off island in emergency at Castaway Cay?

[zms]

Has anyone needed to get home due to an emergency? Did you have trip insurance? How much of a hassle was the reimbursement from ins company? I know I can get a flight out of Nassau-but how about Castaway Cay-can I get a boat to take us to the nearest island with an airport-what island would that be?

 

[WDWLVR]

Thankfully we've never needed it, but in May of '06 we had a family that was taken off CC by chopper. I would assume that is the easiest and quickest way to get someone to a hospital.

 

[CarolAnnC]

On one of our cruises, we saw a heart attack victim Medivac'd (medical helicopter) off of CC. We learned later he was taken to Miami. If you do not have a Passport, you will not be flown back to the U.S. however. One reason we always carry ours with us...The cost for a Medivac is typically in the $40K range...

 

[ibouncetoo]

Emergency evacuation is the REAL reason I buy trip insurance. I'd be sad to loose any of the $$ I spent for my vacation...but there is NO WAY I could afford (nor would my normal medical insurance cover) a medical evacuation.

 

[NancyIL]

It's good to know what your options are in the event of an emergency. However, it sounds as though you expect an emergency to arise. Are you concerned about a non-traveling family member?

Regarding insurance reimbursement: for many policies, if someone in your family (whether or not they are traveling with you) has a pre-existing medical condition, you need to have purchased the insurance within the time frame specified by the policy in order to be reimbursed for a claim related to the pre-existing condition.

 

[Castaway Kev]

The nearest island to Castaway Cay is Great Abaco. It's the second largest island in the Bahamas. It's about 8 miles due west of Castaway Cay. At low tide, you could walk there, as the water would only be about four feet deep. At high tide, it may be twenty feet.

If you go to google and click on maps, you can then type in Castaway Cay. That should give you a better idea of just how close you are to civilization.

 

[all5ofus]

...If you go to google and click on maps, you can then type in Castaway Cay. That should give you a better idea of just how close you are to civilization.

Yahoo Maps has a much higher resolution image of CC. You can almost see the people having fun.

http://maps.yahoo.com/broadband/#***=s&lat=26.079465&lon=-77.536756&mag=1&zoom=18&trf=0

 

[wuv tigger]

Yahoo Maps has a much higher resolution image of CC. You can almost see the people having fun.

http://maps.yahoo.com/broadband/#***=s&lat=26.079465&lon=-77.536756&mag=1&zoom=18&trf=0

thanks for sharing!!!

 

[zms]

Thanks to all for the info- Our insurance policy will cover-it is a covered relative-etc etc. Already have checked all of that part out. This step was seeing if it is even possible to get home sooner if needed. Thank you Castaway Kev you gave good info that will be useful in my next step of research Thanks!

 

[IrishCowboy]

Check with health insurance provider, you may be already covered. My Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama medical plan covers emergency medical evacuations.

 

[NancyIL]

Thanks to all for the info- Our insurance policy will cover-it is a covered relative-etc etc. Already have checked all of that part out. This step was seeing if it is even possible to get home sooner if needed. Thank you Castaway Kev you gave good info that will be useful in my next step of research Thanks!

I suspected you were concerned about someone at home. I hope that there are no emergencies requiring you to fly home early while you're on your cruise.

 

[ga9497]

Check with health insurance provider, you may be already covered. My Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama medical plan covers emergency medical evacuations.

Yes but do they cover it when you are out of the country?
Some do but most don't

 

[lds0191]

I have Anthem and my plan does cover if you are out of the country.

 

[cruisinmama06]

WARNING - LONG STORY

Been there, done that, NEVER want to experience it again.

Disney Magic, Feb 2005 - my 8 month old caught a virus onboard. My hubby found her not breathing, seizing and BLUE in her pack n play in the cabin.

Let me start by saying that the medical team on Magic is WONDERFUL! Yes, it was rough on them because the baby was so young. They had to intebate her and start an IV...on little veins it's really tough to start an IV, especially on a seizing baby so I give them all of the credit in the world.

We were due to dock at Castaway Cay that morning but the captain tried and tried, the ship kept turning sideways.

At the time I was being told to grab our documents and a few clothes, we would be evacuated onto a boat that would take us to Nassau. And in Nassau we would go to a military base where we would take a military plane back to the US.

So my friends grabbed some of my things and shoved them in a bag. A few hours later, the captain decided it was too dangerous for the baby to be on a small boat without medical attention back to Nassau. So he said he would take the entire ship back to Port Canaveral early.

The second we docked at Port Canaveral, the medics boarded the ship and rushed us right off to Port Canaveral Medical Center.

We missed our flights because we weren't cleared to fly for 2 days

We had to stay in a hotel in PC.

So - what was the cost and were we insured?

Yes and no. The Disney Magic cruise was a back to back with a week in WDW. I booked it through a travel agent (not direct with disney). I told the travel agent I wanted the trip COVERED.

So while onboard - we had to pay off the medical charges before disembarkation - almost $3,000 (god bless credit cards)

US Air - since our flights needed to be changed ($50 change fee pp) and the new flights were $200 more per person - We had to pay $250 times five of us....$1,250 - ON CREDIT CARD before we could get the new tickets to get home.

We had the hotel room charges.

The Port Canaveral Medical charges - PAID for by our personal health insurance - with the exception of $100 for ER and $500 for ambulance.

So how much did insurance cover? Almost NONE of it. At first they wouldn't cover anything. They said we needed letters from the ER doctor at PC medical center. The PC med center said their docs can't write letters.

My TA (who is NOW no longer my TA) - DID NOT LINK the Disney Cruise Protection with my airfare. So, the new airfare NOT COVERED.

I told my story 2 years later on Cruise Critic and after they pushed me to move on it, I ended up getting back about $1,200 from the Disney Cruise Protection company.

So now I get my own trip insurance and I make sure the ENTIRE vacation is covered. From flight out to flight home and everything in between.

And the "little baby" is now 4 and booked to go on Disney Wonder. Which is her 5th cruise...but the first time back on a Disney ship since she got sick 3 years ago.

 

[CatManDoo]

WARNING - LONG STORY

Been there, done that, NEVER want to experience it again.

Disney Magic, Feb 2005 - my 8 month old caught a virus onboard. My hubby found her not breathing, seizing and BLUE in her pack n play in the cabin.

Let me start by saying that the medical team on Magic is WONDERFUL! Yes, it was rough on them because the baby was so young. They had to intebate her and start an IV...on little veins it's really tough to start an IV, especially on a seizing baby so I give them all of the credit in the world.

We were due to dock at Castaway Cay that morning but the captain tried and tried, the ship kept turning sideways.

At the time I was being told to grab our documents and a few clothes, we would be evacuated onto a boat that would take us to Nassau. And in Nassau we would go to a military base where we would take a military plane back to the US.

So my friends grabbed some of my things and shoved them in a bag. A few hours later, the captain decided it was too dangerous for the baby to be on a small boat without medical attention back to Nassau. So he said he would take the entire ship back to Port Canaveral early.

The second we docked at Port Canaveral, the medics boarded the ship and rushed us right off to Port Canaveral Medical Center.

We missed our flights because we weren't cleared to fly for 2 days

We had to stay in a hotel in PC.

So - what was the cost and were we insured?

Yes and no. The Disney Magic cruise was a back to back with a week in WDW. I booked it through a travel agent (not direct with disney). I told the travel agent I wanted the trip COVERED.

So while onboard - we had to pay off the medical charges before disembarkation - almost $3,000 (god bless credit cards)

US Air - since our flights needed to be changed ($50 change fee pp) and the new flights were $200 more per person - We had to pay $250 times five of us....$1,250 - ON CREDIT CARD before we could get the new tickets to get home.

We had the hotel room charges.

The Port Canaveral Medical charges - PAID for by our personal health insurance - with the exception of $100 for ER and $500 for ambulance.

So how much did insurance cover? Almost NONE of it. At first they wouldn't cover anything. They said we needed letters from the ER doctor at PC medical center. The PC med center said their docs can't write letters.

My TA (who is NOW no longer my TA) - DID NOT LINK the Disney Cruise Protection with my airfare. So, the new airfare NOT COVERED.

I told my story 2 years later on Cruise Critic and after they pushed me to move on it, I ended up getting back about $1,200 from the Disney Cruise Protection company.

So now I get my own trip insurance and I make sure the ENTIRE vacation is covered. From flight out to flight home and everything in between.

And the "little baby" is now 4 and booked to go on Disney Wonder. Which is her 5th cruise...but the first time back on a Disney ship since she got sick 3 years ago.

OMG. I'm glad everything turned out ok in the end. How scary. Did they ever determine what kind of virus she got?

 

[cruisinmama06]

OMG. I'm glad everything turned out ok in the end. How scary. Did they ever determine what kind of virus she got?

Nope they didn't. I am sure it was just something common. The whole ship was sick. It was February. When we would sit in the shows we would just hear people coughing everywhere.

We know it was something she got on the ship because it was Day 6. So she didn't bring it with her from Walt Disney World (spent 7 days there too).

The ship's med center was filled with sick kids. So whatever she got, it caused a high fever, which we didn't know because the seizure was the first indication that she had something.

She was later diagnosed by a neurologist with "complex febrile seizures". Anytime she gets sick, we have to dose her up immediatly with Motrin/Tylenol to keep her from seizing. Her temps would rise from 98.6 to 104.9 in minutes.

Complex febriles are "complex" because the child seizes for a long period of time (up to 45 minutes) and turns blue (unlike the fever seizures that some kids have that last a few minutes).

She has had 4 seizures since that cruise (all due to normal childhood illnesses)...but hasn't had any in almost 2 years. So the neurologist has said that she has grown out of them. Hoping.

 

[karibritt01]

SO SCARY!! My DD5 has problems with high fevers too, but luckily no seizures. At 3 weeks old she caught a virus (nasty things,huh?) I woke up to the alarm clock in the AM, and realized she didn't get up to eat during the night. I went to check on her, and she was lying in the crib too listless to cry, fever was 102. I took her in to the peds, but her fever had spiked to 105 by the time we got there. They admitted her to the ER... spinal tap, blood work, IVs in both arms, heart and lung monitors... it was awful. She was in the hospital for 4 days, and they determined it was an ordinary virus that big brother brought home from preschool.

Glad you have a happy ending to your story!

 

[cruisinmama06]

Glad you have a happy ending to your story!

Awww thanks. Yep, some kids are just hard wired differently.

I guess the FINAL chapter to this story is when we get her back on a Disney ship. This is her 5th cruise...BUT she hasn't been back on a DISNEY ship since that time.

It took me a little while to get over my fear about it. I know it's an irational fear, but even hearing the Disney horn freaked me out for a while.

 

[zms]

Castaway Kev MUCH THANKS for the info regarding the island near Castaway Cay I've done some research and made some contacts-There are 2 major airlines flying out of the Abaco island International Airport -American and Continental --it was very suprising to find there are several private boating companies that can/will do pick ups and get you to Abaco island-Now I am researching the Disney part-will they allow a private company access to their dock???? Regardless-thank much for the info-I would like to also say the fares for the boating company and flights are much more reasonable than I would ever expect.

 

[PrincessGeek]

On one of our cruises, we saw a heart attack victim Medivac'd (medical helicopter) off of CC. We learned later he was taken to Miami. If you do not have a Passport, you will not be flown back to the U.S. however. One reason we always carry ours with us...The cost for a Medivac is typically in the $40K range...

This is why our TA encouraged us to get Passports instead of Passcards. A Passcard will NOT get you on a plane back to the US. It was more money, but I like the peace of mind knowing we can fly back if we have to.