Medical Emergency Without Insurance: Article about Independence of the Seas

[pghflyer]

Interesting article about a new cruiser who had no health insurance or travel insurance and had a medical event. Honestly, compared to my local medical facilities, his charges on board are actually lower than I would have expected.

 

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/05/21/1252428534/he-fell-ill-on-a-cruise-before-he-boarded-the-rescue-boat-they-handed-him-the-bi

[smokeybandit]

"They drained their bank accounts, including money saved for their next house payment, and maxed out Wasney's credit card but were still about $1,000 short, he said."

 

Maybe the lesson learned here is don't spend money on a not-so-cheap vacation (including internet packages and wacky seagulls) when you can only scrounge up $1500 in an emergency.

[ARandomTraveler]

13 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

"They drained their bank accounts, including money saved for their next house payment, and maxed out Wasney's credit card but were still about $1,000 short, he said."

 

Maybe the lesson learned here is don't spend money on a not-so-cheap vacation (including internet packages and wacky seagulls) when you can only scrounge up $1500 in an emergency.

Agreed. To be fair though, the article did say the cruise was gifted to them. Another funny thing at the end of the article was the couple saying they'll be sure to get travel insurance before their next cruise 😂 Good luck booking a cruise when you don't even have $2,600, nor a credit card with that low of a limit. I guess they probably don't know how much cruises cost these days. 

[marci22]

25 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

"They drained their bank accounts, including money saved for their next house payment, and maxed out Wasney's credit card but were still about $1,000 short, he said."

This doesn't even make any sense. 

[cyntil8ing]

I agree that $2,500.00 seems reasonable.

 

"He also has mused whether trying escargot for the first time the night before could have played a role."

 

Ok, that made me laugh. Seriously, my dad had a seizure on a ship after a day in Nassau, likely due to dehydration. We had to leave the ship and he was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where he was cared for overnight. 

 

Even having insurance, he still had to pay the ship's medical cost up front, getting reimbursement after the fact. Travel medical insurance is most often secondary, meaning they won't pay until after you submit to your regular insurance (assuming you have it), so it's not like they're going to be sending you cash.

 

While Dad was hospitalized, we contacted the travel insurance company and they were helpful. They were prepared for a medical evacuation back to Miami, where we did not live, but the doctor cleared him to fly, so we just all flew home commercially. We had passports. 

 

Dad has since passed, but my family now carries an annual medical evacuation policy that returns us to our hospital of choice, ie. home, rather than the closest hospital.

[time4u2go]

This happened 1.5 years ago.  Why is this just now being written about?

[ARandomTraveler]

10 minutes ago, marci22 said:

This doesn't even make any sense. 

I had to read that sentence twice too, and then realized they probably just have a very low limit credit card. If their mortgage is $2,600, and they drained their bank account PLUS had to use a credit card and still only came up with $1,500, then it doesn't sound like they were gonna make that mortgage payment anyway. 
 

Even funnier is that they think they'll be able to afford another cruise. 

Edited May 21 by ARandomTraveler

[cyntil8ing]

26 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

This happened 1.5 years ago.  Why is this just now being written about?

 

They're fundraising for the US hospital cost. It probably took a while to go to collections.

[JustinandMaria]

15 hours ago, pghflyer said:

Interesting article about a new cruiser who had no health insurance or travel insurance and had a medical event. Honestly, compared to my local medical facilities, his charges on board are actually lower than I would have expected.

 

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/05/21/1252428534/he-fell-ill-on-a-cruise-before-he-boarded-the-rescue-boat-they-handed-him-the-bi

Wow.  Poor guy.  Most kids his age don’t get travel insurance. And as the article mentioned easily missed as it was a gift.  He wouldn’t have had credit card insurance since he didn’t book the trip.  RCCL could have handled a bit better IMO. 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

Not having medical travel insurance is an american thing. For us brits i would say 99% of people get travel insurance. Even though the vast majority will not use it for the sake of coverage its worth it. My travel insurance for a family of three is £158 a year and covers medical cost of £2 million GBP. I also do NOT need to pay up front. the insurance pays as long as you contact them at the time and they authorise paying for the treatment. 

[livingonthebeach]

The take away in this story is that if you have pre-existing medical issues (in this case epileptic seizures), you make sure you are covered while away from home through medical travel insurance. Not to do so is irresponsible. 

[brillohead]

"He took medicine initially, but after two years without another seizure, he said his doctors took him off the medicine to avoid liver damage."

 

 

Gee, did it maybe occur to anyone that he didn't have any more seizures during that period of time BECAUSE HE WAS TAKING SEIZURE MEDICATION during that period of time????

🙄 🙄 🙄

 

[cruisinfly]

1 hour ago, JustinandMaria said:

Wow.  Poor guy.  Most kids his age don’t get travel insurance. And as the article mentioned easily missed as it was a gift.  He wouldn’t have had credit card insurance since he didn’t book the trip.  RCCL could have handled a bit better IMO. 

Keep in mind that there is personal responsibility of knowing and understanding the risks you choose to take. I certainly have sympathy for the couple but the responsibility for this was on all on them. They should have done their research to understand how to safely and effectively take a trip like this and know what they can really afford. (Research is even easier thanks to this cruise critic message board!) Third party trip insurance is rather cheap...and even cheaper if you're younger.

 

I don't blame the cruise line for this couple's decisions and think the cruise line handled the situation appropriately. 

[brillohead]

1 hour ago, JustinandMaria said:

RCCL could have handled a bit better IMO.

 

How, exactly?

This is the standard way that medical care is handled on cruise ships, not just Royal.  Royal didn't do anything wrong, and they deserve to be paid for their services rendered.  

Should Royal have given these passengers free Wi-Fi and bar drinks just because they had poor financial planning skills, too?

 

[Engineroom Snipe]

I have talked to new cruisers on every ship I was on. Many do ask for insight as they enjoy the present cruise and plan another.

 

They have been in their late twenties and thirties which is about the target audience of current cruise advertising.

 

Rarely do I find someone who read what the travel insurance covers when they stated they purchased travel insurance.

 

Just about half do not purchase it because they believe they are healthy and young.

 

I jokingly say I am older and aware of how small things like slip and falls can happen on any vacation let alone a cruise vacation.

 

Depending on the damage, I will might need treatment on the ship or left at a hospital on shore as the ship leaves. If there are complications, I would certainly want medical transport to a hospital in my local area at home. I check for what the medical transport covers and what restrictions they place on the transport in every policy I buy (I do not do enough international travel yet to justify a yearly policy yet).

 

I never hit the new cruisers with the "you are stupid for not getting travel insurance" but they start to think about how anyone can have a slip and fall regardless of age on a ship or vacation.

 

Travel insurance is not at the top of any new cruiser's list unless they watch cruise videos or read blogs about what happens when things go wrong without it.

[livingonthebeach]

When someone is epileptic whether 20 years old or 100 years old, the common sense thing to do is purchase medical travel insurance, IMO.  I don't think age should play any part in this situation.

[DCGuy64]

Royal did nothing wrong, cruising without travel insurance is foolish, and this couple was clearly living beyond their means. I don't mean to sound harsh, but when you're still $1,000 short on a bill of $2,777 after maxing out a credit card AND draining your bank accounts, my math tells me these two likely had less than $1,500 to their names-how did they get a mortgage in the first place? Yeah, don't take cruises when you're in that precarious of a financial situation, even free cruises. Glad to see that he did finally get insurance, though. I think his doctors should put him back on the meds.

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

42 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

 this couple was clearly living beyond their means. I don't mean to sound harsh, but when you're still $1,000 short on a bill of $2,777 after maxing out a credit card AND draining your bank accounts, my math tells me these two likely had less than $1,500 to their names

Bingo. When people ask me my thoughts on travel insurance vs. "self-insuring," I typically say it depends ... would an unexpected $10k bill ruin your day, or ruin your life? Everybody has different thresholds for risk tolerance, and I respect that, but you have to think through the consequences. 

[Mum2Mercury]

So much here ... 

- Yes, I agree that the bill isn't bad ... he was treated for THREE seizures onboard, one of them Grand Mal. 

- This appears to be a 4-night cruise to Coco Cay and Nassau, which tends to be a fairly low-priced cruise ... still, I wouldn't be comfortable vacationing with essentially no financial reserves.  Emergencies do happen.  

- They weren't going crazy with onboard spending, but they paid $151 for onboard internet.  That optional cost represents something like 10% of all the money they could scrape up.  They also swam with pigs, which is over $100/person -- they probably paid that ahead of the cruise.  Speaks to priorities.  

- I don't blame them for considering another cruise.  I'm sure they were having a blast, and they didn't say they were planning another cruise right away.  

- I totally believe dehydration could've played into his medical issues.  It's easy to become dehydrated, even if you're drinking sodas, etc.  

- This family doesn't seem to be particularly well-informed on all things medical.  To think that Escargot or Swimming with Pigs could've triggered a seizure?  

- To be fair, the article said they raised $2600, and they used part towards their mortgage.  That doesn't mean their mortgage was $2600.  

- To be fair, he'd been off medicine for some time, and the land-based doctors had done tests before taking him off the meds. 

- One poster called the couple "kids".  No, the guy was 31.  Yes, they were inexperienced travelers, but they weren't kids, and they've lived through land-based medical emergencies before.  This shouldn't have blind-sided them.  

- Most of us, even those who are still starting out in life, can weather ONE problem without too much harm, but when MULTIPLE things pile up on us, we're in trouble ... this couple took a vacation beyond their means + had no financial reserves + had no medical insurance + didn't opt for the travel insurance.  

- Yes, anyone of any age can have a slip or fall that can result in medical costs.  BUT not everyone needs full-coverage.  We ONLY get medical and evacuation insurance.  We don't cover our drive to the port or possible loss of luggage.  Choosing JUST medical and evacuation is quite affordable ... about the same amount this couple spent on three beverages.  

- I think Royal handled it appropriately.  

 

 

36 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

 

[PhillyFan33579]

3 hours ago, JustinandMaria said:

Wow.  Poor guy.  Most kids his age don’t get travel insurance. And as the article mentioned easily missed as it was a gift.  He wouldn’t have had credit card insurance since he didn’t book the trip.  RCCL could have handled a bit better IMO. 

How could RCI have handled it better??? This is 100 percent on the couple and specifically the guy who had the seizures. That is one of the biggest problems in the USA these days. Too many people want to blame others instead of taking personal responsibility when something goes wrong. 

[time4u2go]

26 minutes ago, la_croisiere_s'amuse said:

Bingo. When people ask me my thoughts on travel insurance vs. "self-insuring," I typically say it depends ... would an unexpected $10k bill ruin your day, or ruin your life? Everybody has different thresholds for risk tolerance, and I respect that, but you have to think through the consequences. 

One should also consider what their existing medical insurance and credit card protections cover in regards to medical expenses while traveling when deciding whether or not to buy travel insurance.  I suspect that many don't consider this.

 

Edited May 22 by time4u2go

[Mum2Mercury]

4 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Really good post with lots of excellent points. The one thing that jumps out to me is like you mentioned, they paid for an excursion. My guess is they used their credit card to pay for the excursion, which violates every rule about financial responsibility. Taking on debt to pay for any kind of vacation, including a cruise, is just outright foolish behavior. 

Thanks. 

To be fair, we know they pre-paid that Swim With Pigs excursion (because they mention it, yet it's not on their onboard bill), but we don't know whether they paid it off prior to the cruise.  I reserved two excursions last year during Black Friday Sales ... I paid off the excursions when the credit card bill came in December.  

We know this couple lives close to the financial edge ... yet they also qualified to purchase a home.  Whether they'd paid off that Swim With Pigs excursion is a toss-up.  

 

Another thought:  If this were me, I wouldn't put myself "out there" online.  I'd get an evening job waiting tables and pay it off without airing my stupidity to the world.  

2 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

One should also consider what their existing medical insurance and credit card protections cover in regards to medical expenses while traveling.  I suspect that many don't consider this.

Absolutely!  Said differently, STOP and THINK a minute about your own needs and assets before you travel.  

[JustinandMaria]

19 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

How could RCI have handled it better??? This is 100 percent on the couple and specifically the guy who had the seizures. That is one of the biggest problems in the USA these days. Too many people want to blame others instead of taking personal responsibility when something goes wrong. 

They could have handled it better by not presenting the bill to someone who is being emergency evacuated off the ship. Poor taste IMO. What would they have done if they didn’t have funds?  Frankly any approval of amounts I would think would be in duress.  They wouldn’t be in the right mind. 

[orville99]

18 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

Even funnier is that they think they'll be able to afford another cruise. 

Maybe they think someone will gift them another cruise😇

[Mum2Mercury]

2 minutes ago, JustinandMaria said:

They could have handled it better by not presenting the bill to someone who is being emergency evacuated off the ship. Poor taste IMO. What would they have done if they didn’t have funds?  Frankly any approval of amounts I would think would be in duress.  They wouldn’t be in the right mind. 

Yes, it's harsh, but Royal is a business.  They can't "stay afloat" by giving away medical care.  

2 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Maybe they think someone will gift them another cruise😇

This gift turned out so well for them!