Medical evacuation/delayed boarding

[antsp]

This is well-known and has been for many years but it hasn’t stopped anyone. There are officers on the bridge with binoculars checking the water, ship, balconies, etc. 24/7. Very few balconies are truly private. The Sun/Sea/Dawn, Pacific Princess and aft and Emerald deck mini-suite balconies are the most private.

The simple rule here is if you can see the bridge, they can most definitely see you.

[Knickearth]

we were in northern europe on the caribbean princess and needed a helicopter in the middle of the ocean. ALL balcony people were woken up at 4:30 AM and told to not bathe, just throw on clothes and go to a lounge. They then checked all the cabins and went in to remove the furniture from our balconies as well into the cabin.

 

Very serious stuff landing a helicopter on a ship in the middle of the water (especially if there are winds as we had).

[babs135]

If the selfish passengers are known as has been said, perhaps the answer is to ban them from the cruiseline and make their names known to other lines. That would teach them (and hopefully others) a very salutary lesson.

[Micahs Grandad]

We were on The Emerald a few years ago in Norway when they had to medivac a crew member of via helicopter. This was about 9pm at night, in full day light. The crew cleared the MUTS pool and removed all deck chairs and tied stuff down. All passengers did the right thing and cleared the area, however 1 passenger approached the pool area from the deck area from under skywalkers trying to take pictures with a large slr camera. He ignored the crew a number of times as he was passing pass the glass wind blocks. Never new what happened to this passenger but if I was the captain I’d have left him in the next port.

 

Or just confiscate his camera and kind of forget to return it at end of cruise.

[pablo222]

we were in northern europe on the caribbean princess and needed a helicopter in the middle of the ocean. ALL balcony people were woken up at 4:30 AM and told to not bathe, just throw on clothes and go to a lounge. They then checked all the cabins and went in to remove the furniture from our balconies as well into the cabin.

 

We had to leave our cabin during a helo evacuation as well.

 

It's probably due to the folks mentioned in this thread -- who can't be trusted to stay off their balconies.

 

When they have a firefighting team in bunker gear with hoses ready, they are certainly planning

on having to deal with the worst situation.

[PrincessLuver]

On a lighter note, this capability might give pause to any pax who enjoy a little al fresco ooo-la-la on their balcony.

 

We did the ultimate ship tour on the Royal and Regal and each time on the bridge they demonstrated and you could see how they know what is going on on the balconies.

 

Both Captains said it is necessary in case of "man/woman overboard rescue."

[DeRon]

We did the ultimate ship tour on the Royal and Regal and each time on the bridge they demonstrated and you could see how they know what is going on on the balconies.

 

 

 

Both Captains said it is necessary in case of "man/woman overboard rescue."

 

 

 

How? By binoculars, security cameras, or both?

 

 

 

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[floridalover5623]

You could always remain in your room with the balcony door open & shoot all the non flash pictures or video as you want.

[san diego sue]

We were on a cruise with a helicopter evacuation. We were notified night before that it will be happening in the morning at a specific time. We got dressed early and left our cabin. Room stewards and other employees were also knocking on the doors telling people to leave. They gave us a large time frame to leave in case people didn't. I was shocked to see how many people came down to Piazza about an hour late, (many in bathrobes).Someone's life was at stake and these selfish people didn't seem to care. We heard all these grumbling idiots complaining about being disturbed. It was 9:00am not the middle of the night.

[Ellipooh]

Haven’t seen any news update regarding the injured passenger, sure hope she’s okay.

 

The Grand just docked (8:30). My in laws watched it from their hotel room just now. So it’s just a bit late, we’ll push our arrival back an hour or so before trying to board (we are in a suite). Just hoping to get on in time for a nice lunch in MDR to start our trip!

[Bemidji Ty]

Jut before our 8/14 cruise on the Grand, we got the same text/email and our embarkation was delayed. We like to enjoy the main dining room lunch after we board. We asked a crew member as we boarded about the dining room. He told us that because of the medical evac, the dining room wouldn't be open until 1:30. So we waited, went at 1:30 and were told the dining room was just closing. Should have known better.

 

As Theodore Cleaver once said, "I got some bad advice and I took it."

[Pam in CA]

A friend posted photos of the Captain’s presentation in the Princess Theater yesterday afternoon on social media. He explained the procedure, with photos and diagrams, and included pictures of the people on their balconies for everyone to see. Yea!

[Cruise Raider]

A friend posted photos of the Captain’s presentation in the Princess Theater yesterday afternoon on social media. He explained the procedure, with photos and diagrams, and included pictures of the people on their balconies for everyone to see. Yea!

 

Good for him.

We are boarding this morning and will now leave a little later, depending on our ride. Don't want to put them out any more than we already are doing, though. We might be in for a wait at the pier ??? Won't be the first time and probably not the last.

 

Still hoping for lunch in the MDR but completely understand if we cannot do so. Hope the passenger is doing ok. We were on the Star once and had 5 semi to emergent evacuations .... and everybody behaved appropriately and followed the Captain's orders. Wish everyone could be like that.

[EastBay Cruisers]

A friend posted photos of the Captain’s presentation in the Princess Theater yesterday afternoon on social media. He explained the procedure, with photos and diagrams, and included pictures of the people on their balconies for everyone to see. Yea!

Good for him; and passengers who refuse to obey orders from the Captain, need to be placed on Princess' no-transport list. The company does not need to carry those people who believe that a Captain's order is "only a suggestion.":rolleyes:

[Host CJSKIDS]

This was a helicopter evacuation earlier today. It took longer than usual since even after three announcements by the Captain, passengers on the port side were still on their balconies. The Captain had to finally let them know that photos of them on their balcony were taken and would be reported to the Coast Guard. Don’t know who the Captain is but he’s my hero.

 

That’s fantastic! Love that the Captain did this.

[XBGuy]

Coincidentally, we were cruising on the Grand Princess last September when there was a helicopter medical evacuation. I was doing my laps on the promenade deck when I heard the announcement that passengers in port-side cabins would be required to leave their cabins. We were in a port-side cabin. So, I walked back to make sure my wife heard the announcement. She had, in fact, heard it, and we wondered when we were supposed to leave.

 

Within two minutes there was a knock on the door. It was our steward who told us that the captain had ordered us to leave our cabin.

 

"Now?" I asked,

 

I am now so embarrassed that I was so stupid.

 

"Yes, please."

 

"OK. We'll leave immediately."

 

We had a wine tasting event scheduled at Vines, that afternoon. So, we just headed over there 20 minutes early. While in Vines, we heard at least one announcement ordering people off port-side balconies. We also did see the helicopter through the starboard side windows from Vines as it departed. So, we weren't surprised that, shortly thereafter, we heard the announcement that it was OK to return to our cabin.

 

When we returned to our cabin, there was a "Clear" sign on our door handle. I took that to mean that after we left, somebody came by to verify that the cabin was vacant.

 

My point is that anybody would would still be on their port-side balcony did not do so accidentally. Excuses like, "I didn't hear the announcement," or "I didn't think it meant me." do not fly. They had to blatantly disobey the captain's orders.

 

Similar to what I have read above from this most recent incident, the captain on our cruise, Diego Perra, gave a presentation on one of the last sea days of the cruise. It was fascinating. Helicopter pilots may be well-trained to hover over a ship in open ocean, but the captain is responsible for the safety of the ship, its passengers and its crew. There is no way that the captain is going to have the attitude that this is "no big deal." It is a big deal. And it is dangerous. At all times during the operation, Captain Perra's primary thought was "What can go wrong, now?"

[donaldsc]

This was a helicopter evacuation earlier today. It took longer than usual since even after three announcements by the Captain, passengers on the port side were still on their balconies. The Captain had to finally let them know that photos of them on their balcony were taken and would be reported to the Coast Guard. Don’t know who the Captain is but he’s my hero.

 

Good for the captain!!! Since they know who the passengers are, they should be blackballed off every cruise line owned by the company that owns the ship. And hopefully in some way from every cruise line everywhere. The reason they were probably out this is that they probably wanted to take a bunch of videos so they could post them to their cruise blog or send them to their friends. Their blog was obviously more important than the health of the person being rescued.

 

DON

Edited September 3, 2018 by donaldsc

[AF-1]

Thank you to everyone who replied to my question. I appreciate all the answers

[jagsfan]

This thread was:

Enlightening. I had zero idea that so much was involved in a medevac. I thought the helicopter hovered over the helipad, lifted the patient in and off they went.

It’s a major deal and all parts have to work to be successful.

Humbling. To realize that it takes everyone working together to accomplish it.

Frustrating. To know that there are people who don’t care. They’re probably the ones who don’t move over for fire trucks and rescue units.

Thank you to everyone who posted to make this a really good thread.

 

 

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[gotta cruise again]

If those who remained on balconies would openly defy the Captain’s direct order, how would they behave in a ship-wide emergency requiring reporting immediately to their muster station? These are probably the same ones who don’t pay attention at the safety drill and have now demonstrated they have no clue what to do in an emergency situation.

 

Thanks for posting all the information about what occurs during a helicopter evacuation. Though I hope it never has to happen, we certainly are glad to know what we may be required to do!

 

And also hope the lady recovers well and can cruise again soon!

[1emerald1]

Just curious, who was the Captain on the ship?

[pablo222]

This was a helicopter evacuation earlier today. It took longer than usual since even after three announcements by the Captain, passengers on the port side were still on their balconies. The Captain had to finally let them know that photos of them on their balcony were taken and would be reported to the Coast Guard. Don’t know who the Captain is but he’s my hero.

 

To what end?

 

Clearing the balconies is a company policy, not a section of US code.

[Outerdog]

To what end?

 

Clearing the balconies is a company policy, not a section of US code.

 

Reporting to the the USCG the cause of any delays experienced during the rescue.

[Colo Cruiser]

Reporting to the the USCG the cause of any delays experienced during the rescue.

 

 

USCG has no responsibility for violations of cruise line policy nor do they care. Their mission is the evacuation of the sick/injured party off the vessel. ;)

[PrincessLuver]

How? By binoculars, security cameras, or both?

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A wide variety of security cameras and they can actually see a lot just by looking because the bridge extends so far out over both sides of the ship. I was really surprised by how little there was that they could not see.....:eek: