A member of the Hays CISD Board of Trustees whose father died on New Year’s Day while on a Caribbean cruise has a warning for others planning a getaway at sea: Take advantage of the air ambulance insurance offered by most cruise lines, and have the number of at least one air ambulance service on speed dial.
Vanessa Petrea’s parents Kathleen and Euel Vines departed from Fort Lauderdale on a Princess Cruise Lines tour of the Caribbean late last year. On New Year’s Eve, they had stopped in St. Thomas and experienced what she called a “magical day” ending with a “champagne toast to health and happiness.”
Later, in their stateroom, her 69-year-old father began to feel ill. “He thought he had food poisoning,” she said, and noted he had had problems with food allergies. “He just felt off. Mom said he looked different and asked him if he had chest pains and he said ‘no.’”
