  Secondary coverage?

Who pays at time of service?  If you have to pay and then seek reimbursement, this could be a lot of money up front (possibly ten of thousands of dollars).

Evacuation insurance is also important.  Evacuation to where? closest hospital in a foreign country? Back to home country?

Who makes evacuation decisions?  Doctor in foreign country?  Insurance company?

Also again who pays at time of service?  I have heard of evacuations costing $10,000 to $50,000 or more depending on situation.

I will also be researching Med Jet Assist.  As I understand, if hospitalized and stable, YOU make decisions on evacuation (not insurance company) as to where and when (ie back to your home country, city etc.).

Understanding this insurance BEFORE you need it is imperative.  I MISTAKE COULD BE VERY EXPENSIVE.

Safe Travels,

Bob

Sorry for posting late.

I think I can answer some of your questions

I have used Med Jet and Goe-blue(annual member) for my cruises or when I am oversea.

They both are excellent choices when come to services.

I do not need to pay upfront for hospitalization,all I need just to provide my insurance provider to the hospital and they handled everything.

Did a few phone calls to Med Jet and they made all the arrangement for the transportation to home hospital.

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