Live...mostly...from Anthem

This video is nuts. A vortex on a balcony throwing furniture around like they are cotton balls.

 

Wow!

Most who cruise out of Bayonne drive themselves or have some sort of ground transport to the port so they are very flexible in this respect. This was very obvious on our Anthem Jan.3rd and previous roll calls. We even drove down from Ontario just across the border from NY state for that cruise and several others out of Port Liberty prior to that last cruise.

The time we took to drive wasn't that much longer than having to go through steps necessary to do the hour flight there and it was a lot cheaper. I filled up in Buffalo and used $20 worth of gas to drive to our hotel just north of Newark airport. We got a hotel stay, park, shuttle to port and cruise package that wasn't that much more than we pay for a stay, park and fly package we normally do at BUF airport before flying to a cruise and our car was waiting at the hotel when ever we got back. ;)

 

By the way, gasoline is very inexpensive in the Newark area. I paid $1.64 per US gallon for my fill up. It's almost double that here in Ontario when that price is converted to $CAD per liter. Gasbuddy.com shows today price is $1.55/ gallon where I filled up.

As you point out, many of those who sail from Bayonne do not fly to the ship. So can you imagine the chaos that would take place at the Orlando airport if 4,000 cruisers were dumped into PC to make their way home rather than returning to NJ as a PP suggested? There are three large airports within 30 minutes of Cape Liberty, so finding transport home for the minority of those who would need to change their return flights would be much more feasible.

Thank you to those on board who posted during the storm. I am much impressed with your grace under pressure.

If it was the Summit I think it would have been worse. It's a much smaller ship.

It's an extratropical storm. Tropical storms get names. Extratropical ones don't - except from the Weather Channel marketing department. ;)

Indeed. I roll my eyes every time I see them attempt to name other storms.

That's nice to know - that unusual circumstances might merit a waiver of the PVSA fines. In a case like this one, if they had disembarked all pax in PC, the fine would have been huge. No matter now, as there will be no violation since they are returning to the embarkation port with no stops.

 

(And I just had a DUH! moment...I realized I said in my previous post that our 2013 TA cruise from NOLA offloaded a medical evacuee and her husband in PC. It wasn't PC, it was Fort Lauderdale. Must have had PC on my mind from reading this thread!)

Judy

Typically the cruise line will get a waiver for a PVSA violation resulting from a medical emergency. Causing a passenger's death is not the reason nor intent of that law. If they don't, which is very unlikely, they will bill the passengers responsible.

We had our own mishaps on the January 15th -24th adventure which gave us another day at sea returning the 25th. On our first night from Bayonne into the unpredictable North Atlantic (moreso in the winter) we encountered high winds, high swells that we were told on the Bridge Tour that tipped the ship 4 degrees. Also one of the stabilizers was not operating properly and wouldn't completely retract. In fact on our last port which was St. Kitts, Royal was holding the ship to allow an engineer/technician that was flown over from Europe to try and repair the problem. As we got closer to San Juan we were following news reports of Super Storm Jonah that was moving up the east coast from Florida. The Master made a decision to change course and head northwest towards the coast of Florida and the Carolina's at a much slower speed so we wouldn't catch up to the super storm. As it was we could still feel some rocking and saw fairly large swells but nothing like the first night at sea that brought back unpleasant memories of the El Fero's tragic flight.

During all of this Abe (the Cruise Director, and a very good one at that) tried to make light of the situation, while many crew on deck 1 & 2 spoke about how frightening it was when the waves pounded the hull.

I agree with another poster, the Quantum Class are beautiful ships but these are very narrow and tall that don't seem to ride very well without feeling motion, even in light chop.

Speak for yourself- not for the people that WANT a ship here. You are welcome to fly to Florida. Frankly, if I had to get on a airplane, I would obviously not choose to fly to NY in the middle of the winter to get on a cruise ship (not totally understanding the logic of those that do). But for people within driving distance, it is nice to have options-- yes, options. I book it full well knowing what I'm getting into, and CHOOSE not to fly in February.

All these sailings are fully booked 4000+ a voyage. Northeast people are tired of flying to Florida adding 2K to the price for a family of 4 to fly Jet blue. These sailings are not going anywhere anytime soon. However its the luck of the draw in these months with weather and pricing reflects that. The Anthem has had one string of bad luck. 1/15 Customers Pissed. 1/26 customers pissed and now National attention on 2/6 sailing and sailing wiped out. The Anthem has had a massive financial hit. Wonder if RCCL ponies up and pays the crew this time to. Very interesting.

No way they let you stay on board. The boat is going to get round the clock referb from wed until next sailing and fully sanitized and cleaned. Thats even if they can pull it off that fast. Next cruise may also be in jeopardy and cut short.

That's me standing straight up. It gets kinda comical...I know the crew is doing everything they can to keep us safe.

Wow. Looks like a 10-12 degree list!

Royal shouldn't have a ship in NY/NJ in December- March because the weather. This is not the first time they hit really bad weather. That's why no one cruises from Alaska in February. Royal bring your ship back to Florida for winter months!

 

 

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If there was a market for cruises out of AK in February, there would be sailings. Just like out of NYC, the cruise lines would attempt to work around what weather there might be. Obviously, there is zero cruise market for AK in the winter months.

This storm would most likely be categorized as a nor'easter as it was caused by cold air interacting with the Gulf Stream. A hurricane is tropical in nature and forms due to the evaporation off a warm mass of water. Hurricanes are officially named, nor'easters are not unless you count the Weather Channel's unofficial names.

Nor'easters are mostly a late fall to early spring storms since hurricanes during the winter never got names util as you said the weather channel started this in the last few years naming them. Then again I don't think we have been seeing storms this deep in the gulf coming up to NE with such strength and force. Then the driver is El Nino and we have never seen one as strong. Hurricane season if they form in the gulf and become storm size they will be a named hurricane going up the East Coast.

This is a sat. still pix taken a few hours ago of what you went through that is now pounding the Upper NE coast.

Again they determined the storm you all were in and now following back to NJ was a Bombogenesis storm; which means the storm bomb/blew up off the coast a lot faster and way more viciousessly than they had anticipated, so you"ll on Anthem are warriors and can tell some stories of your journey and the Captain and crew on Anthem did really well getting you and vessel all safely through the situation.

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This video is nuts. A vortex on a balcony throwing furniture around like they are cotton balls.

 

Oh my lord.

:confused: There's no severe storm brewing near Jacksonville.

 

https://weather.com/weather/5day/l/USFL0228:1:US

 

They must be heading back to NJ as it's the best place for repairs and replacement of broken items.

 

Having been through Hurricane Sandy on a cruise I will do the arm chair thing for a second. Our Captain of the Norwegian Jewel was vilified by the press when they found he chose to leave NY and head between the storm and the coast, but he made the right choice. Other ships that left the same time we did tried to go into the wind and go over the storm. They ended up stuck in the storm for days and had severe damage. Meanwhile, we plunged ahead South and let the storm push us, reaching a relative 24 kts in speed when the ship was only capable of 20 kts.

 

We had 100+ mph winds and the waves topped out at 40+ ft around 2AM, with the worst one being the last one (which would be the leading wave coming from the storm). I'm pretty sure we were close to a 30 degree tilt with that one as I was in bed and had to grip the mattress to stop from being rolled onto the floor.

 

I question the captain heading the Anthem into the wind for a time, which would be somewhere in the N to NE direction. That's what the RCI ships did with Sandy, and they weren't able to make any headway and had severe damage. Whereas our ship headed S to SW, being pushed by the wind, and the only damage we had was to the liquor store, glass in the shops, glass storage below decks for the shops, and a break in a single guard rail along the running track.

 

Anyhow, glad everyone seems okay. Sorry your trip was canceled, but sounds like the compensation isn't too bad. Big hugs to all of you, I know it wasn't fun when it happened to me and I'm sure it wasn't fun for you folks either.

Might not be a storm around Jacksonville but we have high winds to get worse in Central Florida tonight. They have predicted gale force winds tonight and windy tomorrow and Wed.

We were on a cruise Jan 3-8 this year. When we left PC it was rainy and cold. That followed us for the first 4 days to the Bahamas. We missed the private island because of the storm. We finally saw the sun on the last day. So from personal experience what weather Fl has will usually move out to the Bahamas so I can understand why the ship is not continuing. I do not think better weather would be ahead if they headed south.

This video is nuts. A vortex on a balcony throwing furniture around like they are cotton balls.

 

This is a Grand loft Suite at the back of the ship we just stayed in one on 1/15 that video is amazing

Wow. Looks like a 10-12 degree list!

I just measured it, it's no more than 5 degrees.

This Ship is overrated and managed poorly! Last week, RC came back to port (Bayonne) one day late and cut short our cruise to "WESTERN CARIBBEAN" by one day. This was acceptable and understandable. BUT RC changed a lengthy (milage wise cruise) with an EASTERN CARIBBEAN (once around the block) and literally drifted between ports because they were so close together! They saved a ton of money on fuel mileage! I can understand the previous cruise hitting bad weather, but our scheduled cruise (WESTERN CARIBBEAN) was for fair weather. They made a decision to change and that's that! They get your money and have you over a barrel. I will comment on a another forum about the very bad food and service. (Food almost inedible) GOOD NEWS was that we managed to lose a few pounds on this cruise!

NEVER AGAIN ROYAL CARIBBEAN!! NEVER AGAIN ANTHEM!! Sorry, maybe placing this ship home port in Bayonne was a big mistake.

Duffy111

This video is nuts. A vortex on a balcony throwing furniture around like they are cotton balls.

 

Interesting... 11:15PM and I googled "Anthem of the Seas."

 

No news stories whatsoever.

Yep... because that definitely means someone is being untruthful. Now with the latest releases from RCI, I am sure none of the jerks will acknowledge how wrong they were. They will just wait until next time, and post the same crap again, from behind their anonymous keyboard, where their real personality shines. :rolleyes:

Thanks, for keeping us posted during your interesting journey. Let us know when you arrive back in port, and until then continue to make the best of your time at sea. Now get to the bar for the remaining portion of happy hour. :)

This video is nuts. A vortex on a balcony throwing furniture around like they are cotton balls.

 

 

NEVER AGAIN ROYAL CARIBBEAN!! NEVER AGAIN ANTHEM!! Sorry, maybe placing this ship home port in Bayonne was a big mistake.

 

Duffy111

I agree - this was my last sailing with RCL. The cruise last week has completly turned me off from their brand.

For all of you aboard.....you are on EVERY news channel in the NY/NJ area... Make sure you have your hair and make-up done. I am sure there will be tons of camera's when your ship pulls in.

This video is nuts. A vortex on a balcony throwing furniture around like they are cotton balls.

 

Crazy! I wonder how many chairs, loungers, etc. are floating around in the ocean?

prayers for a safe return!

This Ship is overrated and managed poorly! Last week, RC came back to port (Bayonne) one day late and cut short our cruise to "WESTERN CARIBBEAN" by one day. This was acceptable and understandable. BUT RC changed a lengthy (milage wise cruise) with an EASTERN CARIBBEAN (once around the block) and literally drifted between ports because they were so close together! They saved a ton of money on fuel mileage! I can understand the previous cruise hitting bad weather, but our scheduled cruise (WESTERN CARIBBEAN) was for fair weather. They made a decision to change and that's that! They get your money and have you over a barrel. I will comment on a another forum about the very bad food and service. (Food almost inedible) GOOD NEWS was that we managed to lose a few pounds on this cruise!

 

NEVER AGAIN ROYAL CARIBBEAN!! NEVER AGAIN ANTHEM!! Sorry, maybe placing this ship home port in Bayonne was a big mistake.

 

Duffy111

Welcome to CC,

JC

Just watched interview with the captain. He said the winds were 180MPH yesteday