"Hospital" on the ship

[sweetcurves]

So I know there's a medical center on the ship (I'll be on Freedom), but I have a few questions.

 

1) If I purchase Carnival's insurance, will any medical help I need be covered?

2) The doctor or nurse or whatever can give me an IV, yes? no?

 

I have some medical conditions (still working on firm diagnoses) that I hope will be under control by the time I cruise but I could end up in a state of dehydration/mega pain and I want to make sure that if I need one, an IV would be available for me.

[Ken076]

So I know there's a medical center on the ship (I'll be on Freedom), but I have a few questions.

 

1) If I purchase Carnival's insurance, will any medical help I need be covered?

2) The doctor or nurse or whatever can give me an IV, yes? no?

 

I have some medical conditions (still working on firm diagnoses) that I hope will be under control by the time I cruise but I could end up in a state of dehydration/mega pain and I want to make sure that if I need one, an IV would be available for me.

 

If you use Carnival's Trip Protection Plan, it will not cover any condition that initially occurred in the 60 days preceding your purchase of the plan. If a condition occurred before the 60 days but was under control with no rx changes during the 60 days, it would be covered.

 

If you have some pre-existing conditions you might want a 3rd party policy that has "waiver of pre-existing conditions" - to get that coverage you have to purchase the Policy w/in 14-21 days of booking your cruise (except for CSA which you can purchase up to Final Payment).

 

Also be aware that you have to pay for the treatments (usually charged to your S&S Account) then submit a claim.

 

ken

[golfadj]

I believe you could if medically necessary have an IV but would call and make absolutely sure first before you even book the cruise.

[sweetcurves]

Thanks for the info Ken, I appreciate it!

[GRAMMYTAN]

On the old Carnival Holiday I had to visit the medical office on the ship and required an IV and they were able to administer it on board. They did a great job by the way. After taking me back to my cabin that night in a wheelchair they came back the next morning with a wheelchair to take me back to the medical office to remove the catheter. The total charge was around $80 - $90, much less than a visit to a hospital emergency room would have been even with my insurance co-pay.

[jonbgd]

2) The doctor or nurse or whatever can give me an IV, yes? no?

 

.

Whether insurance will pay for it not sure BUT.....

YES the MD or RN should be able to start a line if you need one.

[sweetcurves]

I believe you could if medically necessary have an IV but would call and make absolutely sure first before you even book the cruise.

 

My cruise was booked in January and my condition/symptoms have worsened greatly since.

 

I am hoping for a diagnosis at the end of August. I mean it's only 6 days at sea and I can go a long time without heading to the ER here on land so I don't think I'll need the medical center but I just want to make sure I am well aware of how things work and have coverage just in case.

[sbnuggie]

You're lucky in the fact that Ken076 responded to your posts. Been on CC for a few years and he is EXTREMELY knowledgeable about medical/travel insurance. I still have a few of his threads saved as he explains medical/travel insurance. It's not as simple as the advertisements state. THE most important part to realize is that most travel insurance is "secondary" in other words, you submit your bills to your primary insurance for payment, if they deny or only pay a portion then you submit to the travel insurance for payment. Watch out for the term "Usual and customary charges" they limit the payment on what they think it should cost.

 

We had to use the Splendor Medical Center this past January for my son. It was akin to almost a full E.R., very talented group of nurses/doctors (yes, there is more then one on board) I was thoroughly impressed. They were treating a crew member with severe acid burns when we were in there. The two doctors on the Splendor at that time were both semi retired and actually one was from the Sacramento area where we lived. He just takes a contract every once in a while to earn some extra money for a new toy etc.

 

Scour whatever policy you want to choice very closely, the key items it sounds like you need to focus on are the pre-existing conditions waivers and primary/secondary coverages. Insure my trip dot com is a good website for help and quotes. It can be in depth. Just remember that you will have your sail and sign card charged the minute you walk in, they dont direct bill any insurance, including Carnival's (per the nurse on the splendor when I asked).

 

Good Luck.

[tk22]

My cruise was booked in January and my condition/symptoms have worsened greatly since.

 

I am hoping for a diagnosis at the end of August. I mean it's only 6 days at sea and I can go a long time without heading to the ER here on land so I don't think I'll need the medical center but I just want to make sure I am well aware of how things work and have coverage just in case.

 

A couple of years ago, I got a kidney infection (with a really high fever and I am a Tye 1 diabetic) on the Conquest and had an IV twice, shots, medications and blood tests (including a blood gas test) - the medical personnel were wonderful. I did not buy insurance for the cruise, so I paid around $800, but thankfully, my private insurance reimbursed me. I was surprised at only $800 since I was seen in the medical clinic four times and for several hours when I had the IV's running - I wonder what the charges would have been here?!?

[FloridaGram]

Have you purchased Carnival's insurance already? I am not sure what its terms are but do not assume just because you bought their insurance treatment on their ship is automatically covered. I would read the terms very carefully but I do know that generally the insurance you get through the cruise lines is not as good as you can buy some where else. And I think you may be able to cancel it since you have not sailed yet if you have purchased it.

 

I am fairly sure they could do an IV. We have personal experience on another line this year and the medical facility was surprisingly well equipped. They had a EKG machine and were able to do blood work very quickly. I did not really think of it before but they treat all of the crew and only critically ill people would be taken to a land hospital, they have the ability to do a lot of things.

 

Have you made your final payment for the cruise? If not you could still get insurance through CSA, as the other poster said that would wave pre exisiting in case that could become an issue for you. You just never know and personally I would rather be safe than sorry.

 

It is not so inexpensive to use the facility either as another poster made it seem. We were there less than an hour and it was over $200 just for the doctor. The total treatment with testing and medicine was $470. Luckily this was the first time we had ever bought trip insurance and it paid primary. They reimbursed us the whole amount as we had coverage that paid as the primary carrier.

 

Good luck to you and hopefully your issue will be resolved before your cruise. I used a site called trip insurance store to get my insurance, they help you compare multiple companies to see what meets your needs the best. Steve was very knowledgeable there.

[Surfwench]

So I know there's a medical center on the ship (I'll be on Freedom), but I have a few questions.

 

1) If I purchase Carnival's insurance, will any medical help I need be covered?

2) The doctor or nurse or whatever can give me an IV, yes? no?

 

I have some medical conditions (still working on firm diagnoses) that I hope will be under control by the time I cruise but I could end up in a state of dehydration/mega pain and I want to make sure that if I need one, an IV would be available for me.

 

I would contact Carnival about your potential health issues, plus I'd carry a copy of my health records for the ship's doc if necessary. Otherwise you may find it very difficult to obtain pain meds.

[sweetcurves]

I would contact Carnival about your potential health issues, plus I'd carry a copy of my health records for the ship's doc if necessary. Otherwise you may find it very difficult to obtain pain meds.

 

Oh I will have LOTS of pain meds with me. LOL

 

I really don't think it's going to be an issue, unless there are other developments (dear God I hope not).

[klmorg]

The infirmary on board the Liberty saved by husband's life a few years ago when he had a heart attack on board. While the infirmaries are mainly equipped to provide minor medical attention, they also provide emergency treatment to help stabilize patients until they can be transferred (or evacuated) to a more suitable facility in port. IV's are a part of that.

 

And although we had both travel insurance & regular health insurance, we were required to pay for many medical costs upfront, and be reimbursed later. We had to pay Carnival (S&S bill was about $4000), Cayman Islands Hospital (about $5000), etc. We did not have to pay the $25,000 upfront for the air ambulance from Grand Cayman to Miami thankfully.

 

So beyond travel insurance, I would also suggest an emergency credit card with a pretty high limit. EVERYTHING, including our 1 1/2 week stay in Miami, was reimbursed in full thru health & travel insurance within a couple weeks of filing the claims.

 

Hope you get your medical issues resolved soon, OP.:)

[teachstac]

We sailed on the Pride 2/2012. Hubby needed IV and insulin as he had a severe diabetic emergency ( his pumped clogged and we didn't know it) a few hours in the infirmary after house cost us 660.00 charged to our sail and sign cared. We had carnival insurance. We had to send the bill first to our regular insurance, then to Carnival travel. Was reimbursed for all of it, just took a while.

[Lovefuninthesun]

I am a nurse in a big medical center/tertiary care hospital in Tampa, FL -- we get people all the time from cruise ships. Either they have gone directly to our ED after disembarking or, in some situations (e.g., patient has had heart attack and requires cardiac cath/stent, etc) they have been picked up on ship by chopper and flown here.

 

From that perspective, it appears to me that the facilities on board ship are akin to a normal community emergency department -- capable of handling most emergencies, but with a back up plan to transfer out those patients who require the services of a trauma/tertiary care hospital.

 

That said, I have also had to visit the infirmary, taking my daughter who came down with strept throat while on a cruise. It was like a small ED with several nurses and a physician. There were a number of very dehydrated passengers who had over-done things in Cozumel, and they were being treated with IVs. We had to pay (S&S account) but were able to turn the charges into our regular insurance company once we got home, and we were reimbursed.