Man Airlifted off Disney Magic

[Maggie'sMom]

yes, I noticed the area also. It's a great place for the helicopter to retrieve people. Don't know if they had moved him to there or the accident occurred there. I would assume they transported him there and readied him for transport. That's probably the most open part of the ship for that kind of maneuver.

I too assumed they moved him there since it would be the best place for the CG to pick him up from.

I wonder if over-indulgence of adult beverages contributed to the accident which caused his injuries. With the CG called at 5:00am, I'd guess that the accident occurred after midnight.

 

[Justacruiser]

I am wondering if it was a passenger, crew, or contractor. I was on the ship 2 weeks ago and saw some contractors that were just acting stupid. They were wasted on CC and were talking about their Transatlantic adventure coming up. Just can't figure any passengers up at that time of morning falling as he had to fall without something impairing the thought process.

 

[izzinmac]

We are on the Magic. The injury must have happened in the individual's room. At 2AM everyone was awakened with a "Brightstar" announcement telling responders to go to a specific cabin #. The airlift was the following morning about 11 AM from the crew pool area, after the ship had picked up speed and changed course heading towards Charleston. They had the ship forward of the adult pool cordoned off to keep people away. The chopper lowered a medic followed by a litter basket, recovered the patient and the medic. Lots of people getting pictures. Well handled by Disney and the Coast Guard.

 

[LisaT91403]

I knew someone would post this.

If this is your fear then yes, buy insurance. Statistically speaking this is extremely rare.

We've been on 15 cruises x 2,500 people per cruise = 37,000 people and there has NEVER been a single helicopter evacuation from any cruise we've ever taken. 0 out of 37,000....you can't even make a fraction or percentage out of that ratio.

You are lucky! I have been on about a dozen cruises, and 2 of them had airlifts.

Of course, airlifts are not the only reason to have insurance...just one of many reasons. An acquaintance of mine was on a cruise this past January, and her father became ill. He didn't have to be airlifted, but did have to fly home from one of the ports.

 

[Kirbo]

I knew someone would post this.

If this is your fear then yes, buy insurance. Statistically speaking this is extremely rare.

We've been on 15 cruises x 2,500 people per cruise = 37,000 people and there has NEVER been a single helicopter evacuation from any cruise we've ever taken. 0 out of 37,000....you can't even make a fraction or percentage out of that ratio.

We've only been on five cruises, but have had medical evacs on two of them. One was on the Med and it was my mother. She required surgery in France and the trip insurance paid for it. They also paid to have her remains shipped home when she died. They also covered the charges for the extra fuel consumption required to race the Magic to port. I'm so thankful we paid the extra $140 for trip insurance.

We just got off the Wonder and the WBPC. There was an medical emergency on this trip as well and a family left from Guatemala. I have no idea what happened or if they have insurance, but I know it wasn't free for them to just get off, there's a lot of costs involved when debarking in a different country, especially if it wasn't a scheduled stop.

I also remember reading on here about a family that had to get off of one of the Mexican Riviera cruises when their son, a young kid, had an appendicitis and required surgery in Mexico. Their trip insurance paid for their return home and the surgery fees.

If you have medical insurance check to see what they cover outside of the US. Lots of folks think theirs covers them when abroad only to find that it might not.

 

[Kirbo]

Duplicated my post by accident

 

[southerngirl528]

Count me in as one who has been on 10 cruises, all but one on DCL, and though I don't recall an air evac, I can tell you that on the 14 nt Hawaii sailing in 2012, there were several passengers that had serious enough health issues that they had to be take off the ship before we left Hawaii to return to LA. I personally spoke to one's wife, that the cruise doc had been treating on our westbound Pacific passage and had them go straight to Queen's Hospital when we docked in Honolulu. His wife had hoped that tests and subsequent treatment would allow them to continue their 25th anniversary trip, but he was kept in the hospital for a few days and not allowed to fly for a good week. Their cruise was cut short midway.

Our last port was Hilo and we were all set to pull away from the dock, thrusters had started pushing us away and then they stopped. They took off 2 more passengers that were too ill to travel. I can assure you all these folks and their families wish they had travel insurance if they had not purchased it. And btw, these are just the passengers I know of for certain!

 

[phinz]

You are lucky! I have been on about a dozen cruises, and 2 of them had airlifts.

Of course, airlifts are not the only reason to have insurance...just one of many reasons. An acquaintance of mine was on a cruise this past January, and her father became ill. He didn't have to be airlifted, but did have to fly home from one of the ports.

I've seen one airlift and two stops in the Turks & Caicos for medical emergencies.

 

[elittleton]

The only vacation I have ever taken without travel insurance I had an appendicitis 5 days before we left on the cruise. If it had been 12 hours later I would not have been able to go on the cruise. As it was the doctor said we would see when I asked about going on the cruise before surgery. Luckily I was able to go on the cruise. Another time a friend and our DDs went to WDW for a long girls weekend. I told her we had to have travel insurance. She ended up with the flu at WDW and it paid for the doctor to come to our room and the Tamiflu. She's a believer in the insurance now.

 

[kiford]

If this is your fear then yes, buy insurance. Statistically speaking this is extremely rare.

I believe that the point was not that you might need helicopter evac but that, even if you're young and in good health, accidents happen. In those circumstances, trip insurance will be valuable especially if it also covers transportation for family members to return home or to stay wherever the family member has been taken.

 

[bcwife76]

Poor guy!! What a way to cut your dream vacation short!

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

I knew someone would post this.

If this is your fear then yes, buy insurance. Statistically speaking this is extremely rare.

We've been on 15 cruises x 2,500 people per cruise = 37,000 people and there has NEVER been a single helicopter evacuation from any cruise we've ever taken. 0 out of 37,000....you can't even make a fraction or percentage out of that ratio.

I have been on 5 cruises with DCL and we've seen people evacuated quite a lot. On our first cruise a man had a heart attack on the first night was evacuated the next morning to San Salvador in the Bahamas. On one of our Magic cruises we actually saw someone getting evacuated from Castaway Cay by Coast Guard helicopter. And on another cruise, we watched an entire family disembark in St. Thomas because a member of their party had ended up in the hospital. And lastly, on our Fantasy cruise, we actually stopped in Grand Turk to put someone off who had a medical issue, and that was after they had already evacuated another person on the first night of the cruise.

 

[DCL4LIFE]

I'm not voicing an opinion either way on insurance vs. no insurance, but I'm shocked to hear how many evacuations other cruisers here have experienced!

I've done 19 Disney cruises and 4 Royal Caribbean cruises and the most that's ever happened on any of them was a stop in Nassau in the middle of the night to drop off someone who'd broken their leg biking on Castaway Cay. I guess cruising with me is good luck?

 

[Dug720]

I'm not voicing an opinion either way on insurance vs. no insurance, but I'm shocked to hear how many evacuations other cruisers here have experienced!

I've done 19 Disney cruises and 4 Royal Caribbean cruises and the most that's ever happened on any of them was a stop in Nassau in the middle of the night to drop off someone who'd broken their leg biking on Castaway Cay. I guess cruising with me is good luck?

Or it's possible that you were too involved in your own vacation to pay attention to what other people were doing. (A good thing IMHO.)

It seems some of the "evacuations" were actually in-port disembarks that cruisers not directly affected or hanging around the ship may not have known about.

 

[shburks]

We've only been on five cruises, but have had medical evacs on two of them. One was on the Med and it was my mother. She required surgery in France and the trip insurance paid for it. They also paid to have her remains shipped home when she died. They also covered the charges for the extra fuel consumption required to race the Magic to port. I'm so thankful we paid the extra $140 for trip insurance.

We just got off the Wonder and the WBPC. There was an medical emergency on this trip as well and a family left from Guatemala. I have no idea what happened or if they have insurance, but I know it wasn't free for them to just get off, there's a lot of costs involved when debarking in a different country, especially if it wasn't a scheduled stop.

I also remember reading on here about a family that had to get off of one of the Mexican Riviera cruises when their son, a young kid, had an appendicitis and required surgery in Mexico. Their trip insurance paid for their return home and the surgery fees.

If you have medical insurance check to see what they cover outside of the US. Lots of folks think theirs covers them when abroad only to find that it might not.

Oh my...Your mother was ill and passed away while on a Med cruise? I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm a big proponent of cruise/travel insurance, and you certainly have an experience to advocate for it.

 

[Kirbo]

Oh my...Your mother was ill and passed away while on a Med cruise? I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm a big proponent of cruise/travel insurance, and you certainly have an experience to advocate for it.

Thank you. Yes, she was doing well after surgery and was expected to make a full recovery. But she had a pulmunary embolism and passed away. It was no fault of the doctors or the care she received.

 

[Rogillio]

I'm not voicing an opinion either way on insurance vs. no insurance, but I'm shocked to hear how many evacuations other cruisers here have experienced!

I've done 19 Disney cruises and 4 Royal Caribbean cruises and the most that's ever happened on any of them was a stop in Nassau in the middle of the night to drop off someone who'd broken their leg biking on Castaway Cay. I guess cruising with me is good luck?

LOL I was thinhing the same thing. Someone posted earlier that I must be lucky....I prefer to think I am blessed....always have been.

RE the insurance......I just added a room to our next cruise for my mom and sister to cruise with us. My mother is 79.....I paid for the trip insurance for her. I did not pay for the insurance for me and my 24 yo daughter. It all comes down to risk. At 79 my mother is much more likely to have an issue where she won't be able to cruise.

 

[phinz]

Or it's possible that you were too involved in your own vacation to pay attention to what other people were doing. (A good thing IMHO.)

It seems some of the "evacuations" were actually in-port disembarks that cruisers not directly affected or hanging around the ship may not have known about.

I can honestly say that if I hadn't recognized the feeling of the ship turning late at night on the first evac I would have never known we were making a stop. The second one was a bit more noticeable since it was at about 10 in the morning, but if you were inside you wouldn't have known either. The helicopter evac was noticeable unless you were completely oblivious.

 

[Dug720]

I can honestly say that if I hadn't recognized the feeling of the ship turning late at night on the first evac I would have never known we were making a stop. The second one was a bit more noticeable since it was at about 10 in the morning, but if you were inside you wouldn't have known either. The helicopter evac was noticeable unless you were completely oblivious.

Oh totally understandable. Some of the reports were people being disembarked during regularly scheduled stops though - no helicopter or anything. That's all.

 

[Justacruiser]

We are on the Magic. The injury must have happened in the individual's room. At 2AM everyone was awakened with a "Brightstar" announcement telling responders to go to a specific cabin #. The airlift was the following morning about 11 AM from the crew pool area, after the ship had picked up speed and changed course heading towards Charleston. They had the ship forward of the adult pool cordoned off to keep people away. The chopper lowered a medic followed by a litter basket, recovered the patient and the medic. Lots of people getting pictures. Well handled by Disney and the Coast Guard.

It's sounds crazy that a 29 year old male can break 2 legs and a have a hip injury inside a room. I don't buy it. I am thinking something happened somewhere else and somehow he made it back to his room. Especially if alcohol is involved he could have struggled back or had assistance. IMHO