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'Cruise from hell' terrifies passengers

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in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Mask

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Not Carnival, but interesting nonetheless:

 

'Cruise from hell' terrifies passengers

WebPosted Sep 28 2004 05:41 PM ADT

 

HALIFAX — Passengers from a cruise ship that docked in Halifax Tuesday told a harrowing tale of furniture flying and people breaking bones when the ship lost power near the edges of hurricane Karl.

 

The Atlantic Ocean was rough, with swells reaching 10 to 15 metres, when all four engines aboard ms Rotterdam failed at about 6 p.m. Friday, passengers told the CBC.

 

The loss of the Holland America Line ship's electrical systems and stabilizers sent the 237-metre-long vessel tilting sharply from side to side, 900 kilometres east of Newfoundland.

 

"It was more or less the cruise from hell," said passenger Herman Veder of Boca Raton, Fla. "Furniture was flying all over the place. Pianos were not bolted down. In the gym, which is an extensive gym, all the weights came loose and started rolling around."

 

In one onboard restaurant that had 1,000 plates on hand, 800 came loose and crashed to the floor, he said. "In the cabins, refrigerators came loose, TV sets were flying through the rooms."

 

Holland America Line website - ms Rotterdam

Passengers grew more terrified as a message came over the intercom that stretcher teams were needed, Veder said. An unknown number of people suffered broken collarbones, gashes and bruises.

 

Rita d'Alessio was one of about a dozen passengers who received medical treatment in Halifax Tuesday.

 

"I was in my room," she recalled. "I was in my bed, and then all of a sudden the waves were swaying the ship, and I got up and in two minutes I was thrown against a chair and I hit my face and I fell on the floor."

 

"I was thrown the full length of my cabin," said another passenger, Christine Powell. "I hit the steel door with the top of my head. I smashed my glasses into my face. My leg is totally black from top to bottom."

 

None of the injuries was life-threatening, the cruise line said. A Holland America spokesperson said the ship is structurally sound, and promised an investigation into what caused the engines to quit.

 

"Lots of people thought that it would be their end. This would be it," said Veder. "If you tilt a little bit more, you won't be able to come up any more and that's the end of a ship."

 

"Some of us were concerned that the boat was going to tip over because it was rocking and swaying so hard that things were flying across the cabins," said Rachel Youngman, a California resident making the trip with her husband Richard.

 

"And the captain — it took him about an hour to come on and say, 'This is very uncomfortable but the ship is in no danger.' And at that point I think we all relaxed a little bit."

 

Up until then, she said, many passengers had grabbed a lifejacket and were ready to abandon ship.

 

"They did call for the crew to man the lifeboats ... just in case, because no one knew what was going to happen. So Richard and I were ready to go if we had to."

 

The 62,000-ton Rotterdam, built in 1997, can accommodate 1,316 passengers with 593 crew members on board.

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peanutprincess1977

peanutprincess1977

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Oh my gosh!! Why in the world wouldn't the captain come on and reassure the passengers sooner than that? I would have been freaking out. What would they have done should people started to abandon the ship? I certainly hope I never have to go through that experience. Bless those poor passengers who did go through it and hopefully all will heal well!!

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karenh1127

karenh1127

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WOW! SCARY!! I would literally pass out if that happens on my cruise. One of my biggest fears is something of the such happening while I am on one end of the ship and my kids are at camp on the other end! They would be terrified and I would be breaking my neck trying to get to them! What a story!

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jiggs

jiggs

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'they were maning the lifeboats'...these people thought it was bad on a 62,000 ton ship, imagine life in one of those lifeboats...you'd of been a bobber in 10 to 15 meter sewels...that's 45 foot sees...thats crazy...

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Perrys100

Perrys100

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With a September Marriage.. and therefore a september honneymoon cruise, we were hooked. However we have since sailed throought Gordon, Isador, and Osama (9/11) . We now only consider crusies after November 30th, the offical end of hurricane season.

 

We crossed the Cayeman trench towards Jamacia in pretty rouch seas, thank God for dramamine. The lighter note..there was nobody in the dinning rooms and the lines for the buffet were short.

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amychell

amychell

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Oh my gosh!! Why in the world wouldn't the captain come on and reassure the passengers sooner than that?

I would guess that the loss of power probably interfered with the Captain making that statement earlier. I agree, though ~ how scary! I have been able to see first hand the destruction of huge yachts during a hurricane ~ some that could almost (almost :p ) rival a small cruise ship ~ that must have been BEYOND terrifying! Not to mention, some were in bed. What a wakeup call . . . a T.V. upside the head! :eek:

 

I hope those that were on this cruise are able to enjoy another one soon. Not a good memory of cruising. :o

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DebBrown

DebBrown

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You are all pansies!! ;)

 

A little bit of rolling action and you are all ready to jump ship! Hey, if it's my time to go, I can't think of a better place to go. I'll be like the old guy in Titanic EXCEPT I will have a full bottle of rum in each hand. :D

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kristy

kristy

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SHHEEEZ!!!!

 

What a story! I just can't imagine!! We usually cruise during the last week of September, but not this year and I am glad!!!

I would not want to be on ANY ship where that could hapen, but especially NOT one of that ship's size!

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hstrybuf

hstrybuf

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Now that would be scary! I'd have been huddled in a corner in my lifejacket! Along with restoring power, I would imagine that the captain had to make sure that all safety procedures were followed and that the ship actually was okay before he could reassure the passengers.

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teedee

teedee

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won't catch me cruisin' in the peek hurricane season....Bad enough I live in Florida during that time of year. Wouldn't want to be at Sea.

On the other hand, I just returned from a cruise on Monday that turned from a 7 night to a 9 night cruise in beautiful, sunny weather because of Jeanne. I will definitely sail again in September!

Terri

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L2J

L2J

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I was reading an post on maritimematters or cruisejunikie - don't remember which - about a ship that had several of the cabin windows knocked out by a huge wave - said there were people in these cabins....now that's scary.

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