Broken Bones on board

[TxChick]

Just curious, we purchase insurance thru Insuremytrip.com but my main concern is if my daughter were to fall and break an arm, etc. Is there Xray and casting materials on the ship or would I have to take care of this in a port? Frankly, depending on where I am I would just assume splint it and wait till I got home.

 

Anyone with any experience? I would think that falling and breaking an arm would be a pretty common occurence on the ship.

[firefly333]

I know a guy who broke his toe and found out if you have insurance thru the cruiseline, they do not charge you at the infirmary onboard. He said the light in the bathroom burned out and he slipped in there.

 

For sure they can take xrays. I dont know if they can cast it or what they did for his toe. They do have xray equipment.

[KirkWN737]

All Carnival ships built after 1997 have X-Ray capabilities.

 

One of my coworker's wife fell and broke her arm on a Holland America ship a couple years ago. He said that they have a partnership with the University of Texas Hospital (I think... Some university in Texas) to send x-rays to for professional radiological consulting. They ended up putting a cast on her.

 

 

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[mrpayroll]

Yes they will put a cast on it. ( they may mis-read the x-ray though ) 1st hand experience on this......

[TxChick]

awesome, thanks. Now that DD is old enough to do the waterslides by herself, even with water shoes I can see this happening. She's clumsy as hell, lol

[rkacruiser]

If an accident takes place on the ship or on a shore excursion bought through the ship, whether you have purchased insurance through the cruise line or not, your on-board medical bills will be covered by the cruise line. You will be asked to sign a waiver for this to happen, however. This was my experience when I was injured on a Holland America shore excursion. Had several weeks of medical attention aboard the Amsterdam and paid nothing. And, the medical care was excellent!

[Martini Mom]

My son went to the infirmary for a very high fever, etc. Granted it wasn't a broken bone, but I wanted to let you know that they treated him very well. The doc and nurse were both very good and helpful.

[BusyFLmom]

Yes they will put a cast on it. ( they may mis-read the x-ray though ) 1st hand experience on this......

 

This can happen anywhere. All depends on who is reading it and how well the person was positioned for the xray ;)

[Honeyroastedmelnut]

Yes they will put a cast on it. ( they may mis-read the x-ray though ) 1st hand experience on this......

 

Mistakes with x-rays are very common in ER's as well as on cruise ships. I was once told by a doctor in a fracture clinic (after having an ER diagnosed my broken ankle as just a sprain) that ER's only correctly diagnose a broken bone about 33% of the time ... usually the very obvious brakes.

[supermom123]

So is it more recommended to get insurance through Carnival or an outside source? We leave in 7 days, am I too late? The main coverage I would be interested in would be like OP for accidents that may happen either on board or in port on excursions. Thanks!

[Martini Mom]

The doc onboard gave us the info needed to bill our insurance for an "out of area" service. This was without trip insurance, just billing medical insurance. Btw, they did not price gouge. I work in the medical field and I felt it was very reasonable.

[Cruzface]

In 2009, on our first full day at sea, my son broke his wrist when he slipped on water on the basketball court. We went to the infirmery, they x-rayed, whacked him with morphine, set it and casted it. No trip insurance. No charge at all. Probably because they feared a lawsuit. I had no interest in suing anyone. You play b-ball on a cruise, you may fall and break your arm.

 

I was very proud of my son, he didn't let it ruin his cruise. We adjusted our excursions and did things we probably would never have done. Weirdest thing was that a few nights later, we were in the theater and we recognized someone. It turned out to be my son's orthopedic surgeon!:eek: (He is an athlete and has had many injuries over the years). His doctor checked him out and told us to bring him in first thing when we got back. He said they did a great job setting the bone.

 

I was very impressed with the facility. As good as any ER. Also we ran into John Heald and he sent both our boys ships on a stick and signed pictures of the Valor. Classy.

[divngmedic]

Just curious, we purchase insurance thru Insuremytrip.com but my main concern is if my daughter were to fall and break an arm, etc. Is there Xray and casting materials on the ship or would I have to take care of this in a port? Frankly, depending on where I am I would just assume splint it and wait till I got home.

 

Anyone with any experience? I would think that falling and breaking an arm would be a pretty common occurence on the ship.

My main concern would be if they gave out pain medication to make it back to the states. I have broken enough bone to know how painful they can be.

[fruitbat]

As the world's unluckiest cruiser, I've broken bones on cruises twice, once on a Royal Caribbean cruise and once on a Carnival cruise. (Leg and arm, respectively). Both times it was on shore excursions, one through the ship and one not. Both times we had cruise insurance. The excursion that was through the ship, I had to stay overnight at the hospital on St. Marten and fly to the next port to meet the ship. The excursion company paid for the hospital but not for the flight. Once I was on board, the ship supplied a wheelchair and gave me some free internet time to contact folks at home. They also called to check on me several times.

 

On the Carnival ship, I was on a private excursion. I got bandaged up by a local medicine man and went thru the rest of the tour b/c I didn't want to stay overnight anywhere again! The excursion guide stopped at a local pharmacy to pick up some pain meds (not as restricted as in the US). We still had to pay full price for the excursion. As soon as I got back I went to the infirmary. They X-rayed, confirmed a break, and put me into a twilight state to set it as well as they could. They couldn't actually operate. I did have to have surgery on it when I got back.

 

Both times, the cruise companies took good care of me. I discovered that ships are about as accessible as it's possible to be. I learned to walk on crutches while the floor was swaying. I learned to eat filet mignon with my left hand. Life's pretty good...

[KRW71]

Pain meds are a must for a broken bone.

now everyone is getting me worried about breaking something on our cruise.

On a vacation this past Summer I broke my foot just by stepping on uneven ground.

 

I really need to get that trip ins.

[CWcruisers]

Yes they will put a cast on it. ( they may mis-read the x-ray though ) 1st hand experience on this......

 

Me too, and two other friends. Two of us with broken wrist and one with a broken ankle, all told they were not broken.

 

Mine was my own fault, riding ATV's, but the other two happened on the ship, one from a freshly mopped bathroom floor with no warning sign and the other from falling down the stairs going to muster drill.

 

I guess now reading previous post that it can happen, but, when you break a bone at the beginning of the cruise as my friend that fell down the stairs did, it can make for a very long cruise when you're told it's just a sprain and it's not.

[The Canuks]

We took a family cruise 4 years ago on NCL. On our third day my mother fell, and broke her hip. While the ship had x-ray equipment, and diagnosed the break, they could not assist her. She had to leave the ship as soon as we got to the closest port, which was fortunately Barbados. She ended up staying a week there with my father and brother, and was then air ambulance lifted back to Canada. Thank goodness they had insurance otherwise it could have bankrupted them.

 

The Canuks

[live2cruise2011]

My son was 8 when he fell in the kids club on rccl took him to the ship dr he said that it needed stitches but due to the fact we were in international waters it had to be my son's decision he refused. No stitches done just got a gauze hat for the remaining four days of cruising. I could not believe it...

[boaterette]

Just want to point out that even though you have insurance you will still need to pay for everything upfront. Then you submit paperwork to be reimbursed. A lot of people I talk to do not realize this.

[CanWeGoYet?]

So is it more recommended to get insurance through Carnival or an outside source? We leave in 7 days, am I too late? The main coverage I would be interested in would be like OP for accidents that may happen either on board or in port on excursions. Thanks!

 

I think outside insurance gives better coverage than Carnival. Since it's after final payment I don't even know if Carnival offers it. I think you can still get it through Insuremytrip.com or squaremouth.com. It's too late for a policy that covers pre-existing condition, but it sounds like you weren't looking for that anyhow.

[CanWeGoYet?]

My son was 8 when he fell in the kids club on rccl took him to the ship dr he said that it needed stitches but due to the fact we were in international waters it had to be my son's decision he refused. No stitches done just got a gauze hat for the remaining four days of cruising. I could not believe it...

 

Wow. An 8 year old can consent for himself? I would have been surprised too.

[Cruzface]

My son was 8 when he fell in the kids club on rccl took him to the ship dr he said that it needed stitches but due to the fact we were in international waters it had to be my son's decision he refused. No stitches done just got a gauze hat for the remaining four days of cruising. I could not believe it...

 

That is ridiculous. I would have told my son either you consent or you will be grounded.