gr8.guy Posted December 17, 2011 #1 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Onboard the last day of our western Caribbean cruise on Freedom of the Seas, we stopped to rescue a small craft holding 8 passengers. The craft was homemade and appeared to be taking on water. I could hear them calling out from deck 12, and with a storm approaching were quickly rescued. We are currently circling their position awaiting a coast guard cutter to rendezvous with. Captain Tor Olsen is stating that the rescued sailors will be transferred to the cutter if the weather remains good. From the back of the windjammer, there is a nasty looking storm behind us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves_Dogs Posted December 17, 2011 #2 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Also onboard FOS we watched the rescue (and took photos / video) from our balcony on deck 9. Had front row seats. Will post a few of the many photos once I get home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gelo7 Posted December 17, 2011 #3 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Wow..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkNC Posted December 17, 2011 #4 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Wow, look forward to pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megan07 Posted December 18, 2011 #5 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Can't wait to see the pictures!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B_Mc Posted December 18, 2011 #6 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Wow, I'm very interested to see the pictures. Were there any details about why they were out there??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohitssunshine Posted December 18, 2011 #7 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Sounds crazy! Looking forward to seeing pics as well! Glad they made it to safety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BND Posted December 18, 2011 #8 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Wow, I'm very interested to see the pictures. Were there any details about why they were out there??? Cubans or Haitians would be the most likely scenario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lionesss Posted December 18, 2011 #9 Share Posted December 18, 2011 loves_dogs; ok your home safely. Before you do anything else................ Post the pictures. Thanks ahead of time Safe travels Sue and crew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_G Posted December 18, 2011 #10 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Wow, I'm very interested to see the pictures. Were there any details about why they were out there??? They were probably trying to catch up to the ship after being left in port. :D:D:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B_Mc Posted December 18, 2011 #11 Share Posted December 18, 2011 They were probably trying to catch up to the ship after being left in port. :D:D:D LOL....you know I could see people trying that.... But honestly, they referred to them as "sailors" ... is that just being polite??? Or were they really sailing something and got into trouble? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquahound Posted December 18, 2011 #12 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Wow, I'm very interested to see the pictures. Were there any details about why they were out there??? It was a Cuban migrant raft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare rafinmd Posted December 18, 2011 #13 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Did they eventually board the Freedom or did the Coast Guard arrive in time? Royt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluegirlum Posted December 18, 2011 #14 Share Posted December 18, 2011 It was a Cuban migrant raft. So what happens in this case? Are they automatically returned to Cuba? Does it depend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted December 18, 2011 #15 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Cubans or Haitians would be the most likely scenario. They were Cubans, and were picked up by the ship's smaller rescue life boat. The Coast Guard showed up a couple of hours later and brought them aboard their cutter after they were given medical check ups, food, and clothing aboard the Freedom. The storm was indeed wild looking. My very first close look at a water spout. All going on at the same time. Quite the excitement! :eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquahound Posted December 18, 2011 #16 Share Posted December 18, 2011 So what happens in this case? Are they automatically returned to Cuba? Does it depend? In accordance with Wet Foot/Dry Foot, yes they will be returned to Cuba since they were intercepted at sea. They would only be brought to U.S. shore if there is a serious medical issue or legitimate asylym request. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady_cruiser Posted December 18, 2011 #17 Share Posted December 18, 2011 In accordance with Wet Foot/Dry Foot, yes they will be returned to Cuba since they were intercepted at sea. They would only be brought to U.S. shore if there is a serious medical issue or legitimate asylym request. I always thought that once they were on a Coast Guard ship they would be brought to the U.S. since the Coast Guard ship is owned by the U.S. Thanks Aquahound. We can also count on you for the correct answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquahound Posted December 18, 2011 #18 Share Posted December 18, 2011 I always thought that once they were on a Coast Guard ship they would be brought to the U.S. since the Coast Guard ship is owned by the U.S. Thanks Aquahound. We can also count on you for the correct answer. Thank you. :) Your assumption is understandable but no, for the purposes of this law, our military vessels do not count as "dry foot." In fact, it's our USCG cutters that repatriot the migrants to Cuba. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachnative Posted December 18, 2011 #19 Share Posted December 18, 2011 "Dramatic"... humm, maybe a stretch using that term. It was a good example of the well trained crew acting the way they have been instructed to respond. I was please to hear the captain make timely announcements as we watched the rescue: why we were slowing down and going into a turn followed by what was happening as the 8 men were brought aboard. He referred to them as "8 gentlemen from the island south of us". Fortunately for those on the small craft, we had relatively calms seas rather than those we had encountered earlier in the week. As an aside: the Freedom continues to be an awesome ship with an equally fantastic crew. The entertainment on board was excellent. We enjoyed every minute of our B2B on her. She is clean, attractive, and welcoming. Kudos to the Freedom of the Seas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyalDiamond Posted December 18, 2011 #20 Share Posted December 18, 2011 We encountered the same situation last May aboard Navigator.....we were sailing from Cozumel back to Fort Lauderdale when we spotted 9 people on a very flimsy raft. We turned around and took them on board Navigator until the coast guard met up with us to take them..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted December 18, 2011 #21 Share Posted December 18, 2011 "Dramatic"... humm, maybe a stretch using that term. It was a good example of the well trained crew acting the way they have been instructed to respond. I was please to hear the captain make timely announcements as we watched the rescue: why we were slowing down and going into a turn followed by what was happening as the 8 men were brought aboard. He referred to them as "8 gentlemen from the island south of us". Fortunately for those on the small craft, we had relatively calms seas rather than those we had encountered earlier in the week. As an aside: the Freedom continues to be an awesome ship with an equally fantastic crew. The entertainment on board was excellent. We enjoyed every minute of our B2B on her. She is clean, attractive, and welcoming. Kudos to the Freedom of the Seas Very well put Gail!! :) Sooo nice meeting you and spending time with you this last week. You two made terrific chefs also!! ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinp Posted December 19, 2011 #22 Share Posted December 19, 2011 They were Cubans, and were picked up by the ship's smaller rescue life boat. The Coast Guard showed up a couple of hours later and brought them aboard their cutter after they were given medical check ups, food, and clothing aboard the Freedom. The storm was indeed wild looking. My very first close look at a water spout. All going on at the same time. Quite the excitement! :eek: It was quite the excitement and I missed most of it as I was in the casino then in my cabin filling out my gratuity envelopes and other "end of cruise" stuff. My DH and our friends said that the water spout was really something to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluegirlum Posted December 19, 2011 #23 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Thank you. :) Your assumption is understandable but no, for the purposes of this law, our military vessels do not count as "dry foot." In fact, it's our USCG cutters that repatriot the migrants to Cuba. Yes, thanks so much for the clarification! It's so helpful having you around to explain all this stuff! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted December 19, 2011 #24 Share Posted December 19, 2011 It was quite the excitement and I missed most of it as I was in the casino then in my cabin filling out my gratuity envelopes and other "end of cruise" stuff. My DH and our friends said that the water spout was really something to see. Yes, we were up on outside deck 12 with the DH's high powered (and pain in the butt heavy to carry on :eek: ) binoculars. Were able to check out the whole goings on. The staff from the spa came out to marvel at the water spout. They had never seen a tornado or water spout and were really in awe. They did not know what it was, and were asking me about it. Was actually more interesting than "the rescue". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F27TW Posted December 19, 2011 #25 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Wow, I'm very interested to see the pictures. Were there any details about why they were out there??? They were comin' after some Honey Stung Chicken ... why else!? :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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