Storms at Sea

[wonlife64]

My wife and I have been on one cruise (Western Caribbean) and had near perfect weather. We are again heading on a WC cruise in April but bringing the kids with this time. Has anyone experienced a storm at sea? What might we expect if such an event occurs.

Thanks!

[Capt_BJ]

My wife and I have been on one cruise (Western Caribbean) and had near perfect weather. We are again heading on a WC cruise in April but bringing the kids with this time. Has anyone experienced a storm at sea? What might we expect if such an event occurs.

Thanks!

 

It could be like this

 

 

but it is unlikely

[DaisyGirl55]

Having sailed around a few hurricances (we usually cruise the Caribbean in the summer/late fall when the rates are lower) it can get a bit rough. Larger than normal waves, rocking and rolling, pitch and shudders....but do you know what? It just made for a memorable cruise! It was awesome to watch the water, to see the whitecaps, and to laugh as everyone tried to walk a straight line! And when the sun broke through the clouds...let me tell you, it was just beautiful.

 

Sometimes you will miss a port, or just be late arriving. Sometimes shows are cancelled (after all, the dancers don't want to get hurt!). For the most part, the cruise lines are going to skirt the storms, and not put anyone in danger. If specific schedules are for you, or if you can't handle change easily - then it may not be for you.

 

But if you can "go with the flow" and just take things in stride, then your cruise will be an adventure - even if you do run into the occasional storm at sea!

[agabbymama]

I can't speak for April. We went to San Juan Puerto Rico, St. Martin and St. Thomas on November 3rd, and it rained (really rained) everyday for 6 days. It was stormy with 25-30' waves. It was rough to walk, it was rough to even stay in bed. The Captain came on the PA and said there was a really bad storm he was trying to sail on the outskirts of it. I wouldn't want to be in the center if we were on the outskirts.

 

If you suffer from motion sickness at all, you will be sick. Even with Dramamine, we were queasy. We went to bed and tried to let it lull us to sleep. A lot of green passengers on that day and night. Then if you're a worrier like I am, I was scared to death that we would make it safely. A lot of folks just took it in stride, but I was miserable. I couldn't wait to get to port and steady land.

 

Hopefully you won't hit a storm.:p

[gail811]

Having sailed around a few hurricances (we usually cruise the Caribbean in the summer/late fall when the rates are lower) it can get a bit rough. Larger than normal waves, rocking and rolling, pitch and shudders....but do you know what? It just made for a memorable cruise! It was awesome to watch the water, to see the whitecaps, and to laugh as everyone tried to walk a straight line! And when the sun broke through the clouds...let me tell you, it was just beautiful.

 

Sometimes you will miss a port, or just be late arriving. Sometimes shows are cancelled (after all, the dancers don't want to get hurt!). For the most part, the cruise lines are going to skirt the storms, and not put anyone in danger. If specific schedules are for you, or if you can't handle change easily - then it may not be for you.

 

But if you can "go with the flow" and just take things in stride, then your cruise will be an adventure - even if you do run into the occasional storm at sea!

 

I agree with DaisyGirl55! Our first cruise we skirted a tropical storm and I was mesmerized by the colors of the waves, the white caps and the sun breaking through. Not too many people were on deck, or anywhere but their cabins, but I found it to be beautiful! We have had some rough seas other times as well, but nothing that frightened me.

[Ephraim]

We've been through category 10 and 11 on the Beaufort scale. To be honest, I was as green as could be on the category 11, but fine in the category 10. (Which leads me to believe that they lied about it only being a category 11). I was green until I managed to take some ginger pills. In fact, people were even mentioning how green I was.

 

As far as the category 10, it was great. You couldn't tell if everyone was drunk or just the movement of the ship. It was like being rocked to sleep. The waves were something to watch. Looking at the horizon helped a lot and eating a green apple was helpful too.

 

Honestly, wouldn't do the category 11 without Gravol (Canadian equivalent to Dramamine or Bonine), but ships this large really handle the waves well. Though, being on an inside cabin means you get less sway. The centre of the ship gets the least amount of movement and being near the bow or the stern obviously increased movement. The same is true with height, the lower in the ship, the less movement.

 

Most people take it in stride. We arrived a day late on our return, on the category 11. And the duty-free was a real mess.

[Host Kewlguy]

We've been in some very rough seas and all I can say is you don't want to experience it. At times it can be nearly impossible just to walk around the ship.

[alphakitty]

Check out this one:

[Cathy p]

OMG, Kitty, I got sick just watching that.:eek:

[crissyp]

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sitting here crying right now...

 

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

[klct39lg]

Holy Crap! I needed a life vest just to watch that. Was the helicopter there "just in case"?

[bankerbabe]

From what I understand, the weather and seas in March and April are calmer than just about any other time of year in the Caribbean.

 

We did our Western Caribbean cruise in April of 2003 (right after the start of the Iraq war there were some good deals on travel) and we had mostly great weather. There was supposedly a storm that we had to sail around, but all it did is rock the boat a bit. They drained the pools, probably as a precaution, but even my DH didn't get sick - and he's prone to seasickness.

 

It was kind of like being a bit of a drunkard - without the expense of booze:D . Though I will admit that it made high heels a bit of a challenge at times.

 

You will be fine, I'm sure. Just keep in mind that the captain will not sail through something too dangerous and that he (or she) knows exactly what that ship is capable of. Your captain wants to get home in once piece just as badly as you do.

 

We are going on another Caribbean cruise in April of this year - this time the Eastern Caribbean. If we see your ship, we'll waive!

[alphakitty]

Yikes...crissyp, sorry!! I didn't mean to make anyone cry. First of all, this is a smaller ship, it's in the med and it's during a major storm! It does make you say holy s**t though huh??? :)

[rsbg1]

We went to Mexico last month and talked to a couple that said on there last trip from Aisa back to L.A Ca. on the Diamond Princess thay hit a freek storm mid way back and told us the ship was rocking so bad that thay closed off the upper decks, closed all restaurants but the buffet and most of the passengers and crew stayed in there cabins. They also said the waves were so high , that one wave hit the emerald deck and smashed out a window:eek: Now that ruff. That's my two cents worth..

[rsbg1]

We went to Mexico last month and talked to a couple that said on there last trip from Aisa back to L.A Ca. on the Diamond Princess thay hit a freek storm mid way back and told us the ship was rocking so bad that thay closed off the upper decks, closed all restaurants but the buffet and most of the passengers and crew stayed in there cabins. They also said the waves were so high , that one wave hit the emerald deck and smashed out a window:eek: Now that ruff. That's my two cents worth..

[Cruise Passenger]

Check out this one:

 

Canceling my cruise!! Thanks Alphakitty!!!

[crissyp]

well I got over the crying.:o ..hehehe, and I'm still going! Will say a few extra prayers for calm seas before I leave though! Thanks for the reality check!

[agabbymama]

Go to the HAL board and look for Prinsendam hit by two 60' waves. No pictures, but the OP sure does a narrative that would scare the beegeebees out of me. I think I'd be done cruising if that were to happen on my cruise. I can't look at the video that was posted here, because of Company Policy, but I will try to remember to view it at home.

 

Guess I'm not a true cruise fan, I'd be DONE!

[stowaway2k]

That is the Grand Voyager, operated by Iberojet.

She was disabled when the video was shot, hense her extreme rolling and pitching in the very rough seas at the time.

A ship that has lost power to her engines will be pounded around in rough seas,as she cannot make any headway.

Also, she is a very small cruise ship, only 590 feet long x 84 wide.

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article514576.ece

 

She has since been painted all white.

[sept10dsm]

We were in 25 foot seas with 70 mph winds in a Canada/New England cruise on the Grand Princess in Oct 2004. It was a rocky and noisey ride for 2 days. Tropical Storm Nicole, a quick moving Atlantic storm, caught us by surprise. I did an ocean weather search and found no storms from Bermuda north the day we left. The next day surprise surprise!!

[scapel]

That is the Grand Voyager, operated by Iberojet.

She was disabled when the video was shot, hense her extreme rolling and pitching in the very rough seas at the time.

A ship that has lost power to her engines will be pounded around in rough seas,as she cannot make any headway.

Also, she is a very small cruise ship, only 590 feet long x 84 wide.

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article514576.ece

 

She has since been painted all white.

 

Yes, one can see in the Voyager video that the roll is way too much to the starboard side. The ship needed to get headed more to the port to balance the roll, but without power one is at the mercy of the sea. I thought she would capsize at one point. I wonder if they had any generator power to use ballast pumps to move ballast to the port side. Of course a change in the ships direction could require ballast in the opposite direction. It must have been a balancing act. They were lucky to have her partially pointed into the waves.

[Debe7ing]

In 15 cruises we have hit two "storms" at sea...one was in the South Pacific in December when storms can be quite "strong"...we had 30 ft waves and took some harder "rocking" motion, but only one of our kids had issues with it. It did not last long, done within 5 hours as the front pushed thru...

 

The other was the most beautiful thing we have ever witnessed...out of Ft Lauderdale on the Grand Princess in Mar 2001, a thunderstorm at sea. It was so incrediable...the seas did not get bad (or the Grand is so big it did not rock much) but the lightning and thunder were wonderful!! HONEST...as weird as it sounds each time we cruise we hope to get to experience a thunderstorm again some night...it was beautiful to see nothing but pitch black (it was about 8pm) and the lightning!!! We sat in Sabatinis (and lucky we were near a window) and really enjoyed the show that God presented for our evening!!!

[dforeigner]

I am sure many are

[schoolmom]

We caught the tail end of a hurricane and the ship docked in the Bahamas for 3 days not even tempting to move on to the next port. We stayed there until the last possible minute in order to get us back to Florida on time.

 

That night the ship bucked so hard it actually threw me out of bed twice. The captain said twice waves had come over the front of the ship.

 

They had locked down everything so that no one could go out on deck. Many passengers were getting sick, along with myself.

 

Even though this was my worst experience on a cruise, I still think it memorable as any type of cruising is better than being at work.

[new2cruise1]

I know we are taking chances - because we leave August 26th for the Eastern Caribbean - my parents are going with us and my dad is afraid of getting sick.....

 

But we will be on Freedom of the Seas and thats a large ship...

 

Judy