Medical Services

Although ships registered in the UK or Norway are required to carry a licensed physician and have hospital facilities aboard, this is not mandatory for cruise ships registered in any other country. However, the vast majority of ships carrying over 50 passengers do have medical facilities and will carry at least one licensed doctor. There is also normally a reasonably equipped small hospital, although the standard of medical care may vary from line to line.

Cunard Line's QE2, with 2,921 passengers and crew, has a fully equipped hospital with 1 doctor, 1 surgeon, 6 nurses, and 2 medical orderlies. Compare this with Carnival's Sensation, which carries up to 3,514 passengers and crew, with just 1 doctor and 2 nurses.

Ideally, a ship's medical staff should be certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support. The minimal equipment should include an examination room, cardiac monitor (EKG) and defibrillator, external pacemaker, X-ray machine (to verify broken or fractured bones), isolation ward/bed, oxygen-saturation monitor (to determine a patient's blood-oxygen level), oxygen, suction and ventilators, culture incubator, haematology analyzer, and a mobile trolley intensive care unit.

Most shipboard doctors are generalists; there are no neurosurgeons or cardiologists. Any ship operating long-distance cruises, with several days at sea, should have better medical facilities and a better qualified staff than one engaged in a 7-day Caribbean cruise, with a port of call almost every day.

Any existing health problems that require treatment on board must normally be reported at the time of booking.

UK passengers should note that ships fall outside the National Health Service scheme. Doctors will normally charge for use of their services, including seasickness shots. Aboard some ships, passengers may be charged for filling a prescription in addition to the cost of any prescribed drugs.