Carnival misplaces passenger's dialysis machine

From USA Today:

This item was written by Johanna Jainchill, who covers the travel industry for Travel Weekly. Jainchill is serving as Guest Editor of The Cruise Log while USA TODAY Cruise Editor Gene Sloan is away.

An advocate for travelers with disabilities said that the recent mishap between Carnival Cruise Lines and a passenger's dialysis machine is a lesson that travelers should always keep medical equipment on their person.

As several Florida news outlets reported this week, a South Florida family was escorted off a Carnival ship last Saturday after the cruise line was not able locate one of the family members' dialysis machine.

According to a report on Local10.com, Lillian Hensley, her disabled daughter, her son and son's wife were all supposed to be on a five-day Carnival cruise from Miami this week, but instead were asked to disembark before it departed because the daughter's dialysis equipment was not located.

Hensley's daughter requires nightly dialysis, the report said, and Hensley received clearance from Carnival to bring a portable dialysis machine on board. Hensley said she she checked the equipment with the rest of her luggage and boarded the ship.

Carnival said that Hensley had advised the line that she would be bringing medical supplies, but that she would hand-carry them onto the ship, "per Carnival's standard procedures in these cases.

Full article:

http://travel.usatoday.com/cruises/post/2012/05/carnival-destiny-missing-dialysis-machine/700715/1