High winds force jewel to leave port temporarily

[apk1389]

High winds(believed up to to be close to 50knots will confirm later) shakes the gangways on the Jewel while in St. Petersburg. Almost blowing the gangways off from the ship. Ship had to pull out of port for almost 2 hrs. This has aided in a delayed departure as it is 6:00 and there is still quite a long line to board the ship. Heavy rains and wind hit the area this afternoon. Will post as soon as more details are released, I only just got on

[Jimbo]

Pictures........

 

Jimbo:)

[apk1389]

OK I got have no pictures as I was on a two day Russia tour but I just spoke to CLO and got more accurate details. There was a thing called a microburst which picked the winds up from 10-13 knots to 51 knots. It caused the ship ropes that hold it in the front to rip and for it to be pushed away from port. The ship did not leave port but instead was stuck outside the dock for just over 2hrs. The gangway fell into the water while connected and was later brought back on. This all started just after 1pm

 

The first thing I would like to make it clear that the general consensus is that the crew handled this wonderfully. Whomever is second in command to the captain saw the storm come and cleared the gangway area. Although many where displeased they had to do this for safety. Along with this storm was high winds, rain, snow, and sleet. All of the afternoon tours were cancelled due to the fact no one could come on or off. Will again post later.. keep tuned...

 

last note 2 people are now stuck in russia due to not having there passports, I am not sure as if they were stolen or if they lost them in port. They will now have to get to moscow and sort everything out and will miss the rest of the cruise. I was in the terminal when this happened.

[romnan]

Microbursts are extremely dangerous and nothing to fool around with. Have been thru a few as I live in Florida:eek:

[dzcruisers]

Hope your weather remains calm.

Let us know if you hear anymore of the fate of the passengers without passports. Thanks!

[apk1389]

[GORDONCHICK]

I hope nobody was on that when it happened! Yikes!

[apk1389]

the two without passengers where guests performers onboard.. no new information regarding the incident looking for a video to post

[Merion_Mom]

WOW. Quite a picture!

 

Thanks for the great firsthand reporting, apk.

[Jimbo]

Looks like they are pulling it out of the water with a green strap on the top of it and are getting ready to place it back on the pier.

 

Most likely they had to send down some divers to attach the strap to it. I bet it was completely under water when it went in.

 

Jimbo:)

[Aquahound]

Microbursts are extremely dangerous and nothing to fool around with. Have been thru a few as I live in Florida:eek:

 

No kidding! I've seen mooring lines snap from sudden winds. In fact, I think there's video out there of it happening to an RCI ship.

[gkny]

Thanks for this post. It's very interesting.

[Nanatopiper]

Scarey!! I too hope no one was on that when it broke away from the ship.

 

Thanks for posting, and hope that the rest of your cruise is calm and relaxing.

[TravelerThom]

A few years ago we had embarked on the Mariner in Port Canaveral when a storm came up and broke the ropes on a Disney ship and dropped the gangways. Pretty dramatic. Ten minutes later the sun came out as if nothing ever happened. Luckily [and due I'm sure to quick thinking by crew] no one was hurt in that case either.

last note 2 people are now stuck in russia due to not having there passports, I am not sure as if they were stolen or if they lost them in port. They will now have to get to moscow and sort everything out and will miss the rest of the cruise.

Almost all contries have Consulates in St. Petersburg, so I doubt that there is a need to go to Moscow. At least for most countires, Passports and Visas are handled by consulates, not by embassies. Often embassies have an in house Consulate, but I live in the Washington, DC area and have discovered that I often have to go somewhere other than the Embassy to get Visas. Back in the 1980s Argentina required Visas of the US citizens [not talking about the current Visa Reciprocity Fee, but an actual Visa], and I discovered that even though Argentina had an Embassy in DC, they had no Consulate here, and I had to drive to Baltimore to visit a Consulate for a Visa.

 

Thom

[klingoncruiser]

Wow, that does not sound good.

[swcruise]

Tks for posting, it must have been disappointing for those on excursions as St Petersburg is a must see on that route. But one has to bow to the power of mother nature.. glad nobody was hurt

[custard75]

Hi, I was on the Jewel of the Seas last week, returning today and can confirm one of the people who 'lost' their passport was a guest entertainer. He was on our excursion to the Peterhof Palace garden tour where pickpockets are rife, according to reports and the guide. Just as we were about to catch the hydrofoil ride back he told our guide a pickpocket had stolen his passport, wallet and credit card. Poor chap. The pickpockets are very quick. They say do not put backpacks on your back, carry in front. I would suggest a very small bag which you can zip under a top or cardigan. I do not know what happened, the tour guide made a lot of frantic phone calls and he was still on the coach when we left. I was told anyone losing passport had to go to Moscow for a new one as immigration will not let anyone through back to the ship. The microburst happened as we were on route to the Palace. We then had another thunderstorm when we arrived and were all throughly soaked but it was such good fun and it was nice and warm. In fact the storm took the humidity away. Great cruise.

[apk1389]

never could find a video or any other pictures as i guess most were ashore already.. overall great cruise beautiful weather all the way through to that day in russia.. travelerthom as custard75 posted as well we were told by all if u lost ure pass port u would need to go to moscow our tour guide said it usually takess a minimum of 2 weeks to get everything dealt with

[tahqa]

never could find a video or any other pictures as i guess most were ashore already.. overall great cruise beautiful weather all the way through to that day in russia.. travelerthom as custard75 posted as well we were told by all if u lost ure pass port u would need to go to moscow our tour guide said it usually takess a minimum of 2 weeks to get everything dealt with

 

This is not true. There is an US Consulate office in St Petersburg that can assist citizens with lost or stolen passports. There would be no need to go all the way to Moscow.