Medical Emergency on Valiant Lady

[LadyLion_AP]

On Valiant Lady now. We headed back to Miami late last night due to a medical emergency. I hope whoever we headed back for is ok!

Our itinerary changed! No longer visiting Roatan & Costa Maya. Replaced by a sea day and Cozumel.  🙃

[Lustate]

Rather sad and I hope all was resolved for the person and the family. 

Yep you are currently parked up in Miami back at terminal V but I'm sure you will be on your way soon. I hope they compensate for the changes etc. 

[Mademypoint]

No, the person is not okay. If you are on the ship you will get the update but in the interest of not having people speculate, I'm sharing what happened as per a good friend who is on her right now.

[DrSch]

A person fell (or jumped) from Deck 14 and landed on Deck 7.  Unknown if they survived.  The ship went back to Miami last night, and will be departing this morning. 2 days at sea, no Roatan, and going to Cozumel instead of Costa Maya

 

Friend on board just told me the captain announced a full credit for future cruise

[LadyLion_AP]

I’m saddened to hear what has happened! My heart goes out to the friends and family of the person involved. Truly heartbreaking!

[LadyLion_AP]

27 minutes ago, Mademypoint said:

No, the person is not okay. If you are on the ship you will get the update but in the interest of not having people speculate, I'm sharing what happened as per a good friend who is on her right now.

So sorry to hear! My heart goes out to you. 

[mfs2k]

17 minutes ago, DrSch said:

Friend on board just told me the captain announced a full credit for future cruise

 

Wow.  That's generous. In the old days on other cruise lines, you'd get a $50 OBC or something similar

[cantgetin]

1 hour ago, DrSch said:

 

 

Friend on board just told me the captain announced a full credit for future cruise

Amazing!  My first thought when someone posted about "compensation" was that the incident, as reported last night, was in no way VV's fault.  This is FAR more than I've seen on any other line.  Very generous.

I would also add that there is nothing unsafe about the VV ships.  I have a friend who was afraid to sail because she might "fall" overboard, so I took a series of photos showing the railings in relation to my height.  The only way to go overboard "accidentally" would require some very foolish actions on the part of the individual(s) involved.

Edited April 3, 2023 by cantgetin

[sid_9169]

Wait, they're offering a full future cruise credit for a medical evacuation and change of itinerary? 

[Tyler414]

The ship turned around last night by the Keys and just left port Miami about 30 minutes ago.  

[CruisingWalter]

Truly sad situation. Future cruise credit means nothing to those impacted directly. Such a terrible situation. 

[AdoraBelle]

Maybe it's because the person (allegedly) landed on a lower deck, and presumably the outcome was visible to a lot of passengers, including from balconies on that side. I don't think that set of circumstances is as common as 'person overboard'. 

(I did hear (on reddit) that they got emergency tents up really fast to block the view, but still.)

Edited April 3, 2023 by AdoraBelle

[Wildcatllamas]

That is so sad. A terrible situation for those directly involved in it.

[CruisingWalter]

They passed away.  https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/video/virgin-voyages-passenger-died-after-going-over-balcony/

[DrSch]

Sorry, while it is a terrible thing, I have been on the ship, and you don't fall off those balconies if you are doing things like sitting in the hammock, or standing up next to the balcony looking at the sea / sky.  You fall off a balcony because you were climbing on things you shouldn't have been climbing on, or showing people how cool you were by sitting on the railing..  

So while I feel sorry for the people that had to watch her land, or try to help her when she did, I have no empathy for anyone else on that ship trying to make it about them, when it isn't.

[CruisingWalter]

34 minutes ago, DrSch said:

Sorry, while it is a terrible thing, I have been on the ship, and you don't fall off those balconies

 

Yep, people do not simply 'fall overboard' or 'fall off a balcony.' Those railings are 42 - 52" high on the ships so you have to work at it to go over. It's a terrible, terrible thing, but this is a completely avoidable situation.

 

Never sit on the railings. Never climb on anything on the balcony near the railings. Never lean out over the railings. There is literally zero margin for error. I've done multiple TikToks and YouTube videos about this. 

[cantgetin]

You would have to be quite tall to be able to even lean over the railing. The railing hits me at bust level, so there is no way I could bend at the waist to lean over.  I could not possibly fall while leaning on the railing.  Perhaps a 7 foot tall male could bend at the waist and lean over.

Every incident I've ever heard of where someone "went" overboard  from a balcony involved alcohol and either standing on furniture or intentionally climbing over the railing as some sort of a stunt.  There is no way for someone to go over accidentally. 

[jdarcy]

No matter how this happened...it is heartbreaking. My prayers are with her, any family or friends and really all aboard VL. I've toured that medical center a while back with one of the nurses (trying to recruit me) and as a flight nurse working in a level I trauma center, it was world class.  The nurses and doc I talked to knew what they were about and the chance of surviving any trauma like this are significantly enhanced when you only have to transport the person about 3 decks and maybe 500 feet into a well-run trauma bay with people who know what they are doing.  It may have been hopeless but I can tell you from experience that they gave it everything they had and left nothing on the table. I am sure the mood aboard is somber and reflective on how fragile life is and how precious life is and how precious we are to each other. 

 

[CruisingWalter]

34 minutes ago, jdarcy said:

've toured that medical center a while back with one of the nurses (trying to recruit me) and as a flight nurse working in a level I trauma center, it was world class. 

Thanks for sharing your insight. 

[Aquahound]

Unfortunately, the victim is deceased. 😢

 

Federal and local authorities have opened an investigation. 

[CruisingWalter]

1 hour ago, Aquahound said:

Federal and local authorities have opened an investigation. 

Standard procedure in any death on a cruise ship. 

[Lustate]

Just now, CruisingWalter said:

Standard procedure in any death on a cruise ship. 

kind of. It all comes down to the position of the ship, as the home port of the ships police may also have jurisdiction. There are some worry facts about the lack of investigations based on limited resources of some ports such as Nassau 

[Aquahound]

58 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

Standard procedure in any death on a cruise ship. 

Not necessarily. Circumstances and location determine what type of investigation and who does it. Plus, there are being differences between investigations involving injury, death, unattended death, and potential criminal. From what I’m hearing, this one might be the latter. 

[smokeybandit]

Since falling off a balcony is nearly impossible without intent, I can see why law enforcement would be curious.

[purpleally]

7 hours ago, DrSch said:

Sorry, while it is a terrible thing, I have been on the ship, and you don't fall off those balconies if you are doing things like sitting in the hammock, or standing up next to the balcony looking at the sea / sky.  You fall off a balcony because you were climbing on things you shouldn't have been climbing on, or showing people how cool you were by sitting on the railing..  

So while I feel sorry for the people that had to watch her land, or try to help her when she did, I have no empathy for anyone else on that ship trying to make it about them, when it isn't.

Or you want to “fall” off