What is the worst weather you have encountered?

[Linda/Ohio]

San Juan RCCL Empress of the Seas. This voyage took us to the Dominican Republic. Everything was smooth as glass. We had a "beach" day at a private area--tendered in--RCCL set this up--because there was previous damage in DR due to hurricane. While on the island--the ship SUDDENLY--sent the tenders to get us all back on the ship--as a storm was approaching. It was a bit chaotic--but they got us all back on--the captain announced that we were heading into a storm--that he would do the best he could to avoid it. I thought--no biggie. On this ship--we had lucked out and at last minute snagged the Royal Suite--it was located above the bow. Started out just a bit of rocking and rolling. Then some wave action--which we could see coming over the bow. I thought that perhaps I should go lay down--not feeling quite right. The suite had a large teak balcony, a living room with rounded sofa and pee-wee playhouse armchairs, a bar with 3 stools, a dining table with 8 chairs, a separate bedroom and a large bath with both a jacuzzi tub and a shower. After an hour or so--my husband found me face down on the marble floor in the bathroom. All of the doors of the cabinets were banging open and shut.

 

The doctor was summoned to our cabin to give me a shot. It knocked me out. He told us that the captain was also sick. The dining room was closed. Lots of crashing of dishes. Puke bags everywhere--and since it was last night--luggage in the halls--that got puked on. I believe were were near the Puerto Rican trench. This situation lasted about 14 hours. We were hours late arriving in port. Had to tote our own luggage off the ship and felt like hell.

[beemergal]

someone posted these awhile back

[snausman]

someone posted these awhile back

 

 

Great pictures..thanks for sharing them.

[mjldvlks]

USNS Darby [see picture] crossing the North Atlantic in December 1963. I was 8 years old but remember the waves being higher than the ship. We would come up on the crest of one wave and then fall into the trough. The whole ship would shudder. It lasted at least 4 days -- from mid-Atlantic, through the Channel to Bremerhaven. For years I had to answer "yes" to the sea-sick question on my military physicals because of this experience. Never even close to being seasick on any cruise ship so far.

 

[sweetcruiser106]

We were on Carnival Fantasy during Superstorm 1996. Reportedly, the ship had a 12 degree tilt. On that cruise, we sailed a reverse route because we could not dock in Freeport during the storm. Earlier this year, we were on Rhapsody when we hit a storm and were in 25-35 foot swells. I understand that a number of dishes were lost and most on board did not make (including us) did not make dinner that evening. The upside of both of those cruises was once the storms were over, we had perfect weather for the rest of the cruise. Sorry no pics though.

Anne:)

[TrentS]

Twice on QE2 in a Force 11 gale and 50+ foot seas... Best times I've ever had. I love rough seas!

[SEASONEDCRUZER]

May 2007 on the Crown Princess from New Jersey. As soon as we sailed away we headed into a nasty storm that lasted all the way to San Juan. Seas were so rough that the pools were closed as the water was sloshing out all over the decks, many were absent from the dining room due to the ship's motion, you had to hold the railings in the hallways and even in the shower you were moving back and forth while trying to wash.

 

We were supposed to visit Bermuda, but that morning the seas were to rough to navigate to the dock area so we were told by the Captain that we would not be landing in Bermuda but we would proceed to San Juan instead. About two hours later the Captain announced that the Bermudan Coast Guard had received an SOS mayday from a small racing yacht and asked if we could go to his aid.

 

When we arrived, the yacht was listing, the engine was dead and his radio was going as well. The vessel was being swamped by huge waves! The owner was grateful that he was being rescued, but as we learned later he was "up to no good" out there as he had no ID and would not let the ship's officers board his vessel to help him prepare to leave. :rolleyes: Once the fellow jumped onto the rescue tender, and they were back onboard, we started to pull away from the sinking yacht and as we passed the boat it was sucked under the ship and popped up out at the stern completely chewed up and it sunk almost immediately!! :eek:

 

By the time we reached San Juan eveyone seemed desperate to get off the pitching, rolling ship-never had land looked so good to us!!!! ;)

 

It didn't stop our love for cruising and we still talk about the rescue at sea that we witnessed! :D:D

[Steamboatin]

The strongest wind we have been in was a day of 85 knots which is approximately 98 miles per hour.

[Danish]

I have just returned from a 5 night cruise to Norway. We had a had storm. The waves were really high, and there sound very high bumps everytime the waves came into the front of the ship - like we ran over a whale or something.

Many got seasick, and I think most of us could hear the noise all night, but also was rocked around in their beds.

 

What a night.

 

I have tried high sea before, but never something like that.

[cruznjan]

In August 1980 on the Rotterdam we ran into Hurricane David. Quite an experience, and I was frightened a bit - maybe because of being a bit high on dramamine.

[PearlRabbit]

On my honeymoon cruise, (my very first cruise!) we cut across the tail end of a hurricane. We went to the highest point on the ship and looked down at the pools and saw the water sloshing out, at least 20-30 feet above the edges. Wild! The next day it was raining, but we went on shore to Cozumel anyway. The rain picked up and we decided to head back to the ship. It was blowing so hard that we had to walk bent over. The water had filled the streets and was also rushing down the side walk. It was mid way up my calf! The water was running up into the shops and the owners were frantically trying to use brooms to sweep it back out. When we finally got back to the ship, soaked to the skin despite the rain jacket I was wearing, the whole 1st floor and the elevators stank like wet dog! It was a wild day, and although we didn't get to see much in Cozumel, it was quite a memory to have from our honeymoon. The ship handled the whole thing well and I never felt seasick. :)

[cruisedave]

October 26 to November 4, 2007 - Explorer of the Seas out of Bayonne, NJ. We had 7 to 12 foot waves.:eek: Everyone one on the ship were walking drunk that night. The captain had to lock the doors that led to the deck and put yellow "warning" tape up. We were supposed to pull back into NJ at 8:00 a.m. that Sunday - we got in at 3:00 p.m.:D I had the friggin time of my life on that cruise. LOL

 

 

You must have had much more than 7 to 12 foot waves, that's nothing for a cruise ship. I was on the Explorer last week and that's what we were having and you could barley feel the ship move.

[Guest maddycat]

We went on a 7 night New York/Bermuda cruise several years ago. At this time RCCL (Song of America, Nordic Empress) and Celebrity (Horizon, Zenith) were still sailing smaller ships to Bermuda. Cruising home from Bermuda, we encountered 30/40 foot seas while trying to avoid a hurricane in the area. There were many first time cruisers on board who were very concerned. In the middle of the night, the captain announced over the intercom that there was no reason to be concerned. The ship was not going to sink.

[mtinney]

I think you typo'd. Hurricane Michelle was in November 2001, not 2002. You may also be a bit off on the ship you mentioned too or fuzzy on the port of call. I was on the Majesty November 2-5, 2001 during Hurricane Michelle and the ship definately stopped in Nassau.

 

This was a very memorable cruise for us and we have lots of photos (many of the Atlantis Resort in Nassau) and videos of the trip. On leaving Nassau the pool was sloshing so much the water was leaping 10 feet in the air at times. This was a great cruise though. We had two couples at our dinner table from California who were a bit wild and made for some hillarious memories especially at the Treasure Hunt game!

 

A couple pictures of the pool that day after leaving Nassau:

 

<hmm.. pictures didn't upload. will try again.>

 

you are right about the year, I don't know why I put 02 b/c I know it was just after 9/11 and I was a bit edgy about flying. as to the dates, we sailed after you b/c I remember we got back on the 9th or 10th b/c when we got back home the next day or so was the plane crash in Queens which was Nov 12th 2001. I know for a fact that we missed Nassau b/c we had a bag that was lost that was supposed to be sent there and when we found out we weren't going there I flipped out and had to have it rerouted to Freeport.

[KuffMUp]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqR4H60kZ48&feature=related

[cupofgin]

Ran into a hurricane last year in Oct going to Bermuda

[SUZCRUZ]

Last October, Jewel Repo Boston to Miami, 45 to 55 foot seas on first evening.:eek::eek::eek:

 

We were also on that sailing.

Found out more information after we did the Bridge Tour and was told first hand what went on the night. The Captain and all his senior officers spent the night on the Bridge, during that storm. I heard they also closed all the hatches on the windows on the lower decks.

The next day when we went out on the balcony, we had hail.

[sassy12]

9-11-02 Sydney, Nova Scotia. When the passengers were all back on the ship at 6:00 p.m. the Captain announced that we wouldn't be going to Halifax because Hurricane Gustav was heading our way. He had been brewing in the Atlantic for about a week but those of in the US thought it was all finished. We went east and by 8:15 were in the midst of horrible weather that lasted 28 hours. We sat heading into the hurricane. We were on the Carnival Triumph and my brother-in-law was watching the coordinates and reported all this to us. We were on the 6th deck and at 8:30 the waves were coming over our balcony. There was $10,000 damage to the main showroom lighting equipment and 600 of the crew were sick. There were very few people in the MDR for formal night the next night!!

 

I sat up in the fitness room watching the high waves hit the ship. It was really neat!!

[derftegel]

:mad:Sept 2005 on Grandeur of Seas returning to Baltimore from Bermuda we ran into remnants of Hurricane Opehlia off Cape Hatteras and spent an extra day at sea trying to outflank her. Seas were pretty ruff, winds high and rainy. Lots of seasick passengers and full barf bags. Didn't phase me in the casino.:)

[Dadofsara]

We were on Majesty of the Seas during Hurricane Katrina when she was just a category 1. Our cruise was extended because the Port of Miami closed. During our extended night and day as we headed south towards Cuba it seemed the storm made a turn and followed us. It poured, was very windy and rain water poured into the atrium and down some of the hallways. The elevators even began to fill with rain water and had to be closed off. Our pictures are pretty amazing.

[01Sweetpea]

We were caught in the tail end of Hurricane Dennis in 2005.

 

The kids & DH felt a little queezy for a few hours, but nothing some sprite, crackers & a nap couldn't cure.

 

It wasn't bad enough for us to stop cruising.

[RollercoasterManiacs]

I don't have pictures but here is a video from our Norwegian Spirit cruise Jan. 2007. We had 40 foot waves and they shut off all outside areas shortly after I recorded this.

 

[griffy]

Can't specifically remember which cruise, but the Captain had announced that we were in gale force winds, use caution, etc. We went to bed and were awakened by loud noises. It was our drawers on the chest/desk. They were rolling all the way out, and then SLAMMING back into the cabinet with a vengence. Many sea sick folks on board. I believe we were on the Nordic (prior to the renovation and re-naming, so it was many years ago). The Nordic was very new at the time.

[tyler6597]

The worst was a NCL cruise that went to Cozumel. The weather and seas were so bad that when we took the tender to the ship they didn't know if we were going to get on. They turned the ship around and put the gangplank out and it was going up and down. 1 person at a time had to run accross the gangplank to get in the ship. That night there was puke bags everywhere and people were puking in the dinning room. When we went to bed you could hear the ballast hitting the side of the ship all night. It was really bad.:D

[Hobiecat01]

For us it was April 16, 2005, Saturday sailing back to Miami on The Mariner. We were several hundred miles south of the Norwegian Dawn ship that was hit by a 70 ft. "freak wave" just off Charleston, SC on their way back to New York City. The Mariner was sailing into 55 knot winds that combined with the 20 knot speed caused 75 knot winds across the deck. Everything not tied down was flying everywhere. The waves were remarkable.

 

To make matters worse, we had to stop off of Key West that morning to evacuate a heart attack victim on board via boat because all of the Coast Guard helecopters were up with the Dawn. I will say that watching those brave Coast Guard and RCCL crewmen fighting 25 ft. waves to get this man off was awesome! It took them well over an hour to get him on the boat safely. Even today I cannot say enough about those folks... they did on helluva job.

__________________________

Sea ya!

Ron and Lee

Canton, Ga

RCCL Platinum Member

"In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom,

in water there is bacteria." – Ben Franklin

Previous Cruises – 59 Days at Sea!

Carnival Mardis Gras - 3 Day Bahamas - April 1982

Carnival Destiny - 7 Days Western Carib. - April 1998

Princess Grand Princess - 7 Days Eastern Carib. - April 1999

Princess Sea Princess - 7 Days Western Carib. - March 2000

Princess Grand Princess - 7 Days Western Carib. - March 2002

RCCL Navigator of the Seas - 7 Days Western Carib. - March 2003

RCCL Mariner of the Seas - 7 Days Western Carib. - April 2005

RCCL Freedom of the Seas - 7 Days Western Carib. - 6/18 - 6/25/2006

RCCL Liberty of the Seas - 7 Days Eastern Carib. - 7/19 - 7/26/08

Planned Cruises

RCCL Oasis of the Seas – Our Friends Cruise - April 17, 2010

RCCL Allure of the Seas – Our Neighborhood Cruise - 2011

The BIG One - Southeast Asia 14 day – 2012?

Princess Cruises - The Med – 14 day – 2013?