Cruise Ship Worker Reveals ‘Secret’ Codes Used to Prevent Passenger ‘Panic’

What you hear might not always be what you see on cruise ships.

Amber Olivia, an influencer with over 100,000 followers on TikTok and who works on cruise ships, is sharing the “secret” codes that her fellow crew members employ in order to communicate different on-ship happenings to each other.

She explained in a video posted to her TikTok account that certain words and phrases have meanings that might not always correlate with the actual words being spoken.

“So, if you’ve ever cruised before, you will know that, sometimes over the tannoy, we have loads of different codes that get announced that basically have names different from the names of what the thing actually means,” she starts off. The “tannoy” refers to the PA loudspeaker installed on cruise ships that can broadcast to the whole boat, and comes from the eponymous name of the speaker manufacturing company.

Continuing on, Olivia revealed that the codes are often used to avoid inciting “panic.” She did admit, however, that the codes often leave room for more “gossip” and “confusion.”

In the video, Olivia goes on to explain a few different codes that are used on her cruise ship: Code Alpha, Code Victoria and Code X-Ray, among others. Olivia also notes that, depending on the cruise line one is traveling or working on, the codes used by staff might differ.

Olivia reveals the meaning of the first code, Code Alpha, in her video, explaining that the term is used in relation to any medical emergency that might occur on board.

“If you hear the ding-dong, and you work on a ship and you hear ‘Code Alpha,’ that is usually for the medical crew.

As part of the entertainment crew, Olivia says that she will not answer calls relating to a Code Alpha.

“It could be something as little as someone’s fallen over and hurt their leg,” she explains of what could prompt a Code Alpha to be called. “But it could be something as big as death.”

“Usually, okay, I’m going to tell you a secret,” she tells her followers.

“Usually, if it’s Code Alpha, and then a few bits after you hear them asking for a stretcher team, and it’s going to a cabin and it’s in the middle of the night, usually that might…” Olivia trails off in the video, indicating that the combination of events might indicate a death on board.

Back in August, a 79-year-old passenger aboard a Norwegian Cruise Line ship went overboard, prompting a “Code Oscar” to be called.

The ship, the Norwegian Star, was making its way to Greenland on Tuesday, Aug. 12, when passengers reportedly received a “Code Oscar” announcement. The signal, per Marine Insight, is used to alert the crew to a man overboard event on the line.

On TikTok, user Kacie de Leon said her parents heard the alert while they were sailing on the ship at the time.

“They got an alert at 3 a.m. this morning that is called a ‘Code Oscar,’” she said in the Aug. 12 video. “My dad just wanted me to know that they were okay. No news on if the person has been found or not.”

Representatives for Norwegian Cruise Line did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. 

Cruise lines often use codes on board to communicate such events to the crew without alerting passengers; however, the specific language used can vary from line to line. Additionally, while a code might mean one thing on one line, it can mean something entirely different at another company.