A signed certificate for cruise lines, which apply stricter medical rules than airlines.
Unhurried care from a GMC-registered GP
6am to 10pm, seven days a week
Prescriptions, sick notes and referral letters included
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Cruise lines apply stricter medical requirements than airlines, for an obvious reason: a ship at sea is a long way from a hospital.
Many require a doctor's certificate for pregnancy, recent illness, recent surgery, or any condition needing ongoing treatment on board.
Most have their own, and a generic letter often will not be accepted. Send it in advance so the GP can complete it properly.
Covering your condition, stability, and what care you would need on board.
Within about ten minutes.
A generic letter is often refused. Most lines have a specific form with specific questions, and the certificate has to answer those questions in their wording.
Send it in advance — along with the sailing dates, the itinerary, and anything the line has already said in writing. If part of the form cannot honestly be completed by video, you will be told before you pay rather than after.
The reason is worth understanding, because it explains rules that otherwise look arbitrary. A ship at sea can be many hours from any hospital, its medical centre is closer to a small urgent care unit than to a hospital, and evacuation from a vessel is difficult, weather-dependent and extremely expensive.
So the question being asked is not really "are you well today". It is "what happens if this deteriorates on day four, two hundred miles from land" — and that is what the consultation covers.
Requests for oxygen, dialysis, nursing support or a mobility scooter go through the cruise line's own medical department. They must approve the arrangement and confirm it can be delivered at sea. A certificate from us does not create that capability and cannot authorise it — so submit those requests to the line as early as you can, since approval can take weeks.
Most lines refuse travel from 24 weeks, which is markedly earlier than airlines. We can confirm gestation and that a pregnancy is progressing normally from your maternity records. We cannot certify anyone past a line's own limit, and no letter overrides it.
Chest sounds, an ECG, urinalysis, oxygen saturation taken by a clinician — none of those can honestly be completed by video, and we will tell you at booking rather than take the fee.
Ships have limited medical facilities and evacuation at sea is difficult and expensive. Where a cruise genuinely is not advisable, we will say so rather than certify otherwise — and travel insurance is worth checking carefully.
Check it against the cruise line's form question by question. These are rejected for unanswered sections far more often than for anything clinical.
Submit it to the line straight away. Many require it a set number of days before sailing, and a certificate sitting in your inbox has not been submitted.
Cruise lines screen at embarkation, particularly for vomiting and diarrhoea, and they will deny boarding regardless of what any certificate says.
That is not obstruction. Norovirus on a ship spreads through a closed population within days, which is why the health questionnaire at the terminal is taken seriously and why a letter written that morning does not help you.
If you develop symptoms in the 48 hours before sailing, ring the line rather than turning up hoping. Some will move you to another sailing; none will thank you for boarding unwell.
Medical repatriation from a ship is among the most expensive things that can happen on a holiday, and a fit-to-cruise certificate is emphatically not insurance.
Go to the medical centre early rather than waiting to see. Consultations on board are charged, often substantially, and that is what your insurance is for — keep every receipt.
Reporting vomiting or diarrhoea promptly is genuinely the right thing to do, even though it usually means being confined to your cabin for a period.
Send us exactly what they said was wrong. Where it is wording or an omission on our part we will correct and reissue at no charge. Where they need their own medical department's approval, that is a process only they can run — and the answer is to start it early.
Some cruise medical requirements go through the cruise line's own medical department rather than through any GP. If you need oxygen, dialysis, or nursing support on board, the line has to approve the arrangement and confirm it can be provided at sea. A certificate from us does not create that capability, and we cannot authorise it on their behalf.
We cannot certify you fit on a day you are unwell. Cruise lines screen at embarkation, particularly for vomiting and diarrhoea, and will deny boarding regardless of what a certificate says. If you develop symptoms before departure, a letter written that morning does not help you.
Pregnancy cut-offs are set by the cruise line, not by us. Most refuse travel from 24 weeks. We can confirm gestation and that a pregnancy is progressing normally, but we cannot certify someone past a line's own limit and no letter overrides it.
Please check what your policy actually covers. Medical repatriation from a ship is among the most expensive things that can happen on a holiday, and a fit-to-cruise certificate is not insurance.
If a form requires physical examination findings — chest sounds, an ECG, urinalysis — it cannot honestly be completed by video, and we will tell you at booking rather than after you have paid.
Because a ship at sea is hours from a hospital and evacuation is difficult, weather-dependent and extremely expensive.
A ship's medical centre is closer to a small urgent care unit than a hospital. The question is not whether you are well today but what happens if things change on day four, two hundred miles from land.
Often not. Most lines have their own form with their own questions, and they want those answered in their wording. Send us the form.
Most lines refuse travel from 24 weeks — considerably earlier than airlines, which is what catches people out when a cruise is booked around a flight.
We can confirm gestation and that the pregnancy is progressing normally from your maternity records. Nobody can certify past a line's own limit. Check it before booking the cruise.
No — that has to go through the cruise line's own medical department, which must approve the arrangement and confirm it can be provided at sea.
We can provide the clinical information they ask for, but a certificate from us does not create the capability and cannot authorise it. Start that request as early as possible, because approval can take weeks and is sometimes refused.
It depends on what, how long ago, and how the recovery has gone — and the answer is sometimes no.
Many lines specify a minimum interval after surgery, and several have specific rules about recent abdominal or chest surgery and flying to join a ship. Where a cruise genuinely is not advisable, we will say so rather than certify otherwise. That is disappointing at the time and better than a medical emergency at sea.
The certificate does not protect you. Lines screen at embarkation and will deny boarding, particularly for vomiting or diarrhoea.
Norovirus spreads through a ship's closed population within days, which is why the terminal questionnaire is taken seriously. If you develop symptoms in the 48 hours before sailing, ring the line rather than turning up hoping.
No, and this is the most expensive misunderstanding on the page.
Buy specific cruise cover including medical repatriation, and declare every condition. An undeclared condition is the standard reason a claim is refused, and repatriation from a ship can run to six figures.
Enough for the entire sailing plus at least a week, in original labelled boxes, in hand luggage, with a copy of the prescription.
Check every port of call — not just the destination. A medicine that is unremarkable in the UK may be prohibited in a country the ship visits for an afternoon.
No. Chest sounds, an ECG, urinalysis and clinician-taken observations cannot honestly be provided by video.
We will tell you at booking rather than after you have paid, and point you to where those can be done.
Ask the line directly about accessible cabins, tender-boat policy — several ports are reached only by tender, and those are frequently inaccessible to wheelchair users — and whether a mobility scooter needs pre-approval. Most lines require it, and cabin doorway widths are a real constraint.
These are operational questions only the cruise line can answer, and worth asking before you pay a deposit.
Clinically reviewed by Dr Mohammad Zubair Khan, GMC 7563469
Last reviewed
August 23, 2026
On this page
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Your NHS record in the room
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Told when a test isn’t needed
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£40 for 20 minutes
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Same-day access is usually available, from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week. You choose a time that suits you rather than waiting on hold at 8am.
Yes. Care is led personally by Dr Mohammad Khan, so you are not passed between clinicians. Continuity is the point of a small practice: someone who knows your history and is listening attentively rather than working through a checklist.
Yes, with your consent. We can access your Summary Care Record during the consultation, so your current medications, allergies and significant history are in the room. That means fewer questions you have already answered elsewhere, and safer prescribing.
No. We are not here to replace GPs, only to support them. Your NHS practice remains responsible for your ongoing care, and with your consent we write to them after the consultation. We are useful when you need to be seen sooner, or want more time than a standard appointment allows.
Twenty unhurried minutes and a comprehensive assessment. A written treatment plan is included, along with any prescription, sick note or referral letter arising from the consultation, at no extra charge.
£40 for 20 minutes, self-pay. Membership is optional and never required. Priced for fairness, because we are not here to charge extortionate amounts for access to a doctor.
It means the diagnosis can usually be made from your history and photographs, and that treatment can be arranged safely without examining you. Where a condition is not marked treatable online, it is because examination is the diagnosis — listening to a chest, feeling an abdomen, examining an ear or a joint — or because a procedure or device is needed.
Yes, where there is a genuine bacterial infection — cellulitis, impetigo, bacterial urine infections, confirmed strep throat. We will also frequently tell you that you do not need one. Most sore throats, coughs, colds and earaches are viral, and an antibiotic gives you the side effects with none of the benefit.
If your problem turns out to be genuinely outside what we can do remotely, the doctor will tell you straight away, point you to the right service, and refund your fee in full. We would rather do that than fill twenty minutes to justify the charge.
Call 999 or go to A&E — do not book an online appointment and do not wait for a reply to an email. For urgent problems that are not emergencies, NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, online or by phone, and can direct you to the right service.
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