It was a totally normal, relaxing afternoon onboard Fred.Olsen’s Borealis.
I was on what Fred. Olsen calls a “Mystery Cruise.” Passengers had no idea where the five-day journey would take them – they only found out when the ship arrived in port.
I was having an afternoon nap when an announcement in our cabin woke me.
The Captain said there was a medical emergency, and a medical evacuation by helicopter would be taking place.
I quickly got up and looked out of the window (I had an ocean view cabin), but there was nothing to be seen.
The crew had very calmly closed the ship’s outside decks and asked any guests outside to move inside the ship.
The crew managed the situation quickly and professionally. I am sure they had dealt with situations like this countless times before…
Because the outside decks were shut, it was impossible to know what was actually going on, but a friend took the photo above from the balcony of his cabin.
The whole evacuation was over and done with remarkably quickly. The outside decks were reopened, and everyone got on with their usual cruise day.
You can see on The Cruise Globe app/website that the ship made a loop as the crew awaited the helicopter’s arrival.
The Cruise Globe is a great, free app where you can log and track all of your cruises. Not the scheduled route – the actual route – complete with any detours that the ship may make.
No Updates From The Crew
The crew never shared any more information about what happened afterwards, and that’s completely normal.
They want to protect people’s privacy. All we can do is hope the person was okay.
How Common Is This?
Medical issues at sea are far more common than people think.
Because so many people travel by cruise ship, there is bound to be the occasional medical incident or evacuation.
Fred. Olsen has an older passenger demographic than many other cruise lines, and it makes sense that older passengers are more at risk of medical emergencies.
Cruise ships have excellent medical centres, but if someone needs care that isn’t available onboard, they have to get them to land as quickly as possible.
This could mean the ship diverting to the nearest port, or on occasion, taking the guest off of the ship by helicopter.
Some evacuations look dramatic, but most are quite simple. Helicopter crews and cruise ship personnel practice over and over again for such eventualities. Everyone knows exactly what they are doing.
The Different Ways Evacuations Happen
- In the port:
- Passengers can just walk off or be taken off in a wheelchair or stretcher.
- Near land:
- The ship may detour or speed up to reach a closer port.
- At sea:
- Depending on the situation, emergency teams can meet the ship by boat or helicopter.
When I sailed on P&O’s largest ship, Arvia, we were on the way back to Southampton at the end of the cruise when a lady had an accident.
The ship was diverted to La Coruña in Northern Spain. Ambulances were waiting on the dockside for the ship’s arrival at midnight. The passenger was quickly disembarked, and we were on our way again.
Find out all about our eventful cruise on Arvia, which included a change in itinerary, finding a lost lifeboat, and a medical emergency below:
The Importance of Travel Insurance
My cruise travel insurance guide (including recommendations and step by step instructions) is here. 🥳🥳
Medical care, evacuation, and overseas hospital stays are extremely expensive.
Travel insurance covers all of that, plus getting home again afterwards. If you didn’t have adequate travel insurance, the cost could be massive – you could literally end up having to sell everything you own to pay for it.
Watch the video below to hear about terrible situations people have found themselves in because they haven’t had the correct travel insurance. It’s just not worth risking!
Before You Go
Find out what happens when you get sick on a cruise below – it doesn’t often end in medical evacuation!
What Happens if You Get Sick on a Cruise? – Simple Step-by-Step Guide
Find out about expensive mistakes you can make when taking out travel insurance here:
The 5 Most Expensive Mistakes People Make With Travel Insurance
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