Minnesota man wins free Norwegian cruise vacation -- then catches the flu onboard and gets hit with $47K medical bill
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His luck went overboard.

A man from Minnesota was thrilled to win a free week-long cruise vacation to the Caribbean for himself and his girlfriend. Unfortunately, his excitement was short-lived when he caught the flu onboard and ended up facing a staggering medical bill of $47,000.

Mike Cameron and his girlfriend Tamra Masterman won a free Norwegian cruise trip that set sail out of Miami on Jan 5, according to Fox 9.

But what started as a dream trip to the tropical destination quickly went awry when Cameron, of Braham, Minn., came down with the flu.

The ailing passenger sought treatment at the medical center onboard the Norwegian Encore ship and recovered three days later.

As the couple’s tour of the Caribbean came to an end, Cameron was shocked to learn he was stuck with the nearly $50,000 medical bill.

“To turn around the day we are leaving and get handed a $47,000 bill I just didn’t even know what to do,” he told the local news station last week.

Cameron said the bill came as a shock as crew members assured him not to worry as he received treatment.

“Everyone in the medical ward kept saying ‘Don’t worry you have $20,000 coverage, you’ll be just fine’.”

The cruise line maxed out two credit cards Cameron had on file and he still owes $21,000, the station reported.

“You start thinking, ‘Are you going to lose your house, are you going to lose your cars’?” Masterman added.

Despite having purchased travel insurance from the cruise line that covered expenses up to $20,000, and having health insurance, the man, Cameron, found himself in a difficult situation. Both insurance providers were pointing fingers at each other, leaving him in a frustrating limbo.

According to Cameron, “The traveler’s insurance doesn’t want to pay it until we run it by our health insurance. The health insurance doesn’t want to pay it because it’s abroad.” The conflicting responses have left him unsure of how to resolve the hefty medical bill.

Stuck in limbo, Cameron isn’t sure how he’ll afford the steep bill.

“I don’t know how I’m ever going to pay them off, I’m going to have to, but, I don’t know how,” he told Fox 9.

The couple said the bill accompanied a letter from Norwegian stating its pricing was “closely comparable to other cruise lines and is what we believe to be fair and reasonable.”

A spokesperson for the cruise line didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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