Concern for medical care

[kjbRoswell]

My mother-in-law is booked to travel with us for a Christmas cruise on Sovereign of the Seas. She is in a wheelchair and has Muscular Dystrophy so is also on oxygen. She travels a lot and gets around well. However, her doctor has expressed concern with her about medical care on cruise ships and their ports. He is concerned that something could happen to her and she wouldn't have good medical care. Has anyone had anything happen (and I'm not talking about sunburn and seasickness!) who had to use medical care? She was also concerned that her insurance wouldn't cover her if something happened on the ship. Any advice I can get her?

[songster2]

There are travel insurances that cover pre-existing illnesses. If you booked thru a TA check with him/her about what is available. I now purchase insurance to cover myself when I pay my deposit. Travel Guard is what I have had for my last several cruises. I know there are insurances available outside the TA, but this is what I have experience with. Thankfully, I've not needed it yet.

 

I hope your cruise goes well. :)

[mkg]

My mother was 84 when I took her on her first cruise. She was so worried about seasickness that she used the patch. However, with all her other medical issues, it caused her to have a major problem. The staff was wonderful, they took great care of her and ran tests to make sure it wasn't something else. The cost was around $2000, and she had to pay upfront. Her medicare/medical did not cover any of itl, however, because we had the travel insurance, she was fully reimbursed.

Again, the medical was wonderful.

[cb at sea]

Medical care onboard is fine for "normal" health issues--seasickness, allergies, cold, etc.... but if your MIL might require more than basic non-emergency care, you may want to re-think this trip! You need to understand that these "doctors" are not licensed in the good ole US of A! They aren't specialists and the equipment carried onboard is not for major health concerns! I would be more concerned with the quality of care as opposed to the cost!

[CruznTom]

Most "cruise insurance" policies only cover pre-existing conditions if purchased within a specific period of time from booking, usually 7 to 30 days, depending on the company.

Onboard medical facilities can stabilize a cardiac or stroke patient and then determine whether they are close enough to a port med facility or a Medivac is neccessary. I'm not sure about what Muscular Distrophy experience they have ( Cardiac and stroke are more common ). A history and instructions from her doctor would be good to bring along.

I carry a defibrulator sewn inside my chest.:D

[superjerryw]

If you're going on Sovereign at Christmas time it would seem that the only places the ship will be stopping will be Nassau and Cococay (RCI's private island). Since Cococay is a private island there is no medical facility, anyone that was sick would be treated on the ship. The medical facilities on most ships are equipped to handle most emergencies. They should be able to handle things such as heart attacks, etc. You also need to keep in mind that the medical center on the ship is not there just for the passengers, it's for the crew as well. They need to be able to handle the routine emergencies or illnesses that crop up with the crew members.

 

You should also know that the personnel in the medical facility are not actually employees of the cruise line. They are independent contractors and the cruise line will not accept any liability for their actions in case there is a problem with the treatment rendered.

 

As for your mother-in-laws insurance, do you mean travel insurance or regular health care insurance. In either case, you should check with the insurance company to see what they cover. Payment for any medical treatment rendered on the ship must be paid for in full at the time of treatment (usually added to your onboard account), no health insurance is accepted on the ship. They will give you an itemized bill that you can then submit to your health insurance company for reimbursement after the fact.

[Karen Carney]

I cruise with my daughter and on 2 occasions She became very ill. The medical care was excellent and our travel insurance covered both times. One was $2000 and the other was $4000. Just be sure to get all records and charges documented.

[boingy300]

I cruise with my daughter and on 2 occasions She became very ill. The medical care was excellent and our travel insurance covered both times. One was $2000 and the other was $4000. Just be sure to get all records and charges documented.

 

My father was s/p abd. anuerysm repair, stroke, 2 heart attacks and open heart. He cruised and played hard. He needed intervention on the ship for shortness of breath. The team responded and brought him to a small ER type aarea. He got a resp. treatment, some steroids and they monitored him for 2 hours. His care was excellent onboard. I am a critical care transport nurse and feel there are few places you cannot move a patient out of if you need to. The caribbean is no different than remote parts of the US in terms of transport. Only you can decide what's right for you. For us, Dad gets insurance and we are sailing again in May!

Karen

[cruiseco]

You need to understand that these "doctors" are not licensed in the good ole US of A! They aren't specialists and the equipment carried onboard is not for major health concerns! I would be more concerned with the quality of care as opposed to the cost!

 

That's way too broad of a statement.

 

The doctors onboard ARE licensed. If they're hired from the US they have a valid US-based license. If they're from the UK they have a valid UK-based license, and so forth.

 

Many of the ones I've talked to ARE specialists. I had dinner one time with a Dr who had worked for years as a trauma center emergency room doc. Another was a thoracic surgeon before taking a year to see the world.

 

The time I personally needed onboard care the doc was from California and was a family-care specialist before semi-retiring. Both nurses that saw to me were from Florida.

[crusinmama06]

We unfortunatly had to find out about the medical care onboard a Disney cruise ship (not RCCL) when our 7 month contracted a virus onboard and started seizing. The ship's doctors were honestly great. We spent 2 days in the ship's hospital while the docs tried to get us airlifted to the Bahamas, where a plane was waiting on a military base to take us back to the states.

 

When the seas were too rough to send us in a tender boat to the Bahamas...the captain and doctor decided that it would be medically unwise to send my baby onto a boat in rough seas with almost no medical care on that boat. So, the captain decided to take the ENTIRE cruise ship back to Port Canaveral early (about 9 hours earlier than expected) and had an ambulance waiting for us at the dock, who rushed us to Port Canaveral Medical Center.

 

They showed us so much concern (actually more concern than when we arrived in the states). I trust what those docs did for us.

 

Like others have said...check with the health insurance company and see what they cover...then check with travel insurance.

[Treven]

One of my concern when looking for trip insurance was the amount for emergency medical transportation. My trip ins, through AAA, covers me for $300k. The quote for me was $124 for an 8-night cruise.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

My friend's husband travels on ships as the MD. He just spent a month onboard ship. He's an Emergency room physician for many years and is very well qualified. He loved the facilities onboard.

 

I know of a fellow cruiser who had a heart attack on board half way from the US on the way to Tahiti. They kept her stable and saved her life. The medical care she had was so advanced. Actually the physician was from Europe. They had a clot busting drug available for her that is not licensed in the US but is in Europe. They say that was what did it.

[Ocean Boy]

Where alse can you go on vacation and have a medical facility just an elevator ride away? The on board facilities can handle many types of issues and they do it very well. And I hardly think that a physician has to be either American or British to be competent.

 

If you want to make sure you will have the expertise of the Mass. General available to you take your vacation in Boston instead of the middle of the ocean.

[MonaCK]

On our last cruise, my friend woke up the second morning with incredible mouth pain. Turns out she had an abcessed tooth. The doc immediately prescribed Tylenol with Codiene to help her sleep off the pain, and Pennacylin for the infection. I was able to e-mail her husband to get in touch with her at home periodontist so that he could call in a prescription to a walgreens in Key West if need be. He prescribed the exact same thing.

 

She was back on her feet by the next day, and really quite okay by Thursday. Total charges for the first visit and a follow up (when we were concerned over her mouth being pretty swollen) was $200, all of which will be reimbursed by the trip insurance we purchased.