(And no: it’s not what you think!)
On Wednesday I enjoyed a first full day at sea. This included waking before dawn (what a surprise, right?). Later I took a ride on the North Star, a gondola that is raised over 300 feet above the sea to provide incredible views.
Earlier in the day I heard “Alpha! Alpha! Alpha!” blaring from the Public Address system, followed by additional information, including a cabin number. As I suspected, this signaled a very serious medical emergency as a result of which we turned around and headed for Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Then the captain announced that we weren’t headed for Kona but actually all the way back to Honolulu, arriving at about 3 am to transfer the stricken passenger to an ambulance and the needed medical care.
One of the TV channels displays our progress. The image above from late Wednesday night shows how we’ve done a U-turn. As a result, we’ll be skipping Moorea, one of the islands in French Polynesia. In exchange, we get an extra day at sea. As the cruise already includes about a dozen of these, I think I’d prefer to stop in Moorea. I’m glad, of course, that the captain and Royal Caribbean takes their responsibility for passengers’ health so seriously.
I may not have much to share until our first port, now scheduled to be Bora Bora on Tuesday–almost a week away!
Images & Moments 