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Cheri

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I joined this blog yesterday and it has been great so far!! My son is a type 1 diabetic and we need to monitor his blood sugars via an app on our phone (it connects via Bluetooth/WiFi/data to a device that is implanted in his body) will the cruise line offer us WiFi due to a medical issue? If not, what package do I need to consider? 

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Yes they have WiFi available for purchase through packages that you can use for personal and or medical reasons. Depending on how much internet you all use there are many packages to choose from. They aren’t free so so consider how fast and how many devices you need connected at once. 

Please be aware that this isn’t free and that like others you will need to pay for it. I don’t believe that they have a way around this just for a medical device but I always get internet no matter what to stay connected to work so I’m not sure. Perhaps someone else know more. Thanks 

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1 hour ago, jurrjurr said:

Does the app require internet access to operate?  Can it perform it's functions with just a BT connection?

This is going along the same lines I was thinking, they can get internet for their phones (For a fee) but how is the device implanted in his body going to know to join Royal WiFi and then to join it is required to input the access code, etc., etc..

I would have to assume Blue tooth like @jurrjurr , this is something I would definitely want to discuss with Royal Special needs department.

Pinging @twangster , and @monorailmedic , for their technical input, maybe the device just auto joins the WiFi

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I've seen devices like this work in two ways.

1) They communicate with your phone via BT so that you can easily see a log of BGLs, get alerted to spikes/dips, etc.  

2) The same as #1, but where it also transmits the data to your physician.

If the device is sending data to your physician then it will continue to work except for that part - the data will be transmitted once you again have an internet connection.  As such (and frankly, regardless of that point), I'd discuss this with your HCP.  If it's not sending the information anyway, then it shouldn't matter, as BT communication with your phone will continue.  

As far as complimentary internet access based on a medical need - I'd be skeptical, but if after a chat with your HCP around how this device works, it seems necessary, I'd file it under, "it doesn't hurt to ask."

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  • 11 months later...

Cheri - we went last year and also needed WiFi for my sons dexcom and inPen. We had to pay for it. We are going again this summer. I’m asking royal Caribbean again about complimentary for medical reasons.   You definitely want WiFi. Blood sugars were all over last summer from being so active and all the eating.  We went with friends and I stored 1/2 of his insulin in our fridge and 1/2 in our friends. I’m glad I did because ours stopped working!  

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56 minutes ago, Mandi said:

Cheri - we went last year and also needed WiFi for my sons dexcom and inPen. We had to pay for it. We are going again this summer. I’m asking royal Caribbean again about complimentary for medical reasons.   You definitely want WiFi. Blood sugars were all over last summer from being so active and all the eating.  We went with friends and I stored 1/2 of his insulin in our fridge and 1/2 in our friends. I’m glad I did because ours stopped working!  

Welcome to the message boards!

I would think the app would still display the blood sugar levels but it would not get sent over the internet to your HCP or doctor until it reconnected to the internet.

Honestly it's not something I've thought about.  Here in Colorado when I go skiing or camping our phones often have no internet for days because there is no coverage in the mountains away from the interstate.  Is that scenario a show stopper for you?  It's an interesting situation.  I guess we have become so reliant on technology and the internet that now our very healthcare for some people depends on it.  That honestly scares me a little because the internet is best effort and never guaranteed all of the time. 

It's also a interesting social issue.  Internet is usually not free.  You have to pay for a cell phone data plan to be connected to the internet for example.  Some public libraries offer truly free internet although taxpayers pay for it in the end.  Most of us pay for it in our homes.  As I think more about medical devices and the internet it raises a lot of questions.  Should health insurance pay for the internet so medical devices can be connected in our homes for example.  If you are on a 20 hour flight should the airline be required to offer medical connectivity? Some airlines don't offer internet. 

I enjoy these exercises because it makes you stop and think where our society is going and how reliant on the internet we are all becoming (and in technology in general).  So different from just 10 years ago.  That dependency also makes us vulnerable to attacks.  One hundred years from now will we all be so dependent on internet connectivity that our quality of life is in jeopardy when we aren't connected? Interesting topic.

Cruise lines can refuse to allow guests with extreme medical needs from boarding.  At what point will a cruise line have to determine that a medical device that must be connected to the internet cannot be accommodated because they can't guarantee satellite internet 100% of the time?  No one can guarantee internet connectivity, not on land and certainly not at sea.  So many sides to the story.

Please let us know how Royal responds. 

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  • 3 years later...
On 1/8/2019 at 12:13 PM, Matt said:

I'm not aware of a medical excuse for getting a complimentary internet plan. Surely there is a non-internet based means of monitoring your son's blood sugar?

Yes, but it involves painfully pricking fingers repeatedly. And much more often than normal, with swimming and the excitement of a cruise. (As you can imagine,  these areas become more tender. And over, even a short time, can develop the need to prick deeper to reach a blood sample.) Internet sends the readings to his phone,  which enables transmission to a parent's phone, allowing the parent to make adjustments in insulin,  food, activity, etc. Honestly, in my opinion,  it's like charging someone for the electric to plug in an oxygen machine or even a cpap. 

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