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Cruise incident highlights the need for a ‘good, old fashioned travel agent’
“Here’s an argument for having a good, old fashioned travel agent,” says Fox News.
Indeed, the sad tale of a 89-year old man who broke his hip on a cruise has become a great advertisement for the importance of using a travel agent.
American tourist Dodge Melkonian and his wife Jill sailed off on an Azamara cruise by Royal Caribbean cruise using credit from a former trip canceled by a fire. Since they did not pay for the cruise, they could not buy the extended medical insurance that might have helped them.
So when Melkonian broke his hip in the waters off Turkey, the cruise line dropped them at the nearest facility, a government hospital whose care the couple did not trust, and in which they allege no one spoke English.
Seven hours later, the couple, too frightened to have the surgery done where they were, contacted their travel agent, Tammy Lavente, who was immediately on the case.
Lavente called on a local tour guide to be her on-site hands-on representative.
He acted as translator; he arranged for an ambulance to transport the couple to a private hospital; he contacted the American Embassy. He even donated his own blood for a transfusion.
Lavente is now working on legislation to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Royal Caribbean Cruises said in a statement that it has been working closely with Mr. & Mrs. Melkonian.
“We helped arrange transportation via ambulance to the closest area hospital. Once ashore, we worked closely with the travel insurance provider, as they have the expertise to deal with local authorities and medical facilities. One of our Care Team Specialists is still in contacted with them today.”
In the end, a number of reports in the US media pointed out, there is nothing like having a good travel agent when things go wrong.
By Cheryl Rosen, Editor TravelMole US
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Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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