Wanderung 33

Our ship was scheduled to stop at Mystery Island for a day at the beach, and we were approaching the small coral atoll beside a much larger volcanic island as we walked the deck early in the morning and then had breakfast. The seas were calm and the breeze was light, so despite the fact that this was a tender port, we thought there was a good chance that we would successfully go ashore for a day at the beach. We intended to swim first, then apply sunscreen for our walk around the island. That way we would avoid dosing the coral with chemicals and hopefully help preserve it.

But fate again intervened. As we donned our bathing suits and packed up our towels, sandals, masks, and snorkels, the Captain came on the loudspeaker and informed us we were diverting over toward New Caledonia due to a medical emergency that required a helicopter evacuation. Well, there went our beach day! Reverting to yet another Plan B, we took our beach stuff up to the pool deck and jumped in the water there. Monika got some laps in one of the small rectangular pools, while I luxuriated in a warm tub for a while. Technically, it should have been a HOT tub, but it was luke warm at best. The pool, however, was too cold for my taste but just right for Monika. Then we sat outside and worked puzzles, read books, typed (Bob) and crocheted (Monika). I'll just note here that I type on a mini-iPad linked to a traditional keyboard with a Bluetooth connection. That combination is extremely compact as the keyboard is embedded in the iPad's case cover, and by typing our daily journal into separate 'Notes', I can email those notes back to my home email address whenever we find a Wifi connection, which gives us security against the loss or failure of the iPads.

But the Captain was also forced to re-plan when the cloud ceiling lowered and a thick mist settled over the ship. I suspect that is why the helicopter medical evacuation was cancelled. In any case, the Captain told us we were now going to sail to Lifou Island and offload the ill passenger using a tender to be transported to the island hospital.

In the end, we had a relaxing day at sea while the Captain steamed at full speed (21-22 knots) toward Lifou. Around 4 o`clock the headland with the church on it, which I recognized from the Port Lecture slides that Leeanne showed us, hove into view. We were escorted to the anchorage by a Rigid Inflatable Boat, and as soon as the ship`s loading platform was lowered from the side, the RIB pulled up and took a ship`s officer on board and sped off to the landing jetty on Lifou.

Next came the evacuation itself, and that went smoothly, While one of the ship`s tenders was being lowered, the crew very carefully prepared the loading platform, and then the tender pulled over to the platform. The gentleman in the stretcher was carried on board the tender by I think 8 crewman, four persons carrying each side of the stretcher. The tender pulled off, only to circle back and pick up another passenger, the man`s spouse, presumably, and then motored over to the landing jetty. The Captain later told us that the patient had been transferred to Lifou`s airport, and then flown to the hospital in Noumea, New Caldeonia. This type of event is not all that uncommon, as at breakfast the next morning a couple ladies reported that this ship had had 3 such evacuations in the last 8-12 months, and when you consider the age demographic for long cruises like this, having serious medical problems among 3-4,000 passengers is pretty likely.

I had expected our ship to just moor in the harbor for the night, as Lifou was our next scheduled port of call, but I was in for a big surprise: the Captain immediately set sail again to get out just beyond the 12-mile limit so that he could open up the ship`s shops and, most importantly of all, the ship`s Casino Royale!! Well, that certainly showed where the corporate priorities of RCI were--we could have had a nice evening walking about on shore, but instead we spent the night drifting out at sea so RCI could maximize their casino profit. (Not that I'm bitter, or anything!)