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Just off Freedom caught in storm October 9th

PH8

By PH8,
in Royal Caribbean International

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jagsfan

jagsfan

Posted
Posted

We're on Freedom Sunday, and I sure hope this weather system has moved on. As far as any damage from the storm, we were on Disney in a hurricane several years ago. We listed to port all night, and water poured in under the balcony door, through the cabin and out into the corridor. Luckily for us, it was rainwater, not salt! All the public areas near an outside door were also soaked. By the time we got back to Canaveral, the musty odor from the wet carpeting was overwhelming. When we disembarked, the rolls of carpet were on the wharf ready for installation. Since these ships are built in Europe, replacements for any of the fixtures have to be shipped over. I was amazed that they were ready do make the repairs so quickly, and found out later the ship sailed on time that day..new carpets and all.

I expect Freedom to have everything repaired and like new again by Sunday when we board.

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Aquahound

Aquahound

Posted
Posted
Maybe it means nothing in this case, but I wanted to point out that Royal ships are oriented east/west while docked at PC, and the other ships are oriented north/south. It's possible that the Captain looked at the forecast winds and decided it was safer to be out at sea than to be docked. It's much easier to second guess with hindsight, the Captain has to do it in real time.

 

Valid point. Unless those of us here on CC have experience in this situation, I'll leave the judgment on what to do with the people on board best able to make that decision -- the Captain and the Bridge Officers.

 

It's almost always safer for a ship to be at sea than at a dock in weather like this. However, there's no way the Captain could have known they would sail in to 107 mph winds. In fact, I've watched this system since its development, and this is the first I've heard of winds that strong. That's almost Cat 3 hurricane strength, and this wasn't even a named system. So I have to wonder how accurate that info is.

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ginav1

ginav1

Posted
Posted

My mom is on her first cruise ever and is on the Freedom. I can only imagine how freaked out she must have been! Luckily she is with many other family members who are experienced cruisers! I haven't heard from any of them, so any updates I read are helpful! Thanks for all the info.

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negc

negc

Posted
Posted

We were on Jewel of the Seas out of Boston a few years ago when we encountered a similar situation which damaged a beam in the aft of the ship. Folks in those aft cabins had to endure several nights of loud noise until the beam could be repaired when the ship reached the Caribbean. It was the only time when I actually thought I would roll out of bed due to all the movement. We have sailed on transatlantics with swells of 50 feet and not noticed as much movement as we experienced on the Jewel that October. During our recent transatlantic, however, the seas were smooth and calm as any we have ever seen.

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gr82cu2

gr82cu2

Posted
Posted
Ahhhhh, those are my FAVORITE cabins on that ship. I really woudn't be worried about your cruise (barring any more storms of course). I'm sure she'll be back to normal by then.

 

I'm soooo excited that we have those cabins. Actually, I'm not sure how we got so lucky to get them both because we didn't book till January this year. We were on the corner aft, deck 8 of EOS a couple years ago and that balcony seemed really big so I can't wait for this one :D

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Dan Askin

Dan Askin

Posted
Posted
Found these on cruiseradio dot net

 

Wet towels in hallway, water in all balcony cabins when the ship listed

freedom1-e1318269744626-224x300.jpg

 

 

 

One of the shops aboard Freedom of the Seas after the ship listed.

photo2-e1318298388519-224x300-1.jpg

 

Thanks BeachChik. Cruise Radio snagged those from flikr, so we want to make sure re-printing in a news item is kosher.

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ALSEAU

ALSEAU

Posted
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Both the Disney and Carnival boats were only headed to the Bahamas, not too far to go and plenty of time to get there. The Freedom on the other hand had a lot of distance to cover on their 7 nighter. Probably a difficult call, stay the dock overnight, dump a port of call and hack off some passengers or keep your schedule using the best information possible. The weather gives you three choices... worse than predicted, better than predicted or as predicted. Whatchagonnado??

 

 

Good point about the port of calls. Also I believe that their sailings are 3 or 4 nights. One night of rough sailing represents a bigger portion of your cruise. The Carnival ship is much smaller than the Freedom. The Disney ship has a bigger portion of small kids as passengers.

 

Was told by our driver that took us to the airport that the weather at the port was much worst Saturday when passengers were getting off. Up to 50MPH gust and pouring rain sideways.

 

When making a decision to leave port or not you have to evaluate your confidence in the weather forecast and the capability of your ship. I am sure when in a home port there is some input from the main office also.

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ALSEAU

ALSEAU

Posted
Posted
Found these on cruiseradio dot net

 

Wet towels in hallway, water in all balcony cabins when the ship listed

freedom1-e1318269744626-224x300.jpg

 

 

 

One of the shops aboard Freedom of the Seas after the ship listed.

photo2-e1318298388519-224x300-1.jpg

 

Those glass doors on the floor were continuously flinging open and closed Saturday night on the cruise to Port Canaveral. I thought they were going to break then. Doesn't surprise me that they finally broke off. The store was closed and it was reported to the bar staff but never saw anyone show up to secure the doors.

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DavidJrandRichard

DavidJrandRichard

Posted
Posted

I am also live on the FOS. What a night that was! I will upload radar data of the storm when I am back. I looked at radar (on my phone) when we were leaving port...I am sure the captain intended on going around the storm and due to the environment the storm strengthened and became larger.

 

I got a $200 OBC...refundable if not used. Those that had damage/water in their cabins got 1/2 off next cruise.

 

It was a night I will never forget....more when I return home!

 

Richard

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mark290

mark290

Posted
Posted
It's almost always safer for a ship to be at sea than at a dock in weather like this. However, there's no way the Captain could have known they would sail in to 107 mph winds. In fact, I've watched this system since its development, and this is the first I've heard of winds that strong. That's almost Cat 3 hurricane strength, and this wasn't even a named system. So I have to wonder how accurate that info is.

 

In what case would it be safer to be at sea than in a protected harbor, secured to a cement dock ? I could see where it would be safer at sea, for the ship, than if it were secured to a dock in the open ocean.

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bajathree

bajathree

Posted
Posted
It would be interesting, from a financial standpoint, to know whether it would have been better to have stayed in port.......which is sheltered, and paid the additional port fee.......or leave, as the Freedom did, and the cost of the damage?

 

We have been in a typhoon, in the Sea of Japan, and it's not fun to experience mother nature.......when she rears her ugly head!!:rolleyes:

 

Rick

 

 

I am also live on the FOS. What a night that was! I will upload radar data of the storm when I am back. I looked at radar (on my phone) when we were leaving port...I am sure the captain intended on going around the storm and due to the environment the storm strengthened and became larger.

 

I got a $200 OBC...refundable if not used. Those that had damage/water in their cabins got 1/2 off next cruise.

 

It was a night I will never forget....more when I return home!

 

Richard

 

 

Well after reading rlsrlj's post along with the pix posted with towels in the hall showing cabins that had water.....not to mention all the rest of the damage that we don't even know about yet....sounds like it's ending up being quite a costly decision to leave port.

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UK Cruiser2

UK Cruiser2

Posted
Posted

We just came off Freedom on Sun 9th.The weather was a bit rough on Sat night but didn't spoil our night.We finished up the night outside the Bull & Bear around 11:30 then off to bed.Slept soundly all night.The reports of water coming into the balcony cabins on the following night can only be from patio doors sliding open and the driving rain coming in.If the ship rolled so much that the sea reached the balconies then it would be time to muster.I wonder how many people had not locked their patio doors correctly in the first place ?

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snowbird1

snowbird1

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Posted

 

Yes, there are several private Meteorology companies taking the NHC to task on this. TWC, Accuweather and Weatherbell all have and insist they have the facts to back it up. The observations from the Freedom itself would be interesting, they have observations from the Buoy 20 miles off the coast from Port C. The Buoy had gusts as high as 68 mph however there are many reports along the coast of gust higher. As Paul said, I have not seen any observation or report other than here of a wind gust over 100 mph so if true and not the relative wind speed which is miss-leading that would be good information along with Barometric Pressure readings.

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Aquahound

Aquahound

Posted
Posted
In what case would it be safer to be at sea than in a protected harbor, secured to a cement dock ? I could see where it would be safer at sea, for the ship, than if it were secured to a dock in the open ocean.

 

Yes, the dock is cement, but the lines attaching the 154,000 GT cruise ship to the dock are not cement. Ever seen what happens when ship mooring lines snap? I have. It is not a pretty sight. The structural damage a cruise ship would suffer inside that harbor would be much greater, not to mention, it could result in the harbor getting shut down.

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cycle27

cycle27

Posted
Posted

Also one point to bring up all 3 ships (Disney, Carnival, and Freedom of the Seas) were heading to the Bahama's. FOS was heading to Coco Cay and I think the other 2 were heading to Nassua. So if I'm right FOS had the shortest trip and was proably one of the fastest ships there.

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