Rescue at sea PHOTOS - Allure of the Seas, May 14th, 2011

Hello everybody:

Just got off the Allure this morning (I'll write a review with some pictures later, but we had a GREAT time!).

I wanted to take a quick moment though to share some photos with the Cruise Critic community. Yesterday, as we sailed from Cozumel back to Ft. Lauderdale around 1:30pm, the ship was stopped to rescue 8 men and 1 woman who had been drifting at sea for 8 days. They were brought aboard and after a medical evaluation, they were deemed to be in fairly good condition except for some dehydration.

We later learned that these individuals were Cuban nationals trying to make it to US soil. Here are the pictures:

Wow! Thanks for sharing!

Again? Wow! Thanks for sharing.

It happened on Navigator a few weeks ago-see here::eek:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1407222

Fisrt it was Navigator, then Eclipse near Bermuda and now Allure this all in less than 2 weeks.

Thanks for sharing the photos

Amazing pictures...thanks for sharing.

Wow, these pictures and stories are truly amazing. It is terribly sad the desperation these people have to escape Cuba. Stories like these make you realize how truly fortunate we are to live in a free country as we do, even with all the problems the country is dealing with. How sad they must have felt to realize they had to go back.

One of the men on the boat looks EXACTLY like one of the men that the Navigator rescued a couple weeks ago. When I get home I'll have to look through my photos from the trip, but the third photo down- the guy in the long sleeved blue-ish shirt looks like one of the guys I saw on the Navigator rescue.

Interestingly that one was also 8 men and 1 woman.

This happens MUCH more frequently than you think. The same thing happened when we were on a Celebrity cruise in 2005(!) - also coming back from Cozumel. What made our rescue especially poignant, was that there were 6 adults and a 6 yr. old girl in a makeshift dinghy that was foundering. Initially, they waved the ship off because they knew they would be handed over to the U.S. Coast Guard and returned to Cuba. But when our Captain realized there was a child involved, he sent a tender to rescue them. There was almost an uprising on board when the Captain announced that the adults, including the child's mother, were being turned over to the Coast Guard that night when we entered U.S. waters. They transferred them via a cage and a zip line (horrifying) to the Coast Guard cutter. It was decided that the transfer at sea was too dangerous for the little girl and she alone was kept in the medical center and turned over to the authorities when we reached Miami. She was probably sent back to Cuba as well.

Our waiter told me that they find empty vessels ALL THE TIME when they pass Cuba on the way back from Mexico. The Cubans do not expect to row all the way to Florida, but row out far enough to wait for professional smugglers to pick them up by motor boat who then attempt to drop them off the Florida coast.

Until you see it for yourself, you have no idea how lucky we all are.

Fisrt it was Navigator, then Eclipse near Bermuda and now Allure this all in less than 2 weeks.

There has been more. Carnival has made a couple rescues also. This is actually very common in the Straits of Florida, especially when the water is calm and winds are out of the south.

One of the men on the boat looks EXACTLY like one of the men that the Navigator rescued a couple weeks ago. When I get home I'll have to look through my photos from the trip, but the third photo down- the guy in the long sleeved blue-ish shirt looks like one of the guys I saw on the Navigator rescue.

Also very common. Many will try 2 or 3 times before they make it all the way.

You aren't kidding...that guy looks just like one of the guys from the NOS rescue. If you go to the link for that thread and look at picture #6 he looks just like the guy in the green shirt.

Our waiter told me that they find empty vessels ALL THE TIME when they pass Cuba on the way back from Mexico. The Cubans do not expect to row all the way to Florida, but row out far enough to wait for professional smugglers to pick them up by motor boat who then attempt to drop them off the Florida coast.

Not really. The empty vessels are mostly from intercepts. Just like in this case, the CG does not recover the vessel. They will sink it if possible, but that's easier said then done with these types of vessels. In most cases, it is left adrift.

One of the men on the boat looks EXACTLY like one of the men that the Navigator rescued a couple weeks ago.

I was thinking the same thing....! I'm not surprised, either.

So THAT'S what I have to do to get a free cruise? Seems almost worth the risk!

Same thing on Liberty a few years ago. Poor Bs will have to be sent home though. To be given asylum, their feet must touch US soil. We were coming into Miami and they almost made it, they were about 125 miles from the U.S.

Happened in the middle of the night, but very dramatic for us. We came to a screeching halt and it took an hour to actually find the raft they were on in the pitch dark and bring them aboard. Everyone cheered though. I have a video but it doesn't seem to be able to be viewed on the link. O well. As long as their situation remains the same, they will be trying. God bless 'em. Funny how the rest of the world is always beating a path to our doors....and then they hate us:confused::rolleyes:

Can you imagine how big the Allure must have looked coming up to that lil boat?

The cost to folks who take a ride in the boats, especially the ones who manage to get a motor boat ride is huge compared to their monthly wages. It is a true determination on their part to make the journey with little in the way of navigation or safety gear like most of us would expect any boat we take x the straights to have aboard.

That said, many like where they are despite the government. This comes from discussions with Cubans in Cuba. I hope to go back and see my friends in the Fall.

Do these small boats look distressed and that's why the ship picks them up or does the ship take it upon themselves to "police" the seas:confused: I didn't think it was their job to pick these people up. Just curious....

Do these small boats look distressed and that's why the ship picks them up or does the ship take it upon themselves to "police" the seas:confused: I didn't think it was their job to pick these people up. Just curious....

No, the cruise ships don't "police" it. However, they are required to stop and render assistance if needed. They do not force the migrants aboard the ships. They normally go willingly due to thirst, hunger, etc.

Fisrt it was Navigator, then Eclipse near Bermuda and now Allure this all in less than 2 weeks.

I guess Fidel's brother isn't improving things?

My sister and I watched this drama unfold from our deck 10 starboard balcony. Was very exciting for us, but the more we thought about it, the sadder it became.

How bad does your life have to be, to feel compelled to take such a risk?

I still feel badly that these individuals are now back in Cuba, perhaps facing punishment for having tried to leave.

The refugees seemed happy to see us, but we wondered if they would be forced to come aboard if they didn't want to. They had to know what would happen (that they'd be sent back) if we picked them up. On one hand, they're alive and well. OTOH, they're back in a place from which they were desperate to leave.

A scene like this is just a reminder of how blessed and fortunate we are to live in the United States of America. The land of the free and home of the brave!

Maybe I can't count but I see 5 guys. Certainly not 8 men and 1 woman.

Reviewing the pictures my mother took. It looks like she might have gotten pictures of all of them. 4 in the rescue boat and 5 still on the original craft.

Clicking on the picture will show a larger view.

Clicking on the picture will show a larger view.

Being a GPS freak, I got logged where this all took place.

Log/track on Google Maps