Doctor

Has anyone used the doctor or hospital on board? How was the service? Cost?

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Various service, and "costs". big variables possible and no simple answer. You'd get more detailed information, if you post what type of service you'd need for costs?

No specific service , I am going to have 2 children and a senior citizen with me and I am just curious as to if any of them fall ill , what is available .

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No specific service , I am going to have 2 children and a senior citizen with me and I am just curious as to if any of them fall ill , what is available .

From what I've found, travel medical insurance costs far less then one short consultation on board. What I have seen is that a basic Dr consultation on board is about $100. This senior citizen can buy 10 days worth of travel medical insurance with $1,000,000 coverage and no deductible for about $80.

From what I've found, travel medical insurance costs far less then one short consultation on board. What I have seen is that a basic Dr consultation on board is about $100. This senior citizen can buy 10 days worth of travel medical insurance with $1,000,000 coverage and no deductible for about $80.

we went on the fantasy feb. 11th. we had 22 people from our church. one lady had 3 seizures and was treated with fluids. she was in the infirmary for 3 hours. her bill was $660.00.they did have insurance but i do not know how much was paid.

We had to use the Dr on board the Disney Dream as our baby got sick. Felt like we got really great care. Had to pay $328 but since it was billed as emergency expenses, I submitted it to my insurance (united healthcare) upon our return and surprisingly got reimbursed for the entire amount.

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I can't answer to cost, because I was never charged. I will however say that when I broke my arm on a cruise a few years back that the care I got from the infirmary was excellent. I would not hesitate to go if I ever had the need.

I had a friend on a group cruise we did and it seemed her blood sugar was over 450, which is very high. She spent the full last night of the cruise in with the nurse and doctor. They were great and the cost was very fair. The facility had everything you would need from a cut to an heart attack.

My mom got sick on our cruise in January on the Glory. Exam, blood tests and antibiotics were $300. Really not bad overall and the doctor was fantastic and followed up throughout the cruise.

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My sister dislocated her shoulder on our Blue Hole tour in Ocho Rios. She has had problems with this shoulder for years and it's gotten worse recently. Against her better judgement, she did one of the smaller jumps and came up to the surface in severe pain. Luckily it was at the very end of our tour, so we were able to quickly get to our tour bus and our driver took us back to the ship. Her and my other sister went to the infirmary and saw the doc. They gave her morphine for the pain and reset her shoulder. They also put her in a sling for the rest of the ship. She was VERY happy with the service she received there and the cost (from what I remember) was very reasonable!

I had to take my 5 year old once when we were aboard the Disney Dream for an ear infection. I think the bill was about $250, which we had to pay at the time, and included his antibiotics. My insurance (BlueCross) reimbursed full amount when I submitted it to them after our return.

First thing a the sick bay. It is fully equipped with everything you would expect to find in a top notch ER. Most people only see the waiting/triage/nurses station and never see the actual infirmary that has about 5 or 6 bed

While on the Carnival Magic, my dad came up with an upper-respiratory infection and when we were docked at Roatan, he visited the doctor who proscribed steroid and three days of breathing treatments. For the first treatment, the crew were doing emergency drills and the doctor put us in the infirmary so we wouldn't be in the way of the medical part of the drill. In the infirmary, every medical equipment I could think of was there(and a lot stuff I couldn't identify). Some of the items include, monitors of every type, multiple crash carts, ventilators. rapid infuser, dialysis machine and must more. That have their own mini lab for blond work.

While we were in there another woman came in with a broken leg. They took her to the room across from the infirmary for x-rays and the placing of a cast.

Back to my dad's doctor visit, the consolation, steroids and three days of breathing treatment only ran us $175. We had travel insurance, but we didn't want to mess with hassle get filing a claim. We were very happy with the price because in the US the consolation alone would have been much more than that without insurance.

My mom fell on an escalator at the FLL airport a year ago while they were on their way to the NCL Escape. They visited the medical center when they got on board and the doctor there was able to clean out the wounds, give her stitches, and bandage her up, and give her some antibiotics and pain meds, but he requested that she come back I think twice before the cruise ended, which they did. Overall, my parents spent around $1k for the 3 visits. They submitted to their travel insurance when they got home and were reimbursed.

Highly recommend travel insurance! We buy it for every cruise even though we're healthy, as do my parents. You just never know what could happen that you need it. Small peace of mind.

My daughter ran into an eye hook on the the basketball court on the Breeze (used to hold up the volleyball net I think). She suffered a large and deep gash above the temple area of her head. To say there was blood going everywhere would be an understatement. Myself and a crew member immediately put a towel over it and the crew member helped rush her to the infirmary. Unfortunately we have plenty of experience with emergency rooms and I can say the service once we reached the infirmary was first class. The doctor saw her immediately and after cleaning the cut assessed it. What I appreciated was that he was very concerned with not leaving my daughter with a large scare and went out of his way to close the wound to minimize it. He could have just sewn it up without thought. He also tested her for a concussion, just in case. Both the doctor and the nurse checked on her during the rest of the cruise to make sure everything looked right. We had purchased insurance to cover such mishaps, but Carnival never charged us. In our opinion the service is outstanding.

DH needed to go with a terrible cough that appeared on day 5 of a 10 day. Charged $140 for the visit and somewhat less for a follow-up a couple of days later. Dr was very thorough and knowledgeable about DH's existing conditions. She was an Emergency Room doctor between assignments.

Here is the basics from Carnival:

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1136/~/medical-services

My mom passed out in her room one time and the doctor and nurse came to her room to get her and take her to the infirmary. She was there for about 6 hours as they ran some test and hooked her up to iv medication. She received I believe 2 medications to take for the remainder of the cruise. Here bill was a little over $400 which we thought was very good considering the time she had spent in there. An ER visit for that amount of time would have been much more. She did have travel insurance but you have to submit it once you get home. She submitted it and was reimbursed. We were very happy with her care. The doctor called the next day to check on her and the nurse called the day after that to make sure she was better.

Just keep in mind that while people have had various success with getting reimbursed by insurance companies, that any med bills on the ship must be paid in full before you disembark, whether it’s hundreds or thousands. So just make sure you have access to a high limit credit card just in case.

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My husband tripped going down the forward stairs on the Conquest and hurt his knee. The doctor didn’t bother to do an x-ray and told him it was just as sprain. Most likely because he wanted to downplay the whole situation so we wouldn’t sue. They did not charge us a dime.

In reality, his quad tendon, and part of the surrounding muscle, had torn off his knee. We found this out when we got home, after he went to the doctor because at that point his knee was swollen to twice it’s normal size. Blood had been pooling in his knee and our PCP said he was lucky he didn’t develop a blood clot, which could have killed him. He had surgery the day after.

So honestly, our one experience with a shipboard doctor wasn’t good. It wouldn’t stop me from cruising, or even cruising with Carnival, but I would be very nervous if I got seriously ill onboard. I don’t feel that the level of competence there is the same as what we receive at home.

This was on the Conquest in July of 2016.

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No specific service , I am going to have 2 children and a senior citizen with me and I am just curious as to if any of them fall ill , what is available .

 

 

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My cousin stubbed her toe getting on the tender when the boat was bobbing up and down. We went to the medic because it was sooo swollen. There was a posted sign at the ships medic office, I don’t remember the prices but the fees were really high. The nurse or CNA said it was something like $150 to see the dr, but asked if she could wiggle her toes. Since she could, it was likely not broken so we opted for free ice.

Another time my mom needed to use a nebulizer. She had her own medication, but didnt bring the machine (weight restrictions). To use the nebulizer was $75 for 15mins. Needless to say mom now has a lightweight portable one she bought just for cruises.

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The fees are very high. The cost for a consultation, lab test and antibiotics for a simple UTI was over $250. The total was added to my final bill and automatically charged to my credit card. Travel insurance paid 100% (although the paperwork they required was a pain.)

The medical center is equipped for bumps, bruises, upset tummy's and other minor issues. If there is a heart attack or something serious, they will evacuate you to the closest hospital.

They cannot do surgery, or anything complicated.

I had to get my head stitched up a few years back. Care and service was excellent. I was in and out in MUCH less time that I have ever been in a doctor's office or Emergency Room. Cost was much less than I would have incurred on land also. Travel insurance reimbursed me full cost.

My greatest fear with cruising is having to be evacuated to a foreign port hospital. It just scares the you know what out of me.

Hubby had a sinus infection and with antibiotics and 2 other cold meds it cost $160, charged to S&S. Turned in a claim to our health insurance when we got home and got some of our $ back.