Rough Seas--How bad can it get?

[ldoc31]

We were talking with some other passengers on our last cruise and they had some wild stories about rough seas on some of their cruises. I guess I am wondering if they exaggerated or can it get really bad.

[chrysalis]

To some people, the 2 foot waves in the harbour are considered "bad"...to others, 20 foot rolls are fun.

 

Really, it is a subjective question and so are the answers...large waves hitting the boat right into the bow is very different from those same waves coming in from off to the side.

[espmass]

Sure it can get bad but that's not the norm. I always enjoy repeating the story of our trip back from Bermuda when we went through a storm and the water in the swimming pool was crashing up and onto the ship deck like a tidal wave. It was one wild ride. Most of my cruises have been smooth as glass.

[ahracer]

Late last week a cruise ship got hit by a huge wave off of alaska that broke out the windows in the bridge...

 

Scott

[Nitemare]

When the Coral came over from Europe to prepare for her first cruise they had to replace all the dishes due to VERY high seas on the crossing. Most of the crew was sick.

[Deb in Cali]

I agree with Chrysallis,

 

It is up to the one in the experience. On my first cruise we had very very calm seas to the point that I was disappointed. I couldn't even tell that we were on a ship. I think I felt a wave movement perhaps 2 or 3 times the whole time we were on board.

 

On the evening that we had the Captain's cocktaill party there were several people running around with seasickness patches. One guy was going on and on about how bad it was and how sick he was. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. It took extreme control to not ask him if he got seasick in the bathtub. I think that it was all in his head.

 

My Mom on the other hand has been in the Carribbean during a hurricane close by. That ship was rocking and rolling. Their room was pretty close to the top level and the splash from the waves were hitting their window. I would have hated to be in the lower levels, you might have felt like you were underwater at time.

[Twaincruisers]

Our NCL Spirit in Nov '04 encountered very rough seas of 13-20 ft shortly after leaving Tortola heading back to Miami. The captain changed course to closer to northern Cuba in order to make the trip a little easier. Many people were sick, while others of us were up in the Galaxy lounge watching the waves and the weather. Everyone takes the experience differently...you just need to hope for the best!

[Mary Jane 711]

I would say we encountered some pretty rough seas on the Dec 9 -24 Panama Canal Transit on the Regal last year. Just off the south of Mexico we encountered such rough seas that everything in our cabin ended up on the floor. We were told the waves were over 25 feet and the wind was a force 10,, which is over 70 mph. It was pretty scary..I ended up in a prone position in bed holding onto the wall and the dresser next to the bed all night just to stay in one place. (However, others on board went about the usual routine of going to dinner and walking about). Because of a sick passenger, we had to return through the rough seas to take them back and then back again through the rough seas to continue on our way..Whew..It was pretty bad.

[ldoc31]

That sounds pretty scary to me. Did they allow the passengers to go out on the decks?

[Toto2Kansas]

Hurrcane Michelle was our downfall on Celebrity's Millennium. OMG.................for 24-36 hours the ship had almost nobody moving on it. It was the first time I had ever heard the captain announce to NOT leave your cabin unless it was absolutely necessary. ALL outer decks were closed and doors locked, furniture from the outer decks that did not get tied down was blowing overboard. Waves were hitting the windows on deck 14. And if you managed to get up to deck 14 you were stuck as there was no getting down all afternoon.

Our cabin was the highest deck (deck 9 or 10 I believe) right under the buffet. We somehow ended up in an accessible cabin as it did not sell. Thank heavens for small favors. It gave us a few extra things to hold on to when we were rockin and rollin. Our balcony was about 20-25 foot deep and the waves were hitting our sliding door window. You could not even walk across our aft cabin, but you had to either bounce or crawl.

All of the room stewards were even sick............along with yours truely. I had never been through something like that in my entire life. And I had never seen waves that huge either.

If I hadn't been so sick, I probably would have been petrified. lol

[Mbouck1]

Ibelive we were on our second cruise on the Golen Princess in Oct. and heading back to Florida during a hurricane. You new it was bad when they asked you not to go outside. They also had "barf bags" by all the elevators and ashtrays. You certainly couldn't tell who were drunk or sober the way everybody was staggering as they were walking. My wife got sick but I was OK. :D

[psupa]

Sure it can get bad but that's not the norm. I always enjoy repeating the story of our trip back from Bermuda when we went through a storm and the water in the swimming pool was crashing up and onto the ship deck like a tidal wave. It was one wild ride. Most of my cruises have been smooth as glass.

 

Yep, I can relate to this. Having been to Bermuda a few times, we had our share of rough seas either coming or going. I also remember our cruise in Hawaii. We were on the Norwegian Dynasty and returning from Fanning Island. The seas were so rough (20-25' swells). I have a picture that the photographers took with the waves coming up over the bow. What a conversation piece.

[seastar2]

Friends tell the story of being on the QE II in the north Atlantic..during a bad storm they were called to assist in a medical emergency ( ship has a operating room on board) on an oil rig..the ship pitched to one side and then righted ..over half the china in the main dinningrooms was lost ..the grill in one bar open with all the bottles breaking.... :eek:

 

People were told to stay in cabins...at some point the ship turned around as the weather cleared enought to air lift the person..

 

They were fine but some poeple were so scared they got off at the next port!

[Pam in CA]

I've been on cruises where the waves were over 25'. If you see the graphic on my post, that was taken on the Regal Princess cruise to Hawaii last spring from my cabin window.

 

As the others have said, one person's 2' is rough and someone else's 25' is fun. It's all in the perception. Keep in mind that the smaller ships tolerate rough seas better than the newer large ships. The new ships have a much shallower draft so they don't cut through the waves the same way. I've read the of the Princess ships, the Royal and the Regal handle the big waves best.

[prophotogirl]

Here are some rough water:

 

http://63.217.28.3/images/other2/GLwave1.WMV

[LARGIN]

Here are some rough water:

 

http://63.217.28.3/images/other2/GLwave1.WMV

 

DAMN !! :eek: :eek:

[ldoc31]

Hurrcane Michelle was our downfall on Celebrity's Millennium. OMG.................for 24-36 hours the ship had almost nobody moving on it. It was the first time I had ever heard the captain announce to NOT leave your cabin unless it was absolutely necessary. ALL outer decks were closed and doors locked, furniture from the outer decks that did not get tied down was blowing overboard. Waves were hitting the windows on deck 14. And if you managed to get up to deck 14 you were stuck as there was no getting down all afternoon.

Our cabin was the highest deck (deck 9 or 10 I believe) right under the buffet. We somehow ended up in an accessible cabin as it did not sell. Thank heavens for small favors. It gave us a few extra things to hold on to when we were rockin and rollin. Our balcony was about 20-25 foot deep and the waves were hitting our sliding door window. You could not even walk across our aft cabin, but you had to either bounce or crawl.

All of the room stewards were even sick............along with yours truely. I had never been through something like that in my entire life. And I had never seen waves that huge either.

If I hadn't been so sick, I probably would have been petrified. lol

 

I'm petrified just thinking about it.

[Umbarger]

After watching that video clip I know I have never been in rough seas. Wow!

I would have been changing my shorts!!!!!!

On a cruise once my DH and I were walking around the ship and couldnt figure out why it was so deserted. No one was around. Finally a crew member said to us somthing about "braving the seas". He told us the majority of the ship was sea sick in their cabins. We were having fun trying to walk around weaving without falling down. Linda

[Ahhh]

Here are some rough water:

 

http://63.217.28.3/images/other2/GLwave1.WMV

 

Prophotogirl: :eek: What level deck were these shot from? So much for swimming in the outdoor pool THAT day, eh? :p

[JMA]

My husband and I were on the Norwegian Sea last September and we ran into Hurricane Ivan!!. We thought it was kind of funny on Sunday afternoon as we were taking a dance class......we kept going left when we were supposed to be going right!!! However, later that PM (around 2 AM), all of a sudden, everything in our cabin came crashing off the shelves!!! For about 4 hours we rocked and rolled!!! My husband used to work on the ore boats on the Great Lakes and he was thankful everytime our ship rocked, after rolling...he was sure it was going over... I, on the other hand, kept thinking of the Titanic movie..and that old couple that just lay in bed and died!!!!! We made it through, but had to skip Cozumel the next AM...seas too rough, although a sick passenger had to be taken off!!!!

 

That won't stop me from cruising again, though.....

 

JMA

[L2J]

Prophotogirl: :eek: What level deck were these shot from? So much for swimming in the outdoor pool THAT day, eh? :p

 

That was posted on another message board. It was the QM2 crossing and I believe the person who took the video said it was deck 7? I have that thread bookmarked and will have to find it but I don't think I'll be allowed to post the link here.

[Druke I]

It can be rough at times.

 

Many moons ago, on the little Golden Odyssey (a 10,000 GRT ship), in the China Sea, we hit the tail end of a typhoon.

 

We had green water over the bridge, screws out of the water, and the inclinometer was pegged several times. Very rough!

 

In those same waters, closing days of WW2, Halsey's fleet lost three destroyers to capsizing!

 

North Atlantic and the North Sea both can be very rough at times, also.

[Deb in Cali]

A friend of mine was on a Coast guard boat heading across the Pacific when they hit a huge storm. They were heading to Vietnam in a little boat. It was so bad that I bet some of them felt safe once they were in Vietnam. He showed me a picture of a wave that was so monsterous that I don't know how they didn't capsize. :eek:

[CruisinChris]

Your video reminded me of our Golden Princess crossing in September 2002. We had 25+ waves and force 12 winds over several days between the Azores and NY. The remainder of one of those hurricanes that, as they always say on the news, has safely gone out to sea! HA! The stress on the hull from the ships's movement through the waves caused 7 windows on the Promenade deck to shatter. It was quite exciting. At lunch one day in the Horizon Court we had to take the furtherst aft table and after an especially big dip, all the stuff went sliding off the table!

 

We also encountered the edge of a tropical storm on the Regal off the coast of Mexico enroute to Costa Rica in November 1997. I had noticed the black clouds gathering off the bow during our day at sea but what really got my attention was the deck hands gathering up all the deck chairs around the pool and tying them down. It was shortly after that that Captain Romano came on and explained that we were going to go through some rough weather and that while we would be required to stay inside we shouldn't be concerned because "the ship, she is very seaworthy"!! He said this a few times in various announcements. Kind of funny!

[ldoc31]

I just watched a video of 50 ft. waves that hit a cruise ship carrying a group of students. I would not have wanted to be on that ship.