A man who suffered seizures aboard a 2022 Royal Caribbean cruise doesn’t remember exactly what happened when he fell ill, but he says he won’t forget the expensive medical bill he received when he was evacuated to a rescue boat.
Vincent Wasney was told that after having three seizures aboard the ocean liner Independence of the Seas and undergoing blood tests and medication, he owed more than $2,500, which needed to be paid before he could disembark.
Mr Wasney, 31, told NPR he informed the crew that he could not pay that much and was asked by a cruise employee, “How much can you pay?”
“Are we being held hostage right now?” added his fiancée, Sarah Eberlein, she told the outlet. “Because obviously if he had three seizures in 10 hours, that’s a problem.”
The couple had to empty their bank accounts and max out their credit cards to pay the bill, and even then, they still needed another $1,000 to cover the full list of services.
They were eventually let off the boat, despite not paying the entire bill at the time, and their credit card was overdrawn to make up the remainder.
The Independent has reached out to Royal Caribbean for comment.
According to the cruise operator’s terms and conditions, guests are required to pay in full for expenses incurred on the trip, and Royal Caribbean does not accept “land health insurance plans.” The company advises guests to consider travel insurance before boarding.
Wasney and Eberlein did not have health insurance or travel insurance before embarking on the Caribbean cruise.
The services on board, as well as an additional round of medical appointments on land, left them with thousands of dollars in medical debt.
The couple was able to reduce some of their expenses, including their looming house payment, by raising $2,690 through GoFundMe, and a Florida hospital reduced its bills when it learned that Wasney, who had a history of seizures, was uninsured.
Approximately 14 million people, or 6% of American adults, owe more than a thousand dollars in medical debt, totaling a collective total of $220 billion. according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Last year, an estimated 8.4% of Americans did not have health insurance, according to the CDC.
