Oasis - medical emergency

[setsail]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1638334

[rucruisn2]

Just off the Oasis. Arrived in port on time. Great cruise!

[nancronin]

A quick question lets say your boat was delayed due to a medical emergency and you missed your flight and booked it independent of the cruise can Royal pay any change fees and any fare difference? Can they write a letter and give it to passengers explaining why the passenger missed the flight and to waive any fees or send the bill to Royal?

 

I hope the passenger recovers quickly. BTW If the Passenger were a US Citizen wouldn't it have been better to take the passenger off in San Juan Puerto Rico an American port?

We were on a Royal Caribbean cruise 6 or 7 years ago - Captain announced at dinner that there was a medical emergency and we were going to divert to St. John's (I think) to let passenger off. He also announced that because we would be late docking RC would pay for any phone calls to change flights and the cost of the changes. I mailed in my credit card statement and received a check a few weeks later.

[debbie_lee88]

Hi jc!

 

Bob and I enjoyed the private session as well! I was sore later that day and today! Wish I had booked a private session earlier in the cruise....I guess I'll save that for next time!

I was surprised how quickly we made it back to port Everglades. We saw a couple of ships at night as well and boy did we speed on by! We weren't even the last ship to dock - saw a princess ship, a holland ship and the Liberty back into their spots.

[capecodcruisetime]

I was on Oasis last week and the Captain shed some light on some of these topics during his briefing.

 

The patient in this case was not stable enough to be airlifted. That being said, the medivac helicopters that we have available here in the US are not available in the islands. The only real choice is the USCG and they aren't coming back that far.

 

Also, the increased speed for the return trip and to make up time cost ~$200K in additional fuel that would not have been used otherwise. Oasis fuels almost exclusively in SXM and had taken on ~600K gallons that day at a cost of $1.2M. She still had plenty of fuel to get through the western itinerary this week and then back to SXM next week.

 

The Captain did report that the patient was an 86 year old woman who was in need of surgery and would not have survived the trip to Port Everglades. She was part of a large party with some family members still onboard and they had reported that the required surgery went well and she was recovering. Our stop back in SXM was about 10 minutes at the most.

[oneputt18]

Thanks for the update

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Forums mobile app

[joekatie]

curious as to whether RCI eats this cost or if they have insurance policies against such things? Not sure anyone would insure that with the frequency it may or may not happen?

[xpcdoojk]

Hi jc!

 

Bob and I enjoyed the private session as well! I was sore later that day and today! Wish I had booked a private session earlier in the cruise....I guess I'll save that for next time!

I was surprised how quickly we made it back to port Everglades. We saw a couple of ships at night as well and boy did we speed on by! We weren't even the last ship to dock - saw a princess ship, a holland ship and the Liberty back into their spots.

 

Hey! Debbie and Bob. I finally downloaded this evening the videos my wife took of us surfing in the rain that morning. Basically, I suck. :D A great memory. I am already thinking about 2015.... a cruise in February ( when the Brazilians are back in school, and hopefully no group of 300 teenagers from Costa Rica, "who figured on that?"). Then a trip my lovely wife wants to do to retrace her father's steps in WWII for a visit to Palau and Peleliu. It was a pleasure meeting you and Bob and your brother. I know Neal and Karen are off to the Galapagos and she is going to be a mess if they have any weather because she was nervous being on the Oasis. I think I have done 17 cruises now, and truly 99% of the time I couldn't tell we were even at sea on the Oasis. First cruise I have taken when I didn't get off and feel the motion of the ocean for hours or days. We could have been in a hotel in Vegas the way I felt on that ship.

 

Two days at work, and I am just now settling down back into the work routine. A great ship. I still don't think I was ever a NOOTs, but I am definitely not a NOOTS now. Most amazing ships ever built.

 

That said, the MDR needs to relearn how to make Eggs Benedict. Who would have thought of Johnny Rockets as a breakfast venue as I ate there 4 times.

 

Hope the folks evacuated at St Maarten are well.

 

jc

[DrD]

curious as to whether RCI eats this cost or if they have insurance policies against such things? Not sure anyone would insure that with the frequency it may or may not happen?

 

I would guess no, it's not a huge cost to them. I think companies only insure for unsupportable losses.

 

Insurance companies make money, so it's not a good deal for the insured if they can afford the loss.

 

Just a guess though.

[DegaDog]

We are are the Oasis Wed 3-4-15

Ship pulled into Caymans due to Med Emergency.

We heard Alpha Alpha Alpha at about 3am this morning.

 

Have been in Caymans for about an hour,

Haven't seen helicopter but did hear one.

We are now underway at 9:24 EST on our way to Cozumel.

[sargeswife]

We are are the Oasis Wed 3-4-15

Ship pulled into Caymans due to Med Emergency.

We heard Alpha Alpha Alpha at about 3am this morning.

 

Have been in Caymans for about an hour,

Haven't seen helicopter but did hear one.

We are now underway at 9:24 EST on our way to Cozumel.

My daughter is on the Oasis this week. Please keep me updated.

[payitforward]

I did get to talk to the captain about it afterwards, he said for safety, did not want anyone anywhere near it. He also told me that he would NEVER let a helicopter land on his ship.

 

Another interesting tidbit, during the rescue, the ship was not sitting idle in the water, is was moving along. Captain said that they need to be in control of the ship, so no sitting idle in the water.

 

Retired USCG Captain here ... who was Captain of helo carrying ships and launched helos for this type of situation many times .... I was "On Scene Commander" ... but I'm not a pilot ..

 

a few comments

 

- We trained a BUNCH to remain 'helo certified' for landing and launching helos and our equipment and procedures were examined OFTEN. Pilots (IME) are NOT fans of landing on 'unknown' platforms (not to mention needed extra annual training to be ship landing certified). IF something goes wrong they want the fire teams to be on the same page they are - knowing access to the helo, standard procedures, who will do what if things go bad. They will land on (inspected) fixed oil platforms but 'moving things' tend to be another story.

 

- A helo sitting on the deck of a moving ship is VERY unstable ... a BIG part of our training involves tying down the copter as quickly as possible, and removing tie downs at the LAST second for take off. Military ships and CG cutters have some fancy systems for this procedure - cruise ship???? The helo does NOT want some guys and some ropes with no clue . . .

 

- a MOVING ship is almost always more stable then a stopped ship (remember those stabilizers you like so much). In order to keep the ship's heading steady and get the best ride the helo pilot will direct the course and speed to the ship.

 

- a MOVING helo is more responsive and typically has more reserve power then one in a stationary hover .. another reason for the moving ship. When we landed or launched helos we were moving and there is a specific range of relative wind speed and direction (wind realized across the deck), and pitch and roll limits for the ship. Or in simple terms "turn the aircraft carrier into the wind . . ."

 

- for a CG helo, if they land on deck and certain mechanical issues arise they can be unable to take off .... NOW STUCK on the cruise ship. BAD. If they stay in the air ...

 

- a cruise ship does not just call for a CG chopper and off they go .... The ship contacts a Rescue Coordination Center and evacuation options are discussed usually involving a USCG (actually PHS) Flight Surgeon who then consults with Operations to see what options are available.

 

- I've never seen a private LifeFlight type helo do an at sea rescue. Military/CG assets are limited by 'where they are'. USCG is not deployed internationally ... well, there ARE exceptions... For example .... While CO of a cutter working between Jamaica and Haiti we got the call at zero dark hundred about a cruise passenger with a hot appendix. The cruise ship was over 100 miles away but we COULD launch our helo, pick up the pass' and fly on to Guantanamo where a surgeon was waiting. We had the helo off deck in 30 minutes. If we had not JUST HAPPENED to be in the right place ... this didn't work.

 

- sometimes a helo lift, even if in range and possible - is NOT the right choice ..... some patients can be more stressed by the helo lift than their malady!

 

just some food for thought . . .

 

 

Thanks so much for your insightful post! I was a FF/EMT for many years. Knowing how difficult it was to land a helicopter on highways, in fields, or wherever else we needed them, I cannot even IMAGINE how difficult it would be to land them on a moving ship! Kudos to all involved in the coordination of at sea rescues!

[LA_CA_GAL]

Thanks so much for your insightful post! I was a FF/EMT for many years. Knowing how difficult it was to land a helicopter on highways, in fields, or wherever else we needed them, I cannot even IMAGINE how difficult it would be to land them on a moving ship! Kudos to all involved in the coordination of at sea rescues!

 

We had a medical Coast Guard evac at sea on one of our cruises, the Explorer.

 

The helicopter never landed, the ship was moving.

 

I did have the opportunity to speak with the captain about this, and he told me that he would never let a helicopter land on his ship. Also told me the moving ship has control that a stopped ship does not.

 

Pretty amazing feat to see. BTW, this took place in the darkness of night.

[egh170]

.....maybe someone got bit by a mosquito?

 

When someone has a serious problem and that is posted, it seems there is always some smart A*S to comment.

[Merion_Mom]

We are are the Oasis Wed 3-4-15

Ship pulled into Caymans due to Med Emergency.

We heard Alpha Alpha Alpha at about 3am this morning.

 

Have been in Caymans for about an hour,

Haven't seen helicopter but did hear one.

We are now underway at 9:24 EST on our way to Cozumel.

 

Interesting that you decided to add to a year old thread instead of starting a new one. Perhaps one of the situations in which a new thread IS warranted.

 

:D :D :D

 

Yes, I saw you in Grand Cayman. My understanding is that a boat was used, not a helicopter.

 

We were in port with you in both Jamaica, on Tuesday, and Cozumel, today.

 

Thanks for informing the Cruise Critic world. This has been burning up other social media sites. ;)

[Benthayer Gonbak]

On 1/18/2014 at 1:46 PM, shellunderwater said:

For those of you so inclined... There is a show on the Weather Channel, "Coast Guard Alaska". There is a similar one showing them in Florida, I believe. It is some version of reality TV.

 

It quite impressive it see what these men and women do for us. There was one episode that was a med-evac from a cruise ship. They hoisted the patient from the top deck. Many of the episodes are evacs from fishing ships, evacs from remote areas of Alaska, and unfortunately, search and rescues from sinking or sunk ships.

 

But, you get a great sense of the amazing things these brave people do for us. Who wants to get hoisted down 100 feet onto the deck of a moving, rolling trawler at night in the freezing cold in the Bering Sea? They do, and I respect the heck out of them for doing it.

 

Just another reason when you see someone from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard, thank them for their service to our country. (OK, I admit, that was a bit territorial. I'm from the US. Many of the users of CC are from other countries. The same applies to the members of the military and such in other countries!)

 

There is a book “Burning Cold” that tells the story of a Ship rescue off the shores of Alaska. It uses the records/logs from the incident.  The passengers were picked up from the lifeboats and dropped on a container ship as I recall.   Interesting read of the problems of rescues in bad weather. 

[RobInMN]