Princess let me down badly

[dog]

Just now, Coral said:

Did you read that they could not get through to the travel insurance company?

 

22 minutes ago, wowzz said:

If you read the thread, you will see that the aunt's phone was with her in the  Italian ambulance. 

How is a family member in the UK going to get to the phone? 

Is this necessary?

[Coral]

3 minutes ago, dog said:

 

Is this necessary?

Someone mentioned that travel insurance companies have people that can help (who I quoted). It doesn't help if no one can get through.

 

I once tried to call travel insurance to arrange for a flight home with an illness and I have to say it wasn't that helpful. Thankfully it wasn't an emergency situation.

[Coral]

11 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

You are correct. My aunt's sister is currently in Rome staying with a family friend who was away over the weekend. Unfortunately she has not been allowed to see her sister or have access to her belongings. To be honest access to the telephone or IPad are now irrelevant as it's the GHIC card which is urgently required.

 

Thank you for your words of support, they were appreciated. The issue is so confused it's very difficult to stay on track with it!

How is your aunt today?

[Megabear2]

1 minute ago, Coral said:

How is your aunt today?

Thank you for asking.  There is no change in her condition. They are continuing to drain fluid from her and she has now been moved to the ICU room.  If she remains stable they may move her to a specialist cardiology unit at another hospital. This needs insurance approval which is currently awaited as private hospital care is not allowed under UK/European travel insurance policies.

[Coral]

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

Thank you for asking.  There is no change in her condition. They are continuing to drain fluid from her and she has now been moved to the ICU room.  If she remains stable they may move her to a specialist cardiology unit at another hospital. This needs insurance approval which is currently awaited as private hospital care is not allowed under UK/European travel insurance policies.

This has got to be confusing because of the UK/European medical relationship.

 

We are all hoping that she improves and is able to get the medical care that she needs.

 

I am glad you shared your experience with us. It should make us all think about what would happen if someone we are traveling with gets sick. Especially if not a spouse.

[ontheweb]

5 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

I have now read what to me are overnight posts and for clarity would like to say:

 

1. I was not suggesting the bill would not/could not be paid.  The card on file with Princess has a £20,000 limit - it was a standard UK issued chip and pin credit card not a debit card as some appear to believe.  It was issued by Visa from a leading UK bank. Checking yesterday after my brother in law activated his power of attorney Princess had already settled my aunt's onboard account in the princely sum of US$176.89 so they were able to take payments from it as required.

 

2. I had a separate American Express card in my name with a credit limit of £18,000. Again this was on file with Princess and they had also settled my slightly higher account of US$316.00.

 

3. It is a term of contract in the UK for passengers to have mandatory travel insurance to be allowed to sail on any cruise ship. The minimum medical cover required is £2,000,000.  My aunt's policy of insurance covers medical expenses up to £15,000,000. Again any expenses onboard would be fully covered, we were not sailing with no facility to pay as some seem to think was the case.

 

4. There is a legal agreement on medical cover for UK citizens travelling in Europe and Australia for reciprocal medical emergency cover. This is called the GHIC and covers 70% of emergency medical care and is paid for by the UK government to the Italian one in this instance.  Therefore once ashore in a medical emergency the costs of medical aid cease to be a problem to worry about.

 

5. It was not me expecting to be allowed in the hospital to accompany my aunt.  I am fully aware of worldwide covid restrictions on visitors to hospitals and the requirements for patients to be unattended.  It was Princess who were pushing me to go to the hospital despite my asking them to clarify the situation before me leaving the port.  I expected them to at least know local rules rather than trying to force me into a blind alley which would have left me alone on the pavement outside the hospital with nowhere to go and only minimal cash in my pocket, I had €40 in cash together with several hundred US$ and the same Pounds sterling. It should be remembered it was a Saturday and all banks were closed until 9.00am Monday morning.

 

6. It should also be remembered I was in a non English speaking country and I do not speak Italian. Princess had a shoreside team who were Italian and therefore could speak the local language.  I had expected, wrongly, that they would have a person as a liaison between me and the hospital to keep me up to date with the situation.

 

7.  I was given the name and telephone numbers for a Princess representative who was to be my liaison ashore.  He failed to show.  After waiting for nearly 2 hours for this person to appear calls were made and I was promised a replacement liaison, he too failed to appear.

 

8. It was not that I would not pay the Princess bill, more that I wanted them to take it from the card in my aunt's name which they were holding.  This was to preserve my own credit card funds for use by me ashore for hotel, sustenance and travel costs within the Rome area.  I am aware UK travel insurance does not accept immediate liability for claims, often taking 48 hours or so to authorise and accept them even in a dire emergency. By taking the money from me rather than my aunt Princess would substantially reduce my available funds which I required to ensure my comfort and safety.

 

9. On disembarkation I was given a "Family Support" telephone number in Southampton, UK.  On calling this I was told they could do nothing and to be frank the provision of this line of support was about as much use as a chocolate teapot!

 

10. I did not wait for the luggage deliberately and just wanted to leave. Princess would not allow me to go until it was located. They also stated it would return to the ship. It did not, I have subsequently learned it was taken to the hospital.  All paperwork and GHIC were handed to Princess' shoreside supervisor with instructions it was needed urgently at the hospital to facilitate acceptance of liability. Unfortunately that bag has also now been mislaid and as a consequence the family in UK are currently meeting the medical Bill's until it is located.

 

I hope this clarifies the situation for those who think this is merely about the bill payment. It is not.  My distress is the total lack of Princess being willing to fulfil their obligations to offer me a duty of care or the promised help and assistance.  

 

Thank you.

I think one thing we can say for sure, Princess is no going to do a writeup of this story for their Circle Magazine. There are so many things involved here that they should hang their collective heads in shame over.

 

And once again prayers for your Aunt.

[JF - retired RRT]

11 hours ago, memoak said:

It has always been required 

to pay Princess medical bills when leaving ship and then get reimbursed by insurance after getting home.  We have had this happen numerous times over our 30+ years of cruising   This is not unusual 

The problem is from whom Princess was requesting payment. "Hey! You're aunt got sick. Too bad. Pay us for your aunt's treatment".

Different cabins. Different bookings. Separate money.

How does the OP convince the aunt's insurance to reimburse her?

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

I have now spoken with my card company and the charge is being reversed.  Thank you for the suggestion.  I can also confirm that my family and the UK insurance team have persuaded Princess to take the funds from the correct card, i.e. the one they held on behalf of my aunt.

 

Unfortunately the missing insurance documents and GHIC card have still to be located.

Glad to hear the credit charge is being reversed. 

 

Since this only happened after you were given the idea by fellow posters here on cruisecritic, let us all be thankful for all the helpful people who post here.

[JimmyVWine]

3 hours ago, Jazzytelly said:

Someone on a Disney Forum posted about going on a Princess Cruise. They dropped her luggage in the water on Embarkation.

I don't think that the luggage handlers outside of the ship are Princess employees.  They handle all the ships that come through the port.  It could just as easily happened to a Disney ship had one been there on the same day at the same time. 

[Coral]

12 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

I don't think that the luggage handlers outside of the ship are Princess employees.  They handle all the ships that come through the port.  It could just as easily happened to a Disney ship had one been there on the same day at the same time. 

This is correct. 

Edited July 12, 2022 by Coral

[Pink-belle]

I hope your Aunt is being made comfortable, and getting good treatment in hospital.

 

I am a little confused by why the missing GHIC card is such an issue.  
 

Taken from Gov.uk 

If you do not have your EHIC or GHIC with you

You’ll need to apply for a Provisional Replacement Certificate (PRC) if you need treatment and you do not have your EHIC or GHIC, or your card is lost or stolen abroad.

Call the Overseas Healthcare Services. This is part of the NHS Business Services Authority (BSA).

NHS Overseas Healthcare Services 
Telephone: +44 (0)191 218 1999 
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm 

 

Surely  this is something any travel Insurance company are well used to dealing with.  I appreciate that your aunt can’t currently make the call, but any decent Insurance company should have a system in place for this.

 

I’m not going to comment on the whole situation, as I totally understand how worried, battered and bruised and disappointed you are feeling. 
Mistakes, somewhere, were definitely made.  The situation seems chaotic. 
 

However, as an outsider looking in, you are not blood related, I think that means you are not legally recognised as a relative, your bookings were not linked, and you were not in the same stateroom.  So personally, I would not have expected either Princess or the Insurance company to extend help and support to you.

 

From reading your report do I think Princess could have been empathetic, yes, but I don’t think in their actions they can be found at fault  in that regard.

 

The charge and the baggage is a completely different matter, no idea what went wrong there. 
 

 

Edited July 12, 2022 by Pink-belle

[Gettingwarmer]

6 minutes ago, Pink-belle said:

Deleted

Edited July 12, 2022 by Gettingwarmer

[JimmyVWine]

8 hours ago, pris993 said:

When I arrived at ER, my Covid status was checked and I was allowed in the waiting room.  I would expect something similar in Italy.

I think things in Italy remain more strict.  

[Megabear2]

13 minutes ago, Pink-belle said:

I hope your Aunt is being made comfortable, and getting good treatment in hospital.

 

I am a little confused by why the missing GHIC card is such an issue.  
 

Taken from Gov.uk 

If you do not have your EHIC or GHIC with you

You’ll need to apply for a Provisional Replacement Certificate (PRC) if you need treatment and you do not have your EHIC or GHIC, or your card is lost or stolen abroad.

Call the Overseas Healthcare Services. This is part of the NHS Business Services Authority (BSA).

NHS Overseas Healthcare Services 
Telephone: +44 (0)191 218 1999 
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm 

 

Surely  this is something any travel Insurance company are well used to dealing with.  I appreciate that your aunt can’t currently make the call, but any decent Insurance company should have a system in place for this.

 

I’m not going to comment on the whole situation, as I totally understand how worried, battered and bruised and disappointed you are feeling. 
Mistakes, somewhere, were definitely made.  The situation seems chaotic. 
 

However, as an outsider looking in, you are not blood related, I think that means you are not legally recognised as a relative, your bookings were not linked, and you were not in the same stateroom.  So personally, I would not have expected either Princess or the Insurance company to extend help and support to you.

 

From reading your report do I think Princess could have been empathetic, yes, but I don’t think in their actions they can be found at fault  in that regard.

 

The charge and the baggage is a completely different matter, no idea what went wrong there. 
 

 

Might I suggest you tell Good to Go insurance this as to date many thousands have pounds have been requested and paid. 

As for assistance to me and your opinions I will not comment bar to say i think you are wrong. I hope you never find yourself in trouble and need help with language barriers.

 

Incidentally the insurers have admitted their global response team made a serious mistake and they should have assisted me or any other one person travelling with my aunt.

 

Incidentally although not the same reference all three bookings were linked.  Being blood related doesn't actually enter into this at all.  She is and remains a family member to all of us having been married to my husband's uncle for over 60 years.

Edited July 12, 2022 by Megabear2

[wowzz]

14 minutes ago, Pink-belle said:

So personally, I would not have expected either Princess or the Insurance company to extend help and support to you.

In which case, why did Princess demand payment of the medical expenses from Megabear ?

On the one hand Princess  demanded payment, on the other, Princess deserted her.

Seems like Princess's one and only priority was payment, no matter who from.

You really do not seem to understand the concept of customer care and compassion. 

Edited July 12, 2022 by wowzz

[Jazzytelly]

1 hour ago, JimmyVWine said:

I don't think that the luggage handlers outside of the ship are Princess employees.  They handle all the ships that come through the port.  It could just as easily happened to a Disney ship had one been there on the same day at the same time. 

 

Well then perhaps Princess should have made that clear from the get go instead of implying they were going to sort it and nearly a month later she ended up with a mouldy mess. If they had given her back the suitcase when the incident happened she could have tried to sort it herself straight away. As I said earlier I don’t know all the ins and outs of this problem I was just pointing out that there were other very dissatisfied Princess customers out there.

[geocruiser]

Megabear2,

Very sorry to hear all of this.  I pray that your aunt recovers.  I don't know if this would be any help (I am not from the UK), but is there any thing that your Embassy could do?  May dealing with the hospital, being that you don't speak Italian?  Just a thought. 

[phonejock]

@Megabear2 Thank you for taking the time to post your concerns on how Princess handled the "non Medical " parts of your Aunt's illness and your leaving the ship. You would think that Princess would have specially trained crewmembers to help passengers in emergency (non covid) situations.  It defiantly gives the rest of us plenty to think about.   Prayers are being sent.  

[JimmyVWine]

18 minutes ago, Jazzytelly said:

As I said earlier I don’t know all the ins and outs of this problem I was just pointing out that there were other very dissatisfied Princess customers out there.

And I was just pointing out that some of that dissatisfaction is misdirected.

[geocruiser]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/italy-hospitalisation-pack

[Megabear2]

3 minutes ago, geocruiser said:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/italy-hospitalisation-pack

Thank you for this.  The insurer made us aware of the contents on Monday, unfortunately too late to assist me.  It was documents such as this I had hoped Princess family helpline in Southampton would have directed me to. Unfortunately they did not.

 

Anyone reading this document should note they normally only visit if there is no tour company involved which of course Princess are considered to be.

[memoak]

12 hours ago, leck57 said:

 

Not one of your more thoughtful posts.

She didn’t have a credit card on file with Princess ?  When I have had medical bills on board it was always added to my folio and paid with the card on file. Whenever I have had to go to an emergency room they have always asked for a credit card

[geocruiser]

14 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Thank you for this.  The insurer made us aware of the contents on Monday, unfortunately too late to assist me.  It was documents such as this I had hoped Princess family helpline in Southampton would have directed me to. Unfortunately they did not.

 

Anyone reading this document should note they normally only visit if there is no tour company involved which of course Princess are considered to be.

Could the Embassy give Princess a "push" to get shore side communication with you or the family/friend in Italy?

[Coral]

2 minutes ago, memoak said:

She didn’t have a credit card on file with Princess ?  When I have had medical bills on board it was always added to my folio and paid with the card on file. Whenever I have had to go to an emergency room they have always asked for a credit card

She did if you read it carefully. It was a chip and pin which requires a pin code sent to a phone or tablet. This is pretty standard in Europe and Australia. In the US we use a signature card mostly.

[trvlwrld]

Unfortunately this scenario is not new since Covid.  We were put off the ship mid-cruise in Buenos Aires 5 years ago with absolutely no help arranging hospitalization, transportation, or finally scheduling flights or getting luggage to the pier.   My DH had a kidney stone blockage and was in extreme pain, so the med center drugged him up and sent us on our way.  My takeaway from that experience is that I now know when I travel I am on my own, and not to believe anything that those “in charge” tell me...yes, we had Princess insurance and 4 months later they did reimburse us.   The OP’s experience is not unique, unfortunately!