Rhiannon Ingle
A man who won a free cruise vacation was sadly hit with a staggering $47,000 medical bill while onboard after falling ill.
Mike Cameron and his girlfriend Tamra Masterman, who hail from Minnesota, won a free Norwegian cruise trip from the Grand Casino Hinckley that set sail out of Miami early last month (5 January).
During the cruise trip, Cameron came down with the flu and sought treatment at the medical centre onboard the Norwegian Encore ship, recovering three days later.
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However, the couple were beyond shock to find out at the end of their free holiday that Cameron had raked up a nearly $50,000 medical bill.
"I was just flabbergasted by the whole thing. I guess I am just used to the medical system in the United States. I can’t believe it happened," he said, adding that Norwegian maxed out two credit cards Cameron had on file and he still owes $21,000.
Cameron and Masterman had purchased travel insurance from the cruise line that covered expenses of up to $20,000 and have health insurance, he told Fox 9.
"Everybody in the medical ward kept saying ‘Don't worry, you have $20,000 coverage, you’ll be just fine." he said (via PEOPLE).
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However, the pair are struggling to pay off what's left through their health insurance.
"The traveler’s insurance doesn’t want to pay it until we run it by our health insurance. The health insurance doesn’t want to pay it because it’s abroad,” Masterman said.
Cameron shared: "I don’t know how I’m ever going to pay them off, I’m going to have to, but, I don’t know how."
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The couple also said the bill was accompanied by a letter from Norwegian stating that its pricing was 'closely comparable to other cruise lines and is what we believe to be fair and reasonable'.
Cameron is now urging other travellers to be sure they get good traveller's insurance the next time they go abroad.
"We want people to be aware, if you go on a cruise make sure you got good traveler’s insurance,” he warned. "Once you are out on international waters, it’s a whole different story."
A spokesperson for Norwegian said the company was unable to share details of Cameron’s care due to patient privacy laws, but stressed that its internal team reviewed his 'necessary medical procedures and resulting expenses'.
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"We are committed to providing quality medical services and each of our ships is equipped with a state-of-the-art onboard medical centre, staffed with highly qualified physicians and nurses, to provide care for both guests and crew while at sea," the spokesperson said in a statement (via The Independent).
"We follow guidelines for our medical facilities provided by CLIA in conjunction with the American College of Emergency Physicians."
Tyla has contacted Norwegian Cruise Line for additional comment.