Any shore excursion accidents on Princess?

[Guest shaverg]

My friend that broke her ankle was also not evacuated from the ship. She was put on a plane (commercial flight) and was flown home at the first port of call. Her daughter also had to leave the cruise and accompany her as she was in a wheelchair because of the break. She was admitted to surgery as soon as she returned home.

Princess helped make the arrangements for the flight, as she did need surgery, but there was no actual medi-vac and she was told it was also because the break was not life threatening.

 

It also depends on where you are. Some of the ports we were not allowed to go into town. We would have been happy for first class tickets home sooner than later. We did get them 11 days later when we got to Ft. Lauderdale. We were going through Central America and South America. Unrest in many of the countries. In fact in Nicaragua passengers were advised not to leave the ship and tours had been cancelled. There were issues in Columbia too. Many times in these countries the ports are not close to any major airports. If they could have got us out on the West side of the Panama Canal I would have been really happy to get home to LA to our hospital. Evacuation does not always mean medivac. It can mean 1st class tickets to the nearest safest hospital with facilities to handle the problem. And remember, we had insurance for this purpose. The medical part of the insurance was great, but getting you home in an emergency has a lot to be desired if you are not close to a major airport.

[iancal]

My son had a similar problem on another cruise line a number of years ago. Same story when we got home. When we wrote to the cruise line, they immediately responded with a letter. I think in the very first paragraph said they contracted out medical service and hence were not responsible or liable for anything done to anyone. Full stop, period. The rest of the letter was drivel. We had not intention of litigation-just wanted to bring it to their attention. Have not been back on that cruise line since.

[Toto2Kansas]

It also depends on where you are. Some of the ports we were not allowed to go into town. We would have been happy for first class tickets home sooner than later. We did get them 11 days later when we got to Ft. Lauderdale. We were going through Central America and South America. Unrest in many of the countries. In fact in Nicaragua passengers were advised not to leave the ship and tours had been cancelled. There were issues in Columbia too. Many times in these countries the ports are not close to any major airports. If they could have got us out on the West side of the Panama Canal I would have been really happy to get home to LA to our hospital. Evacuation does not always mean medivac. It can mean 1st class tickets to the nearest safest hospital with facilities to handle the problem. And remember, we had insurance for this purpose. The medical part of the insurance was great, but getting you home in an emergency has a lot to be desired if you are not close to a major airport.

 

Oh trust me, my friend was not given first class tickets. All Princess did was arrange the flight, they flew home just as they had arrived, in economy, and she said it was very uncomfortable because of her foot and the long flight.

[cherylandtk]

Shaverg, I am confused by two statements in your posts, one is where you mention having to get verification on the type of fracture. Why on earth did another Doctor have to give verification? You already had a licensed physician saying you had a fracture. What insurance policy required that you get this verification before they would agree to cover your transport? Was this something other than your insurance saying you needed verification? Either way, it seems it's that radiologist that made a big mistake and who should be held liable...but I am confused as to who or what required a second opinion or verification, and why.

 

The other point that is confusing to me is where you mention speaking with Princess Claims department. Is this insurance claims or some other department? I certainly don't know all the Princess departments, but the travel insurance sold by Princess is actually a separate company from Princess, so Princess should not be responding to your submitted claims for medical treatment (or medical evacuation back to the US had that occurred)

[DrivesLikeMario]

This is my last straw. I tried everthing else. So by making it public maybe their claims staff won't treat someone else as they have treated me.

 

Don't count on it. We had the same basic situation here a couple years ago. We sent a letter informing them of a very dangerous situation, the Shore Excursion Mgr. made his report as well as the head Security Officer onboard, that a change needed to be made immediately. Princess' response to us - a form letter. :rolleyes: Nothing changed.

 

It hasn't stopped us from enjoying the cruise line and still booking it, but it was a big disappointment that so little was done once we were off the ship. :cool: Moral of the story - don't expect too much.

[Guest shaverg]

Toto2Kansas, that really is sad. I know how much pain she was in, it is terrible.

 

My Doctor also made sure I had a room at a hotel because our flight did not leave until that night. He was really upset with the Princess insurance you could tell by his responses to us. I think he did everything in his power. He insisted to our insurance we had to have 1st class, but they did not get us direct out of Ft. Lauderdale to LA, which they could have out of Miami. I know he had to push for 1st class. What good is the insurance for getting you home if there is an accident, if they aren't helpful in an emergency?

 

I don't really think the ship medical crew has final say, there is some other powers that be, that takes over. Our Doctor called every day to say he was working on it and trying to talk to the cruise insurance people and they kept wanting more documentation or had not returned his calls. This was the Princess insurance too. He did say they would pay quickly when we got home and they did.

[cruisefan42]

Actually, we never ask for monetary compesation and have no plans, just wanted cruise credit as a loyal cruiser. Which the Doc on board even recommended since Princess chose not to evacuate us.

 

Why does everyone think they deserve a free cruise for any problems they encounter while on vacation?:confused:

[cruznliz]

I usually hate to get involved in these types of discussions, but I'm curious and confused. Was it a Princess excursion as you stated in #20 or a "Gray Line" as you stated in #23? And why did you have to pay $150 to get back to the ship if it was a Princess excursion?

 

Personally, I'd probably do almost anything to prevent evacuation. I'm sure you were in pain and it affected your recovery, but at least you're alive to tell about it. Have your read any of the articles about the safety record of Medivacs? And if you were in Guatemala, you probably would NOT have been evacuated to the U.S. With luck they might have taken you to Mexico.

[Guest shaverg]

Shaverg, I am confused by two statements in your posts, one is where you mention having to get verification on the type of fracture. Why on earth did another Doctor have to give verification? You already had a licensed physician saying you had a fracture. What insurance policy required that you get this verification before they would agree to cover your transport? Was this something other than your insurance saying you needed verification? Either way, it seems it's that radiologist that made a big mistake and who should be held liable...but I am confused as to who or what required a second opinion or verification, and why.

 

The other point that is confusing to me is where you mention speaking with Princess Claims department. Is this insurance claims or some other department? I certainly don't know all the Princess departments, but the travel insurance sold by Princess is actually a separate company from Princess, so Princess should not be responding to your submitted claims for medical treatment (or medical evacuation back to the US had that occurred)

 

The radiologist read the report and determine if it is fractured. The xrays on board were not clear. I just know the doctor kept saying he thought it was fractured but the powers that be in Texas said they did not think so. He even had a passenger on board that was a radiologist that also did not think it was fractured. They have a lot of good stuff on board, but no MRI or CAT, you can only do so much with x ray and the nurse that was doing the x ray tried 3 times before she could even get the x ray to work. The type of fracture I have does not happen often in fact my PT has only seen a few of these and they take a very long time to heal in the best of cirmustances. It is a soft tissue fracture of the tibia, I broke it by the way I twisted when I tripped, not by falling.

 

It was Princess insurance and when you are on board the doctor has to make arrangements with Princess insurance. He talks to them, you really don't contact the insurance until you get to shore for medical treatment.

 

Some of you guys act like I should be suing, I just think it is really important to understand what can happen if you have a serious accident out of the country. It can definitely effect your life for a very long time, if you don't get proper care early.

 

Trust me I know all about Princess travel insurance, I have worked with them for a year to cover the medical our insurance would not and they were great for the medica.

 

I was told to contact Princess claims by princess because our travel insurance would not cover any credit toward our cruise, because we were not sent home early. Which was not our choice. I was unable to walk at all. Try putting weight on a broken leg and understand this was 4 days into a 16 day cruise. I had to be helped even to the bathroom and could not take a shower without help. Not much fun.

[Guest shaverg]

My son had a similar problem on another cruise line a number of years ago. Same story when we got home. When we wrote to the cruise line, they immediately responded with a letter. I think in the very first paragraph said they contracted out medical service and hence were not responsible or liable for anything done to anyone. Full stop, period. The rest of the letter was drivel. We had not intention of litigation-just wanted to bring it to their attention. Have not been back on that cruise line since.

 

Thanks, finally someone that understands. We just one someone to acknowledge this. We got the same letter. Basically hope you get well, not our fault. Even AAA wrote a letter for us, because they also thought we should have at least got some cruise credit. Their legal gave me $250, but my poor husband got nothing.

[Guest shaverg]

Why does everyone think they deserve a free cruise for any problems they encounter while on vacation?:confused:

 

Because we are loyal customers and are not suing which we probably could and they chose not to get us off the cruise early. I was in pain for 11 days, you try it.

[Guest shaverg]

I usually hate to get involved in these types of discussions, but I'm curious and confused. Was it a Princess excursion as you stated in #20 or a "Gray Line" as you stated in #23? And why did you have to pay $150 to get back to the ship if it was a Princess excursion?

 

 

Personally, I'd probably do almost anything to prevent evacuation. I'm sure you were in pain and it affected your recovery, but at least you're alive to tell about it. Have your read any of the articles about the safety record of Medivacs? And if you were in Guatemala, you probably would NOT have been evacuated to the U.S. With luck they might have taken you to Mexico.

 

Actually we have talked to people that have been sent to the hospital in Mexico City and had great care.

[Guest shaverg]

Why does everyone think they deserve a free cruise for any problems they encounter while on vacation?:confused:

 

We booked it through a Princess they just happened to use gray line, they do that a lot.

[Pam in CA]

I'm sorry this happened to you but I think you were as much a victim of circumstances as poor results. If you'd been on a different type of a cruise where you could have been sent home from the next port, you would have been. It's unfortunate that you were in countries where it wasn't recommended.

 

One thing I don't understand is if the onboard Doctor took X-rays, they were read in Houston and unclear, why wasn't another set of X-rays taken and sent? I'm not a medical person but I know that sometimes breaks don't show up right away but do a few days later as the bone starts to heal.

 

I'm truly sympathetic to your pain as my daughter seriously broke her leg and ankle almost four years ago and is still in constant pain, even with the best of care. :(

[smeyer418]

We booked it through a Princess they just happened to use gray line, they do that a lot.

a couple of points. You have ONE year to bring a lawsuit. That is the Statute of Limitations in your contract and it will be enforced. Princess has a choice of law provisio that makes California the State you will have to sue in if you intend to sue. You should see a lawyer who specializes in Maritime and Malpractice law. The Doctor who misread the xray was in Miami you say and may be easier to sue than you think but I don't know. Writing here won't help you. If you think you should get something without suing the only way to go is through one of the writers who act as an Ombudsperson. Conde nast has one has a website where to contact them. There is also a writer who appears here(in links to his articles) from time to time. The cruise line has told you what they will do to get more you must either sue or contact someone in the press who will intercede for you..In any case good luck and I ams sorry it happened....

[Guest shaverg]

a couple of points. You have ONE year to bring a lawsuit. That is the Statute of Limitations in your contract and it will be enforced. Princess has a choice of law provisio that makes California the State you will have to sue in if you intend to sue. You should see a lawyer who specializes in Maritime and Malpractice law. The Doctor who misread the xray was in Miami you say and may be easier to sue than you think but I don't know. Writing here won't help you. If you think you should get something without suing the only way to go is through one of the writers who act as an Ombudsperson. Conde nast has one has a website where to contact them. There is also a writer who appears here(in links to his articles) from time to time. The cruise line has told you what they will do to get more you must either sue or contact someone in the press who will intercede for you..In any case good luck and I ams sorry it happened....

 

Thanks, I know we live in California and actually in the area of Princess HQ. I really just think it is important for people to realize even with insurance you face many uphill battles. We don't care about suing although we live in the sue happy state.

 

I still would not travel without insurance it will at least cover some medical. But be aware if you are taking cruise that travels long distances. and you have a problem. You should have someone not on the ship working for you. We were not aware we had insurance through Princess so thought we were pretty much covered. Next time we would probably be contacting some one in the US to be working on the other end to get us home.

 

And we thought since the Doc on board recommended we get credit because of the situation. Princess would work with us more. But if you have an on board accident the evidently immediately turn it over to their legal dept. We were shocked they had done that, since we had no intention of suing, were just asking for credit for the 11 days that we were unable to enjoy our cruise. This was not an inexpensive cruise.

 

Thanks,

[Guest shaverg]

I'm sorry this happened to you but I think you were as much a victim of circumstances as poor results. If you'd been on a different type of a cruise where you could have been sent home from the next port, you would have been. It's unfortunate that you were in countries where it wasn't recommended.

 

One thing I don't understand is if the onboard Doctor took X-rays, they were read in Houston and unclear, why wasn't another set of X-rays taken and sent? I'm not a medical person but I know that sometimes breaks don't show up right away but do a few days later as the bone starts to heal.

 

I'm truly sympathetic to your pain as my daughter seriously broke her leg and ankle almost four years ago and is still in constant pain, even with the best of care. :(

 

Their equipment is minimal at best the Doc said it really needed an MRI to tell, which I had as soon as I got home. In fact the MRI caught it immediately.

[smeyer418]

Their equipment is minimal at best the Doc said it really needed an MRI to tell, which I had as soon as I got home. In fact the MRI caught it immediately.

 

 

while X rays are good tools both good contrast and a good reading are arts more than a science. So you need both a good technician shooting the picture and a good radiologist reading them, An MRI shouldn't be necessary to diagnose a broken bone....(its why HMO insist on an xray first- MRI's are more expensive if everyone had an MRI at first your insurance would cost twice as much)....

[Guest shaverg]

while X rays are good tools both good contrast and a good reading are arts more than a science. So you need both a good technician shooting the picture and a good radiologist reading them, An MRI shouldn't be necessary to diagnose a broken bone....(its why HMO insist on an xray first- MRI's are more expensive if everyone had an MRI at first your insurance would cost twice as much)....

 

I don't disagree, but the point is no one caught it but the Doc and his word was not good enough. The MRI caught it immediately and my orthopod, took xrays and saw it right away. I think I mentioned they had a nurse that took it 3 times before she actually got it to work, where you could even see I had a bone.

[kooljamming]

Because we are loyal customers and are not suing which we probably could and they chose not to get us off the cruise early. I was in pain for 11 days, you try it.

 

First sorry to hear about your situation. Princess is a business and ultimately loyal ONLY to its bottom line. I think you should save yourself the aggravation and let a lawyer handle this, as I am sure Princess has already done. If your loyalty meant that much, this would have been resolved already. I am not sue happy because I chose not to sue my doctor who repeatedly misdiagnosed my heart condition for heart burn. However he did EVERYTHING possible to get me one of the top heart surgeons in the country. Sometimes more than money is having someone step up.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post. I buy travel insurance believing it's the fix if anything goes wrong on vacation. I do not think any company will consider what's best for me over their bottom line. Princess is no different.

[Stellaglide]

I don't disagree, but the point is no one caught it but the Doc and his word was not good enough. The MRI caught it immediately and my orthopod, took xrays and saw it right away. I think I mentioned they had a nurse that took it 3 times before she actually got it to work, where you could even see I had a bone.

 

This goes back to a previous post by Pam.

 

Initial plain film x-rays may not conclusively prove a fracture and the standard of care is often to repeat after several days to confirm a diagnosis.

 

You mention the MRI and your orthopod's X-rays revealed the fracture "right a way". It's likely if the ship doc had taken another picture in 3-4 days the reading radiologists in Houston would have confirmed the fracture at that time. Did the ship Doc recommend a repeat film and if so was it obtained?

[Stellaglide]

Thanks for taking the time to post. I buy travel insurance believing it's the fix if anything goes wrong on vacation. I do not think any company will consider what's best for me over their bottom line. Princess is no different.

 

Just my cynicism but Travel Insurance (Insurance in general) compaines are just like Princess, they are in it to make money and not the benevolent institutions that we sometimes believe them to be.

 

I'm not picking sides here just pointing out that with any policy the devil is in the details and those details are very often written in favor of the insurer over the insured.

[Toto2Kansas]

Am I not mistaken after looking back at your previous posts, that this accident happened in February 2008? With this much time passed, if you haven't received anything more from Princess (cruise credit), I would doubt anything will be coming your direction now.

 

So, except for a warning to others about how to handle this situation, all the advice about getting attorneys and such is a mute point now. :(

[Guest shaverg]

Am I not mistaken after looking back at your previous posts, that this accident happened in February 2008? With this much time passed, if you haven't received anything more from Princess (cruise credit), I would doubt anything will be coming your direction now.

 

So, except for a warning to others about how to handle this situation, all the advice about getting attorneys and such is a mute point now. :(

 

Again this is just to let people know what they are up against. I have had 2 surgeries and am still being treated by my insurance.

[Guest shaverg]

Just my cynicism but Travel Insurance (Insurance in general) compaines are just like Princess, they are in it to make money and not the benevolent institutions that we sometimes believe them to be.

 

I'm not picking sides here just pointing out that with any policy the devil is in the details and those details are very often written in favor of the insurer over the insured.

 

You are exactly right and that is what was happening the whole time you have a Doctor that can see the X ray and is telling them he sees a fracture, but you have some idiot on the other end that is a consultant that is making the decision.

 

So the warning is if you have travel insurance although I would still not travel without it. Do not assume you will be covered especially while you are actually traveling, it was ok when I they had to just pay what my personal insurance did not cover.