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Cruise ship hit by freak wave...

DeltaOne

By DeltaOne,
in Princess Cruises

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DeltaOne

DeltaOne

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It sure is. I heard three or four versions of the story on different channels this morning.

 

Funniest was the lady that said they opened the bars when the wave hit, that the cruise line wanted everyone to "get drunk."

 

Didn't the wave hit very early in the morning? I heard it was around daybreak. If that's correct I'm pretty sure Norwegian didn't open the bars at daybreak...

 

I've also heard the passengers were offered free cruises, 50% off and 25% off. I think the 50% number is accurate.

 

If you've been checking the updates on the Norwegian web site I think you'd agree they've done a great job of keeping everyone informed.

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Host CJSKIDS "Live from...." Rare

Host CJSKIDS

Posted
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The site is posted on the Carnival board by selucrey on 7/22/04. Awesome video. Hi derf, just returned from a FABULOUS cruise on the Star Princess. Nothing like being on the Commodore's vessel!!!

 

Glad to hear your cruise went well! My parents were on the week before you and loved it. Hope you doing well!!

 

Carolyn & Steve

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derf5585

derf5585

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Hi derf, just returned from a FABULOUS cruise on the Star Princess. Nothing like being on the Commodore's vessel!!!

 

Derfette and I are planing a Alaska cruise on Princess in May 2006.

 

Cruise Ship Returning After Wave Damage

from

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050418/ap_on_re_us/cruise_ship_diverted

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smokeythedog

smokeythedog

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Thanks... took me a bit to find it...

 

Here is the link in case anyone else hasn't seen it.

 

http://63.217.28.3/images/other2/GLwave1.WMV

I live in southwest FL and on the news last night they showed just the outside of the ship and talked about it just alittle. On the news today in the morning they showed the damage that the wave did on the inside of the ship. That is something else. I am tring not to think about it, we are going on a cruise April 25th Roy. car. 4 nights.

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Mary Jane 711

Mary Jane 711

Posted
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This whole story about the freak wave has brought back memories of my Regal Princess cruise last December. I do think that freak wave tops what we endured in magnatude. However, try putting up with constant 20 foot swells for 12 hours, along with 70 mph winds. Two times the captain turned the ship abruptly, causing major upset. I was so scared, I remember crying that I thought I was going to die. My husband can vouch for this as he reminds me of it all the time. I was so sick from the swells that I couldnt move. Both of us held on for dear life in our beds, braced against the walls and clutching the night table so we wouldnt fall out of bed. Than again, there were people on this same cruise who walked about normally and went to dinner....almost as though nothing was happening. We had an aft cabin, wihch may have been part of the problem, we got toosed about pretty badly. I will never forget that experience...

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calikak

calikak

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I saw a passenger from the affected sailing on CNN last night, she was also upset about the free drink policy (she thought it irresponsible of the cruise line to get people drunk in the middle of a disaster) and also was upset that they only got 25% off a future cruise as compensation. Her comment was something like "There's no way I'd go on another cruise after this experience, so the 25% off does nothing for me." But MSNBC is quoting the cruise line as saying passengers got 50% off this cruise refunded and 50% off a future cruise.

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  • 9 months later...
daddowdall

daddowdall

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Hmm. When cruise ships (not ocean liners) venture out into the open ocean, there is always the risk that they will hit big seas. On an Alaskan cruise in September '04, on Sapphire Princess, we hit a September storm out in the Pacific between Alaska and British Columbia (so much for the myth of cruising the sheltered "Inside Passage."). For about 12 hours the captain plowed through seas that, at one point, were 35-40' or more. We were on deck 10, and when the ship crested a big swell and went into a trough, spray went flying all over and past the balcony. Lot of movement, to say the least. Yet, the ship was magnificent, never slowed under 20 knots, and when we had sailed through the worst of it, we discovered that we were the only ship of about 5 that actually made it into port at Victoria in time to dock and disembark. Bottom line: maybe the other Grand Class ships don't do well in rough seas, but if you're on Sapphire or Diamond, you'll ride it out just fine.

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D&L-01

D&L-01

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Gee... and just think... some folks go to the amusement park and pay big bucks for the same thrill that you can get for free on the cruise ship.:p

 

Seriously though, this is a very dangerious situation for sure.:(

 

I recall my Navy days, on a ship about the same size as one of the smaller cruise ships. There were times when the bow of the ship was completely submerged, at which time the stern was completly out of the water with the propellers spinning in air. Only way to go out on deck was to be lashed to a rope to keep from being tossed overbaord. Talk about "rock and roll" :D

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DanJ

DanJ

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The story I had heard on that Triumph picture was that it was off the east coast of Canada (It was doing the Canada/ New England run that year), and the picture was taken by a Canadian military aircraft from Newfoundland. It definitely wasn't during Isabel, but anyone who has ever done the east coast route knows it can get that rough there.

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c_galle

c_galle

Posted
Posted
I found the following a few nights ago at www.StrangeDangers.com

Here is the link: http://www.strangedangers.com/content/item/102022.html

(The picture is just amazing!)

And here is the captions that was with it:

 

"Carnival Triumph in Hurricane Isabel

 

From someone who has sailed on cruise ships in weather like this:

 

There is a big slow push from the floor as the bow rise over a swell, then a slight weightless feeling as the bow drops over the edge, followed by a big shudder that rattles the entire ship as the bow smacks into the bottom of the trough (which seems to be the moment captured in the above picture - keep in mind that ship is 180 feet high above the water and 893 feet in length).

 

Submitted by Mystic Rhythm "

 

 

 

102022.jpg

*********************************************

*********************************************

 

Having spent time on a 1000 Ton Minehunter, you could hold onto the ladder and the swell will send you up or down a deck. I remember many time being sick. Rough when you Bow and Fantail are under water.

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Lyndee

Lyndee

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We were on the CB from Jan 7th to 21st, and one morning people were talking about the horrible thing that happened at about 5 a.m. (We slept through it). They said that it lasted only about a minute, but the TV flew to the floor in the room of the singer in the band, and she feel and bruised her leg trying to get out of bed. Other people said that glasses and bottles flew off the bars. Don't know what it was, but glad we didn't experience it.

 

Lyndee

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snowkid8

snowkid8

Posted
Posted

Wow, after looking through this thread without any proper warning from Cruise Critic, I believe I'm entitled to either some shipboard credit (I think $500 pp would do it) or a refund (50%) on my upcoming cruise. It must be somebody's fault that the ocean can be so crazy.

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D&L-01

D&L-01

Posted
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with all this talk about freak waves and Williamson Maneuvers and sudden emergency 180's with no warnings... I'm getting mighty nervous about my upcoming cruise. :(

 

I wouldnt be too concerned. Yes... it can happen, but so can tornados, earthquakes, mudslides, and so on. These wave events are rare, and most occure in the open sea. Your cruise will keep you close to the Mexican coast.

 

Its like anything else... you only hear the bad stuff.

 

Put it out of your mind and enjoy the Cruise. :)

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rapsodyme

rapsodyme

Posted
Posted

We were on the Norway(France) about 8 years ago and got into 20-30 ft.

seas. The captain came on and said she was built for this and it would not be a problem. They did lay the chairs over in the dining rooms and secured the outside deck furniture. He explained we were on the fringe of a hurricane.

The next day at the private island it was really tore up, but for the 6-8 hours of rough seas it was awesome. My girlfriend and I went to deck enclosed that you could see out and watched for about 2 hours then went to bed and were really rocked to sleep. She was a grand old ship and I miss her.

 

Lois

 

I

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