Thrown off Ship in Turkey

[newhampshiregirl]

I just received a phone call from my 77 year old mother in Turkey! She is/was on a 12-day Medit. cruise on the Grand Princess. They arrived in Turkey and my Mother's friend didn't feel well (threw up some blood), so went to the ship's Doctor. Next thing you know they escort my Mom to their cabin, make her pack everything up, call an ambulance and send them to the hospital. Told them they could not reboard EVEN if cleared by a Turkish doctor..not in that port or any other port. They were only 6 days into a 12-day cruise!

 

Princess did not offer ANY help other than assisting with packing. Threw everything into suitcases, tried to rush my Mom through it and even suggested they could take her friend to the hospital and she could just take a taxi on her own!!!

 

My Mother's friend asked the ships doctor if he could use the restroom and was told "don't try to escape."!!!! Can you believe this? These are 70+ year old senior citizens on a "dream" cruise. My mother was terrified, being dumped off in a small village in Turkey with no other assistance from Princess. Luckily they did have trip insurance and they are making arrangements for their travel home and a place to stay until they can fly home.

 

Turns out he has an intestinal infection--is not contagious and is going to be fine. Was not critical, takes no medication and was in no danger.

 

This past winter we took a cruise to the Caribbean. Friends of ours were on another Royal Caribbean ship and we were in Cozumel on the same day and met up with them. Half of the people on their ship were sick and they were told to stay in their cabins and they disinfected the whole ship. It made the national news. But I have never heard of someone being removed from the ship for being ill. Lesson learned....don't go to the ship's doctor and risk being removed and buy travel insurance!!

[Jennygirl]

I can't believe what I just read in your post?????? That makes no sense. I can't believe it. I can't wait to read what other people post about this. Turkey no less???????? I wouldve demanded to be let on board. I wouldve raised such a stink they wouldve heard me in NY!!!! A pair in the 70's being treated like lepers?????????????? Thats nonsense. I would investigate more into t his if I were your mother.

[Host CJSKIDS]

I'm so sorry this happened to your mom and her friend. I hope they get home safely. I can't begin to imagine how scared your mom must have been, not only being taken off the ship but in a country like Turkey. I hope this works out for your mom.

[AliceJ]

So sorry to hear about your mother!! It would be very frightening indeed to end up stranded in a foreign country. Did Princess give your mother and her friend the name/contact info for their port agent? They should have - port agents can help make all types of arrangements.

 

Two years ago our DD (who was 5 at the time), fainted in our cabin one night then convulsed for a short period of time. While we rushed her down to the infirmary, she then threw up all over my husband. The ship's doctor was great, checked her out and all. He told us that although she seemed fine at the time he was examining her, we needed to take her to a pediatrician at the port we were arriving at in the a.m. (St. Maarten). He also told us to pack up our stateroom and be prepared to completely leave the ship the next day and not reboard without a clear bill of health from the local pediatrician. His explanation was that we would be at sea the next day, then at Princess Cays, and there was no way to get her to medical help if her condition developed into something more serious. I'm sure that it was also to keep Princess' liability down to a minimum.

 

Given your mother's age and that her friend vomited a bit of blood, I'm not surprised they were asked to leave the ship. Princess, and I'm sure other cruise lines, do not want to deal with any potentially severe health issues, particularly in older folks and children.

 

My heart goes out to your Mom. I hope she has the name of the port agent and that they can help. Let us know how things progress!

 

Alice

[newhampshiregirl]

Thanks Jenny for your comments. Right now they are in a hospital (my mom sleeping in the hospital room too) and are waiting for him to be discharged and then move to a hotel until they arrange air travel home. I agree I would have been screaming. It really is apalling behavior on their part. I contacted CNN, FOX, the ABC afilliate in Detroit (near where my Mom and her friend live) and the local newspaper. Princess should be ashamed of itself for this treatment!

[jad7984]

I just received a phone call from my 77 year old mother in Turkey! She is/was on a 12-day Medit. cruise on the Grand Princess. They arrived in Turkey and my Mother's friend didn't feel well (threw up some blood), so went to the ship's Doctor. Next thing you know they escort my Mom to their cabin, make her pack everything up, call an ambulance and send them to the hospital. Told them they could not reboard EVEN if cleared by a Turkish doctor..not in that port or any other port. They were only 6 days into a 12-day cruise!

 

Princess did not offer ANY help other than assisting with packing. Threw everything into suitcases, tried to rush my Mom through it and even suggested they could take her friend to the hospital and she could just take a taxi on her own!!!

 

My Mother's friend asked the ships doctor if he could use the restroom and was told "don't try to escape."!!!! Can you believe this? These are 70+ year old senior citizens on a "dream" cruise. My mother was terrified, being dumped off in a small village in Turkey with no other assistance from Princess. Luckily they did have trip insurance and they are making arrangements for their travel home and a place to stay until they can fly home.

 

Turns out he has an intestinal infection--is not contagious and is going to be fine. Was not critical, takes no medication and was in no danger.

 

This past winter we took a cruise to the Caribbean. Friends of ours were on another Royal Caribbean ship and we were in Cozumel on the same day and met up with them. Half of the people on their ship were sick and they were told to stay in their cabins and they disinfected the whole ship. It made the national news. But I have never heard of someone being removed from the ship for being ill. Lesson learned....don't go to the ship's doctor and risk being removed and buy travel insurance!!

 

That's horrible!!!!!!:eek:

 

I hope your mother gets fair compensation, as she deserves it.

[patval]

I want to first say I am deeply sorry and fell for your mother and her friend and hope safe passage home.

 

 

I think I know why they did this even though it sounds like it should of been nicer. They probably thought your mothers friend had TB and how your mother was in the same cabin with her that she was infected with it too. As the ship needs to reduce liability they needed to get the both of them off ASAP because of how contagious TB is. Also they might of thought she had a form of Hepatitis and even more then needed to get them off ASAP. I do not agree the way they did it but understand the consequences if they did not. These two things are 1000 X worse then Norvo.

 

 

Paul

[bubbadog]

well i hope your mother n law has a safe trip home ,and am sorry princess scared you guys,i think the doctor should of explained things a lot better than he did,and as long as the doctor checked her, and she had a clean bill of health,it should of been ok to reboard,like i said as long as it was clear, i think they overreacted to much instead of taking a more calm approach,but hope everything works out for you;)

[erntrish]

TB?? Huh? Where did that one come from? Likely thier concern was more about liability for caring for possibly seriously ill pax, rather than isolating them, as seen in Noro cases.

 

Either way, I'd be absolutely furious, regardless of how "within their rights" they are.

[nrdsb4]

I just received a phone call from my 77 year old mother in Turkey! She is/was on a 12-day Medit. cruise on the Grand Princess. They arrived in Turkey and my Mother's friend didn't feel well (threw up some blood), so went to the ship's Doctor. Next thing you know they escort my Mom to their cabin, make her pack everything up, call an ambulance and send them to the hospital. Told them they could not reboard EVEN if cleared by a Turkish doctor..not in that port or any other port. They were only 6 days into a 12-day cruise!

 

Princess did not offer ANY help other than assisting with packing. Threw everything into suitcases, tried to rush my Mom through it and even suggested they could take her friend to the hospital and she could just take a taxi on her own!!!

 

My Mother's friend asked the ships doctor if he could use the restroom and was told "don't try to escape."!!!! Can you believe this? These are 70+ year old senior citizens on a "dream" cruise. My mother was terrified, being dumped off in a small village in Turkey with no other assistance from Princess. Luckily they did have trip insurance and they are making arrangements for their travel home and a place to stay until they can fly home.

 

Turns out he has an intestinal infection--is not contagious and is going to be fine. Was not critical, takes no medication and was in no danger.

 

This past winter we took a cruise to the Caribbean. Friends of ours were on another Royal Caribbean ship and we were in Cozumel on the same day and met up with them. Half of the people on their ship were sick and they were told to stay in their cabins and they disinfected the whole ship. It made the national news. But I have never heard of someone being removed from the ship for being ill. Lesson learned....don't go to the ship's doctor and risk being removed and buy travel insurance!!

 

I'm not adressing how Princess handled your Mother and friend, it was clearly a poor handling of the situation. However, I must tell you that as a nurse, when we have someone come into the ER with bloody emesis, it is considered potentially very serious until proven otherwise. At our hospital, most people in this situation are sent to the stepdown ICU while the cause of the problem is determined. The cruise ship medical personnel could well have worried that your Mom's friend had TB or something even more dangerous to the ship population. I wouldn't fault them for sounding the alarm there, but of course their reaction was completely inadequate. I hope your Mom and friend receive a big apology and fair compensation for their hardship.

 

Plus, I'm glad the illness was relatively minor and short in duration.

 

As for your last comment, I would strongly disagree. Anyone who throws up blood should ALWAYS be evaluated by medical personnel immediately as this can signify something very serious!

[patval]

I'm not adressing how Princess handled your Mother and friend, it was clearly a poor handling of the situation. However, I must tell you that as a nurse, when we have someone come into the ER with bloody emesis, it is considered potentially very serious until proven otherwise. At our hospital, most people in this situation are sent to the stepdown ICU while the cause of the problem is determined. The cruise ship medical personnel could well have worried that your Mom's friend had TB or something even more dangerous to the ship population. I wouldn't fault them for sounding the alarm there, but of course their reaction was completely inadequate. I hope your Mom and friend receive a big apology and fair compensation for their hardship.

 

Plus, I'm glad the illness was relatively minor and short in duration.

 

As for your last comment, I would strongly disagree. Anyone who throws up blood should ALWAYS be evaluated by medical personnel immediately as this can signify something very serious!

 

Thank you NRDSB for conforming what I said when you here blood most people think it is TB or Hep. Again I am deeply sorry for how the staff reacted but I guess this is something they do not see much and were not properly trained in. Aslo they did not want to start a panic on the ship because word got out someone caughed up blood they would think TB or Hep. and people will be fuming and holding the cruiseline responsable.

 

 

The facts of out world today look where I live in Lexington, KY we already had attorneys almost with 48 hours fo the crash of flight 5191 giving out info for lawsuits.

 

 

Paul

[cusyl]

Wow, that's one I have never heard of, how terrifying. We were on that same ship in June in the Med.

I m glad her friend is going to be ok, but it seems it could have been handled more delicately.

I hope she gets to complete her cruise at a future date.:eek:

[nrdsb4]

Thank you NRDSB for conforming what I said when you here blood most people think it is TB or Hep. Again I am deeply sorry for how the staff reacted but I guess this is something they do not see much and were not properly trained in. Aslo they did not want to start a panic on the ship because word got out someone caughed up blood they would think TB or Hep. and people will be fuming and holding the cruiseline responsable.

 

 

The facts of out world today look where I live in Lexington, KY we already had attorneys almost with 48 hours fo the crash of flight 5191 giving out info for lawsuits.

 

 

Paul

 

Well, with TB, we would expect the patient to cough up blood vs. throwing it up, but it can be difficult to differentiate at times (some people cough it up, swallow, eventually throw it up).

 

Sorry to be so graphic! But really, if a friend of mine called me and said "I've been throwing up blood" I would advise her to go to the ER vs. the doctor, but in any case I will reiterate that the OP's Mother's friend was right to go to the doctor and get it evaluated, even at risk of being confined to his room or sent to shore to a hospital. One's life is more important than a cruise!

[jad7984]

The facts of out world today look where I live in Lexington, KY we already had attorneys almost with 48 hours fo the crash of flight 5191 giving out info for lawsuits.

 

 

Paul

 

Same with the Crown incident. I came home and there were 2 messages on our answering machine from lawyers, and a third knocked on our front door!!!:mad: How they knew our names and where we lived, I will never know. We shut the door in his face.:D

 

Anyhow, I am glad that your mother and her friend are healthy.

[patval]

I feel horrible I made a huge huge mistake what I meant when i said about the crash here in Lexington was that peolple living here in Lexington and state of Kentucky were being contacted in papers and internet for their services. I had no one in that flight and I apologize to the victims of this flight because i made a huge spelling error.

 

 

Paul

[HMSDingy]

I just received a phone call from my 77 year old mother in Turkey! She is/was on a 12-day Medit. cruise on the Grand Princess. They arrived in Turkey and my Mother's friend didn't feel well (threw up some blood), so went to the ship's Doctor. Next thing you know they escort my Mom to their cabin, make her pack everything up, call an ambulance and send them to the hospital. Told them they could not reboard EVEN if cleared by a Turkish doctor..not in that port or any other port. They were only 6 days into a 12-day cruise!

 

Princess did not offer ANY help other than assisting with packing. Threw everything into suitcases, tried to rush my Mom through it and even suggested they could take her friend to the hospital and she could just take a taxi on her own!!!

 

My Mother's friend asked the ships doctor if he could use the restroom and was told "don't try to escape."!!!! Can you believe this? These are 70+ year old senior citizens on a "dream" cruise. My mother was terrified, being dumped off in a small village in Turkey with no other assistance from Princess. Luckily they did have trip insurance and they are making arrangements for their travel home and a place to stay until they can fly home.

 

Turns out he has an intestinal infection--is not contagious and is going to be fine. Was not critical, takes no medication and was in no danger.

 

This past winter we took a cruise to the Caribbean. Friends of ours were on another Royal Caribbean ship and we were in Cozumel on the same day and met up with them. Half of the people on their ship were sick and they were told to stay in their cabins and they disinfected the whole ship. It made the national news. But I have never heard of someone being removed from the ship for being ill. Lesson learned....don't go to the ship's doctor and risk being removed and buy travel insurance!!

 

Curious to know as which ship it was.:confused:

[cusyl]

Curious to know as which ship it was.:confused:

On her second line she said it was the Grand Princess.:cool:

[Twinsmomct]

Interesting article about a new strain of TB that isn't helped by antibiotics.

 

http://allafrica.com/stories/200609080199.html

 

Don't know if that's why they were so anxious to get those two poor folks off the ship or not...

[emdia43]

More likely they worried about the possibility of more vomiting of blood. When it happens it can be quite dramatic and may need transfusion/surgery. Then what would they do if they were way out at sea?

The cruise line did what was prudent given his symptoms.

Bad luck for him and if what the OP says is actual then it was handled less than sympathetically,but that's about all.

[Casshew]

It is a terrible thing that happened to thise two ladies, I feel really badly for them.

 

I am also incredibly relieved they had insurance to be able to receive assistance - it is so important for people to take the insurance, you just never know.

 

As for Princess - I imagine they were protecting the 1000's of passengers onboard on the chance this was an infectious disease that would spread like wildfire through the ship. Maybe the Doctor had some preliminary indications that it could be something like that and was taking no chances.

 

Imagine if it had been something like that? The whole ship would be up in arms if they were not protected by removal of the ill passenger at the first opportunity. It's a no win situation for Princess, keep the passenger and perhaps infect more people, or remove the passenger but have to face the wrath of the people they dumped & perhaps the media.

 

Please let us know how everything turns out.

[rjg41]

In fairness, we are only getting one side of the story.

 

Now let's look at what we do know. They were "escorted" off the ship. Did the ill woman not want to go to the hospital? If so what was she thinking? Throwing up blood. She easily could have had something fatel if not treated.

 

If she was refusing to go to the hospital the cruise line had no choice. If she was refusing to go thus the "escape" concern. Was the health issue the reason she could not re-board or something else? Was Mom's friend less than nice? Need all the facts.

[Esprit]

Not something I'd want my Mum to experience but I've heard many times on all cruise lines ships deviating to get a sick passenger off ASAP.

 

As the saying goes..."worse things happen at sea" so the captain has to make difficult calls sometimes.

 

I hope it all ends well without the need to the "ambulence chasers" to get involved.

[pollyanno]

I hope you will come back and update us about how your mom and her friend are doing, and let us know when they have made it home safely, because they're on my worry list now.

 

I am glad to hear that your mom's friend's condition is not severe, and am really sorry their vacation was cut short in such a dramatic fashion. :(

 

anno

[Sandytoes]

What a frightful situation.... I hope everything turns out well.... Did any family members call Princess to find out how they deal with this type of situation?

Keep us posted.

[newhampshiregirl]

Thanks to everyone who commented on my mom and her friends problem with Princess in Turkey. My issue isn't so much that they asked them to go to a hospital when he present symptoms the cruise line was concerned about. I certainly understand protecting thousands of passengers, issues with serious problems while out to sea and the other considerations brought up by posters here. My issue is how insensitive the staff of the Grand Princess and the Doctor on the ship were to my Mother and her friend. Additionally their flat refusal to allow them to reboard even if a Doctor cleared them is apalling in my opinion. The idea that you would get virtually "dumped" in a foreign country by your cruise line is frightening. My Mom said thank goodness for the travel insurance because Princess provided no assistance other than rushing her through her packing process. The travel insurance provided a coordinator that is helping them through the process of getting home.

 

I am waiting to hear that they will be in a hotel tomorrow and anxious to hear when they will be flying home. Then we will determine how to approach the cruise line on their behalf. As a minimum they deserve an apology and a refund of the 6 days they missed. (since the Doctor cleared him of any serious illness, and he is non contagious).