Norwegian Spirit Rough Seas

[OldNavy]

The problem is the route it is too unpredictable to sail from NY in the winter. It's only a matter of time before one these cruise ships capsizes.

(IMHO)

 

I dont know the diferences between an ocean liner and a cruise ship but I do recall somebody on these boards saying the cruise ships were not build for these rough sailings

 

Sorry, but the odds of that happening are sooo remote, it's just not worth the thought. I've been a sailor (USN type) most of my life and I've seen rough seas, trust me. When ships are on the drawing board they are tested to withstand MUCH worst conditions than you as a paying passenger will ever see. The Capt and crew know what they're doing and they've seen it all. The Capts on cruise ships are some of the most qualified ships Capts in the world. Face it, the north Atlantic can get rough and the farther north you get in winter, the rougher it can be.

[GOLDENBONNY]

Very dangerous, these Caribbean waters. NCL should stop cruising there immediately.

 

In fact, with all the waves that you can find over the world, cruise ships really ought to play safe and stay out of the oceans altogether.

 

I particularly liked this attitude: "People were walking around kind of dazed and looking forward to the next cocktail." :D

 

IT'S EASY TO SMILE AND ASK FOR COCKTAIL,WHEN YOU AT HOME.I DONT THINK PEOPLE FROM THE DAMAGED CABINS BEEN SMILING TOO MUCH.NOBODY EVER WILL STOP CRUISING ,BUT SIZE OF THE SHIP AND AGE SHOULD AFFECT THE DESTINATION.

[Pattymelt]

We just arrived back from the Spirit and did encounter several bad days at sea but we made the best of it. WE had a suite on deck 10 (100001) and when we got back to our cabin the TV was out of the entertainment center and on the floor upside down, in route to the floor it hit the glass top table smashing it. The 6 drawers flew out also and some of our clothes got some glass on them. Our consierge Lisa was in the hall and we summoned her and she was quite surprised by the damages. She made a call and before we knew it there were people there vacumming up and cleaning up the area. We had to do without a TV because the brackets broke both on the TV and drawers. WE were a little inconvenienced but who has control of the weather. All in all we did have a good time

;)

[njkate]

OMG!42 FOOT?WE HAD 30 TWO WEEKS AGO AND THAT'S WAS BAD ,BUT 42?:eek: WHAT WAS YOUR CABIN #?

 

I was on the 12/29 sailing and all though rough going down we DID NOT have 30 foot waves. At times the swells were 18-20 feet per bridge report.

[Dolphins]

IT'S EASY TO SMILE AND ASK FOR COCKTAIL,WHEN YOU AT HOME.I DONT THINK PEOPLE FROM THE DAMAGED CABINS BEEN SMILING TOO MUCH.NOBODY EVER WILL STOP CRUISING ,BUT SIZE OF THE SHIP AND AGE SHOULD AFFECT THE DESTINATION.

 

I believe the people from the damaged cabins smiled when NCL offered them a free future cruise. I also suspect some of the other passengers wish their cabin was damaged on the last day of the cruise so they could have gotten a free future cruise?

[MA 2 VA]

I believe the people from the damaged cabins smiled when NCL offered them a free future cruise. I also suspect some of the other passengers wish their cabin was damaged on the last day of the cruise so they could have gotten a free future cruise?

 

I know I smiled on the Dawn Last year when we got the open bar, extra day (stop in Charleston), and the cruise credit. It looked something like this:D I look forward to using the credit on the Jewel in April. I heard that someone on the Spirit lost some clothes through a porthole. The brightside is less to carry home;)

[CruisinMatt]

I heard that someone on the Spirit lost some clothes through a porthole. The brightside is less to carry home;)

 

Exactly!! I wish I could lose half my dirty clothes before going home! :D

[ts01854]

Now we know why lower deck cabins get port holes instead of large picture windows. Glass will break under pressure.

 

Even ocean liners from the past have port holes on lower decks. Even the Queen Mary 2 has port holes on its lower decks. It's the weakness of the glass, not the thickness of the steel in the hull that caused this incident.

 

Can they capsize and what's the difernce between an ocean liner and a cruise ship

 

Thanks for the info

[ts01854]

There are structural differences. Ocean liners (such as QE2 and QM2) have triple steel riveted hulls. They also have longer drafts to provide stability and speed. Ocean liners are usually single layer steel hulls that are welded. Also, windows on ocean liners are riveted to the outside of the ship whereas windows on cruise ships are riveted to the inside. The difference here is that a wave cannot push a window in on an ocean liner but it can push the window in on a cruise ship. Keep in mind that an ocean liner is designed as transportation from one port to another with a set timetable (e.g., the QM2 does the Southampton/NY crossing in 6 days with speeds of about 30 miles per hour). Her hull (as is the QE2s) is designed to cut through waves and she has a deep draft (about 30 feet). Her hull design allow for a quick, stable ride in all kinds of seas. Cruise ships have on average 24 feet of draft and usually need to slow down in rough seas which leads to delays. Also, the slower a ship goes the more movement there is. Ocean liners need to be on time and follow a set route (cruise ships change course and bypass certain areas if the weather is unfavorable). I don't know if it's possible for a cruise ship to capsize (I suppose it could but I doubt it). As mentioned many times on the various boards, the North Atlantic is unpredictable esp. in the winter.

 

PS: I live in New York and we had a terrible storm here on Wednesday. An 80 foot pine tree fell on my home (no one was hurt, thank God) but my house sustained major damage. So, I'm not surprised that the seas were equally brutal and am sorry that the Spirit and her passengers had such a horrible time at sea. Fortunately, everyone is OK...and that's what counts. No cruise line can control the weather and all ships will rock and all cruise ships will rock and roll when the seas are rough.

 

Thanks for the info

 

So they really can capsize in a severe storm?

[madelinerose]

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=1496

 

it didn't say which ship

[negc]

Do you think that just as it is well known that trailer parks attract hurricanes and tornadoes, NCL ships attract rogue waves?:D

[nycruiser1975]

I am traveling out of NYC in April. How is the water that time of the year? We will be going to florida and bahamas:confused:

[negc]

I am traveling out of NYC in April. How is the water that time of the year? We will be going to florida and bahamas:confused:

 

How will the weather be in NYC in April- cold and rainy, mild, hot? The point is that no one can do more than tell you what the conditions might be based on past experience, which (as they say in the ads for stocks and mutual funds) is not a guarantee of future performance. Pick any time of year and there will be periods when the waters are calm and others when they are rough. Even in hurricane season, weeks can go by without storms and some years (like last year's for example) will be worse than others.

There are no guarantees, no matter when you sail, that you will be blessed with perfect (or even average weather). You pay your money and you take your chances.:)

[fxcarden]

I am traveling out of NYC in April. How is the water that time of the year? We will be going to florida and bahamas:confused:

 

 

The water will be wet.

[Retired not Expired]

The QM 2 damaged a pod leaving port and now the Spirit. Things come in threes. What's next?

[vllygrrl]

I think someone may have watched the Poisiden Adventure 1 too many times!.....While i am no expert, i really don't see it happening. :p

 

According to the Captain when we were on the Dawn during the April wave incident, it would take a 240 foot wave to capsize a ship its size.

[Johnsy81]

Lets put it this way. The QE2 is smaller than the Dawn and I believe the Spirit (QE2 runs about 77,000 tons). She has crossed the North Atlantic ocean for about 35 years, and has been doing round-the-world cruises for 25 years. She has encountered 40 - 60 foot waves for days on end, and didn't capsize. All ships (whether cruise or ocean liners) are built to withstand alot, including monstrous seas. The biggest danger at sea (as in the air) is fire (not that I want to add to anyone's list of worries). While rough seas don't make for the best of times, I doubt there's much to worry about in terms of a ship capsizing. Worry more about your fellow passengers barfing all over the place. Everything worth doing has risks attached...if you want to avoid the possibility of storms at sea, then I suggest avoiding cruises. Yes, sailing in rough seas is scary - no doubt about it. But, cruises are more popular now than they ever were. And, the safety features of today's ships surpass anything that existed when the only way to get someplace was to get on a ship and cross an ocean.

[CruisinMatt]

Well and let's face it, damage like that is out of the ordinary and you are on a cruise in the ocean. What fun would it really be if you felt nothing??? :confused:

[Globaliser]

I DONT THINK PEOPLE FROM THE DAMAGED CABINS BEEN SMILING TOO MUCH.

Look, it's travel. When you travel, ship happens, sometimes.

 

Much worse has happened to me, to people I've been travelling with, and to friends who also travel. All of this is trivia in comparison.

[GoHuskies!]

According to the Captain when we were on the Dawn during the April wave incident, it would take a 240 foot wave to capsize a ship its size.

 

Actually that's probably a pretty good guess, though it would have to be a BREAKING wave at that. A wave that doesn't break would just be a roller-coaster ride. And remember that the biggest wave ever actually MEASURED was 112 feet high--measured among a fleet of Navy ships, against the mast height of a warship.

 

When I was in the Navy my ship--a 700-foot communications ship configured much like passenger ships of its time--took a 38-degree roll in the north Atlantic on the way back from France (1957). That was within five degrees of its maximum allowable roll, and was just the deepest roll of a whole series coming across. We were very accustomed to the roll on this ship, but when this bad one happened we didn't really know if she would come back up.

 

I trained as a naval architect when I left the Navy. I can tell you a couple of pros and cons of interest. As the ship lists or rolls, its waterline and the underwater frame profile all change constantly; as it lists farther, its righting moment (the force tending to make it come back up to an even keel) gets stronger and stronger, until a certain point where it goes to hell in a handbasket. That point is pretty far over, and is unique for every ship. The center of gravity MUST remain inboard of its center of righting moment, or it will capsize. However, the design of the hull in cross section is very squared-off. That puts the center of righting moment way out there when the ship rolls--outboard of the center of gravity.

 

Now, to counter fears that this might happen, at sea the waves constantly are changing the waterline, too, since by the time a ship rolls to any extent the next wave tends to "push" harder to right the ship, by affecting the waterline and thereby moving the center of righting moment out farther.

 

A cruise ship would never roll more than something less than 15 to 20 degrees, in its extremity. This would seem like disaster to the passengers and would certainly cause all kinds of breakage on board, with water through lower-deck "windows" (instead of the stronger portholes); but the ship would NOT be in danger of capsizing.

 

So I say, don't worry, be happy! Take your Bonine and let the ship's captain determine what course is safest for the ship. He (or she) may make course changes to make life easier, but you won't need your lifejackets.

[ts01854]

Thanks Husky

 

So I take it even a bad captain can't make the ship capsize

 

Cool

[CruisinMatt]

This was Carnival Triumph during Hurricane Isabel.......

 

[Seago2]

Thank you, Husky! I appreciate you sharing your knowledge with us. I was a maritime lawyer, still do some of it- although mainly family law now, and so I am pretty well versed in maritime personal injury and the various environmental and employment issues related to cruise ships. As posters have said, the worst thing that can happen is a fire. I don't even want to go there. An outbreak of illness is probably second, followed by the various hazards that go along with improperly run tenders and rented personal watercraft and motorcycles... pirates and missing honeymooners are at the bottom.

 

I just can't shake the feeling that these ships are like top heavy glass shoeboxes!

 

We hit some rough seas on the Spirit last spring. We were slamming up and down pretty hard and the pax were complaining about it. I thought it was awesome. I was thrilled.

 

To each his own, I guess!

 

Anyway, thanks for your post.

[Hikini]

That's quite a picture of the Carnival ship in the hurricane. Makes it look like the whole front of the ship is underwater.

 

I sailed on the Spirit this past September so I am interested in what happened to it the other day. (Makes me feel a little possessive of MY ship!)

 

I'm glad no one was seriously injured and that they were able to get underway again without any major delays.

 

On a side note: I'd have been happy to be one of the inconvenienced and scared passengers who then received the promise of a future cruise.:)

 

Hikini

[MrPete]

This was Carnival Triumph during Hurricane Isabel.......

 

 

No, it's not.....