The One Word You Do Not Want To Hear On A Cruise!

For years the maritime industry have been entrusted with a series of codes that mean nothing to you or I but to the captain and their officers as well as crew on board there is a whole secret code on board for Man Overboard to toilets leaking.

At times on a cruise ship the Captain has to prepare for the worst possible circumstances at sea, especially when the captain is responsible for up to £6,500 souls on board.

So what is this secret code and how will I know if there is an emergency on board.

Your Muster Drill will give you a good indication of what you need to know including a series usually of 5 short blasts on the alarm system followed by 1 long blast this is the sign that you need to get to your emergency meeting point.

This is of course for extreme circumstances but there is a whole maritime language on board designed to be crew only specific words to not alert guest until you need to know more. this could be for a fatality at sea or a need for a stint in the ships jail.

There are some important words you do not want to hear on your trip to the Caribbean but out of all of them the worse one is; The word is “Kilo” which signifies all personnel are to report to their emergency stations and prepare for the next steps. I am sure these types of codes exist on aircraft as well and there is nothing to worry about. Cruise ships have a fantastic track record of safety at sea.

What are your experiences at Sea and what words have you heard on board ships that have had you wondering whats going on below deck.

I think its a great idea as I would personally panic less hearing “Kilo” to get off now save yourself.