20230429 Celebrity Silhouette cruise - Day 10/21 - this is not a drill

Celebrity Silhouette cruise day 10 - nothing wakes you up like a good evacuation at sea

Trip day: 10 / 21

 This was our view off the balcony this morning.

We were socked in with fog.  It was so foggy that every few minutes, we could hear the ship's horn blow.

As we were enjoying breakfast, the captain came on with an announcement.  This was odd as he always does a daily update at 9:45am, but it was only 9am.  He said that unfortunately, a passenger had a medical episode and needed attention beyond what could be delivered on the ship.  Therefore, an Irish Coast Guard rescue helicopter was en route to the ship and would be here within 20 minutes to evacuate the passenger.

Since we planned to go to the Sky Lounge on deck 14 forward for trivia at 10am, we finished breakfast and went there early for a view from the floor-to-ceiling windows.  After about 45 minutes, the captain came on again and announced that the visibility was so poor, the helicopter couldn't find us so we were going to move about three miles to an area with better visibility.

Once there, the helicopter spotted us and the operation began.

Coming in from the port side to hover over the winch-only pad on the bow of the ship

You can see the crew at the door getting ready

Hovering just below eye-level on deck 14 over the winch pad on deck 6, seven decks below (there is no deck 13)

Lowering a Coast Guard member to the ship - notice the water spraying off of the prop - a Navy helicopter pilot explained that the prop compresses the air and squeezes the water out of it

Lowering the stretcher

Receiving the stretcher

At this point, the helicopter left and circled at a distance as the patient was prepared for transport.  It isn't as simple as tossing 'em in and hoisting 'em up. They need protective gear, proper stabilization, and so on.

After 30-40 minutes, the helicopter returned to hover. At about this time, they also announced that the Sky Lounge was closing for a private function.  Like many others, we headed down one floor to 12 and the Fitness Center.

From this vantage point, we could not see the winch pad - they are lowering the cable

We presume this was the spouse or traveling companion being hoisted first

Rather than hoist the stretcher directly, once it was lifted a few feet, they maneuvered off the starboard side clear of the ship and raised the stretcher with the Coast Guard crew member riding along 

It is hard to see but you can just make out the crew member on the right side, assisting in getting the patient onboard as the helicopter started heading to Ireland

All-in-all, it was an impressive and extremely precise operation.  Of course, everyone watching was concerned for the patient and we all hope that they come through fine and have an experience of a lifetime to talk about for years to come.

During all this, progressive trivia continued on for the final day.  Once again, we were in the middle of the pack, securing our place as an also-ran.  Today’s failures:

• Who directed the Lord of the Rings movie franchise?
• Peter Jackson
• In Greek mythology, who killed the Gorgon?
• We guessed Hercules but it was Perseus
• What is the longest river in Italy?
• Po
• In 1911, archeologist Hiram Bingham discovered what lost city?
• Machu Pichu
• What is the capital of Morocco?
• Rabat – we guessed Marrakesh
• What country’s flag features a snake and an eagle?
• Mexico
• In what film did Elvis play dual roles?
• Kissing Cousins
• On what material was the Mona Lisa painted?
• Wood
• Which bird turns its head upside down to eat?
• Flamingo

We returned to our room and got our second bag of laundry ready.  We should get yesterday's bag back today and today's bag back tomorrow.

It has been interesting all day s we're barely moving.  We believe that the captain made the best speed overnight to get us as close as possible to Ireland for the medical evacuation.  Therefore, we’re much closer than planned, so there’s no hurry to get the rest of the way to Cork – or more precisely, Cobh, the actual port where we’ll be docking.  How slow have we been going?  About 8 knots.  That’s pretty slow.

After lunch, we looked into Celebrity cruises and tours to the Galapagos and Machu Pichu.  We’re considering it as it looks amazing.

Next up was another round of afternoon trivia.  Lots of mistakes as usual.

• Which sea is the least salty?
• We thought Caspian, but it is the Baltic
• In which decade was Madonna born?
• I thought she was younger than me, so we guessed the 1960s but she was born in 1958
• The Jay belongs to which bird family?
• Crow
• What was Abraham Lincoln’s middle name?
• Trick question – he didn’t have one
• What sea was known as Euxine by the Greeks?
• Black sea
• Speed skating started in which country?
• We debated Finland and The Netherlands but picked Finland incorrectly
• What is Sean Connery’s real first name?
• Thomas – Thomas Sean Connery
• In what sport is there a York round?
• Archery

After failing once again, we went hung out in the Sky Lounge for a bit.

Then, we headed to the room to the room before heading to Blu for dinner.  We usually check out the menu in the Celebrity app, but the app has been dead all day.  No schedule, no menus, nothing. We'll be reading the menu for the first time at dinner and need them to get us a menu from the main dining room as well.

We had a nice dinner and then went and visited the Guest Relations desk.  As I mentioned, the app had stopped working.  The agent changed a setting on my network configuration, reset the app, and ta-da, and the app started working again.  We went through the same steps on Arlona’s phone and it was working again for her as well.  I can’t explain what happened, but at least we’re back in business.

We had spoken with someone today that mentioned an area in the front of the ship called the “Relaxation Zone.  It is on deck 11 forward and we weren’t aware of it.  We went exploring and found out that there is an entire area on deck 11 forward with lounges and such for quiet relaxation.  Nice.  

Next, we explored the Persian Garden. We didn’t realize that as Aqua Class guests we had access to the Persian Garden.  There are heated chaise lounges, an aroma room, a sauna, showers, and more.  We should have paid more attention since we just completed six sea days and the rest of the cruise has port days.  Oh well, next time.

After our exploration, we hit the Martini Bar for a nightcap and headed for the room.  We need to head out at 8am tomorrow morning, so it will be an early alarm for breakfast before heading the Blarney Castle.