Share your worst weather experience

[geoherb]

The worst we've experienced were on the Maasdam off the coast of the Carolinas. We took a Christmas cruise from Norfolk. As we headed back, the ship ran into a storm. It was gale force 10--winds at 50 knots and 30-foot seas. At one point, as we were eating in the Lido, we could look to the starboard side and see nothing but water and look to the port side and see nothing but sky. We had to hold on to everything on the table to keep things from sliding off.

[Talisker92]

I bet that was the same time I did the Seabourn crossing. It was hell on wheels. It was in the late 1990's?

I just looked at that t-shirt It was Sept 14.1998

[celebrity]

We actually sailed for 3 days trying to fight our way back Port Camaveral during Superstorm Sandy and it was......WOW......:eek:

 

We had 80 to 100 mph winds and 30 ft seas! Supposed to dock on Saturday but we could not get in so we rode in circles in that mess off the coast of Miami until we could limp in late morning in Sunday!

 

When I got off I swore I was done cruising for a while.....that was in October and by January I was right back on another cruise.....:rolleyes:

 

Lol! I could totally see me vowing to never set sail again, waiting a few weeks and booking again. :)

[BridgeMates]

On our South American cruise

The weather was so bad that we were the only Princess ship to not go around the horn. Instead we had to go through the Straits of Magellan. There was a typhoon with 60 ft waves for more than 2 full days. The captain pulled in the stabilizers which made for a rougher ride. On the second day he took a route behind some islands to give us a break from the weather. I had a waterproof bag packed with ID, pills etc. in case we needed to evacuate! We were a day late getting into Valparasio and the passengers were all given free telephone time to make new arrangements or reassure family who were waiting to hear from them. Luckily we were staying on until San Fran so this did not impact us. Many people were flying home on disembarking day. (Never, never, never!!!!!)

On a happy note....one couple from New Zealand were being charged well over $1,000 to change their airline tickets. they won the final bingo which more than paid for this.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

We were on that cruise with you. In all our cruises that was probably the worst one and the only one I've ever felt queasy on. Such a mess for those getting on and off in Valparaiso. I don't remember the couple who won the bingo but I do remember a nice couple that told us all about how he had booked a really good (cheap) deal flying in from some other S.A. country. He had a terrible time getting anything within reason in order to get home from Valparaiso when we were late.

A couple of years ago we managed to get down to the Horn again on our way to the Antarctic. Unbelievably smooth as glass, going and coming.

[Hlitner]

It happened early in the morning of an August day in 1991. We had cruised out of NY Harbor on a beautiful Sunday with the knowledge that Hurricane Bob was moving up the coast, but our Captain has assured everyone that we would never get closer then 200 miles to the large storm. But early on our first Sea Day we awoke to crashing above our cabin (in the galley). When I pulled back the curtains to look out our window I only saw water (we had actually rolled over so far that our lower deck cabin's window was at the water line.

 

The ship was the Celebrity Meridian, and we were one of two ships caught in that strorm (the Nordic Prince was the other vessel). Within an hour the winds climbed to over 90 knots and the seas exceeded 35 feet. The Nordic Prince, being a newer lighter ship sustained some hull damage and was having lots of trouble in the seas, so our Captain had to slow down (keeping us in the storm longer) to stand-by in case the Nordic Prince were to need help. For about 12 hours we rocked and rolled until we finally got out of the storm around dinner time. The staff actually tied the doors closed with rope so nobody would venture outside..and to keep the powerful winds from pushing open any door. The toll on the ship was most of the booze stock being broken, hundreds of smashed glassware, a smashed casino glass door (from the Roulette Wheel which flew off its spindle, rolled across the casino, and through the glass doors. We only had a single injury when a cook was scalded by boiling water. The Nordic Prince sustained a large dent in her bow and about half her passengers elected to fly home from Bermuda. Here is a link to a story about that storm:

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

 

Hank

[cruisemom42]

My parents were on the Holland America ship Rotterdam on a TA crossing when the ship lost power for several hours in the teeth of Hurricane Karl. It was, according to them, a scary experience. Here's one report:

 

http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Cruise-ship-becomes-a-wild-ride-in-Atlantic-1156013.php

 

My parents were on their way to dinner when the power went out. They were told to sit down where they were and not to attempt to go back to their cabin (or anywhere else). Crockery and glass were smashing everywhere and at least one of the pianos got smashed up as well.

 

They gave huge kudos to the HAL staff and crew who were walking about with water, trays of sandwiches, and doing anything they could to keep passengers safe and comfortable.

[gooch47]

Oddly, in all of our 60+ cruises, the worst weather we have ever encountered was mostly between NYC and Ft. Lauderdale with the exception of one North Sea gale.

[marco]

A LONG time ago (early 70's) I was about 16 and we were coming home from Italy on the Italian Liner "Leonardo Da Vinci" We ran into a terrible storm 2 days out out NYC. For an entire day we were asked to STAY IN YOUR CABIN. We pretty much stayed in bed as you could not walk or even stand! We were supposed to arrive in NYC early AM, we docked around 5 that afternoon.

[bplazo]

Our worst experience was 10 years ago going out of Miami during a hurricane. Our flight was cancelled, had to fly to another city and rent a car, hotel was evacuated and ship was delayed a day. Hoverer, once on the ship we had a great cruise

[Cuizer2]

Please, share your worst storm experience.

 

In Kusadasi last fall, Ruby broke from all the moorings in port during a flash rainstorm. We left port a little late.

 

A photo of the ropes:[ATTACH]312524[/ATTACH]

 

This would pretty much do it for me ...

 

[preschool teacher]

My worst was on my first cruise....holland America Veendam...

We could not go to key west as a storm broke out.....the seas got to 25feet....over 3/4 of the passengers were sick...including me....but not my hubby....we had table mates that had been 35 cruises and had never gotten sea sick.....well they did this time...they brought you green apples and soda crackers to help your tummy.... I have now done 19 cruises and have never gotten sick again.....gosh that was awful....after a day & 1/2 we were out of it!!!!

We went to cozumel twice to replace key west....great captain!!!

 

I wish you well!

[lady_cruiser]

I guess the worse one was during Sept 2007 on the Norwegian Sun. We hit bad weather, bad enough that as we were walking back to our cabin we were literally being thrown from wall to wall. We finally got on our hands and knees and crawled back to our cabin, we were about seven cabins from ours.

 

All the drawers in the cabinets and the doors to the closet and bathroom kept opening and closing all night. That was the first (and last) time we had our life vests on the floor next to our beds and our purses with our credit cards, passports and money ready to grab just in case we had to abandoned ship. After all this was only our second cruise.

 

We even had friends who told us that they landed up sleeping on the floor after being thrown from their beds onto the floor two times because of the listing of the ship.

 

We can laugh now but at the time, for newbies, we were scared.

Edited September 6, 2014 by lady_cruiser

[rusty1014]

I have the distinction of taking my family on a cruise into "the perfect storm" in October, 1991. We boarded the Commodore cruise line's Caribe1, in Miami, and sailed out into 30' seas.The first port was Grand Cayman, two days later, and the conditions didn't improve much until day four. The seven of us were assigned to a table for 12 in the dining room, and for four days, the only diners were my father-in-law, and me. The dining room was aft, on the promenade deck, and the seas would wipe the windows as we ate. We still joke about the two of us with two waiters, and two bus boys, best service ever! The Caribe1, was built as a transatlantic liner, and could take the seas, but she had no stabilizers. Several more modern ships returned to port, or took position behind islands, we completed our itinerary, on schedule. It was pretty bad for the first few days, but if you asked my kids today, they'd say it was one of the best adventures of their lives!

[DocF]

We were on the Carnival Splendor TA several years ago. We got hit by a storm in the closed end of the Mediterranean. Winds reached 85 knots and

wave action was bad enough so many passengers ended up with broken bones.

 

Now the absolute worst weather I have ever encountered was delivering a Roamer yacht across Lake Michigan in early December. We caught a pretty bad storm and were very heavily iced up by the time we made Milwaukee. We were worried about capsizing as we had as much a six inches of ice on the vessel.

 

Doc

[Flatbush Flyer]

Typhoon (see icon).

Edited February 9, 2016 by Flatbush Flyer

[Bookish Angel]

The Drake Passage was really rough and most of the passengers and several of the crew were seasick.

 

I barely missed my room steward's shoes when racing to the head to expel everything I had eaten in the previous decade.

[Cuizer2]

The worst for me was the first night out of NY/NJ on the Explorer of the Seas in November 2014. Had to sleep with my knees bent to avoid rolling off the bed. The ship was hit by a rouge wave. This is the result of that wave ...

 

 

 

[Arzeena]

The worst for me was the first night out of NY/NJ on the Explorer of the Seas in November 2014. Had to sleep with my knees bent to avoid rolling off the bed. The ship was hit by a rouge wave. This is the result of that wave ...

 

 

 

 

We were also on that cruise. :)

[Langley Cruisers]

We were also on that cruise. :)

 

Us too! Wasn't that something! I think there would have been a lot more injuries had it not been 4 am and very few passengers out and about. Wow, we were the talk of the Caribbean for that cruise! :D

[Cuizer2]

One look at that lifeboat and everyone on that cruise knows which cruise it was. ;)

[Arzeena]

One look at that lifeboat and everyone on that cruise knows which cruise it was. ;)

 

Thant too

...and I honestly do remember you and your funny posts.:D

[NLH Arizona]

My worst weather experience was on an expedition cruise to Antarctica. It was a small ship, only holding 98 passengers. We were returning to Argentina through the Drake Passage when the storm hit. The Captain, who was know for his experience in the ice, said it was the worst storm he had ever been in. We were all confined to our cabins. A few passengers were injured, as well as a few crew members. A tour guide for one group actually went up to the bridge during the store and she said the waves were going over the ship. They would make announcements every so often, updating us on the storm, but all of a sudden they stopped and being in a cabin by my self, all I could think is that I fell asleep and they abandoned ship and I was left alone...thankfully, the announcements returned. They did ask us not to tell the next group that was arriving at the airport as we were waiting for our flight at the Ushuaia airport.

 

A few years after that cruise, I was on the same ship doing 2,010 miles down the Amazon and someone on the bus to the ship asked if anyone had been to Antarctica, I said yes and he asked how the Drake Passage was. As I was relating the story, someone yelled my name from the back of the bus and low and behold, there was a couple who was on my Antarctica trip....small world.