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If you ever have a medical problem while onboard........

polymedia
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polymedia

polymedia

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For those of you who've always wondered what happens when you have a medical problem while on board, let me give you a rundown of what happened to me.

 

On the first day (a sea day) of my solo voyage to the Western Caribbean on Rhapsody of the seas, I began to see these huge spider-like floaters in my left eye. No big deal, since I've had them before, but boy these were bigger than I remember.

 

In the evening I started to get pin-pricks of lights flash down the left periphery of the eye like extremely tiny shooting stars. Remembering back to a previous conversation with a friend who had eye surgery, "Flashes of light are bad."

 

The next morning while docked in Roatan I went to the ships hospital right when it opened at 8AM. If you've not been there, it's a little larger and better stocked than most primary care physician's office, with two waiting rooms - one for the passengers and the other for the crew. In this case it was staffed by 2 doctors and 3 nurses.

 

There's a vending machine on the wall with supplies of antacids, Ibruprofen, antibiotic ointment, bandages, and Benedryl, and a different box on the wall with seasickness pills, all self-serve and free of charge.

 

After about a half-hour wait I saw the nurse first, who filled out the paperwork and did a preliminary workup, then saw the doctor. He informed me it was best to get looked at by an ophthalmologist ASAP, but not in Roatan. They would make the arrangements for me to see a doctor the next day in Belize.

 

Sure enough, a few hours later I had a message to be at the ship's hospital at 8:30AM the next morning. I was presented with a Landing Letter that had all the necessary info on who to contact, including Royal Caribbean "Care Team" contacts, should I have to stay onshore.

 

At 8:30 the port agent met me, handed me off to another agent on the tender, then another agent when the tender docked. He walked me to a waiting cab who took me to the ophthalmologist.

 

Dr. Hoy was very competent, explained to me the problem (partially detached retina), and said that I shouldn't wait to have it fixed or it could get a lot worse. He then reattached the retina with his trusty laser and about 80 tiny laser hits to make a patch. Took about 5 minutes.

 

When it was all finished, the cab was again waiting for me, which took me back to the dock and the awaiting port agent to get me back to the ship. I could see fine (a little blurry then) and can see fine today back home, thanks to the Rhapsody hospital team and Dr. Hoy.

 

The point of this post is that if you need medical attention beyond what's available on the ship, you will be taken care of and all the arrangements will be made for you as needed.

 

No need to worry, you'll be in good hands.

 

Many thanks to everyone involved!

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A&L_Ont "Live from...." Rare

A&L_Ont

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Thanks for sharing your story. It is great to know that this type on medical care is available in select ports and that the ship can help to line up the appointments, not to mention the help that the port agents gave during your time in port.

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kmcnamara68

kmcnamara68

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Question of the hour... did your health or perhaps your trip insurance cover at least some of this?

 

Sent from my LG-H631 using Forums mobile app

 

 

In most cases your heath insurance won't cover it. That's why we always suggest to get trip insurance. HOWEVER, usually u have to pay for the medical services on your ship account and will be paid back by the trip insurance company. Hope that's helpful.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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polymedia

polymedia

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Everything is fine now, although I'm waiting to see my own ophthalmologist for a check up. Thanks for the concerned posts!

 

The cost was 2000 Belize dollars, or about $1000US, which I'm sure is a bargain compared to the same procedure in Los Angeles (where I'm from).

 

I haven't submitted the bill to my trip insurance company yet, but hopefully they'll pay it.

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cruisenfever

cruisenfever

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In most cases your heath insurance won't cover it. That's why we always suggest to get trip insurance. HOWEVER, usually u have to pay for the medical services on your ship account and will be paid back by the trip insurance company. Hope that's helpful.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

When my husband was treated for Pancreatitis on Rhapsody back in 2014 we had cruise insurance. When I submitted my claim to the insurance company, they told me to submit it to my insurance first which I did and was reimbursed the entire amount of the bill.

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caymancouple

caymancouple

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Our issue happened on Celebrity, but I could not agree more that they really take care of you. In January 2016, we were on the Celebrity Infinity that was sailing around the Horn of South America. On day 3 of the cruise, husband is complaining of his stomach hurting, described it as a knot in his stomach. We were in port, Puerto Montt that day. He stayed in bed, but I got him to agree that at 4:00, if not feeling better we would go see the doctor on board. I stayed out of the room so he could sleep. At 3:45, I headed back to the room and found him getting dressed. When I asked if he was getting dressed because he felt better, or to go and see the doctor, and he says doctor….. well, that was my first clue this was not going to be good.

 

We saw the doctor immediately, and he says you have 2 of the seven symptoms of an appendicitis attack. He then ordered an x-ray, and blood work. My son in law back in the states is an internal medicine doc. I am texting him what is going on and he wants to know the results of a specific blood test. When the doctor comes back with the test results and tells my husband we need to get off, that something is wrong, and I text my SIL the numbers of that test, and he texts back …get off the ship NOW and go to a hospital….well, we got off… The ship was due to leave port in 45 minutes. They help me pack, they put us on the tender, we get to shore, and a car is waiting, they drive us to the hospital, the Celebrity Port Agent is at the hospital waiting on us at the emergency room. This guy, then spent the next 4 hours at the hospital with us, acting as our interpreter. Husband ends up having surgery, and we are in the hospital for 4 days, and then a week in a local hotel. The port agent checked on us every day, he came by, he offered to find a hotel (I had a daughter handle that), he offered to help us make flight arrangements to go home. In a nutshell, he was wonderful.

 

Once we were home, Celebrity called to make sure we were taken care of in port… just thought I would share.

 

The only heart stopping moment, is when we got to the emergency room, and they ask for my credit card in order to put a hold of 7 MILLION on it……… it was Chilean pesos, but still.

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euphscott

euphscott

Posted
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On which deck is the medical center located on Oasis class ships?

I believe it is 1?

 

It's WAY down low!

My wife made sure we got to discover Allure's unit - and thankfully our visit was comped because I think staff was concerned we might be angry - she got her toe stuck in the Flow Rider and she lost a nail!

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RomanceMama

RomanceMama

Posted
Posted
For those of you who've always wondered what happens when you have a medical problem while on board, let me give you a rundown of what happened to me.

 

On the first day (a sea day) of my solo voyage to the Western Caribbean on Rhapsody of the seas, I began to see these huge spider-like floaters in my left eye. No big deal, since I've had them before, but boy these were bigger than I remember.

 

In the evening I started to get pin-pricks of lights flash down the left periphery of the eye like extremely tiny shooting stars. Remembering back to a previous conversation with a friend who had eye surgery, "Flashes of light are bad."

 

The next morning while docked in Roatan I went to the ships hospital right when it opened at 8AM. If you've not been there, it's a little larger and better stocked than most primary care physician's office, with two waiting rooms - one for the passengers and the other for the crew. In this case it was staffed by 2 doctors and 3 nurses.

 

There's a vending machine on the wall with supplies of antacids, Ibruprofen, antibiotic ointment, bandages, and Benedryl, and a different box on the wall with seasickness pills, all self-serve and free of charge.

 

After about a half-hour wait I saw the nurse first, who filled out the paperwork and did a preliminary workup, then saw the doctor. He informed me it was best to get looked at by an ophthalmologist ASAP, but not in Roatan. They would make the arrangements for me to see a doctor the next day in Belize.

 

Sure enough, a few hours later I had a message to be at the ship's hospital at 8:30AM the next morning. I was presented with a Landing Letter that had all the necessary info on who to contact, including Royal Caribbean "Care Team" contacts, should I have to stay onshore.

 

At 8:30 the port agent met me, handed me off to another agent on the tender, then another agent when the tender docked. He walked me to a waiting cab who took me to the ophthalmologist.

 

Dr. Hoy was very competent, explained to me the problem (partially detached retina), and said that I shouldn't wait to have it fixed or it could get a lot worse. He then reattached the retina with his trusty laser and about 80 tiny laser hits to make a patch. Took about 5 minutes.

 

When it was all finished, the cab was again waiting for me, which took me back to the dock and the awaiting port agent to get me back to the ship. I could see fine (a little blurry then) and can see fine today back home, thanks to the Rhapsody hospital team and Dr. Hoy.

 

The point of this post is that if you need medical attention beyond what's available on the ship, you will be taken care of and all the arrangements will be made for you as needed.

 

No need to worry, you'll be in good hands.

 

Many thanks to everyone involved!

 

 

Thank you for sharing. So often all we hear about are the horror stories that happen to passengers. It's nice to know that more often than not the cruise line staff are extremely helpful and everything works out.

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WhenIsLobsterNight

WhenIsLobsterNight

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OP - Thanks for sharing. I am glad to hear that everything was handled in such a professional and efficient manner. I am also glad you got to enjoy the rest of your cruise. I have cruised 20+ times and thankfully have never visited the doctor on a ship before, but it is good to know that they are there when needed. I also found the vending machine with items to be quite interesting as well.

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time4u2go

time4u2go

Posted
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In most cases your heath insurance won't cover it. That's why we always suggest to get trip insurance. HOWEVER, usually u have to pay for the medical services on your ship account and will be paid back by the trip insurance company. Hope that's helpful.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

How do you know this? We checked with ours, and they would cover it.

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John&LaLa "Live from...." Rare

John&LaLa

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In most cases your heath insurance won't cover it. That's why we always suggest to get trip insurance. HOWEVER, usually u have to pay for the medical services on your ship account and will be paid back by the trip insurance company. Hope that's helpful.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Is that because it's eye related?

 

I've submitted ship board bills to BCBS on back related issues, go figure, and they have always been paid.

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Aboat1

Aboat1

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Posted

My DH needed the ships Hospital when we were in Norway. Medicare said it would cover. Only if we were within a certain number of miles of US waters. (Can NOT remember the number...senior moment!) We paid via Ship board account and travel insurance reimbursed every cent.

 

Will NOT leave home without travel insurance. In fact I just bought an annual policy. WELL worth it! Our one visit reimbursed more then 10 time the annual trip insurance premiums.

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Cruisin'4Us

Cruisin'4Us

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Everything is fine now, although I'm waiting to see my own ophthalmologist for a check up. Thanks for the concerned posts!

 

The cost was 2000 Belize dollars, or about $1000US, which I'm sure is a bargain compared to the same procedure in Los Angeles (where I'm from).

 

I haven't submitted the bill to my trip insurance company yet, but hopefully they'll pay it.

Glad you were treated. What form of payment did the doctor accept?
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stevea36

stevea36

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Posted

My DW had something similar on a recent Celebrity cruise. But, due to weather we arrived in San Juan too late for her to see a doctor so the ship arranged for her to see one the next day in St. Thomas. Fortunately, hers was not as bad (just a minor tear in the retina) and the doctor sent her on her way. But, the best news was that, since St Thomas is considered to be part of the US by her insurance carrier, the Local Doctor (trained in Stony Brook, LI, NY), accepted her insurance, so it was just a copay. When we returned I submitted all of the unpaid bills (Ship's Dr, transportation, copay) to my trip insurance and received a full reimbursement. (Travel Guard).

 

As mentioned above, the ship's medical facility was great in expediting coverage where necessary.

 

Steve

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