QM2 to the rescue

[pisces1]

I thought by now, someone else would have posted this story, but I haven't noticed it yet, so I thought I would share it with the board. On our Westbound cruise from Southampton to New York, May 22-28, the QM2 became involved in a "rescue at sea".

 

The weather that trip was dicey, low clouds, high winds and even some fog. Wednesday late afternoon, the clouds miraculously disappeared, the seas went calm and a perfect evening seemed to be in store. I was headed to the Commodore's Club, a lounge located on the bow with awesome 180 views of the waters ahead. Just as I entered at 5:00 p.m, the captain came over the PA system to make an announcement. Those of you who have traveled on Cunard, know that it is very rare for the Captain to address the passengers unless it is his noon time update.

 

Commodore Warwick informed us that we have gone off course to respond to a Mayday from a fishing vessel off the coast of Newfoundland. The ship had caught fire and the status of the crew and vessel at the time was unknown. Apparently another fishing vessel had already arrived at the scene but we were still responding in case they needed further assistance. Maritime law dictates that the three closest ships to a Mayday must respond. A nearby freighter apparently was also making haste to that location. He let us know that we would be coming upon the scene in a short period of time and that we would be able to see the vessels off the starboard bow when we made our approach.

 

Of course, this caused a quite a stir at the Commodore's Club and elsewhere on the ship. The martini anethesized passengers suddenly leaped from their seats and crowded around all the windows. (Some etiquette and manners lost in the fray, unfortunately). Nevertheless, with such clear conditions, everyone could see the two vessels in the distance, with a little pushing and shoving, of course. Camcorders and cameras emerged from their hiding places.

 

As amazed as we were to witness this scene, I could not imagine the faces of the tired and frightened fisherman as our huge ship appeared before them. Here we were dressed in our Sunday best enjoying the evenings canapes, ports, wines, champagne and the like, while we watched the most simple struggle of life and death at sea. By then, we were so close we could see the orange rafts and the small heads bobbing in the calm seas while the other fishing vessel attempted to pluck them from the water. A Canadian Coast Guard plane continously circled the scene monitoring the rescue. The damaged boat listed to the port and looked as if it would become the North Atlantic's newest fatality.

 

Once we arrived, our stay was brief. All crew members were rescued aboard the other fishing vessel and were to be taken to St. Johns in Newfoundland. Commodore Warwick gave a grim prognosis for the vessel left behind, and we all prayed that the fishermen would return home safetly and without harm. We changed our course heading and the QM2 proceeded on its way towards the setting sun and New York City giving all the passengers something to talk about while they dined on their 4 star meal. And for me...something to think about.

[alita]

Ah yes... that was the day I was in quarantine with norovirus. I have a pretty good photo of the fishing boats taken from my balcony if anyone would like to see it.

 

alita

[slsman]

norovirus?????!!!!

 

on the QM2?

[alita]

Yes, there are sporadic cases but nothing approaching epidemic proportions any more as the ship has a fantastic system in place to deal with it the moment anyone is even suspected of having it.

 

In my case, I woke up in the night with the worst GI disturbance I can remember, I called the purser's office and they immediately dispached a nurse and what looked like a SWAT team to my room. While the nurse took care of me the guys in white sprayed every inch of my room and bath with disinfectant and replaced all towels and bedding with fresh stuff. I was given an injection and some tablets and the nurse told me to stay in the room and call her if it didn't get better. By morning the worst was over, the nurse then told me to stay in the room until the following day and order anything I wanted from room service... that was fine with me as I was so weak and exhausted I couldn't do more than lie on the bed and look out the window at the seas. The SWAT team came back and sprayed again (they did this every day and gave the room a huge going-over when I debarked), and by the following morning the nurse said I could leave the room and return to shipboard life.

 

I have nothing but praise for Cunard and the way this was handled. I asked the nurse (and Pamela, if you're reading this I again send my gratitude to you for the wonderful care I received) if there were many other cases but she said only a few, a couple of passengers and a crew member or two... their system makes it possible to contain the illness immediately as long as it is reported when the symptoms first begin. And by the way, Cunard picks up the medical tab... not a big thing but it shows how serious they are about keeping the QM2 virus free.

[ricker]

Pisces1, thank you for that most interesting account of the rescue. I had read in one of the threads that an SOS had been received, but had no idea that QM2 had gotten so close. That must have been fascinating (and reassuring). Did you take any photos you could share?

Thanks

RickJ

[rkacruiser]

My thanks, too, to pisces1 and alita for their very interesting tales. Such a positive experience(in spite of being very ill) with Cunard and QM2's staff that alita was able to relate contrasts with some of the very recent negative experiences one poster had.

[slsman]

Yes, thank you both for those accounts!

 

I hope I don't see that swat team later this week!!!

 

Good to hear that Cunard acts swiftly though.

 

Stephen

[DREUX]

Pisces1, thank you for that most interesting account of the rescue. I had read in one of the threads that an SOS had been received, but had no idea that QM2 had gotten so close. That must have been fascinating (and reassuring). Did you take any photos you could share?

Thanks

RickJ

 

Hi Rick,

 

I have a few pretty good photos of both the distressed vessel as well as the rescue vessel together. email me if you'd like them emailed to you. My email addres is: doug at howardmandville dot com. The QM2 was very close to the scene, no more than maybe 200 yards approx.

 

Doug

[pisces1]

Thanks for your kind words. I personally did not have a camera with me but looking at recent posts it seems that others did capture the moment and I hope others will post their photos from this most interesting event.

[alita]

I've posted two images at <http://www.kodakgallery.com/Welcome.jsp>

 

ID is lovesleblon@yahoo.com

 

password - cunard

 

alita

[Crouton]

Thank you for those photos.

 

And thank god it was such a calm, beautiful day.

 

Easy to imagine how things could go south fast in bad weather.