Medical Disembarkation

An area for discussing what happens and ways to deal with emergency situations whilst on a cruise.
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Ian Perth
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#26

Post by Ian Perth »

Hi had to settle before leaving ship then claimed insurance when back home


Whynd1
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#27

Post by Whynd1 »

Thought so.


Whynd1
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#28

Post by Whynd1 »

Have taken some of the advice on this forum and have now bought an android phone, I and been thinking for a while of purchasing one but this made my mind up.
So now have a Sony E5:on O2 pay as you go as didn't want to be tied to a contract and I don't use my phone a lot. Also bought a European adapter.
So feel better prepared for my October cruise.Am also thinking if taking my tablet but it's a nexus 10 inch and quite hefty but might take it.

Lindsey

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Manoverboard
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#29

Post by Manoverboard »

Please make sure that you can add call time to your phone via the phone itself else get some vouchers in ..... overseas calls can cost a bob or two.
Keep smiling, it's good for your well being

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david63
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#30

Post by david63 »

Also make sure that you have roaming available - not all PAYG allow it.


Whynd1
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#31

Post by Whynd1 »

Thank you, I will check that, will also get a bolt on or a bundle for the 17 nights I am away.
It's all new to me, just got to work out how to use the phone now.


Lindsey


AnnCAgain
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#32

Post by AnnCAgain »

My son-in-law sustained a head injury on board Celebrity Eclipse while she was docked in Livorno about six years ago. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital, had two scans and was released. (This is obviously cutting a very long story short!) The ship delayed departure until he arrived back, the medical care on board was free "because the accident happened on the ship", there was no charge for the hospital treatment and no E111s were asked for. Although he showed his insurance documents on board they can't have been charged because no request was made for the excess. This was HSBC insurance that he pays £9.95 for per month for the family. They couldn't praise the hospital enough. Maybe they were lucky.


poole boy
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#33

Post by poole boy »

Hi I would just like to say that the medical staff on Adonia are excellent, last week on our Adonia cruise I collapsed outside the shops actually landing on my head and was unconscious for about 2 mins the nurses got to me very quickly and took me to the medical centre were the doctor and nurses treated me wonderfully, they thought at first I would have to leave the ship but after 2 days of excellent care I was allowed to stay on board but not allowed of at our next stop.
so I would just like to say a big thank you to the doctor and nurses on Adonia we still think it is a wonderful ship and when I am finished having the tests I am having we hope to be able to go on her again.

graham
Last edited by poole boy on 21 Sep 2017, 16:27, edited 1 time in total.

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Stephen
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#34

Post by Stephen »

Try taking more water with it Graham.

Seriously though, hope you are now ok and the tests come back all good. :thumbup:


poole boy
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#35

Post by poole boy »

Stephen unfortunately that is one of the things the onboard doctor banned water only he said :cry:
graham


poole boy
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#36

Post by poole boy »

Hi david63 just wondering if you have heard anything from the insurance company yet as we have had our claim in for 3 weeks and not even had an acknowledgment.
graham

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david63
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#37

Post by david63 »

poole boy wrote: 09 Oct 2017, 08:41
Hi david63 just wondering if you have heard anything from the insurance company yet as we have had our claim in for 3 weeks and not even had an acknowledgment.
graham
I had my claim paid out in full within a week of submitting all the paperwork


poole boy
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#38

Post by poole boy »

Hi david63 we received our claim payment this morning took just over 4 weeks but at least they paid in full with no argument :D


CaroleF
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#39

Post by CaroleF »

After our experience last month when we were medically disembarked from Aurora in St. John's Newfoundland I have just re-read people's experiences on this thread. I thought it might be interesting if I recount what exactly happened to us. We boarded Aurora on 1st September for the 30 night cruise to Canada/USA on Wednesday 4th John went to see the Dr on board as he'd suddenly developed a 'dropped foot'. This means that if he put his heel on the floor, keeping it there he couldn't raise his toes, so he was walking flat footed. Also his foot was very cold although he could feel anyone touching it. He seemed a long time and when he returned, obviously having had a blood test, I said "Well?" He looked rather sheepish and said he'd got to be landed - I didn't quite understand what he meant but he said he had to go to the hospital in St. John's as soon as we docked. It also meant that we had to pack up the cabin - only unpacked on the Sunday! We also had to take a case with us in case we had to fly home. The doctor thought that there may be a problem with the nerves in John's back which was causing the foot problem - he didn't have any back pain. John does have Polymyalgia but the Doctor didn't think that was anything to do with it. Later that day the Port Services Manager - a lovely man - came up to talk to us about luggage. Everything would stay on board - just as well we had 6 cases of varying sizes - and we could either collect it at Southampton when the ship returned or we could arrange for the Baggage Handling Company to collect it. We live near Southampton so we said we'd collect it. Paul, the PSM told me we could have free phone calls to enable us to contact family at home.

As you can imagine this was an incredible shock. We were told that the Port Agent would collect us from the Medical Centre on the Friday when we arrived in St. John's and take us to the hospital. Apparently two other passengers were being disembarked but they both had to have ambulances whereas we just needed a taxi. So Thursday was spent packing up and deciding what to take with us apart from the necessities. We both had mobiles so we made sure they were fully charged and packed the chargers. It also occurred to me that we might need a plug adapter if we ended up staying in an hotel before going home or if I did if John was kept in the hospital and we didn't have one with us as we didn't expect to need one - didn't need on on Aurora - so I had to go and buy one from the shop. We had told our table companions - 2nd sitting - on the Wednesday evening that we had to go ashore and on the Thursday evening we didn't feel like joining in with the table talk so we went to The Glasshouse and had a lovely meal there.

Come Friday morning we'd been told to be at the medical centre at 9.45am. The day before when we'd both seen the Doctor he'd told us that if the hospital said it was ok he'd be quite happy to have John back on board. He'd given John a report to give the hospital and a copy for John plus one to give his GP. He'd been in touch with our Insurance Company - AXA through John's Lloyds account - so they knew what was happening and we had a case number. Paul came in with the Port Agent and the Doctor again said to them that he'd be happy to have John back on board. So we went off the ship with the Port Agent who, it seemed to us, couldn't get rid of us quick enough. He gave us his card and said to ring him if we wanted a hotel room. I asked him if we get in touch with him if we have to fly home and would he help us with getting flights. Oh no, he said, that was nothing to do with him, up to us and our insurance company. That was a bit of a shock. So off we went in a taxi to the hospital. On arrival it became apparent that we had to pay the taxi driver when I know the PSM Paul told us we wouldn't have to pay for that - it wasn't a lot $20 and we had cash. The hospital looked large and modern - but inside it was quite shabby. In some ways it was just like being back at home in that we had to go to A&E and queue to see the Triage Nurse. We had thought that our documents from the ship's doctor might get us straight through but no. When we had gone through Triage we then had to register. We were asked for our Insurance Card - of course we didn't have one - we said we could tell the girl our Insurance Company. She wasn't concerned at that and said not to worry the bill would be sent to our home address! Not once were we asked for a credit card. Then it was waiting to see a doctor, but it didn't take long. I must now say that all the staff in the hospital were so kind and friendly and incredibly helpful. Give me a shabby hospital surroundings and wonderful staff any time. The doctor having heard the story said he would order a CT Scan. While we were waiting John looked at the copy of the Ship's Doctor's report and contrary to what he told us about welcoming us back on board if the hospital said it was ok, he had written - I think he should be repatriated to the UK as soon as possible!! This was not what he'd said to us, even that morning as we left.
Anyway, the CT scan was done and the results went to a Neurologist Consultant. Eventually our young doctor came back and said that the Neurologist thought the foot was probably a result of a problem with two of the lumbar vertebrae and the nerves were affected. He said that an MRI was indicated, not urgently and he would probably wait a couple of weeks to see what happened before having one. He didn't see any reason why John shouldn't continue with the cruise. Our young doctor said the same thing and said if he was us he'd continue back on the ship. We needed to get in touch with the ship to see if the Doctor would let John back on board. John tried ringing the Port Agent but the number on his card - which didn't refer to him as the Port Agent at all - was answered by someone who said they'd never heard of the name. John had spoken to AXA who were happy to have us continue the cruise providing the hospital said ok and the ship's doctor said ok. I also discovered I'd had three missed calls from a Southampton number which I discovered was the Carnival Care people who were lovely when I phoned them. I was given a number that I could call over the weekend - a 24 hour service, very welcome. We then discovered on the bottom of the ship Doctor's report that he'd put his mobile number so we tried ringing that. Eventually he called me so I gave the phone to John to speak to him. Luckily, oh so luckily, at that moment the young doctor came along so I asked him if he was willing to talk to the ship's doctor and he said "Yes, of course". So we waited while to two doctors spoke to each other, fingers crossed. Eventually our young doctor handed the phone back to John saying the ship's doctor wanted to speak to him. While they spoke the young doctor said he told him that there was no reason in the opinion of the Neurologist and his opinion that John shouldn't go back on the cruise but he had the feeling that the ship's doctor wasn't keen. At last John came off the phone and said yes we could go back on board but we would have to sign an indemnity form to say we wouldn't take any action if any problems arose as a result of us not going back home. John had said he was happy to do that. We had received the opinion of a Consultant Neurologist and were willing to take what he said.
So we then needed to get a taxi. Meanwhile the doctor had given us a written report of the CT scan and a report from the Neurologist to take back with us. We were amazed how quickly things had been done. We had been chatting to a couple of Paramedics who had taken one of the other passengers by ambulance to a different hospital - he was being kept in apparently - and he seeing we were trying to find out the number of a taxi said not to worry, he would call us a taxi and his partner said he'd take our cases out the front of the hospital and show us where to wait for the taxi. They were so kind - all of them. We got our taxi back to the port with a driver who had such a broad accent we could hardly understand him, asked where our next port was. We said, Corner Brook, Oh dear, he said, that's where Hurricane Dorian is headed. He was right and in the event of course we had to miss Corner Brook and go back out into the Atlantic for 300 miles to miss the effects of Dorian. This trip back to the port only cost us $14 but we were so thankful we gave him 20 anyway.

We managed to get through the security at the port gate once they'd got in touch with the ship - no cruise cards, they'd been taken from us before we left Aurora. Once on board we had to wait at Security while someone arranged to get us new Cruise Cards. We were told then to go straight to the Medical Centre. We left the ship at 9.45am and were back on board at 4.30pm after having seen a doctor, had a CT scan, had the opinion of a Neurologist, and got the report printed, not bad! So we saw the Ship's doctor again who left us in no doubt it was against his better judgement that he was letting us back. We had to both sign an Indemnity form which we did. Neither of us mentioned what he'd said about welcoming John back if the hospital said it was ok - we were back, that was enough.

So back to the cabin - exhausted. We'd had nothing to eat all day so we ordered a cream tea from Room Service and both thoroughly enjoyed it! We both believe that if it hadn't been for the young doctor talking to the Ship's Doctor we'd never have got back. As far as the Port Agent was concerned he was nothing like the Port Agent who'd helped John once before when we were in Tallin and he had to go to a local eye clinic as he'd developed a corneal infection in his eye. That time the Agent couldn't do enough, stayed with him, took him to the local pharmacy to get the drops he needed and back to the ship. Apart from ordering us a taxi this Agent seemed to have washed his hands of us. I don't know how he was with the other people. I accept he couldn't accompany us to the hospital as he had the other passengers to deal with.

Our table companions were so welcoming and pleased to see us back. Another result of being disembarked and then returning was that everything we'd booked - table reservations, all our excursions which had been booked and paid for at home, were cancelled. So we had a long session at the excursions desk rebooking where we could. Admittedly some trips John had chosen were no longer suitable as John didn't want to go on any that required a lot of walking whereas previously he always chose the very active trips. Of course as our trips had all been cancelled they were then marked as available so those people on the waitlist were able to secure them. We managed to book most things we wanted just a couple we missed out on but in the grand scheme of things we felt so lucky to be back that it didn't matter.

One I suppose quite amusing thing had happened. Before leaving the ship we didn't know if we would be allowed back, in fact at the time it seemed that it was most likely we'd be flying home, we had a lot of on board credit. The Passenger Services Manager said if he was us he'd spend it as if we flew home we'd lose it. So on the day before we got to St. John's we had a lovely time buying presents for family, Christmas presents etc. We didn't manage to spend all of it - just as well as in the event we returned - but the face of the assistant in the perfume place was a picture when I put down over £200 worth of things!

Looking back now we did feel somewhat abandoned - I think mostly by the Port Agent, especially after reading of some other people's experiences on this thread who had really helpful Agents. We were impressed that the Care People at Southampton had tried to contact me very quickly and had we needed them I'm sure they would have been very helpful. We are still going through the Insurance claim - for the Medical expenses on board - over £500 - and eventually for the hospital charges, although we still haven't had a bill from the hospital. AXA have had the hospital report and they said they were going to contact the hospital, Eastern Health in St. John's regarding charges. Incidentally the husband of a couple on our table had an accident when on a Whale Watching trip, injured his back on the boat and had to be taken to hospital and had to pay with a credit card there and then as soon as he was admitted for an X-ray. Luckily he was able to return to the ship. It seems odd that we didn't have to pay, especially as John had a CT scan.

So lessons learned: have excellent Insurance cover - make sure everything is covered and that the insurance company knows about all pre-existing conditions, make sure Cruising is covered, make sure helicopter evacuation is covered. Make sure you have cash, credit cards - more than one - phones and chargers, socket adapter. Have your insurance details with you. At each port make sure you have the ship's phone number, the Port Agent's name and number. As someone said earlier, have a smallish case that you can take if you have to leave the ship and fly home. Again as someone said before, don't think it's something that can only happen to other people - it isn't. It had made me think about whether we would do a long cruise again - our longest has been 65 nights round South America with no problem. John didn't have any illness at all until he was 73 when the Polymyalgia appeared so he's really unused to being ill - but that's another story! Shall we say, not a good patient!

Carole

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GillD46
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#40

Post by GillD46 »

Sounds somewhat worrying, as if things had been different for John, you would have had a lot of arranging to do. Obviously this was not an issue with P&O but the Port Agent.

How’re things with John now?
Gill


Whynd1
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#41

Post by Whynd1 »

Thank you Carole.
I have already taken a few pointers from David's original report. Small things really but it's just knowing you have done what you can. Bought a new more modern phone,different chargers and have upgraded my insurance to a belt and braces one.

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Happydays
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#42

Post by Happydays »

I renewed our annual insurance in August and after reading David's original post and experiencing a detour for a tender evac I made a point in making sure we were cover for all emergencies,I thought we were but as said better to get it confirmed!
I read your reports as you posted them on your cruise and was very pleased that you were able to continue with the cruise, hope all is well with John.


CaroleF
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#43

Post by CaroleF »

Thank you for your good wishes. At the moment we are waiting for the results of an MRI scan John had last week and for him to see a Neurophysiologist for nerve tests. He has an appointment a week on Wednesday for the nerve tests and then a week later to see the Neurologist who wanted him to have those tests. Hopefully at that point we shall know a bit more. He's finding the aching from the Polymyalgia very tiring and has been given some different analgaesics so hopefully they will help. For a man who is not used to being ill and not used to finding there are things he can't do it is very taxing, shall we say. Still at least we were able to complete the cruise. The first appointment with the Consultant Neurologist couldn't have been until the day we returned so we wouldn't have gained anything by returning earlier.

One thing I wanted to ask does anyone know if it's still possible to postpone a cruise that the deposit's been paid on providing it's within a year and costs more than the original booking? I looked in the Ts&Cs in the new brochure but I couldn't see anything about it. We have a cruise booked for February and the balance has to be paid half way through November so we may think of postponing if it's possible.

Carole

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towny44
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#44

Post by towny44 »

CaroleF wrote: 13 Oct 2019, 09:59

One thing I wanted to ask does anyone know if it's still possible to postpone a cruise that the deposit's been paid on providing it's within a year and costs more than the original booking? I looked in the Ts&Cs in the new brochure but I couldn't see anything about it. We have a cruise booked for February and the balance has to be paid half way through November so we may think of postponing if it's possible.

Carole
I think you can transfer the booking to another cruise normally within 12 months, including some other Carnival lines, as long as the cruise value is the same or higher, there is normally an administration charge of about £100, but this can be waived at P&O's discretion in some circumstances.
John

Trainee Pensioner since 2000

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GillD46
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#45

Post by GillD46 »

Good to hear the MRI has been done. Sending best wishes for the results and for some relief for John.

Yes we have transferred a deposit recently, under the terms mentioned.
Gill

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Gill W
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Re: Medical Disembarkation

#46

Post by Gill W »

Thanks for letting us know of your experiences and hopefully John will soon have answers as to what caused this. I'm glad you were able to carry on with the cruise. That cream tea you had in your cabin when you got back to the ship must have been blissful.

Apart from the worry of being ill, I would find the sense of abandonment very difficult to deal with, being out on your own, a long way from home when you are feeling vulnerable anyway and not getting much support from the port agent. Fortunately, you were in a country similar to the UK, where they speak the same language. The thought of this happening in a far flung port where they don't speak English is very scary
Gill


CaroleF
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Location: Hampshire

Re: Medical Disembarkation

#47

Post by CaroleF »

It is Gill, very scary. It's certainly making me re-think about long cruises. I love the longer ones but this experience has certainly made me think again. The thought of being the other side of the world and something like this happening doesn't bear thinking about. On the other hand we can't not do things just in case something happens. We were so lucky it was in a country like Canada and that the medical staff - and others - that we encountered were so helpful.

Carole

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