Anthem, Captain announcement at 4.30am

[dollydosh]

On a recent cruise on Anthem of the Seas the Captain made a public service announcement over the tannoy at 4.30am. It was to say that unfortunately a passenger had, due to illness, been airlifted off the ship. Whilst I have every sympathy for the passenger and their family, I don't think we should have been woken with a message over the tannoy at 4.30am. Several people from our group found it difficult to settle afterwards although a couple of people had heard the helicopter.

 

Having cruised a lot over the years this was a first for me and am curious to know if it happens often.

[ZoeyVictoria]

The situation was probably inconvenient for the patient and their family, too 🙄

[crazyank]

4 minutes ago, dollydosh said:

On a recent cruise on Anthem of the Seas the Captain made a public service announcement over the tannoy at 4.30am. It was to say that unfortunately a passenger had, due to illness, been airlifted off the ship. Whilst I have every sympathy for the passenger and their family, I don't think we should have been woken with a message over the tannoy at 4.30am. Several people from our group found it difficult to settle afterwards although a couple of people had heard the helicopter.

 

Having cruised a lot over the years this was a first for me and am curious to know if it happens often.

It was more than likely done to reassure anyone who heard the helicopter about what was happening.

 

[smokeybandit]

That happened to us in March. 3:30am, captain came on to give instruction to passengers to stay away from the helipad and keep blinds closed/lights off in the front of the ship.

Problem was the announcement lasted what felt like 10 minutes.

[Mum2Mercury]

I agree that such a thing could've waited for the Captain's noontime announcement. 

[robmtx]

47 minutes ago, dollydosh said:

On a recent cruise on Anthem of the Seas the Captain made a public service announcement over the tannoy at 4.30am.

 

 

You just wanted to use 'tannoy' in a sentence on an international forum where half us have to Google that word. 🙂

 

But seriously, did the announcement go on inside your stateroom? If that's the case, that's a hard NO.. Otherwise I can see why they'd run the announcements in the public spaces including the stateroom halls. People get a little antsy when there's a helicopter at the ship. I guess most people can sleep thru those announcements... Hell even when I'm awake I have to open the door to my stateroom to hear them clearly in the hall.

[CruisinBanka]

We had an announcement around 2:00 am on a cruise, about a year ago on the first night of the cruise, saying we were going back to embarkation port for a medical emergency. Captain said they made announcement so guest would know why we were back in Ft Lauderdale. 

[reallyitsmema]

56 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

I agree that such a thing could've waited for the Captain's noontime announcement. 

 

The ship would have to slowdown so they could airlift the passenger off the ship.  The helicopter would have been seen and heard by some passengers who might be alarmed.  They don't want passengers out on deck, investigating what is going on.  Making an announcement, notifies all of the situation and instructs them on what safety measures they need to follow.  

[firefly333]

Wonder has had 9 emergencies I read yesterday. Some people are making a big deal of how many and worrying. I think it's good the captain gets on the pa. Some of these caused the ship course to change. 

[little britain]

1 hour ago, Mum2Mercury said:

I agree that such a thing could've waited for the Captain's noontime announcement. 

Or making the announcement stops people wondering and panicking what the helicopter noise is; and stops 2000 cabins phoning Guest Services ? 
 

@robmtx what is American for tannoy  📢 ??! 

Edited September 8, 2023 by little britain

[GimmeOcean]

Perhaps they should have a way to do this through the app - anyone curious could check there for a message.

 

[GimmeOcean]

7 minutes ago, little britain said:

 what is American for tannoy  📢 ??! 

 

I had to google tannoy, too. Americans just say "PA system", with PA being short for "public address"

Edited September 8, 2023 by GimmeOcean

[Stick93]

Personally I think playing music and telling us we’ve arrive at coco cay at 7 am is worse than this.

 

I guess  the people could not go back to sleep because they were distraught over the news of a fellow passenger needs. I get it!

[vwlmember]

I agree with the decision to broadcast the news, but it should have happened before the arrival of the helicopter. 

 

The captain is responsible for every single person on the ship. Those with anxiety, autism, PTSD or any number of conditions may be affected by the helicopter that approaches the ship. If they know ahead of time they, and their family, can be prepared. We now have ships with up to 6000+ people on board. Imagine if the staff was inundated with a few dozen people that suddenly have a need for assistance? With the present level of these issues at an all time high, i would want to make the entire situation avoidable. 

[goldfish65]

Easy to jump to criticize when we don't know the details of how serious situations like this one are handled. 

Maybe some passengers wanted the chance to say prayers for the airlifted person's well-being.

 

Edited September 8, 2023 by goldfish65

[taglovestocruise]

2 hours ago, little britain said:

Or making the announcement stops people wondering and panicking what the helicopter noise is; and stops 2000 cabins phoning Guest Services ? 
 

@robmtx what is American for tannoy  📢 ??! 

99.99 % of us in America would just say  over the PA or loudspeaker. 

[Jetdriver787]

I shouldn’t think it happens too often. It is the Captains decision to notify as he sees fit. In this case he obviously “saw fit.” End of story! 
 

“Tannoy” was a brand name for a company that made public address systems amongst other things, and in the UK became a generic name for the item. Much the same as “Hoover” did for vacuum cleaners. 

[mjkacmom]

Lol without the announcement how many passengers would be complaining about a loud a helicopter and no information given.

[NeepierRoad]

I was on Harmony of the Seas and the cruise director came on the tannoy (love that word!) in cabin one late afternoon to announce, he regretted to inform us that Columbus, The Musical was canceled that evening.  We hung on his every word until Columbus, The Musical. We were pretty sure he was going to regret his choice to make the announcement "in cabin". 😜

[mo&fran]

Better than having the emergency alarm go off BY MISTAKE in the middle of the night.

[GimmeOcean]

2 hours ago, vwlmember said:

I agree with the decision to broadcast the news, but it should have happened before the arrival of the helicopter. 

 

I'd probably want to go watch. How often does one get to see a helicopter land on the ship?

[mo&fran]

Just now, GimmeOcean said:

 

I'd probably want to go watch. How often does one get to see a helicopter land on the ship?

Unless it is a military ship, or a private yacht, I would say never.

[neverbeenhere]

Yes, those helicopters hover and not land if at all possible.

[klfrodo]

One of those Damned if you do, Damned if you don't situations.

[BND]

1 hour ago, NeepierRoad said:

I was on Harmony of the Seas and the cruise director came on the tannoy (love that word!) in cabin one late afternoon to announce, he regretted to inform us that Columbus, The Musical was canceled that evening.  We hung on his every word until Columbus, The Musical. We were pretty sure he was going to regret his choice to make the announcement "in cabin". 😜

Well, in that situation, no one could say they didn't hear it because they were in their cabin.   He was trying to avoid that.