If your cruise line asks for a medical letter, get its exact requirements before booking a GP assessment. A letter records the doctor's findings; the cruise line decides whether it meets the requirements for your sailing.
Send the form, itinerary and sailing date when you ask about a medical report. Suitability, any examination or tests, the full fee and expected turnaround are confirmed before you proceed.
Why is the cruise line asking for medical confirmation?
Cruise operators ask for medical confirmation in three broad situations: pregnancy, a significant or recent medical condition, and anything that might need support on board, from oxygen to mobility assistance. The reasoning is stated plainly by the lines themselves. Royal Caribbean, for example, tells guests to consider before booking that there is no obstetrician or gynaecologist on its ships, that a guest may be at sea for several days without immediate hospital or specialist backup, and that the availability of specialist shore-side facilities can be limited depending on the itinerary. P&O Cruises also states that its medical centres are not equipped to the same standards as a land-based hospital and are not designed for extensive or continuing treatment. Medical documentation helps the line assess whether it can carry you safely and what assistance may be needed.
Each line sets its own requirements, and they differ in detail. Royal Caribbean requires all guests to complete a Public Health Questionnaire before boarding and publishes its pregnancy policy openly. P&O Cruises maintains a medical requirements hub covering pre-existing health conditions, travel insurance and accessibility, and asks guests with medical requirements to work through it before travel. Other lines send their own medical form for a doctor to complete once you declare a condition. The first step is always the same: get the exact document or policy from your line, because a letter written to the wrong brief has to be done twice.
The health questionnaire is not the medical letter
It helps to separate two documents that are easy to conflate. The pre-boarding health questionnaire - Royal Caribbean's Public Health Questionnaire is a published example - is completed by you, attesting to facts such as pregnancy stage, and every guest completes one. The doctor's letter or medical form is the second layer, required only when your circumstances trigger it: a declared condition, a recent event, a pregnancy within the permitted window, or equipment and assistance needs. Complete the questionnaire accurately and check any separate medical requirements directly with the line. A completed questionnaire is not a substitute for medical evidence that the line has specifically requested.
Pregnancy rules are specific, and they are the line's
Pregnancy is the situation where cruise policies are most exact. Royal Caribbean's published policy is that it cannot accept guests who will be more than 23 weeks pregnant at any time during the cruise or CruiseTour, and every guest attests to this on the pre-boarding health questionnaire. Other lines set their own cut-offs and their own letter requirements, typically asking the doctor to confirm the expected delivery date and that the pregnancy is uncomplicated. If you are pregnant and planning to sail, check your specific line's current policy before anything else: if the sailing crosses its cut-off, no letter changes the policy, and if it does not, the letter needs to state your dates exactly.
What should the letter or form actually cover?
Whatever the format, the medical team reviewing it is looking for the same clinical picture: what the condition is, that it is stable, what treatment you are on, and whether you need anything specific on board. A useful letter names the condition, states how long it has been stable, lists medicines exactly as taken, and addresses questions relevant to the specific sailing - mobility on board and on tenders, oxygen or equipment needs, storage requirements for medicines, and dietary requirements where relevant.
For recent events - surgery, a heart attack, a stroke, a new diagnosis - timing is the crux. Ask the line whether it requires a minimum recovery period or specific evidence about your condition. The medical assessment should use accurate dates and records rather than assume one rule applies across cruise lines. Your discharge summary or most recent clinic letter gives the doctor the wording a reviewing medical team trusts, so bring it to the consultation.
Medicines and equipment at sea
A ship is not a pharmacy. Bring enough of every medicine for the full sailing plus a sensible buffer in case of delays, keep medicines in hand luggage rather than checked bags, and carry a current medicine list with doses - the same list the letter will cite. Anything that needs special storage, such as insulin, should be raised with the line before you sail so you know exactly what arrangements exist on your ship rather than discovering them on board. If you use medical equipment - a CPAP machine, oxygen concentrator or mobility aid - the line needs the specifics early: make and model, power requirements, battery type and dimensions. Having those details to hand at the consultation is what makes the form complete rather than approximate.
Mobility, tenders and the reality of the itinerary
Fitness to cruise is not only about diagnoses. Ships involve long corridors, stairs at busy times, gangways that move with the swell, and - on some itineraries - tender boats to reach ports where the ship anchors offshore. Lines ask about mobility because boarding a tender is a genuine physical step, and because wheelchair users and guests with limited mobility may need specific arrangements or accessible cabins. The letter should describe mobility honestly: what you manage independently, what you manage with assistance, and what equipment you travel with. An accurate description helps the line assess which arrangements are possible. P&O Cruises asks guests to declare mobility devices at booking or as soon as the need is known; accessible cabins and assistance are subject to its requirements and availability.
Insurance and the paperwork around the letter
P&O Cruises requires adequate travel insurance, and medical documentation and insurance sit side by side in the same preparation. Insurers and cruise lines ask overlapping but different questions: the letter to the cruise line confirms fitness and needs; the insurance declaration covers your medical history for claims purposes. Both need to be accurate and consistent with each other, and both are easier when the same up-to-date summary - conditions, medicines, recent events - underlies them. If your NHS GP holds records relevant to the letter, bring a recent summary printout or the key clinic letters; the assessment can then work from verified history rather than recollection.
Recent illness, surgery and long-term conditions
For a recent operation or hospital stay, the reviewing team wants to know what was done, when, and how recovery is going - which is why the discharge summary matters. For long-term conditions, the questions are stability and self-sufficiency: is the condition controlled, can you manage your own medicines and mobility for the length of the sailing, and is there anything the ship's medical centre should know in advance? Some situations need a genuinely individual judgement call. A condition that is stable on land can behave differently across two weeks at sea with limited shore access, and the assessment weighs the specific itinerary - a Mediterranean sailing with daily ports is not the same medical proposition as a transatlantic crossing or an expedition itinerary far from shore facilities.
When to start the process
Start as soon as the line asks for documentation, not as the sailing approaches. The sequence has moving parts you do not control: the line's own review time, any questions its medical team comes back with, and the time your own paperwork takes to assemble - discharge summaries, clinic letters, equipment specifications. The consultation itself is one step in that sequence, and booking it early turns the rest from a rush into a checklist. If your sailing is close, tell the team the deadline before booking and ask what is possible. Check assessment availability before making plans around an appointment. A clinic cannot shorten the cruise line's own review process.
Can this be done by video, and what does it cost?
A video GP service is available, but whether it is suitable for your cruise documentation depends on the form and your clinical needs. Send the requirements before booking. The doctor may need records, an examination or tests to reach a conclusion.
The medical report service confirms suitability, any examination or tests needed, the full fee and expected turnaround before you proceed. Do not assume a general consultation includes a particular form. The doctor can report clinical findings but cannot guarantee a particular conclusion or that the cruise line will accept the document.
Frequently asked questions
My cruise line sent me its own medical form. Can you complete that instead of a letter?
Send the actual form before booking. The doctor needs to confirm whether the medical report service is suitable for its requirements. Do not assume every form can be completed, or that the line will accept a generic letter instead.
I am pregnant. What will the letter need to say?
Typically your expected delivery date, confirmation that the pregnancy is uncomplicated, and how many weeks you will be at each stage of the sailing. Check your line's cut-off first - Royal Caribbean, for example, publishes that it cannot accept guests who will be more than 23 weeks pregnant at any point during the sailing - because if the sailing crosses the line's limit, no letter changes the policy.
How recent can my surgery or hospital stay be?
It depends on your recovery and the line's requirements. Ask whether it specifies a minimum recovery period or needs specialist evidence. Bring your discharge summary and recent clinic letters so the doctor has accurate dates and information for the assessment.
What if the doctor finds something that needs attention before I sail?
Ask what needs to happen next and whether the sailing remains appropriate. Further records, tests or an examination may be needed. The assessment may not support the conclusion you hoped for, and a doctor cannot guarantee clearance simply because a sailing is booked.
Is there a deadline for submitting the medical form?
Each line sets its own deadline, and some ask for medical forms well before sailing so their medical team can review and respond. Check your line's requirement as soon as you book, and treat their deadline - not the sailing date - as the one that matters.
What if my condition changes between the letter and the sailing?
Tell the line. The documentation confirms your state when assessed, and a significant change - a new diagnosis, a hospital admission, a change in mobility - should be updated rather than carried silently, both for your own safety and because the line's acceptance rests on accurate information.
Do you complete forms for oxygen or medical equipment on board?
Ask the line for its equipment requirements and send the relevant form before booking an assessment. Bring device details and any prescription or specialist documentation. The doctor can confirm whether the requested clinical information is within the service; the cruise line decides which equipment it can accept.
Will the cruise line definitely accept the letter?
No doctor can promise that, and you should be cautious of anyone who does. The line's medical team makes its own decision. What a properly completed letter does is answer their questions accurately, but it does not guarantee acceptance.
Arrange your fit-to-cruise assessment
Send the cruise line's form or letter requirements and your sailing dates before booking so the doctor can confirm whether the medical report service is suitable. Request an appointment on WhatsApp, call 020 3951 3429, or email team@thewellnesslondon.com. Tell the team what you need and ask about the next available appointment. Availability is confirmed before you book.
GP medical reports
Read about the medical report assessment service and send the recipient's requirements before booking.