Three cruise passengers were transferred to hospital in Madeira on the morning of Wednesday, October 14th, following medical emergencies aboard cruise ships calling at the Port of Funchal.
According to local newspaper Diário de Notícias, the Madeiran Volunteer Firefighters and Funchal Municipal Firefighters dispatched two ambulances to assist with the transfers. Emergency services responded at ~7:00 a.m., as cruise ships were arriving in port.
The newspaper identified Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Apex and Saga Cruises’ Spirit of Adventure as the vessels scheduled to call at Funchal that morning. Celebrity Apex arrived from Tenerife, while Spirit of Adventure was approaching from Portsmouth. However, the report did not establish whether the three passengers were travelling on the same ship or whether both vessels were involved in the medical incidents.
No further information was released regarding the passengers’ ages, medical conditions or the hospitals to which they were taken.
Celebrity Apex was visiting Madeira during an 11-night round-trip cruise from Southampton, which departed on October 7th and is scheduled to return on October 18th. Its itinerary includes calls at Leixões, Lisbon, Gran Canaria and Tenerife, followed by a sea day and a visit to Vigo on October 16th before the ship returns to Southampton.
Meanwhile, Spirit of Adventure was operating Saga Cruises’ 15-night Contrasts of the Canaries itinerary, which departed Portsmouth on October 10th. The Funchal call was the first scheduled port visit following three days at sea. The vessel was scheduled to remain in Madeira from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. before continuing to La Palma, Tenerife, La Gomera, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. The itinerary also includes a call at Lisbon on October 22nd, ahead of the ship’s scheduled return to Portsmouth on October 25th.
The medical evacuations took place while the vessels were alongside at the Port of Funchal.