Who should pay for noro treatment

[librarymom]

My mother just returned from the Crown Princess noro infected cruise. Yep, she caught it. She was charged over $100 for medical care. She has all kinds of insurance, but I sort of feel they shouldn't be charging passengers for this. Any opinion on this?

[cruzinchris]

My mother just returned from the Crown Princess noro infected cruise. Yep, she caught it. She was charged over $100 for medical care. She has all kinds of insurance, but I sort of feel they shouldn't be charging passengers for this. Any opinion on this?

 

Some health care providers will reimburse passengers who require medical care while traveling. Travel insurance would cover this, as well. I don't agree that Princess should assume the burden of medical care for its passengers. jmo

[Tralynn]

My mother just returned from the Crown Princess noro infected cruise. Yep, she caught it. She was charged over $100 for medical care. She has all kinds of insurance, but I sort of feel they shouldn't be charging passengers for this. Any opinion on this?

I'm so sorry your mother got ill on her cruise. Unfortunately, I don't think you can really hold the cruise line responsible. Just like any other hotel, resort, or large public space, they can only try to prevent a virus from spreading. It would be like catching a virus at the Hilton, then wanting the Hilton to buy your medicine. A cruise is no different than any other vacation destination. The spread of viruses are ultimately caused by the passengers on the cruise, not the cruise line. All you can do is try your best to take precautions.

[Cruise Junky]

It's not the ships fault. Ships don't have Noro, a passenger brings it in and other passengers spread it. It's no different from catching a cold from someone.

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

I think for the last few years ever cruise we have taken one of us has caught the flu, be it from the airline, the bus or the ship, the hazard of travelling with loads of folks a few of them will be ill,

 

not the fault of the airline the bus company or the cruiseline

 

so for noro on a ship sorry hazard of modern travel

 

 

yours shogun

[Posaune]

I just returned from Ruby Princess and had almost $200 in medical charges. I have paid for the services and will file a claim against my medical insurance and then any remaining charges against my travel insurance. I was happy to pay the fee for medical services rendered. I was pleased they had a wonderful medical center to take care of us. A passenger brought the disease on board, this is not Princess fault. They lost tons of money on shore excursions and other items we did not purchase during those lost days. The medical fees I was charged were VERY reasonable.

[zacc]

Sorry your mom got sick.......but......I don't think there is any reason why Princess should pay her medical bill. She may have been habouring the virus when she boarded, she may have come in contact with it in a port, an airport, a plane, a cab, the list can go on and on. This is not confined to ships. It is a virus find in all enviroments and you may come in contact with it in everything you do each and every day. Princess, just like every other cruise line does, addressed the issue headon and did everything possible to contain the situation. She was rendered a service and payment is due. I will be boarding the Crown on the 11th and should I get sick fully expect to be billed. Hope your Mom is feeling better!

[irukandjisting]

How it is - the patiient pays

 

Quite cheap really

 

A pax on an Aus ship the other week paid 1,000 dollars for one bag of IV normal saline, 2 injections of a/bs and 2 injections of morphine plus a few orals

 

Diverticulitis - recuurent - had all the meds at home :rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

No overnight stay in sickbay...

[paul929207]

I prefer to be charged and get reimbursed by insurance. Eliminates any worry that the bottom line is being considered by a doctor or nurse

[Zukini]

It's not the ships fault. Ships don't have Noro, a passenger brings it in and other passengers spread it. It's no different from catching a cold from someone.

 

Having caught Noro on the Star Princess last year, I have mixed feelings about it. The cruise line wants people to report symptoms as quickly as possible in order to nip an outbreak in the bud, but the double whammy of being confined to your cabin AND getting clobbered with medical expenses is a real disincentive to self-report. Between my wife and I, our medical expenses for Noro came close to $400.

 

At the time, I had researched some threads here on CruiseCritic that indicated that RCCL routinely forgives medical charges for Noro. I brought that up to the Captain's Circle Host on board, and she had never heard of such a thing. In any event, those medical expenses were eventually reimbursed through our travel insurance.

 

What I would love to see is the restriction of self-service in the buffet area become a regular policy...I'm convinced that's where Noro is most widely spread. While expensive from a labor standpoint for the ship, I think it might be easily offset by considering how much revenue is lost during an outbreak.

[kayhold]

My mother just returned from the Crown Princess noro infected cruise. Yep, she caught it. She was charged over $100 for medical care. She has all kinds of insurance, but I sort of feel they shouldn't be charging passengers for this. Any opinion on this?

 

She could have gotten it at home, too.

 

Just file for reimbursement through her health insurance.

[librarymom]

Thanks for all the opinions, and I'm glad they are all pretty similar. My mom has insurance, and even if she didn't, she doesn't mind paying (she only minds getting sick). However, her friend who traveled with her is mad and intends to contact the cruise line. I wasn't sure how this is typically handled. My mom is doing better, but she had a miserable cruise:(

[Crzn-Life]

My mother just returned from the Crown Princess noro infected cruise. Yep, she caught it. She was charged over $100 for medical care. She has all kinds of insurance, but I sort of feel they shouldn't be charging passengers for this. Any opinion on this?

 

If you fly and get sick, the airline doens't pay; if you catch the flu from your kid who caught it at school, the school doesn't pay; so why would one expect Princess to pay your medical costs? If you purchased insurance it should cover the medical costs if your regular insurance won't pay.

 

Sadly it's contagious passengers who typically bring it on board and pass it on to their fellow passengers. Or one can catch it while in some of the ports and bring it back on board to share with everyone.

 

As much as I would hate to have to pay medical fees in addition to the cost of the cruise, I don't believe it is the cruise line's responsibility. Now if you ask do I think the cruise line should pay for for meals if you are required to wait hours to board because they delayed boarding to clean the ship, the answer is yes I do because the meals for that day, i.e. lunch and dinner were paid for in the cruise cost.

[Loonbeam]

Look at it from another angle. In a US emergency room, the same treatment would probably run $1000-$2000 with a deductible easily over $100 depending on your plan. And they don't charge anything for the cleaning, special room delivery, etc which also helps you recover faster..

 

I think Princess does a pretty good job of keeping the cost low to encourage people to report.

 

Personally, however, I think anyone who is knowingly sick and does not either report or self quarantine should have to pony up for everyone.

[ONT-CA]

$100. Charge

 

What an incentive to not reporting Noro to the infirmary when you know you have it, thus allowing it to spread throughout the ship.

[Coral]

I don't have an opinion either way on this.

 

Though - Princess used to pay for medical services for norovirus passengers. There used to be a note in the stateroom which said if you had symptoms, to call and you would not be charged for medical services provided (for norovirus).

 

I am not sure at what point they stopped doing this but a few years ago, they did pay.

[JimmyVWine]

People are too quick to assume that "the hotel doesn't pay", or "the airline doesn't pay". In our tort system, the party at fault pays. It could be the hotel or airline if you can prove it is their fault. But therein lies the problem. Try proving it. If you go to a restaurant and get food poisoning, the restaurant most certainly does pay. If you go to a hotel and get legionairre's disease, the hotel most certainly does pay. There is nothing in the law that provides for immunity of these entities. If you can prove fault, you will be awarded damages.

 

But the problem with noro is that it would be impossible to prove how you got it. But if it can be definitively proven to have originated from a crew member or the galley, then the cruise line would have to pay. But because cruise lines are foreign corporations, getting damages is really hard. Bottom line.....the cruise line gets a pass not because there is some unwritten rule that says: "You're on vacation and service providers are never at fault". Instead, the cruise line gets a pass because proof of causation is virtually impossible and it is more likely than not that a passenger was at fault as opposed to the cruise line.

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

I thought first visit only for noro type illness was free, did this change

 

 

yours Shogun

[Loonbeam]

There are also some potential liability issues with Princess footing the bill. If there is an issue with treatment Princess could insert itself into the liability chain.

 

I don't have an opinion either way on this.

 

Though - Princess used to pay for medical services for norovirus passengers. There used to be a note in the stateroom which said if you had symptoms, to call and you would not be charged for medical services provided (for norovirus).

 

I am not sure at what point they stopped doing this but a few years ago, they did pay.

[preschool teacher]

How can the cruise line be expected to pay for anyone's medical expenses..... Unless they like throw someone down the stairs or something.....

[ONT-CA]

Assuming the worst scenario, the 400 passengers who came down with the virus would have yielded the infirmary $40,000. But should the initial and then the high number of casualties be attributed to those avoiding the $100 charge, the value of the bad publicity attributed to Carnival Corp in the last 48 hours far far exceeds any revenue. Better to offer free assistance and mandatory quarantine to prevent the epidemic.

[swedish1]

It would not be Princess paying but perhaps Princess's Liability Insurance may pay?

[cantwaitfornextcruise]

Unless your Mum lived in a clean air bubble before boarding, the virus could have been caught anywhere, she may have unwittingly been the carrier. My insurance company will reimburse any costs over £50 need to check the policy

[erber]

We are traveling in a couple of weeks on the Ruby and will bring tylenol, advil, and Imodium with us in case we get sick. We are perfectly happy quarantining ourselves in our room should we come down with this illness but do not want to incur medical costs if not necessary.

 

What exactly is the medical center providing for $100 +.

[Coral]

Hi All

 

I thought first visit only for noro type illness was free, did this change

 

 

yours Shogun

 

Yes. Not sure when........