Think twice before booking a trip with Grand Circle.
 

The first night on Grand Circle's Eastern River to the Black Sea cruise, alone in her stateroom, my mother fell and broke her leg. Grand Circle staff left her in emergency surgery at a non-English speaking Budapest hospital. As Grand Circle FAILED To NOTIFY ANYONE IN OUR FAMILY, it was only thanks to my mother’s wits, charged cellphone and kindness of strangers, that 36 hours post-surgery we learned of her whereabouts. After navigating medical bureaucracy and travel insurance policies, thankfully, we were able to get my mother home where she is now recovering at a rehabilitation facility. What follow-up communication have we received from Grand Circle? An evaluation form requesting feedback on my mother’s Grand Circle experience, advertisements for other Grand Circle vacations, and requests to refer Grand Circle to friends and family. Buyer beware!

The drill for tours is that the tour must continue and the ill or injured person is left to his own devices--and the tender mercies of his/her Travel Medical Insurance.

With elderly people the main clients of group tours, someone always gets injured or even dies on almost ever tour.

Did you know that there is a morgue on every cruise ship? If you die on a cruise, your body is unloaded at the next port and it is up to your partner or family to take it from there.

When you purchase a tour from any tour provider, you sign releases. It is wise to read the small print.

I think the issue here is that GCT should have notified whoever the passenger identified as his/her emergency contact. That's just a good (and decent) business practice but, sadly, not SOP on any cruise line.

Did the passenger give GCT an emergency contact? We don't know that that was done.

Privacy is a huge issue today and perhaps the passenger must request that contact with family be made.

I'm sorry your mother broke her leg but I hate it when people register and post just to complain and offer nothing to this forum.

I gained important information from this post. Everyone who posts offers something to the forum. I did not know this was policy on tours. People who register to tell of a negative experience are frequently criticized, but I see nothing wrong with it. How else would we learn about it?

I guess we don't think too much about getting sick or having problems on vacation. I know it can happen but I don't dwell on it.

Think about it this way. Either the tour goes on to the next destination and keeps on schedule or a bus full of people sits around with no accommodations while the sick/injured person gets better. Those are the only options. While I have sympathy with people who get sick on tours, I would not want my vacation held up because of someone's problem.

I've been on tours with people who have become sick (slight illness) and doctors were called to the hotel to treat them. They received medication and continued with the tour. On one tour someone had to go to the hospital for a day or two. When he was released he joined the tour at our next destination.

It's not the information (which can be helpful to others) but these posts are always complaints and always point fingers at others. Nothing is ever their fault. This type of poster never says gee, I didn't realize this; now I know and here's something that may help others.

This poster is accusatory and there are unanswered questions here.

I agree with your title. Of course you should think twice before signing up for any tour. And if you're elderly, think at least three times. And while you're thinking, ask yourself "what will happen if I have a problem". So thanks for the reminder.

I really don;t think that someone is injured or dies on every tour. I'm sure there are often people who end up with colds, stubbed toes or turned ankles - just as might happen with the same number of people at home.

But many if not most people have traveling companions that can help solve major issues.

And yes, the tour group is NOT responsible and cannot wait for someone with this type of injury. They an get the person to a hospital and contact someone at home if specifically requested. Agree, if you read the rules that is all that they will do. I am surprised they will take a single who does not provide a home contact - but am not familiar with the requirements. But assuming a tour company will take care of this type of problem is naive.

I developed a hideous head cold in Sweden (solo on the tour to Scan and Russia) and stayed in the hotel rather than tour the city - and the hotel staff was much more helpful than the tour guide (brought me hot tea and honey, soup at off hours and sent one of the bellmen to a pharmacy for a cold remedy - naturally I paid and tipped very well).

I do not read that the OP expected the tour to be delayed because of his/her mother's accident; I read that the OP is angry because of no communication from GCT. IF the mother had supplied a name and number for a contact person and this did not happen, I'd be writing an "accusatory" post, also.

>> IF the mother had supplied a name and number for a contact person <<

But we'll likely never know since it would be surprising if the OP ever posts again (first time complainers seldom do)

The mother is a grown-up and not in a coma or anywhere close. Grand Circle is not her babysitter. She made her phone calls and alls well that ends well. Where's the beef?

<< I do not read that the OP expected the tour to be delayed because of his/her mother's accident >>

I read it as 2 complaints - that GCT left his/her mother in the hospital (i.e., did not delay the tour to stay with her) and failed to notify family.

I'm not sure what a "non-English speaking Budapest hospital" means. Does the OP think that his mother should have postponed surgery to get to an English-speaking hospital? Where? Britain? Malta? It's hard to believe that no one in the hospital spoke English.

One should always be suspicious of those who join, post a complaint then disappear. Also the idea that no one in a Budapest hospital spoke English is inane.

These things are concerns which we mostly do not think about and do not read the fine print of tour contracts until something happens. I never thought about it until I became ill. Now I do. I also accept the fact that help may not be at hand in some cases.

Except that relatives wanted to know, I do not see a problem with the company. Had the injured person been unconscious and unable to contact family, then the company would have needed to do that. Since the injured person was conscious, and she is an adult, I think it was up to her to notify family. If I were functioning mentally, I would not want someone else calling my kids unless I asked them to do so.

The language thing can be an issue anywhere when something happens.

Someone mentioned deaths and illness on tours and cruises.
My MIL died while on a cruise in the Caribbean. Her body was shipped home from the next port of call. The cruise company did help my elderly FIL make the arrangements and flights for himself.
A friend was seriously injured (several broken bones, including one leg) while on a donkey tour in a mountain area in Chile and it took four hours being carried on a stretcher to a helicopter landing. Luckily, she survived.
One cruise ship we were on was able to turn back and get someone airlifted.

So, the lesson is: have insurance. Think about the possibilities and how you might handle them, especially if you are older, have any chronic illness or are traveling on adventure trips.

Agree that the OP seemed to think that the tour should:

Have left someone with the mother or somehow found her a hospital with English speaking staff (I'm sure some staff spoke basic English - but not all staff - and that they did have a translator or English speaking MD for her when explaining treatment etc)

Have contacted family and organized return of hte mom to the US

How could they do the latter when the tour had moved on.

If they were asked to contact family and refused, obviously that was a problem - but we have no idea what happened with that.

The takeaway is that the tour is not acting in loco parentis to tour members.

All fair and said I would have expected the tour leader to send some communication to her home office and also asked the woman if she had family members to be contacted, taken down their numbers and done that, as well as contacting the number on her travel insurance if family could not be notified.

I have done this for a foreign friend.. it took about 15minutes and then the insurance took over.

Of course I am assuming she had some type of travel insurance.

I cannot imagine the woman in question would have denied giving out a family number or email or name of insurance company so someone could have taken over once the tour guide went back to the group.

I assume a report is immediately made about this when someone has to abandon a group, and facilitating assistance, even if only a phone call or two, should be part of the deal.

I am agreeing with this poster!!!! So there. Put away your darn rulers. Knuckles do not need to be slapped here.

Jean and Nikki, grandmere and NeoPatrick and Liscanova (and excuse me if I didn't see anyone else who was rational) "got it". The poster just did a service to the naive.

The title is correct "THINK TWICE". That's all one has to do. There is no "Don't do a Grand Circle Tour" nonsense.

And I simply do not care if this is a new poster. I just need to make sure that if any elderly relative decides to go on one of these, I will call GC and get guarantees on writing that should my relative die or be injured, the company is going to help.

But I would have assumed that the company would have kicked into gear. After all, most honest and diligent companies have some sort of protocol.

Heck, your airline asks for next of kin!!!!

As an experienced traveler, I have lots of safety checks in place. But I could easily have assumed that GT would have handled this better. I have been on plenty of bike trips (VBT, Backroads, Bike Vermont/Discovery Bikes) where people have accidents. All of us on these trips are REQUIRED to fill out next-of-kin forms or we are stopped the very first day to sign on the dotted line.

When good goes bad on these outings, and that is OFTEN, not only is the victim taken immediately to emergency rooms (and by the way, every guide knows basic First Aid and CPR), but the back offices of the tour kick right into gear to take care of notifying kin ASAP, managing the hospital arrangements while the group goes on WITHOUT A BLIP.

Protocol speaks volumes. Professionalism speaks volumes.

If this company doesn't have a protocol (aka, demanding next of kin or one does not go) or does not follow protocol(and I'm feeling it's safe to assume the company failed something here), then do...

THINK TWICE!!!!!

I stopped in the Hôpital Saint-Roch in Nice when I had a minor issue that was, however, painful and debilitating. Nobody there spoke English, including the doctor. I was surprised. Fortunately I can stumble along a bit in French.

So you can't assume medical personnel can speak English, even in western Europe. OTOH, the cost of treatment and medicines is VERY reasonable, from the American point of view.

Also I once went on a city tour with some people from a cruise ship. This one man was very ill, couldn't walk hardly anywhere, looked on the point of death. He was traveling by himself. I suppose if an individual insists on traveling, his family members can't stop him.

absolutely , AlessandraZoe

I think that the useful takeaway from this post is, if you take a tour as a singleton, make sure that someone with the tour company will inform your family or whoever if a calamity befalls you. (We will never know why that was not done unless the OP returns to provide more information.)

I think that people take tours because they believe they will be looked after, and they are therefore in for a nasty surprise when disaster strikes and the tour abandons them to their own devices.

We should all read the fine print, always, but we don't, do we? This applies to car rentals, apartment rentals, tours, everything. It's always good, I think, to be reminded that the fine print tends to bit you in the bum under the worst of circumstances.

AlessandraZoe wrote: "your airline asks for next of kin".

Really? Maybe the big airlines do? Or maybe it's an American thing? But I've never been asked to provide that info when flying inside Europe with Ryanair or Norwegian. I've also never been asked when boarding a ferry in the UK. Or when I go with a tour group.

But, yes, it probably is a good idea to provide the info. Accidents can happen to anyone at any time. That's one reason they're called accidents.

Um - I've flown about a million times and no one has ever asked me for a next of kin.

Which airlines? Which countries?

Can't be sure on the only 2 "tours" I have done - too long ago - but I really don't remember them asking about next of kin.

>>Um - I've flown about a million times and no one has ever asked me for a next of kin.<<

I agree, most airlines do ask for a contact person but it is optional and I've never seen it required. Nothing about 'next of kin'

I cannot understand the anger against this poster one bit.

My mother is being talked into a cruise as I write over my dead body, but I would still have assumed, given my experience with younger "active" people cycling tours, that these big cruise companies, whose clientele ages far older, would certainly "kick it into gear" in a sensible way.

As others are suggesting above, a good hotel behaves better.

I am asked for a contact "other than a person traveling for you" for every overseas air flight I make. How do you think airlines notify families in case of crashes? ESP?

Let me explain once again--the cycling trips we take certainly take NO responsibility for one's medical health. These companies do everything to make sure that you buy medical/evacuation insurance, most going so far to include it in their trip price but giving you the option to get your own.

But even if you don't get health insurance, the company reps are not going to drop you at the nearest health clinic and let you die there, either, without contacting someone back at headquarters.

One guy we cycled with many years after the fact was air-lifted out of the country where he had a head-on collision with a bad driver. His pelvis was destroyed; he was unconscious. He is totally loyal to the cycling company because they "got on it" ASAP in the right way.

More specifically, the guides got him to the nearest medical service, contacted headquarters, made sure he was still breathing and had people around him who were willing to make sure he was still breathing--and they went on to guide the tour with a delay of around three hours.

The company headquarters had someone speaking the local language within the hour to assess what needed to be done. The guides checked in by phone from the road to make sure everything was on task.

As this fellow cyclist said, medical insurance isn't worth anything unless there is someone who isn't comatose able to contact the medical insurance and/or contact someone back home.

So whether you are on a cruise or not, think about who is going to be able to kick your medical insurance into gear.

So I question again any anger against this poster. He provided a good red alert for all of us.

Um - I've flown about a million times and no one has ever asked me for a next of kin.
_______
Whenever I book a flight, they ask who to contact in the event of an emergency.
__________________________________________________ ______

I cannot understand the anger against this poster one bit.
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The people on these boards are the direct descendents of Cotton Mather.

Did you know that Cotton Mather played a major role in promoting inoculation against smallpox, at a time when most people were afraid of and opposed to the practice, even as the disease wreaked havoc on both the Native American and Anglo-American populations of the British colonies?

"After all, most honest and diligent companies have some sort of protocol."

Agree with ALEXANDRA ZOE.

On a solo Insight tour of Britain in 2010, I fell returning to the bus in York - beautiful day, mid morning - who knows? Really hurt my left wrist but thought I could tough it out.

When the tour director saw me he said, "I am taking you to the hospital in York", but I insisted that we should press on to Edinburgh. It was a long ride but I made it with a "little help from my (new) friends" who offered assorted aspirin, sympathy, and the like.

Took a cab to the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh where my wrist was put in a loose cast which gave great relief. Told to return the next morning. The young doctor and staff were great but suggested immediate surgery. "No thanks, doctor, I will return to Boston tomorrow." Side note - money was never mentioned and the admitting person would not take my US insurance cards.

Returned to the hotel, met with the tour director and bus driver. Told them of my decision. He presented paper work which I signed indicating the reasons for my departure. Thanked him, gave both guys a nice tip (had plenty of £££s left at this point), and asked for the trip survey on which I praised his efforts. He really appreciated this last gesture.

I had taken out insurance but I totally had forgotten about it at this point - all I wanted was a return flight home. By now I was groggy. The concierge at the Hotel Roxburge in Charlotte Square was great - he arranged flight back to Heathrow and home for the next day. British Airlines put me in first class which I really appreciated. Had surgery at Mass General a few days later. Clean break and healed rather quickly.

It was only after I returned home that I remembered the trip insurance - lengthy complicated process but I was compensated for the days on the tour that I missed.

Just another hairy travel story... :)

Thank you, Latedaytraveler and IMDonehere for validating not only my thoughts but those of other posters above.

A cruise is my idea of one more step towards death. But I have made the mistaken assumption that the attractiveness of a cruise is a sort of safety net.

I just took a look at employee complaints (NOTE not customer complaints) for GC.

Hmmm-
Big turnover.

Let's contrast. My go-to cycling companies, even though they employ at the guide level relative life-transient youngsters, still have an employee stability rate over time. Many of these youngsters who choose no longer to be "on the road" start staffing back offices.

No one is allowed to be "on the road" without an extensive interview period and extensive emergency training. So whoever goes on to staff back offices still has training.

Cruises? Think twice.

As to contact info:
I do not know who the heck so many of you have flown with. I don't actually care. FYI, USA airlines file "profiles" for every frequent flyer, and if you fly them and you want your FF miles, you HAVE informed them of other contacts.

If you have not, the person at the check-in desk plunking your luggage on the belt has been trained to ask you for that information.

If EasyJet and Ryan Air do not ask that information of you: Think TWICE.

Yes, we now return to the poster's message:

--Do not assume that a cruise has a safety net.

--Do not assume that travel/medical/evacuation insurance solves all.

My suggestion after this post? If you travel alone on a cruise, find two or three people that seem nice, buy them some drinks and say, "If I'm injured, could you notify these people for me."

<< My suggestion after this post? If you travel alone on a cruise, find two or three people that seem nice, buy them some drinks and say, "If I'm injured, could you notify these people for me." >>

This seems like a really good idea and I would be willing to do this for someone but how could it be done?

The two river cruises I thought about taking didn't have internet connectivity on the boats. I don't have a cell phone that works in Europe. The only way I can think of is to ensure the tour leader notifies the family. But I would not be able to notify the family directly.

Has anyone contacted this or any cruise company to ask what protocol is? I am curious.

Another "ladies who do lunch" precaution: I photocopy my passport then write a message on the reverse side identifying myself, home contacts, names and dates for all hotels, including those used during a land tour. I also list flights. Who knows when an accident/health incident can happen?

When I went to Paris and Normandy, I translated this info "en francais" using freetranslations.com. I have a copy in my purse and another one in my hand luggage. The next time I would also include the name of travel insurance company and their emergency number.It all fits on one piece of paper....

Did you know that Cotton Mather played a major role in promoting inoculation against smallpox, at a time when most people were afraid of and opposed to the practice, even as the disease wreaked havoc on both the Native American and Anglo-American populations of the British colonies?
___________
Yes, I did and was also responsible for laying the foundation for the irrational fear of the Salem witch hunts. Additionally in Richard Hofstadter's Pulitzer prize winning book Anti-intellectualism in American Life, he lays the blame for this systemic problem on the colonial Puritans and other colonial religious groups.

Thank you AlessandraZoe for saying so well what I wanted to say. It's not at all surprising that some new posters don't come back. I learned a lot from this post.

I think the most document anyone who posts here needs is a DNR.

Do you mean this thread or this board?

More and more these boards.

OP makes a good case for making sure you have travel insurance when you travel (at least a low-priced "zero line" policy) or, better, MedJet Assist which would have flown her back to her hospital of choice stateside for surgery, etc.

travelhorizons--

You may have missed this point: Medical/travel insurance has nothing to do with a basic failure to report back home to next of kin or another contact person on the part of the cruise line.

This little old lady could have had ten policies. As another poster indicated above, he/she certainly had the required medical insurance. Those are worth nada unless someone responsible for the injured will communicate and will put the policy into action.

Luckily, the OP's little old lady in question was a plucky sort--and she was conscious!

-----------------------------------------

Adrienne, an inability to be connected in an emergency is why people should shell out for a local SIM anyway if traveling by oneself, although I certainly had not thought it was needed on a darn cruise--<u>and that is exactly why this post was such a great wake-up call for all of us</u>.

Getting a cheap GMS phone in Europe is not brain surgery, nor is it costly. It's only 20-30 Euros for a GMS phone and local SIM--WITH TIME!--that will do text and calls throughout Europe.

How many thousands for a cruise???? How much for travel insurance? Over two weeks, a cheapie phone costs almost nothing.

The poster's title warns "Think Twice".

I shall. If my mother goes on a cruise (again, over my dead body), then my sister and I will hand her one of our GSM cheapies with one of our latest SIMs with our numbers, local emergency lines, and cruise hotlines in the address book.

Based on this post, we also will call the cruise line to make sure there is a protocol that they will follow.

And we will let them know that we will hold them accountable to follow that protocol.
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IMDonehere--OMG, you made my husband's day.

Your "DNR" put him under the table laughing--and I'm worried. He's REALLY old (I keep telling him he's "cruise ready" as it is). I sort of want to keep him around, so I fear I can't let him read yours or Cold's remarks anymore.

With affection,
AZ

The local phone is a very wise idea for cruises. And let's hope the boat is not out of range of the phone!

One thing I travel with is the AT&T Direct codes so you can dial an English-speaking operator in the US and place a collect call to home. This is old-fashioned "technology" but one that works in the absence of a cell phone or internet.

This is why everyone should have Travel Medical Insurance. When you take a group tour, it is generally included in the price. I buy a policy once a year because I go out of the country 1 or more times each year and don't want to think about it. It is basically a medical evacuation policy--and everyone should have it.