By Anthony Zurita From North Jersey Record

Carol Palk was sick and bleeding from an ulcer in her stomach riding in the back of a cab during a five-hour trip through a dangerous Mexican state, so that she and her husband could catch a plane that would eventually fly them back to the United States via Mexico City.

Neither Carol nor her husband, Bertram “Buzz” Palk, can speak Spanish, so they could not communicate beyond showing their driver their airline tickets.  

Hours earlier, she and her husband were marooned on a foreign shore by the crew of their cruise ship because they could not treat her ulcer.

Bertram “Buzz” and Carol Palk of Whipanny talk about their difficult experiences after they were removed from a cruise ship in Mexico due to a problem with Carol’s health. They are at their kitchen table on January 25, 2019 with a photo that was taken on the cruise ship before they were let go inn Mexico. (Photo11: Chris Pedota/NorthJersey.com)

Carol Palk, a 79-year-old from Whippany, was sailing on the Allure of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean Cruises ship registered in the Bahamas but sailing out of Miami, with her husband and friends from their Rotary Club. The seven-night cruise, which stopped in ports throughout the western Caribbean Sea, was the couple’s 16th cruise vacation.

More than 20 million people cruise each year, according to TripSavvy.com. But it is unclear how many people find themselves in a situation in which they are forced from their ship in a foreign country because of a medical emergency.

The ship’s crew was following a company policy.

“Our actions depend entirely on the condition and needs of our patients,” said Owen Torres, a Royal Caribbean Cruises spokesman. “In this case, our ship’s doctor and medical crew initially treated the guest in our medical facility but required additional and urgent medical attention that could only be provided in a hospital.”

For more on this story and video go to: https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/morris/2019/02/25/nj-couple-pays-thousands-get-home-after-being-forced-off-royal-caribbean-cruise/2669094002/