Texas Woman's Cruise Nightmare Highlights Travel Insurance Gap as Medical Bills Mount

A Texas woman on her first cruise became gravely ill two days into a Royal Caribbean voyage from Galveston to Mexico, vomiting blood and briefly losing consciousness as she hovered between wakefulness and faintness. Onboard medical staff diagnosed an active internal gastrointestinal bleed and critically low hemoglobin, prompting an emergency response at sea.

Four hours after the emergency was declared, the ship reached Costa Maya, where the patient was transported by ambulance to a hospital in Mexico. Her family says they were hit with hefty upfront charges before any care could be rendered: $2,500 just to be seen, according to relatives. The ship’s medical facility billed $4,048, and the Mexican hospital later charged $9,970. The couple had traveled without travel insurance. "When I first got there they demanded 2,500 dollars just to look at me, just to do any work," her father, Craig Baxter, recalled. "We'll work as far as the $2,500 will take us—I've never heard this in my life." The family set up a GoFundMe to cover the mounting costs, which were documented as the situation unfolded.

Medical professionals attempted to slow the bleeding with medications and conducted endoscopy and colonoscopy, but doctors could not determine the bleeding source. The GoFundMe recount describes a troubling sequence: the patient was left for nine hours with hemoglobin still critically low before additional blood was given, and only then did doctors pursue further testing to locate the source. At the time, her hemoglobin had plummeted to about 3.5. Despite the treatment, the source of the bleed remained unknown and the patient was discharged in Mexico with ongoing concerns.

The family said Baxter returned home to the United States only after being medically evacuated with the help of Assist America, and she was back in the country by the weekend. As of that update, she had not received a diagnosis for the underlying cause of the hemorrhage.

The medical bills continued to pile up for the Baxters, who also faced lodging and travel costs tied to emergency passports and timely reunion with their daughter. In addition to the hospital bill and the cruise line’s medical charges, the family said they spent on lodging and flights while coordinating care from abroad. Baxter’s father reflected on the ordeal and urged young travelers to secure insurance before leaving the United States. "It was a very, very scary experience, and my main thing that I do want to say is that I really wish I would've gotten travel insurance," he said. "If you're travelling outside of the US, please make sure you have travel insurance." Baxter, who works in law enforcement, said the incident underscored how quickly medical emergencies can escalate when abroad. "I can't tell you how much I wish I would have had it."

As the family pushes forward with medical bills and ongoing inquiries into the cause of the bleeding, the episode serves as a cautionary tale about the financial risks associated with travel medical emergencies, especially for travelers without insurance. The episode also highlights the potential delays and gaps in care when emergency medical decisions are made in foreign jurisdictions and the importance of understanding what your coverage will and will not pay for when traveling internationally.