Don't Get More Than Seasick

Cruise ships provide docs, but aren't responsible for them
By Jim O'Neill,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 20, 2008 11:33 AM CST
Don't Get More Than Seasick
In this photo provided by Carnival Cruise Lines, the Carnival Pride passes by the Cape Canaveral space complex as it arrives at Port Canaveral in this Jan. 7, 2002 file photo. (AP Photo/Carnival Cruise Lines, Andy Newman/FILE)   (Associated Press)

If you're one of the 10 million or so Americans who take a cruise this year, make sure you understand that “all-inclusive” doesn’t apply to medical care, says ABC News. Cruise ships have doctors on board, but the operator won’t take responsibility for them. Cruise lines, says a personal-injury lawyer, are “not responsible for your overall medical care.”

Docs on cruise ships are independent contractors, which legally absolves the cruise line of responsibility for their actions. "I was very angry, because any profession that you're in, you have to be accountable to someone," says one passenger. Her husband says of the ship's staff, "I trusted that they would recognize a problem if it was serious." (More Travel stories.)

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