Poop Cruise on Netflix: What does the ‘alpha team’ cruise ship alert actually mean?

Netflix has just released Trainwreck: Poop Cruise, the documentary we’ve all been waiting for. It tells the story of the cruise liner that turned disaster. During the show, we see that as the issue on the cruise ship became apparent, an alert for “alpha team” was played out across the decks. So, you might be wondering what that means.

The case happened in 2013, aboard cruise liner Carnival Triumph. The luxury cruise soon met disaster when a fault meant it was stranded at sea. The ship suffered a fire in an engine room which then knocked out the power. The boat drifted – without power – for four days in total. For the whole time guests and staff were without air conditioning, and largely without lights, water, food or working toilets.

via Netflix

What does ‘alpha team’ mean on a cruise ship?

The term “alpha team” has different meanings, depending on the cruise ship it’s being said on. Different companies have different code words for various alerts those on board need to be made aware of.

Aboard Carnival Cruise Line ships, “Alpha Team, Alpha Team, Alpha Team” is the code for a fire emergency. Which makes sense, given it was a fire that kick started what went down.

It can be slightly different though, so if you ever find yourself on a different ship and those words are uttered, you may not need to worry about a fire. “Alpha, alpha, alpha” is also the code for a medical emergency aboard Royal Caribbean and Norwegian ships.

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Carnival Cruises has since released a statement to The Tab about the Netflix doc. It called the incident “a teachable moment”. The company said it invested millions on improvements after what happened, and will now “continue to operate to these high standards.” Read the full statement here.

Trainwreck: Poop Cruise is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.