Medical Emergency Airlift

This post should serve as a caution on two fronts- First, never travel without additional medical coverage and second remember when cruising NO port is ever guaranteed. EVER. Doesn’t matter the cruise line, or the itinerary, cruise ships can, and do, miss ports. If there is a particular port you must see, a land vacation is your only guarantee.

For the second year in a row, the Koningsdam will miss the port of Fanning Island due to a medical emergency. Last year, after 1.5 days, we turned around and went back to Kona where two passengers were tendered ashore.

This year we turned around approximately 24 hours after leaving Kauai and returned to Honolulu where a passenger was airlifted off the ship by the US Coast guard. The passenger had a stroke, and is reported to be in stable condition, but the wife could not be airlifted along side her husband. She had to stay on the ship until the next poet, which happened to be Tahiti (a 6 day journey) where she will be able to then fly back to the states to be reunited with her husband.

The airlifting procedure was quite intense and precisely performed. All aft decks on 9, 10, and 11 were blocked off and all furniture removed. A coast guard plane met us first (see pic above) and circled to give directions to the captain for where to place the ship. The entire airlift excavation was performed in about 5 minutes.

You can read details here https://kauainownews.com/2025/03/01/watch-man-medevaced-from-cruise-ship-57-miles-south-of-honolulu-

On a side note, on the Antartica cruise we just completed last month, we had to make an emergency stop at an Argentinian Military base where a passenger was disembarked and flown from Antartica to the mainland. Can’t even imagine what that medical bill ran. My point is that this happens, with enough regularity to know that schedules are flex.