Ever been on a cruise that was re-diverted to take part in a rescue mission?

[jsn55]

23 hours ago, trouble1964 said:

That is incredibly sad that so many were unable to be rescued. 

 

We usually don't know when bad things happen on a cruise. I have a co-worker whose mother died their first day at sea. The staff did all they could, but she had a massive heart attack in the cabin and couldn't be saved. Due to paperwork and laws, it was suggested they keep her in the morgue until they made it back to the home port, in the US, so they did. My co-worker said the staff was very caring and went to extremes to help them with phone calls, bringing food to their cabin, etc. Meanwhile, everyone else on board was having a great time and didn't know that 7 other people were grieving. 

 

One cruise I was on didn't actually do a diversion, per se, but we did come across a big sailboat that had engine trouble. It was at night and an elderly couple was on board. Our port the next day was Martinique. The water was extremely choppy, but the ship sent out a lifeboat/dingy type boat to the sailboat with an engineer and some other crew to try to help them. The ship wasn't able to tow them, and they refused to leave their boat, so we had to leave a crew member with them,  and someone from Martinique came and towed the sailboat. Of course we were late to Martinique, but that was ok. We had to wait a little while past our departure time for the crew member to make it back as well. The Captain said that according to maritime law (I think) that we couldn't leave them without help, so that's why the crew member stayed with them. The water was so rough, it was tossing that little boat from the ship around like a toy, and the crew had a hard time boarding the sailboat, but they got it done! 

Wow, what a story!  

[BruceMuzz]

I have been many times on ships that were diverted to assist in emergencies.

I have never been on a ship that was Re-Diverted to assist in an emergency.