Dialysis Cruise Ships

[Hazmat35]

Good day to all! 

At our Center in FLA, they have put out some pamphlets in the lobby advertising a cruise ship that caters to Dialysis Patients.  The cruse (as there are several of them) go to Alaska, Hawaii, Europe, Mexico, etc.

They claim to have a licensed Nephrologist on duty 24/7 as well as English speaking, Nurses and Technicians.  Of course you have to bring all your paperwork with you, and you have to pay for the treatments, as they don't deal with Medicare or private insurance groups.  They will give you detailed receipts so you can get reimbursed by your private insurance company if they approve it. 

I was just wondering if anyone has been on one of these and what their experience was like. . . good . . . bad. . . what ever! 


Edited: Moved to proper section - okarol/admin

[Riki]

it isn't Dialysis at Sea, is it?

A while back, a friend and I, both of us on HD, looked into them.. Holy gouge-the-dialysis-patient, Batman!  They had a set rate.  They wanted $2000 per patient, above what the cruise company wanted for the cabin.  We were looking at a 5 day Caribbean cruise

we were thinking it would be cheaper if we rented a machine, shipped all the supplies to the port, and took one of the nurses with us

[okarol]

Nxstagers went on a cruise last year http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=17274.0

You may want to check out http://stlucia-dialysis.com/ as a an alternative.

There are more related posts in the travel section.

[Stever]

I'm from the UK and dialysis at sea was the first company from whom I got a quote. They were really expensive (dialysis $4,025 for two week cruise, cost of cruise a lot more expensive than brochure). Instead,  last year we travelled with Costa in the Med and the haemodialysis service was excellent (cost €330 per session). Costa was not one of our preferred lines (much prefer RCI, Celebrity etc) but beggars cant be choosers; in the event, the cruise was also excellent, but not many Brits on board, mainly French and Italian. Costa was actually below brochure price, but still more expensive than what non dialysers would pay. Have a look on Gerard Pons Voyages for more info, or email info@freedom-apartments.com for a quote (they are a specialist UK travel agent).

[Trikkechickk]

I'm taking my 2nd D @ Sea cruise in August - leaving from South Hampton, England and doing the Baltics.

It is very expen$ive, but, I won't be taking any $ w/me at the end!  Docs and nurses volunteer their services and we, the patients, help pay for the room and board.  I just don't want the hassle and worry of lugging my Nxstage machine & supplies along.

My first D @ Sea cruise was to Mexico and I was quite satisfied.

[yliebert]

Please read my post titles Just back from the UK.  We took Hubby's cycler with us and it worked just fine.  No problems at all.

[Trikkechickk]

I appreciated your info on Kimmel.  My goal is to visit Sochi, Russia in the near future (Olympics would be nice, but not sure about scheduling then).  It would be nice to get some more details on how you arranged this - I would love the freedom to go on any cruise line (or land trip)!

[yliebert]

This only works if you embark either in the US or the UK.  If in the US, your supplier will deliver to the dock, if in the UK contact Kimal customer service and they will do the same