Balmoral; Force 9 in Biscay

[pspercy]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1129302/Pictured-Storm-tosses-massive-cruise-liner-like-toy-boat.html#comments

 

Pictured: Storm tosses massive cruise liner like a toy boat

 

By Mail Foreign Service

Last updated at 1:08 PM on 27th January 2009

 

 

 

 

What was supposed to be a luxury cruise turned into a nightmare for holidaymakers when a ship was hit by 50 ft waves.

Two Britons were taken to hospital after the Balmoral suffered a force nine gale as it hit rough seas and 60mph winds in the Bay of Biscay.

 

Rough winds: The Balmoral was hit by 50ft waves in the Bay of Biscay

 

The injured passengers were airlifted to a hospital in north west Spain where they were treated for broken bones.

Passenger Caroline Richmond, who paid £750 for the ten-day trip, told the Mirror: 'Everyone felt sick.'

The Fred Olsen liner docked in the Spanish port of La Coruna after setting sail from Dover last Saturday.

It was forced to cancel scheduled stops in Lisbon and Tangiers but is due back in the UK today.

Nightmare: Two Britons had to be airlifted to hospital after the force nine gale caused them to suffer broken bones

 

 

The Fred Olsen ship was forced to cancel the cruise and is due back in Dover today

[1supergran]

Just come back from this cruise - I only saw a couple of empty chairs at the mealtimes, and a couple of gentlemen whose wives were not feeling too good. Everyone else was fine ! OK, we were bumped about and thrown around a lot, and didn't go very far :), but the vast majority enjoyed themselves and found it very exciting. I just knew as soon as we got home the wingers would start. Most people acknowledged that if you go on a cruise through the Bay of Biscay in the winter you should expect trouble, although probably not quite on this scale! I was sorry not to get to Tangiers or Lisbon, but the Captain was right to turn the ship around and head for calm in the English Channel, and Cherbourg and Antwerp were very interesting. The crew and the entertainers did a fantastic job in very difficult circumstances.

[Parsman]

Well done "Supergran". It's good to hear a positive review in what must have been pretty dramatic circumstances. Very bad weather with heavy seas are problems when cruising from the UK in Winter. It is a risk you take when booking a cruise. As you say, the moaners will soon come forward and blame the weather on the cruise line. If you want to know what "Whinging Poms" are you are sure to find a group of them on every cruise liner.

[Norfolk Brit]

Well done "Supergran". It's good to hear a positive review in what must have been pretty dramatic circumstances. Very bad weather with heavy seas are problems when cruising from the UK in Winter. It is a risk you take when booking a cruise. As you say, the moaners will soon come forward and blame the weather on the cruise line. If you want to know what "Whinging Poms" are you are sure to find a group of them on every cruise liner.

 

Absolutely. We were on Balmoral for a fortnight just before this cruise. Some of the remarks we heard were extraordinary, the best being "I knew that small boats bounced around, but didn't know big ones did". Several people said they wouldn't cruise from the UK again in January; obviously did no homework whatsoever before booking.

 

The poor old ship's doctor, who was a delightful young man, has had a pretty terrible month; he had 3 helicopter evacuations on the cruise before ours, one on ours, and now this...

 

Mary

[Druke I]

Way back in Aug 1990, when Balmoral was still the Crown Odyssey, flagship of Royal Cruise Line, we took her on a trans-Atlantic, Southampton to New York.

 

We were in a Force 8 gale, and did bounce around a bit!

 

She was a beauty in her day, but Norwegian Cruise Line took out the indoor pool (down in the bowels of the ship) and the Cinema to add additional cabins.

[WhiteStar]

Way back in Aug 1990, when Balmoral was still the Crown Odyssey, flagship of Royal Cruise Line, we took her on a trans-Atlantic, Southampton to New York.

 

We were in a Force 8 gale, and did bounce around a bit!

 

She was a beauty in her day, but Norwegian Cruise Line took out the indoor pool (down in the bowels of the ship) and the Cinema to add additional cabins.

 

I was on the same cruise as you and remember it well! Small world. That was my 3rd cruise on the Crown. The loss of the Cinema was a shame, and by removing the indoor pool and fitness center on deck 3 and putting the new fitness cnter and salon up top it made the ship top heavy forward and cut into the view from the "Top Of The Crown" now the Observatory. Fred Olson had planned to remove the current fitness center but that was before they made the decision to lengthen the ship.

[greybeard]

Good of the Mail to pick up on this story and pictures - on Tuesday. I had it on my blog on Saturday. And at least I credited Jose montero, who took the superb pictures.

 

See http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/captain-greybeard/2009/01/bouncing-around-on-balmoral.html

[biscay]

Coo.

Had similar on Black Prince once. Very exciting.

I wonder who took the photo

[greybeard]

The pictures were taken by Jose Montero, a radio operator in La Coruna