Disappointing Experience

[Mr. Click]

Thanks HydroKitty. I had to deal with one just two weeks ago so the memories are still pretty fresh. When they asked how bad the pain was just before I went to the OR I said on the one to ten scale it 12 right now. Putting me to sleep to have it lazar blasted was a blessing. I was really at the end of my rope.

 

OP, you have done a great job to explaining your situation and your feelings. You surely deserved better treatment from Celebrity starting the the medical side. The ship's doc was right in his diagnosis and he knew was not going to be easy even if your DH could pass it and he should have followed up. Hope none of us ever have to go thru it again.

[MizDemeanor]

I have to admit I'm not sure what the issue is here. The doctors did their job. Glad hubby is OK for sure.

[WpgCruise]

I'd like to thank the O.P. for relating her experience, andcoming back so many times to clarify, and address questions.

My D.W. has had kidney stones for the past 30 years, and wehave been to the E.R. more times than I can remember, the hospital a couple of times for Lithotripsy, and while I have never had a kidney stone, as the care giver I can sympathise withthe O.P. being in the position she was.

In Threads likethis, I like to take away a "Learning" from the experience shared andmy take away from this is when help is needed the responsibility is ours toask. The O.P. didn't know they could order off the dining room menu during dining room hours, and didn't ask. They expected help with luggage but didn'task. The O.P. wanted follow up from the ships medical staff, and were disappointed when this didn't happen.

Unfortunately in today's mass market vacation experience we have to be our own advocates and need to accept it is ourresponsibility to ask for help when we need it.

I'm glad the O.P.'s husband has recovered and hope their future travels are healthy and leave them only good memories.

[PROCRUISE]

Just a little advice for your husband - do follow up with urologist or at least his PCP. I spent 30 yrs as an ER RN and know just how horrible kidney stone pain can be, and passed SEVEN stones of my own. I did a lot of research and questioning and after making some changes have had NO stones for the last six years. I'm not a physician and cannot give medical advice, especially on CC. However, as an RN, I am a patient advocate. You're welcome to contact me: RN_DEW@YAHOO.COM - a few changes can often stop stones.

Sorry your cruise was interrupted. Kidney stones never come at a good time!!

[wander]

What an unpleasant and disappointing experience! OP, I am glad it worked out safely for you. I have two disappointments in terms, one from the Medical Center and one from Celebrity Guest Relations.

 

Re: the medical center - when a passenger has a serious medical problem which requires several visits to the Medical Center, there definitely (in my opinion) should have been at least one follow-up call to check on his status. I have personally never heard of such "treatment on any of my cruises. The one time I went to the Medical Center about a significant medical problem, although far less critical than your husband had, I and received follow-up calls. I think you certainly deserved that there HAS to be a higher-up Celebrity supervisor (Officer maybe) who actually got permission for the ship to disembark a passenger there. (This was seemingly confirmed by your latest posting about the instruction letter you received. One is simply not allowed to easily disembark because they want to leave (or in your case need to leave) without a bunch of official paperwork. In my opinion, this person should have at least talked with you about your situation and provided at least some assistance, if needed. I actually find the lack of such an approach very strange on the part of Celebrity based on what you told us.

[DYKWIA]

Just a little advice for your husband - do follow up with urologist or at least his PCP. I spent 30 yrs as an ER RN and know just how horrible kidney stone pain can be, and passed SEVEN stones of my own. I did a lot of research and questioning and after making some changes have had NO stones for the last six years. I'm not a physician and cannot give medical advice, especially on CC. However, as an RN, I am a patient advocate. You're welcome to contact me: RN_DEW@YAHOO.COM - a few changes can often stop stones.

Sorry your cruise was interrupted. Kidney stones never come at a good time!!

 

Great advice. Especially about following it up with a specialist. Did you keep the stone?

 

I've had 4 stones in the last 20 years and thought I'd seen the last of them after been clear for 10 years. After some tell tale signs I have recently been diagnosed with a stone in each of my Kidneys. One just sitting there getting bigger and hard as bone, the other smaller but probably still too large to pass. Just waiting on laser treatment / surgery - joy. The pain from kidney stones is excruciating. We've delayed our holidays this year because when the stones are on the move it really is no fun. I understand how grotty your husband feels and my wife probably understands how you feel - at times there is little she can do and has to put up with a very unhappy husband.

 

Old fashioned X rays are not always great at showing up Kidney Stones. Two x rays a month apart showed my one stone had gone and the dr suggested I'd probably passed it, but the pain on my right flank made me think otherwise. A cat scan proved in my case to much more reliable showing the stone.

 

In the past doctors didn't really give me good pain management advice, just to drink water and take diclofenac. My current specialist has suggested a blend of three common tablets (in the U.K.) that have really helped me in the last couple of months - Codeine (500/30) - general pain relief, Diclofenac -anti inflammatory and Buscopan for pain spasms. I now have these on repeat prescription, I rarely need to take them but if it flares up I have something which to date seems to get the pain under control within the hour. It might be worth talking to a doctor about what medicine to carry. Also worth talking to a specialist about diet and other medication to help prevent stones. The one thing every doctor has said repeatedly is Drink more water - 3 litres a day has been suggested to me on several occasions. Additionally, they have suggested I cut back on animal protein in my diet.

[Holly2]

Please let us know what you hear back from Celebrity.

Thanks for posting.

[dznymom]

Thanks to all of you who have contributed encouraging comments and suggestions. I really appreciate it, and I have learned quite a bit through the course of this thread. Hopefully others have as well.

 

I have drafted up my letter, but I am having difficulty figuring out where to send it. Anyone have a suggestion?

[Alohaaloha]

Thanks to all of you who have contributed encouraging comments and suggestions. I really appreciate it, and I have learned quite a bit through the course of this thread. Hopefully others have as well.

 

 

 

I have drafted up my letter, but I am having difficulty figuring out where to send it. Anyone have a suggestion?

 

 

I sent mine to the CEO, I was then contacted by telephone by her PA.

I Googled 'CEO Celebrity cruise line' and it gave me an email address. I was very impressed with their response.

 

 

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[Jade13]

You may not be getting the most dedicated doctors on cruise ships. I have a friend whose husband is a doctor. They choose a cruise each Christmas with HAL to sail. He is the "ship doctor" and the entire family sails free. I'm fairly certain he is not doing "on call" unless someone goes to finds him with a life/death situation.

I've never had a situation on a ship, but I will make an effort after reading this thread to make a stink if I ever do! I think it is reprehensible to not follow up with a patient with such a sever issue! Customer service obviously had an 18 year old mind set as well!

 

 

Are you sure they are doing this this year? I was told last October they specifically stopped having passenger doctors on HAL for just this reason. They have a full time doctor as well as nurses.

 

Maybe they have a full time doctor and also bring on a second as a guest?

 

 

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Edited August 12, 2017 by Jade13

[Jade13]

 

 

 

When our Friend's DH had an episode on HAL, while at sea, they could not do enough for them.. My Friend had to take her DH off the ship early in Key West & put him in a local hospital.. The Cruise line insisted on getting an ambulance for them, & they even packed all her things up for them.. HAL came to their cabin at 6: a.m. in the morning with a wheelchair! Someone from HAL even rode along with them to the Hospital & helped my Friend to check in.. For the two days at sea, they had room service call our Friends on the phone to see what they wanted to eat.. All the front office people, & the Medical Dept people constantly checked up on them..

 

That is called Customer Service! :hearteyes:

 

 

 

HAL employs full time doctors and apparently Celebrity does not.

 

I actually asked on HAL last year, and was told they stopped having guest doctors (get a free cruise for the family while they are working) because they could not guarantee the qualifications or quality and the incentive for working was the free cruise, so they also had limited hours.

 

 

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Edited August 12, 2017 by Jade13

[CEOofVacation]

We were on Reflection in Apr/May of this year and unfortunately my husband and I both had to use the medical office and we had very impersonal service from the front desk/nurse and the doctor. The way I was made to understand by these folks as well as Celebrity's guest services was that the medical office personnel were contractors to Celebrity and not considered to be Celebrity's employees/staff. I am not surprised by the lack of personal touch and follow up by the medical office, and that guest services was not informed by them as to the severity of your husband's condition.

 

I am glad your husband has recovered. Thanks for sharing.

[9876]

I am glad your husband is better.

 

I was on the July 30th sailing of Summit. I had to depart early due to an emergency at home. I found the crew very helpful. They assisted me with booking air and I dropped off my passport at the desk so they could deal with Bermuda customs. I did stop by the desk and ask about the progress instead of waiting for them to call when they said they would. Even though I tried to be proactive I did have to go back to the desk to deal with the bill even though we had situated that the night before. Overall I was pleased though. I am sorry you did not have the same experience. The fact that I was not caring for someone I am sure made it easier for me.

 

As others have said, dinner is available from room service. They will send the menu and you can order from there. My guess is you could have made a special request too but of course that can be hit or miss.

[MizDemeanor]

As someone else suggested, just don't read this thread. A big part of cruise critic for me is all of the information I have gathered over the years from others sharing their experiences both good and bad. Sometimes we find ourselves in bad situations and have no clue about what to on our own but with some information gleened from this thread and other threads we just might have a better idea of how to handle our own emergencies. People tend to share their own stories to lend some credence to what they are saying. Anyway, there are hundreds of other threads you can read and not be bothered by a bunch of folks trying to help each other out.

 

Not to be a bother, or even offensive, but I looked at this thread because I wanted to understand the disappointing experience since its been quite some time since I sailed this line for various reasons. It turned out to be a customer service issue to do medical ailments where many chimed on on age and length of similar issues thereby suggesting a certain age demographic.

 

 

I get that those who are what I perceive to be older have more focus on their medical conditions and less in common with others who don't share similar stories.

 

 

My suggestion, to repeat myself, was that Cruise Critic might want to set up a separate board topiv about medical protocols, expectations, and ailments. There seems to possible be a need and a basis for it.

[riclop]

So sorry to hear .

[Iamcruzin]

Perhaps I should have been more direct about what we needed, but in truth I was just going through the motions while trying to keep him as comfortable as possible. I expected some sort of follow up, and I think I was giving things time to get to someone who was in some sort of position to reach out. That never happened.

 

DH did not respond well to the meds, so he was pretty much incapacitated for the rest of the trip. It's over now, and we are none the worse for it. We may be a little wiser, though.

 

I expected more from Celebrity. For whatever reason, the other line was far more accommodating and compassionate, and I will not forget which line was helpful and which was not.

 

I'm not surprised that the same Celebrity cheerleaders will excuse the cruise line and place the blame on the passenger. Any professional in the hospitality business would have inquired about your husbands condition and would have offered help. Apparently the crew on the Summit aren't professional. Also anyone who has ever been on a cruise knows that the taxi's drivers want to fill a car or van in order for it to pay off. A trip to the airport for two people would not be as lucrative for them. How a cruise line employee doesn't know this is beyond belief. You asked them to hail a cab for you and you were denied. This leads me to believe that even if you would have asked for something from the MDR you would have probably been told that they could only deliver what was on the room service menu.

 

Best wishes to you and your husband. I'm sorry that this happened to you but happy it worked out for the best.

[caribill]

Also anyone who has ever been on a cruise knows that the taxi's drivers want to fill a car or van in order for it to pay off. A trip to the airport for two people would not be as lucrative for them. How a cruise line employee doesn't know this is beyond belief.

 

No, it is easy to believe.

 

Unless the employee's work requires them to deal with transportation in a particular port, I would not expect the employee to know anything about this.

 

Even on board, most employees know very little about what happens outside of their work area. I was on one cruise (another cruise line) where the experienced Cruise Director was surprised when I told him that a dining room was available for all passengers for lunch on embarkation day from noon to 1:30PM. He truly had no idea that this was possible.

 

And even when it is in their area of expertise, the knowledge may not be up to date. Again on another cruise line, the port destination expert (not a shopping expert) was surprised to learn that a formerly free port shuttle to town now had a charge for that.

[rhblake]

I think someone mentioned that the medical staffs, including the doctor were provided by contractors. However, if that is true I would not expect non-employee doctors to hold a ship’s officers rank reporting to the Captain, which most seem to do.

[CEOofVacation]

I am surprised (and learned) from various posts that room service can provide meals off MDR menu. Do you call MDR for it?

 

We were in sky suite with a worthless butler on our last cruise. My husband had a cold and I called the butler about whether should I place an order for room service or did he want me to call room service line. He said to call room service. I called room service and enquired if I could get meals off Luminae or MDR and the person on the phone said the only food that could get delivered were those off the TV, which was very limited. We ordered a few items off the TV. The food got delivered but not by the butler.

 

So do you call MDR or whatever venue of your designated dining to get an extended menu?

 

Thanks!

[serendipity1499]

Not to be a bother, or even offensive, but I looked at this thread because I wanted to understand the disappointing experience since its been quite some time since I sailed this line for various reasons. It turned out to be a customer service issue to do medical ailments where many chimed on on age and length of similar issues thereby suggesting a certain age demographic.

 

 

I get that those who are what I perceive to be older have more focus on their medical conditions and less in common with others who don't share similar stories.

 

 

My suggestion, to repeat myself, was that Cruise Critic might want to set up a separate board topiv about medical protocols, expectations, and ailments. There seems to possible be a need and a basis for it.

 

If you think that a separate thread is important, why in heavens name are you posting it on this thread..CC Management & hosts do not read threads unless someone complains about a particular post..

 

If you think a separate thread should be started then you should either start it yourself or e-mail your suggestion to Cruise Critic Management..

 

Suggest you read the rules of Cruise Critic, & if you don't like this thread, then SKIP IT!

[Jwils999]

My wife and I just got off the Celebrity Summit, and we're at the airport for our flight home. The cruise was pleasant, but I want to add to this thread. On the first day, we saw a badly injured boy. It happened during the boarding process. He was walking down the stairs from deck 11 to deck ten near the outdoor pool. Somehow, he cut his foot. It was a bad lasceration, and he was bleeding profusely. A man ran to the bar and said "hey that kid needs a doctor!". The employees at the bar called someone to report the injury. The response was terrible. It took 10-15 minutes before someone finally attended to him. The kid was screaming and pleading for someone to please make the bleeding stop. A passenger gave his mom a towel to cover the foot. Officers began to show after 10 minutes, but they didn't attend to the boy. They obviously didn't have any training. This was distressing to see. It makes me wonder where the emergency medical kits are located.

[C 2 C]

I'm a long time Celebrity loyalist but not an apologist.

 

When we were on Infinity last year, it seemed that there was a medical emergency almost every day. Early on, a passenger required medical treatment in Mexico and a crisis team accompanied the passenger to the hospital. In one case the Michael's Club concierge, a Mexican national and a nurse left the ship and returned several days later.

 

About the medical "emergency" on Summit, there should have been a "Star Code" initiated by the first employee who was notified about the injured boy.

 

There is no excuse for aloofness or neglect by Celebrity personnel on a ship.

 

I am always grateful to those starting a new thread about issues that are outside of normal expectations. People taking a vacation do not expect medical emergencies and every report on this site prepares us just a bit more for the unexpected. No one forces us to read or participate in any topic but I like to scan these threads because one just might learn something that, heaven forbid, or knock wood, will happen to us as well.

[Jwils999]

My wife and I had a good cruise on Celebrity Summit to Bermuda. The staff was very friendly, and they took pride in their job. We really enjoyed the trivia challenges, the violin performances, and the magic show. Celebrity is supposed to email me a review questionnaire, and I will give an honest review of what was good and what was bad. The boys's injury weighs on me, though. For three days, I had trouble shaking that terrible image. "Please make it stop!" as blood poured from his wound. I'm not exaggerating, and this is the only reason that I'm posting on this forum. When we got off the boat, my phone had internet access again. I did some Google searches about the injury. I wanted to make sure if the kid was ok. I didn't find anything on social media, but I did find this thread. What happened on August 6th was wrong. These questions plague me... How did the boy cut his foot? Is he ok? Did Celebrity make it right for him and his family? I would not be asking these questions if Celebrity had a good safety program. I and other passengers reported the severity of the injury. Then we got out of the way and waited for help which was unbelievably slow to come. I thought that was the right thing to do. Things are different on a cruise, though. This is not an American company, so a lifeguard is not on duty at the pool. Americans are accustomed to that, and I wrongly assumed this was the case. If I had to do it over again, I would have called 911 on my cell phone. The ship was still at Cape Liberty, and we were in American territory. Things are different outside the United States of America. Cruise companies are subject to different rules which may not be as strict as OSHA or CPSC. I had a false sense of security when I boarded that ship. Nothing happened to me or my wife, but I will be wiser in the future. When I compare cruise companies, I'll now review the company's commitment to safety. Assistance is not guaranteed, and I hope my post is taken seriously.

[caribill]

A man ran to the bar and said "hey that kid needs a doctor!". The employees at the bar called someone to report the injury. The response was terrible. It took 10-15 minutes before someone finally attended to him.

 

It is possible that the employee at the bar who made the call did not report the urgency of the situation. He/she may have simply said a person needs medical help.

 

I have seen similar reports on Cruise Critic involving other cruise lines.

 

 

As a result, I think instead of asking a random employee to make the call, you (or another passenger) should make the call directly to the emergency phone number and explain the urgency of the situation.

[Z'Loth]

No BLEEP on the kidney stones. I've went to the emergency room twice in a six month period, and after the second round, my doctor put me on disability for a month and a half because of combination of factors.

 

When writing to Celebrity, I would include your reservation ID, the ship you sailed on, and the date of the sailing. Per https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/about-us/leadership, the CEO is Lisa Lutoff-Perlo. I would recommend making sure your letter has both a tracking number AND a return receipt. If someone has to sign for it, it gets attention.