Carnival Cruise with medical needs (Diabetes and CPAP)

[wilkeliza]

Was unsure where this belong because it wasn't Disney or RC.

Fiancé (will be husband by trip time) and I are doing a Carnival cruise for our honeymoon. We both will be dealing with different medical needs then we have prior. He now has an insulin pump which means insulin bottles that need to be refrigerated and are glass. I know we can get a medical cooler but they aren't guaranteed. We have traveled before but he was using pens then and those are more stable so he was fine with just sticking it in the beverage cooler. Does anyone have a tried and true method of keeping insulin cold that isn't the medical cooler or taking it to the medical team? Since we don't just travel with Carnival I figured it would be easier for us to have our own thing that we can use going forward be it a theme park vacation, cruise, international travel, vegas, etc.

For CPAP, I will have had my machine for a little under a month before the trip so I'm brand new. What should I know about traveling with a cpap and how much distilled water should I plan on bringing or preordering? Also any tips for that as well.

I have traveled a ton and would have previously considered myself a pro but now I feel like a fish out of water.

 

[mmbrad02]

We just sailed on Carnival in July and my DH and I are both Type 1 diabetic on insulin pumps - this is our fourth cruise, two on Carnival and two on Disney. We have had excellent service for medical needs on all four. We had a refrigerator on our Carnival one that kept things sufficiently cool - if you leave the door open to the cabinet that it's in, it will cool down faster. In our experience we had no issues with the coolness of the fridge but Carnival should also be able to provide you with the medical cooler if you feel you do.

 

[sam_gordon]

For CPAP, I will have had my machine for a little under a month before the trip so I'm brand new. What should I know about traveling with a cpap and how much distilled water should I plan on bringing or preordering? Also any tips for that as well.

When I travel with my CPAP, it comes with me on the plane as a 3rd carryon. "Medical Devices" don't count toward the 2 item limit. When you find out how to contact Carnival about the other stuff, ask them about distilled water. When I took my CPAP on RCI, they provided distilled water. I didn't ask for as I don't use it, but it must be part of their standard "CPAP Package".

You also might want to ask ahead of time for an extension cord for the CPAP. Not sure what the outlet situation is on Carnival (probably depends on ship).

 

[wilkeliza]

When I travel with my CPAP, it comes with me on the plane as a 3rd carryon. "Medical Devices" don't count toward the 2 item limit. When you find out how to contact Carnival about the other stuff, ask them about distilled water. When I took my CPAP on RCI, they provided distilled water. I didn't ask for as I don't use it, but it must be part of their standard "CPAP Package".

You also might want to ask ahead of time for an extension cord for the CPAP. Not sure what the outlet situation is on Carnival (probably depends on ship).

With Carnival we have to buy or carry on the distilled water and our own extension cord (feels so out of the norm for me since DCL definitely said none of our own).

For the insulin vials they won't guarantee a medi-fridge so it depends on our arrival. Looks like I may just put a collapsible cooler in our bags just in case the beverage cooler isn't cold enough (the one on the Mardi Gras were but we are going on an older ship this time).

Thankfully no flights this time around. We are cruising out of Galveston and live only an hour away so family is driving us and picking us up.

 

[wilkeliza]

We just sailed on Carnival in July and my DH and I are both Type 1 diabetic on insulin pumps - this is our fourth cruise, two on Carnival and two on Disney. We have had excellent service for medical needs on all four. We had a refrigerator on our Carnival one that kept things sufficiently cool - if you leave the door open to the cabinet that it's in, it will cool down faster. In our experience we had no issues with the coolness of the fridge but Carnival should also be able to provide you with the medical cooler if you feel you do.

That's good to know. He said the fridge in the room was more than fine last time we went. I just read that the insulin vials are more stable then he was initially told so looks like he'll just take his chance and put it in the beverage cooler.

For me I just need to decide if carrying a bunch of water on is worth the savings of just buying from carnival.

 

[lanejudy]

One thing with insulin vials and coolers is to be careful not to freeze the insulin if it's too close to the ice. Maybe wrap it in a washcloth and put that into a ziploc bag. The cloth helps protect from the ice.

However, you/he might consider looking into FRIO wallets. They come in various sizes to accommodate vials or pens or prefilled syringes. It will keep the item at the temperature it was when put into the wallet -- so assuming you take it out of the fridge at home and put it into the wallet, it should stay that temp. It won't make something cold/colder. My DH uses these for travel and has kept pens cold while camping outdoors for a week by re-soaking the FRIO.

 

[SueInBoston]

BF has his CPAP for about 4 years now, I think he bought distilled water for the first few months, then just use Brita filtered water and his machine is fine. Maybe get one of those Brits filter water bottle for travel?