One of the "WAVE" people (long)

[swoosh2005]

there was just (finally) a report of someone praising the crew on our local NBC affiliate here in CT

[Dolphins]

Thank you theroos for sharing your experience with us. Your positive outlook and sense of humor is so refreshing when too many people are quick to rush to a lawyer. Hope you enjoy your next Dawn cruise and the discount you deserve.

[gemsm]

:D Yesterday on our local news, several Marylanders, maybe 10 people, who were on the "Wave Cruise" were interviewed and they had nothing but great things to say about how the crew and the captain handled the horrific situation. They were surprised that among all the chaos, the crew tried their best to make everyone as comfortable as possible and ease everyone's minds.

 

 

Leave it to us Marylanders to have a positive attitude. I wonder how many of those Marylanders have been out on the Chesapeake in a 20 foot boat in a squall? Pretty much the same affect as being on stormy seas in a big cruise ship only there is a lot more rocking on the 20 foot boat on the bay.

[Nliedel]

Someone stole my line about sharks being the media :) Great minds and all that. So glad you are home safe! Your experience would probably make me afraid of bathrooms for life!!

[Bonnie Voyager]

I just wanted to point out that these "rough" waters were not isolated to a small area that the ships could just sail around. I suspect the whole area off the coast of Florida was feeling the effects. My Daughter was sailing on Carnival Victory through the same rough water as Norwegian Dawn. In fact she said they passed Dawn (or vice versa) at some point on Saturday as Victory was headed toward Miami. She said the water was terribly rough and and even on Victory, the waves were splashing over the promenade and that passengers were restricted from going outside. I'm sure there were many other ships that had to travail the rough water too. Any one of them could have been hit by the "rogue" wave. I certainly don't have all the facts (none of us do) but from what I've seen and heard, I think NCL did a splendid job in a difficult situation. It could have been much worse! It certainly won't keep me from cruising!

[Rosarymb]

We came in on the tail end of the storm, and the Westerdam was bouncing like a ping pong ball Saturday night (thank god for mechlizine and a scop patch!). The TV said we were in gale force winds with 12 ft seas, and that was bouncy enough. I can't imagine waves 7 times taller!

[JrMafia90]

I could only imagine what it must be like to be on that ship at that time.

[corina27]

Wow,What an experience you had,thanks for taking the time to tell us what happenend.:)

[Retired not Expired]

Thank you so much for this post. It's nice to read an account from someone who was there and can be objective in their report. I tried to read another account from someone who was very bitter about the whole cruise, but when they stated they saw blood and glass everywhere, I knew it wasn't going to be very objective. The size of the ship and the amount of passengers on the ship makes it hard to believe that there could be blood everywhere with four injuries. And don't get me wrong, even one injury is sad. But so are the deaths and injuries I read about in my morning paper from car accidents.

 

To those who want to blame the Captain and NCL for being in that storm, you need to check out some of the threads on other cruise line forums. There were several cruise ships who also weathered that same storm with the same experiences as the Dawn except for that rogue wave. On one I read where everyone was confined inside the ship due to waves over the decks.

 

Thank you again for an objective report. I'm so happy you and the others made it home safe after this experience.

[lovemylife]

Glad to hear you and your family made it through ok. Thanks for the straight scoop (minus the media hype). I appreciate your sense of humor, which is in short supply these days!!!:)

[spongerob]

Thanks, Theroos, for using your humor to restore my faith in people.

[Cruise4Andy]

I actually came over from the Costa Forum to check out what really happend. I did not even hear it on the news, until one of my associates told me about the incident.

 

Thank you for reporting in such detailed matter and I am glad that you and your family made it home safely.

 

Andy

[alexkrn46]

I am a RCCL cruiser, but enjoyed reading your report. I have seen the Dawn in port and it seems like a beautiful ship.

I had heard on the TV, the captain pulled in the stabilizers, was this true? Did it make a big differenence when they were pulled in? Thanks for your report. Alex

[GottaLuvCruising]

Thank you so much for sharing. I appreciate the opportunity to read a balanced, first-hand experience.

[Greyhound3]

Someone stole my line about sharks being the media :)

 

Actually, I would have thought they were the first wave of attorneys... :D

[waterrats]

Why does everyone try to relate this to the Titanic.

 

1. The Titanic sank in calm seas

2. The Titanic was sank by a large iceberg in the north Atlantic and not in the Caribbean.

3. There are many ships and Islands within close proximity to almost all ships cruising the Caribbean. Help is not far away.

4. The Titanic didn't have enough life boats to get all aboard off safely. Todays safety standards MANDATE that there must be enough life boats to get everyone onboard off safely.

[theroos]

Nobody is trying to relate any of what happened to us with the Titanic, which was a great tragedy. What we are saying it was some coincidence that we went into the storm on April 15. What are the odds?. (the "WAVE" did not hit until April 16.)

[redcat72]

Visiting from the RCCL board... Thanks for posting your story. Must have been a frightening experience, and it's good you can have a sense of humor about it. I agree, it is ridiculous the interviews the media chose to air. I'm sure the crew did the best they could.

[Snowgums]

Thanks Theroos for sharing your account of what really happened out there. I, like many others, have come over from the Princess threads to try to find out a little more about what happened, and your account lets me know it all first hand.

We are about to embark on our next cruise, flying out of Australia on May 10th, to meet up with Island Princess cruise out of Vancouver on May 21st, so this was a little scary to say the least. Your words have put my fears at rest and I am now looking forward to yet another great holiday at sea. Have already linked up with 6 other CC buddies through CC and we are so looking forward to meeting them in person on the 21st.

Hope they are as happy and cheerful and optimistic as you are. I know we will have a fantastic cruise, no matter what. After all, life is what we make it. :)

Lyn

[bardeep]

i'm a member of the media who was on the ship, and i agree that the coverage was just awful. i thought the crew was outstanding, as was the captain. pls see my article in today's wall street journal. it can be found at opinionjournal.com on the taste page.http://www.opinionjournal.com.

[snorklinbarb]

bardeep,

 

Took the liberty of posting your article here on two different threads this morning. Thanks for telling us all about your experience and putting things into perspective. So many CC'ers have written about talking to the media, only to have their positive comments ignored in the search for something more sensational, hysterical, negative or downright untrue (like the guy on CNN Fraley who insinuated that passengers hadn't heard a word about compensation).

[claudie]

Great article. An honest reflection of my experience.

[Sailing Away]

Thanks for posting the link to your column. Well put! I think this column should be printed in every cruise brochure as a reminder that life isn't perfect and we'd all be better off if we tried to put a positive spin on things that turn out less than perfect.

[CHUD]

I read a story that said the "Titanic" theme was playing while everybody huddled around to ride out the storm? They also called it "The Perfect Storm." I bet that's what a lot of people thought about - the Titanic. I think I could see people getting scared if they have never experienced anything like that before.

 

But as for the captain going into the storm, I read these boards all the time, and I have talked to people who have gone on cruises before, and they all say the ship just steers away from the storms, hurricanes or whatever.

 

How come that didn't happen this time?

 

yes, this is what a lot of would like to know. friends of ours cruise every year and have come face to face with hurricanes brewing and then the captain changed course to move away from the storm, making a necessary itinerary change. I am sorry but I feel NCL was selfish this time and it very well may be the only time, but it made a difference. They changed our itinerary at the last day or so? They have lied about why the change was taking place, and now I see Ms. Robeson is saying we all got $200 credit on our stateroom bill, well everyone I talked to got $100 which isn't enough to cancel one of our planned ports, for something that only benefitted NCL. The captain knew the storm was already in progress and the fact of the matter is, he sailed right into it on a direct course to NYC. wake up. NCL wants everyone to think this was all an innocent mistake, if not for the "wave" they would have pulled it off, and only cost the passengers Nassau, 5 hours early arrival in NYC and 4 hours standing on the pier in Miami for immigration, yeah this cruise was a real blast. Yes, the service personnel were wonderful and we were willing to overlook the loss of Nassau, but to spend an entire day on NCL's island, spending money on NCL drinks, instead of getting to go on our planned Nassau excursion - is just another example of NCL's lack of interest in our comfort and in making this a vacation to remember in a good way.

[caren]

Bardeep,

Where you in Tempanyaki at 5:30 on Tuesday evening? My son and I were there dining next to a very nice young woman and her aunt. I read your article and thought maybe it was you and your Aunt Blanche.

Caren