A different review: Independence of the Seas Medical Center

So many people have done reviews of all of Royal Caribbean's ships, but I had an interesting experience that few others have, so I thought I'd share my experience in the Medical Center onboard Independence of the Seas.

During my shore excursion in St. Maarten, I had an unfortunate encounter with a rock. After getting off the ATV at a scenic overlook, I was getting ready to take a picture of the ships in the harbor, and as I stepped off the road, I tripped over a decorative rock (about 18-24" tall) and gave myself a pretty good gash in my leg.

For the purpose of setting the stage, I'll say here that the tour guide took excellent care of me. He had a first aid kit and with the assistance of a nurse from a Celebrity ship who happened to be on the tour with us, they managed to clean the wounds and get them basically bandaged up so that I could get back to the ship to get them looked at more closely. I'm very thankful to both of them for their effort and very positive attitude given my clumsiness that led to this.

I'll also note that I learned something new. If you are injured during a Royal Caribbean arranged shore excursion, you can receive complimentary services in the ship's Medical Center. I had no idea this was one of the benefits to booking a shore excursion with the ship, but I'll definitely keep it in mind for the future. (The nurse from the Celebrity ship told me about this, otherwise I wouldn't have known.)

Anyway, after getting some very basic bandaging, we finished the tour (we were at the last stop near the start of the tour when the accident occurred) and my traveling companion and I then returned to the ship. My injury was messy, but didn't preclude me from walking, so I was able to get back easily enough.

When we returned to the ship, we immediately went to the Medical Center, but saw that they were closed. Their hours were 8-11 AM and 4-7 PM, and this was shortly after noon. They did have a sign up saying that for "extreme emergencies", we could call 911, but I didn't know whether this qualified.

We did get a few bandages from an employee who slipped into the Center for us, so we then headed back to the cabin to finish cleaning up the injury and put the bandages on. It was during this cleaning attempt that I could see that stopping the bleeding wasn't going as well as I would have liked. So, we both decided that calling 911 was the right thing to do.

They offered to send someone up to us, but since I could walk, we went back down ourselves where the Medical Director was waiting for us.

She and one of the nurses both looked at my injury and she then determined that I would need stitches. I agreed that that sounded like the best plan, so we proceeded with that. I filled out some registration paperwork and also an incident report (since it was an excursion from the ship).

The Medical Center is a very nice and professional looking place. They have a couple examination rooms and an emergency room (where I went). The entire area was very clean, well lit, and looked to be an excellent place to receive services. They appear to be well stocked with a variety of items including several over-the-counter medicines that are available for purchase.

After lying down on the table, the doctor gave me some epinephrine shots to numb up the area (which was really the only painful part of this whole thing, including the initial accident) and then started suturing my leg back together. Before long, it was all done (I only needed three stitches), and they then dressed the freshly repaired wounds.

I then went back to the Medical Center each morning during the cruise for a fresh dressing. On the last day, the nurse gave me a bag filled with the bandage supplies and antibiotic ointment so I could continue treating the wound until I returned home to see my doctor.

The bottom line for me from this is that the doctor and the nurses were all fantastic. They were friendly, professional, and expressed genuine care for my well-being. The service they provided for me seems to be very well done.

I'm very thankful that Royal Caribbean offers complimentary medical treatments for situations like this, but even if not, I wouldn't have hesitated to accept their services once it was determined that they were necessary. I will say that my willingness here is mostly due to the fact that I did have third-party insurance that would have covered the treatment anyway, so I didn't have to worry about the costs associated with it.

I'm very thankful that Royal Caribbean offers complimentary medical treatments for situations like this

Since when is service in the medical center complimentary? I've heard plenty of stories, and no one has every said it was free...

Sounds like you missed this part of his post...

 

I'll also note that I learned something new. If you are injured during a Royal Caribbean arranged shore excursion, you can receive complimentary services in the ship's Medical Center. I had no idea this was one of the benefits to booking a shore excursion with the ship, but I'll definitely keep it in mind for the future. (The nurse from the Celebrity ship told me about this, otherwise I wouldn't have known.)

 

Hopefully we never need to use the medical services, but it's nice to know they do a good job if we ever do... thanks for the report.

Sounds like you missed this part of his post...

Yes I did. Thanks!

Glad to hear that your story had a happy ending. Regarding the "Free Of Charge" services because of the RCCL shore excursion, well that was outstanding. Do you know if this medical policy of no charge is in writing somewhere. It would be nice to be able to print it out and take it along just in case.

I am so sorry to hear about your leg on the INDY, but glad everything worked out.

A few years ago on the Navigator I had my finger slammed in a door (before we even sat sail) and they had to remove my finger nail. I went each morning for dressing changes, ect. Moral to the story is I experienced the same type of service you did. RCCL went above and beyond!

Did you enjoy the Ben & Jerry SWEET?

Glad to hear that your story had a happy ending. Regarding the "Free Of Charge" services because of the RCCL shore excursion, well that was outstanding. Do you know if this medical policy of no charge is in writing somewhere. It would be nice to be able to print it out and take it along just in case.

I never saw that policy in writing, and I did look for it casually. I'm thinking that it may be more of a courtesy thing, especially in light of our litigious society where providing free services may reduce the number of suits filed against Royal Caribbean, despite waivers having been signed and no matter whose fault it was.

Did you enjoy the Ben & Jerry SWEET?

Yes, I did. The cabin was nice (I'll be posting a review to the Ben & Jerry Suite thread later on), although we did suffer with a lot of noise from our arguing neighbors through the door of the connecting cabin.

Lost my big toenail on the FOS Flowrider on my honeymoon cruise. I was trying to be a gentleman and grab the boogie board when it came back up for my wife. I missed and it whacked my foot. Didn't even know it was missing until I took a towel to blot the blood and touched skin! They took me down to the Med Bay. Took excellent care of my foot, bandaged it up and had me keep it elevated. Worst part of it all, was I couldn't go in the water since it was bandaged up. Had to change our excursion for something not water related. The ships safety officer (I think that's what he was) asked me a bunch of questions about if it was anyone's fault. It wasn't, it was me trying to be nice. Sorry to go off on a tangent, but yeah, Freedom's med staff knew what they were doing and even told me to come down the final 2 days of the cruise and they would redress the wound for me.

Lost my big toenail on the FOS Flowrider on my honeymoon cruise. I was trying to be a gentleman and grab the boogie board when it came back up for my wife. I missed and it whacked my foot. Didn't even know it was missing until I took a towel to blot the blood and touched skin! They took me down to the Med Bay. Took excellent care of my foot, bandaged it up and had me keep it elevated. Worst part of it all, was I couldn't go in the water since it was bandaged up. Had to change our excursion for something not water related. The ships safety officer (I think that's what he was) asked me a bunch of questions about if it was anyone's fault. It wasn't, it was me trying to be nice. Sorry to go off on a tangent, but yeah, Freedom's med staff knew what they were doing and even told me to come down the final 2 days of the cruise and they would redress the wound for me.

Yuck. Did they ever find the toenail, or is it still in the flowrider system somewhere.............LOL

We also have firsthand experience of the Indy medical team, when my son (who was three years old at the time) had a febrile convulsion during a Med cruise. They were amazing. They arrived at our stateroom in minutes and the care they provided was excellent. They also provided follow-up care and all the information we needed to pass on to our own doctor. Wonderful, caring, professional people.

Marc- sorry to hear about your injury! Hope it didn't affect your plans beyond that day. Thanks for your review, I do hope I never have to use the service, but glad to know its there. That is very interesting about it being "covered" while injured on a ships excursion. I guess that's another potential benefit, especially for people like ourselves who do more "adventure" type excursions (we often bike and I do have concerns about crashing or falling!)

The no charge if on a RCCL shore excursion thing must be new. Believe me I speak from experience.;)

Glad you got great treatment. Hope you heal fast and easily.

Marc- sorry to hear about your injury! Hope it didn't affect your plans beyond that day.

Thanks... We did alter our plans for the rest of the ports (this was the first port of call) either to take it easier with less walking around or otherwise to avoid the water which was only a drag at Labadee.

DH fell during an RC excursion in Cartegena. He had x-rays as well as meds and was treated very well. They did not comp the med services. We were billed and had to pay on our Sea Pass account. Our insurance did refund the amount.

It turned out DH had cracked his elbow. :(

Its nice to hear first-hand how the medical facilities onboard Royal Caribbean ships are. Thanks for sharing with us all of your experiences.

Wow, what a great thread, RCCL should be very proud of themselves!!!

Hope everyone is doing better these days and happy sails!:)

About 5 years ago on an excursion to Dunns River Falls(RCI excursion), my mil fell on the big speed bump they have. The first aid people at the Falls were there within 2 minutes and examined her thumb which was bent backward. They said it wasn't broken. They also cleaned up the other scratches. The next day on the ship, my mil decided to go to the Medical Facility. They said it might be broken and since this was the last day of the cruise she choose to just wait till she got home to go to the ER. They said they would xray it for free. The Med Center rebandaged her thumb and did not charge a thing. It turned out it was not broken and only hurt for about 3 more days.

We have numerous experiences with the medical staff on several ships. I can report that all were excellent. We had one mis diagnosis on a Mexico cruise but it turned out ok because we probably would have ended up in a Mexican hospital. Our insurance company has always reimbursed us. The RCCL medical staff has been excellent and very good with follow-up.

I had a tour of the medical facility on FOS a while back and one item of interest is they actually have a small morgue refrigerator that looks like it would hold maybe 4 people. I also noticed that they charged $250 for a body bag. :eek:

But to amplify others here, it's a first-class facility with extremely competent staff. I wish your average urgent care facility was this nice!

Good Information...thanks for your different review. :)

All I can say is WOW. I am very happy everyone was able to take great care of you. Thank you as well for the information regarding medical care if injured on an excursion booked through RCI. I didn't know that at all, good information for my future cruises. Glad you're doing ok.

i am not so complimentary of the Indy medical services. My fiancé needed medical assistance. It was not an emergency but nonetheless medical care would have been helpful. We went to the facility only to find it is closed from 11 to 4pm daily. This ship has over 4,000 souls onboard and not even a nurse is available during the day?!? Given that they put Purelle stations everywhere I am sure that more than one person needs assistance once in a while.

Thank you for posting your positive experience. Hope you are well now.