Friday we decided to get up early and catch a sunrise. I can not think of many things much more beautiful than watching a sunrise out on the open sea. We headed up to the top deck of the ship and waited for a few minutes looking toward the east. While standing there we noticed that our ship was slowing down and a small boat was quickly approaching. We also noticed a glimmer or sunlight coming from the other side of the boat. We quickly determined that the boat was no longer headed north but had changed direction and was going south so we were actually on the west side of the ship. We walked to the other side of the boat and watched the sun rise.
The longer we watched the sunrise the slower the ship went, until it came to a complete stop. We then heard a helicopter in the distance. Once at a complete stop we walked back over to the other side of the ship and noticed that the boat that was speeding toward us earlier was a Mexican rescue boat that was now directly beside us trying to tender to the ship. After a few minutes had passed the gangpank was lowered and a nurse and a doctor excited the small recuse boat and boarded our ship. Within a few minutes an older female passenger was helped onto the rescue boat. She looked terrified and did not want to take the few steps onto the gangpank into the smaller boat. Within minutes a man in a helicopter basket was moved from our boat onto the resuce boat. He had monitors hooked up to him and looked almost gray in color. It was a scary sight.
At that point I was reminded of our friend Bunny who lost her husband on a cruise several years ago. I had never been able to imagine her feelings until this moment. I said a prayer for both the man and his wife as the rescue boat and helicopter sped off. I assume that after they moved some distance from our ship that they transferred the man to the helicopter but I am not sure.
Back in our room we learned from the navigation channel on the television that we were only 15 miles off shore of Cozumel. We knew at that point we would be late getting into Mobile. The rest of the day the ship went at full speed trying to make up time. We were informed over the intercom system that the patient had suffered a heart attack and that our arrival to Mobile would be pushed back to 10:00 am instead of 7:00 am.
We spent the day reading, lounging on deck, and talking with people we had met during the course of our trip. To end our trip we went to the comedy club to watch a couple of shows with the three couples we had dined with each night. The first comic was not funny. No one was laughing, it was actually awkward and hard to watch. The guy did not know what to say about no one laughing. The second comic was absolutely funny had the entire room in stitches.
During the show I noticed a lady a few rows up that looked like Joannie one of the ladies I workout with at Curves. All I could see was the back of her head, but her movements and hair looked just like Joannie. Imagine her and my surprise when we ended up in line together during intermission to use the restroom. The entire time Joannie and I were on the cruise and did not see each other until the last night. It would have been fun to hang out with her and her husband some during the trip.