Sunshine and weather

[Cyn874]

14 hours ago, Greyhoundcat said:

Exactly this. Cyn874's account is how she lived it. She didn't sensationalize it IMHO. Sounds like she is still processing it, and that people were very, very afraid. No one is mentioning that she did not hear ANY communication between the Captain and passengers, during or after. He/she should have known there were frightened passengers and that damage was happening all around them. I don't know why they stayed within this storm system either, but if the bottom line to stay was monetary, shame on the suits.

Thank you. My issue isn't that we got caught in a storm. It was the absolute lack of communication or reassurance from the Captain or any of the staff/crew. People were scared and felt completely alone and in an 'every man for himself' scenario.

 

I've encountered a bad storm before on a Princess cruise back in 2019. That one wasn't nearly as bad- there was a lot of pitching and rolling, but everyone could move around the ship as normal, as long as they were careful. The Captain made multiple announcements throughout the evening, updating us on the storm, as well as what steps he was taking to get around or through it, and an approximate guess as to when he thought it might get better. I think we heard from him at least every couple of hours (minus the middle of the night when people were sleeping.) over the course of two days. This allowed everyone to feel well informed and alleviate any fears they might have. 

 

In this situation with Carnival, the Captain told us in the early evening (sometime around 5:30 pm, I believe), that we were expecting bad weather and a delay into Charleston, and that they would do everything they could to make us as comfortable as possible. That was around 5:30pm. The seas were rough, but nothing I haven't experienced before. 

 

By around 10pm, the ship started to pitch and roll enough that it was difficult to walk around without having to pause and wait for the swell to pass.  Silence from the bridge. 

 

Around 11:00-11:30 pm, the ship was rocking so hard that it was difficult to remain in a prone position on the bed without physically hanging on. In some cases, I heard people were sliding off the bed with their entire mattress onto the floor. The pitch/leaning of the ship was so steep that you had to climb your way to the bathroom by hanging onto the shelf in the cabin, and hang onto the edge of the sink to stay on the toilet. When I tried to call guest services and housekeeping about the broken glass in my room, the phone system was down. Silence from the bridge. 

 

Sometime after that (it's kind of a blur, but I think between maybe midnight and 2:00am) was when my ears started popping and things in my cabin started to fly off shelves and shatter, followed by the loudest boom/crash I've ever heard, that I thought was a life boat being torn loose and falling onto the decks below. I believe that was the sound of the wave hitting the side of the ship that caused balcony rooms all the way up to the 11th deck to blow open and flood, and the crew quarters below were destroyed. Silence from the bridge. 

 

It wasn't until around 5:00am that the seas calmed down enough that I could stay on my bed without hanging on, and I was able to sleep in between the rocking and vibrations. Silence from the bridge. 

 

Silence from the bridge, all the way up until sometime around 7:00-8:00am, I believe. The Captain finally came on to let us know that we were about 20 nautical miles outside of Charleston and waiting for conditions to improve enough to dock. 

 

Not a word about what we went through the night before. THAT is what I have issue with. 

 

During those hours between 10:00pm and 5:00am, I've heard stories of how people on the side of the ship that got hit by the wave were forced to abandon their rooms that were soaked with water and covered with glass having to seek refuge in hallways, staircases, the Liquid Lounge, the Library, etc, and spend the night there. People all over the ship with their life jackets, terrified. SILENCE FROM THE BRIDGE. 

 

Why were there no announcements? Literally anything from the Captain would have been comforting. Yes, we all understand that storms happen and can't be helped. But just to hear from him now and then when things were getting really scary would have made us feel less helpless and ALONE.

 

When people were having to gather in public areas of the ship, staircases, etc, because their rooms are uninhabitable and they're scared to death, there absolutely should have been ship Officers, crew members, Fun Staff, someone, ANYONE making themselves visible in those areas to keep people calm so that they, like myself, didn't feel like they were completely alone. 

 

I'm getting really frustrated by people who weren't there, cheerleading for Carnival and dismissing what we went through as "oh, it's a storm, it happens all the time, it should be expected, you were fine." 

 

I'm sorry, but if Princess and Royal Caribbean are capable of keeping their passengers updated during bad weather so that we feel safe and informed, in conditions 1/4 as bad as what we went through on the Sunshine, then there is no reason why the Captain of this ship couldn't have made an effort to contact us at ANY point within that 14 hour period. Inexcusable. 

Edited May 30, 2023 by Cyn874

[StephPS79]

28 minutes ago, Cyn874 said:

Thank you. My issue isn't that we got caught in a storm. It was the absolute lack of communication or reassurance from the Captain or any of the staff/crew. People were scared and felt completely alone and in an 'every man for himself' scenario.

 

I've encountered a bad storm before on a Princess cruise back in 2019. That one wasn't nearly as bad- there was a lot of pitching and rolling, but everyone could move around the ship as normal, as long as they were careful. The Captain made multiple announcements throughout the evening, updating us on the storm, as well as what steps he was taking to get around or through it, and an approximate guess as to when he thought it might get better. I think we heard from him at least every couple of hours (minus the middle of the night when people were sleeping.) over the course of two days. This allowed everyone to feel well informed and alleviate any fears they might have. 

 

In this situation with Carnival, the Captain told us in the early evening (sometime around 5:30 pm, I believe), that we were expecting bad weather and a delay into Charleston, and that they would do everything they could to make us as comfortable as possible. That was around 5:30pm. The seas were rough, but nothing I haven't experienced before. 

 

By around 10pm, the ship started to pitch and roll enough that it was difficult to walk around without having to pause and wait for the swell to pass.  Silence from the bridge. 

 

Around 11:00-11:30 pm, the ship was rocking so hard that it was difficult to remain in a prone position on the bed without physically hanging on. In some cases, I heard people were sliding off the bed with their entire mattress onto the floor. The pitch/leaning of the ship was so steep that you had to climb your way to the bathroom by hanging onto the shelf in the cabin, and hang onto the edge of the sink to stay on the toilet. When I tried to call guest services and housekeeping about the broken glass in my room, the phone system was down. Silence from the bridge. 

 

Sometime after that (it's kind of a blur, but I think between maybe midnight and 2:00am) was when my ears started popping and things in my cabin started to fly off shelves and shatter, followed by the loudest boom/crash I've ever heard, that I thought was a life boat being torn loose and falling onto the decks below. I believe that was the sound of the wave hitting the side of the ship that caused balcony rooms all the way up to the 11th deck to blow open and flood, and the crew quarters below were destroyed. Silence from the bridge. 

 

It wasn't until around 5:00am that the seas calmed down enough that I could stay on my bed without hanging on, and I was able to sleep in between the rocking and vibrations. Silence from the bridge. 

 

Silence from the bridge, all the way up until sometime around 7:00-8:00am, I believe. The Captain finally came on to let us know that we were about 20 nautical miles outside of Charleston and waiting for conditions to improve enough to dock. 

 

Not a word about what we went through the night before. THAT is what I have issue with. 

 

During those hours between 10:00pm and 5:00am, I've heard stories of how people on the side of the ship that got hit by the wave were forced to abandon their rooms that were soaked with water and covered with glass having to seek refuge in hallways, staircases, the Liquid Lounge, the Library, etc, and spend the night there. People all over the ship with their life jackets, terrified. SILENCE FROM THE BRIDGE. 

 

Why were there no announcements? Literally anything from the Captain would have been comforting. Yes, we all understand that storms happen and can't be helped. But just to hear from him now and then when things were getting really scary would have made us feel less helpless and ALONE.

 

When people were having to gather in public areas of the ship, staircases, etc, because their rooms are uninhabitable and they're scared to death, there absolutely should have been ship Officers, crew members, Fun Staff, someone, ANYONE making themselves visible in those areas to keep people calm so that they, like myself, didn't feel like they were completely alone. 

 

I'm getting really frustrated by people who weren't there, cheerleading for Carnival and dismissing what we went through as "oh, it's a storm, it happens all the time, it should be expected, you were fine." 

 

I'm sorry, but if Princess and Royal Caribbean are capable of keeping their passengers updated during bad weather so that we feel safe and informed, in conditions 1/4 as bad as what we went through on the Sunshine, then there is no reason why the Captain of this ship couldn't have made an effort to contact us at ANY point within that 14 hour period. Inexcusable. 

 

I truly am sorry for what you experience, but from your very own account, you had no idea that it was "that bad."  Only after seeing media coverage did you then decide it was a bad situation. 

 

There were no announcements because there was nothing to announce.  You were notified of bad weather.  A threat of actual danger would have been communicated.

[jsglow]

@Cyn874, I think you're completely reasonable about the need for better communication. It certainly would have been appropriate for the Captain or CD to provide updates and guidance say, up until 10 pm, and then after that only in an emergency situation. We've certainly been on cruises where walking was difficult and the barf bags were out.  On each of them, I recall what I considered to be regular updates about the prevailing conditions. Frankly, by doing that the officers are able to minimize the onboard 'rumor mill'.

 

It should be noted that the final push back to home port always seems to cause the most trouble as they are trying to maintain a schedule. Weather prediction, like rogue waves, is an inexact science for sure. It does sound like conditions ended up being worse than originally expected, especially as it pertains to that big 2am wave. Being at sea and caught in a big storm is never a fun experience. 

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

We were on the SC coast the weekend vacationing and the storm drove straight into the our beach! Can NBC do a news article on that too?

[EngIceDave]

9 minutes ago, StephPS79 said:

 

I truly am sorry for what you experience, but from your very own account, you had no idea that it was "that bad."  Only after seeing media coverage did you then decide it was a bad situation. 

 

There were no announcements because there was nothing to announce.  You were notified of bad weather.  A threat of actual danger would have been communicated.

Agreed, this.

 

What would you expect the captain to say in the middle of it?

"Uh, hello dis is zee capitan of de ship. Yes, we are a still in da storm and will be for a fewa more hours, hanga on!"

 

 

[shipgeeks]

Sunshine is at Nassau today.  No visible signs that she was "destroyed" or "badly damaged". Looks pretty good, actually.

[shipgeeks]

We have been on ships in storms that tossed us out of our beds, or blew me all the way across an open deck, among other things.  We did not receive, nor expect, regular announcements from the Captain or other officers.  We just let them do their jobs.

Cruising is not for everyone.  If going through a storm on a ship leads one to be terrified, or afraid for one's life, perhaps other, more desirable, vacation options should be considered.

[elisamarie]

13 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Poor babies!  We are not talking about cruising into a major hurricane (that happened to me on the old Celebrity Meridian) but simply moving into some rough seas.  To avoid those seas would have meant going hundreds of miles off course (assuming they had the time), being at least 1 or 2 days late into port (causing major issues for those aboard and all those waiting for the next cruise), etc.  Many of those now whining because they had a rough night would have whined because they missed their flights, had their schedule messed-up, etc.  My goodness, just look at the Carnival blog and you can already see folks asking about "compensation."  For what?  A rough night.

 

Like I said, my recent cruise had nearly a week of constant rough gale force weather.  So what?  We never heard anyone asking for compensation.  If you are on an airline flight that hits some turbulence, should you get compensation?  

 

While I agree with you that being a day or two late might be necessary for safety, if the info is correct that the Sunshine hit 70MPH winds and 17foot seas....this is just not that big of a deal under normal circumstances.  That is why we are curious about the water issues inside that ship.

 

Hank

 

 

We sailed to Bermuda on Celebrity Zenith and it was a small ship. We sailed on the south side of a hurricane. It was ROUGH, and some people were scared. Many were motion sick, including the crew, and barf bags everywhere, But we made it to Bermuda, had a terrific vacation and the trip back to the east coast was smooth as ice!

 

We were also on Celebrity Infinity going into Hilo and we listed A LOT. It was early morning and most everyone was in bed. Everything in our cabin went flying and lots of broken glass. We picked up Border and Customs personnel and left Hilo because the storm was coming in and we wouldn't have been able to leave Hilo if we stayed. Still a GREAT trip!

[bunzini]

Communication/reassurance from the captain I feel certain would have alleviated much of the fear.  Sometimes that is all that is needed.

[sparks1093]

Just now, bunzini said:

Communication/reassurance from the captain I feel certain would have alleviated much of the fear.  Sometimes that is all that is needed.

Maybe, maybe not. We had to sail through the remnants of a nor'easter once and no matter how much I reassured my wife she remained frightened. Granted, I'm not a captain but I've done my time at sea (in much smaller ships than a cruise ship and in much rougher seas, as I reminded her). It's like turbulence on an airplane- you can reassure all you want to but if it's rough enough it won't help too much. 

 

I personally would have taken the silence as a reassurance that everything was normal and there was nothing to worry about.

[Laszlo]

I personally would have taken the silence as a reassurance that everything was normal and there was nothing to worry about.

 

BINGO..... no calls to go to your muster station or put on your life jackets is a good thing

[groundloop]

2 hours ago, Cyn874 said:

 

 

Around 11:00-11:30 pm, the ship was rocking so hard that it was difficult to remain in a prone position on the bed without physically hanging on. In some cases, I heard people were sliding off the bed with their entire mattress onto the floor. The pitch/leaning of the ship was so steep that you had to climb your way to the bathroom by hanging onto the shelf in the cabin, and hang onto the edge of the sink to stay on the toilet. When I tried to call guest services and housekeeping about the broken glass in my room, the phone system was down. Silence from the bridge. 

 

Sometime after that (it's kind of a blur, but I think between maybe midnight and 2:00am) was when my ears started popping and things in my cabin started to fly off shelves and shatter, followed by the loudest boom/crash I've ever heard, that I thought was a life boat being torn loose and falling onto the decks below. I believe that was the sound of the wave hitting the side of the ship that caused balcony rooms all the way up to the 11th deck to blow open and flood, and the crew quarters below were destroyed. Silence from the bridge. 

 

 

I've been through a couple of fairly bad storms before. The worst one, we later found out, had us in about 20 foot seas for three or four hours.  From the description and photos I can say with certainty that you folks on Sunshine endured far worse.  

 

And I totally agree with your assessment that the situation was handled poorly.  I question the decision by the bridge crew to wade into that storm in the first place, as well as the lack of help from crew while passengers had to sleep in stairwells.  

Edited May 30, 2023 by groundloop

[jsglow]

4 minutes ago, groundloop said:

 

I've been through a couple of fairly bad storms before. The worst one, we later found out, had us in about 20 foot seas for three or four hours.  From the description and photos I can say with certainty that you folks on Sunshine endured far worse.  

 

And I totally agree with your assessment that the situation was handled poorly.  

 

I'll reiterate that this is something the cruise director should mostly be handling.  There's no need for official announcements from the bridge but things like 'Remember to hang on to the rails', 'Ginger ale often helps if you're queasy', and "We're very sorry that your flights tomorrow will be messed up but safety first' and lastly at 10p 'Okay folks, we're going to sign off now. It's going to be a long, rough night but the ship is safe and in capable hands. Staff members will be available on the public decks throughout the night if you have an issue that requires our immediate attention. Everyone with a Name Tag is here for your safety. Hunker down and we'll see you in the morning.'

 

For 95% of folks that's enough. But it's always good to hear the 'we've got this' over the hallway speaker from a friendly, familiar voice.

[luckyinpa]

i was on oasis going through the same storm. the captain said it was too big to go around it. i never was on the carnival ship but i did just take the tour of oasis friday. i cant even imagine how any of the lower decks on there could flood. i saw huge doors with tons of wires, tubes, controls that looked like the terminator couldnt even open. 

 

however the carnival ship got flooded they definitely have to close up that possibility in the future because there will always be storms. im very curious to see why any of the water tight doors didnt close etc. maybe they are just fire doors?

 

a few year ago on regal princess to canada we had a force 10 storm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_scale

 

i had the most forward cabin on deck 10 and when you showered you had to use that handrail or else! ditto walking down the hallways. captain came on at least 2x  in the cabins (said it was just the 2nd time in his career he had to do that) to keep us informed. even that storm didnt stop me from cruising because anything can happen anytime to anyone. 

[Honolulu Blue]

A couple of opinions/notes on communication:

 

• I've had cruises, mostly on Carnival, where much of what the Captain said was immediately recapped by the cruise director.  This may or may not have been a factor here, since they both would have to be available to communicate.
• I'm not as sure I would have been comforted by the lack of communication from the bridge as some posters here have noted.  One reason I can imagine that the Captain wasn't saying anything is that he was so busy trying to get out of this mess that he had no time or energy to hit the call button.  Again, I don't know that this is what happened, but it certainly would have been on my mind had I been there.

[luckyinpa]

on NCL the CD also comes on immediately after the captain. i always assumed it's because of the captains accent. but nice to be able to understand things

 

also for every cruise line ive been on i wish they had a button IN YOUR CABIN so you could turn on the announcements if you wanted them. who wants to open the door to hear them?

[jsglow]

5 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

 

also for every cruise line ive been on i wish they had a button IN YOUR CABIN so you could turn on the announcements if you wanted them. who wants to open the door to hear them?

HA! I've thought the same thing.

[Itried4498]

3 hours ago, Cyn874 said:

Thank you. My issue isn't that we got caught in a storm. It was the absolute lack of communication or reassurance from the Captain or any of the staff/crew. People were scared and felt completely alone and in an 'every man for himself' scenario.

 

I've encountered a bad storm before on a Princess cruise back in 2019. That one wasn't nearly as bad- there was a lot of pitching and rolling, but everyone could move around the ship as normal, as long as they were careful. The Captain made multiple announcements throughout the evening, updating us on the storm, as well as what steps he was taking to get around or through it, and an approximate guess as to when he thought it might get better. I think we heard from him at least every couple of hours (minus the middle of the night when people were sleeping.) over the course of two days. This allowed everyone to feel well informed and alleviate any fears they might have. 

 

In this situation with Carnival, the Captain told us in the early evening (sometime around 5:30 pm, I believe), that we were expecting bad weather and a delay into Charleston, and that they would do everything they could to make us as comfortable as possible. That was around 5:30pm. The seas were rough, but nothing I haven't experienced before. 

 

By around 10pm, the ship started to pitch and roll enough that it was difficult to walk around without having to pause and wait for the swell to pass.  Silence from the bridge. 

 

Around 11:00-11:30 pm, the ship was rocking so hard that it was difficult to remain in a prone position on the bed without physically hanging on. In some cases, I heard people were sliding off the bed with their entire mattress onto the floor. The pitch/leaning of the ship was so steep that you had to climb your way to the bathroom by hanging onto the shelf in the cabin, and hang onto the edge of the sink to stay on the toilet. When I tried to call guest services and housekeeping about the broken glass in my room, the phone system was down. Silence from the bridge. 

 

Sometime after that (it's kind of a blur, but I think between maybe midnight and 2:00am) was when my ears started popping and things in my cabin started to fly off shelves and shatter, followed by the loudest boom/crash I've ever heard, that I thought was a life boat being torn loose and falling onto the decks below. I believe that was the sound of the wave hitting the side of the ship that caused balcony rooms all the way up to the 11th deck to blow open and flood, and the crew quarters below were destroyed. Silence from the bridge. 

 

It wasn't until around 5:00am that the seas calmed down enough that I could stay on my bed without hanging on, and I was able to sleep in between the rocking and vibrations. Silence from the bridge. 

 

Silence from the bridge, all the way up until sometime around 7:00-8:00am, I believe. The Captain finally came on to let us know that we were about 20 nautical miles outside of Charleston and waiting for conditions to improve enough to dock. 

 

Not a word about what we went through the night before. THAT is what I have issue with. 

 

During those hours between 10:00pm and 5:00am, I've heard stories of how people on the side of the ship that got hit by the wave were forced to abandon their rooms that were soaked with water and covered with glass having to seek refuge in hallways, staircases, the Liquid Lounge, the Library, etc, and spend the night there. People all over the ship with their life jackets, terrified. SILENCE FROM THE BRIDGE. 

 

Why were there no announcements? Literally anything from the Captain would have been comforting. Yes, we all understand that storms happen and can't be helped. But just to hear from him now and then when things were getting really scary would have made us feel less helpless and ALONE.

 

When people were having to gather in public areas of the ship, staircases, etc, because their rooms are uninhabitable and they're scared to death, there absolutely should have been ship Officers, crew members, Fun Staff, someone, ANYONE making themselves visible in those areas to keep people calm so that they, like myself, didn't feel like they were completely alone. 

 

I'm getting really frustrated by people who weren't there, cheerleading for Carnival and dismissing what we went through as "oh, it's a storm, it happens all the time, it should be expected, you were fine." 

 

I'm sorry, but if Princess and Royal Caribbean are capable of keeping their passengers updated during bad weather so that we feel safe and informed, in conditions 1/4 as bad as what we went through on the Sunshine, then there is no reason why the Captain of this ship couldn't have made an effort to contact us at ANY point within that 14 hour period. Inexcusable. 

 

I'm not a Carnival cheerleader.  The story continues to be sensationalized, largely by a few passengers who relentlessly reached out to the media (and again, every time they tell the story, it's increasingly sensationalized).  In your previous post, you mentioned that you had no idea how bad things were until you got home and read social media.  Because they weren't.  

 

No, there weren't passengers with access to the latest weather & navigation reports closely following the ship's path and the decisions the captain made.  No, the ship wasn't destroyed; there was NO damage to the public areas of the ship.  No, this wasn't a life-or-death situation.  

 

Yes, going through a storm is a scary experience.  Yes, Carnival could've communicated the situation better... but perhaps the reason they didn't is because it's late at night & much ado about nothing -- more passengers would've complained about being disturbed by the announcements.

 

We went through a storm on a Princess cruise right before Christmas.  They closed most of the venues and asked us to return to our staterooms and secure personal belongings.  No further announcements overnight... again, scary if you haven't been through it, but much ado about nothing.  And there was far more damage -- one of the pools spilled into the stateroom hallways before it was drained, leading to crews spending the next couple days fixing it (they're actually prepared for this).  Maybe I should reach out and demand compensation to, because my life was in danager?

[StephPS79]

So far, the only substantial damage I have seen is the footage of the "crew area" and I'm actually starting to question the legitimacy of this footage.  The only source is "Crew Center" without any real source of the actual footage.  Not sure I even buy this is real footage of the actual ship at this point.

[Boatdrill]

4 hours ago, Cyn874 said:

My issue isn't that we got caught in a storm. It was the absolute lack of communication or reassurance from the Captain or any of the staff/crew. People were scared and felt completely alone and in an 'every man for himself' scenario.

I can only imagine what you went through, and it sounds like you handled it the best you could. 

For a variety of reasons, the captain and senior officers/staff all had their  hands very full that night and their  focus was where it was needed: the damage/flooding,  and managing navigation/engines/power all at the same time, in rough weather.  Please don't simplify what I'm saying as "The Captain was too busy to talk to you."  That's not what I mean. Safety of life at sea is the #1 priority; all actions revolve around that.   

The decision was made not to communicate with passengers for several hours. That may not be ideal from the passengers' experience, but it does speak to the seriousness of what crew was dealing with. 

Maybe you can forgive the captain for his silence ? Again, he returned everyone back to port safely.  

Edited May 30, 2023 by Boatdrill

[lanceholt]

My daughter and I were on a 15 dau transatlantic  the NCL Sun in the fall of 2011, on our way back to th e US.  The captain announced to the ship on the way to Ponta Delgada that we were facing a large hurricane, so large that we could not navigate around it, but would have to sail directly through it.  He reassured us in detail why the ship would be able to get through such a severe storm and why we would be safe even thought it would be rough.  People were concerned but calm.  I ran upstairs for some buffet dinner even though the   ship was rocking quite a bit, later I ventured down to the Atrium where I saw a lot of things cleared out and no one but the crew there.  It was rather eerie. We were able to see the humor in it and started singing and laughing....nothing else we could do.  We went to bed early, realizing that being our beds after taking Dramamine or whatever would be the best. Very noisy with things jumping on the tables etc, each time a big wave hit and the ship shuddered.  I woke up in the night to use the bathroom and on the way back, on my feet, a wave  hit and without realizing, i ended up on the floor with my feet in the air, and went back to bed.  The Captain told us later the storm would be over by 6am, but when we woke at 6, it was still rocking but not as bad.  We entered the harbor and there huge containers floating in the harbor that had been previously on the ship.  Trees and branches down all over.  We walked the streets of the little port town, some passengers took it in stride thanking heaven we made it through and some were enraged and blaming.   My husband who was at home, not on the cruise, told us the storm was force 11 and quite bad.  Years later I mentioned it to two Sun Officers and they quickly remembered that night and how bad it was.  No media, no one hysterical, everyone thankful that we made through that singular experience.  Yes the Captain could have been more reassuring and more confident and spoke more to the people on board, but once the storm hit its zenith, all officers had their hands full, ensuring we made it through.  An experience we never forgot and remember it to each other once in a while to this day.  I apologize for the long post and have advice to just count yourself lucky and settle down and remember the good times on this trip.  It wasn't the Titanic and you weren't in deathly danger....maybe you thought you were, but you made it.  Thank God.

[EngIceDave]

2 hours ago, bunzini said:

Communication/reassurance from the captain I feel certain would have alleviated much of the fear.  Sometimes that is all that is needed.

[Guest ldtr]

The one thing I keep coming back to is that the shipdid a relativing normal turn around (allowing for the delayed arrival) and was back at sea quickly. Looking at other examples such as the Royal Caribbean ship a few years ago and the more recent Viking cruise, where there were some balcony doors damaged and with the RC ship some windows smashed out in the crew bar. In both cases the ship delayed or cancelled the next cruise until that damage could be repaired.

 

It will be interesting to find out about the water in the crew area. Note clear if it was external water coming in or if the movement caused an internal water break. I recall a few year ago where the was flooding on a passenger deck with a waterfall down the stairway that was due to an internal water break.

 

I was on a cruise north of Ice land a few years ago where the weather was quite rough. The drawers where slamming in and out all night. In the morning there was similar damage in the retail space with bottles and other products dumped on the floor. Once they unlocked the space they were about an hour later opening while they picked up and cleaned up broken bottles.

 

While this was rough and not usual, the damage seems to be minor.

[Itried4498]

The headlines are terrifying:

-          The ship was destroyed;

-          We were surprised to be alive when it was over;

-          It was just like the movie Titanic; etc.

 

Mind you, there were over 3000 passengers on this cruise and not a single photograph or video was produced to illustrate those narratives.  Let that sink in (sorry for the bad pun): 3000 passengers and not a single piece of photo or video proof.  Because it never happened.

Seems like while a faction of passengers were upset, most slept through the storm.  The narrative was largely started by a few passengers, who continued to increasingly sensationalize it every opportunity they get.  Bet they’ve already lawyered up.

[jsglow]

I have no doubt @Itried4498 that certain news organizations and some passengers have dramatically overplayed their hand.  That NBC News piece I saw was an absolute joke of muckraking journalism.  But honestly, that's what NBC is these days. 

 

Look, it was certainly one helluva storm. But the average cruise passenger has never experienced 'life threatening' conditions at sea and what happened that night simply wasn't.  As I said early in this thread, the US Coast Guard wouldn't have allowed her to leave port had she sustained structural damage.  In their eyes, it was 'clean-up on Aisle 7' stuff.