infirmary question

[1965]

we'll be on the Caribbean Princess in Sept. If my husband visits the infirmary to have his blood pressure checked, will there be a charge for that? We'd rather not have to pack a blood pressure monitoring kit if we don't have to. Thanks.

[chrysalis]

yes, ...nothing is free if you visit the doctor or nurse.

[jennybenny]

we'll be on the Caribbean Princess in Sept. If my husband visits the infirmary to have his blood pressure checked, will there be a charge for that? We'd rather not have to pack a blood pressure monitoring kit if we don't have to. Thanks.

 

I would pack the monitoring kit. If yours is heavy duty, purchase a smaller one to take with you.

 

You could try contacting Princess directly to see what they say. If they say you can use their equipment for free, I would get that in writing and bring it with you.

[floridalover5623]

They will charge you for anything.

On one cruise my wife got what we believed to be food poisoning so we checked with medical just to see if there were any other reports about it. They wouldn't release any information but did want to charge her to even see her at which point I said forget it since she was feeling better.

I suppose they feared that she had contracted Noro and there was no charge although they did quarantine her for a day in the cabin.

[Pam in CA]

You can submit any Medical Center expenses to your cruise insurance for reimbursement. While you'd have to pay upfront, it won't cost you anything in the end.

Edited February 2, 2017 by Pam in CA

[Colo Cruiser]

delete

Edited February 2, 2017 by Colo Cruiser

[floridalover5623]

It had to be food poisoning. Noro doesn't last only 24 hours.

[kathyt939]

A lady on our cruise thought she had the flu. She said the charge was 500.00 for testing and visit. Don't know for sure. Ouch. No insurance.

 

 

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[cb at sea]

You can buy a blood pressure thing that goes on your wrist....it's only about $20 or so, and very small...it will do a fine job!

[easyboy]

we'll be on the Caribbean Princess in Sept. If my husband visits the infirmary to have his blood pressure checked, will there be a charge for that? We'd rather not have to pack a blood pressure monitoring kit if we don't have to. Thanks.

Better to bring your own BP monitor. My wife once got dizzy and wanted to have her BP checked at medical but the nurse wanted her to see the doctor but we have to pay. We left as it was not serious and we had no insurance then.

[floridalover5623]

If the exact reading isn't all that critical you can always use a BP app on your smartphone to keep a rough check.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.szyk.myheart&hl=en

[Thrak]

You can submit any Medical Center expenses to your cruise insurance for reimbursement. While you'd have to pay upfront, it won't cost you anything in the end.

 

I'm pretty leery of that. A lot of insurance companies have no interest in paying for something like a BP check as they will consider it to not be "medically necessary". I'd much rather purchase an easily portable unit (although I am not a fan of the cheap models as they are often wildly inaccurate - especially after a while) than pay a crazy fee to the onboard doctor and hope for reimbursement from my insurance (along with the added hassle of filing for that reimbursement).

[hm9912]

we'll be on the Caribbean Princess in Sept. If my husband visits the infirmary to have his blood pressure checked, will there be a charge for that? We'd rather not have to pack a blood pressure monitoring kit if we don't have to. Thanks.

 

My advice is to never travel without full insurance Medical,cancellation, and evacuation.

 

The answer to your question is yes. If anyone on board requires the use of the on board morgue there is a charge for that also.

 

If you sign up for The Ultimate Ship tour that is one of the stops you will see.

 

Howard

[towhee]

The gym usually has a bp cuff, but you would have to ask for it.

[Cruise Raider]

I've had my blood pressure checked free of charge a couple of times ... same for my brother just a couple of months ago. Since I have never seen them charge for this basic service, I was under the impression they did this as a complimentary service. I guess I just got lucky ... and so did my brother.

[ar1950]

we'll be on the Caribbean Princess in Sept. If my husband visits the infirmary to have his blood pressure checked, will there be a charge for that? We'd rather not have to pack a blood pressure monitoring kit if we don't have to. Thanks.

 

You may want to look into a good quality wrist monitor. I found one that was highly rated by a "major" consumer product testing company. When used properly it is very accurate when compared to a high quality cuff unit. I used it along with my cuff for about a month. It was off just a little, but, easy to adjust for the difference. It is easy to take on any trip that we do and takes up a fraction of the space that the conventional cuff monitoring takes up.

[Colo Cruiser]

Take your monitor.

[jdeanski]

They will charge you for anything.

.

 

Not necessarily so. On our first Princess cruise my wife came down with Noro. The medic came to our cabin, interviewed her and said he could run a bunch of tests that would cost but felt it was Noro and asked her to stay in the cabin till the next day. He sent in a team to deep clean the cabin twice. No charge for the cabin visit.

[floridalover5623]

Not necessarily so. On our first Princess cruise my wife came down with Noro. The medic came to our cabin, interviewed her and said he could run a bunch of tests that would cost but felt it was Noro and asked her to stay in the cabin till the next day. He sent in a team to deep clean the cabin twice. No charge for the cabin visit.

 

I stand corrected but if it's not a case of Noro then expect a large bill to go along with the visit.

[bananavan]

Either take your own monitor or buy a wrist monitor (a great idea if you are going to cruise a lot)

I would not have thought about that issue but thank you for bringing it up.

I once visited the Medical center because I had a contact lens stuck on my eye.

The Nurse was great and he suggested that I use a saline wash to loosen it. I went back to my stateroom and did just that . Worked a charm.

And then I was billed $30. :)

[Go-Bucks!]

You can submit any Medical Center expenses to your cruise insurance for reimbursement. While you'd have to pay upfront, it won't cost you anything in the end.

 

 

Not true.

 

Several years ago I got bronchitis on a cruise and went to the Medical Center to get the antibiotic Zithromycin (which works best when I get bronchitis). The doctor talked to me for less than 60 seconds and gave me the antibiotic. The doctor fee was $65 and the Zithromycin cost $65! :eek: Here in the USA it costs $4.

 

I submitted the $130 bill to my health insurance company and they denied it because we were in International waters, not in the USA. From then on I've taken my own supply of Zithromycin with me on all trips.

[caribill]

You can submit any Medical Center expenses to your cruise insurance for reimbursement. While you'd have to pay upfront, it won't cost you anything in the end.

 

Not true.

 

Several years ago I got bronchitis on a cruise and went to the Medical Center to get the antibiotic Zithromycin (which works best when I get bronchitis). The doctor talked to me for less than 60 seconds and gave me the antibiotic. The doctor fee was $65 and the Zithromycin cost $65! :eek: Here in the USA it costs $4.

 

I submitted the $130 bill to my health insurance company and they denied it because we were in International waters, not in the USA. From then on I've taken my own supply of Zithromycin with me on all trips.

 

 

You do not appear to have purchased cruise insurance which would have covered your on board medical bills.

 

Not all regular insurance and certainly not Medicare will cover any medical expenses outside the USA.

 

In the future, look for insurance that will cover emergency medical expenses when outside the country.