If you have travel insurance (and please tell me that you do) the insurance company will act as a broker,not just regarding financial matters. When I landed in hospital in Egypt a few years ago,suffering what turned out to be dehydration,my insurance company contacted me directly,negotiated with the hospital about costs,spoke to the doctors and kept in touch with me about the progress,following through with calls about my wellbeing for days afterwards.
The idea of being vulnerable in a hospital in an exotic country like Egypt wasn’t something I particularly relished,but the people were lovely,and the food was great,even if the technology in the small private hospital was a bit outmoded. I was disappointed to miss the Valley of the Kings,but I suppose I had an adventure of a kind.
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Nevertheless,I wasn’t all that happy when I bit into a crouton and broke a tooth only hours into a European cruise last August. A dental emergency isn’t exactly life-threatening,but with several weeks of travel ahead of me,I was unsure what to do.
The problem with cruises is that you’re in a different port every day and the ship’s doctor pointed out that a shore agent would be required to make the arrangements. That meant a bit of palaver. He advised me to wait and see.
A note on ship’s doctors:consultations are usually charged in US dollars. A friend recently travelled with her husband on his first cruise. He was so delighted with the medical services available on board he availed himself of them at every opportunity. He thought,like the food and excursions,they were free. He hadn’t noticed the fees posted on the door.