Once again the entertainment division comes through in the crunch. Today one of the stage techs was given a special citation at the monthly Captain's meeting for his help in resolving a dangerous situation on the ship.

I say 'once again' because it has been noted that entertainers, even musicians, have come to the fore during emergencies in the past. I think I mentioned in an earlier post the story of the musician who took charge and saved the day after the Captain and senior officers of a Greek cruise ship burning and sinking in the Mediterranean abandoned ship (this story is told in one of the training videos we all must see after signing on).

Maybe this is one of the reasons why entertainers and musicians staff the guest emergency stations on this ship.

This wasn't an emergency like abandoning ship would be, but it was potentially dangerous, and difficult to deal with. One of the two large-scale models of WW2 vintage aircraft that hang off deck 12 over the Grand Promenade (this ship has everything) had become dislocated from a retaining line and was in danger of falling.

Phiw (I call him Phiw because that's how he pronounces his name, which is Phil), the English safety officer, did not want to be the responsible officer on the first cruise ship to suffer fatalities due to a plane crash inside a ship.

In describing the situation, Phiw referred to the dangling airplane as a Fokker:

“So I was faced with the possibility of that little Fokker falling down on top of the Camel [the second aircraft – ed.] and having them both come crashing down to the promenade, with a possible loss of human life.”

At this point the Captain said, “I didn't know that airplane was a Fokker,” to which Phiw replied, “It's not. The little f***er is a Messerschmidt.”

Anyway, something had to be done so they could reopen the promenade for shopping, and none of the Philippino maintainance guys, brave as they are, were willing to suspend themselves twelve decks up in the air to fix it.

Enter Tommy, the aerial rigger for the production shows. The aerial rigger is the guy who sets up the mechanisms required for dancers to fly, Peter Pan-like, across the stage.

Tommy volunteered to set lines so he could suspend himself up there to make the necessary repairs. He has the perfect qualifications for this particular duty, so he was given the go ahead. Phiw, who is self-admittedly afraid of heights, watched nervously as Tommy performed the repairs and was obviously impressed enough to recommend him for this special citation.

This was one of two awards for Tommy this morning. The Captian also awarded him “Employee of the Month” for February – a separate, but cash-bearing, award.