A Minnesota couple’s dream vacation turned into a nightmare after a simple flu treatment on their free Norwegian cruise left them with an jaw-dropping medical bill.
Mike Cameron and his girlfriend Tamra Masterman, from Braham, Minnesota, had won a complimentary cruise aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Encore ship.
They set sail from Miami on January 5 for what should have been a luxurious vacation in the Caribbean.
But instead, Cameron was left with a whopping $47,000 medical bill – and on the road to bankruptcy.
The tropical retreat quickly took a turn for the worse when Cameron fell ill with the flu, forcing him to seek treatment at the ship’s medical center.
While he recovered after three days, the real shock came later when he received a $47,000 bill for his care.
Norwegian immediately charged two credit cards the couple had on file, maxing out both.
Mike Cameron (right) and his girlfriend Tamra Masterman (left), won a complimentary cruise aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Encore ship. The tropical retreat took a turn for the worse when Cameron fell ill with the flu, forcing him to seek treatment at the ship’s medical center
While he recovered after three days, the real shock came later when he received a $47,000 bill for his care
And they’re still on the hook for a staggering $21,000.
In a scathing Facebook post, Masterman detailed their nightmare experience.
‘From our $47000 bill for the flu, to the fact that medical staff wouldn’t release us to quarantine in our room.’
‘To leaving us alone in medical Bay with demands of calling health care for an entire day that they charged us for…’
She even claimed there were issues with ‘improper placement and leaking of catheter.’
‘To being charged for items we didn’t [receive] and improper placement and leaking of catheter.’
‘Not on your life would I put my life in these people’s hands. Should have demanded to get off at Port in British virgin islands where I was lied to that they had no good hospital.’
When confronted about the shocking bill, Norwegian defended their pricing in a letter to Masterman. They said the bill was ‘closely comparable to other cruise lines and is what we believe to be fair and reasonable.’
Norwegian immediately charged two credit cards the couple had on file, maxing out both and now he may have to declare bankruptcy
‘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 Fox9.
When confronted about the shocking bill, Norwegian defended their pricing in a letter to Masterman.
They said the bill was ‘closely comparable to other cruise lines and is what we believe to be fair and reasonable.’
