what would be considered dangerous winds to a cruiseship

For all of you cruise experts. How high would the wind have to be to be considered dangerous? I will be in Nassau on mon & they say te winds will be 30 to 40 miles an hour in port so they must be worse at sea right?

Dangerous for what? They close the Sun deck when the winds are too high. Are you asking about waves at sea or winds in port?

If the winds/seas get too bad they sometimes have to cancel ports of call since entering the shallower waters and/or tighter navigating conditions would be hazardous to both ship and occupants.

Cruise ships can safely sail through hurricane force winds, and they have on several occasions. I'm not sure at what point they would pose an actual threat, but theres lots of cool youtube footage of cruise ships in hurricanes. We sailed through the outskirts of hurricane Gustav on Inspiration, it wasn't too bad.

I was in 80 mph winds at sea on the Miracle and it wasn't that bad. Outside decks were closed but motion wasn't too bad.

There's usually some dangerous winds after the mexican buffet..

Wind conditions contribute to the condition of the sea. The more wind, the more probability that you will have higher seas. I used to captain a fishing boat in FL and would expect sea conditions to be 1/3 wind speed. Example, 30kt winds, expect 10 foot seas. That is just a guideline as on the May trip on the Inspiration the winds were 30-40 most of the time, but the sea conditions rarely exceed 6'. Every rule of thumb will have exceptions and it surprised me that sea conditions remained that good during a steady heavy wind.

The biggest problem was on the walking track when you went by the exposed area and the winds would push you another direction. I can understand why they would close the open decks during high winds. It would be easy for someone to lose balance while walking, fall on deck, etc. Just be aware of those conditions and know that the crew will close down areas as needed. Obey those closed areas if that happens and you'll be safe. Those ships can take quite a bit of abuse and there is no need to worry about high winds/seas.

There's usually some dangerous winds after the mexican buffet..

Made me chuckle out loud! :D

We had 80 knot winds and 40 foot waves on a transatlantic in 2006. Skipped Bermuda because the island were closed, ports and airports.

The ship closed the outside decks but it was no big deal since the temps were in the low 40's anyhow. At night we'ed slide up the bed to the headboard [wall] then slide down until our feet hit the opposite wall. Then back up, then........................:D

Dan

We were sailing a few years ago when during one of our sea days we had a serious cross wind. It kept the ship at a slight list to one side for several hours. It did not seem to effect the waves as much as we were sailing across the wind. It was a little wierd walking with the deck tilted but no one seemed worried by it.

We got caught in Wilma. The stop at Key West was canceled with Free Port added. After Free Port we sailed at 5 kts for 24 hours keeping the wind as head and tail. When we would reach the end of a leg a reverse turn was required. The winds were at 50 kts so it was fun to watch everything in the room shift to the other side.:D

We got caught in Wilma. :eek:

 

Great shot!

I think I see a bit of streaking on the surface of the sea,

usually an indication that conditions are less than cute!

Great shot!

When we sailed on one of the Commodore ships we had 15' seas and 40knt. winds. We were really rocking (no stabilizers). We really got to know a lot of people in the hallways and stairs. I remember my DW calling me in to the bathroom to see the whitecaps in the tub. Later we saw several chairs fly overboard. This was our 1st. cruise.

Cliff

For all of you cruise experts. How high would the wind have to be to be considered dangerous? I will be in Nassau on mon & they say te winds will be 30 to 40 miles an hour in port so they must be worse at sea right?

how did you find out what the wind would be and how do you know ahead of time you will nassau on monday? i know i can find out the weather for my ports but never found a way to see wind, etc. we are leaving sunday and want be anywhere until wed, thur, friday of next week.

When we left Rome on our recent TA cruise, the winds were very strong on our first night out. We had sustained winds of 85 knots with higher gusts. It was not a night I would have wanted to be out and about, but most everyone stayed in their cabins and was safe and snug.

Doc

Next week looks interesting for the Carribean and Gulf.

Here is a link.

http://magicseaweed.com/Gulf-Coast-MSW-Surf-Charts/9/