Live and limping on the Dawn

Hi Folks, It has been one hell of a cruise. We are sailing into Charleston Harbour now at 4:30 pm on Saturday. After a conference call withMiami, NCL has arranged the window replacement and Coast guard inspection to take place here. We are hoping to set sail late tonight, but do not expect to arriv e in New York until Monday morning at the latest. The atrium is filled with people sleeping with pillows, quilts and belongings all over the floor and window seats. It started with a very heavy storm at about 6: last night. Ceiling tiles fell off during dinner in Le Bistro. One especially heavy wave hit sending my DH out of the bed to the floor. We are aft on de ck 10. The flooded cabins areon the fore of decks 9 and 10. We have been treated to 21/2 days of open bar and are getting 25o/o of the cost of our present cruises toward future cruises. We also received $100 on board credit per cabin. I was in the casino when the big wave hit and the bar was swept clean of bottles and glasses and on the return of that wave the buffet was cleared to the floor. B ar stools were knocked over and all of the glass displays in the atrium of cut glass and china and crystal got hitbadly. A lot of b roken glass. A lot of vomitting..

And most of all a great, great, crew willing to do whatever they could to make you comfortable. Cleanup started immediatelly and spirits are high.

I understand that 10 persons were hurt, but no one was yet remov ed from the ship. it certainly will be a cruise to remember and someone also mentioned that yesterday was the anniversity of the Titanic.

I will check in again if possible. Thanks for all your concerns. Eileen

Wow Eileen!!!!!

Thanks for the update. I wish you and all your shipmates a safe trip home.

Jeanne

Eileen

Thanks for posting. It really must have been a very scarey time for you all. I hope that you all are alright and you have a snooth sailing back to NY.

marie

Eileen, Thank you so much for taking the time to post in the midst of your unfortunate situation. We were scheduled to depart tomorrow and although I'm disappointed with the turn of events, I am most concerned for your safe return and that of your fellow passengers. I hope you were all able to enjoy some pleasantly memorable days of vacation before all this happened. Best wishes to you all!

That you for posting. Going to be interesting to hear the different reactions. The ship is in the Harbor

Thank you for your update, Eileen and I really hope everyone is doing as well as can be, given the situation. There's been an updated posted to the NCL board regarding tomorrow's cruise...

The safety and integrity of the ship was in no way compromised by this incident.

Norwegian Dawn has diverted to Charleston, South Carolina to conduct repairs. Passengers whose cabins were flooded are being flown home from Charleston.

Once repairs are complete, the ship will continue to New York. At this time, the company estimates that the ship will arrive around noon on Monday. As things stand now, embarkation will commence at 3 p.m. on Monday. However, the embarkation time will be finalized once the ship has a definitive arrival time so passengers and travel agents should monitor the NCL Web site or call 1-800-625-5672 for updates.

NCL is working to contact all travel agents with guests sailing on the April 17 cruise to inform them of the details.

The tentative schedule is below:

Mon Depart NY 5pm

Tue Day at Sea

Wed Arrive Orlando (Port Canaveral), FL 11am Depart 9pm

Thu Arrive Miami, FL 9am Depart 6pm

Fri Arrive Nassau, Bahamas 7am Depart Noon

Sat Day at Sea

Sun Arrive NY, NY 10am

In accordance with Norwegian Dawn's Winter Weather Guarantee, guests on the upcoming cruise will receive a $100 per person ($200 maximum per stateroom) onboard credit and additionally, the cruise fare will be prorated by one day, which will be refunded to the passenger's onboard account along with the onboard credit.

The company will provide updates as they become available.

My sympathies to all concerned. I am not surprised to hear how well the crew responded. They are the best.

I do not know how true it is, but the reporter on the news reported that the wave was 70ft. I just can not imagine what that would be like and never want to know.

Everyone affected by this including the cruise lines is in my thoughts. What an awful thing to go through!!!!!!

My God, You must have "ALL" been so scared. Thank God, You all got into Charleston OK. One never knows what "Mother Nature" has in store. I understand the Crew were great and the Ship was safe even though the ship had a few broken windows and flooding. I think Norwegian Cruiseline tried to do the right thing by all its passengers. May you all get home safely and for sure You will never forget this cruise......Ike

May you get home safely. What a shame for you and the others on board. I hope everything works out for you guys.

National news just reported 70 foot waves & 4 passengers injured. Good luck to all onboard.

I cannot even imagine a 70' wave. We had 30' waves in Hawaii and had to stay in our cabin as we could not walk and it threw us around and out of bed. That is horrible and my prayers are with all.

National news just reported 70 foot waves & 4 passengers injured. Good luck to all onboard.

I can't see how that wouldn't cause some MAJOR damage to the ship....It will be interesting to find out what actual damage did occur.....:eek:

I can't see how that wouldn't cause some MAJOR damage to the ship....It will be interesting to find out what actual damage did occur.....:eek:

Update: Just got word that it was a 25 meter wave that allowed the captain to look out of the bridge and see the wave. If you check the bridge cam you will notice the railing and two crew jacuzzi are missing. Washed overboard during the storm.

We got a letter tonight giving us 50 percent refund to our charge cards AND 50 percent off future booking.

Many passangers are trying to get home from here. No car rentals available and no hotel rooms. There are additionally no planes leaving tonight from Charleston. NCL is hiring a chartered jet to NY to bring home those who wish to leave. I will up date if possible. If not, on Tuesday if we get home by then. Again kudos to NCL for stepping up to the plate and for the staff for making this as pleasant as possible.

Update: Just got word that it was a 25 meter wave that allowed the captain to look out of the bridge and see the wave. If you check the bridge cam you will notice the railing and missing. Washed overboard during the storm.

We got a letter tonight giving us 50 percent refund to our charge cards AND 50 percent off future booking.

Many passangers are trying to get home from here. No car rentals available and no hotel rooms. There are additionally no planes leaving tonight from Charleston. NCL is hiring a chartered jet to NY to bring home those who wish to leave. I will up date if possible. If not, on Tuesday if we get home by then. Again kudos to NCL for stepping up to the plate and for the staff for making this as pleasant as possible.

Thanks for the update. National news is reporting the same thing. 70 foot wave. The two crew jacuzzi are still there.

God Bless You you all.

Yes. A crew to remember for sure!

Glad to know NCL is coming through for you. I knew they would.

Smooth travels home Eileen.

Thank you for your timely insight.

We are glued to the CC to stay updated.

God Bless you all.

Yes. A cruise to remember for sure!

Glad to know NCL is coming through for you. I knew they would.

Smooth travels home Eileen.

Thank you for your timely insight.

We are glued to the CC to stay updated.

I normally hang out on the Princess board and saw a link to this thread.

Thoughts are prayers are with everyone currently on the Dawn. What an ordeal you all have been through! Wishing each one of you the best in the upcoming days.

Sounds like NCL has really stepped up for you all.

Alice

Update: Many passangers are trying to get home from here. No car rentals available and no hotel rooms. There are additionally no planes leaving tonight from Charleston. NCL is hiring a chartered jet to NY to bring home those who wish to leave. I will up date if possible. If not, on Tuesday if we get home by then. Again kudos to NCL for stepping up to the plate and for the staff for making this as pleasant as possible.

Eileen, are you not expected to get home until Tuesday now :(? We were resceduled to leave Monday at 5:00 last I knew. Perhaps things were worse than they expected. I hope things end up ok for all of us. Good luck on your end.

I am so relieved to hear that there were no serious injuries. It must have been very frightening. I cannot even imagine. If you don't mind answering I had some specific questions about how the crew and passengers reacted during the occurrence.

-were there any passengers that completely lost it? what about kids ??

-did you hear from higher-ups during the incident? how were you kept abreast of developments-was it crew members going about the ship, a pa system...?

For those more knowledgable about cruising, is this something they could have forecasted/predicted?

General questions

What do you suppose this means for NCL and the Dawn, in terms of reputation and financially?

They are really compensating generously. Do they have to for acts of nature? Is what they are doing what every cruiseline must do or would do? When will they have time to repair and prepare the ship completely? As I understand it, there was damage in the restaurants and other public areas. Has something like this ever happened?? I'm panicking and I don't even cruise for several weeks :confused: :o

I wish you a safe and speedy homecoming .

Hi Folks, It has been one hell of a cruise. We are sailing into Charleston Harbour now at 4:30 pm on Saturday. After a conference call withMiami, NCL has arranged the window replacement and Coast guard inspection to take place here. We are hoping to set sail late tonight, but do not expect to arriv e in New York until Monday morning at the latest. The atrium is filled with people sleeping with pillows, quilts and belongings all over the floor and window seats. It started with a very heavy storm at about 6: last night. Ceiling tiles fell off during dinner in Le Bistro. One especially heavy wave hit sending my DH out of the bed to the floor. We are aft on de ck 10. The flooded cabins areon the fore of decks 9 and 10. We have been treated to 21/2 days of open bar and are getting 25o/o of the cost of our present cruises toward future cruises. We also received $100 on board credit per cabin. I was in the casino when the big wave hit and the bar was swept clean of bottles and glasses and on the return of that wave the buffet was cleared to the floor. B ar stools were knocked over and all of the glass displays in the atrium of cut glass and china and crystal got hitbadly. A lot of b roken glass. A lot of vomitting..

And most of all a great, great, crew willing to do whatever they could to make you comfortable. Cleanup started immediatelly and spirits are high.

I understand that 10 persons were hurt, but no one was yet remov ed from the ship. it certainly will be a cruise to remember and someone also mentioned that yesterday was the anniversity of the Titanic.

I will check in again if possible. Thanks for all your concerns. Eileen

Update: Just got word that it was a 25 meter wave that allowed the captain to look out of the bridge and see the wave. If you check the bridge cam you will notice the railing and two crew jacuzzi are missing. Washed overboard during the storm.

We got a letter tonight giving us 50 percent refund to our charge cards AND 50 percent off future booking.

Many passangers are trying to get home from here. No car rentals available and no hotel rooms. There are additionally no planes leaving tonight from Charleston. NCL is hiring a chartered jet to NY to bring home those who wish to leave. I will up date if possible. If not, on Tuesday if we get home by then. Again kudos to NCL for stepping up to the plate and for the staff for making this as pleasant as possible.

Thank you so much for being so considerate and posting updates. You are some strong woman.

Good to hear how well NCL is taking care of everyone...not surprising!

Have a safe trip home and try to relax.

I normally hang out on the RCCL board, but I figured I would poke my nose in here when I heard about this on the NY news. I am glad that NCL is stepping up to the plate for you guys, and that are now safe. Hang in there, folks... and thanks for keeping us updated.

One of the NY ten PM news shows led with this. 25 meters is over 75 feet. Not qualified to answer some of the q's just asked, but guessing that repairs to ship are insured, and that NCL behavior in offering compensation exceeds (oerhaps greatly) that required by their contract. And yes, part of me is jealous of those aboard. Have written to some of my favorite crew and look forward to hearing of their experiences.

I just wanted to add my thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved. I wish you all a safe return home.

Eileen, thanks for taking the time to update us.