LIVE FROM SILVERSEA SPIRIT- October 23, 2010- Lisbon to Barbados

[cechase]

We arrived home 2 am this morning! Great trip. Will write more when we surface. Wonderful group of passengers including 28 cc'ers. Saw many familiar faces among passengers and crew!

 

According to an officer on board, Charlie got out of intensive care several days ago and is spending some time in Tenerife in order to be fully recovered before heading home. He is a true gentleman and a very interesting man. We look forward to traveling with him some time in the future.

 

Bob and Victoria, thank you. It ended up being almost two weeks hospitalization with my having very little ability to communicate because of the language difference. The TV in my room after I was moved out of ICU had nothing but spanish speaking channels. So, I was able to down load individual issues of American newspapers on my Kindle.

 

After four days of hearing from no-one the calls started coming - and the healing process proceeded.

 

I really miss the two of you along with our little dinner group of 8 - you folk were so interesting as well as being fun people to cruise with. And thanks to all of the others for their kind words.

[oceanwave001]

For Jennifer and all of those other lovely passengers whom I miss, including but not limited to Michael and Katie, Philip, Anne & Neal, the General's wife, and our entire cruise critic group - I am finally home as of midnight Wednesday night.

 

I am a good example of why it is important to purchase insurance, which I always do. On, Wednesday, October 27th. I had been ill all day, and had a bite to eat in my suite. Michael called to see if I was alright and I explained to him what was going on, and he suggested calling the doctor which I did. I was taken to the infirmary and after some blood work and examination was diagnosed with bronchial pneumonia and was told that if I remained on the ship I would die, because they did not have the facilities to treat me during a 6 day crossing of the Atlantic. So, I was taken by ambulance first thing when Silver Spirit docked in Tenerife to a hospital and spent 4 or five days in their intensive care unit, and then in an individual room. Experience is really different, no language comprehension, very sick, scared and wondering if anyone knew that I was stuck on a remote island off the coast of Morocco and only 8,000 miles away from home.

 

My youngest son, Jeff advised of the situation by Silversea was great, as was the repatriation firm used by SS's insurance carrier [travel insurance]. Early in the morning of yesterday morning, I was picked up by an ambulance and taken to the airport on Tenerife. I was placed on a small Falcon One jet ambulance with doctor and nurse and flown to Madrid. There, I was picked up by another ambulance and they took me to the Madrid airport and meet my nurse Maureen. We flew in business class to JFK, and there met my nurse Karyn and flew first class to San Francisco. Then was driven by limousine with Karyn to my home in Sparks, NV and arrived there about midnight Wednesday.

 

What an adventure! Scary, but good to know that there are people out there who know how to get you home safely from remote places. Had the right and good treatment from the doctors, and am now on the bend although still weak.

 

Miss that great CC'er group. Did Bernard get married?

 

 

Charlie,

 

Michael and I are soooo glad to hear that you are back home and on the mend :D Such a relief! I have been constantly watching this board for news from you.

 

We knew that after we set sail from Tenerife and you weren't in the bar at 7pm something had happened. Mike went to call your room and they had no record of you at reception and that is when we were told you had been taken off the ship. At first they would not release any information to us, but eventually we were told that you were in a hospital in ICU. Needless to say we were all extremely worried about you. We had no idea what had happened, and they would not release any personal information, but several days into the sea days we got word that the ships doctor had spoken to you and that you were going to be OK.

 

We missed you dearly and the cruise was definitely not the same without you! Hope you heard our prayers and felt the good vibes that were being sent to you from the middle of the Atlantic. Every night we had a toast to you for a quick recovery.

 

I will get on the phone now and let Anne and Neil know that you are home.

 

Katie & Mike

 

P.S. Michael wants to know when he will get upgraded from Chief Inspector? :D

[Goldens4]

Charlie, glad to hear you are home. You scared the daylights out of us. Will email you in a few days.

[duct tape]

Charlie, so glad to hear you are safe and sound at home now. Stay well!

[MaryB1]

Charlie - so glad you are now on familiar soil. - what a frightening ordeal! We had snippets of information throughout the cruise and now can breath a sigh of relief. I truly hope that we meet up on a future cruise, I need you to help me straighten out the butler. Best wishes for a full recovery.

Mary and Ken

[Focused1]

It was great to hear that you are doing well and back home, Charlie. Jennifer, Philip, Mike and Katie, Neil and Anne and I spoke of you everyday--even drank a few toasts in your honor. We regularly inquired about you at the reception desk. So, even though your stay was short on the ship, I certainly enjoyed your sense of humor and perspectives. Hope you see you again on another cruise. Take care and heal well!

 

Joy

:p:p:p

[DGF]

Charlie

 

Thanks for your detail notes. Agree fully with the need to always purchase insurance; but thanks to your experience I am going to have a discussion with our corporate insurance broker to ensure our coverage is high enough to cover all of those air ambulance and nurses in attendance

 

Best wishes and speedy recovery

 

DEAN

[cechase]

Charlie,

 

Michael and I are soooo glad to hear that you are back home and on the mend :D Such a relief! I have been constantly watching this board for news from you.

 

We knew that after we set sail from Tenerife and you weren't in the bar at 7pm something had happened. Mike went to call your room and they had no record of you at reception and that is when we were told you had been taken off the ship. At first they would not release any information to us, but eventually we were told that you were in a hospital in ICU. Needless to say we were all extremely worried about you. We had no idea what had happened, and they would not release any personal information, but several days into the sea days we got word that the ships doctor had spoken to you and that you were going to be OK.

 

We missed you dearly and the cruise was definitely not the same without you! Hope you heard our prayers and felt the good vibes that were being sent to you from the middle of the Atlantic. Every night we had a toast to you for a quick recovery.

 

I will get on the phone now and let Anne and Neil know that you are home.

 

Katie & Mike

 

P.S. Michael wants to know when he will get upgraded from Chief Inspector? :D

 

Katie and Mike, thank you so much, and yes I did feel the vibes from your prayers while all alone in the icu and not able to converse with anyone. The two of you were such a lovely part of our party of 8, and there is no way I can ever ever forget the youth and vibrancy as well as intellect that both of you brought to our conversations. God, we had more laughs and fun that anyone should be permitted.

 

I just got a call from Neil at my home and am still stunned but terribly delighted.

 

I don't know if you realize that Michael's phone call to my suite that Wednesday evening worked out to be the difference between my living and dying. When he called and inquired about me, he was the one who told me to call the ship's doctor. When I did, the prognosis was such that I could not continue on the ship because they did not have the necessary facilities to keep me alive for 6 sea days. Michael thank you for caring enough to call, and am glad that I listened to your sage advice.

 

Therefore, Michael kneel upon bended knee and in the limited powers that I have, you are now Sir Michael Inspector of the entire realm [except for rubber chickens]! That Mike will be for another cruise.

[Emtbsam]

Charlie - We are thrilled to hear that you are home safe and sound. You were very much in our thoughts and prayers. I don't know if Jennifer is reading cruisecritic.com while on board, so I hope you have been in direct contact with her.

 

Your comments about insurance and the way your were treated are good to hear. Let's hope that none of us needs it in the future!

 

Take care, and stay well. We hope to see you on a future cruise.

 

Regards,

Bob & Victoria

[Bon.Vivant]

For Jennifer and all of those other lovely passengers whom I miss, including but not limited to Michael and Katie, Philip, Anne & Neal, the General's wife, and our entire cruise critic group - I am finally home as of midnight Wednesday night.

 

I am a good example of why it is important to purchase insurance, which I always do. On, Wednesday, October 27th. I had been ill all day, and had a bite to eat in my suite. Michael called to see if I was alright and I explained to him what was going on, and he suggested calling the doctor which I did. I was taken to the infirmary and after some blood work and examination was diagnosed with bronchial pneumonia and was told that if I remained on the ship I would die, because they did not have the facilities to treat me during a 6 day crossing of the Atlantic. So, I was taken by ambulance first thing when Silver Spirit docked in Tenerife to a hospital and spent 4 or five days in their intensive care unit, and then in an individual room. Experience is really different, no language comprehension, very sick, scared and wondering if anyone knew that I was stuck on a remote island off the coast of Morocco and only 8,000 miles away from home.

 

My youngest son, Jeff advised of the situation by Silversea was great, as was the repatriation firm used by SS's insurance carrier [travel insurance]. Early in the morning of yesterday morning, I was picked up by an ambulance and taken to the airport on Tenerife. I was placed on a small Falcon One jet ambulance with doctor and nurse and flown to Madrid. There, I was picked up by another ambulance and they took me to the Madrid airport and meet my nurse Maureen. We flew in business class to JFK, and there met my nurse Karyn and flew first class to San Francisco. Then was driven by limousine with Karyn to my home in Sparks, NV and arrived there about midnight Wednesday.

 

What an adventure! Scary, but good to know that there are people out there who know how to get you home safely from remote places. Had the right and good treatment from the doctors, and am now on the bend although still weak.

 

Miss that great CC'er group. Did Bernard get married?

 

Cechase: Although we've never met, I've read some of your posts on this board, and was saddened to hear that your holiday was cut short by illness and you had to be admitted to hospital. So glad to hear that you made it through your ordeal and are on the mend!

Best wishes!

[MikeCanadia]

Katie and Mike, thank you so much, and yes I did feel the vibes from your prayers while all alone in the icu and not able to converse with anyone. The two of you were such a lovely part of our party of 8, and there is no way I can ever ever forget the youth and vibrancy as well as intellect that both of you brought to our conversations. God, we had more laughs and fun that anyone should be permitted.

 

I just got a call from Neil at my home and am still stunned but terribly delighted.

 

I don't know if you realize that Michael's phone call to my suite that Wednesday evening worked out to be the difference between my living and dying. When he called and inquired about me, he was the one who told me to call the ship's doctor. When I did, the prognosis was such that I could not continue on the ship because they did not have the necessary facilities to keep me alive for 6 sea days. Michael thank you for caring enough to call, and am glad that I listened to your sage advice.

 

Therefore, Michael kneel upon bended knee and in the limited powers that I have, you are now Sir Michael Inspector of the entire realm [except for rubber chickens]! That Mike will be for another cruise.

Hi Charlie,

 

Thought I'd join the forum and the thread. First of let me say how great it was meeting you and to hear you're going to make a good recovery. Further to that I would also like to thank you for your kind words but I can't take credit for saving your life. I may have made the call but it was the group as a whole that came to the decision that we needed to figure out where you'd gotten to, or not in this case. ;)

 

Having said all that, thanks for promoting me to such a high level of society and I look forward to future opportunities to enter the circle of rubber chickens! :)

 

And to the rest of the group (too many to mention), it was really great meeting you all and I hope that we can stay in contact. It was a great trip.

 

Mike

[dusababy]

For Jennifer and all of those other lovely passengers whom I miss, including but not limited to Michael and Katie, Philip, Anne & Neal, the General's wife, and our entire cruise critic group - I am finally home as of midnight Wednesday night.

 

I am a good example of why it is important to purchase insurance, which I always do. On, Wednesday, October 27th. I had been ill all day, and had a bite to eat in my suite. Michael called to see if I was alright and I explained to him what was going on, and he suggested calling the doctor which I did. I was taken to the infirmary and after some blood work and examination was diagnosed with bronchial pneumonia and was told that if I remained on the ship I would die, because they did not have the facilities to treat me during a 6 day crossing of the Atlantic. So, I was taken by ambulance first thing when Silver Spirit docked in Tenerife to a hospital and spent 4 or five days in their intensive care unit, and then in an individual room. Experience is really different, no language comprehension, very sick, scared and wondering if anyone knew that I was stuck on a remote island off the coast of Morocco and only 8,000 miles away from home.

 

My youngest son, Jeff advised of the situation by Silversea was great, as was the repatriation firm used by SS's insurance carrier [travel insurance]. Early in the morning of yesterday morning, I was picked up by an ambulance and taken to the airport on Tenerife. I was placed on a small Falcon One jet ambulance with doctor and nurse and flown to Madrid. There, I was picked up by another ambulance and they took me to the Madrid airport and meet my nurse Maureen. We flew in business class to JFK, and there met my nurse Karyn and flew first class to San Francisco. Then was driven by limousine with Karyn to my home in Sparks, NV and arrived there about midnight Wednesday.

 

What an adventure! Scary, but good to know that there are people out there who know how to get you home safely from remote places. Had the right and good treatment from the doctors, and am now on the bend although still weak.

 

Miss that great CC'er group. Did Bernard get married?

 

Charlie --

 

Good news you are alive and well at home. I've followed your postings (lurker) for quite some time and have felt admiration and affinity -- I too lost my beloved husband companion in 2005, but have continued to enjoy many SS cruises since then.

 

I'm curious about your reference to Silversea's insurance carrier. Since I'm aging, I too always buy trip insurance and recently through Silversea's carrier. Please clarify your recent experience -- SS or private? I hope this does not violate CC policy of advertising. I'm not asking for a referral, just clarification of your very satisfactory experience.

 

Thanks for your help. Take care of yourself -- get well -- and back on the water.....

Mary Ann .

[cechase]

Charlie --

 

Good news you are alive and well at home. I've followed your postings (lurker) for quite some time and have felt admiration and affinity -- I too lost my beloved husband companion in 2005, but have continued to enjoy many SS cruises since then.

 

I'm curious about your reference to Silversea's insurance carrier. Since I'm aging, I too always buy trip insurance and recently through Silversea's carrier. Please clarify your recent experience -- SS or private? I hope this does not violate CC policy of advertising. I'm not asking for a referral, just clarification of your very satisfactory experience.

 

Thanks for your help. Take care of yourself -- get well -- and back on the water.....

Mary Ann .

 

To be honest, I really did not pay attention to the insurance limits on SS's travel policy - until I got home. We are charged a premium which is 10% of the fare for the cruise for the insurance. I have now found out that SS's policy covers $50,000.00 for repatriation to the passenger's home, $10,000 for medical and an amount for trip interruption - the amount of your fare for the portion of the cruise that you were unable to use. In my case the repatriation coverage was very important, because I was flown in a Medical Ambulance jet to Madrid, and then flew business class with a nurse to JFK, and then flown from JFK to SFO with a nurse, and then driven in a limo with a nurse to my home in Sparks, Nevada. The medical covered my hospital bill for 13 days on Tenerife, but not the huge amount that the SS doctor charge me for 11 hours in the infirmary. This itinerary was required because I was on a relatively high dosage of oxygen.

 

With Monday quarterbacking, I would have increased the medical insurance coverage - although part of it will be covered with my medicare and medicare supplement coverage. However, the repatriation is so important, particularly when you are stuck on a remote island off of the coast of Morocco.

 

Hope that the above helps.

[duct tape]

MedJet........

[dougburns]

We've carried MedJet Assist for many years. However, I am not renewing this year because the cost and limitations after you pass 75 are, IMHO, excessive. We have extra insurance via our VISA card, since we pay for the cruise with it.

[dusababy]

Thank you SO MUCH CHARLIE. When I read your original posts describing the repatriation all I could see was $$$$$ -- breaking the bank -- but life-saving.

 

And Doug, I too pay with VISA but I hadn't considered all the elements of Charlie's experience yet to wonder if SS insurance is enough. Obviously you have researched this and feel adequately protected.

 

I'll put together all the pieces now.

 

Thanks to all -- and Charlie -- continue to heal.

 

Mary Ann

[DebbieH103]

Hi, Charlie, Enzo had informed us onboard of your going home, and Jennifer later got an email. We were both worried and watching for your return. Nice to see you back online and are so very grateful you received proper care.

 

My tiny drama certainly pales in comparison to your very frightening event, but I also was helped by fellow passengers. I just want to say thank you to all fellow caring CCers and lurkers and other nice people onboard the ships, and I think they are a large part of why we all go on CC.

 

I am very big on risk management, and thanks for pointing out importance of insurance. I would be glad to speak to anyone offline about all insurance for hours just the topic in general. Understanding what you purchase and how to use it are important.

 

I think Jennifer is finding it lengthy to load pages, but she has 4 days in LAX, I believe before boarding the Cloud.

[wripro]

Imo, it's always better to purchase insurance from a third party than from the cruise line.

[philipb]

Charlie - I had dinner with the ship's doctor a few nights ago and got an update report on your progress. By that time you were out of intensive care and making a good recovery, but I am now so relieved you are home. HOW WE MISSED YOU!!! You would have loved the rest of the cruise. We had such a fun time. What a lovely group of people.

The follow-on cruise (which finished yesterday) was not half as much fun. Jennifer and I (plus Bernard and Uncle Alec) were the only survivors from the CC group.

I got home today from Barbados - a very good and stress-free journey. I am off to a London hospital tomorrow for a (pre-planned) operation, but should be home again the next day if all goes well. I will write to the group by e-mail later in the week. Charlie, can you send me your e-mail address? Mine is on my 'signature strip'.

[cechase]

We've carried MedJet Assist for many years. However, I am not renewing this year because the cost and limitations after you pass 75 are, IMHO, excessive. We have extra insurance via our VISA card, since we pay for the cruise with it.

 

Doug: I paid for this cruise with a Visa MileagePlus Signature Card. How would I be covered or is that something extra?

[cechase]

Charlie - I had dinner with the ship's doctor a few nights ago and got an update report on your progress. By that time you were out of intensive care and making a good recovery, but I am now so relieved you are home. HOW WE MISSED YOU!!! You would have loved the rest of the cruise. We had such a fun time. What a lovely group of people.

The follow-on cruise (which finished yesterday) was not half as much fun. Jennifer and I (plus Bernard and Uncle Alec) were the only survivors from the CC group.

I got home today from Barbados - a very good and stress-free journey. I am off to a London hospital tomorrow for a (pre-planned) operation, but should be home again the next day if all goes well. I will write to the group by e-mail later in the week. Charlie, can you send me your e-mail address? Mine is on my 'signature strip'.

 

Thank you Philip - you were such an integral part of our little wonderful group, and I miss you and all of them. It is cechase@charter.net.

 

Still weak as a kitten, and friends will be driving me to some medical appointments next week.

 

God did we have fun and wonderful laughs.

[DGF]

We've carried MedJet Assist for many years. However, I am not renewing this year because the cost and limitations after you pass 75 are, IMHO, excessive. We have extra insurance via our VISA card, since we pay for the cruise with it.

 

Doug

 

if you could help out on this one. In Canada when over 65 I was told I could not use the Visa protection that went with my CIBC Aeroplan card

 

Thanks

 

DEAN

[dougburns]

Until age 75 MedJetAssist is a great thing to have. Most VISA coverages only apply to airline issues and trip delay/cancellation issues, as well as accident protection vis-a-vis airlines and other public conveyances. You should check with the card issuer as to what's covered in your case.

[DGF]

Until age 75 MedJetAssist is a great thing to have. Most VISA coverages only apply to airline issues and trip delay/cancellation issues, as well as accident protection vis-a-vis airlines and other public conveyances. You should check with the card issuer as to what's covered in your case.

 

Thanks. Will check out MedJetAssist

 

DEAN

[cechase]

Thanks. Will check out MedJetAssist

 

DEAN

 

Dean and Gayle: Think that I forgot in my posts to mention that my Silversea travel insurance included $50,000.00 for repatriation. Until this happened, never really thought about obtaining travel insurance coverage from a source other than the cruise line. Think that was a mistake, particularly when it comes to the medical costs covered by the insurance.

 

For all my dear friends, am now driving and back to full health. Thank you all, and I am so humbled to have so many lovely people email me and call me at home. Am a very lucky man.