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Stability

hansol1966

By hansol1966,
in Cunard Line

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VirginCruiser II

VirginCruiser II

Posted
Posted
Would any of Cunards ships faired better than the Louis Majestys freak wave experience in the Meditteranean or should there be a stabilty rating for every ship alongside other ratings.

Fred.

 

 

QM2 can handle anything the North Atlantic can throw at her.

On our crossing last November we more than our fair share of freak

waves - one wave came up over deck seven!

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Atomica

Atomica

Posted
Posted
Yes, all of them, because they weren't built with glass where steel belongs. Here is CNN's reassuring take on cruise ship stability.

 

Right on the money.

 

The accident only occurred because of the large, bay windows that are situated on the same level as the top of the bow itself, which is very short. The bow goes under the heavy seas which then cascade across the deck and slam into the glass windows, breaking them on impact. It has little to do with the actual stability of the ship.

 

Compare this with QM2 - or any other cruise ship. QM2 has a set of 'fenders' meant to push any heavy seas off of the bow before it reaches the bulkhead windscreen, which on QM2 is composed of smaller, harder to break windows. The windscreen is also tapered to push any water on the bow off.

 

Similar for most other cruise ships as well - and the main reason if there are forward-facing public rooms onboard, they're situated higher up on the superstructure.

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bobby1119

bobby1119

Posted
Posted

The Louis Majesty incident reminded me of a similar incident involving the Italian Line's MICHELANGELO in which several individuals perished.

 

The link contains an amazing account and some frightening photos.

 

I had the pleasure of sailing both the Michelangelo and her sister, Raffaello, near the end of their all-too-short careers. They were lovely ships.

 

http://www.michelangelo-raffaello.com/english_site/service_michelangelo/accident_michelangelo/accident_mich.htm

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ColumbiaSC

ColumbiaSC

Posted
Posted

This is my opportunity, bobby1119, to say that it was your reports on the 2007 World Cruise of the marvelous QE2 that prompted me to take the Farewell World Cruise of 2008. Thank you very, very much! Sorry to have missed meeting you. Notice you'll be on Queen Victoria as I depart in January 2011 on the Queen Mary 2 World Voyage. Don.

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bobby1119

bobby1119

Posted
Posted
This is my opportunity, bobby1119, to say that it was your reports on the 2007 World Cruise of the marvelous QE2 that prompted me to take the Farewell World Cruise of 2008. Thank you very, very much! Sorry to have missed meeting you. Notice you'll be on Queen Victoria as I depart in January 2011 on the Queen Mary 2 World Voyage. Don.

 

I am so moved by your kind comments, Don. I am glad that what I shared on CruiseCritic inspired you to take the 2008 voyage of that greatest ship of them all, our beloved and sorely missed QE2.

 

The world cruise was a humbling, life-changing experience for me. As a ship enthusiast from my adolescence, I always dreamed about a world cruise. My heartbeat still quickens each time I embark on a cruise, especially so on Cunard ships.

 

Perhaps we shall cross paths at sea someday.

 

Best wishes and always Bon Voyage!

 

Bobby

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whattodo

whattodo

Posted
Posted

We're sailing in July westbound. How's the sea that time of year? At which point is the sea likely to be most rough?

 

VirginCruiser II - a wave that came over deck seven. :eek: What other freak things happened?

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bob brown

bob brown

Posted
Posted
Just try to avoid sailing over New Years.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtTqH-rARbs

Thanks for posting that, Kyle. Always fascinating to watch. Did you ever notice that while the tables seemed to be attached to the floors, the chairs were too? What's up with that?:confused:

Perhaps the director, or whoever designs the shot figured most viewers wouldn't notice that anamoly, or a few others like people dropping long before dishes. I didn't until seeing it several times.

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guernseyguy

guernseyguy

Posted
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Did you ever notice that while the tables seemed to be attached to the floors, the chairs were too?

 

I recall seeing photos of Queen Mary's First Class Dining Room with tethers attached between the bottom of the chairs and the deck - in case of rough weather - so you could move the chair to sit, but it would not run away in a big roll.....

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stowaway2k

stowaway2k

Posted
Posted
I recall seeing photos of Queen Mary's First Class Dining Room with tethers attached between the bottom of the chairs and the deck - in case of rough weather - so you could move the chair to sit, but it would not run away in a big roll.....

 

 

2898223290055338351S500x500Q85.jpg

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VirginCruiser II

VirginCruiser II

Posted
Posted
We're sailing in July westbound. How's the sea that time of year? At which point is the sea likely to be most rough?

 

VirginCruiser II - a wave that came over deck seven. :eek: What other freak things happened?

 

Nothing. This was the tail end of Hurricane Ida remember.

We were out there walking deck seven when this happened! They wouldn't let anybody out on deck for two days after that. Even the windows in the Commodore Club way up on deck 9 were being sprayed!The Britannia Restaurant was 1/3 empty on the first of the two nights due to people feeling sick. The waiters did a fantastic job there and so did the waiters serving afternoon tea in the Queens Room. The service was, as always, impeccable. The shows had to be rescheduled thoughdue to danger to the dancers. In the pub and the restaurant for two days the windows would suddenly go jet black as huge waves crash against us.

For everybody this seemed a real adventure; we'd never seen anything like it on any of our crossings but had every confidence in this great liner. We felt very concerned for anybody on other vessels though and it was reported that all other ships had come to a stop yet QM2 continued on at 22 knots - a great tribute to the ship and to Captain Bates.

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bob brown

bob brown

Posted
Posted
What's up with that?:confused:

quote]

 

I've always wondered why the ship began to capsize while the wave was still quite a distance off... :rolleyes:

Actually, there is some reason. Remember the Captain shouting the command "hard left...." Such a sudden move will cause a ship to roll.

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bob brown

bob brown

Posted
Posted
Love the way they got the nautical terminology right.....

You are correct. Of course if that was real, and you saw that wave coming at you, I wonder just what other nice expletives might have been said.....:eek:

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rm3

rm3

Posted
Posted
Love the way they got the nautical terminology right.....

 

Steering commands are properly given as "Left" or "Right". I am not sure about the "Hard left" part though, I believe "Full left rudder" would be the proper terminology.

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