Emergency signal on QM2

[danceman]

Was anyone else on QM2 when the emergency signal went off during dinner? It was about 3 months after she was launched and the signal went off for about 5 minutes with no announcement. It was really scary! About half of the people in the restaurant carried on eating (like on the Titanic) and about half left to get life jackets. It was chaos out on the stair-well with crew running about. The signal stopped after about 5 minutes and the captain announced that a fault had set the alarm off. It was really unnearving and put us off our dinner...i shall never forget it. The next night the captain came over the tannoy again which made our heart jump to ask for blood doners for a member of crew who was seriously ill...obviously necessary but it left a weird atmosphere after the previous nights events.

[exlondoner]

I was not, but a friend of my husband (Age 80+) was. He said the worst thing was climbing from the restaurant on 3 Deck up to his cabin on 11 or 12 deck to get his lifejacket. It was along way without using lifts. Though he spent several days in an open boat in mid-Atlantic in WW2, having been torpedoed, so has tended to take most things calmly ever since.

[cruisinpsudude]

Was on this trip - was walking around the promenade deck rounding the bow of the ship and the siren went off. Knew something was not OKay when the crew started locking the liquor and began running around. Many donned their life vests and started to make way to their muster stations.

 

I believe that the siren went off not because it was faulty, but because of a kitchen fire? That was reports after we got off the ship . . .

 

The crew member that needed the blood was in the band if I remember right and he was the first person air lifted off of the ship.

 

The last night on the return to NYC we had to turn around due to a boat being spotted off of one side. We did a figure 8 to turn back - the vessel ended up being empty, but was called into the US Coast Guard.

 

That was a very interesting trip, have been back on the QM2 once since then and will be on again in January . . . second trip had no such issues!

 

ryan

[danceman]

it was the trumpet player airlifted off if i remember rightly.

i was sitting in the jacuzzi when this 4 propeller plane came really low straight at us the went around in a circle and came in again. It transpired it was the coastgaurd in preparation for the helicopter for the airlift but at first it was alarming as we all still memories of 9/11 in our minds.

I didnt know about the empty vessel though.