Urgent medical situation 1 week prior to sailing

[cruising sister]

My BIL has recurrent kidney stone problems and often travels with a stent. Not ideal and he pulls the stent himself. He does complain of the frequent urination and some mild pain. It is a tough call on what to do. 

[Redtravel]

Did you pay with credit card? Many cards include cancellation insurance for medical issues.   If not, cancel with confidence.  Fcc is better than nothing.  We did it in January. A week before our cruise, omicron was spreading. We decided it was too risky.  

[gfkcruiser]

I had to cancel a cruise 6 days prior to sailing in March, 2020 due to a health reason that could not be resolved.  When I called to cancel I was offered the option to reschedule 2 months later as I did not have insurance through Celebrity . Insurance was through credit card.  As I knew this would not work as issue (now resolved) would not be resolved in that time frame, I could not accept. Little did we all know that our sailing on March, 2,2020 was one of the last complete cruises to sail prior to shutdown.  Cruise ended on March 13, 2020. 
 

If you have to cancel at short notice, ask if they do not offer.  

[the_dylaness]

Thank you all for your inputs (sorry so many of you had stones, yikes!)  I have asked my husband 700 different ways if he wants to cancel and he just doesn't.  The urologist was really nice, she felt like there was a reasonable chance that he would be fine if a little uncomfortable on the cruise, and he has sort of hung his hat on that.  We'll see how the procedure goes, I suppose.

 

He washed down his Flomax with a beer yesterday, combining the best of the urologist's advice with some great Cruise Critic ideas 🙂

 

 

[Arizona Wildcat]

1 hour ago, the_dylaness said:

Thank you all for your inputs (sorry so many of you had stones, yikes!)  I have asked my husband 700 different ways if he wants to cancel and he just doesn't.  The urologist was really nice, she felt like there was a reasonable chance that he would be fine if a little uncomfortable on the cruise, and he has sort of hung his hat on that.  We'll see how the procedure goes, I suppose.

 

He washed down his Flomax with a beer yesterday, combining the best of the urologist's advice with some great Cruise Critic ideas 🙂

 

 

You certainly have a medical reason to cancell and maybe 2 of them. 

Hope you get involved with the decision whether to cancel.  I hate doctors and last time I was told to go to the ER waited only 2 days.  Ended up with a really awful infection and was off my foot for 4 weeks.

If you cancel and booked with Celebrity Air you likely will get a combo of refunds and FCCs.  If the positive covid test is within 14 days a refund.  See the rules about positive tests within 14 days.

If things are iffy with the kidney stone under 48 hours before your cruise your options become pretty much limited to the insurance policy.

Best of thoughts on whatever you decide 

[nwcruiselover]

Another thing to consider if you’re hoping to make a claim on travel insurance, is that there is a fairly limited timeframe within which you have to notify the insurance company of the condition.  It’s something like 48 hours after diagnosis, but I could be wrong about the timeframe.  It’s not open-ended though.

[RoOkla]

My husband has some health issues and the older we get the more trepidation I have at getting these long days at sea.  Medicare and most U.S. health insurance companies don't cover foreign medical charges.  We are Diamond category and over the years we've seen so many people Medi-Flighted off the ships.  I can't imagine what the out-of-pocket expenses that would be. I guess you can always file Medical Bankruptcy (jkd).  I purchased travel insurance on this 23 day trip to Australia, and I probably will from now on.

Edited May 28, 2022 by RoOkla
punctuation correction

[Mr. Click]

I won't second guess your husband's decision but if he needs  a stent they are indeed painful BUT there is a medication they can give him to will make  much less painful to go.  I forget the name of it but it worked wonders for me and my stent was in for 10 days, ugh.  The one draw back to the med is you pee royal blue....and that can be scary if they don't warn you about it.  Make sure to ask the urologist about it.  I was lucky on my last one, my son is married to the urologist's daughter so getting seen and getting treated was pretty quick and easy but there was no way I was up to travel the next day, especially across an ocean.  

 

[SkystheLimit]

One real concern for me would be making sure that you have in writing from his urologist that he is able to travel including flying and cruising internationally. Insurance companies can be ruthless in their pursuit of the facts particularly if there is a great deal of money involved.  If you have to prove he was fit to travel and have to make a claim because of a medical emergency, you may be in a difficult position if you do not have that documentation.

 

[carolyn22]

OP, I hope your husband did well with his procedure yesterday and that you’re able to fly to Rome today so that you can enjoy your cruise!

[12cruise2]

The best to your husband and his treatment and recovery.

Re your other person in your group who tested positive "a few days ago," Celebrity requires 11 days, not 10, after covid before one can board a ship.  Here is info from Celebrity web site and as of May 2022:

For all sailings departing on or after March 18, 2022, Celebrity is now accepting a Certificate of Recovery. We will not accept a Certificate of Recovery in place of a vaccination record. All guests eligible to be vaccinated must also continue to show proof of full vaccination, with the final dose of their vaccine administered at least 14 days prior to sailing. 

A Certificate of Recovery must meet the following requirements:

• Be on official letterhead from a healthcare provider, public health official or telehealth provider showing:
  • The Provider’s name
  • The Provider’s address
  • The Provider’s phone number
  • Confirmation of your recovery and completion of isolation 
• Be typed (not handwritten) and signed by the provider
• Must confirm the sample collection date of the positive PCR test, which must be a minimum of 11 days and a maximum of 180 days before the departure date of your cruise
• Date of validity must extend throughout the duration of your cruise
• Include a positive result document for a COVID-19 PCR test taken a minimum of 11 days and a maximum of 90 days before the departure date of your cruise. An antigen test result will not be accepted with a Certificate of Recovery. The test results document from your test provider must include the name of the lab that processed the test, the lab’s CLIA Lab Number or Certification Number, the address of the lab, your name, the date the test was taken, type of test, and your positive result. This can be a printed document, email, or telehealth app notification. Fully handwritten doctor’s notes (such as those written on a prescription pad) will not be accepted. Minimal handwritten components (such as a check mark on a “positive” box) are acceptable as long as the other required information is printed on the document.

Edited June 1, 2022 by 12cruise2

[mauimary]

Wonder if the Dylaness made it to Rome with her family after a challenging weekend and husbands surgery?    Please come back and let us know.  

[emmas gran]

6 hours ago, mauimary said:

Wonder if the Dylaness made it to Rome with her family after a challenging weekend and husbands surgery?    Please come back and let us know.  

 

She posted on the roll call on Tuesday he had surgery and they were going! 

[TeaBag]

I hope all goes well for them.  Like others I would love to hear about their cruise.

[Babr]

On 5/28/2022 at 4:16 PM, RoOkla said:

My husband has some health issues and the older we get the more trepidation I have at getting these long days at sea.  Medicare and most U.S. health insurance companies don't cover foreign medical charges.  We are Diamond category and over the years we've seen so many people Medi-Flighted off the ships.  I can't imagine what the out-of-pocket expenses that would be. I guess you can always file Medical Bankruptcy (jkd).  I purchased travel insurance on this 23 day trip to Australia, and I probably will from now on.

Getting evacuated by air/sea rescue is one thing you don’t have to worry about. That is performed by each countries Coast Guard equivalent / military. They do not charge for that. Your financial responsibility begins when the helicopter touches down shoreside.

[the_dylaness]

Yes- we went!  My husband had some pretty significant discomfort on the flight over but after about 3-4 days onboard he was back to normal. 

 

Thanks to all for the well wishes and advice!

[Mark_K]

On 6/4/2022 at 1:52 PM, Babr said:

Getting evacuated by air/sea rescue is one thing you don’t have to worry about. That is performed by each countries Coast Guard equivalent / military. They do not charge for that. Your financial responsibility begins when the helicopter touches down shoreside.

I don’t know if it’s still in effect, but two or so years ago the Miami USCG station discontinued providing medevac services to cruise ships.

[TeaBag]

10 hours ago, the_dylaness said:

Yes- we went!  My husband had some pretty significant discomfort on the flight over but after about 3-4 days onboard he was back to normal. 

 

Thanks to all for the well wishes and advice!

Thank you so much for getting back to us.  Sorry your husband had discomfort on the plane but you made it to the cruise and it looks like you're both were able to enjoy it.  Isn't it wonderful when you have a tough decision to make and you find out you made the right one.

[Babr]

On 6/16/2022 at 2:44 PM, Mark_K said:

I don’t know if it’s still in effect, but two or so years ago the Miami USCG station discontinued providing medevac services to cruise ships.

In that case, I expect it is not an issue of paying for the service. I expect it doesn’t happen at all unless there is another agency capable of such maneuvers such as a special unit of local government-  perhaps firefighters.

Edited June 18, 2022 by Babr