Medical evacuation/delayed boarding

[Ellipooh]

Wehave been advised by email and text that there is some sort of medical emergency on board the Grand, resulting in a delayed arrival in SF tomorrow morning. Here is the email:

 

Please be advised that due to an emergency medical disembarkation, Grand Princess will now arrive approximately two hours later than scheduled into San Francisco on Monday, September 3, 2018. We do not anticipate this delay will affect embarkation for your cruise, which is scheduled to begin at 1:00 PM.

 

Please do not arrive at the pier early as we will still be disembarking guests from the current voyage. We ask that you arrive at the check-in time as indicated on your progressive boarding schedule as there is very limited seating and facilities at the terminal. If you have purchased a Princess Cruise Plus Package/Transfer, your check-in time will be provided at your hotel or the airport.

 

We regret any inconvenience this may cause, and look forward to welcoming you aboard to begin your cruise vacation.

 

I am impressed with the effort of Princess to notify embarking pax such as myself of the delay, and we certainly hope for good outcome for the poor passenger. I also imagine that many passengers have their return flights in jeopardy right now.

[Micahs Grandad]

Hope the passenger is ok.

 

Probably went to another port to get them faster treatment.

[fishywood]

So ship will arrive at 9:00 instead of the scheduled 7:00. If they prioritize disembarkation for those passengers who booked flights within Princess' guidelines (no earlier than 12:00) they should all make it, though their bags end up on a later flight. For those who booked a flight too early, they made their bed, as they say...

 

But according to Marine Tracker the ETA from the ship's current position (as marked at roughly 22:00 UTC, or 3 PM Pacific Time) to San Francisco is less than 15 hours at her current speed. At that rate hopefully will be fully alongside and cleared for disembarkation possibly even a bit before 9:00.

 

The ship's track shows a deviation very close to shore (but not docked) off Newport OR presumably very early this morning. Hope the affected person is now doing better.

[geocruiser]

I hope that the PAX will be OK. I just check vessel finder, and the ship looks like it is making good time.

[Outerdog]

Hope the passenger is ok.

 

Probably went to another port to get them faster treatment.

 

It appears they did a course diversion to meet a helicopter. You can see the track on Marine Traffic.

[Pam in CA]

This was a helicopter evacuation earlier today. It took longer than usual since even after three announcements by the Captain, passengers on the port side were still on their balconies. The Captain had to finally let them know that photos of them on their balcony were taken and would be reported to the Coast Guard. Don’t know who the Captain is but he’s my hero.

[GUT2407]

Hope they also texted those who may have left internet access.

 

Hope the passenger is OK.

[moki'smommy]

Hope they also texted those who may have left internet access.

 

Hope the passenger is OK.

When we had a boarding delay, we were contacted by Princess thru e-mail and text, as well as being notified by our TA thru e-mail and a cell phone call.

[AF-1]

Pam I am confused with your reply. Did the chopper land on the ship? How does passengers on balcony come into play? Thanks for your response in advance.

 

Timmy

[cheeseclan]

Here is an article about the USCGA rescue.

 

https://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-medevacs-71-year-old-from-cruise-ship-grand-princess/2018/09/02/

[Plant]

Pam I am confused with your reply. Did the chopper land on the ship? How does passengers on balcony come into play? Thanks for your response in advance.

 

Timmy

 

They ask that passenger's on the side of the ship where the helicopter will be hovering, stay off their balconies because of the draft and also to avoid distracting the pilot (i.e. with flash photography).

[cclarke12]

Yes very unfortunate that it took numerous announcements by the captain before a small number of selfish passengers would go back into cabins and close their balconies as requested. It required him to put an announcement out early this morning across the whole ship to get compliance. In an emergency situation this selfishness could delay the rescue unnecessarily.

 

Well the selfish passengers are well known faces now as the captain did a debrief on the evacuation and shared their photos - demonstrating they can take CCTV pictures of balconies. Well done to the captain for shaming them.

 

He explained that in such an emergency the balcony cabins near the point of the airlift are evacuated due the risks involved if the helicopter hit the ship, and other balcony passengers on that side are asked to stay inside their cabins for safety reasons too.

 

A good assertive captain that didn’t mince his words. As he says he’s the captain, the buck stops with him and he expects passengers to obey him.

[Micahs Grandad]

Yes very unfortunate that it took numerous announcements by the captain before a small number of selfish passengers would go back into cabins and close their balconies as requested. It required him to put an announcement out early this morning across the whole ship to get compliance. In an emergency situation this selfishness could delay the rescue unnecessarily.

 

Well the selfish passengers are well known faces now as the captain did a debrief on the evacuation and shared their photos - demonstrating they can take CCTV pictures of balconies. Well done to the captain for shaming them.

 

He explained that in such an emergency the balcony cabins near the point of the airlift are evacuated due the risks involved if the helicopter hit the ship, and other balcony passengers on that side are asked to stay inside their cabins for safety reasons too.

 

A good assertive captain that didn’t mince his words. As he says he’s the captain, the buck stops with him and he expects passengers to obey him.

 

Good for him. Helicopter pilot over a moving ship is not exactly an easy thing to do and awful that people might make it harder.

[riclop]

Thanks for the info.

[Retired_Army]

Good for him. Helicopter pilot over a moving ship is not exactly an easy thing to do and awful that people might make it harder.

 

Actually, hovering over a moving ship isn't all that hard. What is hard is trying to land on the ship when it is moving, pitching and rolling.

[Auntie Mae]

If a passenger is on the balcony with the door closed, is it possible to hear announcments? I have trouble hearing announcements in the state room.

[moki'smommy]

If a passenger is on the balcony with the door closed, is it possible to hear announcments? I have trouble hearing announcements in the state room.

The ship is normally set to broadcast announcements into public areas after the muster drill. However, in a real emergency, it is a simple matter of throwing a switch to have announcements broadcast into all staterooms on the ship. So yes, they will be a lot louder than what you normally experience.

 

The normal, non-emergency deal is designed to not disturb people who are in their cabins.

[Coffeeluvr05]

Pam I am confused with your reply. Did the chopper land on the ship? How does passengers on balcony come into play? Thanks for your response in advance.

 

 

 

Timmy

 

 

 

The passenger was hoisted out. Not sure what you mean by your question about the passengers on their balcony is. Doesn’t really matter though, they defied the captain’s order to not be there. Not sure why people think they need an explanation before they listen to what they are told. It could mean their life or someone else’s.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[moki'smommy]

The passenger was hoisted out. Not sure what you mean by your question about the passengers on their balcony is. Doesn’t really matter though, they defied the captain’s order to not be there. Not sure why people think they need an explanation before they listen to what they are told. It could mean their life or someone else’s.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I think the question was whether the passengers could hear the announcements. Thus my response about broadcasting announcements into the cabins or into public areas only.

[cheeseclan]

Actually, hovering over a moving ship isn't all that hard. What is hard is trying to land on the ship when it is moving, pitching and rolling.

 

 

Why would you say that hovering over a moving ship is not that hard? They are hovering over a ship while lowering the rescue swimmer and baskets down and then back up. Lots of things can go wrong. Safety is number one for the USCG.

 

By the way the USCG does land their helicopters on some cutters and they too are moving!

[Pam in CA]

I think the question was whether the passengers could hear the announcements. Thus my response about broadcasting announcements into the cabins or into public areas only.

The announcement would have been broadcast throughout the ship, in private as well as public areas. In a case this this, would would be similar to an emergency broadcast.

 

Hopefully, Frank (AstroFlyer) will see this thread and post. As a former helicopter pilot, he has a lot of insight into the issues and danger to the pilot, CG personnel, ship and passengers. The Coast Guard makes it look easy. It isn’t and has a lot of inherent danger.

[Colo Cruiser]

Pam I am confused with your reply. Did the chopper land on the ship? How does passengers on balcony come into play? Thanks for your response in advance.

 

Timmy

 

 

They Do Not land on the ship.

[Toofarfromthesea]

 

Well the selfish passengers are well known faces now as the captain did a debrief on the evacuation and shared their photos - demonstrating they can take CCTV pictures of balconies. Well done to the captain for shaming them.

 

 

On a lighter note, this capability might give pause to any pax who enjoy a little al fresco ooo-la-la on their balcony.

[Pam in CA]

On a lighter note, this capability might give pause to any pax who enjoy a little al fresco ooo-la-la on their balcony.

This is well-known and has been for many years but it hasn’t stopped anyone. There are officers on the bridge with binoculars checking the water, ship, balconies, etc. 24/7. Very few balconies are truly private. The Sun/Sea/Dawn, Pacific Princess and aft and Emerald deck mini-suite balconies are the most private.

[antsp]

We were on The Emerald a few years ago in Norway when they had to medivac a crew member of via helicopter. This was about 9pm at night, in full day light. The crew cleared the MUTS pool and removed all deck chairs and tied stuff down. All passengers did the right thing and cleared the area, however 1 passenger approached the pool area from the deck area from under skywalkers trying to take pictures with a large slr camera. He ignored the crew a number of times as he was passing pass the glass wind blocks. Never new what happened to this passenger but if I was the captain I’d have left him in the next port.