Must reading for anyone cruising without a passport

[TAD2005]

A couple was leaving on a 3 day short cruise to the Bahamas on RCI last Friday.  On Saturday, one of the women developed a medical issue which the ship's hospital could not handle.  They transferred her to a Nassau hospital.   They have US medicare disability insurance, which is not valid outside of the US.   The hospital wanted $2000 cash to even admit the woman.   She got some of the funds from friends, but the problem was more serious and required surgery.   The ship was leaving.   Because the woman was taken off the ship for a serious medical issue, they would not allow her back on to get back to the US.  That would expose RCI to a liability if the women died while onboard.

This is an already bad enough situation, but the kicker is the 2 women only had birth certificates, NO PASSPORTS.   You can't fly back to the US without a passport.  

Yes, the 2 women bear 80% of the blame for not having trip insurance, which would have cost maybe $50 for a 3 day cruise, medical coverage only.  But they listened to RCI when they were told that passports are not needed for a cruise that visits the Bahamas and returns to the same US port.   I blame part of this on the cruise industry and CLIA.  There is the "Jones Act" which requires every non-US flagged cruise ship to visit a foreign port before returning to the US.   Because of this restriction, on almost all cruise lines, you must go to a foreign port some were in your itinerary, even if it's Half Moon Cay.   The Bahamas doesn't require passports of US citizens arriving on cruises, so to make cruising more affordable and convenient, the cruise industry lobbied congress to allow cruise ship passengers to travel on these "closed loop" cruises with just a birth certificate and a government issued photo ID (driver's license).   Naturally, the cruise lines do not mention the possibilities of the mess that has happened to these women.   Even if you have too many rum & cokes and fall asleep on the beach and miss the ship, you are toast without a passport.

Moral of the story.... GET A PASSPORT... even for a simple 3 day cruise to the Bahamas.  And, if your heath insurance is some form of Medicare, buy cheap medical coverage travel insurance.   I have seen so many posts on CC from people who refuse to get a passport because of the inconvenience or expense.   I think these two women would have a convincing story to tell anyone who leaves the US without a passport and some form of medical insurance that is valid in the countries you are travelling to.

CC should make this news story into a Sticky and post it on all cruise line boards.

Read the full article here:   https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/medical-emergency-leaves-couple-cruise-stranded-bahamas-hospital-bills-pile-185216471.html 

Edited December 18, 2018 by TAD2005

[kazu]

Very good alert for so many.

 

We've had a passport for years but, being Canadians we need one to get into the U.S. And even before it was a necessity we had one.

 

I wouldn't travel anywhere without it.  It's worth it's weight in gold if you need it 😉 

[Shmoo here]

2 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

There is the "Jones Act" which requires every non-US flagged cruise ship to visit a foreign port before returning to the US.

Minor correction here - it's the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) not the Jones Act.

 

Jones Act, while similar in restrictions, is for cargo.

[canadianbear]

What a terrible situation for them on such a short cruise-just never know when you may become seriously ill.  Good reminder for everyone.  

[Copper10-8]

You go to a country not your own, common sense dictates to bring a passport

[Fouremco]

As I've said many times on CC, I would never travel outside Canada without my passport. I'm in my seventies and have had one since I was seventeen.

[mcrcruiser]

Absolutely carry a passport  . also get the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card which covers up to $10,000 each person for trip cancellation & trip interruption  & baggage . Then pick up a medical policy by phoning  insuremytrip.com  or go to Travelguard.com for just medical & medical evacuation .The medical & med evac are really cheap to buy regardless of age 

[ski ww]

That's a story that every travel agent should tell to their customers.

[1964IceCreamLady]

I was just looking at the Know Before You Go and HAL requires a passport for every passenger.  I also know this because when checking in, I realized my daughter’s had expired.  HAL would not complete check in without valid passport info.

Edited December 19, 2018 by 1964IceCreamLady

[fatcat04]

Good reminder. $110-145 USD and a trip to the post office is far less costly and time consuming than a serious issue in a foreign land without a passport. And especially for kids. Same is true of travel insurance with good med and med evac coverage. More than likely nothing will happen BUT if it does, better to be prepared. 

Edited December 19, 2018 by fatcat04

[SetAnOpenCourse]

Is the moral of the story indeed, to get a passport?  IMO that’s a hurdle they faced, but not as critical as her illness, perhaps even less critical than the medical bills.  They are not stuck in the Bahamas permanently.

[SetAnOpenCourse]

40 minutes ago, 1964IceCreamLady said:

I was just looking at the Know Before You Go and HAL requires a passport for every passenger.  I also know this because when checking in, I realized my daughter’s had expired.  HAL would not complete check in without valid passport info.

Are you speaking of your specific cruise or making a blanket statement?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Those ladies also should have bought medical insurance.

[CGYCruisingFamily]

13 hours ago, kazu said:

Very good alert for so many.

 

We've had a passport for years but, being Canadians we need one to get into the U.S. And even before it was a necessity we had one.

 

I wouldn't travel anywhere without it.  It's worth it's weight in gold if you need it 😉 

 

Ditto! We’ve always had passports and now require them to even enter the States. Our kids have had them from 3 months old and onwards.

 

We had US friends a few years ago who were denied boarding on their HAL cruise because they didn’t have a passport for their son, just a copy of a birth certificate. They found this out while checking in at the port.

 

They were reasonably seasoned travelers and had cruised before and had never had one for him. Ultimately, their $6000 + holiday cruise was to be a total loss because they thought it wasn’t required. Well the cruise they had booked stopped in a port that required passports for all Americans and passengers. They watched the ship depart without them that afternoon.

 

HAL did work with them and did get them onto another cruise leaving the next day that didn’t require a passport for any of the stops. But realistically, HAL didn’t need to.

 

i am always shocked to hear of travelers who don’t get passports including my friends and I told them it was stupid to not have passports because, so much of the world is opened for exploration with that little book...

Edited December 19, 2018 by CGYCruisingFamily

[Turtles06]

13 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

And, if your heath insurance is some form of Medicare, buy cheap medical coverage travel insurance. 

 

While I agree with the advice to buy travel insurance that includes medical coverage, I wanted to point out regarding Medicare that some of the Medicare supplemental plans (e.g., Plan F) and some Medicare Advantage plans do provide some medical coverage when you are out of the country.   (Plan F is $50,000 of lifetime benefits, with a $250-deductible.)   Again, we don't travel without travel insurance, but folks on Medicare should be familiar with their benefits.

 

Also, for people with purely private insurance, plenty of those policies (in the U.S. at least) don't cover foreign medical expenses, so the advice to get travel insurance really applies to just about everyone.

[Fouremco]

11 hours ago, 1964IceCreamLady said:

I was just looking at the Know Before You Go and HAL requires a passport for every passenger.  I also know this because when checking in, I realized my daughter’s had expired.  HAL would not complete check in without valid passport info.

The current KBYG recommends but does not require that passengers have a passport:

 

Holland America Line highly recommends that all guests carry a passport that is valid for at least six months beyond the completion date of your travel. Having a passport will enable you to fly from the U.S. to a foreign port in the event you miss your scheduled embarkation or to fly back to the U.S. if you need to disembark the ship mid-cruise due to an emergency.

[TAD2005]

13 hours ago, SetAnOpenCourse said:

Is the moral of the story indeed, to get a passport?  IMO that’s a hurdle they faced, but not as critical as her illness, perhaps even less critical than the medical bills.  They are not stuck in the Bahamas permanently.

Having a passport would take a huge load off of both women, when the one with the medical problem was finally cleared to fly back home.   The moral of the story was BOTH a passport and medical and evacuation insurance.   Both women appeared to have very limited financial reserves, they had to borrow from friends to handle all of these extra expenses.  Mr. Murphy's Law held true here.  These women were in the worst possible situation, with very limited cash and no passport to get home, and a medical disaster strikes one of them.   With medical and evacuation insurance, and a passport, they could concentrate on the severe medical issue and not have to worry about hospital bills, one-way airfare to get home, and sitting in a motel, waiting for their passports to be processed.

[1964IceCreamLady]

7 hours ago, Fouremco said:

The current KBYG recommends but does not require that passengers have a passport:

 

Holland America Line highly recommends that all guests carry a passport that is valid for at least six months beyond the completion date of your travel. Having a passport will enable you to fly from the U.S. to a foreign port in the event you miss your scheduled embarkation or to fly back to the U.S. if you need to disembark the ship mid-cruise due to an emergency.

Huh.  I knew I read it somewhere, so double checked.  On page 4 it says that both documentation AND passports.  So conflicting info...?

[ThePenguin1]

20 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

You go to a country not your own, common sense dictates to bring a passport

 

^^^^This is as simple as it gets, I concur.

[Walfam]

14 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

While I agree with the advice to buy travel insurance that includes medical coverage, I wanted to point out regarding Medicare that some of the Medicare supplemental plans (e.g., Plan F) and some Medicare Advantage plans do provide some medical coverage when you are out of the country.   (Plan F is $50,000 of lifetime benefits, with a $250-deductible.)   

Supplement plan F covers 80% after the $250 deductible.  The 20% out of pocket would still be a stunner if the medical bills are bad enough to reach that $50k cap. We don't take chances and always buy travel insurance.

 

Edited December 20, 2018 by Walfam

[Turtles06]

4 minutes ago, Walfam said:

Supplement plan F covers 80% after the $250 deductible.  The 20% out of pocket would still be a stunner if the medical bills are bad enough to reach that $50k cap. We don't take chances and always buy travel insurance.

 

 

You are correct, and thanks for pointing that out.   And, as I said in my comment, I agree with you about buying travel insurance; we always do as well.    

[Fouremco]

19 hours ago, 1964IceCreamLady said:

Huh.  I knew I read it somewhere, so double checked.  On page 4 it says that both documentation AND passports.  So conflicting info...?

HAL tries to cover a complex subject with many variable in a few short paragraphs, possibly doing more to confuse than to enlighten. I think that what they are trying to say in the paragraphs you quote is that minors require proper ID, which in some cases is the documentation noted in the first paragraph, but in circumstances where passengers require passports, minors too require them. 

 

A passport is always acceptable, and as the OP points out, even if it isn't "required" for some cruises, you're always safer having one.

[Homosassa]

As someone who actually read the whole terms and conditions for HAL, HAL does state that when traveling with minors, a passport is required for all the passengers to avoid difficulties in the event of an emergency and to ensure that the party will not be split up due to lack of required documentation.