One of the "WAVE" people (long)

[theroos]

Just wanted to add my thoughts and other tidbits that happened on this cruise besides the "wave". My wife and I and my son,daughter-in-law and grandson (1 years old) had adjacent balcony's overlooking the back of the ship.

It started when we got buzzed by an F16 jet (we were in the Spinnaker lounge deck 12 with the large windows) when it came by about 100 feet away at eye level on both sides of the ship.

Then about 2 hours after leaving one of the ports my son and daughter-in-law saw a water sprout (that's a tornado on the water) about 2 miles away. (should have known then this was not going to be normal cruise)

Then we started into the "Perfect Storm" which we called it.

That was probably the worst part because we were in 27 to 42 foot waves for almost 24 hours. I know the ship became airborne a few times because you hear the engines and then you don't and the first feeling is weightlessness and when you come down you feel like you weight twice as much.

I was watching the TV channel with the bridge cam most of the night (normally it is just a black screen but this night it was completely lit with a spotlight pointed in the water. Just before the wave hit I went to the bathroom (I was standing up if you know what I mean) when it hit. It hit so hard that all the water in the toilet ended on the floor (and you know that would take some angle of the ship leaning to do that) and I went flying into the wall which is not very far away since you all know how small the bathrooms are. I said holy *hit (no pun intended) and when I came out everything in the room was on the floor. The wave went over the bridge cam which is on deck 12 just below the bridge so common sense tells you how big the wave was by just looking on the ship design how far up from the waterline to deck 12 is.

The only time I became scared is right after it hit I went down to the Blue Lagoon to get coffee (normally a very fast trip from our cabin but a very slow trip this time) when I saw many people at the atrium with there life jackets on and I said to myself do they know something I don't know?. But I talked to some of them and they said they felt more secure with them on and being in a public space on the ship plus some of them were the people displaced from the cabins because of the water.( imagine sleeping and your windows breaking and water pouring in what a very traumatic experience that must have been.

The next night as a fitting ending we were in the Aqua having dinner and my son was on deck 12, when he saw at least 10 sharks on his side of the ship and we saw at least three on our side (most people having dinner turned to the windows to see them. Maybe the sharks watched CNN and the other news networks and thought that dinner was going to be served. ( please don't flame me because we were on the ship and are entitled to a little humor)

Taking about the media, we were standing next to them for more than an hour and listened to a lot of the interviews not one positive one got on TV only the negative ones. Will not trust the media again.

The crew of the DAWN did a great job and should be commended not condemned.

By the way on the rest of the cruise we had a great time.YES WE WILL BE SAILING ON THE DAWN AGAIN and I think most of the people on the ship will.

[Fury1995]

Came over from the Royal Caribbean forum to read about this from firsthanders such as yourself. Was out there a little south of you guys on the Dawn Fiday, Sat, Sun, Mon coming back from Bahamas also. Rough seas but not like yours. I have to say, You are a true cruiser and braveheart. I take my hat off to you. I would do the same and go right back on the very same ship as well. Not once in anything you said did you demand anything from NCL. We both know NCL will do what they need to keep you coming back. I also like your humor. My only wish is next time I sail, it's with a ship full of people with your outlook on life.:)

[doone]

I also came over to these boards to read about this freightening event. Thank you for posting this.

 

I am so glad you, and all the other passengers are ok. I think everyone was praying for all the passengers onboard that ship when we heard about this wave, it had to be unreal.

 

Glad you will be cruising again and had a wonderful cruise upto that point.

[theroos]

PS. Just as we were getting off the ship a fellow cruiser reminded me of the date we started into the "perfect storm" April 15-look it up if you don't know about "BIG" ships. What are the odds?

[cruisingrightalong]

Congratulations on keeping your humor! It was traumatic I am sure but when life gives you lemons...sounded like you made sweet lemonade out of it!

 

I have always wondered why some people feel the need to miss muster! even one time my whistle was missing from the vest....got another vest!

 

Clapping of hands multiple times to the crew and staff!

 

Lou

[greenie]

theroos, thanks so much for the review. i agree that you are indeed a sailor at heart--and good for you. what a great attitude!

 

how odd and interesting, all the unusual events that took place on that cruise! i'm glad you all are back home and safe.

[halos]

Maybe the sharks watched CNN and the other news networks and thought that dinner was going to be served. ( please don't flame me because we were on the ship and are entitled to a little humor)

 

 

YES WE WILL BE SAILING ON THE DAWN AGAIN and I think most of the people on the ship will.

 

You certainly ARE entitled to a sense of humor and I am so glad that you were able to maintain that humor throughout this storm!! Thanks so much for writing about your experiences...I'm so, so glad you are all OK, I'm thrilled you had a great time and will cruise again :D

 

Oh...and PS...the media is just the pits, aren't they??? :mad:

[richtersl]

I'm glad you and your family made it home safely. You really do have a great attitude.

[vacationgogo]

Thanks for your review and I'll echo all that's been said here. Good for you maintaining your sense of humor. That probably wasn't easy. It would have been a shame if you had a great time up until this point, and then felt the whole cruise had been ruined. Glad you and your family are home safe.

[madelinerose]

:D Yesterday on our local news, several Marylanders, maybe 10 people, who were on the "Wave Cruise" were interviewed and they had nothing but great things to say about how the crew and the captain handled the horrific situation. They were surprised that among all the chaos, the crew tried their best to make everyone as comfortable as possible and ease everyone's minds.

 

Sure, they were very scared and disappointed, especially since 4 of the teenagers interviewed were staying in one of the cabins that was destroyed. They showed a video of their water logged cabin.

 

On our local CBS and NBC affiliates, the interviewers asked if they would cruise again and every person said "Absolutely!". They loved the cruise "before the wave"!

 

It was so refreshing to hear some positive comments about an otherwise not so positive situation. ;)

[cruise182]

Thanks!!

[WaldosPepper]

TheRoos: So glad you posted your story, and even happier that you've maintained a sense of humor throughout the bizarre events of the past few days.

 

As for those sharks you saw in the water - I think we all agree they were scouts for the news media, monitoring your timeline so their counterparts knew when to strike at the pier. :(

 

Thanks again for the great report!

(claps loudly) :D

[BreezieNJ]

LOL yeah on April 14th my husband (who is a titanic buff) was alittle nervous. On the 15th then he said wheeww were safe it's the 15th. LOL I think he's the one that jinxed us. I have heard alot of people compare it to the titanic. Ithink thats a bit extreme....for one there was no icebergs:p and 2 we never even had to get life jackets on. It wasn't fun but it wasn't the end of the world either.

[tazmanrmv]

Glad you made it home safe, and that you also kept your sense of humor. It's times like these that you appreciated a level-headed person who takes what life gives them.

 

 

I only wish there were more people like that. I was watching some cable news station and they had a talk show with some lady on there that sailed on the "wave cruise", and all she did was bash NCL and how they handled the situation, saying that all they did was offer "free drinks". It was one of those moments that I wanted to go through the TV and dope-slap her into reality. What more could NCL have done?? From all accounts, both on TV and boards like these, NCL crew and staff did a fantastic job handling the situation. I don't know what this lady was expecting NCL do to other than maybe grabbing a helicopter to drag her butt out of there as soon as it happened. :D

 

Either way, kudos to NCL and to all cruisers who experienced this situation.

[CaptJackSparrow]

I read a story that said the "Titanic" theme was playing while everybody huddled around to ride out the storm? They also called it "The Perfect Storm." I bet that's what a lot of people thought about - the Titanic. I think I could see people getting scared if they have never experienced anything like that before.

 

But as for the captain going into the storm, I read these boards all the time, and I have talked to people who have gone on cruises before, and they all say the ship just steers away from the storms, hurricanes or whatever.

 

How come that didn't happen this time?

[richtersl]

As for those sharks you saw in the water - I think we all agree they were scouts for the news media, monitoring your timeline so their counterparts knew when to strike at the pier. :(

 

Thanks again for the great report!

(claps loudly) :D

 

Now that's funny! :D :D :D

[Khat1069]

Thanks for the great post. It's so refreshing to hear a positive account, albeit scary....after all my cruises, I would have been terrified as well, but it is wonderful to hear that you kept a positive attitude.....and are going to sail again!

[CaptJackSparrow]

Click on the Video clip relating to the cruise

 

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/wabc_041705_cruise.html

[bragstarr]

Great post with some good first hand experience. Glad you made it back safely. I did get a laugh out of your posting--you have the same funny sense of humor I do when I write!

 

Maybe you can clear this up--was someone actually playing Titanic on the piano? They keep saying the piano player--like he was up at 6:00 AM playing the piano? Was it maybe some odd-sensed passenger sitting at the Piano bar by Cagneys and playing it on his own?

 

I am wearing my Dawn tshirt today--should be interesting for generating some conversation!

 

Robin

[NJcruiser21]

thanks for posting your experiences. it's refreshing to see a positive outlook on this and life. humor goes a long way.

 

 

welcome back!

[jmcdon7230]

I read a story that said the "Titanic" theme was playing while everybody huddled around to ride out the storm? They also called it "The Perfect Storm." I bet that's what a lot of people thought about - the Titanic. I think I could see people getting scared if they have never experienced anything like that before.

 

But as for the captain going into the storm, I read these boards all the time, and I have talked to people who have gone on cruises before, and they all say the ship just steers away from the storms, hurricanes or whatever.

 

How come that didn't happen this time?[/QUOTE]

 

The captains of these ships will attempt to avoid storms early in a cruise but on the last day, it's a different story.

 

They are under pressure to return to port at the end of a cruise in order to not disrupt schedules and, most of all, to clear the ship of empty wallets and replenish it with full wallets.

 

I was on the Majesty a few years ago returning to Miami from Nassau and the ship battled it's way through a tropical storm on the last night of the cruise in order to to return to port. We were very frightened. However, it didn't stop us from cruising again.

[Cruisewoman79]

I also like your humor. My only wish is next time I sail, it's with a ship full of people with your outlook on life.:)

 

I'm with you - I'd love a ship full of like minded souls!

 

Can't wait to hit the high seas in Northern Europe!:)

[HeatherInFlorida]

Total stranger to this board, I came over to see what everyone had to say.

 

Worth the trip! Theroos, what an amazing description of your experience! I literally got chills reading it. Your description is amazing and your attitude is beyond amazing.

 

And good for you for applauding the crew and the Captain. I'm so tired of hearing the wimpering on TV ... especially the woman crying, but saying she never even put her life jacket on. Makes you wonder.

 

I am almost 100% positive that not one soul will flame your post. Your sense of humor and good nature are to be commended.

 

Enjoy your next cruise and may you always have sunny skies and calm seas:) .

[mii]

Thanks for posting this story. I came over from the Princess board to read about your "wave. It must have been pretty scary for you and your family but like us dedicated cruisers we know that you guys will going back to cruising. Thanks for the first-hand report.

 

Marilyn

[xpcdoojk]

Excellent report, thank you!

 

 

jc:cool: