Just off Fantasy? ER evac

[gamecockinnc]

We just de-embarked from the Fantasy and we're late arriving this morning. We didn't leave CC last evening until 8:00 pm. We were waiting for the Coast Guard to arrive to transport a severely injured passenger. Before dinner I was at guest services and the CM mentioned the delay and he said a man was injured on the water slide on CC and he hoped my sons didn't witness it.

 

Does anyone know what happened? We went to the early dining and after eating we we're on on our balconies and the Coast Guard helicopter landed on our side of the ship. Apparently there were 4 medical emergencies yesterday but only the water slide incident required an evacuation. We just didn't know what happened. Maybe a compound fracture? But everyone was very somber and we were so concerned about this fellow cruiser and their family.

 

The captain announced early on that we would be delayed leaving CC waiting on the CG. I was saddened when I overheard many people complaining to guest services about our late arrival.

[alaska_planner]

We just de-embarked from the Fantasy and we're late arriving this morning. We didn't leave CC last evening until 8:00 pm. We were waiting for the Coast Guard to arrive to transport a severely injured passenger. Before dinner I was at guest services and the CM mentioned the delay and he said a man was injured on the water slide on CC and he hoped my sons didn't witness it.

 

Does anyone know what happened? We went to the early dining and after eating we we're on on our balconies and the Coast Guard helicopter landed on our side of the ship. Apparently there were 4 medical emergencies yesterday but only the water slide incident required an evacuation. We just didn't know what happened. Maybe a compound fracture? But everyone was very somber and we were so concerned about this fellow cruiser and their family.

 

The captain announced early on that we would be delayed leaving CC waiting on the CG. I was saddened when I overheard many people complaining to guest services about our late arrival.

 

passengers complaining over delays, when someone else has suffered a much worse fate

 

the summer before last, we went on a royal cruise in alaska..

southbound out of seward, alaska..

 

boarding started at about 11 i guess (when we boarded) and i believe sailaway was supposed to be at 8? or maybe at 6?

 

in any case, our actual sailaway was at 3 am in the middle of the night..

 

why? there was a fatal accident that blocked the single road between anchorage and seward...

it happened at about noon, stranding 1,000 passengers on the anchorage side of the accident...

 

there were people stranded on the road for 12 hours!!!! 12 hours!!!

without food, toilets, anything.....12 hours...

 

and there was a man KILLED in the accident....killed..

 

with half the passengers (1,000) unable to get to the ship until the road was reopened, of course, the captain held the ship in seward waiting for them to get there..

 

and because of the delay, the captain announced we would miss seeing hubbard glacier the next day as there was no way for us to get there in time..

 

well....do you think people said, "oh that poor man who was killed"..

or "oh those poor people who were stranded in cars and buses on the road for 12 hours"..

 

well yes....some of us did..

 

but there were lots of people who complained about our delay..

complained about missing hubbard glacier..

 

they ever screamed at the officers (who were in the vicinity of guest services fielding questions)..

 

seriously? you scream at the officers because of the delay?

there is a man who is dead....there are a 1000 people stranded on the road...

 

i was so disgusted by these people....

Edited December 10, 2016 by alaska_planner

[moki'smommy]

As Beth pointed out, some people on vacation are very self centered.

 

Medical emergencies on the ship are not uncommon--you have 4000 people at various levels of health and fitness, all away from their "normal" activities. I've witnessed at least 3 incidents "up close and personal." In each case, I was impressed with the response of the DCL teams, medical and otherwise.

 

Bottom line is that DCL knows where their priorities need to be and while that upsets some guests, too bad!

[gamecockinnc]

There are some selfish people in this world. My family and and I just prayed for the injured party and his family. As a family who has been through a lot we are grateful for each day. I'm usually calm but I couldn't help but comment to a few "complainers" last night. Shocking how selfish they were.

[Ex techie]

We just de-embarked from the Fantasy and we're late arriving this morning. We didn't leave CC last evening until 8:00 pm. We were waiting for the Coast Guard to arrive to transport a severely injured passenger. Before dinner I was at guest services and the CM mentioned the delay and he said a man was injured on the water slide on CC and he hoped my sons didn't witness it.

 

Does anyone know what happened? We went to the early dining and after eating we we're on on our balconies and the Coast Guard helicopter landed on our side of the ship. Apparently there were 4 medical emergencies yesterday but only the water slide incident required an evacuation. We just didn't know what happened. Maybe a compound fracture? But everyone was very somber and we were so concerned about this fellow cruiser and their family.

 

The captain announced early on that we would be delayed leaving CC waiting on the CG. I was saddened when I overheard many people complaining to guest services about our late arrival.

 

There is no reason for you or anyone else to know what happened to the poor man on the waterslide. It is a private matter.

Apart from knowing that if a defect in the slide is found, DCL will take every action to correct it, and support the family.

 

As you did, and said, prayers and best wishes are all anyone can offer to him and his family and travelling party.

 

As for the upset Guests. They in my experience, will be the ones that gambled on no travel insurance and flights as early as possible, or private car service transfers that will charge them for waiting time untll they get there.

 

Yes. So many people (not all) put their vacation hat on when arriving and become unreasonable uncompassionate ahole's and think the world revolves around them, their needs and WANTS come first.

And if tickets for a meet and greet aren't available then their cruise is ruined or they have major disappointment of a epic scale of a toddler (usually on the behalf of their kids that either didn't know about it or did not not care, or they had been promised something by the parent who could not guarantee it)

 

ex techie

[cedarmom]

The person evac'ed was a woman. She had a snorkeling accident. Her husband and young child had to stay on the ship. Husband reached her last night after securing family care for the child. She's in icu. They could use lots of prayers.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

passengers complaining over delays, when someone else has suffered a much worse fate

 

the summer before last, we went on a royal cruise in alaska..

southbound out of seward, alaska..

 

boarding started at about 11 i guess (when we boarded) and i believe sailaway was supposed to be at 8? or maybe at 6?

 

in any case, our actual sailaway was at 3 am in the middle of the night..

 

why? there was a fatal accident that blocked the single road between anchorage and seward...

it happened at about noon, stranding 1,000 passengers on the anchorage side of the accident...

 

there were people stranded on the road for 12 hours!!!! 12 hours!!!

without food, toilets, anything.....12 hours...

 

and there was a man KILLED in the accident....killed..

 

with half the passengers (1,000) unable to get to the ship until the road was reopened, of course, the captain held the ship in seward waiting for them to get there..

 

and because of the delay, the captain announced we would miss seeing hubbard glacier the next day as there was no way for us to get there in time..

 

well....do you think people said, "oh that poor man who was killed"..

or "oh those poor people who were stranded in cars and buses on the road for 12 hours"..

 

well yes....some of us did..

 

but there were lots of people who complained about our delay..

complained about missing hubbard glacier..

 

they ever screamed at the officers (who were in the vicinity of guest services fielding questions)..

 

seriously? you scream at the officers because of the delay?

there is a man who is dead....there are a 1000 people stranded on the road...

 

i was so disgusted by these people....

 

I was on the same cruise (well, I assume it was the same because the time frame for leaving fits - I had heard more than one fatality and three air evacuations).

 

And I agree. Most people I encountered were understanding of the situation, but it was disgusting to hear the complaints.

 

My guess is that much of the stress was people who booked flights earlier than the recommended time and were taking out their frustration on the wrong people. I know when there are weather delays, DCL will help people with changing those arrangements by providing free internet - but in a case like this I don't know what they would do.

 

I'm in no way justifying the people being rude and complaining - just saying what a lot of the stress would be.

 

This is classic exhibit A of why booking earlier flights than a cruise line recommends is not a good idea.

[alaska_planner]

I was on the same cruise (well, I assume it was the same because the time frame for leaving fits - I had heard more than one fatality and three air evacuations).

 

And I agree. Most people I encountered were understanding of the situation, but it was disgusting to hear the complaints.

 

My guess is that much of the stress was people who booked flights earlier than the recommended time and were taking out their frustration on the wrong people. I know when there are weather delays, DCL will help people with changing those arrangements by providing free internet - but in a case like this I don't know what they would do.

 

I'm in no way justifying the people being rude and complaining - just saying what a lot of the stress would be.

 

This is classic exhibit A of why booking earlier flights than a cruise line recommends is not a good idea.

 

yes, i see in your signature you have july/august 2015 radiance of the seas - that was the cruise...

except for that unusual start, it was a fabulous cruise!!!! and we had unbelievably perfect weather!!!

 

i can't wait to go back!!!!

 

by the way, i stayed up to watch when the people finally started arriving...

there were a bunch of us up on deck watching...and cheering as people boarded..

it was interesting how royal handled it...i thought they did a very nice job..

they met the people with champagne and invited them to head up to windjammers which was open for them despite the very late hour (or rather early hour - 1 in the morning)

 

standing next to me on deck was a family that was waiting for the other half of their family who had been caught out on the road for 12 hours..

their car was just in front of the accident and their cousins car was just behind the accident...

they had a rental car that they needed to return to the rental company in seward....but of course, it's not open at 1 in the morning..

i don't know what they ended up doing with the car....

but all that really mattered to them was that neither of their cars had been in the accident itself....they just missed...

and the other thing they were happy about - the fact that so many royal buses were caught on the other side of the accident..

royal would never have waited for just a few cars, but all those royal buses? no way could they strand all those people..

so the folks who were DIYing their way to seward lucked out that the ship waited for them..

 

we had been in seward for 3 days, so it wasn't an issue for us..

it's my favorite city in alaska!! at least of those i've visited..

i can't imagine just arriving the same day for the cruise and miss out on beautiful seward..

Edited December 11, 2016 by alaska_planner

[ArthurUSCG]

I was on the same cruise (well, I assume it was the same because the time frame for leaving fits - I had heard more than one fatality and three air evacuations).

 

And I agree. Most people I encountered were understanding of the situation, but it was disgusting to hear the complaints.

 

My guess is that much of the stress was people who booked flights earlier than the recommended time and were taking out their frustration on the wrong people. I know when there are weather delays, DCL will help people with changing those arrangements by providing free internet - but in a case like this I don't know what they would do.

 

I'm in no way justifying the people being rude and complaining - just saying what a lot of the stress would be.

 

This is classic exhibit A of why booking earlier flights than a cruise line recommends is not a good idea.

Exactly, while usually you could make the 11am flights, 1 hiccup and you are out some serious money.

All it would take is a serious accident on FL-528.

 

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[moki'smommy]

Exactly, while usually you could make the 11am flights, 1 hiccup and you are out some serious money.

All it would take is a serious accident on FL-528.

 

 

Very true. I've also had the experience of getting to the airport and being moved to an earlier flight--nice surprise. It worked for the airline because they may as well fill the earlier flight and have a chance at filling my seat on the later one as well... You certainly can't count on this happening, but the Orlando airport isn't a bad place to hang out.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Very true. I've also had the experience of getting to the airport and being moved to an earlier flight--nice surprise. It worked for the airline because they may as well fill the earlier flight and have a chance at filling my seat on the later one as well... You certainly can't count on this happening' date=' but the Orlando airport isn't a bad place to hang out.[/quote']

 

Yep! I'm watching my Feb return flight like a hawk (this out of MIA) as American has already moved it earlier by about an hour once. It's just on the "OK" side of my comfort zone, but they move it any further up and I'll be on the phone with them. I'd rather be early and sit and read - or walk around and do laps - in an airport than be rushing to get through and running to my gate.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

yes, i see in your signature you have july/august 2015 radiance of the seas - that was the cruise...

except for that unusual start, it was a fabulous cruise!!!! and we had unbelievably perfect weather!!!

 

i can't wait to go back!!!!

 

by the way, i stayed up to watch when the people finally started arriving...

there were a bunch of us up on deck watching...and cheering as people boarded..

it was interesting how royal handled it...i thought they did a very nice job..

they met the people with champagne and invited them to head up to windjammers which was open for them despite the very late hour (or rather early hour - 1 in the morning)

 

standing next to me on deck was a family that was waiting for the other half of their family who had been caught out on the road for 12 hours..

their car was just in front of the accident and their cousins car was just behind the accident...

they had a rental car that they needed to return to the rental company in seward....but of course, it's not open at 1 in the morning..

i don't know what they ended up doing with the car....

but all that really mattered to them was that neither of their cars had been in the accident itself....they just missed...

and the other thing they were happy about - the fact that so many royal buses were caught on the other side of the accident..

royal would never have waited for just a few cars, but all those royal buses? no way could they strand all those people..

so the folks who were DIYing their way to seward lucked out that the ship waited for them..

 

we had been in seward for 3 days, so it wasn't an issue for us..

it's my favorite city in alaska!! at least of those i've visited..

i can't imagine just arriving the same day for the cruise and miss out on beautiful seward..

 

I was with the running group, so we went down that morning from Anchorage where we'd had our first run/walk of the trip. Our bus was ahead of the accident so we were all settled. The part of our group who was on the train were delayed as RCCL got as many people as they could from their busses onto the train.

 

I met one couple on the shuttle over to Hoonah who were in private transportation just in front of the last RCCL bus to pull in and were definitely saying after that they would always do the cruise-offered transportation because they realized how close they came to missing the ship.

[alaska_planner]

I was with the running group, so we went down that morning from Anchorage where we'd had our first run/walk of the trip. Our bus was ahead of the accident so we were all settled. The part of our group who was on the train were delayed as RCCL got as many people as they could from their busses onto the train.

 

I met one couple on the shuttle over to Hoonah who were in private transportation just in front of the last RCCL bus to pull in and were definitely saying after that they would always do the cruise-offered transportation because they realized how close they came to missing the ship.

 

i ate breakfast with a bunch of the runners on several mornings...

that is, i was at a table at breakfast with several runners...

 

and in ketchikan, we hiked in the park where you guys were running...

if you did that run, we were the small group with a wheelchair - my mom wasn't in the wheelchair, she walked the entire hike, but we had the wheelchair just in case...

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

i ate breakfast with a bunch of the runners on several mornings...

that is, i was at a table at breakfast with several runners...

 

and in ketchikan, we hiked in the park where you guys were running...

if you did that run, we were the small group with a wheelchair - my mom wasn't in the wheelchair, she walked the entire hike, but we had the wheelchair just in case...

 

Nice! I did the 5K (there was a 5K and a 10K option) so I could get back and hit the chocolate store! :)

[Shmoo here]

The person evac'ed was a woman. She had a snorkeling accident. Her husband and young child had to stay on the ship. Husband reached her last night after securing family care for the child. She's in icu. They could use lots of prayers.

 

Were you on this cruise? On another forum it's reported to be a child involved in a drowning incident. The report was made by some one who says they were on the cruise and they were able to see the helicopter land and the load up.

[cedarmom]

I'm friends with the woman.

[Ex techie]

The person evac'ed was a woman. She had a snorkeling accident. Her husband and young child had to stay on the ship. Husband reached her last night after securing family care for the child. She's in icu. They could use lots of prayers.

 

I'm friends with the woman.

 

And from the DIS

andrews_dad

DIS Veteran

Joined:Jan 14, 2009

Messages:1,972

 

I was on board. A child was air lifted by the US Coast Guard due to drowning incident on Castaway. My balcony faced the landing area. Unsure if the child survived, but it was hairy according to a staff member I spoke to. The wind was pretty rough (excursions were canceled, such as no Parasailing) but snorkeling and swimming was allowed and the waves weren't terrible since the area is protected.

 

All aboard was 4:45, but we didn't pull out of Castaway until 8:15 PM.

 

The 6:45 AM breakfast folks were told to go with luggage to common areas after eating to wait for the boat to park. When we finally parked, Natalie the cruise director kept announcing to stay comfortable in common areas as the luggage and customs area was over packed. They played Disney cartoons in the theaters to keep people at bay as long as possible. I sat near the pool and watched the cast practice a Star Wars fight for the Star Wars theme days. It was actually BORING to watch as the director stopped them every two seconds, lol.

 

Finally I got off the boat at 10. The rental car shuttle took 90 minutes to get to me. Tried to take a taxi, instead. Taxis were all locked in in the traffic of the folks coming in. No taxi could get in, no Uber, no rental shuttle buses. It was a MESS. They are not equipped to have a ship coming in late with 6 ships in port with the next loads of people arriving. Then the Budget had a line out the door for the car pick up. Literally didn't get a car until 1:45 PM, and I had reserved it for 9 AM pick up! Wow. Killed the day we hoped to be a water park day. But, they had to take care of the child and I get that.

 

Two very different reports, and two very different scenarios.

 

Neither of which are our business, except to wish anyone injured a safe a quick recovery.

 

ex techie

[alaska_planner]

Nice! I did the 5K (there was a 5K and a 10K option) so I could get back and hit the chocolate store! :)

 

where's the chocolate store?

after our hike, we went to a really good counter service restaurant by the pier...can't remember what it was called, but the fish was amazing..

and then we went to the cheesy but fun lumberjack show..

i didn't know there was a chocolate store or i would have gone there too :)

[gometros]

Whatever the real story, here's wishing for the best outcome.

 

Sadly, medical emergencies are not uncommon and sadder yet that people have no empathy for those involved. We had a situation on a Carnival cruise out of New York that ended up having a somewhat happy ending for all involved. Two medical emergencies forced us to turn back to St. Thomas and lose a couple of hours. Thankfully (from what I heard and yes, second hand information has to be taken with a grain of salt) both passengers were okay. Because of the delay, we didn't get back to New York until 3:00pm. Carnival handled it nicely by keeping all activities open and serving lunch.

[alaska_planner]

apparently, drownings and near drownings on CC occur more often than we might think...

 

but with as many as 4,000 people on the island, it shouldn't be that surprising..

 

what makes it so tragic is it's when a family is on holiday together...so difficult to imagine having to go through something like that when you're on vacation

Edited December 13, 2016 by alaska_planner

[gamecockinnc]

FIRST TO THE POSTER WHO COMMENTED I WAS WAS BEING NOSEY. I WAS NOT.

 

We have been on dozens and dozens of cruises and have woken on up on sea days in unexpected islands when the captain diverted to seek ER care for a passenger. To a passenger falling off a chair right in front of my husband and I suffering a massive heart attack on the poor mans honeymoon. To many, many, many other medical situations.

 

On this cruise we were told unsolicited by our assistant waiter that there were FOUR medical emergencies that day at CC which could explain some of the confusion.

 

The weather wasn't good. It had rained hard before our arrival and was cool and over cast the entire day. I didn't allow my 18 and 15 year olds to go out too far because the weather and currents were strong. In fact they rented a Hobie CAT to take out for a little while. We live at the beach and they sail a lot but they thought the currents were strong and didn't stay out long at all.

 

The only reason I asked about this evacuation was due to the fact that I got back on the ship to pack and the boys stayed on CC. They are 18.5, 15.5 and just turned 6 during the cruise. They were out of the water and helping their little brother build a epic sand castle.

 

But after I left they said all hell broke out. They had the sense to move their little brother further away so he couldn't see anything. Then helped him build in the sand alittle bit more before boarding shortly after.

 

Not that I should have to explain but we recently lost my 15 year niece to stage IV NHL after a short and brutal 9 month battle. We all are sensitive and grieving right now.

 

My youngest son seemed confused once onboard about what he saw but I could redirect him. My older boys didn't want to talk about what they saw.

 

Combine that with the apologies I received from guest services for my sons witnessing this tragic event and I was confused.

 

We are Catholic. We were sailing with my parents so we got out our rosary's and prayed.

 

I WAS NOT being NOSEY.

 

I was concerned. I was sad. I didn't want another family to feel the gut wrenching pain we have been experiencing since loosing my niece.

 

My parents and my older boys have asked me several times if the person is ok. And I don't know what to say.

 

Before we lost my niece I may have lied and said yes. But bad things happen and I know they can handle the truth and since it appears they witnessed this rescue I wanted to give them the information I could.

 

As I said it may be hard for some of you to make the connection of loosing their 15 year cousin and then possibly a strange. For adults it's hard to understand and for young people it's harder.

 

So NO I wasn't being morbid or NOSEY,

 

As I said my father and the 2 older boys stood on the balconies which were right in front of the LZ and prayed for the victim and the victims family. We just prayed for a miracle and we couldn't forget this family. It was such an amazing holiday cruise and the last day it turned into a horror day for someone.

 

If you are indeed friends of this family please let them know we have an entire prayer chain praying for them.

 

You can PM me and if there is anything I can do or send please let me know.

 

Prayers.

[cedarmom]

The woman is doing remarkably well. She's out of icu and has one more hurdle to overcome before being released. We first heard there was talk of transfer to her home state but that doesn't look like it'll be necessary.

Thank you for your prayers. :)

[gamecockinnc]

apparently, drownings and near drownings on CC occur more often than we might think...

 

but with as many as 4,000 people on the island, it shouldn't be that surprising..

 

what makes it so tragic is it's when a family is on holiday together...so difficult to imagine having to go through something like that when you're on vacation

 

 

I agree with you. We had beautiful weather all week on that sailing but last Friday when we woke up at nearing CC it was raining and just not nice. You could tell it had rained pretty hard before we arrived and while we were there it was very very cloudy, windy and drizzled a bit.

 

Our assistant waiter did say there were 4 medical emergencies that day.

 

I pray everyone is ok.

[gamecockinnc]

Were you on this cruise? On another forum it's reported to be a child involved in a drowning incident. The report was made by some one who says they were on the cruise and they were able to see the helicopter land and the load up.

 

I haven't checked out that forum but we were on deck 6 mid ship with connecting cabins/balconies and my father, 15 year old and 18 year old watched the CC helicopter land. Then lift up and turn around. We knew where it would land because there is a large white circle and we were standing on our balconies and I pointed to it. The captain announced at 4:45 pm that we would be delayed and they were waiting on the CG and they should be to CC by 6:00 pm. We left to go to 5:45 pm dining and after my mother and I went to a shop and my dad and sons went back to the cabins.

 

When they took the patient out there were no less 12 people surround a stretcher that had blankets and one person holding IV's. So I would question what this person saw. My son took a video of the CG helicopter landing and then lifting up to turn around. When I returned to the cabins with my mother I watched the video and then we had him delete it even though you couldn't see who the patient was. Only a stretcher, IV's and medical personnel and the coast guard members.

 

Again who ever it was. One person or four......I pray they are ok.

[gamecockinnc]

The woman is doing remarkably well. She's out of icu and has one more hurdle to overcome before being released. We first heard there was talk of transfer to her home state but that doesn't look like it'll be necessary.

Thank you for your prayers. :)

 

Wow, that is great news! Thank you for the update. We will continue to pray for her and her family.