Frequent cruise travelers know that one’s final onboard bill must be settled before debarking the ship, but what about if you are leaving the ship unexpectedly?

One couple has learned that even during an emergency medical evacuation, they can be handed a bill and expected to pay. Their story is a cautionary tale to others about what medical care on a cruise can cost, and when those bills are due.

According to an account first published with NPR, 31-year-old Vincent Wasney and his fiancée Sarah Eberlein received their first cruise as a gift from their real estate agent after buying their first home in 2018. Due to the pandemic shutdown, however, they did not set sail until December 2022.

The couple chose a 4-night Royal Caribbean voyage aboard Independence of the Seas that included Perfect Day at CocoCay, since they had heard great things about the award-winning private island destination. Their cruise departed on December 8 from Port Canaveral.

Yet, on the day they visited CocoCay, Wasney began to feel ill. The next day, he had three seizures within a 10-hour period. He was treated in the ship’s medical center, and while he had a history of seizures, he hadn’t had one recently. Still, each seizure was worse than the last, and ultimately a medical evacuation was ordered.

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Before the couple boarded a rescue boat – they were close enough to Fort Lauderdale to make a boat evacuation feasible – they were handed a mid-cruise guest statement bill. The charges listed included internet access, drinks from several different bars onboard, four days of onboard gratuities, and $2,500 in medical fees from the ship’s medical facility.

The medical charges included anticonvulsant medication, blood gas testing, observation, and other services.

While Wasney does not recall much about receiving the bill as he was being debarked – seizures often cause brief memory loss, grogginess, and disorientation – Eberlein does remember the confusion and astonishment.

“Are we being held hostage at this point?” she remembers asking.

The couple was asked how much they could pay, and ultimately put hefty charges, including a significant overdraft, on their credit cards to cover the bulk of the bill.

Royal Caribbean International’s cruise ticket contract, section 5(d) specifically states that a “guest shall pay for all medical care or other personal services requested or required, whether onboard or ashore, including the cost of any emergency medical care or transportation.”

After the evacuation, the couple had additional medical charges from continuing care in Florida. To this day, Wasney is not sure what may have caused his seizures.

Would Insurance Help?

Wasney did not have personal medical coverage at the time of the incident onboard Independence of the Seas, though insurance from his employer began several weeks later.

The couple also did not have travel insurance, and had been unaware of the option to purchase it. Since the vacation had been a gift from their real estate agent, they were not prompted to purchase travel insurance at the time the cruise was booked.

Furthermore, because they were unfamiliar with the types of coverage offered by travel insurance policies, they believed such coverage would only apply for lost luggage, travel delays, or similar circumstances, not for medical emergencies.

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Travel insurance policies can vary widely based on the type of coverage purchased and the individual provisions within the policy. Travelers should always be careful to thoroughly understand the terms of their coverage – before they set sail.

Some policies may also require that travelers pay expenses themselves, then submit claims for reimbursement rather than paying upfront.

In the end, the couple arranged payment plans and a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the medical expenses. Now 18 months after the event, they still owe more than $3,000, but are gradually making progress on the payments.

To be clear, the couple is in no way blaming Royal Caribbean for the expenses, but acknowledges that better clarity of charges and how such emergencies should be handled would be helpful.

All cruise travelers should consider such experiences when planning their own cruise getaways, and be thoughtful about whether or not travel insurance would be a wise investment for their own voyages.

On Sunday, May 19, 2024, the world’s biggest cruise ship – Royal Caribbean International’s Icon of the Seas – suffered a power loss, including propulsion, lighting, and water pumps. While the power loss was not lengthy, it is unusual for a significant power failure on any cruise ship.

Reports of the power loss began filtering in through social media from guests onboard just after noon on ship’s time. As the ship is homeported from Miami, Florida, the onboard time generally matches the US Eastern time zone.

During the outage, some elevators stopped, water slides were out of service due to lack of water pumps, lights were out, music stopped playing, and the ship slowed significantly due to loss of propulsion power.

Reports have varied as to whether the loss was a complete power failure or just a partial loss. In different areas of the ship, it is possible that emergency power generators kept some minimal services operational until full power could be restored throughout the vessel.

The length of time the power was out has also been reported differently. It may have been as little as 10 minutes or as long as an hour, but again, emergency power sources in different parts of the ship may impact how long power seemed to be out for different travelers.

“It was a very short period of time. The technical team was on it right away to troubleshoot. All was well within about 10-15 min. Didn’t affect anything we were doing.”

“It was like 20 mins. We are fine and sailing just fine.”

Some travelers did not notice the outage at all, particularly if they were on the outer decks of the ship or enjoying lunch in the Windjammer Cafe at the time.

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“It really wasn’t a big issue, most people didn’t even notice lol! We are sailing just fine now!”

“Only thing I was upset about was not being able to get my frozen margarita since they had no power for the blender so I just went with a beer!”

If guests were in certain areas, however, they certainly noticed the power loss much more severely. In staterooms, lights and televisions went out, and water slides ceased operating.

“We were on an elevator. Doors just opened back up. It got stuffy inside after about 10 minutes but no biggie.”

Despite the brief loss of power that slowed the ship’s propulsion for a few minutes, there was no overall delay in Icon of the Seas‘ itinerary and the ship arrived in St. Kitt’s as planned on Tuesday, May 21. The ship is currently sailing a 7-night Eastern Caribbean itinerary that will also visit St. Thomas and Perfect Day at CocoCay.

The power loss happened during a day at sea, when it is common for ships to sail slower than their top speeds to minimize wind on the outer decks. It is a simple matter to increase speed slightly to make up for any inadvertent slowing in order to maintain the original schedule.

Other Power Losses

While Icon of the Seas is a new ship, having just debuted in January, it is certainly not the first ship to have experienced a power loss. Most ships have brief power outages from time to time, which rarely cause any difficulty for passengers.

Small outages can be caused by brief power surges, switching between generators or power sources, generator or engine maintenance, or electrical alerts that are quickly corrected.

More extensive power failures can be concerning and may result in dramatically altered cruises, including lost ports of call. This happened in 2019 aboard Holland America Line’s Nieuw Statendam, when the ship was the newest in the cruise line’s fleet.

The most infamous loss of power was aboard the former Carnival Triumph, which was left adrift in the Gulf of Mexico for several days in February 2013 following an engine room fire. Carnival Triumph was later removed from service and transformed into Carnival Sunrise in 2019.

Have you ever had a power failure while on a cruise? Share your experiences on the Cruise Hive boards!