Disappointing Experience

[Baystate]

My wife and I had a good cruise on Celebrity Summit to Bermuda. The staff was very friendly, and they took pride in their job. We really enjoyed the trivia challenges, the violin performances, and the magic show. Celebrity is supposed to email me a review questionnaire, and I will give an honest review of what was good and what was bad. The boys's injury weighs on me, though. For three days, I had trouble shaking that terrible image. "Please make it stop!" as blood poured from his wound. I'm not exaggerating, and this is the only reason that I'm posting on this forum. When we got off the boat, my phone had internet access again. I did some Google searches about the injury. I wanted to make sure if the kid was ok. I didn't find anything on social media, but I did find this thread. What happened on August 6th was wrong. These questions plague me... How did the boy cut his foot? Is he ok? Did Celebrity make it right for him and his family? I would not be asking these questions if Celebrity had a good safety program. I and other passengers reported the severity of the injury. Then we got out of the way and waited for help which was unbelievably slow to come. I thought that was the right thing to do. Things are different on a cruise, though. This is not an American company, so a lifeguard is not on duty at the pool. Americans are accustomed to that, and I wrongly assumed this was the case. If I had to do it over again, I would have called 911 on my cell phone. The ship was still at Cape Liberty, and we were in American territory. Things are different outside the United States of America. Cruise companies are subject to different rules which may not be as strict as OSHA or CPSC. I had a false sense of security when I boarded that ship. Nothing happened to me or my wife, but I will be wiser in the future. When I compare cruise companies, I'll now review the company's commitment to safety. Assistance is not guaranteed, and I hope my post is taken seriously.

Your story has stuck with me, also. You are so right on so many points. I think a lot of the cheerleaders think nothing bad can happen to them on their favorite cruiseline, but God forbid, if something goes very badly I hope that they aren't the least bit panicked and remember all of their own Monday morning quarterbacking.

[Beach710]

It is possible that the employee at the bar who made the call did not report the urgency of the situation. He/she may have simply said a person needs medical help.

 

This indicates a lack of training on Celebrities part. Every employee should be trained in emergency procedures.

 

I have seen similar reports on Cruise Critic involving other cruise lines.

 

 

As a result, I think instead of asking a random employee to make the call, you (or another passenger) should make the call directly to the emergency phone number and explain the urgency of the situation.

 

The passenger took the appropriate action by notifying an employee.

[Iamcruzin]

It is possible that the employee at the bar who made the call did not report the urgency of the situation. He/she may have simply said a person needs medical help.

 

 

 

I have seen similar reports on Cruise Critic involving other cruise lines.

 

 

 

 

 

As a result, I think instead of asking a random employee to make the call, you (or another passenger) should make the call directly to the emergency phone number and explain the urgency of the situation.

 

 

 

How about we stop making excuses for the cruise line and start holding them accountable?An accident was reported. It's not the passengers responsibility to follow up on the situation. Any employee should be trained properly how to respond if an emergency is reported.

 

 

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[DYKWIA]

How about we stop making excuses for the cruise line and start holding them accountable?An accident was reported. It's not the passengers responsibility to follow up on the situation. Any employee should be trained properly how to respond if an emergency is reported.

 

 

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I agree, by reporting it to the staff at the scene they are best placed to not only contact the correct medical staff but also assign resources to see if there is some part of the ship that is in a dangerous condition - what caused the injury? Are we going to get a second injury in 5 minutes,

 

By taking it in your own hands to contact emergency medical help you run the risk of staff not being aware soon enough that something is broken and needs fixing ASAP to prevent further injury

[sanger727]

These questions plague me... How did the boy cut his foot? Is he ok? Did Celebrity make it right for him and his family? I would not be asking these questions if Celebrity had a good safety program. I and other passengers reported the severity of the injury. Then we got out of the way and waited for help which was unbelievably slow to come. I thought that was the right thing to do. Things are different on a cruise, though. This is not an American company, so a lifeguard is not on duty at the pool. Americans are accustomed to that, and I wrongly assumed this was the case. If I had to do it over again, I would have called 911 on my cell phone.

 

 

You said that medical personnel responded in 10-15 minutes. 911 could not have responded faster. So calling them would have been pointless. Ships personnel are who are ready and equipped to handle this.

 

I'm a first responder and certainly have waited on emergency medical before and while the wait seems long - that's what it takes to get the appropriate people with the appropriate equipment mobilized. And when someone appears to be in a bad situation, the wait feels 2-3 times as long as it actually is.

 

While I don't doubt you that the child was upset and bleeding, you can't bleed out from a cut foot in a matter of minutes. While any personnel responding immediately with a towel and calming words would have been appreciated, A 10-15 minute response time to get first aid personnel there isn't crazy. Guarantee if you fell down on the street on land and called 911 you would be looking at a similar response time from the 'call 911' to the fire personnel providing aid.

 

Again, purpose of this isn't to defend celebrity. Just to put it in context of real life. In real life terms, the situation isn't unreasonable. A quick response from an employee would have been nice from a business standpoint - even if it wasn't from someone with the correct training or equipment to do anything meaningful.

 

 

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[Toronto Guy]

My wife and I just got off the Celebrity Summit, and we're at the airport for our flight home. The cruise was pleasant, but I want to add to this thread. On the first day, we saw a badly injured boy. It happened during the boarding process. He was walking down the stairs from deck 11 to deck ten near the outdoor pool. Somehow, he cut his foot. It was a bad lasceration, and he was bleeding profusely. A man ran to the bar and said "hey that kid needs a doctor!". The employees at the bar called someone to report the injury. The response was terrible. It took 10-15 minutes before someone finally attended to him. The kid was screaming and pleading for someone to please make the bleeding stop. A passenger gave his mom a towel to cover the foot. Officers began to show after 10 minutes, but they didn't attend to the boy. They obviously didn't have any training. This was distressing to see. It makes me wonder where the emergency medical kits are located.

 

 

 

I also witnessed this while the boy was waiting for attention and I felt so sorry for him. Only passengers were tending to him and staff did not approach. I remember thinking God help us all in a real emergency. When a child is injured all hands should be on deck. 10 to 15 minute response time on a ship is not sufficient. Was there no first aid kit on the pool deck? Was no employee trained in basic first aid? Not acceptable. There is no excuse. Staff were focused on selling drink packages to get the gratuity out of the sale. I know this because I heard them asking passengers while it was going on.

 

 

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[Toronto Guy]

You said that medical personnel responded in 10-15 minutes. 911 could not have responded faster. So calling them would have been pointless. Ships personnel are who are ready and equipped to handle this.

 

I'm a first responder and certainly have waited on emergency medical before and while the wait seems long - that's what it takes to get the appropriate people with the appropriate equipment mobilized. And when someone appears to be in a bad situation, the wait feels 2-3 times as long as it actually is.

 

While I don't doubt you that the child was upset and bleeding, you can't bleed out from a cut foot in a matter of minutes. While any personnel responding immediately with a towel and calming words would have been appreciated, A 10-15 minute response time to get first aid personnel there isn't crazy. Guarantee if you fell down on the street on land and called 911 you would be looking at a similar response time from the 'call 911' to the fire personnel providing aid.

 

Again, purpose of this isn't to defend celebrity. Just to put it in context of real life. In real life terms, the situation isn't unreasonable. A quick response from an employee would have been nice from a business standpoint - even if it wasn't from someone with the correct training or equipment to do anything meaningful.

 

 

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Would a 10 to 15 minute response time be reasonable if a child was at the bottom of the swimming pool??!! Get real. That's ridiculous.

 

 

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[sanger727]

Would a 10 to 15 minute response time be reasonable if a child was at the bottom of the swimming pool??!! Get real. That's ridiculous.

 

 

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A child drowning can die in minutes. A child bleeding from a cut foot can't. You're the one being ridiculous.

 

And for the record. The fire dept still can't get to the drowning child in time to save him. I would hope a bystander would assist.

 

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[NLH Arizona]

You said that medical personnel responded in 10-15 minutes. 911 could not have responded faster. So calling them would have been pointless. Ships personnel are who are ready and equipped to handle this.

 

I'm a first responder and certainly have waited on emergency medical before and while the wait seems long - that's what it takes to get the appropriate people with the appropriate equipment mobilized. And when someone appears to be in a bad situation, the wait feels 2-3 times as long as it actually is.

 

While I don't doubt you that the child was upset and bleeding, you can't bleed out from a cut foot in a matter of minutes. While any personnel responding immediately with a towel and calming words would have been appreciated, A 10-15 minute response time to get first aid personnel there isn't crazy. Guarantee if you fell down on the street on land and called 911 you would be looking at a similar response time from the 'call 911' to the fire personnel providing aid.

 

Again, purpose of this isn't to defend celebrity. Just to put it in context of real life. In real life terms, the situation isn't unreasonable. A quick response from an employee would have been nice from a business standpoint - even if it wasn't from someone with the correct training or equipment to do anything meaningful.

 

 

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Thanks for putting things into perspective.

[keesar]

You said that medical personnel responded in 10-15 minutes. 911 could not have responded faster. So calling them would have been pointless. Ships personnel are who are ready and equipped to handle this.

 

I'm a first responder and certainly have waited on emergency medical before and while the wait seems long - that's what it takes to get the appropriate people with the appropriate equipment mobilized. And when someone appears to be in a bad situation, the wait feels 2-3 times as long as it actually is.

 

While I don't doubt you that the child was upset and bleeding, you can't bleed out from a cut foot in a matter of minutes. While any personnel responding immediately with a towel and calming words would have been appreciated, A 10-15 minute response time to get first aid personnel there isn't crazy. Guarantee if you fell down on the street on land and called 911 you would be looking at a similar response time from the 'call 911' to the fire personnel providing aid.

 

Again, purpose of this isn't to defend celebrity. Just to put it in context of real life. In real life terms, the situation isn't unreasonable. A quick response from an employee would have been nice from a business standpoint - even if it wasn't from someone with the correct training or equipment to do anything meaningful.

 

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Great post. The voice of reason has finally arrived. When you are in a crisis situation, every second can seem like a minute. People tend to overestimate the response time. Bystanders can immediately assist but you need to be patient for the trained medical team to arrive.

[WpgCruise]

I also witnessed this while the boy was waiting for attention and I felt so sorry for him. Only passengers were tending to him and staff did not approach. I remember thinking God help us all in a real emergency. When a child is injured all hands should be on deck. 10 to 15 minute response time on a ship is not sufficient. Was there no first aid kit on the pool deck? Was no employee trained in basic first aid? Not acceptable. There is no excuse. Staff were focused on selling drink packages to get the gratuity out of the sale. I know this because I heard them asking passengers while it was going on.

 

My question to you is what were you doing while waiting for medical help to arrive ?

 

Were you offering comfort and solace to the child? Standing back and timing a response doesn't seem to be too helpful.

 

It's easy to criticise but sometimes mature adults need to understand reality as sanger 727 has explained so well.

[Jwils999]

There were two women with the child. I assumed one was his mother, but I could be wrong. He was on the stairway between deck 11 and 10, above the bar, and at the rear of the pool area. I used to work for six flags when I was in my late teens and early twenties. We were trained on safety procedures. It wouldn't be like this at six flags. Someone would have been talking to the boy and his family. Communicating that help was on the way. Supervisors and EMS would be running to the scene. This wasn't the case that day, and I question the cruise line's commitment to safety. I could have helped, but I have limited medical training. It's been 25 years since I got a CPR certification. I did what I thought was right which was report the accident and stay out of the way. Moving an injured person can make it worse. After a few minutes, another passenger questioned the bar employees. Did you call this in? Did you tell them this was serious? And after more time had passed, I didn't know what to do. Finally an officer showed, so my wife and I walked towards the elevators. Help had arrived, and I'm not going to watch and be nosey. At least I thought help had arrived. As I looked back at the scene, the officer just stood there. He didn't talk to the family or anything. "What the heck is going on?" I thought. More time passed. Another officer arrived and just stood there. I watched from the forward section of the pool until an employee arrived with a wheel chair. It took too long. I assumed someone from the staff would provide leadership and that help would arrive shortly. Yes - I assumed incorrectly and could have acted.

[Toronto Guy]

My question to you is what were you doing while waiting for medical help to arrive ?

 

 

 

Were you offering comfort and solace to the child? Standing back and timing a response doesn't seem to be too helpful.

 

 

 

It's easy to criticise but sometimes mature adults need to understand reality as sanger 727 has explained so well.

 

 

 

The child was sitting half way up the stairway to Deck 11 and other passengers were already there. Adding another person to the stairwell would not help the situation and staff were already aware. The fact that celebrity's staff didn't have a first aid kit on the pool deck or that nobody had retrieved one or started to tend to him seemed strange. There are kitchens very nearby, I would have thought these items and trained staff would be available.

Celebrity's response time and action is this situation was lacking in my opinion and in the opinion of several others who witnessed what occurred. If you want to diss me or others for stating the facts go ahead. It should have been handled better.

 

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Edited August 16, 2017 by Toronto Guy

[Iamcruzin]

You said that medical personnel responded in 10-15 minutes. 911 could not have responded faster. So calling them would have been pointless. Ships personnel are who are ready and equipped to handle this.

 

I'm a first responder and certainly have waited on emergency medical before and while the wait seems long - that's what it takes to get the appropriate people with the appropriate equipment mobilized. And when someone appears to be in a bad situation, the wait feels 2-3 times as long as it actually is.

 

While I don't doubt you that the child was upset and bleeding, you can't bleed out from a cut foot in a matter of minutes. While any personnel responding immediately with a towel and calming words would have been appreciated, A 10-15 minute response time to get first aid personnel there isn't crazy. Guarantee if you fell down on the street on land and called 911 you would be looking at a similar response time from the 'call 911' to the fire personnel providing aid.

 

Again, purpose of this isn't to defend celebrity. Just to put it in context of real life. In real life terms, the situation isn't unreasonable. A quick response from an employee would have been nice from a business standpoint - even if it wasn't from someone with the correct training or equipment to do anything meaningful.

 

 

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Spin it anyway you want.

Bottom line is that a representative from the cruise line, not necessarily medical staff should have been at the scene immediately controlling the situation.

[Toronto Guy]

Spin it anyway you want.

 

Bottom line is that a representative from the cruise line, not necessarily medical staff should have been at the scene immediately controlling the situation.

 

 

 

Exactly.

 

 

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[dznymom]

No BLEEP on the kidney stones. I've went to the emergency room twice in a six month period' date=' and after the second round, my doctor put me on disability for a month and a half because of combination of factors.

 

When writing to Celebrity, I would include your reservation ID, the ship you sailed on, and the date of the sailing. Per https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/about-us/leadership, the CEO is Lisa Lutoff-Perlo. I would recommend making sure your letter has both a tracking number AND a return receipt. If someone has to sign for it, it gets attention.[/quote']

 

Sorry to veer this back to the original topic, but I wanted to report that I got a phone call from a representative of Ms Lutoff-Perlo's office within 24 hours of sending my email. The woman seemed genuinely concerned and promised that they were taking the issue seriously and would be looking into what transpired. I am pleased with both the speed of their response and the fact that they took ownership of the situation. Hopefully some changes will be made, and the next person in a situation like ours, will fare a little better.

 

Thanks again for all the comments and suggestions, even those that were a little harsh. You helped me form a cohesive and reasonable letter, which got the attention of the folks that can fix things. That's all I wanted and I am quite satisfied.

[Iamcruzin]

Sorry to veer this back to the original topic, but I wanted to report that I got a phone call from a representative of Ms Lutoff-Perlo's office within 24 hours of sending my email. The woman seemed genuinely concerned and promised that they were taking the issue seriously and would be looking into what transpired. I am pleased with both the speed of their response and the fact that they took ownership of the situation. Hopefully some changes will be made, and the next person in a situation like ours, will fare a little better.

 

Thanks again for all the comments and suggestions, even those that were a little harsh. You helped me form a cohesive and reasonable letter, which got the attention of the folks that can fix things. That's all I wanted and I am quite satisfied.

 

Thanks for the follow up. I'm happy that you received a positive and timely reply from Celebrity. Those here who are in denial that the cruise line is not at fault for their lack of concern in either your case or the case of the child is not helping anyone including themselves. By taking the time to correspond here on CC and with Celebrity others can benefit from your experience and perhaps the next unfortunate passenger in this situation will be taken care of properly.

[sanger727]

Spin it anyway you want.

 

Bottom line is that a representative from the cruise line, not necessarily medical staff should have been at the scene immediately controlling the situation.

 

 

 

Not trying to 'spin it'. Based on the way the story was told I think your expectations are unrealistic; and you will continue to be disappointed in the future. On this particular day you were disappointed with celebrity. The next time you witness a similar situation at an amusement park you'll be disappointed in them.

 

 

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[Toronto Guy]

Sorry to veer this back to the original topic, but I wanted to report that I got a phone call from a representative of Ms Lutoff-Perlo's office within 24 hours of sending my email. The woman seemed genuinely concerned and promised that they were taking the issue seriously and would be looking into what transpired. I am pleased with both the speed of their response and the fact that they took ownership of the situation. Hopefully some changes will be made, and the next person in a situation like ours, will fare a little better.

 

 

 

Thanks again for all the comments and suggestions, even those that were a little harsh. You helped me form a cohesive and reasonable letter, which got the attention of the folks that can fix things. That's all I wanted and I am quite satisfied.

 

 

 

Awesome!

 

 

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[keesar]

Thanks for the follow up. I'm happy that you received a positive and timely reply from Celebrity. Those here who are in denial that the cruise line is not at fault for their lack of concern in either your case or the case of the child is not helping anyone including themselves. By taking the time to correspond here on CC and with Celebrity others can benefit from your experience and perhaps the next unfortunate passenger in this situation will be taken care of properly.

 

Individuals also need to be more proactive and advocate for themselves. When a person does not hear from a doctor and there are continuing concerns, they should call the doctor or facility on their own rather than wait for the call. Also, if a person does not receive the correct room service meal, then call back and tell them. That is a way to allow them to rectify the situation.

[Iamcruzin]

Individuals also need to be more proactive and advocate for themselves. When a person does not hear from a doctor and there are continuing concerns, they should call the doctor or facility on their own rather than wait for the call. Also, if a person does not receive the correct room service meal, then call back and tell them. That is a way to allow them to rectify the situation.

 

 

 

Well all I can say is thank God my Doctor's office always follows up even when unexpected. I guess I just take it for granted that it is just standard medical protocol.

 

 

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[sanger727]

Well all I can say is thank God my Doctor's office always follows up even when unexpected. I guess I just take it for granted that it is just standard medical protocol.

 

 

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Yeah, think you are. I've never had a doctor's office follow up with me after a visit. They usually just tell me to call back if I'm not better within so many days.

 

In may of this year I developed a very bad cough. I went to a Kroger little clinic and was prescribed cough medicine. Called back to say it didn't help and they did call me in a different med but wasn't willing to do anything else. Went to see my BF's family doctor who gave me a diagnosis and med. when that didn't work I called back and same thing. Sent in a different med (which btw was the same thing the Kroger clinic gave me which I already told her didn't work). But no suggestions, didn't want to see me again. So then I sought out a specialist, who is whom I'm actually seeing right now. Very happy with her treatment, but still, no one calls to follow up to see how it's going. Just says to call back if I need follow up.

 

Based on my experience that is what I expect from medical treatment in the US these days. My bf needs spine surgery and is going through the same thing where he has to call back every few days to check on getting into doctor, getting into surgeon, checking on insurance pre-approval, etc.

 

 

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