Rough Seas- what's the worst?

[chengkp75]

Haven't personally been in bad weather on a cruise. One Atlantic crossing about 10 years back on a tanker, we hit 3 hurricane force storms on 3 consecutive nights. Most times, when you looked out from the bridge windows, the entire ship forward of the house was buried under water. Only time in my 37 years at sea that I thought I might not make it.

 

I know the Norwegian Dawn blew out the forward suites on a trip to Bermuda a few years back, and the Carnival Triumph did the same, as shown in the photo.

 

[DRS/NC]

In June 2002, my DH & I were on the old Royal Princess for 12 days, going around the British Isles. Our first 'sea day' was in the Inner Hebrides, after leaving Glasglow, enroute to the Orkneys. I was out on the deck, enjoying the "bracing wind" & frequent spray. About 11 AM, the captain announced on the speaker that "anyone out & about on the decks should take care. We have gale-force winds." I saw only 1 other passenger on deck (no crew).

 

That evening at the Capt.'s party, DH asked the captain "what constitutes 'gale force winds'?" Capt.: "Oh, 60-70 mph." DH: "Oh! At home, we call that a Level 1 hurricane!" Capt.: "True, true."

 

It's still one of my favorite "sea" days!

[antique sailor]

AHOY SHIPMATES

 

1958

first time at sea FLEW to Japan and reported aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Shangra La. It was preparing to return to US. About 3 days at sea and we were hit by a typhoon . I have pictures taken from the bridge of waves breaking over the front of the Flight deck 70ft above the waterline. All the catwalks were torn off as well as the roller curtains on the hangerdeck. All hands were ordered strap in their bunks and stay there unless on watch. We were given powdered juice and crackers for two days then it was back to work and headed home to Alimeda

 

1997

first Grand World Voyage on the old Rotterdam 5 end of the cruise somewhere between the Azores and NYC we encountered a storm we could not avoid.All passengers(avg age 74) were told to stay in their cabins, however safety lines were rigged throught the ship. people are curious to see ; all the liquor fell in the stores. The entire atrium smelled like a frat house the AM after. All the LLadro figurines were shattered, elevators were shut down for a few days to be repaired they were old and tired to begin with. Worst of all.. there were over a dozen broken bones

3 arms a leg and several wrists and ankles and numerous black eyes and bruises. Most of the same people were back on the WC the following year

2000

Grand World Voyage on the (new) Rotterdam 6 somewhere between Japan and Midway Is. during the night; a very loud thump and jolt throwing many passengers out of bed to the deck in all areas of the ship. It was a huge rogue wave not seen in the dark by the bridge watch

About 6am one of the engineers whom i knew took me below deck in crew area to see the damage. Only place affected was the crew gym

the wave had crushed it from about 15 ft to 4 ft lucky no one was in there at 0330 in the am. From the outside onlyy a large dent showed in the hull.

this ends my sea stories for now

Gary

[JawjaFatBoy]

My first cruise in June 1991 aboard the Premier Atlantic out of Canaveral. First night was awful. They locked the outside doors at some point. It was an all senior (high school) cruise so I guess they were afraid some drunk teenager might go overboard.

 

Sometime after midnight I decided to go to bed. I was in one of the pullmans in the room and literally had to hang on to stay in my bunk. When the ship would rock I could feel myself sliding on the mattress. Finally got up and went to the bar!:rolleyes: Talked with one of the chaperons from another school who said she had been going with the school for close to 15 years and had never seen such rough weather.

[Gunner22aa]

Aug 1994. On the QE2. 30 foot swell and winds straight out of the north day 2 of the crossing. Even with the stabilizers out the whole ship had a 5 degree list. People were lined up to get sea sickness shots at $50 bucks a pop. Waves were breaking 6 decks above the water line. Only lasted about a day but what a day!

[attilamom1217]

My first cruise - November 2005 on the Celebrity Constellation. That was the year the hurricane names went to Gamma. Our cruise was 2 weeks after Hurricane Wilma. There were two hurricanes in the Caribbean. We had beautiful sunny skies with 18-20' swells. One pool was designed to make waves as the ship moved. The pool had to be emptied because it was dangerous - the water all came out of the pool at the same time, then slammed back down into the pool. We found out very quickly why there were handrails in the corridors. :eek:

[MiamiSpartan]

Force 9 Gale winds and 18-28 foot seas on the HAL Westerdam brought on by Hurricane Noel....

We just thought it added some excitement to the trip.....!

 

:p

[Hlitner]

We have spent approximately 3 years at sea on cruise ships and the worst day came in August of 1991 when we were taking a cruise on the Celebrity Meridian. It was a short 7 day Bermuda cruise that departed from NYC on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Everyone was aware that Hurricane Bob was working its way up the Atlantic (just off the coast) but we were reassured by the Captain that we would steer a wide berth around the storm and never get closer then 200 miles to its winds and seas. Famous last words (except they were the Captain's first words on this voyage). About 5 am to following morning (our first morning at sea) we woke up to crashing sounds over our heads (we were under the galley). Opening our curtains (we had an outside cabin) I was surprised to see only water. As the ship continued to roll our window cleared the seas and we saw some light as the skies lightened early in the morn. As we later were told, the storm changed course during the night and ran right across our path. Seas reached around 40-45 feet and the winds topped 90 knots. It was about 12 hours of real rocking and rolling until we finally cleared the storm. Much of the wine supply (and lots of glassware) was destroyed during the storm and the glass casino door was smashed by the heavy Roulette Wheel which flew off its spindle and through the casino. Our ship sustained no real damage or injuries (other then a cook who got some burns when he was splashed by boiling water) and we made it into Bermuda only an hour late. The other ship caught in that storm was the RCCL Nordic Prince which did sustain some hull damage.

 

For our then 9 year old DD and myself it was an interesting experience as we roamed the ship and tried to keep busy during the day. Walking around the ship was a challenge but actually fun. DW decided to stay in bed (she never got sick). Many other passengers were horribly seasick and the ship's medical staff raked in lots of money making "house calls" to dispense shots of Compazine and other seasick remedies. We did get out of the storm late in the afternoon and by dinner time all was pretty much back to normal.

 

Hank

Edited May 28, 2013 by Hlitner

[csmjfmbe]

It was definitely in September 2011 on the Sea Princess from San Francisco to Alaska.

It was gorgeous weather as we cruised under the Golden Gate Bridge.

This cruise takes two full days at sea to reach Alaska, on the first day at Sea the Captain announced that bad weather was expected, the day started a bit choppy but got gradually worse, the ship was going straight into the waves, I was on the open pool deck at about 5pm and the outdoor pool was doing its best to empty itself in the direction of the Movies under the Sky screen on the deck above. later there were many people not turning up for dinner or leaving the dining room early. There were constant announcments saying we were still on time and that certain open decks were closed, the rough seas lasted until about 2am, I loved it.

The second day at sea was totally fog bound, and I mean totally, you could hardly see over the rail, the worst point was that the fog horn (extremely loud) blasted for 12 hours constantly every two minutes.

 

I stupidly asked an officer why, with such sophisticated navigation and rader systems on board, they had to blast the horn every two minutes. The officer confirmed their systems but explained that there may be other small crft in the vicinity that did not. A horrible day.

 

The good news is on day 3 we arrived in Alaska and had nothing but beautiful weather for the rest of the week.

 

Sorry I did not fall out of bed, but I did bounce off a few walls along the corridor.

 

Enjoy cruising regardless of the weather.

 

All the best

 

Mike

[chris_kelowna]

On our cruise in February from Sydney to Perth, we hit some rough water in the Australian Bight. The bigger pools were closed but the Solarium pool was open for morning aqua exercises. I was really enjoying the extra waves sloshing us around the pool and after the exercises were over, I stayed (alone) in the pool to just hang out and enjoy the motion. It was a lot of fun but I felt nauseous for the rest of the day! :eek:

[chengkp75]

On our cruise in February from Sydney to Perth, we hit some rough water in the Australian Bight. The bigger pools were closed but the Solarium pool was open for morning aqua exercises. I was really enjoying the extra waves sloshing us around the pool and after the exercises were over, I stayed (alone) in the pool to just hang out and enjoy the motion. It was a lot of fun but I felt nauseous for the rest of the day! :eek:

 

People have not experienced high seas until you've been in the Australian Bight in winter. This rivals Cape Horn.

[wwcruisers]

We have spent approximately 3 years at sea on cruise ships and the worst day came in August of 1991 when we were taking a cruise on the Celebrity Meridian. It was a short 7 day Bermuda cruise that departed from NYC on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Everyone was aware that Hurricane Bob was working its way up the Atlantic (just off the coast) but we were reassured by the Captain that we would steer a wide berth around the storm and never get closer then 200 miles to its winds and seas. Famous last words (except they were the Captain's first words on this voyage). About 5 am to following morning (our first morning at sea) we woke up to crashing sounds over our heads (we were under the galley). Opening our curtains (we had an outside cabin) I was surprised to see only water. As the ship continued to roll our window cleared the seas and we saw some light as the skies lightened early in the morn. As we later were told, the storm changed course during the night and ran right across our path. Seas reached around 40-45 feet and the winds topped 90 knots. It was about 12 hours of real rocking and rolling until we finally cleared the storm. Much of the wine supply (and lots of glassware) was destroyed during the storm and the glass casino door was smashed by the heavy Roulette Wheel which flew off its spindle and through the casino. Our ship sustained no real damage or injuries (other then a cook who got some burns when he was splashed by boiling water) and we made it into Bermuda only an hour late. The other ship caught in that storm was the RCCL Nordic Prince which did sustain some hull damage.

 

For our then 9 year old DD and myself it was an interesting experience as we roamed the ship and tried to keep busy during the day. Walking around the ship was a challenge but actually fun. DW decided to stay in bed (she never got sick). Many other passengers were horribly seasick and the ship's medical staff raked in lots of money making "house calls" to dispense shots of Compazine and other seasick remedies. We did get out of the storm late in the afternoon and by dinner time all was pretty much back to normal.

 

Hank

 

Wow Hank -- that must have been one crazy hurricane season in the Atlantic! :eek: I'm reading Sebastian Junger's "The Perfect Storm". Sounds like the same area as you described, a couple of months later.

[Mindfultraveler]

I read all the stories here. Amazing how storms can pop up out of nowhere. After reading all the stories I can get my priorities calibrated more accurately. If the ship does not break up in a storm.... there is still hope. If I live to tell the story....all the better. I am not going to worry about storms at sea as long as I am on a ship that can take the punishment and still come into port.

This last spring I rode a sailing ship across the Atlantic and I did see some storms, but I saw nothing that scared me. It seems to me that the larger steel hulled ships no matter their purpose do rather well in today's sea storms.

But I have to admit that I love sea storms. My first experience was on a Navy heavy guided missile cruiser that cut through hurricane Bertha in the late 60s. That was an awesome experience. I felt safe on that ship. But any other kind of ship in a hurricane? Not so sure.

[Langley Cruisers]

 

This is one of the biggest jokes on the Internet, with this photo being a fake. Google it for yourself - photoshopped. :p

[MULDOAN]

As an ex sailor/fisherman the worst was february 1961 about 150 miles s w of southern ireland on a 250ft cargo ship when we had to go head to the wind and 40 foot seas for 4 days couldent go forward and couldent turn around . I will stick to large cruisers from now on.

[navybankerteacher]

We hit the "Ash Wednesday Storm" in February 1962 the evening we left Norfolk for the Caribbean - two days of 40+' seas and 70+ mph winds.

[CaliGril]

Last August we sailed out of Ft Lauderdale on Carnival Freedom. The ship had to leave a few hours early in order to get out to sea before the Hurricane made landfall. It was a fast, bumpy ride out to sea. The waves at bedtime were so high I could see them from our balcony room on deck 7. It was crazy! I was sure the waves were going to go over the ship! We were rocked to sleep and when we woke in the morning, all was calm and the weather was beautiful.

 

The only bummer was that the ports all too stirred up for snorkeling. :(

 

It was an adventure however, and we still had a wonderful time!:)

[Capt_BJ]

winter fisheries patrol north of the Aleutian islands, baby sitting those guys on Dang' Catch and their like .....

 

A week with the bow into the seas of 45 foot plus (that was what the weather satellite said they were) ..... when the seas slamming against the superstructure woke me, I knew I had to adjust speed and or course else we'd wipe the fiberglass cover off the bow gun

 

when we were relieved the next cutter was called to a SAR case and had to 'make time' in the conditions. They lost bridge windows and liferafts trying to make time . . . the case they were called to burned and sank with loss of life.

 

When you can show me your stamps from winter calls to Dutch Harbor, St Paul and Adak ..... call me to match coins

Edited July 3, 2013 by Capt_BJ

[Rudyard]

Mine didn't happen on an actual cruise. Back in '97 my (then) girlfriend and I were in the UK and decided to take a day trip to Ireland. We took the ferry from Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire. Before we boarded they told us that the weather was starting to get rough.

 

About an hour into the trip it got bad. We were rolling so much that if you were looking out the windows you would see a few seconds of nothing but sea, then a few seconds of nothing but sky. We could hear plates flying off the shelves in the restaurant and smashing on the floor. Bottles and other things were flying off the shelves in the duty free shop. They had little railings to keep the bottles on the shelves but some of the bottles leaped right over it when we rolled far enough. I remember one poor girl in there sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around a pole crying and saying that we were all going to die.

 

We finally made it to port and took the train to Dublin. That afternoon when we got back, we found that the rest of the sailings for that day back to the UK had been cancelled. Later that night they thought they might be able to get us out on a larger ferry out of Dublin, so they bused us over there. By the time we got there the captain had decided not to risk it so we went back to our original terminal.

 

The ferry company was really nice and gave us vouchers for food and arranged for us to stay at a nearby hostel. My girlfriend didn't like the hostel idea and refused to go, so we ended up sleeping in the terminal that night. The next morning when some of the passengers we had met the previous day got back and told us how nice the hostel had been I made sure to give my girlfriend "the look" :mad:

 

The trip back was just as bad as the trip over and took longer as the captain was trying to avoid the worst part of the weather. We heard later that it was one of the worst gales the Irish Sea had seen in thirty years.

[navybankerteacher]

Rudyard, is this why she was your "then" girlfriend?

[Rudyard]

Rudyard, is this why she was your "then" girlfriend?

 

LOL. Nah, we were already on the way to splitting up. We were hoping the trip would help our relationship. It actually made her mad that after it was over I looked back on it as an "adventure". I'm the "make lemonade from lemons" type. She was the type that would get upset that someone didn't make the lemonade for her ;)

[cruiserking]

We ran into Hurricane Earl in 2010 aboard the Celebrity Summit. Our captain did a great job keeping us out of the worst of it, but, even so we battled 30 foot waves.

 

The ship dipped and pitched into these enormous troughs of water. Breakfast in the MDR was a challenge like an old Laurel and Hardy movie, silverware and plates would consistently cascade down one side of the table.

 

There were broken statues, cracked glass, things went bump in the night in a big way. Without question the roughest seas we'd ever encountered and hope it stays that way.

 

Jonathan

[ddaniel337]

March 2006 - Ran into a typhoon - by the time we arrived in next port the large letters on the Diamond Princess were now Di mo d (or something similar) couple of the actual letters blown off the ship. Water coming up as high as the library windows and all outside doors locked off and crew was struggling to keep vacuuming up water that was coming inside. Have been in quite a few bad storms - fortunately, it does not bother me - at least not yet.

[GTO-Girl]

We sailed for three days during the super storm Hurricane Sandy....:eek:.

 

We had 80 to 100 mph winds and 30 ft seas........:eek:

 

I swore when I got off that ship that I was done cruising for awhile, but 3 months later I was right back on another cruise........:rolleyes:

[Talisker92]

We hit a 100 mile diameter storm-100 mph winds,50 ft seas and we were taking 30 degree rolls.The grand piano in the showroom ended upside down in the orchestra.

A Seabourn ship got caught in the same storm and had its bow door blown in and some cabins flooded.

When we got off the ship the captain handed out out t-shirts commemorating the crossing