hurricane Oct or Nov 1994 Westerdam caribbean

[fireflymd]

In 1994 we sailed on the Westerdam ship of Holland America. I don't have date stamp on my pictures, but they were developed in November 1994.

 

This was a cruise that stopped in the Bahamas, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. There was a hurricane near Puerto Rico and I have pictures of water lapping right out of the pool. The doors to the decks were locked because of the storm, and many of us suffered with motion sickness. There were reports that even the captain of the ship was affected.

 

I can't remember the itinerary for this cruise, what ports were missed, or even the name of the hurricane or tropical storm.

 

I only recently figured out the one cruise we had taken when we were first married was Holland America (found the glasses they had given us!), and thankfully just found a picture I had taken of the cruise ship, so I know it was the Westerdam.

 

If you were on this ship in the fall of 1994 and have any memories, I would be grateful for anything you could share, particularly the actual dates of the cruise.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Check out this site:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_storms_in_the_1994_Atlantic_hurricane_season

Read through -- maybe one of the hurricanes listed is the one you were affected by.

[sail7seas]

You may be referring to Hurricane Gordon?

Formed about November 8, 1994 but dissipated some days later.

 

 

[arewethereyet]

It was probably Gordon. DW and I were in hawaii. We returned to Florida around Nov 18, not knowing anything about the storm. I was shocked at how much rain had fallen.

 

Hope that helps.

[fireflymd]

I checked out the Wikipedia site--I'm thinking it had to be Hurricane Gordon, but I don't know why I don't remember that name. Tropical Storm Debby sounds familiar, but that was in September and it wouldn't have taken me 2 months to get my pictures developed.

 

It has to be Gordon. I'm hoping I can find someone on this forum who remembers this hurricane and what it was like on the ship.

 

I remember being at dinner and seeing the utensil drawers opening and closing. Walking the hallway and feeling like I was drunk, the ship was bobbing so much.

 

I thought I was okay after dinner and I slept well. Got up in the morning, got dressed, then the nausea hit me as I was leaving the cabin and I had to rush back in. DH was perfectly fine--it never affected him. I kept calling him Homer Simpson (Ooooh, donuts!) when I couldn't even look at food.

 

They let people sit at the top deck by the pool (I think it was a covered area that they could open) because we could get air there, but the pool was roped off and water was really splashing in and out of the pool. I was grateful for the fresh air.

 

I remember DH telling me they had locked the doors to the decks and I asked him how he knew, and he said he had tried to get out on deck for a better look at the storm. I told him they locked the doors so that idiots who might try to go on deck wouldn't get themselves killed!:)

[fireflymd]

Wow, I thought for sure there would be someone on this message board who had been on this ship during the hurricane.

 

Hoping someone will remember something.

[sail7seas]

This is something that happened 18 years ago.......

the chances of finding someone here that was on that ship, on that date, for that storm are not huge.

 

That ship is not even in HAL's fleet anymore. :)

 

Keep checking back and posting about it and you might get lucky but it really isn't shocking there aren't a bunch of us who were there and even if we were remember it all that clearly if we've had lots of cruises since and sailed through lots of storms.

[rafinmd]

Have you tried the Holland America site? If you know your mariner number it should be easy to access your sailing record with exact dates and ships, if you don't know it, you can probably look it up using your name, dob, and postal code and country, presumably at the time of your last contact with HAL. I expect they go back to at least 1994, although my history only goes back to 1997.

 

Roy

[Scrapnana]

Try posting on the "Whatever happened to..." board.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=56

[fireflymd]

Have you tried the Holland America site? If you know your mariner number it should be easy to access your sailing record with exact dates and ships, if you don't know it, you can probably look it up using your name, dob, and postal code and country, presumably at the time of your last contact with HAL. I expect they go back to at least 1994, although my history only goes back to 1997.

 

Roy

 

Try posting on the "Whatever happened to..." board.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=56

 

Great ideas, thanks!

[gelo7]

Lots of good information around here.