"Current" Freedom Cruise having a rough time

[JTJ]

Just off the FOS 10/3 cruise. Captain announced the need for O- blood or universal donor late, woke us up. He didn't mention any other requirement. He said later that the man was taken off the ship at 4:30 am at Coz. He rushed the ship there and thanked all to blood donors the least twice.

 

 

Had a crew member fall off the pier at Coz. and was so drunk the he could not hold onto a life ring. They eventually dragged him up on the rocks where the pier starts. As rough as it was I thought that would be a disaster but they go him back up. It was quite a spectical, I heard he was fired.

[bajathree]

Ever seen them actually land a helicopter onboard? I haven't, because they don't actually land. They hover, lower a medical personnel and basket, load up the passenger and raise them back up and then raise the crewmember back up. The swells aren't an issue unless you're in a hurricane or something similar. Too rough to tender into Grand Cayman doesn't take much in the way of waves. It's much more dangerous to land a chopper on a moving ship (even one anchored) than it is to hover over the deck. That's really what the helicopter deck is for.

 

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Just off the FOS 10/3 cruise. Captain announced the need for O- blood or universal donor late, woke us up. He didn't mention any other requirement. He said later that the man was taken off the ship at 4:30 am at Coz. He rushed the ship there and thanked all to blood donors the least twice.

 

 

Had a crew member fall off the pier at Coz. and was so drunk the he could not hold onto a life ring. They eventually dragged him up on the rocks where the pier starts. As rough as it was I thought that would be a disaster but they go him back up. It was quite a spectical, I heard he was fired.

 

Thank you for your update, I hope this man is doing better.

 

That is some story about the crew member! It would be a hoot if anyone got it on video.

 

***

[WeWant2BCruzin]

We were on the 10/3 Freedom cruise. The announcement was made that they needed O neg blood donors for a passenger that was in dire need of blood. Within just minutes they had more donors step forward than they needed. I know that the Concierge onboard Amit told us that he donated for the gentleman. It was way to rough for the helicopter to land for sure. So the Captain done a wonderful job in getting the ship to Cozumel by 4:30AM. We are night owls anyway so we were up when we got there and watched them take the man off the ship. The Ambulance with at least 2 Drs were there waiting when the ship got there. Yesterday the Captain made an announcment that the patient was stabilized enough for him to be flown to Miami for his medical treatment.

[WeWant2BCruzin]

We never heard anything at all about a fire onboard so not sure about that. We did however get to see the guy that fell in the water at the pier in Cozumel. We watched them pulling him out of the water with a life preserver. That guy was so drunk he better be glad he is alive. That held up the ship for about 30 minutes I don't know if he was a crew member or not we did not hear. We have been on 6 cruises and this was actually the smoothest sailing we have had and it was still rough. It did not affect us at all but some people were sick though.

[hetrickr]

I'm the brother that text my sister (started this thread) about a few interesting events on the 10/3 FOTS sailing. We were just finishing dinner (2nd seating) when the Captain announced over the PA system that there was a person on board with a very serious life threatening condition and they needed passengers with O- or universal type blood to donate at the medical facility. About 5 minutes later, he once again made a plea for donors over the PA system. My wife and I immeaditly headed for the medical unit as it was just a few floors below the dinning room. The place was packed with passengers willing to donate blood. We were told they had enough donors for now and took our cabin number in case they needed more. Later we learned that a young male passenger was injured in some sort of fall and was air lifted from Cozumel to Miami where he was in stable condition as of yesterday. We pray he has a speedy and full recovery.

 

As for the fire, it was confirmed by two crew members that there was a small 'incident' in a passenger cabin that required the firefighting crew to handle. It appeared as if they knew more about it, but wouldn't disclose any additional details.

[WeWant2BCruzin]

We were up watching as they took the man off the ship and I can confirm that he was not young, it was definetely an older gentleman that was taken off. Was the fire on one of our port days? We did not hear anything at all about that.

I'm the brother that text my sister (started this thread) about a few interesting events on the 10/3 FOTS sailing. We were just finishing dinner (2nd seating) when the Captain announced over the PA system that there was a person on board with a very serious life threatening condition and they needed passengers with O- or universal type blood to donate at the medical facility. About 5 minutes later, he once again made a plea for donors over the PA system. My wife and I immeaditly headed for the medical unit as it was just a few floors below the dinning room. The place was packed with passengers willing to donate blood. We were told they had enough donors for now and took our cabin number in case they needed more. Later we learned that a young male passenger was injured in some sort of fall and was air lifted from Cozumel to Miami where he was in stable condition as of yesterday. We pray he has a speedy and full recovery.

 

As for the fire, it was confirmed by two crew members that there was a small 'incident' in a passenger cabin that required the firefighting crew to handle. It appeared as if they knew more about it, but wouldn't disclose any additional details.

[ejayb]

Wife and I were sitting in Portofinos when they were fishing the guy out of the drink, it took two security people to fish him out. :D

 

I hadn't hear about the fire either, so it must not have been a big deal. We did see a guy being brought aboard from Ocho Rios with his chin cut open, he ended up getting stitches.

 

Missing Cayman was a bit disappointing, but overall it was an awesome trip!!!

[capnjoe]

I also was on this sailing, we watched the drunken man fall of the pier in Cozumel, thank god he was ok, I also heard he was fired.

It was so heart warming to see all the people coming forward to donate blood, my wife has universal blood, we we got to the medical unit the hallway was packed with people ready to donate.

As for the fire, we did hear an announcement a few times "bravo bravo bravo and a cabin number" Our room attendant also confirmed a small fire had taken place in the cabin but everything was ok.

Captain Olsen and his crew were top notch, we had a fantastic sailing except for some wind. Everyday was in the upper 80's to low 90's and mostly sunny!

Capn

[Gon2hwe]

Just a note here because this thread made me think of it, but if you've been to Haiti in the last year you are not allowed to give blood. Tried about a month ago and the red cross turned me down.

[KEG21552]

On our last cruise (Princess) there was a call about 4 in the morning asking for blood donors. Again, there were more passengers willing to donate than needed. When I posted on the Princess boards, I received responses that this was actually a pretty frequent experience. It was the first time it happened to us in about 10 cruises.

Karen

[hetrickr]

We were up watching as they took the man off the ship and I can confirm that he was not young, it was definetely an older gentleman that was taken off. Was the fire on one of our port days? We did not hear anything at all about that.

 

 

Not sure of his age, but when I referred to him as 'young' is was thinking 30 - 40ish in age. See, that way I still feel 'young'. Lol

 

As for the fire, it would have been the same day we were supposed to be in Grand Cayman.

 

 

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[TPKeller]

Interesting, according to Wiki, in the US, about 6.6% of the population is O negative. On a ship of 3,000, that works out to just under 200 people.

 

Theron

[East Bay Skiers]

Just a note here because this thread made me think of it, but if you've been to Haiti in the last year you are not allowed to give blood. Tried about a month ago and the red cross turned me down.

 

Is Labadee included in this? I would thin so, since it is Haiti. (I'm sorry!, I just realized this is a dumb question, please ignore.)

[Sherman793]

We were also on this cruise and my husband was fourth in line to donate blood. They took the three men immediately before him. We were told the next day by one of the ships guards that my husband met in the infirmary that the man was bleeding internally and they did not know why. It was a very sobering experience and really made us think about how far we are from help if anything serious happens. It also made us very grateful to have purchased the emergency medical insurance. We will continue to do that from here on out whenever we cruise. I hope the gentleman that they did all that for had it as well. I had no idea that was a fire alarm that they called I thought it was related to this persons emergency. Geez that is just one more crazy story along with the guy falling off the pier.

 

What a cruise!!

[alwayshappytocruise]

Is Labadee included in this? I would thin so, since it is Haiti. (I'm sorry!, I just realized this is a dumb question, please ignore.)

 

Yes, that includes Laberdee. There are also several places in Mexico and South America that will exclude you from donating. I know because I used to be a team supervisor (RN) for the American Red Cross.

[TPKeller]

I don't know the current rules, but in the past I have seen exceptions granted to the general "Haiti ban" based on both Labadee itself, and also the fact that the visit was conducted only during the day time (lower mosquito risk).

 

I'd guess it's hit or miss, you'd probably need to go and ask them at the blood donation event to be sure.

 

Theron

[negc]

Thanks for the great photo, Steve. It just shows the danger of making general statements based on limited experiences. We have witnessed two separate helicopter evacuations from ships we were on, and in both instances the circumstance were such that it was better for them to hover than to land, but clearly that is not always the case. Another case of "never say never".

[The Flying Pirate]

"As for the fire, we did hear an announcement a few times "bravo bravo bravo and a cabin number" Our room attendant also confirmed a small fire had taken place in the cabin but everything was ok."

 

What do you guys want to bet it was either someone that thought they would bring a candle along for "romantic" lighting or an iron left on after getting ready for dinner?

[MCPayne]

Hi everyone.

 

I was on this cruise, and like you, don't know very much. I didn't know about the fire. I have heard conflicting reports about who was injured, a passenger or a crew member. The latest report I had by my dining room waiter, was that it was an ice cast member practicing for a show, probably for the future voyage, as all the ice shows by this time had finished for this particular cruise. This is what I understand according to our dining room waiter.

 

She fell right on her head, and there was bleeding, and she was unconscious for a few minutes. I assume this happened around 6:30 pm Thursday night, as this is when the announcement came on stating an "Alpha" alert, which is RCI's code for a medical emergency. Because we missed Grand Cayman, we were at this time probably in the middle of the sea, not near any land. At that evening's show, the cruise director stated we would go full speed to Cozumel, to get there as soon as possible to get the treatment necessary for the person who was injured. My understanding was that this person was back on the ship when we left Cozumel, and would go to a hospital in the United States when we docked at Port Canaveral Sunday.

[Motorman23]

I am a Medical Laboratory Technologist and work for a large medical products company and one of our products are used to test donor blood for infectious disease and another of our products is used to test for ABO compatibility and antibodies to allow proper transfusions. It is not difficult work as long as the people are properly trained, the equipment available today is very good and accurate. I believe a medical facility of the capability described as existing on the Freedom Class ships would have the ability to perform proper blood transfusions without much difficulty. I also work EMS and can imagine a few reasons where they would need to do emergency transfusions those include severe trauma (which would have been most likely noticed by someone) or an extreme case of internal bleeding on a patient which could be caused by many possibilities from GI bleeding to an aneurysm. No matter what the person who needs the blood is in a very critical situation and most likely life threatening issues exist.

 

Mike

 

Just saw the note above mine (after I hit submit), looks like it was an internal bleed glad to her she appears OK. MB

[shipshape sam]

Just a note here because this thread made me think of it, but if you've been to Haiti in the last year you are not allowed to give blood. Tried about a month ago and the red cross turned me down.

 

 

They must of updated the exclusions. Previously if you went to Haiti you were excluded from giving blood except if you only went to Labadee. I would check again to confirm. They used to have to look it up, but now they use laptops and it is much easier to screen potential donors.

 

If the regulations are still in effect as they were a few years ago, I will be excluded from giving blood in future as I will have been to England too many days and the threat of mad cow disease. I think it was over 40 days total anytime. Go figure the rules!

[shipshape sam]

I am a Medical Laboratory Technologist and work for a large medical products company and one of our products are used to test donor blood for infectious disease and another of our products is used to test for ABO compatibility and antibodies to allow proper transfusions. It is not difficult work as long as the people are properly trained, the equipment available today is very good and accurate. I believe a medical facility of the capability described as existing on the Freedom Class ships would have the ability to perform proper blood transfusions without much difficulty. I also work EMS and can imagine a few reasons where they would need to do emergency transfusions those include severe trauma (which would have been most likely noticed by someone) or an extreme case of internal bleeding on a patient which could be caused by many possibilities from GI bleeding to an aneurysm. No matter what the person who needs the blood is in a very critical situation and most likely life threatening issues exist.

 

Mike

 

Just saw the note above mine (after I hit submit), looks like it was an internal bleed glad to her she appears OK. MB

 

I used to work in lab also. They may have just done an ABO match plus Rh and pumped in blood for rbc/volume replacement, hence looking for O neg donors.

[MCPayne]

Just as an FYI, I can't confirm or deny that it was a member of the ice skating cast, as I was just going on what I was told, which was lots of conflicting information. A passenger stated that she heard from the cruise director it was a passenger, and they were lucky they found him when they did. Another crew member, my dining room waiter, was the one that said it was an ice skating cast member.

[hetrickr]

Another crew member, my dining room waiter, was the one that said it was an ice skating cast member.

 

We were also informed about the female ice cast member that hit her head during the first night's performance. I don't recall what night the first performance was, but it was a couple of days before the blood donor incident.

 

 

 

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