Doctor on board for transatlantics?

[greydog]

Hi - considering first WS trip, a future transatlantic in 2020 that's a straight shot from St. Maarten to Lisbon.

 

Based on your experience or WS policy can I count on a doctor being on board to handle medical problems?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Strenz]

I was on 2 trans Atlantics and one trans Pacific with WS and there 

always a doctor on board. The last one was 2014. Happy Sailing. They are great for relaxing and fun. 

[milepig]

Just remember that the ship isn’t equipped for major stuff, in a normal itin a hospital is always close, not so in the middle of the Atlantic. 

[Strenz]

Due to my husband’s health issues we bought $500,000 worth of evacuation insurance when we did the trans Pacific the add on to our travel insurance was very cheap  I want  to say $20 gave us a piece of mind. 

[CruiseOrLand]

I needed the doctor, for a very minor problem, on Star Legend recently, a pleasant M.D. from the Phillipines. He was excellent. Interesting insurance sidelight: The Windstar coverage provider said, "We know that Medicare does not cover care abroad. But we need to see the refused claim before we can pay on the Windstar travel-medical coverage." I'll bet other insurers do that too, but it's an annoying effort to hope you give up on the $140!

[rafinmd]

Any ship that carries more than 12 passengers is REQUIRED to have a physician on board.  The only exception is a ship that never goes more than a couple hours from port.

 

Roy

Edited November 29, 2018 by rafinmd

[marinaro44]

14 hours ago, CruiseOrLand said:

I needed the doctor, for a very minor problem, on Star Legend recently, a pleasant M.D. from the Phillipines. He was excellent. Interesting insurance sidelight: The Windstar coverage provider said, "We know that Medicare does not cover care abroad. But we need to see the refused claim before we can pay on the Windstar travel-medical coverage." I'll bet other insurers do that too, but it's an annoying effort to hope you give up on the $140!

Yes, we had the same issue on a recent cruise.  In addition to the bill from  the ship's doctor, they wanted proof that we paid the bill.  So get hard copy of your on-board account statement showing you paid.  (As if they'd let you off without paying.  I have no respect for these trip insurance companies.)

[6rugrats]

If your travel insurance is secondary, you’re always going to have to submit a claim to your primary carrier, even if they exclude that service.  You need the denial to send a claim to the secondary carrier.

if you don’t want to do this, you can purchase travel insurance that is primary.

[CruiseOrLand]

I will continue looking, but when I search the PDF of the Windstar/Tripmate/US Fire Insurance insurance contract, the word "Secondary" is not found, and the only uses of the word "Primary" are in "Primary place of residence" phrases. It is not at all clear whether this insurance is secondary.

 

My point was that they admitted that Medicare will never pay for overseas care. That means any demand for a denied claim is an effort to get me to give up.

[Del Rio]

I personally have used "Travel Insured" for over 10 years.  On their most common policy, there is an option that makes their medical coverage primary, without any need to show a denied claim from your own regular medical insurance provider.  It is a $25 per person add-on option.  Well worth it to remove this concern AND cut way down on needed paperwork.

[wripro]

On 11/28/2018 at 2:08 PM, CruiseOrLand said:

I needed the doctor, for a very minor problem, on Star Legend recently, a pleasant M.D. from the Phillipines. He was excellent. Interesting insurance sidelight: The Windstar coverage provider said, "We know that Medicare does not cover care abroad. But we need to see the refused claim before we can pay on the Windstar travel-medical coverage." I'll bet other insurers do that too, but it's an annoying effort to hope you give up on the $140!

The best reason never ti purchase insurance from the cruise line. Always go to a third party insurer who will not make the cruise line their priority.

[CruiseOrLand]

I have always used a third party, mostly Travelex, because I want my insurance to survive bankruptcy of the excursion company! In this case, the premium Windstar policy had a better price. Note that people with 92-year old mothers have specific travel insurance needs ...  

 

I agree that actual claims experience is invaluable to hear about. And I agree that, all other things being equal, third-party is better. But there is no assurance that a randomly-selected third party company will have the softest claim rules. I've read an lot of horror stories on TA and Rick Steves boards. And many of those posters failed to read the fine print before they paid for the insurance product. It was difficult to read the Windstar policy PDF BEFORE making the purchase, because they didn't supply the product number needed to download all the terms and conditions.