A P&O passenger was living it up on the dance floor. However, unexpected tragedy struck Pacific Adventure when one of the sisters suddenly shattered her ankle.
The woman required urgent medical care and was taken to the ship’s medical centre. As experienced cruisers know, even a cruise ship in Australian waters doesn’t have medicare coverage. The medical bill would be large.
The woman’s sister wrote on her social media: “X-rays taken by doctors in the medical centre revealed a dislocated ankle and several serious fractures.
“Medicare does not cover domestic cruises. The ship’s final bill for her medical treatment on board came to just under $8,000. An ambulance will be at Circular Quay when we arrive back in Sydney to take her to hospital for surgery.”
Luckily for the pair they both had travel insurance meaning these charges would be covered. However, it is a stark reminder of how quickly bills can gather up, even on a domestic cruise.
Travel insurance with included or add-on cruise cover is completely essential, even for short or domestic cruises.
An incident such as this one serves as a particularly meaningful reminder as the cruise passenger wasn’t partaking in reckless behaviour, but simply carrying out her activities as normal when the disaster struck.
The numbers that show why you need insurance
Statistics from Finder show that travel mishaps are far from a rarity.
- 24% of Australians have encountered a problem while on holiday in the last 12 months
- Most commonly among these are travel delays, lost luggage and misplaced items
- 4% of Australians are scammed while travelling and 2% have ended up in hospital
Tim Bennett, insurance expert at Finder says: “Australian tourists are heading out in droves but millions get into trouble every year. Dream holidays are left in tatters when travel plans go awry.
“Without insurance a trip of a lifetime could quickly become a costly headache.”
“No one thinks anything bad will happen to them but the research shows travel mishaps are quite common.
“Travel insurance can help reimburse you for non-refundable parts of your trip or help you if you’re injured or face an emergency.”
If one in every 50 Aussie travellers are ending up in hospital, don’t let it be you on your next cruise with a stack of bills and no insurance.
