Travel Solutions: What to do when you get medical treatment on a cruise

Q: I was on a one-week cruise from Seattle to Alaska on the Holland America MS Westerdam last year. I came down with COVID two days before the cruise ended. I received excellent care from the medical team on board. When I got home, I saw that I had been charged $750 for the Paxlovid treatment I received. I contacted my insurance company, and a representative said that I needed to submit my medical records from the cruise.

Holland America told me that I needed to fill out a release form and send it to MRecordsRequests@Carnival.com, which I did. I have sent it multiple times and never gotten a response; therefore, I can’t collect the $750 from my insurance company.

Can you help me get my medical records from Holland America? — David Aronstein, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

A: Holland America should have provided you with medical records at the time of your treatment — and if not then, when you paid for the medical service.

Your case is an important reminder to collect all medical records immediately after you’ve seen a doctor on board. You’ll need them to file an insurance claim. Insurance companies have to see your medical records and a bill in writing if you have any hope of getting refunded. I’ve seen too many travel insurance claims that went nowhere because of insufficient records.

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It appears that all record requests are handled through Holland America’s parent company, Carnival. Carnival also has a page on its site that allows you to submit questions after your cruise, although it’s unclear if this applies to Holland America customers. It looks like you also tried to call Holland America. Calling would be less helpful; you were right to keep everything in writing.

You were more than patient with Holland America. You waited 10 months before contacting me and my advocacy team, which is about nine months longer than I would have waited. You could have enlisted the help of your travel advisor to get the documents. If that didn’t work, you also could have reached out to one of the Holland America executives I list on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.

I contacted Holland America on your behalf. Within a few hours, it sent the records.