Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Rogue Waves - Anyone Getting Nervous

fay54

By fay54,
in Royal Caribbean International

Recommended Posts

Fury1995

Fury1995

Posted
Posted

Just got back from rough seas also out during the same front. Was on the Sovereign to the Bahamas and back and the waves were "rough" thank goddness no rogue wave but saw some 25 ft ones. Can't imagine what those folks were going through on the Dawn. I knew something was up Saturday when some of the crew made light mention of a ship being forced to port on the way back fromThe Bahamas due to weather. We had no idea then that was the reason.

 

Then later Saturday in Nassau the Majesty pulled in next to the Sovereign in port around 8PM, which was odd because the two ships do opposite itineraries. Those passengers described the seas as extreme and they battled there way to port in Nassau skipping Cocoa Cay. I knew then we were just going back to Port Canaveral and skipping the next port also.

 

Of course the Captains of both ships made the right decisions. Sunday, when we got the real story, most of the passengers were "a little concerned" especially when we were re-directed to Freeport on the way back to Port Canaveral for a medical emergency.

 

As we were disembarking, I overheard a couple say that this was there first and last cruise (because of the seas). The one thing that really ticks me off however are the news media clips of passengers complaining about their ruined vacations and demanding something be done for them. I'm sure NCL (like any cruiseline) will do the right thing. But how can people blame a cruiseline for an event like this? As far as I'm concerned about the couple I mentioned before, that's fine with me. They should feel lucky they weren't on the Dawn.

 

More experinced cruisers know that sometimes stuff happens. Don't expect perfection, just enjoy the fact that your safe, in the sun (mostly) and on vacation-not at work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
karenandgoose

karenandgoose

Posted
Posted

We had three hurricanes directly hit us last year, 40,000 dollars in damage to our house. After that I will take my chances on a cruise any day. We're booked on Mariner May 8 and we can't wait to go!

Three wks from this moment I will be in the casino, before late seating, pulling on that one armed bandit and not worrying one iota about rogue waves.

 

Karen

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wcyellin

wcyellin

Posted
Posted

Those seeking more information on "Rogue Waves" may wish to view this link:

 

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMOKQL26WD_index_0.html

 

I would think that cruise ships -generally- would try and avoid both storms and adverse sea conditions. However this is not always possible - especially on trans Atlantic crossings.

 

No doubt, the "Saturday morning quarterbacks" will spend years discussing what could (or should) have been done by the Dawn's captain. Unfortunately, navigation decisions frequently have to be made within minutes; and while good information on expected sea conditions is often available, accurate prediction of "Rogue Waves" generally is not possible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
glr068

glr068

Posted
Posted

As an old Navy man who has sailed the high seas in some very rough water aboard an Aircraft Carrier, the thought of a wave hitting one of these monster ships doesn't phase me at all. Many times I've seen water come up over the flight deck. You just baton down the hatches till it's over.

 

Todays modern ships have so much advance safety features built in, I don't think they would ever sink. What happened to the Dawn is a freak thing just as an Airplane crashing. It doesn't happen that often but when it does, the news media blows it way out of per portion. I've seen reports that the Captain should have done this and that, should have ran from the storm. If the storm is covering thousands of sq miles of ocean, it's hard to run from them at 18 knots if the storm is moving 30 knots.

 

The worse storm I've been in on a cruise ship was during our trip from Hawaii to Tahiti. We hit a couple of strong storms but all that happened was the ship did a lot of rocking and rolling and a few hundred people got very sick from the motion. My SO was included, she couldn't stand up for two days.

 

All of you having a cruise coming up.....don't worry about what happened to the Dawn. Put it behind you and enjoy what you have looked forward to for months.

 

Happy Sailing....

Link to comment
Share on other sites
erin_cruisers

erin_cruisers

Posted
Posted

Corina27

Your drinks will be shaken and stirred..

...drum roll please... :)

<<good one>>

 

I just watched the story on CTV news tonight (after following it on the boards here), and while there is no mistaking the home movies with the damage done to the cabins and public areas, there was certainly a bit of "embellishing" for the TV story.

Lot's of hugging and kissing during the re-telling.

My take? I was not there, but I would imagine that with one wave crashing over the ship, that it was over as fast as it hit. That most people didn't know what really happened until after the fact. Not so of course for those in the dozen or so cabins directly affected by the broken windows and water damage who saw their lives flash before their eyes perhaps. Yes, that WOULD be scary!

But think of it, a 70' wall of water crashes through a cruise ship... and it keeps on rockin' (and rollin' -sorry), after that, you've got to admire the engineering and design of this ship, take a stiff belt of scotch,

and say...

"Is that all you've got!?!?!

Bring it on...!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
redcat72

redcat72

Posted
Posted
I may be wrong, as I'm not very knowledgable on all things RCI, but, doesn't the Grandeur sail strictly out of New Orleans? In that case the likelyhood of encountering a rouge Wave would be very slim. I believe they are typically encountered in the open ocean, i.e. Atlantic or Pacific. There have been 3 cruise ships hit by rouge waves this year, one in the Pacific and two in the Atlantic. I think it's less likely in the Gulf or the Carribean.

Just out of curiosity which other ships got hit by these "rogue" waves, and when? I haven't heard about such waves until this recent one. We are sailing on the Grandeur out of Baltimore this Oct. Hopefully we'll have nice weather. The Dawn incident was a freak thing, I'm sure.

I'm sure it was a terrifying experience, but people are ridiculous for comparing such a thing to the Titanic! It's not like they were in arctic waters without enough lifeboats, locked doors, an iceburg, and human error!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
rrshinn

rrshinn

Posted
Posted

I'm a ship's captain and have made over a hundred voyages off the east coast from Florida to New York. I've never encountered a rogue wave in over 20 years at sea but I've encountered plenty of storms. Rule of Thumb, if you want good weather and smooth sailing stick to sailing out of Northern Ports (ie New York) to the summer months. The spring is unsettled and the fall brings the prime hurricane season. There's a reason they call Cape Hatteras a graveyard for ships. When I cruise I stick to South Florida departure ports and stay away from Hurricane season. I would also avoid Gulf Coast ports (Tampa, New Orleans, Mobile, Galveston) due to fog season from Mid December to Mid March. Nothing like setting at the dock waiting for the fog to clear to start your vacation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Water Logger

Water Logger

Posted
Posted
I've been reading first hand experiences from people who were on the Dawn last week, and although everyone agrees that it was scary, most felt that the Captain and his crew did a wonderful to keep the passengers informed and to make them feel at ease. It's worth a trip over to the NCL board to see what everyone has to say.

I understand you're being nervous, but I took a fear of flying class once and somebody asked the Pilot what the most dangerous part of the flight was. We were all thinking take-off, landing, mid-flight? He said the most dangerous part of the flight is the drive to airport. You have more of a chance being in a car accident than you to in a plane.

Just puts things in to perspective.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Alphawave

Alphawave

Posted
Posted
What is the death rate per year of people who cruise? ZERO. What is the death rate per year of people who fly? Hundreds to thousands. What is the death rate per driving people, thousands....
So why worry. I'm with a lot of you.....keep letting the Dawn passengers bad mouth the industry, then OUR prices go down. Since my husband and I are hooked for life to cruising, then we will benefit!


Elaine
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...