A celebratory cruise for a Minnesota couple ended on a sour note when they were slapped with a $47,000 medical bill.
Mike Cameron told KMSP-TV that he and his girlfriend Tamra Masterman won a free week-long cruise on the Norwegian Cruise Line Encore to the Caribbean, and embarked on the trip on Jan. 5.
Mike’s daughter Krystal shared in a GoFundMe that the couple decided to take the vacation to celebrate Masterman’s recovery after a lung cancer diagnosis, which resulted in her having surgery to remove “a mass from her lungs” in October 2024.
However, the celebration quickly took a turn when Cameron became ill with the flu onboard and was admitted to the cruise’s medical ICU, according to KMSP-TV. “He received oxygen, had a catheter placed in, IV medications, and x-rays, and spent a total of four days in the medical ward,” his daughter Krystal said on GoFundMe.
Cameron eventually recovered, and told KMSP-TV that he wasn’t too worried about the bill because he and his girlfriend had purchased traveler’s insurance.
“Everybody in the medical ward kept saying ‘Don’t worry, you have $20,000 coverage, you’ll be just fine,’” he recalled to the outlet.
“… Turn around the day we’re leaving, and get handed a $47,000 bill,” he continued. “I didn’t even know what to do.”
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The couple told KMSP-TV that Norwegian Cruise Line maxed out both of their credit cards — about $26,000 — which they had on file to help pay the bill. However, the couple have struggled to recoup any costs via 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 explained to the outlet.
Norwegian Cruise Line told the couple in a letter obtained by KMSP-TV that the pricing for the medical treatments were “closely comparable to other cruise lines and is what we believe to be fair and reasonable…”
In a separate statement to the outlet, the cruise line said it was looking into whether that pricing was typical for flu treatment. According to a 2024 NIH study, flu hospitalization costs averaged between $11,000-$13,000 during the 2022/2023 flu season.
A spokesperson for Norwegian Cruise Line issued the following statement to PEOPLE:
“On January 9, 2025, Mr. Cameron was admitted to the onboard medical center and received appropriate treatment for his condition, followed by 62 hours of critical care.
While we are unable to disclose the details or severity of the guest’s medical condition due to laws and regulations governing personal privacy, we can confirm that the necessary medical procedures and resulting expenses have been reviewed by our internal team.
As medical insurance is not accepted on board, we strongly encouraged the guest to file a claim with their health insurance provider post-cruise. As the guest did purchase travel insurance for their vacation, we have recommended they follow up on their claim with the insurance provider, after they have filed the claim with their health insurance provider.”
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