I have business clients from Germany who have expressed a wish to try a cruise when they visit India this year. One of them wants to know whether there is a provision for leaving the ship midway in case of any emergency. He is not comfortable being on a ship in the sea in case there is an emergency which requires him to be in his city in a short time.
I'm not much of a cruise person myself, but I think they have helicopters and possibly some other options for getting people off the boat in the event of a personal emergency. They can't have all those people stuck out there without the ability to evacuate for an advanced medical emergency or a death in the family.
Yes, on the two cruises I have taken there was a provision that in the case of a medical emergency where treatment couldn't be administered onboard, that they would be able to be airlifted by helicopter. I think your business clients would need to double check with their cruise line though about exactly what constitutes an emergency. I don't think they would airlift you in the case of a passing relative or things like that - unless they were billing you for the cost, I presume. It seemed to be pretty relegated to specific medical emergencies in the case of an onboard passenger that they would do that.
Most cruises expect you to have insurance to cover the cost of an emergency evacuation, whether by air or a smaller vessel, but as others have said, this would most likely only cover the passenger, who would need to be in a life threatening situation. Even then it depends on how far from land you are. I would think a less ambitious boat trip would be wiser if this is a deal breaker.
It is quite possible to leave, but that does not mean it will be cheap. It also depends on how far from port a ship is. There may be no other helicopter close by to pick up the passenger if they ship is far from port. I would recommend contacting the shipping line directly and asking their policy, or in the least, making them aware of the possibility. They will be far more hospitable in the situation if it is not sudden.
I've never actually thought about this. I took a cruise last year for seven days and I never once thought about the possibility that I might need to leave the ship in an emergency. I guess there has to be some sort of provision for this kind of situation whether it's a health or family emergency, but I wouldn't think that they would airlift someone just so they could get to a business meeting...
There are obviously the usual provisions for when there is some kind of emergency on the cruise ship like a medical emergency where the patient has to be air lifted off the cruise. Other than that, I don't know if there is a way for getting off in a non-medical emergency situation, but a quick Google search should provide you with the answers that you seek.
