The Magic had another medical emergency & a delay getting to CC today 3/4

[3Mickeys]

We just returned from the Magic Eastern that had the two medical emergencies. It was the first cruise for my family, and yes, we missed Castaway Cay. It was a disappointment, but after sitting on our verandah and seeing the family leaving in an ambulance on Grand Turk, we all counted our blessings. Unfortunately some guests weren't so understanding. I witnessed many people angrily expressing themselves to crew members. I was sitting at the future cruise sales desk when the announcement was made and one woman went storming past saying "Like I will EVER go on another Disney Cruise after this!" Also saw two guests getting into it arguing over the right and wrong of it.

For the most part everyone was understanding and concerned for the two families that were evacuated. Missing Castaway Cay was a disappointment, but not the end of the world. We had such a magical week that we pre-booked for a 7night Alaska for summer 2012 though the dates aren't out yet!

It truly was the best vacation my family has ever had.

 

[tchrrx]

DH just asked me why they divert the entire ship, rather than calling in emergency helicopters for medical emergencies. Anyone know?

 

[Basketbelle]

we were on this cruise and yes we were about 20 minutes after leaving st. thomas and had to go back to dock for a 2 1/2 year old boy medical emeergency..then we diverted to carnival cruises grand turk island and there was an air ambulance called in from miami for a gentlemen. we watched the plane land and the ambulance met it at the airport AND THEN THE PLANE WAS GONE AGAIN. THESE WERE ABOUT A 5 HOUR DELAY THEN ADD 12- 15 WAVES AND WIND AND CAPT. MARCO CALLED CASTAWAY CAY OFF AND WE SPENT THE DAY AT SEA AND ARRIVED IN PORT CANAVERAL THIS MORNING. DISSAPOINTING...SO MANY PEOPLE EVEN CAST MEMBERS SAID THEY HAVE NEVER HAD 2 MEDICAL EMERGENCIES ON THE SAME CRUISE. ANYONE ELSE ON THIS CRUISE?

 

[hollybud68]

how often to itineraries get changed on average: due to bad weather, medical emergencies, etc .... is it at all a common occurrence??

We were booked on the Eastern cruise back in November of 09, but a hurricane came through and they diverted us completly to the Western itinerary. I wasn't too thrilled with that as we had already done the Western, but we got two stops a CC, so that made me real happy.

 

[5forDis]

I am very curious what the 'medical emergencies' were. I can't believe people get angry...it is frustrating, but I don't think the guests or the docs making the call do so lightly. I'd be feeling very grateful it wasn't anyone in my traveling party.

The guest storming off saying she'd never go on another Disney Cruise....does she think Disney can control things like weather, emergencies, or a fire at the dock? !

 

[Cordelia.Turpchinoff]

We just returned from the Magic Eastern that had the two medical emergencies. It was the first cruise for my family, and yes, we missed Castaway Cay. It was a disappointment, but after sitting on our verandah and seeing the family leaving in an ambulance on Grand Turk, we all counted our blessings. Unfortunately some guests weren't so understanding. I witnessed many people angrily expressing themselves to crew members. I was sitting at the future cruise sales desk when the announcement was made and one woman went storming past saying "Like I will EVER go on another Disney Cruise after this!" Also saw two guests getting into it arguing over the right and wrong of it.

For the most part everyone was understanding and concerned for the two families that were evacuated. Missing Castaway Cay was a disappointment, but not the end of the world. We had such a magical week that we pre-booked for a 7night Alaska for summer 2012 though the dates aren't out yet!

It truly was the best vacation my family has ever had.

so Disney is planning on going to Alaska in 2012?!?

 

[truck1]

DH just asked me why they divert the entire ship, rather than calling in emergency helicopters for medical emergencies. Anyone know?

Most of the time, its safer to take the medical emergency off the ship by small boat. For a lot of ships, they are not set up to safely land or highline a medical emergency off. For example, on the Magic class, between the funnels is the zip line Mickey uses. the stern is too small, and there isnt enough open room on the open decks.The bow, doesnt have enough open space either with the pool etc. You have to take into account on a perfect day, the ship is moving foward, and the helicopter has to move with it.
now on the average, there is wind,wind currents around the ship, and the possibility of the ship rolling or pitching. Thats something a helicopter cant account for, and there is a real posibility of the line becoming tangled in/on something on the ship and bringing the helicopter down adding o the problem. On average, the rescue helos want a 60x60 foot clear area to land in. Thats in the daytime. Night time, its 100x100 foot min.

This is a recent picture of my department landing a helo last week. The cloud would be the sand and dirt being blow around by the blades that are still turning:

Now think of all the stuff on an open deck that would move or blow around. (And yes thats me landing the helo)

 

[kcashner]

DH just asked me why they divert the entire ship, rather than calling in emergency helicopters for medical emergencies. Anyone know?

These decisions are based on the distance to the nearest appropriate hospital, the exact medical situation, etc. A medical helicopter transfer is not a benign situation and requires the helicopter to fly from its base to the ship and then to the hospital; this can sometimes take more time than docking the ship at a nearby port and evacuating the patient by land ambulance.

 

[truck1]

I am very curious what the 'medical emergencies' were. I can't believe people get angry...it is frustrating, but I don't think the guests or the docs making the call do so lightly. I'd be feeling very grateful it wasn't anyone in my traveling party.

The guest storming off saying she'd never go on another Disney Cruise....does she think Disney can control things like weather, emergencies, or a fire at the dock? !

Most likely, some type of cardiac or respitory issue. Second guess would be a broken bone. The ships are very limited in what they can do while at sea, and if you need care for more then an hour or 2, your getting off whether you want to or not.

 

[kcashner]

I find it interesting that truck posts from the pilot's viewpoint, I see it from the medical perspective.

The ship is actually VERY well equipped. They essentially have a small ICU set up, as well as areas for much less involved care. (I've seen it--it is better equipped than many small hospital ICUs I've seen!) What they do not have is the staff to maintain an intensive situation for very long. Their intent is to stabilize the patient and transfer to a facility that can do prolonged care. Most emergency transfers involve a cardiac/respiratory/neurologic (stroke) situation. Anyone with a serious medical situation of any sort will be removed from the ship; the only question is where and when that removal should occur--the next scheduled port or an emergency docking or a transfer by boat or helicopter.

As to bad behavior by other guests...yeah, you should have seen the behavior years ago when Captain John announced that we would not stop in one of the "saints." They really should read their cruise contract!

 

[UK-Simon]

We had such a magical week that we pre-booked for a 7night Alaska for summer 2012 though the dates aren't out yet!

It truly was the best vacation my family has ever had.

I'd really love to know about this too...did you book a dummy date and did they actually confirm the Wonder is definitely sailing Alaska in 2012?

 

[Maryrn11168]

Two years ago we were on a 7 night Western that was supposed to stop at Grand Cayman. My son has Cystic Fibrosis and the salt air was helpful, but actually made his cough worse because it was loosening things up in his lungs. Not to get too involved, I didn't expect to need too much medicine when I was packing and then found myself running very low..this was Wed. and we were not back to Fla until Sat. What to do???

Next thing announcement that the seas were too rough to tender at Grand Cayman, but we would be in Key West the following day instead!! As we docked I called his doctor, who called CVS and we were able to pick it up. So, even though I was disappointed that I have never seen Grand Cayman Brian got his meds! and I truly believe everything happens for a reason! The other passangers were probably not as happy as I was, but one day the diversion may help someone they love!!

 

[nokidz]

I was on this sailing. Alot of rumours were flying around the ship, but the one I heard, and believe, was that the gentleman that was taken off in Grand Turk was because of an appendicitis. As for the child in St.Thomas, I am not sure. I heard it was because of either a seizure or spilt hot beverage in it's lap causing second degree burns.
We also had a ship wide call during the fire works during the Pirate Party. I heard Bright Star called, others heard different.

 

[marylovesdisney]

We were on the Feb 20-24 Dream and also heard Bright Star. What does this mean?

 

[Mickeyhugger]

We were on the Feb 20-24 Dream and also heard Bright Star. What does this mean?

Medical emergency

 

[Hendy Clan]

,,

 

[Hendy Clan]

We just got off the Magic this morning. We had such a magical time even with the detours and medical emergencies. On pirate night we also heard Bright Star being announced. We had docked on one side of St Thomas and with the first medical emergency we ended up docking at the other end of the island. For the second emergency we detoured to Grand Turk and waited a number of hours while they figured out what was happening with the gentleman involved. It was announced that an air ambulance was coming in to get him and we needed to wait until that happened as the medical team from the ship stayed with him. I think we were off about 4/5 hours which we were told would get us to CC at 2pm the next afternoon. The weather had other plans. We went from glassy waters to some rocking and rolling in the water. Our cabin was on deck 7 forward and we felt we were on a roller coaster that night.

My 11 year old was very disappointed, but when he found out that there was a boy about his age that got of the ship with his mom and dad at Grand Turk he said that it was better that we didn't stop at CC as this boy's dad needed help.

If anyone is looking for some requests for servers we had Andrae and Konang. They were outstanding and would highly recommend them. Our stateroom host was Derrick and we just loved him. We could not have asked for a better group of people to take care of us.

My 11 year old lived at the Edge all week, we only saw him at dinner time and took it in turns to wait up for him to get back to the cabin at the end of the day. Kudos go to Matt, Courtney, Elizabeth and Joely, the Edge Counselors. If you have tweens attending the Edge please say hi to them from Matt from Frederick, MD. These guys were the best. My son actually cried the last night saying goodbye to them and he doesn't do that typically.

The only sad thing to report is that the Atrium was flooded twice during the week, the last night at sea it was still a little rocky and I think the goofy pool overflowed because of the rocking and the water was cascading down in the Atrium and I mean it was pouring down.

Anyway we had a fantastic time and it just flew by. Tried to find out if the Magic was moving to New York after the Fantasy starts sailing, but couldn't get a definite answer, but we got lots of I think it will be......

Now I am back in Maryland, but still suffering from sea legs, I can visualize Deck 4 lol....

 

[Hendy Clan]

DH just asked me why they divert the entire ship, rather than calling in emergency helicopters for medical emergencies. Anyone know?

With regard to the gentleman that was taken off in Grand Turk, the Captain had made the announcement that after speaking with the US Coast Guard they were diverting to Grand Turk.

On a previous cruise we witnessed the US Coast Guard coming out to the ship off the coast of Cuba to take a passenger off, so I don't know if it has something to do about distance or how sick the person is. With the young child we had not really left the island we sailed around to the other side and docked for her disembarkation.

 

[3Mickeys]

so Disney is planning on going to Alaska in 2012?!?

I'd really love to know about this too...did you book a dummy date and did they actually confirm the Wonder is definitely sailing Alaska in 2012?

When we sat down and said we were interested in Alaska 2012 the crew member didn't bat an eye. Said the 2011 cruises are packed and he is sure they will be a success. He said the Wonder on the West Coast is a done deal and Disney sees Alaska as an obvious thing. We booked a 7 night dummy cruise for a year out and my travel agent will jump on the dates as soon as they are released, he said likely in April if not sooner. Our onboard booking benefits will then be rolled over.

I was on this sailing. Alot of rumours were flying around the ship, but the one I heard, and believe, was that the gentleman that was taken off in Grand Turk was because of an appendicitis. As for the child in St.Thomas, I am not sure. I heard it was because of either a seizure or spilt hot beverage in it's lap causing second degree burns.
We also had a ship wide call during the fire works during the Pirate Party. I heard Bright Star called, others heard different.

We heard the child, 23 months old, had been in the infirmary with a high fever. The ship pulled out of St. Thomas and the baby started having a seizure. We were out about 15 minutes when we could tell the ship was returning to port. The Grand Turk incident was a dad who had been sick for two days. A woman we sat with at dinner was a nurse and she said they had done blood work and the appendix was going to burst or had burst (I'm not sure which she said and am not a medical person myself, so don't know which it would be) but it was clear he needed immediate surgery.

For both instances, all I can say is my husband and I felt for these families. I saw the little boy get off the ship with his mom, all they had were two backpacks, and I can only imagine how terrified they were. The guests who "questioned" if these were real emergencies really needed to put life in perspective. The crew went above and beyond keeping us entertained on the extra sea day when we missed CC. They performed the show "Once Upon a Song" which is done for 10+ day cruises and it was WONDERFUL. It was only the second time the cast had done the show. They need to keep this show on the 7 day!

 

[zaz]

Hi all,

I was also on that cruise. I truly hope the 2 individuals involved are well.

One other thing that people seem to have missed is the 1st delay out of St-Thomas. It happened because someone was missing. As we slowly pulled out, and were just past the island, I saw someone arrive on a small boat and 'jump' on the magic. It must have been the individual they kept on calling for! Lucky one to have made it back!