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Medical emergencies cutting cruises short, a new trend for RC??


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It seems lately, Royal Caribbean has a growing trend of either cutting cruises short or taking passengers on a different route, due to some sort of medical emergency on board.  By all means, I understand things happen.  However, a medical emergency has occurred on multiple cruises recently, (mine, a close friend of mine and other people I've talked to).  We all reside near port Canaveral, Florida, which is the port we all departed from for our Royal Caribbean cruises.  Just yesterday, I see in the news, that a RC cruise had to go back to port Canaveral due to a medical emergency, causing traffic issues in the area and the passengers never got to sail to the destination they paid for.  Same thing happened to me.  On my RC cruise, we couldn't go to Haiti as planned, due to a medical emergency on board, we had to port in Miami, and then circled around in the water near Miami for 3 days.  But, RC said, don't worry, we'll give you 2 days at Coco Cay.  What a joke.  Is RC trying to save on fuel costs?  Or do they just want to keep you at their resort, Coco Cay, so you spend your money there, and not some other place, at another destination?  It's a really disturbing trend.  I was so concerned about the passenger on our cruise, praying they were ok.  And now it seems a lot more prayers are needed for the immense number of medical emergencies occurring on RC cruise lines.  In years past, the Coast Guard would respond and assist, or a chopper would fly out to the ship.  Doesn't seem like that happens anymore, which is a concern, if there is a true medical emergency.  Get it together, RC.
 

 

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I really doubt that this is a new trend that RC is starting. I remember many years ago, on a Disney cruise, that we had not one but two medical emergencies. The first as we were sailing away from St. Thomas required us to turn back to the dock to let the sick passenger and family off. The next one happened a day or two later on our way to Castaway Cay, which required the ship to divert to Turks and Caicos where again we had to disembark the sick passenger and family. Unfortunately due to these unfortunate incidents, we never made it to Castaway Cay. 

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I appreciate everyone's feedback.  Thank you for sharing your cruise experiences and thoughts with me.  And I agree, the media does seem to be highlighting these types of issues more often than not, lately.  

User D Alt, regarding your comment, I'm far from a troll but if its makes your feel better to put me down, go for it.  Slinging insults  is so uncalled for.  I send nothing but good vibes your way and will pray for you.  

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Sadly, I think these things just happen. I was on a cruise in 2003 (Princess) when a man collapsed and died right in the theater shortly before a show 😢…we had to make an unscheduled stop for them to offload his body and disembark his grieving relatives. My parents were on a Regent cruise about five years ago when a terminally ill man jumped overboard in the middle of the night…the ship spent hours circling and looking in vain for any sign of him, causing them to miss their last port stop. 
 

Also, your post states you missed Haiti and spent an extra day in Coco Cay, which you suspected may have been for self serving interests on RC’s part to get you to spend money at their own island. I could be wrong, as I have only been on two RC cruises (soon to be 3 and 4 next year), but isn’t Haiti also RC’s own port stop? It doesn’t seem like it would benefit them in any way financially to take away one of their own ports and substitute another.

Anyway, I’m sorry your trip didn’t go as planned. I wouldn’t let it deter you from future sailings though, and hopefully your next one will go according to schedule.

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15 minutes ago, Sunny_D said:

I could be wrong, as I have only been on two RC cruises (soon to be 3 and 4 next year), but isn’t Haiti also RC’s own port stop? It doesn’t seem like it would benefit them in any way financially to take away one of their own ports and substitute another.

Yes, Labadee (Haiti) is one of Royal's leased, exclusive properties.

Enjoy your cruises next year! I see someone has also caught the cruise bug!

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9 hours ago, D Alt said:

I think this site needs to find a better way to weed out these first-time posters and differentiate them from the trolls which seem to be popping up a lot lately.  Or maybe not answer them. 

Obviously, we are all free to ignore the post, but imho I think you meet this type of speech with alternate speech.

I think this kind of post is really part of a bigger trend in America where everything that doesn't go as planned or perfectly must be part of some larger scheme to keep the common person down.  None of us can prove it isn't a scheme and if Royal weighed in here themselves their words would be discounted with "of course they will say that...".  You can't really win.

OP, you have to decide for yourself if this is what you really believe and if so then you must decide if cruising is what you wish to do.

I've never had a personal emergency on a cruise, but if I did, I hope the other guests would understand if it interrupted our collective journey.

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2 hours ago, Xaa said:

I think this kind of post is really part of a bigger trend in America where everything that doesn't go as planned or perfectly must be part of some larger scheme to keep the common person down.  None of us can prove it isn't a scheme and if Royal weighed in here themselves their words would be discounted with "of course they will say that...".  You can't really can’t win  

We had a very similar discussion at work this past week (I work in the meat department for a major regional supermarket chain). 
 

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Didn’t Jewel leave from Port Canaveral?
 

if this is the sailing referenced, I’m going to guess that the safety of the premature baby and his mother were first and foremost on the minds of the captain and crew, not getting the guests to CocoCay to spend more….the same CocoCay where a person does not have to spend extra money to enjoy the island.  In the various articles I’ve read, the neonatologist in Miami, who assisted by phone, says the Royal Caribbean staff did an incredible job keeping the baby alive.  That is something to celebrate.  
 

In November of 2021 we were on Freedom and had to hang around outside Nassau until the authorities there were ready to receive a person onboard who was having a medical emergency.  When we docked, we watched from our balcony as an ambulance came out on the pier to get the person.   Our thoughts were on the person who needed the ambulance as well as their family, not any perceived inconveniences. 

This is a publicly accessible message board where you put your personal opinions out for everyone to read.   Based on this, I have formed a personal opinion of you, and any further comments I see under your screen name will be colored by my first impressions.  That being said, you certainty are allowed to have your opinions, just as I’m allowed to have mine.

 

 

 

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On a cruise at the moment, and if there was a medical emergency (which could be me or Significant Other) I certainly would want Royal to do "whatever if takes" to resolve the issue.   Have seen at least eighteen re-routes or evacuations over the years. Royal and other cruise lines should continue to put passengers' well-being out front.

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Let's not forget that Royal is one of the largest cruise lines in the world that services literally millions of passengers each year. Unfortunately, medical emergencies will happen... it just naturally can be more dramatic and publicized when it occurs at sea rather than on land. It may require a helicopter evac or itinerary change that may "inconvenience" other passengers.

We never hear about the medical emergencies at land-based resorts, etc., because it doesn't generally impact other tourists' vacations. I bet there are exponentially more medical emergencies at Disney World as an example, but we never hear about those situations (unless it's a fatality).

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Helicopter evacuations are not appropriate for every medical emergency nor are they available in all weather conditions or sea states in all regions.  A patient may not be stable enough for the extra stress of being hoisted in a basket to a helicopter.   Helicopters have limited range and the USCG does not provide worldwide coverage or even coverage more than a few hundred miles away from the US.  When a ship requests medical assistance the relevant agency in each region such as the USCG decides how to proceed and they can direct the ship to make the closest port at which point the bridge crew are likely to make every effort to comply.  

I've been on several cruises before 2020 where we have diverted to meet a helicopter but we sailed for hours to put is in range to effect a helicopter evac.  

Every situation is unique and in every situation they will do the best that can be done for that unique situation.  

I'm not seeing a trend other than more of what has been occurring for years.  Accidents happen, unplanned medical events happen.  Life happens.  The crew respond to the situation.  When they do they can't just declare they'll visit any port that may suit your fancy as an alternate.  Most cruise ports are full of ships from various cruise lines and there often isn't room for another ship that wasn't expected.  Ships travel relatively slowly and there are usually limited options within range that also allow the ship to get back to the home port on time.  They do the best they can with the circumstances and options available.   

You can choose to perceive some sinister plan or you can accept that someone had a medical event and the best they could do wasn't good enough for you.  That's on you.  Ship happens.

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I've only been on one cruise that was rerouted for a medical emergency. Having said that I am an early riser. I'm usually on the walking track or sitting on the balcony when the ships dock. When I'm overlooking the dock side, it's not uncommon to see an ambulance there taking somebody off as soon the ship is tied up, last cruise I counted about 6 times (that's just randomly looking over the side).

 

If the roles were reversed and you needed a hospital, would you rather them turn around to go to a hospital in Miami or would you rather them continue on and go to one in Haiti

 

 

 

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As with many things, with more platforms with which to report (message boards, podcasts, cruise-related YouTube channels,  it's reported more.   It used to be that nobody would have known anything about these incidences unless they were actually on the sailing, and then they probably didn't have anywhere to announce it to the world.

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I am far from being an expert on anything discussed here. But I imagine Coast Guard evacuations also depends on location. A cruise leaving from Cape Liberty or Baltimore and heading south might be more likely to do a USCG evac since they spend a lot of time hugging the US East Coast.

Personally, I would never be upset at re-routing due to medical evac, inclement weather, civil unrest, etc. It just goes to show you the great lengths Royal will take for the sake of passenger safety.

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