Dialysis on Cruise

[theump]

Has anyone been on a cruise that does night time in home Dialysis and if so what all did you have to do to get equipment and solutions to the ship?

 

The Ump

John

[Essiesmom]

If you do a search on this forum/board you will get some hits for dialysis.  There is an organization called Dialysis @ Sea that escorts groups of dialysis guests.  Can’t remember if it is hemodialysis or PD.  many people do PD, bring all their own supplies or have them delivered to the ship.  There is one cruise ship that does he only on every cruise, but it is the most luxurious and expensive, Hapag-Lloyd Europa 2.  EM

[CruiseNYC]

My husband does Peritoneal Dialysis. We cruised this past December and it was a breeze. 
We decided it would be best for our first post-pandemic cruise for him to do manual PD rather than bring the machine. We brought several bags of dialysate in our carry-ons for overnight in FLL; I’d suggest carrying a letter from your support center or nephrologist for airport security. We had to fill out some Special Needs forms from Celebrity beforehand.  We ordered product from our supplier (Baxter) and it was all delivered directly to the ship. When we boarded, the delivery had not yet arrived in the cabin.  Staff called down and confirmed it was there and it was brought up immediately.  We could definitely could have managed if we had brought the machine, too.  
We had also asked for a Sharps Disposal container (in case he needed Heparin injection) and medical staff brought that too. 
We were in a larger cabin so there was plenty of space for the boxes of dialysate.  
If you are not yet on PD, we would highly recommend working through the training process. It has been life-changing. Although we had originally looked into Dialysis-at-Sea options, it is VERY expensive and limits your choices. 
We have quite a few more cruises booked and we’ll probably bring the machine next time. 
 

[jaygatsby27]

On 4/17/2022 at 8:14 AM, CruiseNYC said:

My husband does Peritoneal Dialysis. We cruised this past December and it was a breeze. 
We decided it would be best for our first post-pandemic cruise for him to do manual PD rather than bring the machine. We brought several bags of dialysate in our carry-ons for overnight in FLL; I’d suggest carrying a letter from your support center or nephrologist for airport security. We had to fill out some Special Needs forms from Celebrity beforehand.  We ordered product from our supplier (Baxter) and it was all delivered directly to the ship. When we boarded, the delivery had not yet arrived in the cabin.  Staff called down and confirmed it was there and it was brought up immediately.  We could definitely could have managed if we had brought the machine, too.  
We had also asked for a Sharps Disposal container (in case he needed Heparin injection) and medical staff brought that too. 
We were in a larger cabin so there was plenty of space for the boxes of dialysate.  
If you are not yet on PD, we would highly recommend working through the training process. It has been life-changing. Although we had originally looked into Dialysis-at-Sea options, it is VERY expensive and limits your choices. 
We have quite a few more cruises booked and we’ll probably bring the machine next time. 
 

I have done manuals and used the machine onboard and manuals work much better.  I got Fresenius to deliver supplies to the ship and they were in my cabin when i arrived.  I connect in the bathroom while my wife waits in the cabin and that works pretty well.  I can wash up and sterilize the little counter easily. 

[cali-croozer]

On 6/24/2022 at 10:28 AM, jaygatsby27 said:

I have done manuals and used the machine onboard and manuals work much better.  I got Fresenius to deliver supplies to the ship and they were in my cabin when i arrived.  I connect in the bathroom while my wife waits in the cabin and that works pretty well.  I can wash up and sterilize the little counter easily. 

I hate manuals....ugh.  Why do manuals work better for you than the cycler on a cruise?  

[CruiseNYC]

14 hours ago, cali-croozer said:

I hate manuals....ugh.  Why do manuals work better for you than the cycler on a cruise?  

Tbh not sure where we’d set up the machine. There haven’t been many outlets next to the bed on recent cruises and there was no place to set the cycler down next to the bed. 
Also, I remember, many years ago, we had a power outage on a Princess cruise. We don’t want to take that risk. 
We’d love to hear from people who have brought cyclers aboard.  We’ve always learned so much from cruise critic people!

[jaygatsby27]

On 8/5/2022 at 8:26 PM, cali-croozer said:

I hate manuals....ugh.  Why do manuals work better for you than the cycler on a cruise?  

i found that the machine didnt fit anywhere in the cabin and the rocking of the ship caused a lot of alarms every night, waking my wife up.