Advice re Duty of Care + Refunds for Princess Cruises

[scottie cruiser]

I have been trying to get a refund for money paid for cruises cancelled due to Covid. This has been going on for 2 years now ...round in circles! Any suggestions of how to contact someone senior who may be able to address this?

 

My husband became ill and subsequently died following a stroke when we did the first Cruise to NZ.

On board they merely observed him and what was thought to be a mild TIA then extended by the time we reached port 2 days later. The ship did not get him airlifted or to the correct medical facility in fact even delayed his disembarkation by over an hour till the medical bill was paid in full ($27,000NZ)

 

As we cannot sue in NZ is there any way to get the Cruise Line to compensate for the failure of the Duty of Care?

[2022cruisey]

Condolences on your loss.  What an awful experience. I hope you can get some resolution soon.

In answer to the statement in your first paragraph, did you have travel insurance for the cancelled cruise?  If not, there would be no expectation of a refund.  

With regard to your request for contacting someone senior. On Princess boards, they often have contact details.

 

Not sure what the law is in NZ regarding your last comment.  However, in general negligence terms, you need to prove there was a breach of the duty of care owed.  From what you have stated, it may not be a breach of care, rather an acceleration of ill health.  The same thing may have happened in a tertiary hospital.

 

 

Edited October 10 by 2022cruisey
Realised Princess was specified in the title

[arxcards]

Princess cancelled the cruises because of covid, or you cancelled your cruises because you tested positive with covid? A very different response for either scenario.

 

The former - I recall Princess had specific systems for covid cancelled cruises. You could opt for a refund or a comparable replacement cruise, but that had to be specified within a certain time frame. After that date, they defaulted to only issuing a future cruise credit.

 

The latter - only credits were offered, as it was way beyond the generosity of the cancellation policy.

 

I am sad for your experience and for your loss. I would gather you have received legal advice about getting a resolution. While there is any risk of them being seen as "at fault", I think it is unlikely that Princess will offer any discretionary refund. Anyone of a senior position also has a secretary, who will usually triage down into their customer service or legal department. Their senior people are there to guide policies and to manage their junior people.

 

Good luck, and sorry I can't offer any shortcut to solve your runaround.

[buchhalm]

CruiseS? Plural?

So: Cruise 1 was completed and the patient was disembarked and taken to a local hospital?

The OP seemed surprised that the on-board medical bills had to be settled before leaving. I believe that medical services are NOT provided by the cruise line, but third-party suppliers. So no point blaming a cruise line.

Was the cruise cut short because of the illness? That should/could be a case for the travel insurance. 

Were subsequent cruises that were booked cancelled for medical reason or death of a close relative (as seems to be the case here). Definitely a case for a travel insurance. 

No travel insurance, or bare-bones budget policy? Tough.

 

[arxcards]

I don't believe this is a question about insurance. There is no mention of being un/underinsured for the medical coast of her husband's stroke.

 

If these were covid cancellation cruises, as in no ships allowed in Australian ports cancellations, by default these were credited as FCC by most cruise lines unless you requested a refund by a certain date. These government covid border cruise cancellations were not covered by travel insurance, hence refunds from the cruise lines were available at the time. I am presuming covid credits were issued and that was fine at the time, but any credits for a future cruise would be a bitter pill after these events.

 

I am also surprised that the bill appeared to be more important to them than getting someone urgently conveyed to a hospital, but I do get that it will be much harder for them to recover their $27K after you have departed the ship. Surely there is a smarter way for them to expedite payment and patient care together.

 

Duty of care means proving negligence, and without knowing specifics, that would be difficult. Medevacs also come with risks.

[SinbadThePorter]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

I am also surprised that the bill appeared to be more important to them than getting someone urgently conveyed to a hospital

 

I am obviously not a lawyer, but this would appear to amount to withholding medical care from someone diagnosed with a condition that proved to be terminal.

 

The lack of a medivac can always be put down to a judgment call by the doctor involved.

 

It would be very difficult circumstances, but it might have been possible to refer the matter to the NZ coroner for a determination. Other than that it would probably be almost impossible to prove any negligence.

[Bubbeh]

18 hours ago, arxcards said:

I am also surprised that the bill appeared to be more important to them than getting someone urgently conveyed to a hospital, but I do get that it will be much harder for them to recover their $27K after you have departed the ship. Surely there is a smarter way for them to expedite payment and patient care together.

I'm bamboozled by why proof of travel insurance was insufficient to enable disembarkation and appropriate care.  While the issue of appropriate care may be a matter of perception, payment of the account is clear cut.  Provided it is not an exclusion, a pre-existing condition or contributed to by the patient, the travel insurer should be liable. The OP has not stated if there was an issue with insurance or whether a claim was disallowed.  

 

Notwithstanding, my deepest sympathies to the OP.

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, Bubbeh said:

I'm bamboozled by why proof of travel insurance was insufficient to enable disembarkation and appropriate care.  While the issue of appropriate care may be a matter of perception, payment of the account is clear cut.  Provided it is not an exclusion, a pre-existing condition or contributed to by the patient, the travel insurer should be liable. The OP has not stated if there was an issue with insurance or whether a claim was disallowed.  

 

Notwithstanding, my deepest sympathies to the OP.

Proof of travel insurance is not sufficient. Claims can be denied based on pre-existing and other conditions. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

I'm curious as to what the sea and weather conditions were during the last couple of days of that cruise? Medivacs can be highly dangerous in adverse conditions.

 

Having been on a number of Princess ships where medivacs took place during those cruises I doubt Princess would refuse this service if it was deemed necessary. However medivacs can only occur when conditions are suitable, not just weather but distance from a suitable hospital ie if the ship was in the middle of the Tasman Sea I very much doubt helicopters could reach it. 

[Over from NZ]

5 hours ago, Bubbeh said:

I'm bamboozled by why proof of travel insurance was insufficient to enable disembarkation and appropriate care.  While the issue of appropriate care may be a matter of perception, payment of the account is clear cut.  Provided it is not an exclusion, a pre-existing condition or contributed to by the patient, the travel insurer should be liable. The OP has not stated if there was an issue with insurance or whether a claim was disallowed.  

 

Notwithstanding, my deepest sympathies to the OP.

Having been through a medical discharge from a ship.. I can explain how it panned out for us. Long-story-short.. the ship wants paying before they let you off. You have to settle your bill in full. You then put in a claim with your insurer when you get home to be reimbursed. That part is between you and your insurer. 

 

How much is bluff.. and what they would do if you couldn't settle your account.. I don't know (and assume they would just send it to collections); but their first approach is to you to pay it in full before you're discharged. 

[wintrev]

As a matter of interest we disembarked the Coral on 26/09 in Singapore. During the cruise I had to visit the medical centre due to Covid. On filling out the forms I was asked to sign another piece of paper that stated I would pay the bill in full. I imagine if I refused I would not have not got to see the doctor. The cost was $150 AUD which I felt was reasonable as my own GP currently charges $100 AUD.

 

They are very up front about the charges and it is therefore up to you if you proceed. Of course in a medical emergency things can be more challenging as you are more concerned about the situation than paying the bill. That is why travel insurance is a must for everyone. Most policies have an emergency number that you can contact for situations like the OP is describing.