Looks like Sister Celeb Ship got Smacked

[sea-cruise]

Something of interest....Cut and pasted from Celebrity's Board....

Today, 07:37 PM

Arizona Art




Infinity big wave Feb 1st

I just found out about this site and don't know how to check if any other threads exist about the injuries and damage resulting from the waves that hit the Infinity on Feb 1st just before entering the straits of Magellan.

We were on the second floor of the dining room at about 6:30PM when we were broadsided by what must have been two enormous waves. Two folks at our table of eight, were knocked to the floor with water, wine, dishes etc spilled on them. At the table next to us, a woman was injured and taken out on a stretcher. The waiter and head waiter said they had never experienced any thing like this before and were of no help as to what we should do. The waiter said that there were broken arms and legs suffered by galley workers. Passengers throughout the ship later had stories of "where they were and what happened" when the waves hit. Every bottle of booze and all glassware all over the ship hit the floor. The books in the library were all on the ground. The Grand piano in the theater broke legs and pedals. It was a mess and the most astonishing thing is that neither the Captain, nor any of his officers got on the PA system until 36 hours later to talk about it. All he said then was "he did good since three other ships in the same waters had to delay their cruises because they suffered even more severe damage and injuries". When I got back home I emailed Celebrity to ask them to explain their lack of communication during the event. When we needed it most, there was no one to tell us what to do and to reassure us. It is now a week and they have not responded. It is as if they can make believe it never happened if they don't acknowledge what happened. Is this typical of all Cruise lines or just Celebrity?

Today, 08:11 PM

cabo de hornos

Join Date: Dec 2003

Location: Birmingham, AL USA

Posts: 233

Amazing

Sorry to hear of this misfortune.

We've sailed this itinerary on infinity, and we'll be doing it again a year from now.

Out of curiousity, I just checked the Web Cam archive at www.CelebrityatSea.com, and sure enough, at the time you described (6:25 pm on the 1st) the bridge cam shows a "severe list". Must have been something.

[sea-cruise]

When you get to the site, click on the calendar day of Feb 1st and change the Intervals from 5 minutes to 1 minute. Start at 6 pm.

http://www.celebrityatsea.com/index....alue=8&Loc=CI2

[brn2crz]

Link does not work for me??


Scarey event I am sure....

I wonder why it is...It seems like the biggest complaint from PAX when these kind of things happen...Is lack of info from the Bridge..
Must be a club rule

[sea-cruise]

Yes, you're right. They really should realize that we passengers would rather know what's really going on...and we'd feel better about it. We're not ostriches.

[perkyblue]

Wow! That was strange to see the pictures of the ship right at the point when it listed and to try to imagine what it was like inside the ship at that moment! Thanks for posting the webcam link.

I cringe whenever I hear of people getting a broken leg. (It happened to me twice.) But I guess in a situation like that, things could have been even worse. It's lucky that no one had any life-threatening injuries, and my heart goes out to anyone who broke a leg on that cruise!

[sea-cruise]

I hope it didn't affect anyone out on a balcony, deck, or in the centrum.

[kswing886]

This is one of my biggest fears on the ship. That I would be on a balcony and this would happen. I checked out the pictures and I am getting all nervous and worked up.

This doesn't happen often....right?

[mrBit]

you would not be out on your balcony with kind of wind and weather. No it does not happen often, you have to get caught in bad weather or be close to shore when an earthquake goes off at sea

[kswing886]

Originally Posted by mrBit

you would not be out on your balcony with kind of wind and weather. No it does not happen often, you have to get caught in bad weather or be close to shore when an earthquake goes off at sea

Okay that makes me feel a lot better.

I don't like how the captain didn't address it right away. Why have everyone worrying about what happened. Just to ease nerves something should have been said by the captain shortly after.

[mrBit]

the captain's first priority is to make ensure the safety of the ship meaning further negotiating what might happen next whether it be more waves, is the ship in the right position for the weather or event, are all systems checked out and so on.

Once that is cleared he should or someone should announce what happened, but not 36hrs later.

[BunkerVA]

KSwing--

You're not alone! I got nauseas when I started thinking about that happening when I'm on the balcony! It's gonna give me nightmares!

You're right though Mr.Brit...I hope I'd have enough sense to not be out in that weather...of course, there is my photographer husband who would be dying (maybe a bad choice of words?) to get an awsome shot...perhaps the risk of his camera getting wet would be enough to keep him indoors... (I'm shocked he doesn't sleep with the thing!)

Anyway, I, too, am thankful the injuries were not more severe...

The thought is still going to fester,
Sam

[aqhacruiser]

Originally Posted by mrBit

you would not be out on your balcony with kind of wind and weather. No it does not happen often, you have to get caught in bad weather or be close to shore when an earthquake goes off at sea

No, it does not happen often but the NCL Dawn was not sailing in a storm when she was hit with a rogue last year nor was there an earthquake reported. There are several theorys but underwater currents in certain hot spot areas seem to cause them occasionally. They now believe rogue waves to account for the mysterious things that have happened to ships in the Bermuda Triangle as it is a hot spot for extreme underwater currents due to the shape of the ocean floor. There was an excellent show on this subject a few months ago and passengers from the Dawn were also interviewed in it and thankfully no one was killed as she took a bad hit. Captains are well trained to handle this and I'm sure the crew was badly shaken also. There is little warning as they do not appear on radar although they are attempting satelite imaging in the future in the hope of providing some warning. The captain should have made announcements to the passengers and other crew members after the ship was under control again but it may have taken awhile to get controls back online and to check everything but 36 hours seems much too long to me. The ocean is unpredictable and that's just a fact but these waves are not that common and there is a greater risk of injury when we drive on a highway so we shouldn't worry about cruising

[dforeigner]

Rogue waves occur more often than initially believed. Will this stop me from cruising? No. Just like highway fatalities does not stop me from driving.

These articles speak about research results done on this subject. There was even a special on the History Channel about rogue waves.

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMOKQL26WD_index_0.html

http://discover.com/issues/jul-04/features/rogue-waves/

[Kruzeagain]

The webcam link is fascinating (thank you to sea-cruise). http://www.celebrityatsea.com Head to bridge cam archives.

If you look at the captured video beyond the actual time that the severe list occured you can see that the ship was getting knocked about a fair bit before and after that wave. It's not like they were sailing across a glassy calm sea and suddenly got slammed.

Ships can go though the most deplorable conditions without any harm or structural/mechanical damage. It's the passengers that sometimes get a bit freaked out. On Explorer we had Force 7/8 conditions for a day and max roll was limited to just 5 degrees--but that was enough to worry some passengers. But the ship was designed to self-right at a list of up to 49 degrees so there was nothing to worry about. I suppose that kind of extreme tilt did happen we'd be eating with plastic cutlery and paper plates for the rest of the trip.

Alan

[sea-cruise]

The Straits of Magellan are known for these nasty waves and bad weather, so most of the pax must have had an idea of what they were in for, but the reason I posted it, is because I think the Captain should have at least informed everyone that....OK they got slammed but this was under control.... and they would have felt better.
For any new cruisers....Don't let this frighten you and spoil your cruises because the stabilizers handle the ships very well in our modern ships. We were on the original "Love Boat"....small, old ship in the mid 1980's when the waves caused a slot machine next to me fall over onto the floor. The stools all fell as well. The Captain made a few announcements, and explained what was happening, so we all at least felt better about it. In those days the ships were much smaller and not built to withstand such waves. It hasn't stopped us from cruising and we're planning our 33rd. Enjoy your trips.

[maggieworkman]

I looked at those bridge cam pictures and now I am anxious that this will happen to us. I am worried that the kids might be on deck when this happens and get knocked out!! Oh man. Why did I look at those.

But, it doesn't seem from the pictures they were sailing through bad weather. It looks like there was a previous event at 6:11 and then afterwards at 6:36 - 6:48. So I am wondering if people were on the pool deck and what happened to them???

Where was this ship sailing to?

Thanks,
Maggie

[HiCsAdventure]

If the Staits are where this occurred I'd be somewhat cautious taking a cruise near the end of summer and rounding the Cape at this time of the year.( The Drake Passage is the relatively narrow stretch of ocean separating Cape Horn (the southern tip of South America) from Antarctica, the waters of which are notoriously turbulent, unpredictable, and frequented by icebergs and sea ice (wikpedia). Looking at the photos it does appear the ship is travelling in a beam sea so the likelyhood of being hit by a Rogue increases rather than Altering course and taking the seas at more of an angle may have helped prevent the degree to which the ship listed. As for the Captain his priorities are for the Safety of the Passengers, Crew and the ship 36 hours seems a bit excessive to address the passengers.........A pilot doesn't wait till the planes landed to anonce that you may be experiencing severe turbulance. I would also hope that if a ship was experiencing rough seas passengers would have enough common sence to stay off their balconys.

[sea-cruise]

Hi Maggie, Like I said, don't worry too much about that. The Caribbean Sea is mostly surrounded by islands, like a "bracelet" and that makes the Caribbean sea more calm. When you get out in the ocean then you are in rough waters, and the chances of seeing a rogue or odd wave are greater there.
There are many shipwrecks in the seas at the tip of Cape Horn, because the water's rough there.

[hunnypot1]

I was searching for more info on rogue waves and came across this story/pictures. Not a cruise ship, but pretty intense!

http://www.geocities.com/kp_diver/index111TheStorm.html


Also, when the Queen Mary was hit by a 92 ft rogue wave in 1942, she listed 52 degrees, per Wikipedia:

"The huge wave caused a list that briefly reached an astounding 52 degrees before the ship slowly righted itself. He reported that investigations later estimated that three more degrees of list (about 5 inches in the wrong direction) would have made the vessel capsize. He also said that seasoned hands on the ship felt it would indeed roll over."

This stuff does not happen often, but.....wow.

[dforeigner]

Originally Posted by hunnypot1

I was searching for more info on rogue waves and came across this story/pictures. Not a cruise ship, but pretty intense!

http://www.geocities.com/kp_diver/index111TheStorm.html

Yep, I believe that was the first time someone documented a rogue wave on video. Before, everyone thought is was a myth. Thanks for sharing that link.