Not only football that's Come Home

[Megabear2]

For those who have been following the progress of my aunt I'm delighted to say that she arrived safely back in the UK yesterday evening after several false starts.  Accompanied by the insurance representative she was delivered by ambulance to her local hospital three miles from home.

 

In another twist you could not make up there was no room at the hospital and after seven hours in A&E she has been returned to her home under the care of the nurse who travelled with her from Rome.  Apparently she will be returning to the hospital later today once a bed has been located in the cardiac unit and she will then undergo the required surgery. She is awake and thrilled to be home.

 

On a more positive note the insurance company have paid some, not all, of the costs and conversations continue regarding the outstanding points.  Needless to say all the family are thrilled she's finally back home.

Edited August 1, 2022 by Megabear2

[Sussexboy]

Great news, I hope the operation goes well and you can all finally relax a bit!

Edited August 1, 2022 by Sussexboy

[Astrajet]

Delighted to hear that your aunt is safely home - what a relief for you all.  Sending very best wishes for a successful operation and speedy recovery for her.  Take care.

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

For those who have been following the progress of my aunt I'm delighted to say that she arrived safely back in the UK yesterday evening after several false starts.  Accompanied by the insurance representative she was delivered by ambulance to her local hospital three miles from home.

 

In another twist you could not make up there was no room at the hospital and after seven hours in A&E she has been returned to her home under the care of the nurse who travelled with her from Rome.  Apparently she will be returning to the hospital later today once a bed has been located in the cardiac unit and she will then undergo the required surgery. She is awake and thrilled to be home.

 

On a more positive note the insurance company have paid some, not all, of the costs and conversations continue regarding the outstanding points.  Needless to say all the family are thrilled she's finally back home.

Excellent news your Aunt is home.

I hope she gets a cardiac bed today.

[Caullkhead]

So glad she’s home, hope she gets a bed today & all goes well! X

[Jill85]

Great news! Hope the op goes well.

[Dermotsgirl]

Really pleased to hear the news about your aunt 

[Edith1950]

Excellent news for you and your family.

[kalos]

3 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

In another twist you could not make up there was no room at the hospital and after seven hours in A&E she has been returned to her home under the care of the nurse who travelled with her from Rome. 

Glad to hear you have got her home . Thinking back to 2019 BC when I was rushed to our hospital on a Sunday afternoon ,I spent the night in a bay until Monday morning until they found me a bed and that was on the admissions , no vacancies on the cardio , until Tuesday evening .

In the two weeks I remained in there ,the beds were never empty more than a few hours .

Those cardio beds are these days in big demand more than ever but the good news is your aunt is getting a bed today ,which is great news and she will meet some wonderful doctors and nurses who will take good care of her for your family .

 

Take care and best wishes to your aunt 

Edited August 1, 2022 by kalos

[purplesea]

So pleased to hear that your aunt is home and hope all goes well. Wishing her well.

[Holcha]

So pleased to hear your Aunt is home now.  All good wishes for her operation and speedy recovery.  Also good wishes to you and your family as this has been such a stressful time, do take care.

 

Sorry to “drift” a little but I would like to thank you for all your posts during past 12 months re travel insurance.  We have finally booked insurance for our October 8 cruise on Iona.  Your comments really helped me decide where to go and the questions to ask. I appreciate very much your efforts in this regard.

[Happy afloat]

Glad to hear your good news. Hope all goes well for you all. 

[Megabear2]

Thank you all.  Well something had to come along to ruin the day!  Just had a long email from Princess stating they have investigated the events and they acted in accordance with their Medical Disembarkation protocols, and attempted to assist me at every opportunity. 

 

Apparently the records show I refused to leave the port, stated I had no money to pay for a hotel or transport and was very aggressive.  Oh and I was liable to pay the medical bill - here's the reason why:

 

Quote

 

It is regrettable that all financial affairs must be settled prior to leaving the ship, unfortunately, as you may be aware the medical costs onboard can be high and these are added to the shipboard account of the guest. The medical facility onboard the ship is a US private health care facility provided by a third party.  I do wish to assure you that the team's actions were not meant to add further upset but we do have a set medical disembarkation process, whereby the safety of the patient takes priority and if we can assist with guests leaving the ship as seamlessly as possible we do our best to ensure this. Although we may of had the card details on record, there is no guarantee this payment can be processed when the card holder is not present. A full explanation of this should have been offered to you by the medical team. Regrettably, there are occasions whereby guests have refused to pay for the treatment they have received and it is for this reason the account must be settled prior to departure. I can only apologise if this was not communicated in a more compassionate way.

 

Unquote

 

And just to emphasise the point:

 

Quote

 

Due to the number of medical disembarkations we assist with across our fleet it is not possible for Princess Cruises to support any of our guests financially.  It is one of the many reasons it is a condition of carriage for all guests to have adequate travel insurance in place.   Most travel insurance companies work on a pay upfront and submit for reimbursement basis.

 

Unquote

 

Be prepared please everyone, their advice to me is to carry three separate credit cards with at least £10,000 limits and issued by different providers accepted worldwide eg one Mastercard, one Visa, one American Express. They also recommend at least 200 cash in local currency for incidentals such as taxis.

 

Oh and finally ...

 

"We do hope that Mrs xxxxxxxx is continuing to make a full recovery and we wish you both well on your future travels."

 

 

[Cathygh]

31 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Thank you all.  Well something had to come along to ruin the day!  Just had a long email from Princess stating they have investigated the events and they acted in accordance with their Medical Disembarkation protocols, and attempted to assist me at every opportunity. 

 

Apparently the records show I refused to leave the port, stated I had no money to pay for a hotel or transport and was very aggressive.  Oh and I was liable to pay the medical bill - here's the reason why:

 

Quote

 

It is regrettable that all financial affairs must be settled prior to leaving the ship, unfortunately, as you may be aware the medical costs onboard can be high and these are added to the shipboard account of the guest. The medical facility onboard the ship is a US private health care facility provided by a third party.  I do wish to assure you that the team's actions were not meant to add further upset but we do have a set medical disembarkation process, whereby the safety of the patient takes priority and if we can assist with guests leaving the ship as seamlessly as possible we do our best to ensure this. Although we may of had the card details on record, there is no guarantee this payment can be processed when the card holder is not present. A full explanation of this should have been offered to you by the medical team. Regrettably, there are occasions whereby guests have refused to pay for the treatment they have received and it is for this reason the account must be settled prior to departure. I can only apologise if this was not communicated in a more compassionate way.

 

Unquote

 

And just to emphasise the point:

 

Quote

 

Due to the number of medical disembarkations we assist with across our fleet it is not possible for Princess Cruises to support any of our guests financially.  It is one of the many reasons it is a condition of carriage for all guests to have adequate travel insurance in place.   Most travel insurance companies work on a pay upfront and submit for reimbursement basis.

 

Unquote

 

Be prepared please everyone, their advice to me is to carry three separate credit cards with at least £10,000 limits and issued by different providers accepted worldwide eg one Mastercard, one Visa, one American Express. They also recommend at least 200 cash in local currency for incidentals such as taxis.

 

Oh and finally ...

 

"We do hope that Mrs xxxxxxxx is continuing to make a full recovery and we wish you both well on your future travels."

 

 

That is just so insulting. Never heard about having to have 3 cards and with such high limits. I wonder what Simon Calder would say about that? And what are their Medical Disembarkment procedures? When we were in isolation on Princess we were told they followed the European rules. 

 

Good news about your aunt, I hope she is well cared for and makes a good recovery

[Megabear2]

24 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

That is just so insulting. Never heard about having to have 3 cards and with such high limits. I wonder what Simon Calder would say about that? And what are their Medical Disembarkment procedures? When we were in isolation on Princess we were told they followed the European rules. 

 

Good news about your aunt, I hope she is well cared for and makes a good recovery

To explain further.  I carry an American Express card with a very high limit, together with my Visa debit cards whilst travelling. Unfortunately American Express is not widely accepted by small businesses in Europe such as taxi drivers. On the day the port agent shouted at me that I was irresponsible to not carry a credit card or a substantial amount of cash in local currency. I had around €40 in cash as I was flying home that evening.  There was no ATM at the port to obtain cash from my debit cards and I was refused readmission to the port building where there was one.

 

The port agent has told Princess I had no money and expected Princess to pay my expenses. This was not the case but I did ask for assistance in leaving the port as I couldn't pay the taxi quote of €200 to Rome.  I had asked for help getting to an ATM and Civitavecchia is a closed port so needed language assistance to get the taxi driver to understand.

 

This lack of money, deduction from my card of over £4,000 by Princess and "refusal to leave the port" has led to me being told that Princess recommend carrying three high level credit cards from different providers.  I have queried this "advice", I have however noted mention of this suggestion elsewhere on travel websites so assume that's where it comes from.

 

I've no idea whether others travel with that amount of credit but did find it a very large sum to suggest might be needed.  Having said that I suppose it is not difficult to run up a huge bill onboard before leaving the ship in an emergency.

 

Hope that clarifies the point a little better, I was very angry and should have explained better.

 

I think covid isolation is different and medical care should be free. I assume that's the European rules they refer to.

[P&O SUE]

I’m so pleased to hear your aunt is finally home and hope she continues to recover.

 

So sorry for this latest news though, I certainly don’t have three credit cards with such high limits. What a strange email from Princess.

[emam]

So glad your Aunt is home, it will be a relief to all your family. Best wishes for her operation.

 

The three credit cards advice with high amounts is scary. Just when I was starting to feel better about our insurance being in order. Do you think this advice is because Princess is not classed as a British line? 

[wowzz]

Megabear - did Princess explain why you were expected to pay for your Aunt's medical costs when they already had her credit card details ?

A very shabby response from Princess - are you taking it any further ?

And, finally, good news about your Aunt. 

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, emam said:

So glad your Aunt is home, it will be a relief to all your family. Best wishes for her operation.

 

The three credit cards advice with high amounts is scary. Just when I was starting to feel better about our insurance being in order. Do you think this advice is because Princess is not classed as a British line? 

I think the advice was given because I only travel with an American Express card (which is not always accepted particularly in Europe) together with my bank debit cards (again not accepted in some parts of the world).  As it was our final day before flying home I had limited Euros left. My aunt had two credit cards which were our backup if required but of course I didn't have access to these as they were not in my name and were in the ambulance apart from the one wh8ch required pin authorisation.

 

I was very rudely spoken to at the port by a ground agent for not having a credit card - she actually used the word  "stupid ".  When I set out my experience to Princess the reply I received stated that due to high possible emergency costs their recommendation is to carry three credit cards with different issuers because every countries outlets do not for instance accept Visa but might accept Mastercard and so on. Basically don't rely on any one card.

 

It's probably not as stupid as it sounds.  Remember I was looking at paying over £4,000 to Princess on debarkation, hotel rooms at €200 per night as it was short notice and €200 approx for taxi costs each way to/from Rome.  I would therefore have used up the first £10,000 very rapidly and would still be paying for other items such as food, possible hospital costs etc.

 

I am angry with their overall attitude that they've done nothing wrong but realistically they are correct the insurer pays nothing up front so I should have been prepared.  I guess until you are in that situation you don't really think.

[Megabear2]

17 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Megabear - did Princess explain why you were expected to pay for your Aunt's medical costs when they already had her credit card details ?

A very shabby response from Princess - are you taking it any further ?

And, finally, good news about your Aunt. 

Yes, Princess stated it was because I was on her booking and under the same reference.  As set out in their quote - which I have remonstrated against and quoted the law on - their protocols on emergency disembarkation insist on the bill being paid before disembarkation.  It has been intimated to me that if she had been alone my aunt's bill would still have needed to be paid before leaving the ship and that because I was there it was considered expedient to get me to pay so she could be disembarked quicker. I've had no answer to my point she was unconscious and would have been unable to deal with the payment if she was travelling alone.

[emam]

So what happens if someone doesn't have the means to pay that amount?

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

Yes, Princess stated it was because I was on her booking and under the same reference.  As set out in their quote - which I have remonstrated against and quoted the law on - their protocols on emergency disembarkation insist on the bill being paid before disembarkation.  It has been intimated to me that if she had been alone my aunt's bill would still have needed to be paid before leaving the ship and that because I was there it was considered expedient to get me to pay so she could be disembarked quicker. I've had no answer to my point she was unconscious and would have been unable to deal with the payment if she was travelling alone.

That is truly awful. 

Without being morbid, they are basically saying that if you were not there, they would have kept your aunt onboard,  where she would have died,  because of a measly $4,000 !

Unbelievable!  

[Megabear2]

13 minutes ago, emam said:

So what happens if someone doesn't have the means to pay that amount?

Your guess is as good as mine!  When I initially refused to pay I was not allowed to leave the ship and the debate continued for 2 hours.  I argued and got very angry - that's apparently why I am aggressive.

[davecttr]

Are we seeing echoes of the USA attitude to health care here or would all cruise companies react in the same way?

 

As a solo cruiser the thought of being in the catch 22 situation of not being allowed to leave the ship for essential treatment because I can't authorise the payment because of my medical state horrifies me. They would rather you died than have to wait for the money.

 

Maybe we all need to reassess our credit card limits. I have one card with a few thousand limit and a debit card which I use to pay larger amounts. I wonder as a pensioner what my credit card company would think of asking for a limit of £10,000 just so I could go on a cruise to the Med.

[gyoung]

I have been very sorry to hear if your Aunt's problems, and amazed to hear of the cruise line's attitude, I have never had more than one credit card nor as big a credit limit.  I had assumed that the E111 card woukd cope with treatment costs both on board and ashore if we were unlucky enough to have problems, is this not the case then? Seems not with Princess at least, but Italy should be ok?