Cost of IV hydration

[dleahy4444]

My traveling companion is undergoing treatment and sometimes requires IV hydration. She does have travel insurance but in the event that it is not covered does anyone know how much it would be out of pocket? Thank you 

[Rick&Jeannie]

I cannot answer your question other than to say that it definitely will NOT be covered on board the ship.

[dleahy4444]

6 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

I cannot answer your question other than to say that it definitely will NOT be covered on board the ship.

Thanks, we thought that would probably be the case. Just wondering if anyone had an idea of the cost 

[Rick&Jeannie]

1 minute ago, dleahy4444 said:

Thanks, we thought that would probably be the case. Just wondering if anyone had an idea of the cost 

If it comes to needing this, be sure and get copies of ALL medical documents WHILE YOU ARE ON THE SHIP in order to get reimbursed via insurance.  It's CRAZY difficult to get them after the cruise.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Here’s the link to special medical needs , probably best to call

https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/special-needs/medical-needs

[Liao]

1 hour ago, dleahy4444 said:

Thanks, we thought that would probably be the case. Just wondering if anyone had an idea of the cost 

Perhaps she should contact the insurer and inquire about the cost if added to her coverage?

[cruisetonowhere10]

I feel like someone posted that the spa offered iv hydration as a spa treatment.  While it’s not “medical” a saline drip is a saline drip and might be worth exploring (unless I dreamed that post which is entirely possible.) Might be an interesting preventative option to avoid high medical costs. Btw, I know nothing about on board medical services/insurance/etc. 🙂

[Tierun]

2 hours ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

I feel like someone posted that the spa offered iv hydration as a spa treatment.  While it’s not “medical” a saline drip is a saline drip and might be worth exploring (unless I dreamed that post which is entirely possible.) Might be an interesting preventative option to avoid high medical costs. Btw, I know nothing about on board medical services/insurance/etc. 🙂

My wife was looking at the IV treatment onboard Reflection last week. I don’t remember the price, but it seemed to be a waste of money to me.

[leaveitallbehind]

2 hours ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

I feel like someone posted that the spa offered iv hydration as a spa treatment.  While it’s not “medical” a saline drip is a saline drip and might be worth exploring (unless I dreamed that post which is entirely possible.) Might be an interesting preventative option to avoid high medical costs. Btw, I know nothing about on board medical services/insurance/etc. 🙂

With US travelers, in most cases any medical treatments required on board would be paid in full on board by credit card.  One would then have to seek reimbursement by way of insurance once back home. Not sure if that is different with separately purchased third party travel insurers, but I'm sure they have their own process.  Either way, typically your home primary insurers do not directly cover medical expenses incurred out of the country.

 

BTW I personally would never entrust a ship spa person to provide an IV treatment of any kind to me while on board. I would leave that exclusively up to a licensed land based physician. JMO.

[dleahy4444]

4 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

If it comes to needing this, be sure and get copies of ALL medical documents WHILE YOU ARE ON THE SHIP in order to get reimbursed via insurance.  It's CRAZY difficult to get them after the cruise.

Thank you for the heads up. Will do.

[dleahy4444]

3 hours ago, Liao said:

Perhaps she should contact the insurer and inquire about the cost if added to her coverage?

Good idea! I will pass that suggestion on to her. Thanks 

[dleahy4444]

2 hours ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

I feel like someone posted that the spa offered iv hydration as a spa treatment.  While it’s not “medical” a saline drip is a saline drip and might be worth exploring (unless I dreamed that post which is entirely possible.) Might be an interesting preventative option to avoid high medical costs. Btw, I know nothing about on board medical services/insurance/etc. 🙂

Thank you. I think I saw that some land bases spas offer that service, not sure about the ship. But your post raised an interesting question which I think she will need to ask her doctor about. I don’t know if the hydration that she gets when she feels run down from her treatments is actually just saline. She will need to ask. 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Just now, dleahy4444 said:

Thank you. I think I saw that some land bases spas offer that service, not sure about the ship. But your post raised an interesting question which I think she will need to ask her doctor about. I don’t know if the hydration that she gets when she feels run down from her treatments is actually just saline. She will need to ask. 

If these treatments are mandatory, honestly I'd have her ask her doctor about cruising in general right now. While I'm sure they have IV treatments on board for emergencies, I'm not sure how well equipped they are for something like that that is known in advance. Not to mention the possibility of being disembarked in a foreign country should things go badly with her health.

 

If her doctor gives her the go ahead, I'd definitely contact Special Needs and let them know exactly what she'll need to see if that can be accommodated.

[dleahy4444]

15 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

With US travelers, in most cases any medical treatments required on board would be paid in full on board by credit card.  One would then have to seek reimbursement by way of insurance once back home. Not sure if that is different with separately purchased third party travel insurers, but I'm sure they have their own process.  Either way, typically your home primary insurers do not directly cover medical expenses incurred out of the country.

 

BTW I personally would never entrust a ship spa person to provide an IV treatment of any kind to me while on board. I would leave that exclusively up to a licensed land based physician. JMO.

She may not have the option to wait until we are on land. I think the IV hydration that she would require would n not be a spa treatment, but rather an iv drip administered by the ship’s medical personnel. I agree that if she needs to get medical services like IV hydration by the medical team, her credit card will immediately be charged and she will need to work out any possible reimbursement later. She is just trying to figure out how hard her card will be hit. 

[dleahy4444]

2 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

If these treatments are mandatory, honestly I'd have her ask her doctor about cruising in general right now. While I'm sure they have IV treatments on board for emergencies, I'm not sure how well equipped they are for something like that that is known in advance. Not to mention the possibility of being disembarked in a foreign country should things go badly with her health.

 

If her doctor gives her the go ahead, I'd definitely contact Special Needs and let them know exactly what she'll need to see if that can be accommodated.

Thank you for your response. She will be getting her medication infusion before boarding the ship. But sometimes they make her feel run down a few days later and an IV drip helps her feel better. She is trying to plan what to do if she starts to feel unwell mid week. Her doctor has told her that she can travel as long as she is feeling up to it. It’s a one week cruise to Bermuda. While traveling for her is not ideal, I think she doesn’t want to miss out on trying to have a quality of life. Thanks to the replies on this board, I have great suggestions for her such as contacting special needs, finding out exactly what is she needs in the  IV hydration and also proactively seeking guidance from the travel insurance company. Thank you and thank you to the others that have responded 

[NutsAboutGolf]

7 minutes ago, dleahy4444 said:

She may not have the option to wait until we are on land. I think the IV hydration that she would require would n not be a spa treatment, but rather an iv drip administered by the ship’s medical personnel. I agree that if she needs to get medical services like IV hydration by the medical team, her credit card will immediately be charged and she will need to work out any possible reimbursement later. She is just trying to figure out how hard her card will be hit. 

 

Use the special needs form on post #5.  Before you call your travel insurance provider, you may want to research the port areas for medical clinics a little to see if they offer options.  Just my WAG (Wild A$$ Guess), insurance may be more likely to approve an IV at a public land-based clinic than on cruise ships which inherently have inflated pricing

[dleahy4444]

38 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Use the special needs form on post #5.  Before you call your travel insurance provider, you may want to research the port areas for medical clinics a little to see if they offer options.  Just my WAG (Wild A$$ Guess), insurance may be more likely to approve an IV at a public land-based clinic than on cruise ships which inherently have inflated pricing

Another great idea, thanks

[dreamer321]

Double check the terms of your Travel insurance to make sure its covers pre-existing conditions.  Many would consider this a pre-existing condition and would not cover it unless it covers preexisting conditions in general.  Expect to pay out of pocket for any expenses in the ship's infirmary.

[leaveitallbehind]

5 hours ago, dleahy4444 said:

She may not have the option to wait until we are on land. I think the IV hydration that she would require would n not be a spa treatment, but rather an iv drip administered by the ship’s medical personnel. I agree that if she needs to get medical services like IV hydration by the medical team, her credit card will immediately be charged and she will need to work out any possible reimbursement later. She is just trying to figure out how hard her card will be hit. 

 

My comment was not about only getting the treatments on land, but specifically about not getting an IV treatment by the spa personnel.  Obviously if a medical situation were to occur on board where they would need a medical IV treatment that would be done by the ship's medical staff.  That then leads to the comments about by how that would be paid. I agree with other's comments about consulting with a physician at home before considering a cruise to be sure that would be a wise decision.  Required medical IV treatments at sea would not be an option on which I would feel comfortable relying.

Edited June 2 by leaveitallbehind

[MJB1437]

We were on a cruise to Bermuda and my husband got dehydrated after a day at the beach.  Went to the infirmary, the did some tests and they gave him an IV.  Interesting, not only did they charge for the IV, they also charged for the IV pole.  It was covered by our travel insurance, but it was on our bill.  The infirmary gave us a very itemized bill to submit to the insurance company, and even let us use the phone to call the insurance company.

Myrna

[dleahy4444]

11 hours ago, MJB1437 said:

We were on a cruise to Bermuda and my husband got dehydrated after a day at the beach.  Went to the infirmary, the did some tests and they gave him an IV.  Interesting, not only did they charge for the IV, they also charged for the IV pole.  It was covered by our travel insurance, but it was on our bill.  The infirmary gave us a very itemized bill to submit to the insurance company, and even let us use the phone to call the insurance company.

Myrna

Thank you. Do you recall about how much it was? I think the possibility of needing an IV, the cost, and the question of it being covered by insurance and being billed immediately before seeking reimbursement are all factors to consider before going on board , or making the decision to cancel. When we booked this trip a while ago, this wasn’t an issue, but unfortunately it is a possibility now. 

[paulh84]

I'll be blunt and just say there is some really poor advice being provided here. To treat is not to treat is totally at the discretion of the ship's doctor. Treating someone with a complicated medical history is not a decision left up to a glorified customer service person in "Special Needs". Worse case scenario, and most likely, is they send her to a hospital in Bermuda. If the spa is willingly doing infusions for people on chemo they need to be shut down. 

[Markanddonna]

My husband needed an IV drip because of illness and dehydration. MSC didn't charge a thing for any of his medical services. Nothing was there fault. We had travel insurance but never received a bill.  He was in the medical center numerous times and we became quite friendly with the two wonderful doctors and their staff.

[MJB1437]

7 hours ago, dleahy4444 said:

Thank you. Do you recall about how much it was? I think the possibility of needing an IV, the cost, and the question of it being covered by insurance and being billed immediately before seeking reimbursement are all factors to consider before going on board , or making the decision to cancel. When we booked this trip a while ago, this wasn’t an issue, but unfortunately it is a possibility now. 

Sorry, it was a few years ago, so I don't remember the cost.  I just know I was thankful they could help.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

5 hours ago, paulh84 said:

Treating someone with a complicated medical history is not a decision left up to a glorified customer service person in "Special Needs".

BUT Special Needs can talk with the medical people and see if it's even possible to be done. Plus if they know that saline IV might be needed they (medical) could try to procure some more for that cruise so they're covered for the passenger knowing they'll need it as well as any emergencies (such as dehydration due to illness which can't be planned for).