Share your worst weather experience

Please, share your worst storm experience.

In Kusadasi last fall, Ruby broke from all the moorings in port during a flash rainstorm. We left port a little late.

A photo of the ropes:

1993 we were on the P&O ship Canberra, we were caught in a horrific force 9 gale in the bay of Biscay. We had waves hitting the top decks of the ship, people with broken arms and legs and water pouring down the stair wells.

We arrived in Lisbon a day late before sailing to the Caribbean. It was literally the worst experience ever and needless to say I have never sailed from Southampton in the winter since then. The cruise was a 3 week trip from Southampton to the Caribbean during December.

Didn't put me off cruising though!!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We were on the Grand Princess heading to Hawaii from San Francisco. Two days out we hit severe weather and about 1:00 a.m. I woke up and was nearly knocked out of the bed. The ship was shaking hard and I thought it was an earthquake until I realized we were on a ship! I got up and looked out the slider and the waves were coming up as high as the Aloha deck, the deck we were on. In the cabin next to ours, the ceiling was knocked down on the people in bed. Three cabins down the slider was blown in. People were sick and many had a rough time for a couple of days. Actually it was kind of fun. Luckily the ship was going into dry dock. Our slider was rusted out around the edges and we could see daylight through the holes! :eek:

By far the worst weather we experienced was in Ketchikan, Alaska a few years ago. They are known for their rain and I grew up in the Pacific NW and I've never seen it rain so hard for so long. We rented a car that day and drove up and down the coast. It was still beautiful and we still talk about Ketchikan (but we mostly talk about how hard it rained).

Other than that, we have been very lucky to experience great weather.

We were at Princess Keys we disembarked and went to shore. Did what we wanted walked, swam, ate all the typical things and around 1 it looked like a store was coming in. We went and boarded a tender headed out to the ship and the Caribbean Princess as we travelled slipped anchor and changed position. They reanchored and the tender that was disembarking when this happened had damages. For us as we travelled out waves were going right over our tender. Half way out they turned us back to shore and we sat in the tender for an hour then went back out still waves going over top of us and water leaking in. We were soaked and many were sea sick so for us at Princess Keys when the ship is not stopping due to weather we understand.

2012 we were on a New England cruise from Quebec to Florida. Hurricane Sandy hit. But our ship was completely out of harms way as we stayed cruising on the St Lawrence river instead of cruising the East coast. We did however make a quick stop in Boston to let off some NYC passengers but we could not get off. We missed four ports, Maine, New York, Rohde Island and Boston. But now I have an good excuse to repeat this cruise and hope no hurricanes come.

Years ago, when I was a teenager, my Mom, sister and I took a freighter to/from Europe. It returned empty to the US and we went through a Force 9 storm out of Rotterdam. Small ship, well before stabilizers, the bow went under and the stern came up so high, the propellers were out of the water. I was too young and dumb to be scared. Frankly, I thought it was exciting.

A few years ago, I was on the Island Princess to/from Hawaii. Our last port before returning to LA was Lahaina. Gorgeous sunny day. Took a tour to Haleakala and from the top, I could see for miles and miles. I saw storm clouds moving in but didn't think much of it. We returned to port at about 3pm and as I stood online for the tender, the storm moved in and it started raining. Once on the tender, the storm really hit with high winds and torrential rain. We set off for the ship but only got half-way before the waves hit. The tender literally went up a wave, balanced briefly at the top, and then slammed down the other side. The ship had to raise anchor and change positions so we were like that for an hour and a half before we could disembark. I was OK but even half the crew were tossing their cookies. There was a young woman in a wheelchair who was hanging on for dear life. Even with the brakes on and two crew holding her wheelchair, it was very dangerous for her. I felt so badly because she was completely unable to use her legs and in such an awful situation.

In the port for Dunedin New Zealand the winds were so strong the mooring lines broke & required tugboats to keep us at the pier until secured again.

The worst sea conditions I've experienced on a cruise ship was in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand with 20' to 25' seas and near hurricane force winds. Although it may have been worse on my aircraft carrier somewhere in the South China Sea on the fringe of a typhoon where water came up onto the front end of the flight deck. :eek:

On a TA coming out of Greenland on the Grand Princess we had a storm, 11+ on the Beaufort scale, later classified as a hurricane by the weather service. For two days we sailed back towards Europe as the Captain could not turn around as he was afraid the wind might roll us. Even heading slowly East with the bow into the waves we were carried backwards by the wind/currents almost 100 miles. 65+ knot winds and 50+ foot seas for almost two days was a real roller coaster but an interesting experience.

Had some similar conditions crossing from Tasmania over to New Zealand and headed south down to Antarctica across the Drake but for much shorter periods.

Last October we were on the Seabourn Questsailing from Barcelona to Rio. There had been a large storm that hit northern Europe (hurricane force winds in the UK). Early in the morning we were approaching the port of Casablanca. There were evidently huge waves caused by the storm and as we made our way to the channel we were caught broadside by at least one. My husband and I were still in bed and thought we'd be thrown out of it. All the dining venues were set up for breakfast and there was broken glassware and dishes in all of them. A couple of cabins had their shower doors broken. Later in the voyage we spoke to the Executive Chef and he told us the breakage amounted to a couple of hundred thousand $$$.

The crew did a remarkable job that day! By the time we returned from our shore excursion to Marrakesh, everything was cleaned up and somehow replacements had been found. We experienced no shortage of wine glasses and champagne flutes. Seabourn does a wonderful job.

In 2009, they had a heat wave in Alaska, and it was around 80 in all of our ports! :eek: Way too hot!

First one was going across the Drake Passage; Ushuaia to Antarctica.

Both ways.

Was on the Marco Polo, Orient Lines; Ship was 640 ft., 25,000 ton.

(Click on my Screen Name; Public Profile; Marco Polo in the back ground)

Waves over the bow; props cavitating out of the water.

Problem going South to Antarctica is knowing you have to sail North

to get back to Ushuaia.

Second one was sailing around the Galapagos Islands for five days.

Can not recall the details of the boat.

Do recall that it only had ten Cabins.

We would sail to another island at night.

Mother Nature does not like small boats.

We had some pretty interesting weather coming out of Casablanca last January. There was no moving about the ship.

When it gets that rough, it is best to just read a good book in the bed!

In 2009, they had a heat wave in Alaska, and it was around 80 in all of our ports! :eek: Way too hot!

I was in Alaska that summer too... It was hot!

First one was going across the Drake Passage; Ushuaia to Antarctica.

Both ways.

Was on the Marco Polo, Orient Lines; Ship was 640 ft., 25,000 ton.

(Click on my Screen Name; Public Profile; Marco Polo in the back ground)

Waves over the bow; props cavitating out of the water.

Problem going South to Antarctica is knowing you have to sail North

to get back to Ushuaia.

 

Second one was sailing around the Galapagos Islands for five days.

Can not recall the details of the boat.

Do recall that it only had ten Cabins.

We would sail to another island at night.

Mother Nature does not like small boats.

Similar experience last year on Azamara going thru Drake Passage. My husband thought it was cool. Scared the cr** out if me!

2008 off the coast of naples. a little bit of a hurricane that we tried to outrun. a couple of windows blown out, ceiling tiles falling. the bow going down as the stern came up, then the stern crashing down. it bounced my daughter right out of bed (she is a lightweight though. ;) ). you couldn't lie on your side or you'd roll out of bed. a few hours of that and one great crash and we broke a stabilizer and lost power for a few minutes. we were 7 hours late getting into civitivecchia. that was quite an adventure!

On a TA coming out of Greenland on the Grand Princess we had a storm, 11+ on the Beaufort scale, later classified as a hurricane by the weather service. For two days we sailed back towards Europe as the Captain could not turn around as he was afraid the wind might roll us. Even heading slowly East with the bow into the waves we were carried backwards by the wind/currents almost 100 miles. 65+ knot winds and 50+ foot seas for almost two days was a real roller coaster but an interesting experience.

 

Had some similar conditions crossing from Tasmania over to New Zealand and headed south down to Antarctica across the Drake but for much shorter periods.

That had to have been BIG TIME Scary! :eek:

Nothing ever that bad for us.

We've had waves breaking over the Lido Deck where the whole deck looked like a pool and we were told to NOT open our cabin balcony door for any reason. It was extremely hard to walk around and we were one of the very few who make it to the MDR.

Still, nothing like what you experienced!

LuLu

In 2009, they had a heat wave in Alaska, and it was around 80 in all of our ports! :eek: Way too hot!

I was in Alaska that summer too... It was hot!

Us too! The Golden in June right after the big drydock additions, Crown Grill etc.

I was sunburned bad! :eek:

1967 SS France Trans Atlantic eastbound, 20-30ft swells 40+ft waves crashing over the bow/bridge. As the bow dipped it would disappear into sea then shoot up into the air.

I remember being on the enclosed Promenade Deck and seeing the swells even with the windows :eek:. For those that know the France/Norway you know how high those windows were. :eek:

Now that ship was made for those seas. :D

WOW, I thought that being at sea during Superstorm Sandy and Irene the year before were scary, but nothing compared to the experiences I've read in this thread. In all fairness, we were tied to the dock in Boston and held in place by two huge tugs pushing us, for about 3 days, so Sandy wasn't as horrible as it could have been, thank heavens. Princess took very good care of us for both storms.

On the Haverfield out of Guam, 1961, We were ordered to sea when a

202 MPH Typhoon came across the Island.. We ended up heading directly

into it.. Green waves came over the Mast.. Typhoon wiped out about

80% of building on the Island..

Scared, Hell ya.... The Haverfield was a Destroyer Escort..

Worst weather?

Grand Princess

Western Caribbean

May 6, 2001

Aft-facing Vista Suite

50 mph winds

25' waves

Almost 9 yr. old son thought he had the flu because he kept throwing up every night once we got to our aft cabin. He didn't know what seasickness was (we weren't about to teach him about that before cruising!).

Viking Serenade

Nov. 20, 1998

California Coastal

First 'real' cruise for us as a family

No idea what the waves & wind were.

Ship was moving so much we had to hold onto ALL our silverware and RCI puts a lot of it out. Eventually, drinks were flying off the table too. Bathroom door opened and closed all night long.

We have had three "E-ticket rides" on cruises over the years.

Sitmar in the Gulf of Alaska, we got bounced around for a couple of days and learned after we got home that a Korea Shipping container ship that was up there with us had to dump some container loads to keep from going over.

Marco Polo going South from Montevideo to Falkland. They came into the cabin about 9pm and took the TV off the mount and set it on the floor, buckled our porthole and told us not to open it. The guy also said "HANG ON __ We are gonna have a ride". We did just that but when we reached Falkland it was pretty smooth.

HAL going North from Panama to Huatulco, we hit a freak storm in the Sea of Tepultepec during the night. The waves were washing the sliding canopy over the pool and the pool water was washing it from the inside. A window got knocked out of a cabin on our deck and the water came down the hallway. The people in the windowless cabin were in their nightclothes and life vests. It scared the cr-- out of them. I went to the buffet for coffee and had to hang onto the table with one hand and my coffee cup with the other. What a ride, but when it was over, it was smooth as glass. I have heard the Sea of Tepultepec is famous for sudden strong winds.

On a short Azamara Caribbean cruise, we could not get back to the Miami port because of predicted storms, so we returned to the Tampa port instead. We had driven to Miami so our car was parked there. They arranged for a bus to take us back to Miami. The bus broke down and we had a long wait in the hot sun before the new bus got to us. We continued to Miami and got there very late. We then drove back to our home near Tampa only to find that the storms never happened.

We were once changed from Eastern Caribbean to Western because of a hurricane. No problem and the weather was fine.

On our South American cruise

The weather was so bad that we were the only Princess ship to not go around the horn. Instead we had to go through the Straits of Magellan. There was a typhoon with 60 ft waves for more than 2 full days. The captain pulled in the stabilizers which made for a rougher ride. On the second day he took a route behind some islands to give us a break from the weather. I had a waterproof bag packed with ID, pills etc. in case we needed to evacuate! We were a day late getting into Valparasio and the passengers were all given free telephone time to make new arrangements or reassure family who were waiting to hear from them. Luckily we were staying on until San Fran so this did not impact us. Many people were flying home on disembarking day. (Never, never, never!!!!!)

On a happy note....one couple from New Zealand were being charged well over $1,000 to change their airline tickets. they won the final bingo which more than paid for this.

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app