Please tell me we do not have to worry on Royal

[Snit13]

Google "Explore Clarion" and read the article describing what happened to a man cruising with Carnival.  After you have read the article please tell me I do not need to worry about this happening to any of us on our Royal cruise.  I am not computer literate enough to attach the article, so hopefully someone else can.  So sad.

[time4u2go]

That article sounds one-sided, at best.  The quote "the Captain ordered the ship to set sail for San Juan, Puerto Rico – a 21-hour journey by sea farther away from the United States" says a lot.

 

We probably don't know the full extent of what happened.  Remember there's three sides to every story.  Whatever happened, there's certainly no way of assuring it couldn't happen on Royal or any other cruise line.

Edited June 16, 2019 by time4u2go

[not-enough-cruising]

There appears to be little to zero accurate and reliable information on this article; it was obviously written with the help of a prosecutor, and so many details don’t add up. That said, they had medical evac insurance; at some point one has to take personal responsibility, walk down the gangway, and deal with their issues. 

[pcur]

2 minutes ago, Snit13 said:

Google "Explore Clarion" and read the article describing what happened to a man cruising with Carnival.  After you have read the article please tell me I do not need to worry about this happening to any of us on our Royal cruise.  I am not computer literate enough to attach the article, so hopefully someone else can.  So sad.

 

I read that article, too.  RCCL is very serious about medical emergencies; very.

 

I think what happened on that Carnival ship was a "perfect storm" medically.  I think there were no medical facilities that could handle that man's serious heart condition.  I think there was some poor communication with land medical staff when making the decision where to take him.  

 

The information that was misleading is the wife saying she had medical evacuation insurance.  That's all well and good, but you have to be in a place where the evacuation can happen, and happen safely.  I think the article didn't clarify this.

 

Many people don't trust the medical staff on cruise ships, but my husband had a medical issue in recent years.  He stepped off at the top of the stairs in the upper level of the Rhapsody's theater, missed the next step and went rolling full speed down the flight of stairs, crunching his head and back against the balcony corner/wall.  Horrifying to watch.  He seemed fine, but we were sailing b2b on a HAL ship, and he ended up with a pinched nerve in his back.  The doctor and acupuncturist worked him over for the whole cruise, and it helped him a lot.

[Snit13]

14 of us are sailing on Harmony in November and one of the cruisers is quite concerned and wanted to know if she needed to purchase additional insurance.  I purchased Royal's insurance for 12 of us.  How far does the US Coast Guard go to evacuate passengers?  Once on "The Connie" we turned back to port we had sailed from in Southern Caribbean so a passenger could be evacuated by Coast Guard.

[ONECRUISER]

7 minutes ago, Snit13 said:

14 of us are sailing on Harmony in November and one of the cruisers is quite concerned and wanted to know if she needed to purchase additional insurance.  I purchased Royal's insurance for 12 of us.  How far does the US Coast Guard go to evacuate passengers?  Once on "The Connie" we turned back to port we had sailed from in Southern Caribbean so a passenger could be evacuated by Coast Guard.

Most of the time because of Safety involved and Distance the best choice for Emergencies  they will not Fly you off the ship. Each case can be different though... Witnessed dozens Medical Emergengies where they have sped up to next Port, returned or skipped a Port but only 3 times they brought Helo out to pick them up. Even then most time they dont use the pad on the ship and use a Basket for patient and family was left behind on the ship

Edited June 16, 2019 by ONECRUISER

[StolidCruiser]

No one here can tell you not to worry about encountering the same on RC unless you provide us with your complete medical history so we can assess the risk of you developing a severe life-threatening complication and how it would be handled when well outside the proximity of health care facilities equipped to deal with the situation.

 

Medical professionals do their best given their experience, education and access to the proper life-saving equipment.  Medical negligence is a rare occurrence, no matter how many ambulance-chasing lawyers or distraught families want blame someone for a loved one's passing after doctors try to prevent it.

 

 

[nelblu]

On my last 4 Anthem's cruises we've had medical emergencies and evacuation.  2 were Coast Guard Medivacs, one was dropped off in Bermuda and the other instance was in Halifax.

 

Here's a more recent medical experience on the Anthem.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2671495-anthem-of-the-seas-rescue-footage/?tab=comments#comment-57692040

 

Edited June 16, 2019 by nelblu

[Biker19]

23 minutes ago, Snit13 said:

 After you have read the article please tell me I do not need to worry about this happening to any of us on our Royal cruise.  

There's your issue - you read too many rare events and worry over it. You are more likely to get into a car accident than having something like that happen.

[rt1092]

First place anyone that travels without out of the country medical insurance is a fool. The trip insurance you buy from Royal and most other trip insurances give you full coverage. Or for those that cruise an insane amount of cruises like me, you can get yearly out of the country medical coverage (which costs us about $240 per year for 2 of us) .

A lot of people think trip insurance is all about losing the price of the cruise. It covers a lot more than just that. If I were to miss a cruise I would not be happy to lose my money. But it would not effect my life that much. If something were to happen medically in a foreign port or while on the ship. It could run up a bill of hundreds of thousands of dollars. That your regular medical insurance probably does not cover. 

The cruise ships have a very well stocked infirmary, but are not designed to be hospitals. If you get sick on a cruise with something serious they will put you off the ship. The life of the patient is paramount. If the ship has to divert from the regular itinerary they will. Whether or not the patient has insurance does not mater to the captain. He follows the instructions of the ships doctor as to what the patient needs. This is usually very costly for the cruise lines. 

How the patient gets home or pays for the services doesn't matter. 

Edited June 16, 2019 by rt1092

[SantaFeFan]

1 hour ago, ONECRUISER said:

Most of the time because of Safety involved and Distance the best choice for Emergencies  they will not Fly you off the ship. Each case can be different though... Witnessed dozens Medical Emergengies where they have sped up to next Port, returned or skipped a Port but only 3 times they brought Helo out to pick them up. Even then most time they dont use the pad on the ship and use a Basket for patient and family was left behind on the ship

 Most new ships no longer have a helipad where a helicopter can land. Instead, they have a location, usually marked "WINCH ONLY", where a basket can safely be lowered. It is extremely dangerous to land a helicopter on a moving ship with tight space constraints. 

[ssb]

Every emergency is different and relative to the circumstances. 

Just but insurance for more than you think you need . 

We have annual policy for all travel with Alliance . 

Edited June 16, 2019 by ssb

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, Snit13 said:

14 of us are sailing on Harmony in November and one of the cruisers is quite concerned and wanted to know if she needed to purchase additional insurance.  I purchased Royal's insurance for 12 of us.  How far does the US Coast Guard go to evacuate passengers?  Once on "The Connie" we turned back to port we had sailed from in Southern Caribbean so a passenger could be evacuated by Coast Guard.

Royals medical and evacuation coverage is woefully inadequate if that is the only coverage you have.

 

limits are $10,000 medical and $25,000 evac.

 

Personally I would not travel with that low a coverage.  

 

https://www.archinsurancesolutions.com/coverage/Royal

[ZanzibarCreek]

I have been on a Carnival ship during a medical emergency. This was 2012 I believe. We just set sail out of the Aruba port and were probably an hour into sailing when the ship stopped moving and started turning around. The captain then announced that we were returning to Aruba for a medical emergency. The port was not navigable at night due to no lights and a tight trench. So we anchored as close as we could and they sent a medical transport boat out. It was pretty choppy but there was no other alternative. They got him on the transport boat and got him to shore safely.

 

Ships and captains all are fully capable and do their best. Not one of them want a death on their record. Also, these are also humans. Humans make mistakes on all sides when things go south in terms of a medical emergency.

[Snit13]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Royals medical and evacuation coverage is woefully inadequate if that is the only coverage you have.

 

limits are $10,000 medical and $25,000 evac.

 

Personally I would not travel with that low a coverage.  

 

https://www.archinsurancesolutions.com/coverage/Royal

Thanks for your information, Ken.  I told my friend to sign on to CC and read all of the responses.  She will have to decide if she wants to purchase additional insurance.

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, Snit13 said:

Thanks for your information, Ken.  I told my friend to sign on to CC and read all of the responses.  She will have to decide if she wants to purchase additional insurance.

Just know that "medical evacuation insurance" does not cover an aerial evacuation from the ship.  It only covers getting you from a medical facility where you've been disembarked to your home hospital.

 

As for the lawsuit, there are a lot of things in it that don't make any sense, like "we can't evacuate you, because someone else is first"?  I don't believe this for a second.  My personal feeling is that when the people were informed of the cost of a medical flight to the US, they decided to remain on the ship, and when things went south, they decided to sue.  JMHO.

[rt1092]

3 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Royals medical and evacuation coverage is woefully inadequate if that is the only coverage you have.

 

limits are $10,000 medical and $25,000 evac.

 

Personally I would not travel with that low a coverage.  

 

https://www.archinsurancesolutions.com/coverage/Royal

In the past Royal has used Alliance. Is this a private insurer that writes policies for those that are sailing with Royal and elect to buy through them not Royal?.

In Dec of 2011 my Mother in Law had a mild heart attack on the Allure. This happened early on day 2 a sea day. They took care of her as best they could. But when we got to the first port St Thomas they transferred her to the hospital there. We were there for 3 days till they decided to put her on a Medivac flight back to Savannah Ga. The Medivac flight cost over $30,000 Her hospital coverage fell under Medicare because it was a US protectorate.. But not the flight. The insurance we go through Royal paid for the medivac flight, my airline fess back to the states, her sisters airline fees . Hotel rooms and some meals for all of us.  Plus the remainder of our cruise. For 4 of us it cost a little over $200 for the insurance. That was the smartest purchase I have ever or will ever make. We now us Geoblue for out of the country medical and evacuation on a yearly plan (we now cruise about 20 times a year) And our Chase Sapphire Reserve card covers the trip.

 

[rt1092]

If you google trip insurance you can select what you need and what you want to pay for. But the prices a age related.

 

[Ourusualbeach]

9 minutes ago, rt1092 said:

In the past Royal has used Alliance. Is this a private insurer that writes policies for those that are sailing with Royal and elect to buy through them not Royal?.

In Dec of 2011 my Mother in Law had a mild heart attack on the Allure. This happened early on day 2 a sea day. They took care of her as best they could. But when we got to the first port St Thomas they transferred her to the hospital there. We were there for 3 days till they decided to put her on a Medivac flight back to Savannah Ga. The Medivac flight cost over $30,000 Her hospital coverage fell under Medicare because it was a US protectorate.. But not the flight. The insurance we go through Royal paid for the medivac flight, my airline fess back to the states, her sisters airline fees . Hotel rooms and some meals for all of us.  Plus the remainder of our cruise. For 4 of us it cost a little over $200 for the insurance. That was the smartest purchase I have ever or will ever make. We now us Geoblue for out of the country medical and evacuation on a yearly plan (we now cruise about 20 times a year) And our Chase Sapphire Reserve card covers the trip.

 

This is one of the companies that Royal is using now.  They use a couple different companies depending on the state you live in. 

[rt1092]

4 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

This is one of the companies that Royal is using now.  They use a couple different companies depending on the state you live in. 

Thanks that's good to know. I wont use Royal insurance anymore when I book for friends.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve card covers $50,000 medivac but only $10,000 in medical. So my wife and I buy the Geoblue. and if God Forbid anything happens I let the companies fight it out.

[Ourusualbeach]

3 minutes ago, rt1092 said:

Thanks that's good to know. I wont use Royal insurance anymore when I book for friends.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve card covers $50,000 medivac but only $10,000 in medical. So my wife and I buy the Geoblue. and if God Forbid anything happens I let the companies fight it out.

The best thing about Royal policy is the trip cancellation and interruption insurance.  Depending on age the medical can be bought very cheaply to supplementvthis policy. 

Edited June 16, 2019 by Ourusualbeach

[Big_G]

Gotta hear both sides.

[Snit13]

2 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

The best thing about Royal policy is the trip cancellation and interruption insurance.  Depending on age the medical can be bought very cheaply to supplementvthis policy. 

Ken,

Would this be thru the company you posted about earlier?  Before Medicare I never worried as I had some protection thru my Merrill Lynch Visa Signature and excellent coverage with Cigna.  Hate Medicare.  I now have a Celebrity Visa and am not aware of any medical protection.

Had friends booked TA with Celebrity a few years ago and they had to cancel day before departure and raved about how their insurance thru Celebrity took care of them and they got back

everything they paid for the cruise.  That was why after 65 I started buying thru Celebrity/Royal.  Can't worry about what might be for myself as I have no control.  I have basically read good reports on Royal on CC when it came to medical emergencies with one exception a few months back.

[Ourusualbeach]

5 minutes ago, Snit13 said:

Ken,

Would this be thru the company you posted about earlier?  Before Medicare I never worried as I had some protection thru my Merrill Lynch Visa Signature and excellent coverage with Cigna.  Hate Medicare.  I now have a Celebrity Visa and am not aware of any medical protection.

Had friends booked TA with Celebrity a few years ago and they had to cancel day before departure and raved about how their insurance thru Celebrity took care of them and they got back

everything they paid for the cruise.  That was why after 65 I started buying thru Celebrity/Royal.  Can't worry about what might be for myself as I have no control.  I have basically read good reports on Royal on CC when it came to medical emergencies with one exception a few months back.

Yes, if you go to the link I provided it outlines all the coverage that Royal policy provides. 

 

Be careful with relying on credit card insurance.  Many cards advertise travel insurance but only a few offer the trip cancellation and interruption.  Also note that you must charge the full list of your trip to that card.  Limits can also be capped at $1500 per person and $5000 per claim. 

[John&LaLa]

Our BCBS policy has always reimbursed us for any emergency care aboard ship. Dont see the need for any supplement at this time