What is the worst weather have ever cruised in?

[Johnsblonde]

Hurricane Sandy on the Explorer. Windows in the Windjammer and fitness center were broken, dining room was so crowded they handed out sandwiches in the Promenade to those who weren't able to get in to eat. Captain opened phones and internet so people could call home and check on things. Fortunately, rough ride only lasted the better part of one day until we sailed out of the really bad weather.

 

One cruise to Bermuda many years ago the wind was so strong we couldn't dock, had to sail around for several hours until it was deemed safe enough to try to enter the channel. There were reports of injuries, including broken bones, from being tossed around.

 

 

We were on that same Explorer cruise! Couldn't even get out of bed for the nausea that first day out. Once we got settled in the channel it was all good. We were glad we decided to stay on the ship.

 

We're giving it another go this year. Lets see if we can actually make it to Bermuda this time.

 

Sandy

[Folk Singer]

Freedom of the Seas.

Hurricane Sandy Oct 2012

85 mph winds across the bow and 28 foot + seas

Closed all outside decks

Watched the carpet get blown up from pool deck

Not real bad unless you hit rogue wave that felt like a HUGE speed bump

Almost got knocked out of bed once.

 

Sounds as if it was a rough trip.

[debshomespun]

We also cruised on RC Explorer leaving out of Bayonne at 4:00 on 10/28/12. The Port Authority closed the port at 6:00. Hurricane Sandy hit the next day. We sailed on a southerly route along the coast well into the night before we turned east and headed to Bermuda. The captain explained there was a window of opportunity in the outer bands of Sandy and off we went. It was a horrendous ride. There were 45+ ft waves with winds over 100 mmph, and gusts up to 180 knots. It was all through the first night... then our day at sea was very rough. By dinnertime...things had calmed down some. We actually made it to Bermuda on time. Definitely a rude to remember. All outside areas were closed along with many indoor activities.

 

This year we are leaving out of New Orleans on 10-13 and hoping we have smooth sailing in the Gulf.

[mjldvlks]

You may remember the Four Seasons song "Oh What a Night" Which referred to something that happened in "late December back in '63." Now the "something" that is referred to in the song appears to be much different than the something that happened to me, but "late December back in '63" was also a "very special time" for me, but it wasn't just one night, it was eight. And the "she" in my case wasn't a hypnotizing mesmerizing lady [i am eligible for the senior discount now but I was only 8 at the time] it was a ship, the USNS William O. Darby:

 

 

My father was stationed in Germany, but we were not able to travel with him. So somewhere about the middle of December, my mother my sister and I embarked aboard the Darby for an 8 day "cruise" from the Brooklyn Navy Yard to Bremerhaven Germany. The Darby was a WWII era troop transport that was slightly modified to transport soldiers to and from Europe in those years. Cabins were added for families, but the troops were still in big bays down below.

 

[side note, the "General" Darby was originally the "Admiral" Sims. During the war two very similar classes of transports [each about 17,000 gt] , the Admirals and the Generals were built. Several of the Admirals were renamed for Generals and used mainly to transport Army troops to Europe and later, to Vietnem. Interestingly, one of the original Generals, became the Chandris cruise line (which later became Celebrity) ship Atlantis]

 

Anyway, to give you an idea of how it compares to the current cruise industry, the Darby was about 17,000 gt and had no stabilizers. We had an outside cabin with a port hole which was probably smaller than the deck 2 OV cabins I spent a week in on Monarch in 2008 [122 sq ft]. My mother had a single bed on the wall by the port hole and there were bunk beds for my sister and me. We did have our own bathroom, but I don't recall any other furniture in the cabin.

 

Those of you who have done transatlantic cruises across the North Atlantic in the late fall know where this is headed. We saw white caps as soon as we cleared the harbor. A couple of days into the cruise, the waves [filtered through my 8 year old mind] were higher than the ship. For at least the second half of the voyage, the trip was a series of rising to the crest of one wave, and then falling into the trough of the next, causing a huge slam and several seconds of shuddering through the whole ship. My mother insisted on going to chapel services on the Sunday we were at sea [i didn't argue thinking we needed all the help we could get] and I remember the Navy chaplain chasing his lectern/pulpit across the dais in the little auditorium [which also served as the movie theater]. One of the stewards promised my mother that it would be calmer once we reached the Channel and the North Sea -- it wasn't. After day four, I was never more than an arm's length from a barf bag. Frankie sings that he "felt a rush like a rolling bolt of thunder Spinnin' [his] head around and taking [his] body under." I can certainly relate to the rolling and spinning and never quite getting over the fear of my body being taken under, but I still think Frankie is singing about a whole different experience. And while he thinks it ended much too soon, I thought it would never end.

 

Based on this experience, [our military veterans will understand this] every time I filled out a Report of Medical History [sF 93] during my own 25 years of active and reserve military service, I had to answer "yes" to the question "Have you ever had or have you now . . . Car, train, sea, or air sickness. . . ." As my fellow veterans will understand, even if you are otherwise fit for service, answering yes to such questions can limit available assignments. So I was always careful to say it was a single episode of seasickness when I was eight years old. While wearing glasses kept me from flying as a pilot, this single episode of seasickness did not keep me out of Airborne School or any other assignment I am aware of, so I guess it turned out OK. But it was at least part of the reason I avoided cruising until I was older. I am pleased to say that I have never had even a hint of seasickness on a cruise ship, so I think it is fair to say it was due to the extreme conditions. But that is indeed the worst weather I have ever sailed in.

[cruiser-007]

Hurricane Sandy on the Explorer. Windows in the Windjammer and fitness center were broken, dining room was so crowded they handed out sandwiches in the Promenade to those who weren't able to get in to eat. Captain opened phones and internet so people could call home and check on things. Fortunately, rough ride only lasted the better part of one day until we sailed out of the really bad weather.

 

My brother-in-law and his wife were on that cruise, they're car was un-fortunately destroyed from water at the pier in Bayonne too. :eek:

[Queen of Oakville]

Soverign of the Seas Nov 99 - I remember looking in the closet and seeing my evening gowns sway from side to side. Took a gravol and I was fine. DH -not so much. That was his first cruise, and surprising he agreed to a honeymoon cruise after that.

 

Carnival Dream - March 2010. The pool on the lido deck had turned into a wave pool as the captain was racing back to PC. Everytime the glass doors opened, the elevator lobby got soaked on that deck. Found out just how good MotionEase is for seanickness (my daughter used it and was fine) and found out that my son, if subject to extremes, will get seasick too.

 

Eurodam - March 2011 - the waters were rocky, and I spent several days miserable on board. My first time, in years, on a small ship. In port, met up with many pax in a CVS, some from other ships, who also said it was their first time ever getting seasick. I've found that since that trip, I'm much more sensitive to movement now. Hasn't stopped me from cruising though :)

[Jenn31708]

March 5th, 2013 out of Bayonne NJ on the Explorer of the Seas. The Captain made an announcement at the peak of the storm that the waves were 25-30 feet and the winds were 110 knots. We ended up having to miss Labadee because we had to move so slowly through the storm.

 

Several days later we were still having some huge swells and they kept having to drain the pools. Everytime they tried to fill them, this happened.

 

[Royals Carol]

The worse weather I have cruised in was last year on Oct 27th. We cruised on the Carnival Fantasy out of Charleston SC. The ship didn't leave port until after 9:00pm. The ocean was so rough that I kept sliding downward in my bed. WHooa.. The next morning when I woke up the sun came out and everything was great. This was my first experience with Carnival and I was pleasantly surprised. The Grand Turks still had some cleaning up to do but did allow the ship to port. It was BEAUTIFUL there.. Not a bad experience over all. Had fun with my daughter, sister, and brother-in-law.. family made it special.

[danny8826]

We were on the Carnival Valor heading to the Western Caribbean, but we have to reroute due to Hurricane Sandy. We were able to go to Key West, but not Cayman Ialand and Jamaica. We ended up at Costa Maya and Cozumel. On our last night back to Miami, it was VERY ROCKY AND CHOPPY. I wasn't able to sleep the whole night. I did look out the window and that makes it even worse.

I wouldn't want to experience this again.

[Cruisin MarcnFran]

I was on the Norwegian Gem TA cruise from Venice to New York in the fall of 2010.

About 3 days out of New York, we had 70ft and above waves. Balcony Cabins as high as deck 10 were flooding. We were confined to our cabins for 2 days because of this. Many people had injuries because of the roughness of the seas

 

 

We were on this sailing as well and definitely the worst weather we've ever encountered. Slot machines fell over and the gift shops were littered with broken glass. At one point the ship listed so far to one side that our bed slid with both of us on it. We were told that we sailing through a nor'easter.

[Pomperaugrr]

The worst for us was 5 years ago. We were coming back from a 5 night on the Explorer to Bermuda the end of May, into the first week of June. The water was like glass on the cruise over, with no movement of the ship. I like feeling you are on the ocean when cruising.

 

On the way back, I got more than my wish. We hit a Force 10 gale, with winds of 65 to 75 mph and seas of 27' to 35'. The Explorer handled it beautifully. I started to go out onto our deck 10 balcony and realized that when we were in the trough of the waves, I could see the wave tops just below our balcony height, with the tops being sheared off by the wind. Needless to say, I realized that with my wife asleep, being on the balcony at 2:00 am, alone, in those conditions was not an intelligent thing to do, so I went back to bed.

 

Eric

[ronandcarla]

Back in 1971 when Disneyworld had just opened after spending one day there we decided to go down to Miami Beach and take a cruise, at that time you could get on a ship with just a few hours notice., etc. Well anyway we (not wife, who would have throught 10 years later I would marry a girl named Carla) got on the Costa Lines "Carla C" for a 3 day trip to Nassau and Freeport Islands. After leaving Nassau about 1:00 am while we were in bed, basically thrown out of bed and could not get up to get back in, while we didn't have a widow and it was to dark to see what was happening, I went up a few decks, but at that time they were all roped off and guarded. Now let me add this ship was only 300-400 feet long and nothing like todays ships. When later that morning it got clearer the waves were just coming up and breaking over the ship, a lot of times you just saw seaweeds going by. There was a lot of damage to the dining room areas, not that anyone was eating. For us we didn't get sick. We had to ride that out for 12 or more hours and never made it to Freeport. Every time I have been to Nassau and the port area I think of that trip.

[Sharkb8]

Yep, that was fun! The second closest was the Panama Cruise in October. We love the weather, want to cruise those while we still have our balance.

 

The 25ft. waves and 50mph winds bothered some, but when you book a cruise around Cape Horn you expect that. Not much rain. They would close the outside decks at times. Mariner of the Seas with Capt. Per Kristoffersen and his staff handled it quite well in Jan./Feb. 2011. We actually enjoyed the adventure.

Rick and Deirdra

[Erik101]

Worst weather we've ever experienced? None! We don't cruise during the middle of hurricane season. We did encounter some rain here and there but that has never ruined our vacation.

[JACH77]

We were on the NCL Dreamward in August 1993 to Bermuda when we encountered Hurricane Emily. We had taken our family, my sister and her family and my mom. It was our first cruise. We had 30 ft waves and nearly everyone was sick. There were about 10 passengers in the main dining room on formal night. I will never forget this cruise but since then we have cruised over 25 times.

[nelblu]

It must have been about 40 years ago when the Italian Line was still operating. We sailed out of New York City on the Leonardo Da Vinci on our way to Nassau. We were on the outskirt of an ending typhoon and the weather was sunny, but 25-30 foot waves. As the ship rocked and rolled, the back of the ship seemed below the ocean waves. The sister ship, the Raffaello, sailed while the storm was active and had the bathroom system go out and all of the dishes broken and a lot of sick passengers. Can't recall if any damage to the ship

 

Coming from a maritime family, I loved it, but my wife, who was pregnant at that time was sick as a dog.

 

As I think of that cruise, what I miss most is a)The wonderful and tasty dishes with the Maitre D cooking your special dish at your table, and B) I'm not sure if some folks out there remember the noon announcements--on the Italian Line they used a xylophone that announced the following musical tone of "Mezzogiorno/noon time." :)

[Folk Singer]

Whoa, thank you for sharing. I am dizzy just reading your stories.

[TravelinGert]

I was enjoying reading highlights to my husband. We're taking our first cruise together, and my first ever cruise, next year. It will be a TA, and when I got to some stores from those, he told me to close the window and never look at this thread again! :D

[mjldvlks]

I was enjoying reading highlights to my husband. We're taking our first cruise together, and my first ever cruise, next year. It will be a TA, and when I got to some stores from those, he told me to close the window and never look at this thread again! :D

 

I suppose my transatlantic story could be one of those you are referring to, but a few important points:

 

1. The TAs for cruise ships tend to be in the Spring and Fall at times when the weather, while it may not be the warmest, in general is reasonably good.

 

2. Most follow a more southerly route from Miami/Ft Lauderdale to Spain or the Med. The weather tends to be warmer on these routes.

 

3. The Captains [with the help of modern weather tracking technology] are really good about modifying their routes to avoid the worst weather.

 

4. At least compared to my first case, the ships are bigger, stabilized and otherwise designed for comfort. I don't think crew/passenger comfort appeared in any of the design criteria for the USNS William O. Darby [my first TA vessel].

 

4. Despite my memories of being 8 and lost [it seemed that way to me maybe "stuck" is a better word] at sea, we did a TA on Independence in 2009 and, if I was forced to pick only one, that is probably my favorite.

 

Enjoy your trip and those wonderful sea days with nothing to do if you don't want to.

[cruiser-007]

Worst weather we've ever experienced? None! We don't cruise during the middle of hurricane season. We did encounter some rain here and there but that has never ruined our vacation.

 

That's kind-of our idea as well. That being said, we were coming back up north on Explorer in Dec., 2009 and were running parallel to the storm they were calling "snow-ma-geddin". Yeah, it was pretty rough- barf bags at the stair wells, poeple asking the captain if "she'll hold"- yikes! Sometimes you just can't escape adventure on the 'high seas' :)

[kitty9]

There were two for me. One was on Seabourn, a very small ship, on a crossing from London to NYC in late September. We had 40 to 45 foot seas, that smashed the front windows of the expensive suites. There was four inches of water on the floor of the lowest deck and the wind ripped off the satellite tower. The captain had to turn the ship astern and we moved backward for more than a day, so that the waves hit the back of the ship.

 

The second was on a cruise around South America in Drake's Passage. We had force 10 winds, huge seas and snow. Some slot machines were shoved off their tables and lots of broken glasses, china and wine and liquor bottles. I had to tuck my sheets and blanket under the mattress and slide in from the top so that I didn't roll out of bed.

[saurian]

On our alaska cruise (my first!) Horrible winds and very rough seas on the way up. All of the decks were closed off, and there were very few passengers about, and an equal number of crew. we decided to head to the windjammer, all the way forward on the legend, to watch the stormy seas. we were the ONLY passengers there!!! on the first sea day morning! the crew was surprised to see us. we got the best seat in the house and ate breakfast. then we lined the chairs up in a row and rode the waves like a roller coaster, putting our arms in the air every time we crested a wave. after a while a waiter got our attention and pointed up, to the bridge. the captain and crew were watching us from above and cheering us on for not only braving the storm but having fun in the process.

[Guest BlueLynxx]

 

Gale force winds on the Boston to Bermuda trip in June!

[mimimoo2]

We were supposed to visit the port of Naples, but the weather was so bad, we were riding out a storm behind the island of Capri with a bunch of tankers and other barges. The waves were splashing the windows of the Schooner Bar and the bottles of booze and drinks were sliding off the bar. Needless to say, many drinks and future drinks wound up on the floor. The outside decks were made off limits, we were encouraged to stay in our cabins or in the Public areas and to use the hand rails, and not too many people were at dinner in the dining room that night. Lots of bags strategically placed around the ship. Luckily for us, it only lasted a day, so our cruise continued and we got to go to Sicily as a replacement port, which we spent in Taormina and had a wonderful view of Mt Aetna!

 

Another brief moment of bad weather was last September in Bermuda, when there was a microburst storm, and the Norweigan Star broke loose from the dock and hit the back of us-we we were on the Explorer! Made a pretty good size dent in the Star! Lot's to talk about in the windjammer. We have it on video!

 

So far, most of the time we have had decent weather, or just made the best out of what mother nature sends our way. Any day cruising is better than any day working!

[tlatrice]

My roomie was feeling the effects of the storm, and headed down to the cabin. I, on the other hand, was wide awake, so I wandered around a little more, and ended up at the front of the ship, outdoors, right below the bridge. There was a small observation deck that extended about 15 feet out from the doors. I managed to get out to the handrail, and hung on as tight as I could. We were hitting the waves head on, and the bow would rise up, and then crash down, spraying water across the entire front of the ship, including me. Better than any amusement park ride I had ever been on!

 

I don't remember how long I stayed out there, but I do remember the next morning, my hands and arms ached from the experience!

 

This sounds like SOOOOOOO much fun!!!!! LOL!!!!:D