Jewel delayed into Martinique. No morbid details or privacy issues included :)

I've been watching Jewel like a hawk this week. It is doing the same itinerary this week as we will 2 weeks from now. Today I noted Jewel was several hours late getting into Martinique and noted such in our roll call. Someone one the ship today answered with this info that I thought others may find interesting.

Yup, we are just heading in - should be there by noon. At 4 a.m. today, Jewel did a rescue mission of a small sailboat. Were delayed over three hours as the elderly couple on sailboat would not board Jewel. So Captain left some crew on their boat to fix the motor & take them into Martinique. Couple was I believe 83 & 78. They wouldn't budge & Captain could not leave them there. At least he was able to help them. Arriving at noon & leaving about 7:30 pm. The ship is doing a great job of adjusting times for everything.

Well if you are going to have a short stay in a port, Martinique is the one to have it at. JMO

-F-

Good for the Captain!

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Good for the Captain!

 

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Agree. Limited choices but made the best one...

I'm on this cruise. The couple had engine trouble and were not physically capable of handling the sails, so the engine was the way they were getting around. We came across them around 6 am or so, after receiving a distress call relayed to us around 4 am. We went off course to meet up with them and they refused to leave their boat. We were not able to tow it. The captain left crew members on board to fix their engine, and they were to meet up with us in Martinique. We were given extended port time in Martinique.

Upon reboarding, we were told that the boat had not made it back to shore yet, so we would be picking up the crew on our way back out at sea. I watched from our balcony as it took close to 30 minutes or so for them to be able to get into the dinghy and back to the ship. The waves were quite rough that day and they were tossed around pretty good trying to get from the boat to the dinghy and back to the Jewel. This happened around 9 pm, which delayed us into Barbados. We also were given extra time in that port due to the delay.

The Captain and crew of the Jewel did a terrific job handling a difficult situation when she responded to a distress call from the sailing vessel. Sea conditions made it difficult for the ships fast rescue boat to come alongside the sailboat which was rolling in beam seas. The crew that boarded the sailboat to assess the engine problem and condition of the passengers had to transfer from the rescue boat to the sailboat under difficult conditions and did so with skill and good seamanship. The decision to put a crew aboard the boat to help the couple sail it to Martinique was not an easy one for the Captain to make. Putting your crew in possible jeopardy is never an easy choice but faced with the fact the the couple would not leave the sailboat left him with little choice. This required another transfer of personnel. Once this was accomplished the Jewel resumed course for Martinique. Upon leaving Martinique the ship headed to a position to pick up its crew. At around 2130 Jewel arrived at the sailboats position to take off her crew as the engine problem had been resolved. This again was a difficult evolution as sea conditions were not ideal and it was very dark. Once again good seamanship and skilled crew completed the retrieval of Jewels crew members. The Captain and crew of Jewel of the Seas are to be commended for their response to the distress call. They exemplified the highest traditions of rescue at sea.

The Captain and crew of the Jewel did a terrific job handling a difficult situation when she responded to a distress call from the sailing vessel. Sea conditions made it difficult for the ships fast rescue boat to come alongside the sailboat which was rolling in beam seas. The crew that boarded the sailboat to assess the engine problem and condition of the passengers had to transfer from the rescue boat to the sailboat under difficult conditions and did so with skill and good seamanship. The decision to put a crew aboard the boat to help the couple sail it to Martinique was not an easy one for the Captain to make. Putting your crew in possible jeopardy is never an easy choice but faced with the fact the the couple would not leave the sailboat left him with little choice. This required another transfer of personnel. Once this was accomplished the Jewel resumed course for Martinique. Upon leaving Martinique the ship headed to a position to pick up its crew. At around 2130 Jewel arrived at the sailboats position to take off her crew as the engine problem had been resolved. This again was a difficult evolution as sea conditions were not ideal and it was very dark. Once again good seamanship and skilled crew completed the retrieval of Jewels crew members. The Captain and crew of Jewel of the Seas are to be commended for their response to the distress call. They exemplified the highest traditions of rescue at sea.

You said it! I don't get seasick, but watching all that rocking and rolling around made me nervous for them.

I think if I were that couple, I'd be staying on land for a little while. I wonder how far they drifted before we intercepted them.

Amazing! Glad all are ok. What a decision the Captain had to make.