Lucy Devine
A cruise ship passenger has warned other travellers after making a huge mistake before heading on the trip of a lifetime.
Barbara Clifford, from Alice Springs in Australia, had planned the trip with her 20-year-old son, Brandon, earlier this year.
The pair had booked onto a P&O cruise, which departed from Sydney, before heading to the Whitsundays, in Queensland.
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But the trip turned into a disaster when Barbara suffered an accident during a short stop at Port Douglas.
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While walking along a footpath, Barbara tripped and landed on her wrist.
Speaking to the MailOnline, she explained: "At the marina while walking up the slight incline onto the footpath, I tripped over my own feet and the entire weight of my body hit my wrist.
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"I got a 45-minute taxi to the nearest hospital in Port Douglas to get an X-ray, but I was worried I wouldn't make it back on the ship before it departed again."
While receiving medical care in Port Douglas, Barbara was given an X-ray as well as a wrist splint before she headed back to the port as quickly as possible.
Although explaining she had been anxious that the ship would leave without her, she was seen pretty quickly and managed to make it back in time.
But when Barbara boarded the cruise, she claims she was told any medical treatment would not be covered by Medicare on board the ship.
Medicare is a national scheme providing Australians with free or subsidised health services.
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Barbara waited until she was home, where she was told by a fracture clinic that her wrist hadn't healed properly and would need to be re-broken.
"It required being re-broken, operated on immediately, and a titanium plate inserted," she said.
"I'm still in my ninth week of rehabilitation and recovery and just getting back to driving again."
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One travel insurance expert, Natalie Smith, from 1Cover Travel Insurance, explained that on many cruises, once the ship departs, passengers are no longer covered by Medicare.
To receive appropriate cover, Natalie says Barbara would have needed to take out something called 'cruise cover' instead.
Natalie says many people assume they are covered while on board, but actually, cover ceases once the ship has left the port.
"Too many people assume they will be covered by Medicare, when in fact, you are not covered by Medicare or your private health fund if you need medical treatment once your ship has set sail," said Natalie.
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UNILAD has reached out to P&O for comment.