Warning regarding medical issues

[Cruising Is Bliss]

For eddiethekub: I was alerted to your very helpful message about your experience with Celebrity and "X's insurance." That will take me back to look at all the comments in this thread. What I want to be completely clear about is your saying "X's insurance." And did you mean that "X's insurance" is the insurance covering everyone who is a paid cruise passenger? Or is it some other add-on insurance purchased from Celebrity?

 

There is no free Celebrity travel insurance covering any passenger. CruiseCare is Celebrity's add-on travel insurance program.

[teacherman]

We always assume that in ANY emergency, we better be prepared to take care of ourselves. There may be some super organized, very competent person , assigned to "take care" of us and give us direction , but who knows? (SAD CASE-The Costa Concordia sinking) We take emergency information and meds list in our wallets, extra credit cards, cell phones with international access and internet, 3 days of extra meds, etc. We pay attention to emergency drills and routes. We have a "plan" for what we will do in each port, rather than just "seeing what is going on". We take the port agent info for each port with us. We buy travel insurance with GOOD coverage. We never assume that a foreign country has the same safety standards as the USA. This may seem paranoid, but as an educator who chaperoned local and international field trips for many years, I know what can happen. Be over prepared.

[Iamthesea]

Funny you used Mexico in your example - if you haven't seen this yet, read this article about a Mom on a Carnival Cruise who had a son with appendicitis and who were "stuck" in Mexico - with only $21 left in her wallet :eek::

 

http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/news/boy-mother-stuck-in-mexico-after-cruise-sickness/nmWJY/

 

While this is a really sad story (poor little guy! :(), I just cannot believe the amount of passengers that travel without insurance! Some people scrape up all the extra money that they have to take a cruise, but forget about the insurance.

 

I hope that this family has medical insurance in the U.S. to take care of the remainder of this young boy in his healing. If not for the Go Fund Me account set up for the family, this type of incident could have wiped this family out of any financial stability. :eek:

 

Unlike Celebrity, Carnival seems to have really stepped up for this family by even paying for their passports. :)

Edited June 10, 2015 by Iamthesea

[CanadianDee]

Unlike Celebrity, Carnival seems to have really stepped up for this family by even paying for their passports. :)

 

Interesting, isn't it?

_____

“Should a guest experience a medical emergency on board, Carnival has a team of professionals called the CareTeam who would provide guests with assistance and support, including helping them return home,” the company spokesman said.

 

Carnival did send an interpreter to help the Johnsons.."

_____

 

Carnival went above and beyond - way, way, way beyond - while in the OP's experience, Celebrity did the minimum. Knowing that Celebrity will be there to provide whatever support they can (rather than the bare minimum) in the case of an emergency is far more important to me than some of the things people on this board gripe about.

 

Again, I can't possibly imagine Jackie's state of mind, particularly at the outset not knowing if her husband was even alive ... I would have hoped Celebrity would have done anything in their power to assist a passenger under these conditions. So, you know, like a Care Team. :) Like their less expensive rivals at Carnival.

Edited June 10, 2015 by CanadianDee
Spelling :-(

[lbjen]

The article about the family stuck in Mexico should be read by everyone who thinks its OK to save a few bucks and not buy passports or travel insurance. It's the cost of a couple of days worth of a premium drinks package.

 

Anyone who does find themselves in a situation like this (with insurance) - your first call should always be your insurance company. They have contracts in place with people on the ground who can often help with a lot of this, and if not, their claims agents can at least give you assistance over the phone.

[eddiethekub]

For eddiethekub: I was alerted to your very helpful message about your experience with Celebrity and "X's insurance." That will take me back to look at all the comments in this thread. What I want to be completely clear about is your saying "X's insurance." And did you mean that "X's insurance" is the insurance covering everyone who is a paid cruise passenger? Or is it some other add-on insurance purchased from Celebrity?

 

Mbsails, sorry for not being clear......the insurance was CruiseCare, an add on package sold by Celebrity, as correctly noted by "Cruising is bliss"

[perfect match]

JackieJ, thank you for sharing your story. I am so glad your husband is OK, but appalled by how you were treated. I'm thinking your taxi driver should have been the port agent and the port agent, well I haven't thought of an appropriate job for him/her yet....

 

Kudos to you for handling the whole situation so well.

[ccletzgo]

This thread is freaking me out. We are healthy and in our 50's but last March while visiting Vegas my husband ended up in the hosp with and emergency appendectomy. That was an eye opener and made me say out loud, "never again will I go without travel insurance" Now, I'm not so sure even with insurance I feel comfortable. :eek:

[Hlitner]

We always assume that in ANY emergency, we better be prepared to take care of ourselves. There may be some super organized, very competent person , assigned to "take care" of us and give us direction , but who knows? (SAD CASE-The Costa Concordia sinking) We take emergency information and meds list in our wallets, extra credit cards, cell phones with international access and internet, 3 days of extra meds, etc. We pay attention to emergency drills and routes. We have a "plan" for what we will do in each port, rather than just "seeing what is going on". We take the port agent info for each port with us. We buy travel insurance with GOOD coverage. We never assume that a foreign country has the same safety standards as the USA. This may seem paranoid, but as an educator who chaperoned local and international field trips for many years, I know what can happen. Be over prepared.

 

OMG! Surely you just! You mean there is still somebody on earth who believes in personal reponsibility? We tip our hat to you (we have a lot in common). On the other hand, if one dares preach "personal responsiblity" they will probably be told they are "offending" the listener who spends most of their being relying on somebody else to lead them by the hand.

 

And this post is in no way meant to demean the OP but rather a generalization about many folks who expect constant "hand holding."

Hank

Edited June 11, 2015 by Hlitner

[eddiethekub]

OMG! Surely you just! You mean there is still somebody on earth who believes in personal reponsibility? We tip our hat to you (we have a lot in common). On the other hand, if one dares preach "personal responsiblity" they will probably be told they are "offending" the listener who spends most of their being relying on somebody else to lead them by the hand.

 

And this post is in no way meant to demean the OP but rather a generalization about many folks who expect constant "hand holding."

Hank

 

Yup, sometimes you just have to assume responsibility for yourself. In our case, Celebrity gave us the port agent contact info, and suggested we leave our luggage with them. We opted to take it with us, we wanted to be in control of our destiny. When it was confirmed that her retina was detaching and surgery was needed within 24 hours, we grabbed a cab, went to Athens airport and bought tickets to NY. Sorting out who was going to pay was secondary to saving her sight. She had her surgery, eye is fine, and Crusie Care eventually paid the airfare home, plus other expenses. AND we are taking the same trip this October. Hopefully we complete it this time.

[JackieJ]

And this post is in no way meant to demean the OP but rather a generalization about many folks who expect constant "hand holding."

Hank

 

Really? Doesn't seem that way. I can assure you, I did take care of everything myself. I had insurance, international calling on my phone, cash, credit cards, etc., never thought I'd need any of it. As an able-bodied, self-reliant person I wanted to be sure others that might not be are more aware. The pilot told us they pick up elderly, less mobile people all day long. Sheesh!!!

 

Still no excuse for the way the ship staff/port agents handled things on their end.

[JackieJ]

JackieJ, thank you for sharing your story. I am so glad your husband is OK, but appalled by how you were treated. I'm thinking your taxi driver should have been the port agent and the port agent, well I haven't thought of an appropriate job for him/her yet....

 

Kudos to you for handling the whole situation so well.

 

Thank you Nancy. I'm with you on that taxi driver thing ;) I'm pretty sure that particular port agent may be doing something else these days.

[JackieJ]

This thread is freaking me out. We are healthy and in our 50's but last March while visiting Vegas my husband ended up in the hosp with and emergency appendectomy. That was an eye opener and made me say out loud, "never again will I go without travel insurance" Now, I'm not so sure even with insurance I feel comfortable. :eek:

 

Just check coverage and choose wisely. No reason to stay home :D

[Big Chief]

Unfortunately, your husband probably couldn't have picked a worse port to take ill in. Beautiful island, but not many modern amenities.

 

Actually, I think just the opposite. There is a medical school (Ross University School of Medicine) on the island which trains many american students, as well as most of the physicians in the Caribbean.

I've always believed that a "teaching" hospital provides the best medical care. I am mindful that perhaps the OP was not treated at the Ross Hospital but to say that this is the worst port to take ill in, is just incorrect.

Edited June 12, 2015 by Big Chief

[JackieJ]

I was finally able to file the insurance claim today! You can't submit to the travel insurance until you try your primary medical first. My primary insurance kept messing up the denial. Fortunately for me, they must have messed it up so bad that they couldn't fix it and ended up reimbursing me :D

 

Now that I've added everything up (hotels, taxis, flight, etc), our out of pocket for that little detour was a little over $4,000 (not including medical). We were only covered for $100/day, so hoping insurance will also reimburse cell, my flight home (they paid for my husband's), cancelled flights and pro-rate the cost of the cruise (we missed 4 days).