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Lightning strike on the Beyond, June 23


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We were on the ship, returning to Port Everglades on June 23. About 3:15am there was a flash of lightning and the loudest thunder clap I've heard in a long time. We raised the blind expecting to find the ship on fire! But we were sailing along steady as can be. Gotta believe every single person on the ship was awakened by that thunder. As we disembarked, Captain Leo and Cruise Director Alexa were standing in the hallway. As we passed I asked the Captain if the lightning hit us and he said "yes" but "no problem." If you're boarding her today, look around for scorch marks! 

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Ships get hit by lightning all the time.  By their design this is dealt with according to the forces of nature.  The lightning flows through the outside of the ship's hull to the water.  

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Posted (edited)
23 minutes ago, jalves said:

 The lightning flows through the outside of the ship's hull to the water.  

 

That is Farraday's Law.  The same way your car can be hit by lightning and you are safe inside.  When I was in high school we used to go the Boston Museum of Science where they did a show on electricity and safety.  The host was in what looked like a bird cage which they called a Farraday cage and the Vandegraff generator powered up and zapped the cage with lightning bolts indoors while he did the talk.  They even had it set up to show why you should NOT stand under trees in a thunderstorm and what to do if caught outside in one and your hair stands up indicating an imminent strike.  Wonder if they still do that show?

Edited by BeasleysMom66
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10 hours ago, HoosierDude said:

We were on the ship, returning to Port Everglades on June 23. 

Are you going to do a review. Would love to hear your comments on Beyond.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I was on deck 15. Something sure woke me up. But what I really want to know is the story on the elderly lady dancing alone in the atrium area every time there was live music. 

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On 6/23/2024 at 5:15 PM, jalves said:

Ships get hit by lightning all the time.  By their design this is dealt with according to the forces of nature.  The lightning flows through the outside of the ship's hull to the water.  

This is why the ships have the "floating" ground electrical system, where the ground wire is not connected to the hull.  This is also why surge protectors are not needed on ships, and in fact none of the ship's costly electronics (from navigation to automation, POS sales registers, hundreds of computers, etc) are protected by surge protectors.  The hundreds of thousands of volts from the lightning never got anywhere near these electronics (or your phone, etc, in your cabin).

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10 hours ago, dougocam said:

I was on deck 15. Something sure woke me up. But what I really want to know is the story on the elderly lady dancing alone in the atrium area every time there was live music. 

Omg I was on a cruise with her last July. She did the same thing. She never missed the opportunity to dance…always alone. I actually tried to engage her in conversation but she looked straight through me. 

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