Cost Question - If you need to visit the doctor onboard

[sept10dsm]

I think there are all types of insurance. You have to read the fineprint to be sure it covers what you want.

[guineapiggirl]

DH unfortunately had to visit the doctor on a Friday night (the last night of the cruise) at 8:30pm. He had tremendous amounts of blood in his urine, so they ran a few tests and treated him with IV antibiotics. His doctor here thinks that he had a nasty case of strep, which could attack the kidneys. (Kind of interesting, because I never heard that before). The bill came to $729.00. It was high, but probably comparable to an emergency room charge in the States. I just hope that my insurance pays for most of it. I did purchase travel insurance, so they should pick up the difference. I will also try to get them to pay for his copayments.

[anna9135]

I carried insurance for the last cruise I took. Not so much for the cancellation part, which I would appreciate if I really did have to cancel at the last minute, but primarly for the medical. You just never know what may happen and for my family of five we were covered for $120. Well worth it IMHO.

 

Hi, would you please be so kind to share which company you bought travel insurance from?

 

Thanks!

[slyster]

Hi, would you please be so kind to share which company you bought travel insurance from?

 

Thanks!

 

Yikes, I'm not sure you realize that the original post was from 2007! It might be more helpful to start a new thread to get your questions answered.

[Biker19]

[Kmangel]

I hurt my toe before boarding the ship and went to the medical facility. The nurse looked at it and recommended I elevate my foot, gave me some Ibuprofen that only came to $5 for several pills, and suggested that I soak my foot in warm salt water. No other charges. Had I seen the doctor, though, there would have been a charge that I could have turned in to my insurance. I just wanted to be sure that my toe was not infected which fortunately it wasn't so I did not opt to have the doctor look at my foot.

[Grandma Dazzles]

Somewhere buried in thousands of cruise critic postings I am pretty sure that I read medical fees on board are based on "the usual customary charges reimbursed by Medicare and/or standard insurance fees."

 

I never travel without medical coverage. People often think only old people need insurance, but young, healthy adults and kids have accidents and get sick.

 

 

Check your personal insurance to see if you are covered out of the country. Many people don't think to do this. Medicare (for the most part) does not cover outside of the US, for example.

 

 

Totally agree that evacuation insurance is the big cost - more than most of us can afford.

 

 

I have also had two minor accidents on board that resulted in a trip to the doctor and RC did not charge me. Both involved staff or a door. I was willing to submit to insurance but never received a bill.

[jubjubjulie]

DS came down with Bronchitis on Oasis of the Seas last year (he just turned 3). The Doctor on board was great, did saline inhaler to get him to loosen up the mucus and provided us antibiotics. Cost was $320 USD but I had Travel Medical Insurance with my Employer so just paid it and they reimbursed me when i submitted the receipts.

[wild0826]

My very first cruise ever I was inexperienced and had no one to ask about crusing. I think it was 1999. Sailed on Monarch of the Seas out of Puerto Rico and booked through a travel agent. Many issues took place that cruise. One was our agent booked 5 of us on 1 room. Had no idea about the size of the room and said a crib would be available for my 1 yr old son. Well no crib could fit in a room that size. So Royal was kind enough to give my son and I a room for ourselves at no extra charge. Next the ship was leaving at 10 pm and lickily there werent rules about how far in advance we had to be on the ship because we borded around 9 pm and didnt know we missed the whole first day. Finally the agent never told us about trip insurance for the cruise. Well while docked in Antigua my son ran a fever that morning. Didnt seem too bad so my mom and sisters left the ship and we stayed behind. Kept putting cool rags on him to cool him down. It didnt work and he went into convulsions and started vomiting. I ran to the bathroom and drenched him in cold water . Then ran out the room asking for help. A member of the crew took me down to the ship doctor and they bathed him in alcohol. It wasnt enough so they took us to the hospital on the island in an ambulance. Turns out he had a throat infection and they gave me a prescription. Since i had run out the room i had nothing on me. The hospital called the ship and Royal paid the hospital bill which i would have to reimburse them for and for a cab back to the ship. They DID NOT charge me for the visit to the ship doctor or for the antibiotics prescribed. I was so greatful. Unfortunately since i ran out the room in a hurry and didnt even close the door behind me noticed when I got back that jewelry that my mom just bought for me at a previous port was stolen . Lucky i had no cash for whoever it was to take.

[Baron Barracuda]

Came down with the flu few years back on Christmas day while sailing Explorer. Dr's did great job. Meds and several nebulizer treatments had me fully recovered in 3 days. Price tag almost $1,000. Lesson learned, now always buy travel insurance.

 

DW slipped on wet solarium deck on Mariner and broke foot. N/C from Royal and received free cruise. Not really worth the pain and suffering.

 

Last year bronchitis on Anthem. $600 bill fully reimbursed. Biggest hassle was getting officially rejected by primary BCBS plan so Travelguard as secondary would pay.

 

If you travel frequently annual healthcare only policy from Geoblue is a bargain at around $300.

[geomancer]

I half joke that I have no insurance anymore.

 

Technically I do, it's just that with our new system all the plans offered are the high deductible HSA plans.

 

So each year, I have to spend $4000 before insurance will pay even a single penny. Needless to say, any generally healthy person doesn't get close to that. So if someone gets sick, like my daughter, and we want to make sure it's not strep it costs us $220 to see a doctor, then another $20 for the rapid strep test, and I forget how much the culture is.

 

Sure makes me miss the days a few years ago when it was just a $20 copay.

[shipshape sam]

It's not the cost of the onboard visit that will put you in debt it's the airlift to the US that will cost $$$$$$$$$$$$$.

 

That is the elephant in the room. I have heard of $30,000 cost. I am sure it could be less and it could be more.

 

I buy travel insurance every time and hope it is a wasted expense! There are other less costly benefits, like lost luggage, delayed flights, pre-exiting illness if you purchase insurance within a short time of booking cruise, etc.

 

Also, for those in US who are under Medicare, there is not coverage outside US except for a few specific reasons, like you are in Alaska and the closest facility is in Canada as one example. Thus, there is no insurance company to bring your paid bills back too.

 

I am learning more and thinking I will buy some annual travel insurance and not buy specific trip insurance, but I have not done research to determine if it is a good deal to pull the trigger yet.

[shipshape sam]

Came down with the flu few years back on Christmas day while sailing Explorer. Dr's did great job. Meds and several nebulizer treatments had me fully recovered in 3 days. Price tag almost $1,000. Lesson learned, now always buy travel insurance.

 

DW slipped on wet solarium deck on Mariner and broke foot. N/C from Royal and received free cruise. Not really worth the pain and suffering.

 

Last year bronchitis on Anthem. $600 bill fully reimbursed. Biggest hassle was getting officially rejected by primary BCBS plan so Travelguard as secondary would pay.

 

If you travel frequently annual healthcare only policy from Geoblue is a bargain at around $300.

 

Thanks for tip. Will check them out!

[S.A.M.J.R.]

We've had two incidents (on two cruises) requiring trips to medical...

 

1) DD cut her head on embarkation night at the pool. Ended up needing stitches (including some subcutaneous). Multiple follow up trips to medical throughout the cruise to check up and make sure the wound was healing properly. Total charge =$0.

 

2) I sprained my knee playing volleyball on board. X-rays, crutches for one day, then a cane I ended up using going off the ship. Total charge = $0.

 

I was told by (I think it was the doctor) that accidents on board (what happened to us) are covered at no charge to the passenger. Sickness and accidents off the ship need to be paid for.

 

Both incidents happened on Freedom, 2 years apart.

[ptf2009]

We didn't buy insurance and when I came down with a bladder infection, I was pleasantly surprised that the fee was covered by my insurance co. minus the co-pay. Also the antibiotics were so inexpensive, much less than my prescription ins. at home. So for minor health problems, cruise worry free!

[jamesr3939]

Check your personal insurance to see if you are covered out of the country. Many people don't think to do this. Medicare (for the most part) does not cover outside of the US.

 

Medicare will cover some out of country (mostly Mexico & Canada) it that's the closest hospital. Medicare will also cover on the cruise ship if it's within six hours of a US port. Some Medicare supplement plans cover outside the country, mine does. My DW's Kaiser will cover outside the country.

 

I have priced the GeoBlue plans for some upcoming travel and the price and coverage is fairly cheap. Plus if you use their preferred providers you don't have to pay up front they will bill GeoBlue. Only thing their EVAC only takes you to the nearest capable hospital, whereas MedJet will bring you home.

[John&LaLa]

DS was hurt on the Explorer two years ago. The cost of the Dr. visit was over $400 and was put on our account. We paid a premium because it was considered an emergency visit when the Dr.'s office was closed at noon for lunch. (heaven forbid we should bother the Dr. during lunch on a Sea Day.)

 

Anyway, we also had medical expenses in Belize and in Florida upon our return. Also, DS had to have two root canals once we got home. We turned all expenses into our medical insurance and the balance to our travel insurance. The balance was over $500.

 

I won't travel without insurance again. Given we are healthy and don't have elderly parents anymore, we just don't know what can happen while on vacation.

 

Get the insurance.

How was root canal after you got back considered travel related?

 

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[John&LaLa]

Yikes, I'm not sure you realize that the original post was from 2007! It might be more helpful to start a new thread to get your questions answered.

I wondered why they kept saying Monarch.

 

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[Spurschick]

Only had to use onboard dr once (fortunately) and that was about 12 years ago. DD would not stop vomiting. Saw dr for a couple of minutes and was given some medication. Cost around $140 back then.

[jamesr3939]

Here's to wishing we never have to find out.

[Ocean Boy]

No, it's not like a doctor's visit.... it's like an emergency room visit. We were charged $100 when my husband hurt his back. Doc spent a few minutes with him and gave him some muscle relaxers. Insurance supposedly would have covered it, but I never got around to filing it.

And you think $100.00 would have covered an ER visit in the U.S.?

 

 

NEVERMIND. I can't believe I just quoted someone from 2007.:rolleyes:

[Biker19]

And you think $100.00 would have covered an ER visit in the U.S.?

Of course, it's only because of Obamacare that prices are so high now.

 

Biker, who is still in search of a sarcasm font.

 

 

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[John&LaLa]

I've used them twice, around $140. Blue Cross covers it very nicely.

 

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[juju2454]

Hi, would you please be so kind to share which company you bought travel insurance from?

 

Thanks!

 

we got our insurance from USAA military. for all 8of us fully covered (even preexisting) it was about $405.00 the teens were included at no extra charge.

[samb413]

Last year when I was on my cruise, I injured my shoulder/arm. I had a large brush burn on my shoulder from tubing earlier in the day. I also had bad sunburn, and when it was paired with brush burn while tubing, it wasn't pretty. My skin was raw and couldn't be exposed. Even the slightest brush of clothing was very painful. I didn't want to visit the MD onboard because 1. I didn't want to pay $150 for the visit and 2. My dad is a nurse and could take care of the wound without issue. We were forced to pay $50 for two large bandages and tape.

 

Lesson learned: Add bandages to the first aid kit and save $50.