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 st...