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Are there medical facilities on board ship?
While cruise providers hope that everything will go smoothly for their customers on board, they do prepare for every scenario so all cruise ships feature medical facilities that are usually available 24 hours a day.
As cruise ships are now so vast and catering for a high number of passengers at any one time, there is always a chance that there will be some illness or accident onboard. For this reason the Cruise Ships need to have the facility to offer treatment to passengers in the event of any such illness or emergency. These facilities are typically equipped to treat only minor non -emergency situations and in the case of an emergency, it is likely the affected passengers will have to disembark in order to receive the best possible treatment.
In any situation there will be a medical professional available upon first response 24 hours a day.
There will be an onboard pharmacy that will usually provide seasickness tablets for free and also over the counter medications for a small fee. The size of the inventory varies by ship, but all will contain stocks of antibiotics, aspirin and other common medicines.
If you become injured or unwell, you may need to visit the ship's infirmary. This is normally open during set hours but staff are on call 24 hours a day for emergencies. This is normally located on one of the lower decks and holds several beds to treat non-emergency conditions or to stabilise passengers who may face life-threatening conditions.
It is strongly advised that all passengers obtain medical insurance that covers every destination visited by the cruise as well as any activities in which they may choose to participate.
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