Elation - WILD Ride

[groundloop]

We just got off the Elation this morning, that was a trip I'll never forget (although I'd like to).

 

All hell broke loose somewhere around 10 PM and it lasted until  around 3 AM, maybe a bit later.  It's just an educated guess, I'd say we were in at least 50 mph winds.  For most of that time, as the ship went over a swell we'd go partially weightless, maybe 0.3 Gs, and as she bottomed out in a swell and started back up we'd go to somewhere around 2 Gs (I know what that feels like from my pilot days).  Then on top of that there was random rolling, so it was a WILD ride.  My closet doors kept swinging open and slamming, my luggage slid across the floor a few times, deck chairs were sliding all over the place, and after about 4 hours of that I succumbed got sick (and I NEVER get motion sickness). 

 

I was on the top deck, maybe those on lower decks didn't feel it quite as much as we did.  

 

Any of our fellow passengers care to share your experiences?

[CruiseHealing]

I know what you have through.  About four years ago we were on the Brilliance of the Seas in 40 to 50 seas.  It was an amazing ride.  

[SRQbeachgirl]

We went through that years ago on RCI's Sovereign of the Seas, which is about the same size as the Elation. Shelves in the gift shops turned over, anything not bolted down ended up rolling around on the floor, and half the passengers were in their cabins getting acquainted with the plumbing facilities. We were in an outside cabin on a lower deck and I spent the night watching our window literally going under water. I'd be lying if I said scenes from Poseidon Adventure weren't flashing through my head that night.

 

 

Edited February 23, 2020 by SRQbeachgirl

[hurricane0226]

Reminds me of my Navy days in the North Atlantic in winter, that was a wild ride

but survived it 😎

[Cruise-Crazy]

I had that happen on Legend several years ago. It was a tropical depression that strengthened and there was no way to go around it. They closed off all the open decks and a good part of the passengers were in their cabins seasick. It was pretty hard to walk around the ship at times. 

[capecruzer]

We, myself and pre-teen son and niece experienced this many years ago on the Glory(I think?).  It was terrible.  Pools were closed, restaurants and MDR closed, shows cancelled and people getting sick everywhere.  It seemed to come out of nowhere.  If I remember correctly, there were 20'+ rogue waves slamming us.  Nearly impossible to walk the ship.  We had an OV cabin and went there but the kids started getting green so I decided we were better off outside the cabin.  We sat in a hot tub and watched the few people stumbling from one place to another.  I sent the kids back to the cabin every so often to refill my wine lol and security came by and checked on us several times but didn't make us go to the cabin.  While the three of us got the occasional bout of seasick feeling, we avoided the throwing part....I can't remember how long it lasted, it was near the dinner hour when it started.  We eventually went to bed and when we woke it was over.

[phoneman69]

11 hours ago, groundloop said:

We just got off the Elation this morning, that was a trip I'll never forget (although I'd like to).

 

All hell broke loose somewhere around 10 PM and it lasted until  around 3 AM, maybe a bit later.  It's just an educated guess, I'd say we were in at least 50 mph winds.  For most of that time, as the ship went over a swell we'd go partially weightless, maybe 0.3 Gs, and as she bottomed out in a swell and started back up we'd go to somewhere around 2 Gs (I know what that feels like from my pilot days).  Then on top of that there was random rolling, so it was a WILD ride.  My closet doors kept swinging open and slamming, my luggage slid across the floor a few times, deck chairs were sliding all over the place, and after about 4 hours of that I succumbed got sick (and I NEVER get motion sickness). 

 

I was on the top deck, maybe those on lower decks didn't feel it quite as much as we did.  

 

Any of our fellow passengers care to share your experiences?

Was that why the Elation was late getting into port? from ship tracking she was still outside port at 7am. Was looking because i am on a cruise on the Elation shortly

[groundloop]

39 minutes ago, phoneman69 said:

Was that why the Elation was late getting into port? from ship tracking she was still outside port at 7am. Was looking because i am on a cruise on the Elation shortly

Yes, exactly.  On the tracking it looked like we took a slightly longer route coming back  - to the inside of the Bahamas (I assume in an attempt to find 'calmer' waters).  And also the speed had to be reduced, so we didn't dock until somewhere around 8 AM.

 

 

[phoneman69]

25 minutes ago, groundloop said:

Yes, exactly.  On the tracking it looked like we took a slightly longer route coming back  - to the inside of the Bahamas (I assume in an attempt to find 'calmer' waters).  And also the speed had to be reduced, so we didn't dock until somewhere around 8 AM.

 

 

Sorry your trip end so bumpy. Over all how was the Elation ? as i said sailing on this ship in a few months. know it is an old vessel and a smaller ship. Refrigerator in room ? did you need to put your S&S card in a slot to keep the cabin lights on ?

[groundloop]

5 hours ago, phoneman69 said:

Sorry your trip end so bumpy. Over all how was the Elation ? as i said sailing on this ship in a few months. know it is an old vessel and a smaller ship. Refrigerator in room ? did you need to put your S&S card in a slot to keep the cabin lights on ?

 

I've got no complaints at all about the Elation.  We had a mini fridge in the room (Junior Suite - I can't give a definitive answer as to whether or not all the cabin classes have a fridge - you might be able to find out for sure somewhere on Carnivals website).  And there's no need to insert the Sail & Sign card in a reader to keep the lights on, they're strictly operated by light switches.

 

In a way I kind of like the smaller ships in the Carnival fleet.  There's less of a walk to get to wherever you want to go, a smaller line to fight through when getting off at a port etc.  However, the outdoor movie screen on the larger ships is a nice touch.

Edited February 23, 2020 by groundloop

[phoneman69]

14 minutes ago, groundloop said:

 

I've got no complaints at all about the Elation.  We had a mini fridge in the room (Junior Suite - I can't give a definitive answer as to whether or not all the cabin classes have a fridge - you might be able to find out for sure somewhere on Carnivals website).  And there's no need to insert the Sail & Sign card in a reader to keep the lights on, they're strictly operated by light switches.

 

In a way I kind of like the smaller ships in the Carnival fleet.  There's less of a walk to get to wherever you want to go, a smaller line to fight through when getting off at a port etc.  However, the outdoor movie screen on the larger ships is a nice touch.

Thank you for your response. Have sailed the Fascination and Celebration which are or were older ships. Looking forward to the Elation and smaller passenger size.   

[Bostwick girl]

I for one (and the other 3 couples who were sailing with us) will never go on Elation again. While I love the smaller ships, I'm getting too old to have a balcony room and not even have a chair to sit in! We ended up (all of us, side by side cabins in the new section) bringing in a chair from the balcony so at least one of us would have a place to sit! No sofa, no chair, just the little stool under the desk! Sad part is the fare was just as much as most balconies are. I'm sure it doesn't matter to you younger folks since you're never in the room anyway, but it does to some of us older folks.  Was going to try a Ecstacy when she came to Jax, but it's the same thing, so didn't even bother.

 

[hkbragg]

We were on the Breeze this week and were right next to you on our trip home. We also had a rough night heading back to the port. I believe it was 16 ft swells and around 70 mph winds. Did you all get any announcements on your ship?

 

On ours, we got one announcement from the captain around 5:30 pm saying we may be delayed due to a storm. He, nor any crew member, ever came back with an update. By 9pm, it was really rocky and we still knew nothing. By 10, our tv was flying back and forth on it's arm and we were listing quite a bit. There was a ton of shuttering and g-force as well with each wave that hit the boat. I really think that someone, anyone should have updated so that people weren't in the dark about the situation and could maybe feel a little less terrified.

[groundloop]

5 minutes ago, hkbragg said:

We were on the Breeze this week and were right next to you on our trip home. We also had a rough night heading back to the port. I believe it was 16 ft swells and around 70 mph winds. Did you all get any announcements on your ship?

 

On ours, we got one announcement from the captain around 5:30 pm saying we may be delayed due to a storm. He, nor any crew member, ever came back with an update. By 9pm, it was really rocky and we still knew nothing. By 10, our tv was flying back and forth on it's arm and we were listing quite a bit. There was a ton of shuttering and g-force as well with each wave that hit the boat. I really think that someone, anyone should have updated so that people weren't in the dark about the situation and could maybe feel a little less terrified.

 

Thanks for that information, now at least I know how big of a storm we got hit with.  I looked out once and saw another ship not too far away, I assume that was you.

 

No, we never had ANY announcements about anything until we were docked, and that was just information about how disembarkation would proceed.  As far as that goes the crew did a good job of handling getting everyone off the ship, but it sure would have been nice to have more information during the storm..... something along the lines of "we expect this weather to last approximately 4 more hours".  

[hkbragg]

13 minutes ago, groundloop said:

 

Thanks for that information, now at least I know how big of a storm we got hit with.  I looked out once and saw another ship not too far away, I assume that was you.

 

No, we never had ANY announcements about anything until we were docked, and that was just information about how disembarkation would proceed.  As far as that goes the crew did a good job of handling getting everyone off the ship, but it sure would have been nice to have more information during the storm..... something along the lines of "we expect this weather to last approximately 4 more hours".  

That is exactly what we said! If only someone said - "Hey guys, this is gonna be 4 really rough hours, but we got this and everyone is gonna be fine" - I think a lot of people would have felt better. I did tell that to guest services when we were leaving the ship and the guy said they didn't want to wake people - um....I think 90% of the ship was not sleeping through that at 10 pm. I really am thankful for the crew keeping us safe - and they were posted at the the stairs to help people walk because it was so bad. They did a great job staying calm and helping the passengers.

 

We were next to you in Grand Turk and saw you behind us on Friday, so I am guessing we were together for much of the storm. I never looked out because I knew I would be scared. Other people did say that some of the swells were hitting the bridge at the height of the storm. It was for sure scary! One of the women next to our cabin was really freaking out. I'm not sure she will ever set foot on a boat again.

 

The Breeze is bigger than the Elation, so I'm not sure if that made it worse for you. I do know it was bad on our boat. I'm curious if any other cruise lines sailed through the storm or if they chose to divert. I thought Disney was supposed to port the same morning, but I didn't see it. I think I saw the NCL Breakaway on our way out.

Edited February 23, 2020 by hkbragg

[Kelownacruiser]

My brother just got on a Disney ship yesterday that was also delayed returning to port because of the weather. He said a crew member told him it was the worse storm they had been in for years. He also said it was rough last night leaving port and that the dining room was only half  full. Lots of hazmat cleanup crews around. 

[Acheavacci]

We were also in the storm on the Breeze.  What a wild night.  Luckily we were in a cove balcony midship on deck 2.  The minute the captain announced rought weather ahead I made all the family take a bonine and wear sea bands.  I am grateful non of us were seasick.  My 14 yo son actually slept through the entire event.  My 16 yo daughter was scared but handled it fabulously.  Some guest were sleeping in the Ovation theater because they were so frightened. 

 

We actually would like to cruise again despite the rough seas and it was our first cruise ever.  You can't get much worse, right?  

 

Every cruise ship that was in Port Canaveral that morning experienced the rough seas regardless of the eastern or western itinerary. I heard third hand the port had 12 foot swells.  Not sure if the other ports were affected.  I have know some families that sailed out of Fort Lauderdale and Miami but have not talked to them yet.  

 

I was also talking with people on the plane that vacationed in Orlando.  Friday was super windy and it rained intermittenly.  So no one had a perfect weather vacation.  

 

Hope you are recovering.  I am still swaying a little and need to get my land legs back.  

[Joeplumber7]

We returned on the Conquest Saturday morning in Miami and also had a really rough ride back to Port. It was only our 3rd cruise and we wondered how normal the ride was. We were in an OS on the 7th floor and I swear I could hear water spraying our balcony glass when we came down hard. 

[hkbragg]

22 minutes ago, Acheavacci said:

We were also in the storm on the Breeze.  What a wild night.  Luckily we were in a cove balcony midship on deck 2.  The minute the captain announced rought weather ahead I made all the family take a bonine and wear sea bands.  I am grateful non of us were seasick.  My 14 yo son actually slept through the entire event.  My 16 yo daughter was scared but handled it fabulously.  Some guest were sleeping in the Ovation theater because they were so frightened. 

 

We actually would like to cruise again despite the rough seas and it was our first cruise ever.  You can't get much worse, right?  

 

Every cruise ship that was in Port Canaveral that morning experienced the rough seas regardless of the eastern or western itinerary. I heard third hand the port had 12 foot swells.  Not sure if the other ports were affected.  I have know some families that sailed out of Fort Lauderdale and Miami but have not talked to them yet.  

 

I was also talking with people on the plane that vacationed in Orlando.  Friday was super windy and it rained intermittenly.  So no one had a perfect weather vacation.  

 

Hope you are recovering.  I am still swaying a little and need to get my land legs back.  

We loved our trip and thought the Breeze was fabulous ... I really just didn't understand the lack of communication about the storm. This is cruise number 8 for us, and our kiddos (11 and 14) were on their fourth cruise. I promise you, that level of rough seas is not the norm. I'm glad it's not keeping you from cruising again! 

[KAYKAY121]

We have been in some 25 ft swells. No announcements about it being rough but the dining room was empty for dinner and your feet would come off the ground if you weren't holding on. Cruise line or ship does not matter when you are at sea. I love to cruise and sometimes in winter, it is part of cruising. Sominex works great too if you want to sleep through it.