LIVE: Dodging Hurricanes transatlantic on Norwegian Getaway

[www3traveler]

The Bliss did not go to Ketchikan last week because of the weather.  Both ships leaving Seattle over the weekend got into some really rough weather.  According to the forecast another ugly storm system is supposed to hit the Pacific Northwest by this weekend when both ships return to Seattle. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

Thanks.  I look forward to sailing in rough weather.  It makes things more fun.

[yakcruiser]

I love rough seas! I sleep so much better when the ship is rocking. 

[BirdTravels]

We actually enjoy rough seas. It's all part of the adventure. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

Well, there you have it folks.  Multiple folks who have no interest in hearing complaints about how awful a cruise was because the boat was rocking.  Of course, if that kind of thing ruins your cruise, then you have my (our?) sympathy.  Everybody should enjoy their cruise.😎

[mking8288]

Friends onboard GA with a brief WhatsApp update earlier, thus, WiFi is working, for better or worst on the TA, good.  They wrote, 5 sea days nonstop from Lisbon to Sydney, NS is the plan and possibly problematic Halifax departure depending on Leslie tracking/forecast, etc. 

 

Big turnout for the onboard M&G b/c it was a combined CC & FB event, refreshment wasn't going to be provided by NCL but ... going to leave out the rest, let those involved talk, explain or tell later. 

 

We lucked out with our Alaska cruise on Cunard earlier in the month but apparently, gossips -unconfirmed - cruise ships overnighting on Vancouver Island, docked there and pax looking forward to seeing Alaska ended up sightseeing a lot in Victoria, BC.  No clues how recent this happened and whether it's really true or not, FWIW. 

 

Near term, eyes on Milton and disaster preparedness. check on and have those GoBags ready if anywhere near the path of these storms, stay safe.   

Edited October 8 by mking8288

[ChiefMateJRK]

12 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

going to leave out the rest

 

12 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

gossips -unconfirmed

Why don't you just tell us what you heard?

[Mike B Landlubber]

An interesting effect…Yesterday I posted a video from 6:36 AM that showed the predawn sunlight from below the horizon. You can see it again in Post #7 above. We didn’t adjust our clocks last night. This morning at 6:50 AM ship’s time, it was still dark outside. Since this is fourteen minutes later in the morning on the next day, you would expect it to be better-lit, not dark! See the video in this post. I assume this is because the ship keeps moving west so we are in effect moving into a new time zone. I took another video about half an hour later that shows the beginning of sunrise. I’ll post it in a separate post. If this works right, I’m going to add a screenshot that shows our position and the positions of the hurricanes when this video was taken. We are at the white dot near the center of the screenshot.

Edited October 8 by Mike B Landlubber

[Mike B Landlubber]

And here is a video from 7:18 AM, twenty-eight minutes later showing the beginning of sunrise! It also shows we aren’t completely overcast, which I briefly thought might be the cause of the darkness.

[Mike B Landlubber]

One other effect just occurred to me…It is Fall, so the change of seasons is causing sunrise to be later each day! Could this be the reason for the darkness!? Well, no. I looked up sunrise and sunset times for Lisbon, and the change in sunrise times is only one minute difference between the two days! This concludes your geophysics lesson for the day! LOL

[Mike B Landlubber]

At noon the Captain briefed us that the wind and waves should peak this afternoon, then moderate. Of course the ocean and the weather are both fickle! We are a bit over 1/3 of the way to our first port stop in Sydney, Canada. Here are some afternoon whitecaps. It is about 4 PM ship time as I post. 

[graphicguy]

6 minutes ago, Mike B Landlubber said:

At noon the Captain briefed us that the wind and waves should peak this afternoon, then moderate. Of course the ocean and the weather are both fickle! We are a bit over 1/3 of the way to our first port stop in Sydney, Canada. Here are some afternoon whitecaps. It is about 4 PM ship time as I post. 

Thanks for posting.  Looks like you're negotiating the potential weather issues well.

 

Safe sailing!!!!

[Mike B Landlubber]

Since it now appears we will survive the hurricane, I celebrated a bit by getting out and around the ship some this evening!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 8 by Mike B Landlubber

[Mike B Landlubber]

Dinner at Le Bistro while celebrating last night…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 9 by Mike B Landlubber

[mking8288]

Our friends onboard learned from one of the senior officers that the TA sailing is about 75% full only, which is good b/c dining is easier.  They were south of the bad weather yesterday, sunny sky and 79F, sea state not bad with a moderate amount of rolling and pitching (Atlantic ocean swell) - still cautioned about more rough seas ahead, steaming toward Sydney, NS.  

[Mike B Landlubber]

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

Our friends onboard learned from one of the senior officers that the TA sailing is about 75% full only, which is good b/c dining is easier.  They were south of the bad weather yesterday, sunny sky and 79F, sea state not bad with a moderate amount of rolling and pitching (Atlantic ocean swell) - still cautioned about more rough seas ahead, steaming toward Sydney, NS.  

It seems calmer today than yesterday, but still some rolling. The Captain announced an hour ago that we will get a little rougher soon, similar to yesterday. We are about halfway between Lisbon and Sydney.

 

I still had surprising trouble with dining reservations, I had to accept a Cagney’s reservation at 9:30! Tonight I will have Teppenyaki at a decent hour, though. Because of the numerous sea days, I am eating specialty much more than I normally would, and I suspect many others are doing the same.

Edited October 9 by Mike B Landlubber

[graphicguy]

2 hours ago, Mike B Landlubber said:

It seems calmer today than yesterday, but still some rolling. The Captain announced an hour ago that we will get a little rougher soon, similar to yesterday. We are about halfway between Lisbon and Sydney.

 

I still had surprising trouble with dining reservations, I had to accept a Cagney’s reservation at 9:30! Tonight I will have Teppenyaki at a decent hour, though. Because of the numerous sea days, I am eating specialty much more than I normally would, and I suspect many others are doing the same.

Keep up "juking and dancing" around that storm.  Sounds like you're Captain is doing a great job.

[Mike B Landlubber]

This TA trip is returning from a lengthy Holland America cruise that ran from Amsterdam to Athens. Most of the stops were in Spain, Portugal, and the Mediterranean. I did a similar live report in the HAL forum, if you want to see it, a link is below. Pictures from lots of different places, but especially Egypt, Istanbul, Gibraltar.
 

 

Edited October 9 by Mike B Landlubber

[Mike B Landlubber]

How does one spend all that sea day time cruising transatlantic?

 

 

 

 

Edited October 10 by Mike B Landlubber

[luv2kroooz]

24 minutes ago, Mike B Landlubber said:

How does one spend all that sea day time cruising transatlantic?

Sleeping in, exercising, drinking, reading, eating, socializing, napping. Wash, rinse, repeat. It is wonderful. TAs are wonderful experiences.

Edited October 10 by luv2kroooz

[OttawaJohn]

20 minutes ago, luv2kroooz said:

Sleeping in, exercising, drinking, reading, eating, socializing, napping. Wash, rinse, repeat. It is wonderful. TAs are wonderful experiences.

Wife and I are thinking of one for 2027 and are eager for all the At Sea Days.  We did a Hawaii cruise out of San Fran last year that was 5 days there, 5 back and we loved it.  Just you, the ocean, a pool, bar and bed 🙂

[Mike B Landlubber]

The hurricanes have passed us by, it is overcast with a gentle rocking of the ship, but there is little wind and the storms are done with us (at least I hope!).

 

Edited October 10 by Mike B Landlubber

[Mike B Landlubber]

I should have waited to post till after Noon when the Captain often speaks. He says the hurricanes are done with us, but a low pressure area will make it a little rough tonight. he says we are on time to arrive in Sydney, Canada as scheduled.

Edited October 10 by Mike B Landlubber

[mking8288]

@Mike B Landlubber  How's that pool deck today ?  Our friends onboard with you & others said the ship is at 75% capacity only (via WhatsApp) yesterday said to be very calm sea, sunny & 80 deg F.  We're at Sydney (then, Halifax) about 10 days ago, very walkable from the pier to nearby downtown by the waterfront.  Enjoy ! 

[cruisequeen4ever]

My coworker is on this cruise, so it’s extra fun to follow along. Thank you for taking us along!