Anthem, Captain announcement at 4.30am

[1025cruise]

I think they need to use the "all call" so they can make sure all of the necessary crew are alerted. You have deck attendants that need to make sure things are strapped down, security to make sure the area is clear, etc. The announcement isn't just for the passengers.

[ATG]

Strangest one we had was about 1:00 am stating that a passenger needed a transfusion.  They asked for any verified blood donors with O+, but specified male only.  I didn’t know gender made a difference.

[Foodluvr]

5 minutes ago, ATG said:

Strangest one we had was about 1:00 am stating that a passenger needed a transfusion.  They asked for any verified blood donors with O+, but specified male only.  I didn’t know gender made a difference.

Guess that they wanted to avoid antibodies typically not found in men vs women who develop during pregnancy etc.  They generally try to gender match when transfusions are necessary when possible.

[ATC cruiser]

12 minutes ago, ATG said:

Strangest one we had was about 1:00 am stating that a passenger needed a transfusion.  They asked for any verified blood donors with O+, but specified male only.  I didn’t know gender made a difference.

I didn't know it made a difference either, so I googled it. In some cases it does. Who knew 

[ATG]

3 minutes ago, Foodluvr said:

Guess that they wanted to avoid antibodies typically not found in men vs women who develop during pregnancy etc.  They generally try to gender match when transfusions are necessary when possible.

Thanks.  I have little to no knowledge of anything medical.  I’ve always wondered.

[nelblu]

We had a situation on our Anthem August 2019 where a passenger required a blood transfusion.  The CD kept asking over the loudspeaker if passengers had the needed blood type to donate.  They were not successful and sometime in the afternoon off the coast of Connecticut came a coast guard helicopter.  The copter did not land and made a couple of forays and at one time hovered over the ship.  No further announcements made and assume that the blood type was delivered as after some time we began sailing again. 
Dont know why it did not land. 

Edited September 8, 2023 by nelblu

[broadwaybaby123]

Not at 4:30AM, but yes. One of the occasions was on our first Sea Day and I happen to be in the cabin. You could see them airlift two people by looking out my window!

[nelblu]

9 hours ago, CruisinBanka said:

We had an announcement around 2:00 am on a cruise, about a year ago on the first night of the cruise, saying we were going back to embarkation port for a medical emergency. Captain said they made announcement so guest would know why we were back in Ft Lauderdale. 

Something like that happened some years ago on the Anthem.  Coming up north and being about a day out of Bayonne, I woke up and drew my balcony cabin drapes and some strange land formation is staring me in the face.  The formation looked familiar, and it took me a few minutes and sure enough I realized that it was Bermuda.  About an hour later there was a boat rushing towards us and came to the side and then a gentleman was transferred to it and proceeded to go towards Hamilton.

 

By the way if there was an announcement, I and my wife did not hear it.

[jean87510]

Earplugs are helpful with sleeping through announcements as well as snoring roommates.  

 

I never hear announcements in my Royal Caribbean cabins.  I have seen helicopters at least 3-4x in my cruise history on Royal. 

Unfortunately at 130am and 4am on my Carnival Elation sailing last month the cabin loudspeaker was on and I heard Alpha Alpha Alpha Lido deck 2x.  

[crazyank]

17 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

I agree that such a thing could've waited for the Captain's noontime announcement. 

Nope,  reassurance and info need to be given as soon as possible.

[hannibal54]

14 hours ago, mo&fran said:

Unless it is a military ship, or a private yacht, I would say never.

 

I served on an US aircraft carrier, I saw a lot of aircraft taking off and landing.

[ScottishRobbie]

10 hours ago, nelblu said:

We had a situation on our Anthem August 2019 where a passenger required a blood transfusion.  The CD kept asking over the loudspeaker if passengers had the needed blood type to donate.  They were not successful and sometime in the afternoon off the coast of Connecticut came a coast guard helicopter.  The copter did not land and made a couple of forays and at one time hovered over the ship.  No further announcements made and assume that the blood type was delivered as after some time we began sailing again. 
Dont know why it did not land. 

The reason that it never landed is probably because the Quantum class only have a winch pad rather than a helipad. A winch pad is basically when someone from the helicopter comes down onto the ship on a rope, rather than the helicopter actually landing on the ship (that would only happen if it was a helipad). I can't say for sure but I'd imagine that this would be because the specific area of the ship that has the winch pad would be unable to hold the weight of the helicopter

[LouChamp]

Aloha.  I guess the Captain felt it necessary in order to allay any worries. It is a tough call.  Years ago, on our way to Bermuda for reasons unknown one of the lifeboats was being tested while at sea! Anyway this lady happened to look outside her window (no balcony) and saw the lifeboat going down. She grabbed her life jacket and ran upstairs. I happened to be  near the pursers deck when it happened lol! Point of the story is it is a tough call regarding the announcement.

[Tin can]

13 hours ago, ATG said:

Strangest one we had was about 1:00 am stating that a passenger needed a transfusion.  They asked for any verified blood donors with O+, but specified male only.  I didn’t know gender made a difference.

 

I'm surprised at this as when you give blood you also have samples taken which are tested and the results take 1-2 days to come back.

 

I'm not sure I would want blood straight from someone else but I guess it depends on how serious the circumstances are.

[BND]

1 hour ago, LouChamp said:

Aloha.  I guess the Captain felt it necessary in order to allay any worries. It is a tough call.  Years ago, on our way to Bermuda for reasons unknown one of the lifeboats was being tested while at sea! Anyway this lady happened to look outside her window (no balcony) and saw the lifeboat going down. She grabbed her life jacket and ran upstairs. I happened to be  near the pursers deck when it happened lol! Point of the story is it is a tough call regarding the announcement.

Oh come on.  Like they're going to just evacuate without telling anyone.   I've never seen them lower them while underway.  Too easy to damage it while moving.  You couldn't have been going very fast,

[BND]

44 minutes ago, Tin can said:

 

I'm surprised at this as when you give blood you also have samples taken which are tested and the results take 1-2 days to come back.

 

I'm not sure I would want blood straight from someone else but I guess it depends on how serious the circumstances are.

They generally ask for people who have donated previously.   Some people carry cards with their info that have been issued to them.  

[bucfan2]

23 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

I agree that such a thing could've waited for the Captain's noontime announcement. 

Ya, but he may have decided that those napping would have constitued a greater number of whiners if he extended the noon announcement.  Additionally, image the whiners if no announcement had been made at all. What an inconvenience either way for all those safely onboard during this medical situation 🤨

Edited September 9, 2023 by bucfan2

[LouChamp]

1 hour ago, BND said:

Oh come on.  Like they're going to just evacuate without telling anyone.   I've never seen them lower them while underway.  Too easy to damage it while moving.  You couldn't have been going very fast,

Aloha. Totally agree but as I said this was decades ago and I have no idea why it happened 

[Mum2Mercury]

20 hours ago, GimmeOcean said:

I'd probably want to go watch. How often does one get to see a helicopter land on the ship?

I saw a helicopter land on our school football field once (mid-day, a JROTC event).  The wind it created was so strong that it blew away the huge, heavy metal benches upon which the athletes sit on the sidelines.  I was amazed.  

20 hours ago, klfrodo said:

One of those Damned if you do, Damned if you don't situations.

Agree.  

[RedIguana]

20 hours ago, GimmeOcean said:

 

I'd probably want to go watch. How often does one get to see a helicopter land on the ship?

 

20 hours ago, neverbeenhere said:

Yes, those helicopters hover and not land if at all possible.

 

14 hours ago, nelblu said:

We had a situation on our Anthem August 2019 where a passenger required a blood transfusion.  The CD kept asking over the loudspeaker if passengers had the needed blood type to donate.  They were not successful and sometime in the afternoon off the coast of Connecticut came a coast guard helicopter.  The copter did not land and made a couple of forays and at one time hovered over the ship.  No further announcements made and assume that the blood type was delivered as after some time we began sailing again. 
Dont know why it did not land. 

Next time you are on a ship and have access to the "helicopter pad" on a ship, look at the weight ratings stamped on it. Most likely has 10,000 lbs (or less) stamped on it. Those coast guard, rescue, or medical choppers are usually greater than that (There might be a few short range that squeak under that, I think the short range Dolphin does). Most choppers are incapable of landing on the pads due to weight. Also, the bow is the worst place to try and land a helicopter, especially on a moving ship. Landing is much more dangerous than sending down a basket and winching, even if landing was possible.

[GimmeOcean]

39 minutes ago, RedIguana said:

Landing is much more dangerous than sending down a basket and winching, even if landing was possible.

Makes sense. I’d still want to go watch!

[nelblu]

1 hour ago, RedIguana said:

 

 

Next time you are on a ship and have access to the "helicopter pad" on a ship, look at the weight ratings stamped on it. Most likely has 10,000 lbs (or less) stamped on it. Those coast guard, rescue, or medical choppers are usually greater than that (There might be a few short range that squeak under that, I think the short range Dolphin does). Most choppers are incapable of landing on the pads due to weight. Also, the bow is the worst place to try and land a helicopter, especially on a moving ship. Landing is much more dangerous than sending down a basket and winching, even if landing was possible.

The weight was what my thinking but needed someone in the know as to why the Op incident (passenger was air lifted) as compared to my experience.  Thanks to you and @ScottishRobbie for a concise explanation. 

 

By the way the ship was still in the water and although the copter was a good distance away you could hear the sound/noise of its motor.

[schmoopie17]

Maybe it's just me (it usually is), but I find the use of "tannoy" very (t)annoying.

[Bocker3]

8 hours ago, Tin can said:

 

I'm surprised at this as when you give blood you also have samples taken which are tested and the results take 1-2 days to come back.

 

I'm not sure I would want blood straight from someone else but I guess it depends on how serious the circumstances are.

It would NEVER, EVER take 1-2 days to get blood tests back for a blood transfusion - if that were true people would die on operating tables and in ERs in large numbers.

 

I've worked in a hospital blood bank - you can do an emergency crossmatch between a donor and recipient in mere minutes.

 

I would guess that they would do some sort of quick crossmatch test before giving any blood.  It would have to be a dire emergency to risk giving blood without at least a basic mixing of the donor's cells with the recipient's plasma -- think battlefield situations.

[PompeySailor]

On 9/8/2023 at 10:06 AM, firefly333 said:

Wonder has had 9 emergencies I read yesterday. Some people are making a big deal of how many and worrying. I think it's good the captain gets on the pa. Some of these caused the ship course to change. 

7 this week 6 last week

Its the norm these days 

We only changed course once and left two ports 6 and 7hrs respectively 

After 6 days of hitting 22 knots and above - our horses are knackered 😉

 

Yes all on Wonder, not sure who was making a big deal about it, no one started a thread, it didn’t even make local news 

 

I think it might have been mentioned on a  Roll call by a certain 🐾 Veteran