Thank you, Princess

[pthjudy]

Now that I’ve had a few minutes to catch my breath, I need to give credit where credit is due. Unfortunately we had to cancel our cruise on the Ruby to Alaska on June 1. My husband got sick while in Seattle and there was no way we could board that ship. On the evening of May 31, we contacted Princess to change our flights from June 8 to June 1 so we could go home to New Jersey. We had EZ air and it was the best decision we made. They were unbelievably helpful in getting us a last minute flight. Try doing that directly with the airlines!  Although he’s fine now he ended up in the hospital the morning after our flight with pulmonary embolisms. I can’t compliment Princess enough for their help in this stressful time. I won’t ever forget it. 

[CATGUY7]

Glad your husband is better now.  It's always nice to hear positive stories, and hope you are able to cruise again soon!

[voljeep]

that's great ... how did the rest of the cancelling of the cruise go ? ... hopefully you had some kind of insurance ...

[Coral]

Pretty scary! So glad he is doing better now.

 

PE is definitely a serious diagnosis. 

Edited June 14, 2019 by Coral

[gunnywife]

I totally agree with you on how well Princess treats us when an emergency arises.  Two years ago I had an accident in Hawaii that required surgery.  We had been on a tour when the accident happened.  While I was taken to the hospital they brought my husband back to the ship where 3 officers were waiting to help him pack up our things and then took him to the hospital.  The care in Hawaii was great and our insurance took are of all our expenses, including having a nurse accompanying me back to the states.  Princess kept in touch with us during my hospital stay and continued to keep in touch for some time on my return home.  

Bottom line to this story  --  always get travel insurance.  It is money well spent.

[pthjudy]

Since it was last minute, we get nothing back from Princess. We had used our Citibank Costco card to purchase the cruise and will recoup the cruise cost through the trip cancellation benefit. It requires a form and a doctor’s note. Amusingly, although we had talked with several people on Princess to cancel and change the air, none of them cancelled the cruise. As we were boarded our return flight, I got a call from Princess about whether we are “joining” them. If I hadn’t been so stressed, I would have laughed. 

[Photofinish4]

52 minutes ago, gunnywife said:

I totally agree with you on how well Princess treats us when an emergency arises.  Two years ago I had an accident in Hawaii that required surgery.  We had been on a tour when the accident happened.  While I was taken to the hospital they brought my husband back to the ship where 3 officers were waiting to help him pack up our things and then took him to the hospital.  The care in Hawaii was great and our insurance took are of all our expenses, including having a nurse accompanying me back to the states.  Princess kept in touch with us during my hospital stay and continued to keep in touch for some time on my return home.  

Bottom line to this story  --  always get travel insurance.  It is money well spent.

was that Princess insurance or another type

 

[pthjudy]

16 minutes ago, Photofinish4 said:

was that Princess insurance or another type

 

It was through my credit card. Two of my cards have that benefit and I use them alone or together if the price exceeds the benefit of one of them. I have received payment in the past so I don’t feel the need for a separate insurance policy. 

[Coral]

1 hour ago, pthjudy said:

Since it was last minute, we get nothing back from Princess. We had used our Citibank Costco card to purchase the cruise and will recoup the cruise cost through the trip cancellation benefit. It requires a form and a doctor’s note. Amusingly, although we had talked with several people on Princess to cancel and change the air, none of them cancelled the cruise. As we were boarded our return flight, I got a call from Princess about whether we are “joining” them. If I hadn’t been so stressed, I would have laughed. 

Several policies I have had said that I had to have a doctor advise me not to travel before I cancelled the trip. Hopefully things happened in the right order for you.

[pthjudy]

18 minutes ago, Coral said:

Several policies I have had said that I had to have a doctor advise me not to travel before I cancelled the trip. Hopefully things happened in the right order for you.

The last time I had to cancel it was because my son-in-law who was  NOT traveling with us needed surgery and I felt I needed to be available. So each policy is different. 

[cynbar]

It's also a good reminder here to be aware of the symptoms of a pulmonary embolism. It's very treatable if found, but can be fatal if ignored. My DH had one a couple of years ago, the doctors in our local ER sent him immediately to a major cardiac center in Boston. He was really short of breath, pain in his chest --- we thought he either cracked a rib in a recent fall, or was having trouble with the August heat. Thank goodness we got him checked out. Hope your husband is doing much better.

[pthjudy]

This whole experience could have had disastrous results with 2 extended flights to and from Seattle. Fortunately he was diagnosed quickly in the emergency room and treated by cardiology, hematology, pulmonology etc. After a few days in the hospital, he was released and is pretty much back to normal now. We now have a bunch of new doctors to see. I am so very grateful. 

[emmak8]

Glad everything worked out for you both. Thank you for posting your positive experience with Princess.

[Coral]

1 hour ago, pthjudy said:

The last time I had to cancel it was because my son-in-law who was  NOT traveling with us needed surgery and I felt I needed to be available. So each policy is different. 

I completely agree. I just needed a doctor to indicate that this person was ill before cancelling the cruise. Me saying I am ill or a family member is ill was not good enough. Or seeing a doctors after the ship sailed would not have worked with the policies I have worked with. Everything is in the fine print. I have cancelled many of times due to my Mom needing surgery. Though I spoke to the doctor before.

 

I didn't know if you sought medical attention before you decided to fly home. I was thinking a doctor probably would not have told you to get on a flight with a PE. That was my thinking why I mentioned it. I hope travel insurance covers your claim. Please let us know after you have heard back from them.

 

 

Edited June 14, 2019 by Coral

[Ep010835]

3 hours ago, gunnywife said:

The care in Hawaii was great and our insurance took are of all our expenses, including having a nurse accompanying me back to the states. 

 

It’s a small thing and I really don’t want to sound like a ninny, but, Hawaii is part of “the states”. It’s the 50th state. 

In Hawaii the continental US is referred to as “the mainland”. 

As I said, a small but important detail. 

[Coral]

1 hour ago, cynbar said:

It's also a good reminder here to be aware of the symptoms of a pulmonary embolism. It's very treatable if found, but can be fatal if ignored. My DH had one a couple of years ago, the doctors in our local ER sent him immediately to a major cardiac center in Boston. He was really short of breath, pain in his chest --- we thought he either cracked a rib in a recent fall, or was having trouble with the August heat. Thank goodness we got him checked out. Hope your husband is doing much better.

Yep - my Mom had that also. After the ER and diagnosis, she was hospitalized for a week and her cardiology team took over while in the hospital. Serious stuff.

 

I had the flu this past year and ended up in the ER. One of the diagnosis they were looking at was PE because I had returned 6 weeks earlier from Europe. I also couldn't breathe which was due to the flu but the symptoms I had were very similar to a PE. I wasn't as scared when I got the flu diagnosis but remember texting a friend saying "they think it maybe PE" and that scared me as it can kill and I didn't want to deal with blood thinners.

[pthjudy]

30 minutes ago, Coral said:

I completely agree. I just needed a doctor to indicate that this person was ill before cancelling the cruise. Me saying I am ill or a family member is ill was not good enough. Or seeing a doctors after the ship sailed would not have worked with the policies I have worked with. Everything is in the fine print. I have cancelled many of times due to my Mom needing surgery. Though I spoke to the doctor before.

 

I didn't know if you sought medical attention before you decided to fly home. I was thinking a doctor probably would not have told you to get on a flight with a PE. That was my thinking why I mentioned it. I hope travel insurance covers your claim. Please let us know after you have heard back from them.

 

 

There was no hotel doctor affiliated with the Westin and not knowing what it was, we just wanted to get home. (We thought he had some type of infection from his CPAP machine having had no familiarity with a PE.)  In retrospect,  flying was taking an awful chance and boarding that cruise, well I can’t let my mind go there. We were with a friend who also curtailed her trip, so we had hoped whatever it was would improve. We made many mistakes. 

[Coral]

7 minutes ago, pthjudy said:

There was no hotel doctor affiliated with the Westin and not knowing what it was, we just wanted to get home. (We thought he had some type of infection from his CPAP machine having had no familiarity with a PE.)  In retrospect,  flying was taking an awful chance and boarding that cruise, well I can’t let my mind go there. We were with a friend who also curtailed her trip, so we had hoped whatever it was would improve. We made many mistakes. 

The important thing is that you found it and he is alive! We have all second guessed ourselves.

[JF - retired RRT]

7 minutes ago, pthjudy said:

There was no hotel doctor affiliated with the Westin and not knowing what it was, we just wanted to get home. (We thought he had some type of infection from his CPAP machine having had no familiarity with a PE.)  In retrospect,  flying was taking an awful chance and boarding that cruise, well I can’t let my mind go there. We were with a friend who also curtailed her trip, so we had hoped whatever it was would improve. We made many mistakes. 

The only infection you can get from your CPAP is a mold/fungus infection. This usually occurs in the sinuses. Not fun. I had a patient years ago who had that & his description of the symptoms and treatment were no picnic.

Always follow instructions regarding cleaning the CPAP...especially the humidifier.

[gunnywife]

EP010835

We've traveled to Hawaii several times and I definitely know is is part of the United States of America. I should have said we were accompanied by a nurse on our trip back to the mainland.  Please excuse my error.

 

Photofinish4

We purchased our travel insurance from our travel agent.  I'd be happy to provide you with the name of the company, but I'm not sure that's allowed on this website.

Lynn