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

[dan40]

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

 

 

You file a claim with the travel insurance that you wisely bought before your cruise. They reimburse you for the $25,000.00 Air Ambulance service. and whatever the bill is at the nearest local hospital as well as the ship's doctor charges!

 

Nothing to it, really! :rolleyes:

[princessbrat1977]

My father became ill on a cruise last year, critically, they worked on him in the infirmary & kept alive until they could get him to the nearest port which in his case was Cozumel. He was met by ambulance at the port & taken to the hospital there. Thank goodness my parents had purchased trip insurance. His insurance through ameren UE and Medicare both would not pay for transport, but the insurance covered the $22,000 it costs to medi flight him into the states. He ended up Miami. Sadly, we had to take him off of life support two weeks later and he did not make it. He died at the age of 59. He did however go out doing what he loved which was cruising. Without the trip insurance he wouldn't have had a real chance.

[jsgrandma]

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.

Is the military insurance Tricare?

[asburyfamily]

On our last cruise My DH leg started hurting on the flight to port. By the time we boarded the Conquest he could barely walk. Yhat evening we went to the imfirmiry and found out he had a very serious staff infection and as we were out to sea would be airlifted to back to port. The Great ships Dr called the captain and had a long chat ( as my 2 girls were crying worried about dad and hating to leave ship ) the Doctor said I am staying on the ship but i would have to come down for 3 times a day IVs of antibiotics. The staff in the infirmiry were so nice as my DH spent about 4 hours a day there. He was able to walk and enjoy the cruise the last 3 nights. We have all their addresses and send them notes and cards all the time. Just remember even though it is a cruise ship Dr or Nurse doesnt mean they are not highly trained indivisuals. They had everything a hospitol had except the bad food LOL. This is one of the many reasons i will always be loyal to Carnival.

[Nunu]

On our last cruise My DH leg started hurting on the flight to port. By the time we boarded the Conquest he could barely walk. Yhat evening we went to the imfirmiry and found out he had a very serious staff infection and as we were out to sea would be airlifted to back to port. The Great ships Dr called the captain and had a long chat ( as my 2 girls were crying worried about dad and hating to leave ship ) the Doctor said I am staying on the ship but i would have to come down for 3 times a day IVs of antibiotics. The staff in the infirmiry were so nice as my DH spent about 4 hours a day there. He was able to walk and enjoy the cruise the last 3 nights. We have all their addresses and send them notes and cards all the time. Just remember even though it is a cruise ship Dr or Nurse doesnt mean they are not highly trained indivisuals. They had everything a hospitol had except the bad food LOL. This is one of the many reasons i will always be loyal to Carnival.

 

That's great that you were looked after so well but no they don't have all the equipment a hospital does.

[smoothdancer]

To claify. It is not always possible to be taken off a ship by helecopter. It depends where you are. I was also ill on a ship coming back from Hawaii and there was nothing they could do to get me off the ship until we arrived in Mexico. Helecopters have a range they can go to and the pacific when days to land is not one of them.

 

Also a port agent is assigned to you to assist during your hosptial stay and flight home. They do not just drop you off at a port and not look back.

[uppitycats]

... Just remember even though it is a cruise ship Dr or Nurse doesnt mean they are not highly trained indivisuals. They had everything a hospitol had except the bad food LOL. This is one of the many reasons i will always be loyal to Carnival.

 

 

Well, not exactly. They might have everything a well-equipped urgent care center has, and are certainly a couple steps up from a basic clinic, but they certainly don't have "everthing a hospital had". It just happened that they had what your husband needed, and could care for him there.

 

They ARE good at triage -- figuring out what's wrong, deciding whether it's something they can treat easily (and eitehrsend a passenger back to their cabin to recover, or help the patient locate a doctor at the next port), or treat more extensively (keep them there in the infirmary and treat it and perhaps find a doctor at the next port), or send them off the ship (very expensive and done only in extreme cases..and when feasible (close enough to land to either head to land, or have an evacuation performed).

[Kurbanfan]

My father became ill on a cruise last year, critically, they worked on him in the infirmary & kept alive until they could get him to the nearest port which in his case was Cozumel. He was met by ambulance at the port & taken to the hospital there. Thank goodness my parents had purchased trip insurance. His insurance through ameren UE and Medicare both would not pay for transport, but the insurance covered the $22,000 it costs to medi flight him into the states. He ended up Miami. Sadly, we had to take him off of life support two weeks later and he did not make it. He died at the age of 59. He did however go out doing what he loved which was cruising. Without the trip insurance he wouldn't have had a real chance.

 

 

OMG! That's so sad:( Sorry for your loss........

[princessbrat1977]

OMG! That's so sad:( Sorry for your loss........

 

Thanks. He had been ill with his lungs for about a year, and picked up a pneumonia on one of the islands they visited. They could never trace the exact strain, it was a very bad combination for him. He loved cruising and refused to give it up. He looked happy in the last pictures they took of him on the boat. I'm glad he got to spend his last years doing what he loved.

[5waldos]

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.

 

I am sorry to hear about our friend. Very sad. My mother was taken ill on a round the world cruise, was taken off the ship in Thailand, and died there about a week later before any of us to get there- she was about to be flown home at any minute and it takes a long time to get to Thailand. It is particularly hard to be hospitalized so far from home.

[Earthworm Jim]

And you don't want a helicopter [medical evacuation] 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.

 

Wouldn't the Coast Guard have done that? And, if they did, wouldn't it have been free?

 

I guess I sort of assumed that the Coast Guard was like the cops, you already paid for them with your taxes so no charge when you need them. Is that incorrect?

[flashdog_1]

Wouldn't the Coast Guard have done that? And, if they did, wouldn't it have been free?

 

I guess I sort of assumed that the Coast Guard was like the cops, you already paid for them with your taxes so no charge when you need them. Is that incorrect?

 

Thankfully, I've never been in a position to have to use any emergency transportation, be it an ambulance at home (which is not free) or emergency evacuation, but I do not see the coast guard giving a free evacuation any more than I'd see the cops drive me or fly me by helicopter free to the nearest major medical center which might be 200 miles away! Cops are great for assisting in an emergency, but they do not assume the financial cost of anything medical that I know of. That IS why we have to have medical insurance both at home and abroad...just in case. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Slightly off topic, but worth knowing. In countries you are visiting that have socialized medicine like England or Spain, which are my two experiences with using their medical services, they are so accustomed to giving free service that they hardly know what to charge one of us foreigners. It was a very long time ago, but in Spain in the 70s I paid the equivalent of $1.50 for a doctor's consultation, and in England in 1968 less than $4.

[salty dingo]

If the ship is in range of the coast guard, a helicopter will be dispatched. But this is not always possible... you would have to be near the US coast.

 

The best answer is to have good travel insurance. That will take care of any expense issues.

 

But, if you have a stroke or some condition that needs a level 1 trauma center, sorry, but you will die. Cruise ships just can't afford to be staffed like a land hospital.

 

If someone has a condition which could require emergency treatment, they should not cruise.

[salty dingo]

Wouldn't the Coast Guard have done that? And, if they did, wouldn't it have been free?

 

I guess I sort of assumed that the Coast Guard was like the cops, you already paid for them with your taxes so no charge when you need them. Is that incorrect?

Umm... no, your taxes go to pay for today's retirees, and to pave roads and to kill terrorists...

 

You don't have an account with Uncle Sam that includes unlimited rescues. I think it should be charged to the patient.

 

The patient, of course, pays the $50,000 bill through their travel insurance. If they did not buy travel insurance, then they should have to give all their posessions over to the people who they owe, and live in poverty from there on :p.

 

Simple answer, spend the $79 bucks to insure you and your spouse and forget about these issues.

[lizzytobias]

While on the Liberty, my husband started having chest pains and a nurse came to our cabin where he was immediately taken to the infirmary. His EKG was abnormal and they told us there was a problem and diagnosed it as angina (it happened twice, the first time we weren't charged the 2nd they charged us $900, because of the medicines, tests, etc that was administered). Being very thorough, the ship's doctor called our family doctor to send a recent EKG or family doctor had done in order to compare and once seeing it the ship's doctor strongly encouraged us to stay in Fort Lauderdale for further testing before going home, which we were balking at (we wanted to be at home in Ohio to have the tests done), but he was very persistent and it is that persistence that I attribute to saving my husband's life. We did stay and once we docked in Fort Lauderdale, Carnival had arranged an ambulance to pick him up and transport him to the hospital. To make a long story short, he had 100% blockage in his front main artery and they did emergency open heart surgery the next morning. Carnival's care was excellent, and we did not take out traveler's insurance out (our first time not to), so that was an expensive lesson also.

End of the story, my husband came out fine, our medical insurance, after many appeals paid for everything, including ship infimary, but we still had expense of hotels, taxis, etc., so do take insurance. We feel so confident in Carnival's ability to care for us, we have been on 2 cruises since, and are booked for one in December.

I thought personal insurance never covered this sort of thing...congratulations both on your husband's health and your success on the bill payment.

[nrdsb4]

I thought personal insurance never covered this sort of thing...congratulations both on your husband's health and your success on the bill payment.

 

It depends on the individual policy. Some cover costs in the foreign location, but not for evac, some might pay for nothing, some might pay for everything.

[salty dingo]

It depends on the individual policy. Some cover costs in the foreign location, but not for evac, some might pay for nothing, some might pay for everything.

You're speaking of the everyday health insurance, and not travel insurance, correct?

 

Medicare won't pay for any expenses while traveling, and many regular health policies will not either. Rather and be unclear about it, it's far easier to just by a policy. They are not expensive since they are only good during the trip.

[nrdsb4]

You're speaking of the everyday health insurance, and not travel insurance, correct?

 

Medicare won't pay for any expenses while traveling, and many regular health policies will not either. Rather and be unclear about it, it's far easier to just by a policy. They are not expensive since they are only good during the trip.

 

Yes, I was. I was under the impression that someone asked if regular health insurance paid for travel medical problems, and thus my answer was that it depends on the policy as some pay for nothing and some pay for everything. I wasn't making a recommendation either way. However, I think it's prudent to consult one's own insurance first rather than automatically paying for travel medical if you don't need it.

 

I always buy travel medical because even though our health insurance covers us anywhere in the world, it does not provide transport from the foreign hospital back to the US, and we would want that option.

[dan40]

I thought personal insurance never covered this sort of thing...congratulations both on your husband's health and your success on the bill payment.

 

 

The bulk of this patients treatment was in the US. Don't know why the insurance covered the bill on the ship, but their policy could have an extra coverage rider. Some Medicare Supplement policies do have a Foreign travel coverage. Its not super coverage but it would have covered the little bit of treatment on the ship, less $250.

 

Best to take out ACTUAL travel insurance. Having gone thru exactly what this patient went thru [but in the US] I don't even think about travel without the insurance coverage.

[southbayer]

But did you have to shell out any cash "on the spot" for everything, or did you just show them your ins. paperwork and they just billed it all straight to them ?? Jus curious, its like get travel ins., ok, but how is it all billed, or handled on the spot for each thing ? details details, money/ins details plzzzzzz:rolleyes:

This is exactly right on, and we have first hand experience to verify that! Will try not to bore the many of you who probably get tired of seeing our story pop up every now & then, but when DH had a heart attack on board, the infirmary did a fantastic job of treating him & pretty much saved his life with a $3000 clot buster shot, then decided we were close enough to Grand Cayman (2 hours) to have an ambulance waiting for us at the pier, then to Cayman Island hospital for more treatment and determination to air ambulance to Miami for surgery (stent, 100 blockage of right coronary artery). DH recovered nicely and is fine! So the infirmary will assess your individual needs and determine the best course of action for the patient.

 

And now for my commercial. *chanting* Travel insurance, travel insurance, travel insurance. :) We absolutely would have been sunk without it. Pardon the pun. :p

[dan40]

But did you have to shell out any cash "on the spot" for everything, or did you just show them your ins. paperwork and they just billed it all straight to them ?? Jus curious, its like get travel ins., ok, but how is it all billed, or handled on the spot for each thing ? details details, money/ins details plzzzzzz:rolleyes:

 

 

As a rule its reimbursement. You pay and the insurance reimburses you when they OK the claim. Some will allow you to pay some and bill the insurance for the rest. Remember you are dealing internationally on travel insurance. Not quite the same as dealing with an insurance company that might be hq'ed in the same state as a claim is made.

[dlbaqua]

I just want to thank everyone on this board. I bought Carnival's insurance with my cruise on Thursday, not realizing that it would exclude pre-existing conditions since I normally go through a TA and buy their insurance which waives the pre-existings if you buy when you book. (should have done some research!) For my own peace of mind I just purchased another policy from insure my trip, the link provided in this thread.

We'd all like to never have to think about this stuff but it does happen and it's best to be prepared. Thanks, Cruise Critic members, once again for giving me vital information.

[salty dingo]

Good for you. I used InsureMyTrip.com to purchase a policy this week also.

 

It's not a great idea to buy insurance through Carnival. You can bet that is a profit center like everything else they sell, so they will charge you more for less coverage.

[klmorg]

But did you have to shell out any cash "on the spot" for everything, or did you just show them your ins. paperwork and they just billed it all straight to them ?? Jus curious, its like get travel ins., ok, but how is it all billed, or handled on the spot for each thing ? details details, money/ins details plzzzzzz:rolleyes:

 

Very good question. Yes, we had to shell out quite a bit of cash upfront, and file for reimbursement later. Luckily, I had an extra credit card with a pretty high limit. We had to pay our S&S bill before debarking in Grand Cayman, which included almost $4000 for the infirmary (that life-saving clot-buster shot cost over $3000 alone).

 

We had to pay Cayman Islands hospital over $5000 before being released for the air ambulance (we were there all day long while they treated him & worked out the details to get him to Miami), our adult kids had to take private flights from GC to Miami @ $600, and then all the hotel, transportation, meals etc. expenses having to stay in Miami for a week and a half had to be paid. For some reason, we also had to pay the Miami cardiologist a small chunk, even though we were back here in the states.

 

We did not have to pay the air ambulance upfront thankfully, which was around $23,000, or any of the hospital expenses in Miami. So besides highly recommending travel insurance no matter how old or how healthy you are (DH was only 47 at the time), another word of advice is to have an emergency credit card with a decent limit. You just never know.

 

After we got home, both the regular health and travel insurance companies handled all claims very timely, inlcuding reimbursing us for all of our claims within a couple weeks or so. We also were refunded half our cruise fares, including the tips for the days after we disembarked.

[sjn911]

Wow. I believe in travel insurance...thanks klmorg and all for fine tuning the details and sharing your story. It is just not that much and so nice to have more of confusion on all details cleared up.