Carol Palk of Whippany, N.J., was on a Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas escapade to the Bahamas, Mexico and Honduras with her husband, Bertram, when two days into the cruise, she noticed blood in her stool. (iStock)
A passenger on board a Royal Caribbean cruise is claiming she was removed from the ship and left in Mexico after she fell ill three days into the week-long trip.
Carol Palk of Whippany, N.J., was on a Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas escapade to the Bahamas, Mexico and Honduras with her husband, Bertram, when two days into the cruise, she noticed blood in her stool.
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“I knew the signs and I suspected it was a bleeding ulcer,” Carol told Yahoo Lifestyle.
The 79-year-old went to the ship’s infirmary and gave them a blood and stool sample. However, when signs showed that Carol’s hemoglobin levels were dropping – a possible indication of other illnesses – doctors allegedly wanted her to be taken off the ship, Yahoo Lifestyle reported.
“They weren’t equipped if I had needed a blood transfusion, so they wanted me off the ship,” Carol tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “The doctor said he would ‘kick me off.'”
According to the couple, the cruise asked them to disembark from the ship in Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico and a concierge promised to make plans for their trip back home, but reportedly did not.
“I told them we didn’t want a flight to Miami and that we wanted a flight to Newark, but they said it was too late,” Bertram, 80, told the North Jersey Record. “They didn’t even ask us.”
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The Palks claim they were forced to take a five-hour $600 cab ride to Cancun to catch their flight to Miami – which cost them $1,039. The couple then would have to find their way to New Jersey from Florida.
However, once the couple got to the Mexico City airport for their layover, and waited in line for a reported three hours, they purchased tickets that would take them straight to Newark Airport in New Jersey.
Once the couple landed in their home state, the pair went straight to the hospital and Carol had an endoscopy, Yahoo Lifestyle reported.
“We spent about $3,500 on the travel home, but our travel insurance reimbursed $1,300,” Carol told Yahoo Lifestyle.
Royal Caribbean said in a statement to Fox News that they asked the guests to disembark because they felt Carol may have needed medical attention at a hospital.
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“Our onboard medical team initially treated the guest in our medical facility, then determined that, for the guest’s health and safety, additional medical attention was needed that could best be provided by a hospital in the area. The guest declined our professional medical recommendation to seek immediate local care and decided instead to return home.”
Royal Caribbean also allegedly gave them $314 in credit and a 20 percent off coupon on their next cruise.
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