miopyk

almost every crew member i asked about the state of the ship mentioned something about dry dock

Me too. The concensus was that there is damage to propulsion, stabilisers and some minor structural issues. Nothing that would make the ship unseaworthy but enough to make it slow and uncomfortable for passengers.

I did say there were reports of more serious issues that would take longer to repair but got shot down in flames. I suppose you all believe the sailing on Saturday will go ahead. Well don't bet this months salary on it.

Well we're back and I'm quite surprised how relieved we are. 4 news helicopters overhead and the first passengers are off.

We're staying on overnight and will be off in the morning for a few days in New York before flying home. I hope those going on the ship next will have a better time than we had. So that's it from me until next time.

Cheers

Company has already made this announcement:

 

 

The Anthem only suffered minor damage and will sail its scheduled itinerary out of Cape Liberty this Saturday.

 

“Everything is operational; everything is good,” Freed said. “A lot of our dishes broke and we have truckloads of supplies being sent up to the Bayonne area. All the broken glass has been taken away and the ship is fully operational.”

The FlowRider on top of the Anthem was slightly damaged, but it will be repaired in time for Saturday’s sailing.

Fair enough, glad to be proved wrong.

Not wanting to speculate too much here but we're starting to hear that there maybe more serious damage than we can see. Nothing affecting the overall safety of the ship but perhaps enough to warrant more extensive repairs.

A wise AND brave man

Yes perhaps you're right, a touch too much bravado. Anonymity has its advantages.

If the media is there I'd like to share some of my wisdom with them. I doubt you'll get to hear it though since I'm unlikely to give them the dramatic disaster/chaos/impending doom story they will all be wishing for and therefore it's unlikely to be aired. Someone will no doubt get their 5 minutes of fame and of course someone or other will likely suffer because of it.

By the way the weather experts on here let me down big time, bloody big mouths, however plan b worked but tomorrow I'm going to be the 5th Avenue shopping donkey.

Happy wife happy life, I think!

I guess we can then infer you won't be rushing to disembark tonight...

Too late, she fell asleep. Need to work on plan b so no more weather stuff or we could have a big problem.

This is my view on the weather and what happened.

Whether the weather be fine or whether the weather be not,

Whether the weather whatever the weather whether we like it or not.

Can we leave any further comments on the weather there please as your getting boring and giving my wife a headache which is impacting my game plan for later.

ha! its quiet onboard today where is everyone?

Guest Services, complaining about something/anything 😉

Hi Miopyc,

 

So while you were busy weathering the storm, making alternate travel arrangement, catching up on sleep and trying to eek out a decent time while stuck on the ship, here are some funny things I have seen/read here on CC about your situation... To lighten up the mood

 

I Read that Captain should be fired, ship almost sank, gross negligence

 

I saw several posters saying RCCL farts rainbows and is the most amazing cruise line and not to be held liable for weather and did everything possible

 

I found out that you CAN in fact get hotels for $100 in NYC

 

I discovered The Staten island ferry is free but cold in winter

 

That Visiting the Met is donation only but if you go and don't give $25 your a cheapskate loser

 

That driving a VW makes you poor however, it has a warranty, but is not as prestigious of car as Mercedes

 

Discussions about how CC has gon to pot and everyone is either negative nellies, or overly positive cheerleaders.

 

For heavens sake, Never share a drink with the drink package (or at least DO NOT post you dis) as you will be labeled a low life thief

 

I seems that Everyone on CC it seems has been caught in hurricane weather on a cruise ship

 

I learned to Buy travel insurance.. Although CC experts have said that it might end at port and you are not covered

 

I now know If you cannot afford 4 days post cruise vacation you are a cheapskate and that some people actually save for vacations

 

And finally, I have discovered how deeply interested people are in meteorology! :D:D;);):rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

Hope you are back on land soon and happy you are safe and still have your sense of humor!

And you learned that despite it all life goes on and one way or the other sh!t happens. 😉

Cheers

As I sit here on my sunlounger in the solarium with the sun now peeking through the clouds every now and again and the distant sounds of the waves gently crashing against the bow of the ship I can almost feel that I'm sat on the beach on Coco Cay where we should have been today.

The only thing that brings me back to reality is the woman walking past telling her husband in a loud disappointed New Jersey accent that her fries were cold.

I think I'm going to write a book on my general observations of people on cruise ships, a constant source of genuine amusement.

miopyk

 

Apologies i selected your quote earlier by accident i meant to quote someone else. It was too late to edit when i noticed.

Mate, not an issue.

Ok some funny things we have seen and heard over the last few days to lighten the mood.

The day after the storm with glass and broken furniture everywhere on the pool deck, there were 2 women putting their towels and books out on sunloungers to reserve their places for later.

2 old ladies chatting in the bar asking the barman why the captain didn't lower the lifeboats during the storm as that would have been safer.

A woman complaining to the man in the towel station about the pool being closed despite the fact that there was glass everywhere.

2 different old ladies agreeing with each other that if we hadn't have turned back we would have sunk for sure.

2 older guys complaining to a crew member about something (didn't hear what) and telling him that they were Americans and deserved better. They had the strongest east European accents I've ever heard.

So there, despite everything we went through some people went back to normal very quickly.

I've heard they're cancelling all future cruises because they're sick and tired of people complaining about stupid insignificant stuff that in the grand scheme of things are completely unimportant.

He's Norwegian, so not renowned for being outwardly emotional.

If it helps I'm English, well half Scottish actually so generally have a calm demeanour and not prown to dramatics in situations like this.

Quick update, having just had a walk around outside we realise the piece of heavy equipment is actually a radar or weather instrument as a second pod has disappeared from the back of the ship. We didn't notice that before.

Thanks for the kind words. We're happy to be on our way back to NYC.

Miopky

You left out an important piece of info in your story. You said that " and so the mini bar was free ", and I want to know how much you had? If I was sitting in your cabin hearing what your were being told and seeing what was happening, and feeling the ship rock as you did, there wouldn't have been a single bottle of anything alcoholic left from that mini-bar.

I had a Diet Coke and 2 bottles of water. Wanted to keep a level head in case it was needed later on.

There's been so much said about this over the past few days I just wanted to set the record straight and tell you what we saw and experienced.

On Sunday afternoon we went to 270 at the rear of the ship for lunch before going to see the We will Rock You show in the theatre. At that point the weather was really bad outside, high winds and waves but inside it was relitively smooth and comfortable.

We went to the theatre and sat down to watch the show. They made an announcement before it started to say there was a risk of cancellation due to the weather. About 40 minutes into the show they stopped it. Clearly the dancers were having trouble and it made sense to do that.

Coming out of the theatre on deck 5 we saw water coming in through the sliding doors to outside, not a lot but enough to make you realise this was not normal. The ship was moving around a bit more but not violently. We returned to our cabin.

At around 3.30 the captain announced everyone was to go to their cabins. He was a lot more direct than previous announcements so we knew something was up. I checked the monitor on the TV and it was showing wind speeds of around 80kts. The ship was moving a lot but still not violently. About an hour later the captain said this was going to go on for a few hours and so the mini bar was free and the Cruise Director (Abe) announced all movies were now free. My wife went to bed as she gets motion sickness and had started to feel bad. I started to watch Mad Max.

An hour or so later things started to take a turn for the worse. The ship was now moving around a lot more, things started to fall off shelves, the glasses smashed in the bathroom and I was having trouble sitting on the sofa watching the tv. I switched the film off and then looked at the monitor again, wind speeds were now 120 kts plus. I'm now starting to get worried. I've been on a ferry in the North Sea in bad weather in the winter and this was much worse. Things steadily deteriorate over the next hour or 2, the captain is no longer making announcements, that is left to Abe who does his best to sound calm and reassure everyone. We're told that the coast guard have been alerted to our situation.

At some point during this I'm guessing around 8.00pm we experience the worst movement of the night. Our wardrobe door flys off its hinges missing my head by inches and in doing so clears the rest of the glassware off the ajoining shelves anything else on shelves falls off, the deviding door on our balcony that has been flapping in the wind for 2 hours finally gives up the fight and disappears towards the rear of the ship. I'm now looking out of our window and the tops of the waves are level with our cabin, we're on deck 11. Every few minutes spray from the waves hits our windows hard. According to the monitor the wind speed is now hitting 148 kts. I am now really worried, I've never experienced anything like this and I'm starting to think we may not make it. I check on my wife, she's taken a couple of tablets and is dozing so I let her be.

I spend the next hour or 2 staring at the monitor hoping that the wind speed will reduce but every time it does it goes back up a few minutes later. Abe makes a few more announcements saying it'll be a couple more hours until things calm down. There is more violent movements and this continues for what seems an eternity. At around 10.00pm the Captain announces that he has been fighting to keep the ship turned into the wind for the last few hours and has finally been able to do that. This was the main reason for the extreme movement and he thinks the worst is over so no more announcements until the morning unless he has to. I'm no expert with how far the ship was rolling but as some points during the last hour or so I couldn't stand up and was struggling to stay sat on the sofa. I saw a diagram someone posted on the other thread and I'd guess it was around 15 degrees each way.

I try to watch the rest of Mad Max hoping it'll distract me. My wife wakes to go to the loo and in doing so looks out the window. She's shocked at the height of the waves but reassured by the fact the wind has reduced to nearer 100kts. The attendant rings the bell and offers up M&Ms, Snickers and water. He comes back later with a vacuum for the broken glass on the floor in the bathroom and cabin. What a star.

Mad Max finishes (not as good as the original films by the way) but I can't sleep and after checking the monitors the wind has now dropped to around 80kts so I'm feeling a little better and decide to watch Mission Impossible. By now it's heading towards midnight and the ship is still moving around a lot but not as bad as before. Finally around 1.30am I'm feeling worn out and decide to try and go to sleep. Wind speeds now are around 70kts.

We wake up around 6.00am. Things are a lot calmer. Wind speeds are now around 25kts. After showers etc. It's getting light so we dicide to go and see if we can get something to eat. Everything is closed except for the cafe on deck 4 where we get a cup of coffe and tea, one of the crew says they're going to try and open Windjammer at 8.00. It's about 7.30 so we go and have a look around.

Lots of smashed glass all over the pool deck. This has come from the suite deck where several glass panels are gone. Lots of furniture in pieces and the crew are trying to pile this up in one corner to make way for people. One of the radar pods is in pieces on the deck and what looks like a piece of heavy equipment used for window cleaning is on the deck having smashed a window in Seaplex. Part of the ceiling is hanging down on deck 14 outside Windjammer! lots of panels hanging down outside with wires and lights hanging loose. It looks a bit like a movie set after a major destruction scene. Overall though the damage looks superficial and much of it is cleaned up now. IFly and Northstar are cancelled as they're uncertain if they've been damage so need to be inspected properly.

The Windjammer opens and the Captain makes an announcement thanking everyone for remaining calm and gives us an update on what happened. In short the storm developed so rapidly there was little he could do to avoid it. It was in his words the worst day at sea he's ever had and he's been doing this for decades. He has a call with Miami later where they will decide on what to do next. A further announcement will be made around midday. Windjammer is packed, no seats and lots of queues for food but everyone is being pleasant and talkative. We've all realised we've been through something pretty bad and the sense of relief is obvious.

During the day some normality returns with the crew putting on events as they can and clearing up the mess. By lunchtime the ceiling on deck 14 is fixed and much of the mess outside is gone. We go for lunch in Coastal

Kitchen and get talking to the people on the next table. They're on deck 7 and the waves were hitting their window during the night. The cabin next door lost the door to their balcony and all their room is completely trashed with water coming in.

The Captain makes an announcement. Apologises for the inconvenience but another storm is building near Jacksonville and he's not prepared to put us through that again so we're going to follow the storm we've just been through back to New York and wel're due there on the 10th at 6am. To compensate were being given 100% refunds and 50% off a future cruise. Looking around everyone seems to be nodding in approval.

Talking to some of the crew they were clearly worried like us as they've never experienced anything quite like it before. One mentioned that he'd never heard the Coast Guard mentioned in public announcements before so knew it was bad plus the fact that they were sent to their cabins so quickly before locking everything down tells you how suddenly this happened. They're also not sure what's going to happen after we get back. There seems to be some suspicion that while the ship is obviously seaworthy there may be more substantial damage we cannot see possibly with the stabilisers as the ship is moving around a lot now in relitively smooth waters. So there will be inspections when we get back and then I guess they'll make an announcement.

As for all the so called experts that will no doubt want to appear on here after this post you might be better of keeping your opinions to yourself. For my fellow travellers I hope you are feeling better today and didn't suffer too much. For the Captain and crew I thank you for your professionalism and smiling faces when clearly you were as anxious as we were. As for blame it's not a word I want to use or think about, I'm just grateful no one got hurt and we're safe and sound.

And that's pretty much it, we've booked into a hotel for 3 nights in Times Square as we're not due to fly home until Saturday and we'll make the most of the rest of our holiday.

Thanks for you messages of support and hope you enjoy your future cruises.

I think most of us on the ship right now have a similar view on this. It was scary and during the highest winds there were times you wondered what the outcome would be. But today you look back and realise that the captain did a fantastic job at getting us through what he described as his worst day at sea ever.

The ship has sustained some damage but most of it looks superficial and the crew are already clearing it up with temporary repairs where necessary. The gally crew and housekeeping guys have been great to get things back up and running as quickly as they have not forgetting they've had exactly the same experience we've had so full marks to them as well.

Whether the captain could have avoided this is irrelevant since it's now in the past and if he did anything wrong people with more knowledge and information than anyone on board the ship or on this board will do the analysis and reach the appropriate outcome. So rather than jump to conclusions I'm happy right now to applaud him and his team for getting us through the night as safely as they did.

As has been said there is some uncertainty as to what we will be doing for the rest of this week but whatever that is its unlikely to be as bad as last night so that is a positive in my book.

For those of you not on board the ship that have formulated negative opinions on the rights and wrongs of this situation remember you weren't here so clearly have no idea what you're talking about.

Overall we're alive and well, life has pretty much returned to normal and we have a bit more that 5 days of our holiday left so we're going to make the most of that while we can.

Well it looks as though we're now heading south with a 15-20 knot tailwind. It's still a bit bumpy but nowhere near what it was like 3-4 hours ago. Going to try and get some sleep now. What a night.

Well the door that sepperates our balcony to next door has finally given up the fight after 2 hours of flapping free and disappeared towards the back of the ship with a huge bang. I hope it didn't cause any other damage.

We're on deck 11, everything's fallen on the floor, broken glass and crockery everywhere plus one wardrobe door has come off its hinges. It's as bad as anything I've ever been in if not worse.

Would you rather have 8660 or 10660? 11660 is already taken so we could not get it and we have 8660 but I am wondering if we should move to 10660 to be closer to CL.

 

8660 has not rooms across the hall and would possibly be quieter.

 

What do you guys think??

We were in 11660 last year and thought it was a good location to get to all the different venues on the ship. On that basis I would go for 10660 as it means not having to walk to far to anything.

Very serious question here as first time cruiser and as I get more time I will post a bigger list up of things i'd like to know but one thing that I really want cleared up is the dress code on formal nights. Due to the vast amounts of info in regards to this on the forums I am not sure what the best thing is to do.

 

When we first booked we thought that formal nights and smart dress was a definite and everyone on a cruise ship embraced it. However after reading the forums you get the impression that you'd be the only one wearing a dinner suit/tux and the wife in a nice dress. I know this is a little over the top but can anyone reassure me that people still do wear dinner suits etc to formal nights? Can't imagine its that great that your dressed up to the max then sitting next to others who haven't bothered, awkward.....

 

All help appreciated!

A lot of people like to dress for dinner and a lot don't. Ultimately it's your decision so wear what you are comfortable with. If you find yourself sat with someone dressed more casually than you, it might be worth trying to look beyond the clothes and enjoy the company of the person inside them, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Miopyk