The SECRET codes used on cruise ships that you’re NOT supposed to know

Have you ever been on a cruise ship and wondered what the announcements they make in code stand for ?

I have and the beeping of the call buttons on airplanes as well.

These codes are the way the crew communicate with each other. I have been on a couple of ships that have had medical emergency’s onboard , helicopters landing ships being diverted and passengers being taken off.

Recently a cruise director shared in the news what these secret code words mean.

Hearing the word ‘Oscar’ means that someone has gone overboard a very rare occurrence Im sure . ( I have also heard this stands for a bad tipper )

‘Alpha’ is a medical emergency,”

‘Bravo’ is a fire,

‘Kilo’ is a request for all personnel to report to their emergency posts ready for evacuation.

‘Echo’ means the ship is starting to drift and possibly heading for a collision.

’30-30’ means the crew is asking maintenance to clean up a mess.

“Operation Bright Star” this can signal a medical emergency. This can also be signaled with the words , “Alpha, Alpha Alpha”, or “Code Blue”

“Operation Rising Star” communicates that a passenger has died on board.

An outbreak of illness usually Norovirus is classified as “Code Red”, which usually means passengers will have to be confined to their rooms.

A security threat is signalled with “Charlie, Charlie, Charlie”.

Seven or more short blasts of the ship’s whistle followed by a single long blast warns passengers to gather at their muster stations.

“Delta” signifies damage to the cruise ship; “Papa” means pollution or oil spill; “Sierra” calls for a stretcher.

There you go so something to listen out for on your cruise holidays lets hope you don’t hear many of them though !


About Me

Hi my name is Erica although most people know me as Betsy which is my work name, welcome to my cruise page. I  have been in the travel industry for coming up to 30 years. I started my career in a small independent travel agent, where I went on work experience and…

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