Another Rescue At Sea

Mermaid · #1 (**permalink**) April 22nd, 2002, 05:48 AM

The Norwegian Star missed its port call at Fanning Island for the second time again this month. The Star lead a rescue on April 16, at the request of the U.S. Coast Guard. A man on a sailboat needed emergency medical treatment.

Gloria · #2 (**permalink**) April 22nd, 2002, 06:59 AM

I read that yesterday, Mermaid, on the Cruise Critic homepage.

I don't know if I'd be happy for the rescue or sad because we missed our port. I realize that there was no choice, but I bet the passengers were disappointed to miss the port. And this is the 2nd time in 2 weeks that it has happened, according to the article.

Then there was the crew member that fell overboard a couple of months ago and they had to turn around to get her after she was in the water for 10 hours!! NCL is having it's share of publicity lately. Makes me want to stay away!

Gloria

CruiseAholic · #3 (**permalink**) April 22nd, 2002, 07:38 AM

I must give NCL (not my favorite cruise line) applause for stopping, even though they missed their port.

Wonder if the government will try to fine them (yet again) under the Jones Act for missing the foreign port?

Lisa · #4 (**permalink**) April 22nd, 2002, 09:16 AM

I hope not, since the second time this happened, they stopped at the request of the US Coast Guard! They were acting according to maritime law and long standing seafaring traditions.

Jean · #5 (**permalink**) April 22nd, 2002, 12:46 PM

Why did they have to miss the port because a man on a sailboat needed medical attention. I would have been annoyed though, only based on the fact that my husband & I almost booked this cruise on Carnival which goes to Fanning Island, for which my t/a told us we would both need to get our passports. SO at an additional cost of almost $100, we would have gotten nothing out of it. I still don't understand why you need a PASSPORT instead of just birth certificate & any other documents they would need that a native from the US would not already have. And from what I've heard, there is nothing to do on Fanning Island but sit in the sun....quite an expense & effort to get there just to look at the beach..
...just my 2 centavos...

Happy Cruising!

Lisa · #6 (**permalink**) April 22nd, 2002, 02:20 PM

Jean - Fanning Island is a foreign country and requires a passport for US citizens. Also, the reason they missed the island after the rescue is that the ships doctor said the man needed to get to a hospital but was not well enough to be airlifted off the ship, so the ship skipped the island (it also had to go numerous miles out of the way to perform the rescue.)

diverkym · #7 (**permalink**) April 22nd, 2002, 10:08 PM

Bummer for the passengers! Lucky for the man, man, and woman...

Jean · #8 (**permalink**) April 23rd, 2002, 02:27 AM

Hi Lisa,

I hope the man is alright, and I'm sure they did a great job at the rescue...

I know Fanning Island is a foreign country, but not all foreign countries *require* passports. I've been to Mexico, Canada, with no such restriction in sight, so I'm not sure why this is a requirement on Fanning Island.

I'm wishing you a lovely cruise someday soon too!!

Happy Cruising!