Live and limping on the Dawn

[kwcrnp]

I agree with discjoker.....how could NCL have avoided a freak wave? I feel terrible for the ordeal that these passengers went through but NCL is truely stepping up and doing the right thing. Most cruise lines would not nor would any be required to compensate the way NCL has. These people are dealing with mother nature, not NCL.

 

Unfortunately in our very "sue-happy" society, NCL will be sued by people over this and that's the real crime.

 

JMHO, Kristi

[fin]

Got back my replies from those aboard the Dawn, and it sounds a bit rough.

 

 

I posted a pic on my weblog, sort of in honor to the Dawn. I am impressed with the workload of having to be instantly responsible for re-doing four thousand travel reservations. "You call is important to us....." Again, kudos to NCL for a job well done.

 

http://fin.journalspace.com

[shoreguy]

I agree with discjoker.....how could NCL have avoided a freak wave? I feel terrible for the ordeal that these passengers went through but NCL is truely stepping up and doing the right thing. Most cruise lines would not nor would any be required to compensate the way NCL has. These people are dealing with mother nature, not NCL.

 

Unfortunately in our very "sue-happy" society, NCL will be sued by people over this and that's the real crime.

 

JMHO, Kristi

 

I am ashamed but you are right.

 

The news will find the most unreasonable passengers to cover. I just watched the report on the Weather Channel. Interview with a man from NJ "A lifetime of memories ruined" "People onboard wearing tee shirts with derogatory words about NCL"

 

When ship happens nobody wins :cool:

[Retired not Expired]

I am ashamed but you are right.

 

The news will find the most unreasonable passengers to cover. I just watched the report on the Weather Channel. Interview with a man from NJ "A lifetime of memories ruined" "People onboard wearing tee shirts with derogatory words about NCL"

 

When ship happens nobody wins :cool:

 

Kind of like the case of six people on a city bus, the bus crashes, when the police arrive there are ten people on the bus.

 

I warned them over on the RCI board that after the bedbug report, there will be more coming out of the woodwork (So to Speak). Sure enough, threads are coming up, I was on an RCI ship and developed a rash, should I make a claim against RCI. Most cases, the party involved had gone swimming on most of the islands. Guess they never heard of sea lice. Read a report, someone may get money, hey, the same thing happened to me.

 

NCL has done wonders for these people and most of them will appreciate it. There will be a few however.

[maun]

Scratching my head wondering where did they get these t shirts so quickly. I'm sure the Dawn didn't have them in the gift shop anticipating the day a rogue wave would hit. And if the passengers were being thrown about, they certainly couldn't have been hand stitching these derogatory comments on t shirts while riding out the storm. Are these the sourpusses who would only find the negative in any cruise experience and come prepared with t shirts to let everyone know how dissatisfied they are? I just saw the Weather Channel interview too. If that guy's lifetime of memories was ruined, how will he survive the rocky seas of marriage? I cannot imagine what all the passengers have gone through and it will be interesting to see the varied reviews here on the boards after everyone returns home.

[stanford's girl]

 

Yes' date=' but how is any of this NCL's fault? The point was that it was ridiculous that people were upset at NCL for this.[/quote']

 

The "rogue wave" is not NCL's fault. They have no control over the weather or the sea. I think people were frightened and rightly so. From what I have read, NCL stepped up to the plate as soon as it happened. So kudos to NCL for doing so and :p to other lines that do not. It will be interesting to see what the CC posters who were on board have to say. I'm sure there will be all sorts of views on what happened.

[signman]

The rogue wave that broke over the QE2's bow years ago buckled steel plates on the foredeck, and because the ship was built for service in the North Atlantic, those plates are much heavier then those used on cruiseships. I believe the indentation is still there.

[shoreguy]

Scratching my head wondering where did they get these t shirts so quickly. I'm sure the Dawn didn't have them in the gift shop anticipating the day a rogue wave would hit. And if the passengers were being thrown about, they certainly couldn't have been hand stitching these derogatory comments on t shirts while riding out the storm. Are these the sourpusses who would only find the negative in any cruise experience and come prepared with t shirts to let everyone know how dissatisfied they are? I just saw the Weather Channel interview too. If that guy's lifetime of memories was ruined, how will he survive the rocky seas of marriage? I cannot imagine what all the passengers have gone through and it will be interesting to see the varied reviews here on the boards after everyone returns home.

 

The reviews will be interesting and I bet varied. Remember how angry some members were about the change in itinerary and the early return to NY. The wave took care of the early return.

 

I have to give the members on the 4/17 roll call credit. They have rolled with the punches and welcome everything NCL has done so far. Their first concern was for those on the 4/10 cruise.

 

Big round of Applause for all of them

[tigerlilycruiser12]

I agree they deserve a round of applause for hanging in there and I hope they all have a terrific cruise.

 

 

marie

[darrencantwait]

I haven't sailed on NCL, as it hasn't really seemed like it was for me. However, living just blocks form the NYC passenger terminal, I've had my fair share of "fantasy cruising" seeing the Dawn sail away on Sundays. I just happened to pull up her webcam last night and saw that she was alongside. Knowing that NCL doesn't have the most reliable webcams, I dismissed it. However, when I saw that the NY Passenger Terminal didn't have their port cam on today, I felt something was amiss. I rollerbladed over today, and saw no ship. Finally, when I came back I logged onto Cruise Critic to see if there was any news, and found out about the wave. YIKES!

 

Regardless of cruise line, I want to say that I appreciate all the cruise critic members who have posted here. Even if we have allegiances to different lines, we still share a love for cruising. Thanks and best wishes especially to those who have posted from the ship or who are awaiting embarkation. Best wishes to all of you.

 

My office overlooks the Hudson. I'll be looking for those of you arriving, and those of you departing tomorrow. Best to all of you, and 3 cheers for cruisecritic.com.

[C&F]

I am glad to hear that most of you are ok. I hope none of the reported injuries are serious, though I have heard they are not. It is ironic that this wave did so much damage, yet there were reports (I believe on this board) of cruise ships in the December tsunami region that were unaffected. Well, we want no one to be harmed at all so get well to those who were and lets hope this doesn't happen ever again!! Kudos to Norwegian for their reported excellent reaction to this. It is an unfortunate and uncontrolled act of God, but they seem to have come up passing with flying colors where customer service is concerned. I remember being on the Celebrity Zenith sailing back to New York from Bermuda in 2001 facing terrible weather. I thought we were going to have a catastrophie, but thankfully it subsided, but I can only IMAGINE the fear that was onboard the Dawn. Imagine being a person at the front of the ship?!?!? How were the skies during this event? Was there a storm at sea or was it a wave only (not to trivialize it, I swear!!)

Happy (and uneventful?) cruising to all!!

C&F

[madelinerose]

Sounds like NCL handled the situation well. I hope everyone recovers from this very strange happening.

[cruiseobsessed]

I think it's great how many thoughts and prayers are going from this board to the people who went through this nightmare and the people whose cruise is cancelled because of it. It's nice to know that people still care so much about people they've never met! God Bless all!

[NJcruiser21]

 

Big round of Applause for all of them

 

ditto!

[wants2fly]

Does anybody know which 62 cabins were flooded?

 

Wants2fly

[smeyer418]

it appears to be 9th and 10 deck forward.

[Conanc]

Hi diskjoker,

 

Fancy meeting you here :)

I agree with your comments. I was so sorry to hear about this situation and

glad to hear that most passengers are physically OK. We are all sorry it happened and I'm sure it was very traumatic for the passengers and crew onboard BUT kudos to NCL for the way they handled and continue to handle this. The derogatory comments, the T-shirts -- all of it is just ridiculous and unnecessary. Let's give credit to NCL and to the crew who were probably just as scared as the passengers.

 

Nancy

[discjoker]

Hi diskjoker,

 

Fancy meeting you here :)

I agree with your comments. I was so sorry to hear about this situation and

glad to hear that most passengers are physically OK. We are all sorry it happened and I'm sure it was very traumatic for the passengers and crew onboard BUT kudos to NCL for the way they handled and continue to handle this. The derogatory comments, the T-shirts -- all of it is just ridiculous and unnecessary. Let's give credit to NCL and to the crew who were probably just as scared as the passengers.

 

Nancy

 

Hey Nancy! :)

 

Yes, let's not forget about the crew. While they are used to rough weather I am sure they were just as shocked as the passengers when this happened. It sounds like the crew and NCL as a corporation have handled this situation amazingly.

[wants2fly]

I just read the updated news on NCL's website. I think NCL did a great job on updating what the 17th and now the 18th cruise would be and explaining the reason why Private Island wasn't included at first. Now it is clear, at least for me, why NCL plan the way they did.

Have a great time on Dawn, people of the 18th cruise, your patience deserves the best reward... Have fun and enjoy!

 

Wants2fly

[zackiedawg]

I have heard different views on rogue waves...some saying they are common, and some saying they are not. Well, I'd say they are rare, but non uncommon. The rare aspect is to have a rogue wave occur in the same place and time that a ship is occupying that space. In that sense, it is fairly rare for a ship to encounter one. However, rogue waves occur with somewhat regular timing throughout the world's oceans and seas. Rogue waves can be wind-induced, meaning directly driven by force of wind as waves are, but in one particular instance of concentrated wind force or downdraft causing abnormally large waves in one area. Or they can happen in stormy seas in what is commonly called 'wave stacking'...with the frequency of two waves being different...one wave catches up to the one in front of it, and climbs up over it. Two 35 foot waves which stack can become a 70 footer.

 

BTW - in reference to C&F's comment on the irony of this wave being so damaging while the December 04 Tsunami didn't affect any ships - tsunamis are tectonic, volcanic, or landslide induced columns of water driven at high speed through open ocean. They may be no more than a few feet in elevation above the sea level, but are actually travelling columns of water from sea floor to surface. Tsunamis grow dangerous when a land shelf causes the water to become ever shallower near land, and that column of water is forced upwards as it nears the shore. A Tsunami which is only 2 feet above the surface in 200 feet of water can be 52 feet above the surface in 150 feet of water. So tsunamis rarely affect a ship in open sea...only when a ship is in port is it threatened by a tsunami.

 

The more you cruise, the more likely the odds will stack towards your experiencing such a phenomenon. I've cruised 20 times, and have experienced 2 such instances...and my mother who has cruised more than 90 times has experienced at least 3 and possibly more. Just a few months ago, the Semester at Sea ship was struck with such a wave off Alaska. A week later, it's former sister ship now running as a tour ship off Spain encountered one too. Last September, the HAL Rotterdam was hit during Hurricane Karl with several such waves causing considerable damage (check out a few pictures my mother took onboard...this was one of her experiences: http://www.funtigo.com/zackiedawg?b=191115&c=177495&p=3.0&n=3&af=y&nav=next ) The Rotterdam was not only knocked around, but lost engines and power during the hurricane and was drifting for several hours. Mom has cruised alot...but didn't like that experience very much!Ironically, just 1 year before the same ship had been struck with another rogue which was captured by the bow cam:

 

Everyone has mentioned QE2's 1995 experience already. In 2001, the Bremen and the Caledonian Star were both struck by rogues...Bremen was left powerless and without navigation for 2 hours. In 2002, the Hanseatic was struck off New Zealand. In a 1986 cruise, my mother was onboard the Homeric when it was struck by a rogue in the 50ft region. In 1993, I was onboard the Carnival Jubilee off the Mexican Riviera when the ship was probably struck by a rogue due to a severe microburst from a nearby stormfront...it struck us broadside and kept us 20 degrees over for 30 secs or so, and the ship was a mess...food, liquor, casino, dining tables, deck chairs, etc all knocked over or thrown overboard.

 

However, as many have mentioned, the chances of being in a car accident are many times greater, but you don't stop driving. The ships I've been aboard have handled them very well...sure, there is a mess sometimes, but there are usually only moderate to light injuries to a handful of unlucky folks, and some cleanup time. The ships are usually large enough to escape serious structural or safety-compromising damage.

 

Hopefully, those injured recover quickly and are not too traumatized by an unfortunate coincidence of timing...this ship happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and found one of the rogues out there. Certainly the ship or the line is not at fault, and seems to have done a wonderful job in handling the situation.

[judyf]

I just got home from a weekend at my daghters and I just read about the Dawn. I'm so glad that everyone seems to be okay. My prayers are with them.

 

Thanks for posting and updating us so we hear (read) it from someone who was there.

 

Thanks

[greenie]

zackiedawg,

 

your whole post was so interesting! thanks.

 

:)

[Rosieo]

I also have been wondering....how did they get those t-shirts so quickly. Often rumors start very quickly...

[discjoker]

I also have been wondering....how did they get those t-shirts so quickly. Often rumors start very quickly...

 

Most likely white t-shirts and a marker.

[coka]

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone on both sailings. I am indeed impressed with NCL's handling of the situation. Good luck to all on a safe journey home!

Coka