Injured during shore excursion...

[cruisin from florida]

We just got off the Explorer. Had a wonderful time, and went with the flow when the onboard experience wasn't up to expectations. All the staff are working very hard, with a great attitude.

 

On to my tale of woe. After two "adventurous" snorkeling excursions, I managed to trip on a rock and slice my hand pretty well in Aruba on a tame sight seeing "Picture Aruba" bus tour.

If you saw the blood at the abandoned gold ruins, that was me.

 

I never realized that the biggest benefit of booking the ship excursion is if you get hurt. Here's what happened:

1) The bus driver got his first aid kit, washed the wound, bandaged it, and notified his supervisor. He also provided Naproxen and asked if I wanted to go to the hospital. (I didn't.)

2) After staying on the bus for another stop or two, everything started to sink in and hurt (I also scraped my leg up nicely, my other hand was scraped and bruised, and my 61 year old shoulder was complaining, too) so the driver arranged for us to be picked up at the next stop by his supervisor. She was there waiting and took us right back to the ship.

3) At the ship, she wrote up the full incident report which I signed and she sent on to the Excursions folks on board.

4)Next stop, the medical facilities on board. They took x-rays (NOT broken, yay!) cleaned, stitched up (4 stitches) the cut, dressed it, gave me a tetanus shot and made an appointment to have it looked at in 2 days. No charge for any of this.

5) Guest services called to check on me, how I was doing, and the care I was receiving.

6) The excursion desk called to check on me, how I was doing, and the care I received.

7) The cost of the excursion showed up as a credit on my shipboard account ( I did not make any request for this)

8 ) I returned to have the stitches looked at, got the records and instructions for care when we get home.

All in all, I couldn't have asked for any better care or improvement in how everything was handled. This experience has made us MUCH more likely to book RCCL excursions in the future.

 

 

[rudeney]

It sounds like that was handled extremely well for you!   I am surprised there was no charge for the medical care.  That's definitely a great decision by RCI.

[LaCal]

Excellent service and care.  Kudos to Royal 

 

Sorry you fell 🙏🏻🙏🏻

[puppycanducruise]

I'm glad you received good service.  Hope you heal quickly.

[reallyitsmema]

I am happy they took such good care of you and that you are healing.  I have had positive interactions with the medical department on ships in the past and wouldn't hesitate to be seen again, even after the overwhelmed and unorganized medical department I just experienced on Quantum.  

 

We have also received free care on more than one ship.

[cruisin from florida]

6 minutes ago, rudeney said:

It sounds like that was handled extremely well for you!   I am surprised there was no charge for the medical care.  That's definitely a great decision by RCI.

I don't know if this is the norm, but I really appreciated it.

[reallyitsmema]

2 minutes ago, cruisin from florida said:

I don't know if this is the norm, but I really appreciated it.

 

It is definitely the norm if you are injured on an excursion or on the ship.

[Ashland]

The excursion provider has to be licensed and bonded...not surprised at how this was handled by all involved as it was a booked excursion and there is a liability issue RCI must consider. Glad you were treated so well...and hope you recover soon.

[FloridaGram]

1 hour ago, cruisin from florida said:

We just got off the Explorer. Had a wonderful time, and went with the flow when the onboard experience wasn't up to expectations. All the staff are working very hard, with a great attitude.

 

On to my tale of woe. After two "adventurous" snorkeling excursions, I managed to trip on a rock and slice my hand pretty well in Aruba on a tame sight seeing "Picture Aruba" bus tour.

If you saw the blood at the abandoned gold ruins, that was me.

 

I never realized that the biggest benefit of booking the ship excursion is if you get hurt. Here's what happened:

1) The bus driver got his first aid kit, washed the wound, bandaged it, and notified his supervisor. He also provided Naproxen and asked if I wanted to go to the hospital. (I didn't.)

2) After staying on the bus for another stop or two, everything started to sink in and hurt (I also scraped my leg up nicely, my other hand was scraped and bruised, and my 61 year old shoulder was complaining, too) so the driver arranged for us to be picked up at the next stop by his supervisor. She was there waiting and took us right back to the ship.

3) At the ship, she wrote up the full incident report which I signed and she sent on to the Excursions folks on board.

4)Next stop, the medical facilities on board. They took x-rays (NOT broken, yay!) cleaned, stitched up (4 stitches) the cut, dressed it, gave me a tetanus shot and made an appointment to have it looked at in 2 days. No charge for any of this.

5) Guest services called to check on me, how I was doing, and the care I was receiving.

6) The excursion desk called to check on me, how I was doing, and the care I received.

7) The cost of the excursion showed up as a credit on my shipboard account ( I did not make any request for this)

8 ) I returned to have the stitches looked at, got the records and instructions for care when we get home.

All in all, I couldn't have asked for any better care or improvement in how everything was handled. This experience has made us MUCH more likely to book RCCL excursions in the future.

 

 

 

I am glad you were treated so well. I wonder if part of the reason was because you were in Aruba. Aruba seems to be the most like the US . I am hoping someone else posts another experience on a different island. I am happy for you and hope you have a full recovery!

[nanners]

I also fell in Aruba, at the Baths.  I did something to my achilles and couldn't walk. It was so painful.

This excursion was through Royal.  They took such good care of me.  Gave me crutches, provided a wheelchair, three different visits with the doctors and paid meds.  Customer service called frequently to see if there was anything they could do.  Offered to bring my meals to our room, but declined. I was thankful and impressed.

 

I hope your injuries are healing nicely.

 

[EatonDoolittle]

37 minutes ago, nanners said:

I also fell in Aruba, at the Baths. 

 

 

Curious where this is in Aruba?

The only Baths I can think of is in Virgin Gorda, in the BVIs

[Mapleleafforever]

Glad you're ok and good to hear how well they took care of you. 

[twins_to_alaska]

Sorry for the injury but glad you received good care. I burnt myself the last morning one cruise trying to get hot water at the buffet into a shallow plastic container to soak an eye mask. Ended up going down to medical and they also cared for me no charge.

 

Now I order hot water in a carafe to my room... and save a carafe to have filled at the buffet the last morning.

[chengkp75]

5 hours ago, Ashland said:

The excursion provider has to be licensed and bonded...not surprised at how this was handled by all involved as it was a booked excursion and there is a liability issue RCI must consider. Glad you were treated so well...and hope you recover soon.

When people complain about how much more expensive the ship sponsored excursions are, this is the main reason.  The lines require far larger bonds than what the local economy does (if at all).  You may never need it, but when you do, you do.

[broadwaybaby123]

They do take good care of you in the Infirmary.  I was on a cruise once with a sinus infection.  I had gone to the doctor the week before and said "I think I have a sinus infection, can I get some antibiotics?"  They told me I had a "sinus irritation" and told me to take some super strong allergy meds and that I would be fine in a week.

 

5 days into a 10 day cruise and I'm laying in bed, too dehydrated and weak to get up to even use the bathroom.  The staff was alerted and kept sending me saltines and things from the Windjammer.  Eventually I got strong enough to make it down to the Infirmary and they took ONE LOOK at me and told me I had a full-blown sinus infection.  They gave me antibiotics and told me I would be better in 3-5 days.

 

Thanks to them, I was able to go on the roller coasters 5 days later in Busch Gardens, Tampa.

[monorail81]

6 hours ago, EatonDoolittle said:

 

Curious where this is in Aruba?

The only Baths I can think of is in Virgin Gorda, in the BVIs

I was wondering the same thing. 

[Chadr135]

I typically book activities privately, but your positive experience will certainly give me pause in the future. Hope you're feeling better! 🙂

[cruisin from florida]

14 hours ago, Chadr135 said:

I typically book activities privately, but your positive experience will certainly give me pause in the future. Hope you're feeling better! 🙂

We do, too. We were cruising with a small group of friends, and booking the RCCL excursions was easier. This experience has made their excursions our default, unless there's some major reason to go on our own.

[Lane Hog]

While we also book thru the desk, I'm struggling to see what steps wouldn't have been taken had this been a privately booked excursion, aside from the refund.

 

RCI's medical was great.  Our daughter had an unknown allergic reaction to something she ate on an excursion, and the staff kept her loaded up with Benadryl to get her back to normal.  They also allowed the three of us to cancel an excursion for the following day without penalty.

Edited June 6, 2022 by Lane Hog

[brandy4598]

If it had been a private excursion, they could have still gone to the medical center, but they would have been charged for it (out of pocket likely). 

[cruisin from florida]

10 minutes ago, Lane Hog said:

While we also book thru the desk, I'm struggling to see what steps wouldn't have been taken had this been a privately booked excursion, aside from the refund.

 

RCI's medical was great.  Our daughter had an unknown allergic reaction to something she ate on an excursion, and the staff kept her loaded up with Benadryl to get her back to normal.  They also allowed the three of us to cancel an excursion for the following day without penalty.

I think I might have been charged for the medical care if it had happened off the ship but not on an RCCL excursion. I can't be sure, but while I was in the medical facility I overheard a lot of "we'll charge your room and you can get reimbursed by your insurance," or " we can't give you any over the counter medicine unless you see the doctor, and there's a charge for that" conversations.

On a side note, bring any meds you think you might need. There are no meds in the onboard shops (I was looking for Neosporin for a blister earlier in the cruise and noticed that they weren't selling Dramamine or Tylenol or anything), and the medical folks no longer give those out unless you're evaluated.

[reallyitsmema]

13 minutes ago, cruisin from florida said:

I think I might have been charged for the medical care if it had happened off the ship but not on an RCCL excursion. I can't be sure, but while I was in the medical facility I overheard a lot of "we'll charge your room and you can get reimbursed by your insurance," or " we can't give you any over the counter medicine unless you see the doctor, and there's a charge for that" conversations.

On a side note, bring any meds you think you might need. There are no meds in the onboard shops (I was looking for Neosporin for a blister earlier in the cruise and noticed that they weren't selling Dramamine or Tylenol or anything), and the medical folks no longer give those out unless you're evaluated.

 

They will treat you for free for covid, norovirus and influenza in our experience.  Not sure if they always treat for free for influenza but they did on Anthem when there was an outbreak and the Captain had announced that people with symptoms could be seen for free.  

[nanners]

21 hours ago, monorail81 said:

I was wondering the same thing. 

Sorry, I had a brain fart!  It was in Tortola where the Baths really are!

[cured]

On 6/5/2022 at 9:37 AM, cruisin from florida said:

We just got off the Explorer. Had a wonderful time, and went with the flow when the onboard experience wasn't up to expectations. All the staff are working very hard, with a great attitude.

 

On to my tale of woe. After two "adventurous" snorkeling excursions, I managed to trip on a rock and slice my hand pretty well in Aruba on a tame sight seeing "Picture Aruba" bus tour.

If you saw the blood at the abandoned gold ruins, that was me.

 

I never realized that the biggest benefit of booking the ship excursion is if you get hurt. Here's what happened:

1) The bus driver got his first aid kit, washed the wound, bandaged it, and notified his supervisor. He also provided Naproxen and asked if I wanted to go to the hospital. (I didn't.)

2) After staying on the bus for another stop or two, everything started to sink in and hurt (I also scraped my leg up nicely, my other hand was scraped and bruised, and my 61 year old shoulder was complaining, too) so the driver arranged for us to be picked up at the next stop by his supervisor. She was there waiting and took us right back to the ship.

3) At the ship, she wrote up the full incident report which I signed and she sent on to the Excursions folks on board.

4)Next stop, the medical facilities on board. They took x-rays (NOT broken, yay!) cleaned, stitched up (4 stitches) the cut, dressed it, gave me a tetanus shot and made an appointment to have it looked at in 2 days. No charge for any of this.

5) Guest services called to check on me, how I was doing, and the care I was receiving.

6) The excursion desk called to check on me, how I was doing, and the care I received.

7) The cost of the excursion showed up as a credit on my shipboard account ( I did not make any request for this)

8 ) I returned to have the stitches looked at, got the records and instructions for care when we get home.

All in all, I couldn't have asked for any better care or improvement in how everything was handled. This experience has made us MUCH more likely to book RCCL excursions in the future.

 

 

Love hearing something positive! Thanks for the great post!

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, Lane Hog said:

While we also book thru the desk, I'm struggling to see what steps wouldn't have been taken had this been a privately booked excursion, aside from the refund.

I don't know.  Things like contacting the tour supervisor and getting transportation back to the ship, instead of "here's the first aid kit, help yourself".  Writing an incident report.  These things are contractual with the cruise line, so the tour can lose their business if they don't do this.  Guest services checking on how patient was doing.  Things like that.  Yes, medical would likely have checked up, but no other acknowledgement by the cruise line would be likely.