Worst Weather Experience on a Cruise

[leestillman]

We were on the Rome-Ft Lauderdale TA on 11/27/22 on the Island Princess. The cruise was listed as "14 Day Moroccan Passage", as one of the stops was in Casablanca, along with Cagliari, Malaga, and Madeira. Well, leaving Malaga, the Captain gets on the PA to tell us that we will not be stopping in Casablanca (nor Madeira) but will have to head south to Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The reason? Two tropical depressions in our original path. In the Atlantic, in December, long after storm season was supposed to be over. Sailing through that, with the median passenger age somewhere in the eighties, would not have been a good idea. So our "Moroccan Passage" consisted of us passing Morocco right on by.

 

We kept getting pushed further and further to the south, almost to the equator. At those latitudes, weird things happen that don't normally occur on a cruise ship. The cold water temperature (which is pulled from the ocean and desalinated with no refrigeration) was 91 degrees Fahrenheit. (Thankfully enough we had a great room steward who kept us supplied with ice.) The pool was drained halfway for the duration of nine sea days because the choppiness of running at full speed (to make up the additional 2000 miles of the voyage) the entire time overflowed the pool and flooded the spa the first night. 

 

Other known problems became worse. They told us the internet would be bad; it was virtually nonexistent. Our entertainment schedule had to be reworked due to missing the appointed pickups in Casablanca and Madeira. 

 

And then the boat tried to kill us. We were enjoying a nice lunch in the MDR when a very large, very heavy piece of window trim (which apparently was being held on with Velcro) detached itself and nearly crashed on top of us, which if not for the drapes holding it up, would have. We have decided on a policy of never sailing on a ship older than 20 years again.

[Kolleen]

In the early 80s I was cruising on the Nordic Prince with two friends in another cabin. We were running south to get away from a hurricane and due to dock in St Thomas the next morning. I was woken by a large bang crashing sound. I jumped up and looked out my window. I saw a yacht sliding along our hull and sinking. We hadn't  outrun the hurricane, and there were all kinds of boats in the St Thomas harbor which had broken loose. We backed out and headed toward toward Barbados. I wasn't  seasick, but I was one of the very few.

 

In 2002, again on RCL, my husband and I missed St John as a port due to again trying to out run another hurricane. We were in a very forward cabin and the movement was pretty wild. Luckily my husband doesn't get seasick either.

 

Of course on my wildest cruise, the ship sank. 

[CGTNORMANDIE]

21 hours ago, Kolleen said:

Of course on my wildest cruise, the ship sank. 

The ship sank???  Care to explain???

[crazycatlady82]

I’ve had two different notable rough seas.

The first was 2015, on the Celebrity Summit, leaving Bermuda for New Jersey. The captain warned us, had barf bags in the stairwell and told people to not take the stairs. I don’t know how big the waves were, as I was sick myself….

Then, in 2022, on the NCL Star, heading from Greenland to Iceland. It was rough that night, but at some point, in the middle of the night, it actually woke us up. Felt like the bed was dropping out from us. We sat in bed, waiting for an announcement, and then figured we were fine, ha.

 

[MBP&O2/O]

On 12/13/2022 at 3:04 PM, Heidi13 said:

Wetting the table cloths in heavy weather was always more effective than the friction sheets they use on ships these days. Sadly many of the younger crews don't know these little tricks.

Brain fade ... what did they call the drop down sides on the tables? Scuttles springs to mind but age has overtaken IQ ? 

It was only when they refused to serve soup that eyebrows were raised 😄 

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, MBP&O2/O said:

Brain fade ... what did they call the drop down sides on the tables? Scuttles springs to mind but age has overtaken IQ ? 

It was only when they refused to serve soup that eyebrows were raised 😄 

 

Having a tough time remembering the first thing you lose with age, so I'm in the same boat as you.😁 I'll dig out my journal from the Otaio and see if I mentioned anything the week I was Peggy.

 

However, I vividly recall scrubbing them with a tooth-brush when doing my week as Mess Peggy on the Otaio. Crossing the Indian Ocean on Wild Auk, we encountered a little swell, causing us to roll 45 degrees each way for about 3-days. Nothing but cold food and sleeping on the deck for duration.

[TheOldBear]

The raised sides on the table are called 'fiddles' - common on small boat tables.

[MBP&O2/O]

Fiddles it was ... gold star for that. 

 

"Wild" class never stopped rolling  ...even when alongside 😄

[Etta1213]

On 12/6/2022 at 4:26 PM, CGTNORMANDIE said:

It was an adventure to be sure…lol.  I never had a bad cruise thanks to Bonine.  The first time on the Bremen on my honeymoon I had my arms wrapped around the toilet bowl.  A kind stewardess came with a pill.  It knocked me out and the next morning I was starving so we went to breakfast.  The funny thing was I had sailed on a ship and my wife had not.  It was her first time.  My bride kept saying that she really loved being all snug in her bunk and being rocked to sleep lol. I knew then that I had a cruise mate for life.  51 years later we are ready to sail again…just as soon as I have my kidney transplant!  

How are you doing?

[CGTNORMANDIE]

5 hours ago, Etta1213 said:

How are you doing?

Very well thanks.  I had a kidney infection about three weeks ago…5 days in hospital.  Then my fistula/access on my arm failed after five years…it finally got too clotted…another three hours in the OR to install a heart catheter…pain in the butt.  That was my 15th time in the OR since 2017.  Now they hook me up to the catheter at dialysis.  The good news is that I passed my MRI prostate exam and I am now at the top of THE LIST for my kidney transplant!!  HOORAY!!!  Cause for celebration.  Hopefully in August I’ll be reporting the good news here.

[Mary229]

We twice were caught by late season hurricanes in the Maritimes of Canada.
 

  The first we were near the entrance to the St Lawrence and the ship hurriedly tried to get into the seaway.  My father in law, myself and DH were among the few passengers enjoying the action.  All of us grew up on the water and are fairly seaworthy.  Notably this was in the days when the push machines in the casino were not well stabilized.   DH won a jackpot on that machine.

 

then we got caught by the remnants of a hurricane, Harvey?,  heading south from Sydney. The audacious captain actually tried to dock in Halifax, bless his heart.  We did not dock and made our way south. 

[Susan in Maine]

I was on RCCL Majesty of the Seas November 2001 during Hurricane Michelle. We were in Nassau on Saturday but were supposed to leave to have a sea day on Sunday. They kept us in Nassau until Sunday noon, then we headed back. The ship was really rockin' and rollin' all night, with barf bags on every available surface. Unfortunately, the seas were too rough for us to dock Monday morning. We sat outside of Miami all day and didn't get in until about 4:00PM. All day we watched the Miami skyline waiting for the pilot to come get us. My daughter and I still had a great time!

 

Then in February 2013 we were headed back from Puerto Rico and ran into Winter Storm Nemo a/k/a the blizzard of 2013. The ship was locked down for 2 days, with no one allowed outside on deck. We had a deck 2 outside cabin. My daughter and I spent a lot of those two days with our noses on the window watching the waves crash up on the window. It's still one of our favorite cruise memories! 

[NoBoozeCruise]

I was yeeted out of a bunk sailing to Rotterdam. Mean winter storms in the North Sea. 

 

Best waves I have ever experienced were off the coast of West Ireland, 12 foot double overhead, I was on a surfboard the whole day and ended up 3 miles out to sea before breaking free of a relentless riptide. 

[webecruzin2]

First cruise ever 1983 MS Scandinavia which also was a car ferry.   NYC to Freeport we hit 25- 30 ft waves coming around Cape Hatteras.  We had top deck forward cabins where we occasionally had zero gravity walking down the hallway.  Barf bags everywhere.  Passengers moved from cabins to sleep in hallways and lounges on lower decks and no one was allowed outside. 
We were young and didn't let it stop us.  The dance floor was quite funny as everyone slid from one side to the other all night.  When we arrived in Freeport there was a lot of damage to the cars it was carrying and quite a few passengers decided to fly home.  
Then 2006 X Constellation NYC to Dover (I think) We started out along side the QM 2 and hit 30-35 ft waves mid Atlantic.  The race was on!  We were rockin and rollin as we plowed through that storm we could see the waves fly up past the windows in the lower lounges as we sipped our martinis and the captain kept us updated on our progress.  We beat the QM2 by half a day I think.       

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, webecruzin2 said:

Then 2006 X Constellation NYC to Dover (I think) We started out along side the QM 2 and hit 30-35 ft waves mid Atlantic.  The race was on!  We were rockin and rollin as we plowed through that storm we could see the waves fly up past the windows in the lower lounges as we sipped our martinis and the captain kept us updated on our progress.  We beat the QM2 by half a day I think.       

 

Sorry, but that wasn't a race. If it was a race all you would see was the stern of the QM2 disappearing over the horizon. She could make good double the speed of your ship in a storm.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

3 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Sorry, but that wasn't a race. If it was a race all you would see was the stern of the QM2 disappearing over the horizon. She could make good double the speed of your ship in a storm.

Party pooper 🤣

[NoBoozeCruise]

On 1/30/2023 at 8:25 PM, leestillman said:

We were on the Rome-Ft Lauderdale TA on 11/27/22 on the Island Princess. The cruise was listed as "14 Day Moroccan Passage", as one of the stops was in Casablanca, along with Cagliari, Malaga, and Madeira. Well, leaving Malaga, the Captain gets on the PA to tell us that we will not be stopping in Casablanca (nor Madeira) but will have to head south to Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The reason? Two tropical depressions in our original path. In the Atlantic, in December, long after storm season was supposed to be over. Sailing through that, with the median passenger age somewhere in the eighties, would not have been a good idea. So our "Moroccan Passage" consisted of us passing Morocco right on by.

 

We kept getting pushed further and further to the south, almost to the equator. At those latitudes, weird things happen that don't normally occur on a cruise ship. The cold water temperature (which is pulled from the ocean and desalinated with no refrigeration) was 91 degrees Fahrenheit. (Thankfully enough we had a great room steward who kept us supplied with ice.) The pool was drained halfway for the duration of nine sea days because the choppiness of running at full speed (to make up the additional 2000 miles of the voyage) the entire time overflowed the pool and flooded the spa the first night. 

 

Other known problems became worse. They told us the internet would be bad; it was virtually nonexistent. Our entertainment schedule had to be reworked due to missing the appointed pickups in Casablanca and Madeira. 

 

And then the boat tried to kill us. We were enjoying a nice lunch in the MDR when a very large, very heavy piece of window trim (which apparently was being held on with Velcro) detached itself and nearly crashed on top of us, which if not for the drapes holding it up, would have. We have decided on a policy of never sailing on a ship older than 20 years again.

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