Medical emergency on Infinity 5/20/Juneau

[flagger]

Posted about HERE

 

I was called by the Officer of the Watch at 3 am. and when I arrived at 03.30 I just saw the Infinity racing ahead of us. That was not the plan. It turned out that they had a medical emergency and requested to dock first. When lives are at stake all else falls by the way side so the Veendam moved aside a bit and the Infinity sped ahead and based on their speed could be docked by 04.30.

 

Best plans can fall apart and when the Infinity approached the dock, they were informed by a cheerful agent voice that the linesmen were not there yet but would arrive around 4.45 am. Maybe they live far away, or the emergency was a last minute thing but I assume that the Infinity captain was not a happy camper with this 30 minute delay in docking as it would also mean a delay in getting the patient ashore for treatment.

I hope the patient is okay.

[DocJohnB]

Posted about HERE

 

I hope the patient is okay.

 

So do I.

 

Got to thank you for the link. A ship's Captain's blog. Should make for some interesting reading.

[lysolqn]

We were on Millennium 5/5 - 5/19 and lost count of the medical emergencies, including two medivacs at sea.

[flashdog_1]

We were on Millennium 5/5 - 5/19 and lost count of the medical emergencies, including two medivacs at sea.

 

Bad luck for all involved! Was your itinerary affected?

[lysolqn]

Bad luck for all involved! Was your itinerary affected?

 

Yes, bad luck for all involved; no, itinerary wasn't affected.

[BBsails]

I was on the same ship as lysolqn May 5-19, Celebrity Millennium. Although the itinerary wasn't directly affected, the third medical emergency of the cruise, a Coast Guard medivac by boat, caused the ship to change course and backtrack a bit just before we were scheduled to do a naturalist-narrated inside passage transit. Because of the emergency we started through the passage just at dark. The naturalist didn't narrate because it was too dark and foggy to see much. It was one of the events of the cruise I was looking forward to most, so I was disappointed; however, getting the medical situation taken care of was a higher priority than the passengers' enjoyment of the scenery.

[janohara]

BBSails-

 

We are leaving on the Mille next week for the Alaska cruise. Would you mind writing up some of your favorites, weather, excursions etc? I am sure that everyone on the May 30th departure will appreciate it.

Thanks - Jan

[wolfshadow]

BBSails-

 

We are leaving on the Mille next week for the Alaska cruise. Would you mind writing up some of your favorites, weather, excursions etc? I am sure that everyone on the May 30th departure will appreciate it.

Thanks - Jan

Jan - We're on the Millie the week right after you. We are doing a 5 nt landcruise before boarding her in Seward on the 6th going southbound. Take good care of her for us!

[BBsails]

Sure, Jan.

 

This was our third cruise, the first on Celebrity. We loved Celebrity and the Millennium despite the weather, which was often rainy, foggy, and cold. By the way, we weren't expecting tropical temps, but the weather was mostly gloomy. We didn't let it interfere with our cruise though.

 

Ship highlights included the attitude of the crew, which was uniformly welcoming and positive; the thallasotherapy pool with its warm bubbly salt water was a relaxing daily must-do; the almond croissants from the Cova Cafe were spectacular with our morning coffee. However, the coffee, other than that in the Cova Cafe, was virtually undrinkable, and I hope they do something to improve the quality soon (I am not a coffee snob). Overall, the food was outstanding for the number of meals prepared daily. We toured the galley, and it was fascinating to see how they serve 2000 passengers throughout the day and night.

 

The ports were interesting. We didn't book any formal excursions, but if we return to Alaska we'll try to get out of the towns to see some of the outlying areas. I found the huge number of shops filled with trinkets from China and the ubiquitous diamond shops to be a disappointing inauthentic presence in the small towns. Even this early in the season there were often several ships in port, overwhelming the towns with tourists. But as an intro to the area, we enjoyed strolling around.

 

The day at the Hubbard Glacier was unforgettable. The naturalist narrated our journey beautifully, while the captain moved the ship so we could all get views of the calving activity. I was totally unprepared for the utter peacefulness of the area. Tip: If you plan to be outside that day, nab a couple of the woolly blankets available on shelves next to the pool. You'll be glad you did.

 

I wish we'd seen more wildlife. We spotted one whale, one sea otter, one harbor seal, and lots of seagulls, but that was about it. I understand there is a greater animal presence during salmon spawning season when the animals feed on the fish.

 

That's a very brief review, and I hope you and your cruisemates have as good a time as we did. Bon voyage!

 

Betsy

[aaklang]

Strange... I was on Infinity and knew nothing about this emergency until I logged on today and read this post. Hopefully the injured/ill passenger was ok. Needless to say, our itinerary was not affected at all.

 

Cruise was fantastic - great weather and beautiful sights. Our day in Juneau was gorgeous so we took the Mt. Roberts tram up to the top for great views and then took the shuttle out to Mendenhall Glacier.

 

Got to within two miles of Hubbard Glacier on a gorgeous sunny day, saw a whale, and saw the glacier calving.

 

We took a floatplane in Ketchikan through Island Wings. The sights were really pretty and the tour itself was fantastic - highly recommended.

 

To all who are cruising Alaska this season - have fun! I've been home for 3 hours and I miss it already!