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This day started off with something we've never experienced in all the many cruises we've taken around the world: a medical airlift from the ship while we were at sea! It started at about 5:45am when a cabin steward woke us up to tell us that a patient was being airlifted into a med-evac helicopter and he needed to bring in all the furniture off our of balconey. When he was finished, we just went back to sleep. Then in about 30 minutes we were again awakened to the news that we needed to leave our stateroom and move to a lower floor while the evacuation was taking place. Apparently, they only evacuated rooms on high floors righ under the area where the evacuation was taking place, and we were one of the lucky ones.
While hanging out in the main lobby with several other very sleepy people, we watched a plane circle the ship several times in preparation for the helicopter approach. It was a very windy day and the seas were pretty choppy, so they were extra cautious. When the ship had slowed to almost a stop, the helicopter hovered over a clear deck, dropped a cable and lifted the "basket" with the patient into the chopper, along with one of the medical professionals from the ship. The chopper then quickly cleared the ship and headed back to a hospital in the Azores. We don't know any specifics about the patient, but we prayed that he/she would be returned to good health.
With this somber start and a constant rain almost all day, this Sabbath was a very quiet one. We were able to read and rest and basically take it easy all day until the weather cleared late afternoon when we were able to walk around the outside decks again. We did end the evening with a hilarious comedian, Cary Long. I haven't laughed that hard that long in quite a while. It was a good ending to a quiet day...
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