Did this happen on your cruise?

[sheephugs]

Last summer we took our first cruise. It was the western Caribbean on Carnival. The first full day was a "fun day at sea". At dusk that night there was alot of commotion on the lido deck (I was in the Jacuzzi at the time). An announcement on the PA system informed us that we had changed our course to pick up a raftload of Cuban refugees. Everyone went to the port side of the ship to watch the rescue (wow, those stabilizers really do work well). There were (I think) 7 men who had reportedly been at sea for ten days on a square of wood that was barely afloat. The sail appeared to be a plastic trash bag.

We were told that they were basically well, mostly dehydration & sun exposure. The next day we were docking in Grand Cayman & the refugees were to be left at the hospital. When we boarded the ship that afternoon the PA announced that the island refused to take them. Talk was that they were to be left in Mexico, our next stop. But by the end of the week, we realized no one wanted these politcal hot potatoes.

Our last full day was another "fun day at sea". At nightfall (just before we left international waters) we met with a Coast Guard cutter. A lifeboat went alongside the cutter to transfer the men. The cutter never stopped moving so the lifeboat had to keep up to make the transfer (does anybody know why this would be?) We thought this would be splashed all over the stateside news... but not a word. Someone told me this happens more often than you would think. Do you think they were offically turned over to Cuba? I'd like to think they were taken to Guantanamo Bay and quietly slipped back in. The next month, my husband went to his high school class reunion in Rio, Brazil. A classmate has business ventures in Brazil & Cuba & splits his time between both. When asked what happens to refugees who try to leave and are returned, he cryptically responded, "you don't want to know". What do y'all think? Did a similar incident happen on your cruise?

[jazzsea]

We picked up six Cuban refugees in 1994. The story had a happy ending. All stayed in the USA after medical attention was given.

I suspect the transfer to the Coast Guard was because the cruise line would have to paya heavy fine for bringing them into the USA. I am sure that they were not sent back to Cuba. It might be possible to find out by contacting Carnival or the US State Department.

What was the date of your cruise and the ship? We can all try to find out for you.

[Krazy Kruizers]

:)

Thanks for sharing your story here. Nothing like that has ever happened on any of the cruises we have been on. Certainly would like to know the ending of the story.

:)

[iluvcruzin]

Interesting story. I've never encountered such an event but then again, it's possible they didn't announce it.

[Joedog]

Nice story. In 26 years in the Navy and countless days at sea I was never on a ship that rescued anyone from the water.

I can tell you with some certainty, having been there, that there is no way that any refugees were taken to Guantanimo Bay and "quietly" slipped back into Castro's Cuba. That little piece of border between our base and the rest of Cuba is well guarded by both sides.

[Roz]

This has nothing to do with refugees, but on my first cruise (Statendam to Alaska), we rescued 2 fishermen and their boat during the night. There was a huge storm and their boat took on too much water. The Statendam crew got the men onboard and we pulled their fishing boat behind us. In the morning, the Coast Guard came out to take them and their vessel back to their home port.

People sometimes think that the job of Captain is only ceremonial. To some extent it is, until an emergency like this happens and then he truly is the commander of the ship. Maritime law came into play, and we were ordered to cease our cruising itinerary and our ship was commissioned as a rescue vessel.

Another myth is that the Inside Passage is smooth sailing all the way. I can attest to the fact that it isn't, and I was a bit green around the gills during the storm.

Roz

[sheephugs]

Jazzsea, it was the July 27, 2003 departure. Everyone cheered when they made it on board. The men were very weak but they managed smiles & waves. When they were leaving the ship everyone gathered to wave goodbye & many yelled wishes of good luck. The refugees waved, blew kisses & shouted in broken English, "we love America...God bless America". It was very touching.

Seadog, it was probably just wishful thinking on my part but I hoped that since it was kept out of the media the incident might go unnoticed by the Cuban government. The cruise director said they were taken to the gift shop for clothes so they would be pretty obvious slipping back into Cuba with Carnival logo wear. Actually I was wondering if anybody knew why the Coast Guard cutter would keep moving slowly in large circles for the hand-off as opposed to just stopping the vessel. It certainly made the transfer more challenging!

[jhannah]

The refugees waved, blew kisses & shouted in broken English, "we love America...God bless America". It was very touching.And look at how we too often take for granted our great blessing of living in freedom in North America. Same on me for losing sight of that!

[CDRMark]

Last time I heard, unless they actually put their feet on U.S. soil (the feet dry rule) they are returned to Fidel. Write your Congressperson.

[Mary Ellen]

There was a storyline on a CSI:Miami episode about refugees and how the legal status changed once they stepped foot on US soil (out of the water). Sorry, I don't remember the details.

[Navy_Chief]

The cutter never stopped moving so the lifeboat had to keep up to make the transfer (does anybody know why this would be?) Typical Small Boat Transfer operation performed by the navy. When I crossed over between ships in the MED we do the same thing. Believe it or not, it makes the transfer easier.

[Orcrone]

Typical Small Boat Transfer operation performed by the navy. When I crossed over between ships in the MED we do the same thing. Believe it or not, it makes the transfer easier.When a ship is sitting still it rises, falls and rocks with each wave. When moving it tends to cut through the waves.

For anyone who fishes or scuba dives compare the motion of the ship while getting to the location vs. what it's like when you drop anchor, especially if you have some mildly rough seas.

[Krazy Kruizers]

:)

Watch when the pilots get on the ship. The ship slows down, doesn't stop, when they get off and on.

:)

[AlinaMaria]

Interesting story! As a Cuban born Cuban-American, who proudly has lived in the USA 37 of my 51 years of age and now call America "HOME", every time I cruised I used to hope to live through such experience and being able to be a translator for them, meet them, and get back a bit of that "homeland" feeling which always lives in our minds and heart. However, in the last 10-11 years, since the Clinton era, the laws have changed and any Cuban or Haitian refugee picked up at sea is returned to their country of origin. If they do get to touch land then they get to stay and apply for political asylum. I have no clue what happens to the Haitians when returned except to know that they do go back to very poor, inhumane way of life in a country not able to support their own, but I can tell you that any Cubans returned to Castro's Cuba will find themselves in worst conditions than in an Iraqui Jail, also their families will suffer from humiliation, retaliation, and much inhuman and unfair treatment from the government and most of the people. Violation of human rights is a daily thing in Cuba, its jails, and everyday life for most people unless they are much involved in high communist government. But the world refuses to acknowledge this and the average Cuban resident in the island does not have the ability to fight back either, if they try they will pay with their life or their families. Like someone said in this thread "you don't want to know" the details of what they must endure if they survive the punishment. And, yes, we are very blessed to live in this great and unique country of ours: GOD BLESS AMERICA! GOD SAVE AMERICA, FREEDOM, AND TRUE DEMOCRACY!
AlinaMaria

[Tatka]

This is a shame that Castro is still alive!

Cuba is beautifull country. When I was in 5th grade( 1989) my grandfather had vacation there and said it was very nice over there. (he didn't traveled to other Carib. islands though). I don't remember whole story but in some reason I remember place called Varadero.(sp?)

We are from the former USSR...and at the time we moved here (Jewish Refugee) there were more economical reasons for emmigration than political , but in 80-ies and before it was different story!

I have a friend whose father died 5 years ago from cancer, 2 years after their emmigration to US. His (father's) twin sister emmigrated in 80ies and right after this happend he (PhD in physics/researcher) lost his job! He had to look for some low jobs because his family suffered financially. Of course it was very difficult for him and he started to drink heavily. Well...at least he and fis family hadn't been thrown to jail!

[elmorejj]

IMO It is such a shame that this country is at odds with Fidels Cuba. It is the one Island that I would love to visit. Canadians and British people can go there and stay at very nice resorts but Americans can`t. As a holder of dual nationality, I could visit Cuba on a UK passport but would have to fly either from Canada or Mexico or one of the smaller Islands, but I guess I`ll have to wait and see if and when we ever become friends again with this Island.......jean

[rocks]

On one of our Caribbean cruises, I believe we were on the Ryndam, the ship slowed down & after a few minutes, the Captain came on the P.A. system & said we were going to make a turn & help out a yacht calling for help. Turns out, the family went out cruising & ran out of gas & was stranded. What a cool site watching the Ryndam crew give gas to this little (it sure looked little from the railing of our ship) yacht! It took about 30 mins. & then we were on our way again.
The rest of the cruise you could hear everyone saying "Now remember, the next time you go out in your yacht...don't forget to fill the gas tank"
rocks

[JimVrhovac]

The earlier posting that stated that if they set foot on dry US soil they could apply for asylm is correct.

The Coast Guard is inforcing the rules by collecting them up and sending them back to Cuba.

I am not trying to be a prude but this country has immigration laws and there is a correct way to enter this country and these people were not doing it correctly. I can appreciate there reasons but we have laws in this country to protect us from being overrun by illegal immigrants. It is a tremendous problem here in FLorida and I appreciate the efforts of the Coast Guard.

I am not trying to turn this thread into a political or immigration thread.

I worked with the Florida National Guard during the Mario Boat Lift fiasco and am aware of all the pros and cons on this matter.

Jim Vrhovac

[Little Feet]

On our first cruise......Carnival Ecstacy...in 1996, we encountered a "too late" rescue at sea. We were just a few hours out of Miami (Bahamas bound) and we started turning around. Seems that there was a body floating in the water....and the ship stayed near the body untill a helicopter came out and picked it up. Have not seen a dead body in the 14 cruises that have followed.

[Cary T]

Just returned from cruise (8/21-8/28) out of Houston on ncl sea. On Sunday 8/22 the captain called for "code oscar" and the ship began to circle. off our port side a couple hundred yards was the tip of a mostly submerged boat with 4 people clinging to it.The ship lowered a landing craft with crew and picked them up .it took maybe twenty minutes from start to finish and the captain announced later that they were honduran fishermen who had been out there 12 days.they were sunburned and dehydrated but okay otherwise.we dropped them off in roatan 2 days later but never heard or saw anything in the news.

[cruisinpaige]

Awesome explanantion. The amount of motion SURE DOES change when the dive boat stops!! I'm usually begging to be first into the water! ;)

The situation of Cuban refugees is very very sad. It must be pretty awful there if people are taking these kinds of risks every day. I have beEn on many--yes many--ships that had to rescue refugees or much more sadly--passed empty rafts and small homemade boats near CUBA. One can only guess what happened to the occupants. I usually try to tell myself it broke from a dock somewhere and floated out to sea.

Whatever your political beliefs and opinions, let's pray for things to get better for the Cuban people. I am sure we can all agree on that.

I am so thankful that as an American I can enjoy things like education (thank God for the Federal student loan program--a great investment of tax dollars--they have gotten so much more back because of my increased earning capacity) and be able to come from no $, and yet, as a totally middle class person be able to enjoy such incredible luxuries as my own home, a sportscar and 18 cruises. AND I'm just an average earner! Think of how people in other countries live? Especially Third world countries. Please be extra generous to your crew members with your tips as they are far from family and many really need the $ badly.

Ok I'm off my soapbox, but the thread just got me thinking.:)

When a ship is sitting still it rises, falls and rocks with each wave. When moving it tends to cut through the waves.

For anyone who fishes or scuba dives compare the motion of the ship while getting to the location vs. what it's like when you drop anchor, especially if you have some mildly rough seas.

[cruisinpaige]

IMO It is such a shame that this country is at odds with Fidels Cuba. It is the one Island that I would love to visit. Canadians and British people can go there and stay at very nice resorts but Americans can`t. As a holder of dual nationality, I could visit Cuba on a UK passport but would have to fly either from Canada or Mexico or one of the smaller Islands, but I guess I`ll have to wait and see if and when we ever become friends again with this Island.......jean
I hope we can visit there soon, too. I think the recent US presidents have not allowed it becasue they are trying to puncish Fidel for embarrassing us. Unfortunately the Democtas are doing it out of lyaolty to JFK and the Republicans are doing it out of loyalty to the Cuban voters who they can pretty much count on to vote for them. I say lift the ban and let the chips fall where they may.

[cruisinpaige]

Interesting story! As a Cuban born Cuban-American, who proudly has lived in the USA 37 of my 51 years of age and now call America "HOME", every time I cruised I used to hope to live through such experience and being able to be a translator for them, meet them, and get back a bit of that "homeland" feeling which always lives in our minds and heart. However, in the last 10-11 years, since the Clinton era, the laws have changed and any Cuban or Haitian refugee picked up at sea is returned to their country of origin. If they do get to touch land then they get to stay and apply for political asylum. I have no clue what happens to the Haitians when returned except to know that they do go back to very poor, inhumane way of life in a country not able to support their own, but I can tell you that any Cubans returned to Castro's Cuba will find themselves in worst conditions than in an Iraqui Jail, also their families will suffer from humiliation, retaliation, and much inhuman and unfair treatment from the government and most of the people. Violation of human rights is a daily thing in Cuba, its jails, and everyday life for most people unless they are much involved in high communist government. But the world refuses to acknowledge this and the average Cuban resident in the island does not have the ability to fight back either, if they try they will pay with their life or their families. Like someone said in this thread "you don't want to know" the details of what they must endure if they survive the punishment. And, yes, we are very blessed to live in this great and unique country of ours: GOD BLESS AMERICA! GOD SAVE AMERICA, FREEDOM, AND TRUE DEMOCRACY!
AlinaMaria
Wow, as cruisiers who pass this place every day, we all should think about what we can do to end this embargo and get involved as neighbors to help the Cuban people. We will never have any influence if we are not participating in their economy. Once we hold the purse strings we can ask for more and do more! Let's write our congressmen and women!
http://www.house.gov/writerep/

[allen.crawford]

Being Canadian, we are allowed to vacation in Cuba -- which we have done once.

I can attest, the Cuban PEOPLE are some of the nicest, if not the nicest people we have met. Their plight was worsened with the collapse of communism in Russia since Russia use to sustain Cuba to a large degree. Tourism is now the greatest source of income for the country (Castro). However, I STRONGLY believe that with more an more of teh Cubans being exposed to an alternative life as they get exposed to tourist on the resorts, the more they will want a change in their form of government.

Many tourist leave gifts for the staff and tip the staff (even though it is illegal for the staff to accept it). Wealth is a strong incentive for people to rebel.

Anyway, I can only hope that it will change for the people of Cuba --- and hopefully soon (but I won't be holding my breath).

[jdrblue]

Allen - I agree with your remarks. I was in Cuba May, 2003. I was there legally for a US citizen. I was with a tour operator licensed by the US State Department. However, we have once again tighted the embargo and trips like mine may no longer be approved. The Cuban people were wonderful to us and we were received warmly everywhere. They are for the most part desperately poor. Not as bad as Haiti but bad. Despite the poverty the Cubans are clean and have their dignity. Cuba is like a time warp. It is like going back to the 1950's. It is evidence of what a cruel joke communism is as an economic system.

[dmarch@islc.net]

Reminds me of one of my fishing trips. We were 65 miles off shore (SC) and came upon a refugee raft. We all took turns jumping on and getting our pictures taken. I would guess they made it for four or five people, but it was extremly unstable with just one. Really makes you wonder how bad it must be to make you go out and do such a crazy thing as that.