What Happens If You Get Sick on a Cruise?
If you get sick or hurt on a cruise, the urgency of your
condition will determine whether you are treated aboard,
taken ashore at the next scheduled port, (more urgently)
taken ashore at the nearest port, or require an at-sea
medical evacuation.
All large, ocean-going cruise ships have a medical center
staffed with licensed physicians and nurses. Most are
equipped according to guidelines established by the
American College of Emergency Physicians Cruise Ship
& Maritime Medicine Section and are capable of
prescribing and administrating medications and performing
minor surgery. Once you are evaluated, it is between
the ship’s medical staff, and the ship’s Captain,
to decide if your condition can be treated onboard,
or is serious enough to warrant disembarkation and
transfer to the nearest hospital on land.
[For
Antarctica
-specific information click
HERE
]
[Top 5
river cruise
illnesses and injuries click
HERE
]
If You Need On-Shore Hospitalization
If your condition allows for the infirmary to care for
you until the ship’s
next scheduled port,
the ship’s team will arrange with local emergency
services for you to be picked up and transferred to a
shoreside medical facility at that destination.
If your condition warrants an unscheduled stop at the
nearest port, that will be arranged
by the ship’s team as well.
If your condition is so serious and life-threatening,
and the medical team and ship’s Captain determine
that an at-sea medevac is necessary,
that has a lot of factors and
considerations.
At-sea hoists are extremely complicated, can be very
dangerous, and are rarely done. They are the sole
purview of highly skilled, at-sea certified rescue
teams, which is typically the local Coast Guard.
Execution is highly dependent on several factors:
who’s waters you’re in, current weather
and sea conditions, what type of ship you’re on
(is there helicopter landing capability? Would an
at-sea hoist be safe? Is it a smaller ship so you
will need to go by boat?), etc.
Getting Transported to a Hospital at Home
Once you reach the nearest appropriate shoreside
hospital and have been stabilized, you may require
continued inpatient hospitalization. This is where
Medjet would come in. A good travel insurance policy
will have covered getting you to that local hospital,
and paying for your treatment there, but will
not cover moving you to a hospital
at home unless you can prove that the move is
“medically necessary”. Medical repatriation
flights (air ambulance transfers) can be very
expensive (up to $300,000) so they only want to
approve one if it’s absolutely necessary.
If you do require continued hospitalization, once
you are stable for an air transport, Medjet gets
you moved to the hospital of your choice at home,
just because you prefer to continue treatment there.
It’s the primary differentiator between travel
insurance medevac benefits and what Medjet does:
no “medical necessity” clause and no
“adequate facility” clause.
We get asked a lot "does Medjet cover cruises".
Yes, Medjet benefits apply if you are sick or hurt
on a cruise and become hospitalized ashore.
But Medjet will not perform an at-sea medevac...
no private entity can promise that, only certified
Coast Guard or other local Rescue Services can
perform that.
In Summary
A medical emergency while traveling, be it on a cruise
or a trip by plane, can be a scary experience. Making
sure you have adequate travel insurance to cover the
costs of getting to the hospital, and treatment at a
hospital is important, but also make sure you understand
what the process is and what is covered. If you have
pre-existing medical conditions, we highly suggest
that you call the cruise line and ask very specific
questions about their onboard capabilities and
protocols for emergencies.
And don’t forget about the ability to get home.
Nobody wants to be stuck in a foreign hospital,
so don’t forget to enroll in Medjet before you go!
LEARN MORE