Code Red- Oh no.

have you ever wondered what those random codes mean that can be heard over cruise terminals?

Well below is an explanation.

Cruise Ship Codes

Code Red – Outbreak of norovirus or illness. It means the ship must undergo deep cleaning and sick passengers should stay in their rooms. Code Green and Code Yellow indicate less severe cases.

Mr Skylight; Alpha, Alpha, Alpha; Code Blue; or Star Code, Star Code, Star Code – Medical emergency

Mr Mob or Oscar, Oscar, Oscar – Man overboard

Charlie, Charlie, Charlie – Security threat

Echo, Echo, Echo – Possible collision with another ship, or in other cases a warning of high winds.

Red Parties, Red Parties, Red Parties; Alpha Team, Alpha Team, Alpha Team or Priority 1 – Possible fire on board

Bravo, Bravo, Bravo – Fire or other serious incident.

Delta – Damage to the ship.

Papa – Pollution or oil spill.

Sierra – Call for a stretcher.

Priority 2 – Leak.

Airport Emergencies

We’ve all heard of Mayday, which means an aircraft or ship is facing imminent danger. Fewer will know about pan-pan (from the French: panne, meaning a breakdown), which refers to a slightly less grave danger.

7500 is a transponder code which means an aircraft has been, or is threatened with, hijacking.

7700 is a more general emergency code;7600 indicated a radio failure.

Cabin Crew

Arm and crosscheck – Prior to departure, the plane exits are put into emergency mode. If an “armed” door is opened, the emergency slide will inflate. The cabin crew will “crosscheck” to ensure that the opposite doors have been armed. Upon arrival, you’re likely to hear “doors to manual“.

Debrief – Every little detail of every flight is recorded on the “debrief” – including medical situation, disruptive passengers or a catering problem.

Hat bin – Another term for the overhead bins (“Why are these called hatbins? Surely they’re not used for hats? Well, in the 1960s, when flying was extremely glamorous, they actually were.”)

Hot bit – The heated part of an in-flight meal.

Gash bag – The rubbish bag. (“Another military term, apparently if you were the gash man in the navy you got all the rubbish jobs”).

So there you go, next time you’re on holiday you will know how to react when you hear these cose.

Do you know of any not on this list?