Cruising While Pregnant - advice, thoughts?

[land lover]

No, I don't believe the Princess insurance will fly you home, etc. I use MedjetAssist. Most medical insurance will get you home if it is a "medical necessity". For instance, if I'm overseas and have to be hospitalized but the hospital says there is no need for me to be at home as they can handle things - even if I don't think that's true - the insurance won't do squat as far as getting you home. With MedjetAssist as long as I as I am admitted to a hospital they will, depending on the circumstances, either fly a medical team to me and escort me home on a commercial flight to the hospital of my choice or, in more exigent circumstances, they will fly me home in a medically equipped jet with a medical team onboard.

 

I get a one year policy that runs for 365 days from the day of purchase - not a calendar year. It can be purchased short term, annually, or longer term with a multi-year discount. I can be purchased for one person or a family. You would need to go to the web site and check on the options but it is really easy to do and there is no hassle. You click on the options and it tells you what it would cost. They also offer higher priced insurance that covers political insurections, etc. but we just get the medical evacuation insurance. A family plan for one year with the medical transportation/repatriation insurance costs me $395. Last year I bought the one year policy and purchased it so that it covered our 7 week camping trip from Northern California to Montana, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, and Alaska. It also covered our 28 day cruise to Hawaii, Tahiti, Bora Bora, Pago Pago, and Moorea. This year, the same policy was in effect for our 14 day Circle Caribbean cruise. Imagine being in Tahiti or Bora Bora and having to be hospitalized for a month. No thanks. Getting medically evacuated would have been $20k - $30k. With MedjetAssist once I had been hospitalized they would have taken care of me.

 

Naturally we don't expect anything to happen but that's what accidents are all about. You understand your life and your health but I thought I should mention this as you seem to be under the impression that medical insurance will evacuate you back home if needed and that simply is not the case most of the time unless it is a "medical necessity".

 

Note: I just checked and the medical evac policy for one year for one person is $270.

 

https://medjetassist.com/enroll

Talking about med/vac,it is a nice comfort, but know your policy and ask them how many times they provide the service a year and where is that plane located with the staff waiting to come and "rescue you."

 

And honestly, if your injury is that serious you will not go anywhere.....I think of all my years of international travel(since I was a kid) and being on these boards there is only one case where I have heard someone using it and another about 15 years ago where I was on a flight where they had taken out seats in first class to accomidate a transport.

 

 

Generally if one is that ill she or he will not be transported. We have experienced 2 eventual deaths in other countries from injury, unfortunately these people and their significant others were forced to stay in the country, they were injured in. We were very close to the couple on our Russian river cruise, 13 years ago. They were traveling with friends and we became a group of 6, they treated us like their kids.

 

 

Unfortunately one of the men tripped, head injury,he was suppose to be airlifted to Moscow, but due to weather he had to endure an 11 hour ambulance ride. Once in the Russian hospital, no Engish was spoken. Our guide travelled with him & his spouse, but after 2 days she returned,...So his wife sat with him until finally he was transferred to another hospital. They refused to clear him to leave the country. His spouse was no dummy so she worked every angel to get him out, but no go...she had med/vac. they could do nothing they needed clearance from the local doctor. When our river boat arrived in Moscow a week later his spouse came and had dinner with us. She was at her wits end. He died 4 days we had dinner with her..I kept in touch with his widow....they kept his body in the country another four days...had to do an autopsy. Regular insurance brought his body back.

 

 

These companies can tell you anything, it's important to find out what the policies are for the countries you are traveling in. For each trip over $10,000, I always research what trip insurance I will use..I seldom use the same vendor and If it is a land trip, I investigate the countries policies on hospitalization you might be surprised what you find.

 

BTW..I only read Thrak post so if others have addressed what I have and have positive experiences.....I stand corrected, as my experience was long ago....and I do cover myself med/vac...but until I use it personally(which I hope never too) I am not that confident with it.

 

Also, my insurance thru my employer did cover med/vac..not to the place of my choice but they did cover it. That's why DH and I traveled extensively when we still worked it paid to not only have the good med. coverage but also that extra life insurance in case we never came back.

 

 

OP have a wonderful cruise ....and congratulation on your new "cruising" addition.....I traveled a lot when pregnant twice to Hawaii and another time to Europe....never on a cruise though as they just were not that prevalent 20+ years ago and I had no interest in being pregnant on a cruise ship, didn't want to get sea sick....

 

 

Enjoy....Lori

 

OMG its 2am I'm out of here...

Edited May 28, 2018 by land lover

[JEH]

Have a serious discussion with your OB . Have an appointment with a prenatal dietitian and get a meal plan along with foods to avoid. Cruise food has lots of salt . Drink lots of water not mock drinks. Do plenty of walking and get plenty of rest . Good Luck

[Buckeye10640]

Its a personal decisiokn but I would not do it. My first baby....easy pregnancy, born on her due date, no problem! Second, water broke early baby went into distress and emergency c-section 8 hrs later. similar with the 3rd. now those were at 31 wks and 27 wks but the point is you dont always know until it happens. and i would not want it to happen on a cruise ship! Good luck to you whatever you choose to do.

 

Sent from my SM-G955U using Forums mobile app

[OzCanuck]

No, I don't believe the Princess insurance will fly you home, etc. I use MedjetAssist. Most medical insurance will get you home if it is a "medical necessity". For instance, if I'm overseas and have to be hospitalized but the hospital says there is no need for me to be at home as they can handle things - even if I don't think that's true - the insurance won't do squat as far as getting you home. With MedjetAssist as long as I as I am admitted to a hospital they will, depending on the circumstances, either fly a medical team to me and escort me home on a commercial flight to the hospital of my choice or, in more exigent circumstances, they will fly me home in a medically equipped jet with a medical team onboard.

 

I get a one year policy that runs for 365 days from the day of purchase - not a calendar year. It can be purchased short term, annually, or longer term with a multi-year discount. I can be purchased for one person or a family. You would need to go to the web site and check on the options but it is really easy to do and there is no hassle. You click on the options and it tells you what it would cost. They also offer higher priced insurance that covers political insurections, etc. but we just get the medical evacuation insurance. A family plan for one year with the medical transportation/repatriation insurance costs me $395. Last year I bought the one year policy and purchased it so that it covered our 7 week camping trip from Northern California to Montana, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, and Alaska. It also covered our 28 day cruise to Hawaii, Tahiti, Bora Bora, Pago Pago, and Moorea. This year, the same policy was in effect for our 14 day Circle Caribbean cruise. Imagine being in Tahiti or Bora Bora and having to be hospitalized for a month. No thanks. Getting medically evacuated would have been $20k - $30k. With MedjetAssist once I had been hospitalized they would have taken care of me.

 

Naturally we don't expect anything to happen but that's what accidents are all about. You understand your life and your health but I thought I should mention this as you seem to be under the impression that medical insurance will evacuate you back home if needed and that simply is not the case most of the time unless it is a "medical necessity".

 

Note: I just checked and the medical evac policy for one year for one person is $270.

 

https://medjetassist.com/enroll

 

And just note - read the policy wordings. Looks like medjetassist will not transport pregnant passengers past 12 weeks...

 

Quite a few exclusions on their policies actually. They won't transport patients with detached retinas?? Stability is important but speed to treatment is more important in that case (personal experience).

 

Just pays to read the exclusions in every policy.

[Hlitner]

Having just been a part of a medical evacuation (from Asia) for DW I cannot conceive how it would help most medical issues related to pregnancy. Complications from pregnancy generally need immediate treatment and would not lend themselves to evacuation. And one most consider that the attending physician, insurance company case manager, and sometimes even a receiving physician must all get involved and agree on an evacuation decision. In fact, to evacuate DW it ultimately required a land-based physician and the ship's physician stating that DW was "fit to fly." The reality is that a majority of medical evacuations are done on commercial flights....and the airline and the flight's pilot can also get into the act. We were made aware of a recent med evac which turned into a fiasco when the airline pilot refused to fly the patient (he was concerned that the situation might force him to make a flight deviation).

 

Hank

[land lover]

Having just been a part of a medical evacuation (from Asia) for DW I cannot conceive how it would help most medical issues related to pregnancy. Complications from pregnancy generally need immediate treatment and would not lend themselves to evacuation. And one most consider that the attending physician, insurance company case manager, and sometimes even a receiving physician must all get involved and agree on an evacuation decision. In fact, to evacuate DW it ultimately required a land-based physician and the ship's physician stating that DW was "fit to fly." The reality is that a majority of medical evacuations are done on commercial flights....and the airline and the flight's pilot can also get into the act. We were made aware of a recent med evac which turned into a fiasco when the airline pilot refused to fly the patient (he was concerned that the situation might force him to make a flight deviation).

 

Hank

 

Well now your DW's is the second Evacuation I have heard about on the boards. I hope things are gng well for her.

 

It is certainly not simple to bring someone home....so many people get in the act.

Edited May 28, 2018 by land lover

[Thrak]

Pam in CA has posted several times about her brother being medically evacuated by MedjetAssist when he was in extreme circumstances. Sadly, he died but was back home by then. They will get you home even if you are extremely ill. I hadn't checked about pregnancy as I figured the OP would do so if she actually checked the service to see if it worked for her.

[cookingmom]

I have been a Labor and Delivery nurse for over 35 years and a cruise enthusiast. Pregnancy complications can occur without warning. Putting yourself and the fetus at risk, in my opinion, is just plain stupid! Sure, the odds are slim that there will be a problem but why chance it?

[moki'smommy]

I have been a Labor and Delivery nurse for over 35 years and a cruise enthusiast. Pregnancy complications can occur without warning. Putting yourself and the fetus at risk, in my opinion, is just plain stupid! Sure, the odds are slim that there will be a problem but why chance it?

Completely agree. I am a maternal-fetal medicine specialist (now retired). The original cut off of not allowing pregnant women to cruise beyond 24 weeks was based on the premise that at that time, the survival rate for a 24 weeker was nil, regardless of where the delivery occurred. As we've become better at caring for severely premature infants, that number is in the 22 week range and will continue to decrease. A baby born at this age, presumably after failure of all attempts to prolong the pregnancy, has a small chance of a healthy take home survival if delivered at a tertiary center with immediate access to a neonatologist and all appropriate equipment. Delivery on a cruise ship with minimal equipment and personnel results in a healthy survival rate of essentially zero.

 

It would make sense for the cruise lines to re-evaluate their cut off gestation for allowing cruising. It is true that the delivery of an infant on a cruise ship is rare, but no one can predict in advance which pregnancy might result in life threatening complications until those complications actually begin. The only thing that the land based obstetrician can say is that everything was stable at the time of the last visit and no problems are anticipated.

 

Why not cruise a month earlier...at a time when the only thing that could save the life of that baby is prolonging the pregnancy? Or cruise later, with the child?

 

This is a generic post, not aimed at any particular individual and is not intended as medical advice.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

hippo

prenatal massages

don't do that. Unless the person doing the massage is specializing in prenatal massages, a regular massage may induce pre-term birth or miscarriage.

[Spency1991]

Hey. Are you sure that cruising while pregnant is safe ? Different things may happen, and you are very far from civilization. It scares me. What if I will get sick on the cruise ? That's my worst nightmare. I would definitely refuse cruising while pregnant, and I recommend you to do the same thing. Also, I was wondering is airborne safe while pregnant or not, and found out that it's a bad idea to take airborne when pregnant, because it exceeds the limit of daily required vitamins.

[Clampram]

I would not do this. You are putting yourself in a situation near ( but not in) foreign countries with very different concepts regarding medical care. If you need help, or your baby needs help, there could be a delay that results in harm to you or the child.

Pick a nice vacation spot stateside where you can go to an excellent facility if you have trouble.

Most likely nothing will happen to you but you are making a decision that could impact you pretty nastily for the rest of your life

[hllwdcruiser]

This thread is from 2018. Advising the OP now on cruising while pregnant is based on the assumption that she now holds the Guinness Book of World Records for length of gestation.