Royal Caribbean Medigo Medical

[Space.Cadet]

Hi all,

In completing the process of employment, I was told that I have to get my medical work done at a Medigo facility. The more I look into it, the shadier it gets.

1. They have no listings of nationwide facilities, though RC assures me they are nationwide.

2. Upon emailing them for a local location, they will only give me a zip code, not a full address.

3. They want payment in advance. I have never once been requested by a medical facility to pay in advance.

RC stands by this company, but I can't help but feel that there is something suspicious here. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks.

[Space.Cadet]

Oh, I forgot to mention, there is no corporate structure apparently. The woman who is emailing me about setting up an appointment is essentially a nurse/secretary at the Medigo clinic in Florida.

[shipb]

I think the reason they don't tell you the specific location is so that you won't go directly to that clinic/doctor. They want you to go through them so they can get that extra commission (or whatever). If they were to tell you the location before payment, it would probably be cheaper for you to go directly to that doctor and make your own appointment, as opposed to going through them. The payment upfront is likely to ensure you won't go off on your own and to make sure that they can cash in... is what I think...

[Space.Cadet]

Your explanation makes perfect sense.

But this still seems like very shady business practices. No medical facility should require you to pay in advance without even requesting insurance.

[Karen97]

Don't you get the money back from RC once hired? DCL reimburse up to $200 if you go to your own doc, or it's free with their doctor

[Space.Cadet]

Originally Posted by Karen97

Don't you get the money back from RC once hired? DCL reimburse up to $200 if you go to your own doc, or it's free with their doctor

It might be different among different positions, but I was told I have to cover it. They are asking for 385. I want to do it with my doctor. At least I know I am getting good service. The facility that is contacting me has awful reviews.

Is this is facility you were required to use?

[Karen97]

No, there's a MD in Sydney that I had the option of using. I live 5 hours out of sydney, and it wasn't really feasible for me to travel to use their doc.

[Space.Cadet]

The one they gave me is only an hour day which doesn't seem so bad to yours, but geez. My doctor lives down the street.

[sz]

Are you getting this directive from the PEME person (Pre Employment Medical Exam) at RCI? If not - try emailing [email protected] and double-check that you can use your doctor. Seem to remember that's where you need to email your documents to anyway . . .

[Space.Cadet]

All my questions are going through a third party recruiter. Unless the clinic is outside of 150 km, I have to use them. You're definitely right about the commission thing though. I'm just not sure why RC chose them. But you're right I do have to send it all to PEME. I already sucked it up and paid the money. It's fine now. It was just the principle of the thing that bothered me. Seemed like poor business practices, espceially when it's about a individual's health.

[taoist]

Originally Posted by Space.Cadet

All my questions are going through a third party recruiter. Unless the clinic is outside of 150 km, I have to use them. You're definitely right about the commission thing though. I'm just not sure why RC chose them. But you're right I do have to send it all to PEME. I already sucked it up and paid the money. It's fine now. It was just the principle of the thing that bothered me. Seemed like poor business practices, especially when it's about a individual's health.

Unfortunately despite the size of these large corporate cruise lines, when it comes to crew members they do take a "budget" approach. The employment practices towards shoreside corporate employees vs shipboard crew is very different.
As with most cruise lines I have observed choosing the lowest price option for most things like medicals, hiring partners, pre ship accommodation is the norm.
Hiring partners are often one man bands and I have heard countless stories of how bad many of them are from crew members.

Don't get the illusion that you will be a valued member of staff that is recognised by shoreside. Crew are like cattle to be herded onto ships to perform their function and thats it. The corporate side of the business is disconnected from their crew in terms of their welfare.
You only need to look at where all the ships are registered to, to avoid lawsuits from pax and crew. This is why they give out contracts rather than permanent employment, that's why the food is often awful. Ultimately spending as little money on you as possible is the number one priority.

I know the above post is negative, but just giving you a heads up. You are just a number in a sea of thousands, you are not going to be "joining the company" but more a contractor who might be there for 6 months or 6 years. I have seen crew members with 10 years service have their contracts terminated instantly and disembarked in port due to shore side deciding the position is no longer required. This is unusual but it can happen and you wont have any comeback.

Despite all that negativity you will have a great experience, you will make loads of friends, and you will see loads of places. Just don't be under the illusion your joining a prestigious corporation who values your presence at the company.

[Yonahrose]

Originally Posted by Space.Cadet

All my questions are going through a third party recruiter. Unless the clinic is outside of 150 km, I have to use them. You're definitely right about the commission thing though. I'm just not sure why RC chose them. But you're right I do have to send it all to PEME. I already sucked it up and paid the money. It's fine now. It was just the principle of the thing that bothered me. Seemed like poor business practices, espceially when it's about a individual's health.

So I am curious. Did it work out? Did you have to forward the money through a bank? I have recently been hired with RCCL and have the same questions you had. My family is very reluctant to let me forward the money because they see the red flags as well. If you had the same questions as I had, and it worked out, it would make me feel a lot better about that decision.

[Pakito]

Originally Posted by Yonahrose

So I am curious. Did it work out? Did you have to forward the money through a bank? I have recently been hired with RCCL and have the same questions you had. My family is very reluctant to let me forward the money because they see the red flags as well. If you had the same questions as I had, and it worked out, it would make me feel a lot better about that decision.

My wife was just hired by Celebrity Cruises and it looks like we'll have to do our medical at Concentra Urgent Care. Not sure yet how much it will cost since they don't take insurance. I'll get a receipt and see if my insurance will cover or see if we just do the medical at our local doctor and submit to them for approval. We are still waiting to hear from Celebrity if they will gives us the OK to do that.

How much did your's cost?

[Twin]

Originally Posted by Pakito

My wife was just hired by Celebrity Cruises and it looks like we'll have to do our medical at Concentra Urgent Care. Not sure yet how much it will cost since they don't take insurance. I'll get a receipt and see if my insurance will cover or see if we just do the medical at our local doctor and submit to them for approval. We are still waiting to hear from Celebrity if they will gives us the OK to do that.

How much did your's cost?

My recruiter told me it was about double the cost at concentra if they don't take your insurance. So yours might be around $600 (yikes). Im going through the medical phase as well. I actually just got the routing info and cost from medigo but I knew it was coming because I read this post, which helped me prepare a bit. I had the choice of going through medigo or concentra and choose medigo because of the insurance thing.

[Twin]

So just an update. Finished my medical today and it SUCKED Medigo apparently does not communicate with their partners and the nurse at the front desk told me they rarely every get paid when they have someone using Medigo. She also calculated it for me to see how much it would really cost if you didn't have to use Medigo.....$160....compared to $385 wow. wow. wow. For anyone in the future reading this thread remember to fast at least 8 hours before you go in...I drove 2 and a half hours to find this out when I had already eaten breakfast. So I had to drive back the next day. Man I'm so happy to be done with that!

[**Linda**]

I just got my done earlier this week. I ended up going to an Urgent Care clinic in Long Beach, because LA is huge and this was the only place in all LA County that did it. I know RCL will reimburse me for it. Do they reimburse if you use your own? The women for PEME told me if I went to that clinic, my test would be valid for 2 years, if I went somewhere else, it would only be valid for 3 months. Waiting for my info to be updated and approved by RCL