30 ft Seas and Pearl Leaves Vancouver! HAL remains at dock.

[gentlemancruiser]

hope everyone is safe and survived the evening. I saw on the news that BC ferries cancelled service for many thier routes last night.

[www3traveler]

With the storm system that have blow across the Pacific Northwest since Friday, I would believe that the B.C. ferry system canceled sailings. I would not be surprised if the Washington State Ferry system canceled sailings.

 

I was just reading a news story that south of Seattle this morning a possible tornado did some damage.

 

I just checked The Pearl's Bow Web Cam, it looks like She is finally in calmer seas and has some sunshine,

[MR NW GUY]

My son is on this ship. He phoned at 7pm last night and said that it wasn't too bad yet, but they were still in the straight with their escort. He said that the window in their room had been boarded shut because they were expecting strong winds. Astoria had informed them that they would not be sending a pilot boat, so they would not be able to land there.

 

His first cruise - what a way to experience cruising.

I hope you or your son will report back and share with us how the rest of his night went.

 

When I looked at tracker this am, she was only cruising at 12.5 knots.

[bob brown]

I always wonder how these "cruise" ships really handle nasty weather. Top heavy, not much draft to them; do they start bobbing around like a cork or what? I know QM2 was designed as a ocean liner and not a "faux" liner (cruise ship made to look like an ocean liner) because of this concern and the fact that runs so much open waters.

 

I'd love to do a repo (in fact this NCL itinerary looks awesome) or trans-atlantic but have my concerns that the ships are not well suited to the weather. Experience anyone?'

 

While it is true that the QM2 is the only 'true' modern ocean liner, with a hull designed to take the pounding of the North Atlantic on winter crossings, as well as a large speed reserve to circumnavigate weather; the Dawn and Jewel classes of NCL ships do a pretty good job of handling the weather as well.

I wouldn't hesitate to take a repo on any of them.

IIRC, on such a cruise, a few years ago, the Dawn sustained a hit from a '70 foot rogue wave', and other than some broken glass, was not affected too badly....

[corkpopr]

we have done 7 transatlantics beginning in 2005. one eastbound from ft. lauderdale to rome, two from southhampton to ft. lauderdale, three from rome to ft. lauderdale and last fall barcelona to miami. two princess, three celebrity, one royal, & one carnival. expected the bay of biscay to be rough and it was not (both in november). as you pass the straits of gibraltar and head out into the atlantic is usually rough for a few hours but then fine. all the crossing days were excellent!

[HokiePoq]

I'm sure the HAL ships could handle rough weather. I was on Statendam in 95 with 30-35 foot seas in an unexpected storm- no fun but she handled it fine. I've been sailing with HAL since late 70's and have always noticed that they always err toward caution. Might be the Dutch way. One CD told me they avoid that type of weather primarily for passenger comfort.

Besides. I'm sure the crew would rather avoid all of that cleanup.....

 

Yes. We were on Veendam in an early December tropical storm which had devastated the Dominican Republic. No way back to Tampa except through what was left of it. Everyone stayed in the cabin and I was glad we were low down, midship. Liquor shelves fell over during the night making a big mess and it was a rough ride but the ship, one of their older and smaller ones, did just fine.

[RNPJN]

If the Pearl is heading out to the Straits and Cape Flattery and the open seas they're nuts. Winds predicted to be 40 to 50 knots, seas 15 feet building to 25 feet overnight, according to NOAA:

 

 

"...STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 AM PDT MONDAY...

 

* WIND...EAST WIND 30 TO 40 KNOTS SHIFTING TO WEST 40 TO 50 KNOTS

THIS EVENING.

 

* SEAS...AT THE WEST ENTRANCE COMBINED SEAS 15 FEET BUILDING TO 25

FEET OVERNIGHT. IN THE CENTRAL STRAIT WIND WAVES 6 TO 10 FEET.

 

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

 

A STORM WARNING MEANS WINDS OF 48 TO 63 KNOTS ARE IMMINENT OR

OCCURRING. RECREATIONAL BOATERS SHOULD REMAIN IN PORT...OR TAKE

SHELTER UNTIL WIND AND SEAS SUBSIDE. COMMERCIAL VESSELS SHOULD

PREPARE FOR VERY STRONG WINDS AND DANGEROUS SEA CONDITIONS...AND

CONSIDER REMAINING IN PORT OR TAKING SHELTER IN PORT UNTIL WIND

AND SEAS SUBSIDE."

Ive been on the Sun in the Fl straights in 25 ft seas not that bad and the Sun is a smaller ship

[www3traveler]

I heard from staff members on The Pearl yesterday afternoon to say that they made it through the storm just fine. Late yesterday afternoon, the Web Cam was showing some sun and calmer seas. She will arrive in San Francisco tomorrow, LA on Friday.

[scaaty]

I was on the Gem, which is a sister ship of the Pearl, during hurricane Sandy. We had 40 - 50 foot waves and the ship handled very well! :D

 

They did have to shut down the elevators for safety but I didn't hear of any damage on the ship. Yes, some folks were a little green around the gils, but we were quite surprise as to how full the main dining room was!;)

[lanceholt]

We were on the Sun transatlantic a couple of years ago, sailed through a hurricane 25+ foot waves. Had a rough evening and night, but got through just fine. Quite an experience actually. The captain reassured us several times that the ship was built to sail through a hurricane and it was. Daughter was seasick, bonine did the trick....I was knocked off my feet once in the middle of the night, lol. By morning when we saied into Ponta Delgada, all was calm, but the storm had knocked containers off their docks into the bay.

[Victoria_BC_Mom]

I heard from staff members on The Pearl yesterday afternoon to say that they made it through the storm just fine. Late yesterday afternoon, the Web Cam was showing some sun and calmer seas. She will arrive in San Francisco tomorrow, LA on Friday.

 

Thanks for the update. I haven't heard from my son since they left the strait. It will be interesting to hear what my first-timer thinks. I'll post an update when I hear from him.

[Retired not Expired]

We were on the Jewel for the last Alaskan cruise in an aft penthouse. Both Thursday and Friday until mid morning when we got in the Canadian inner passage we had heavy winds and 30+ seas. The Jewel handled it well. We even spent time on the balcony. We did have to miss Victoria due to running slower but the Canadian inside passgae was wonderful. We've been on the Sun in a bow penthouse in similar seas and the Jewel handled them better. The Sun did OK.

[Brighton Line]

You guys brought back memories of last October and Hurricane Sandy.

Caribbean Princess in Boston, all thrustsers, 21 lines and two tugs to keep her against the pier in 75knot winds gusting to 90.

 

 

 

Gem and Dawn join the party, Gem is out of fresh food, traveled all they up the east coast with every port closed until Boston. Trucks are already lined up to off load, was interesting to watch since they wouldn't let us off the ship.

BTW the pickup truck is used by the longshoreman to pull the lines from the ship. I've seen boats used, muscle used, not a pickup truck.

 

[Elkpad]

I just got off the Jewel Vancouver to LA Repo last week and we had two days of 15-20ft swells. One between Victoria and Astoria and then a sea day on the way to San Fran. Captain Lars had a few announcements about it "being a bit rough", but not to worry, the ships can take it. the Victoria to Astoria trip wasn't too bad, although you certainly could feel it rocking. We ended up taking most swells off the starboard quarter. The crew closed the pools of course and locked down all deck items prior to leaving Astoria just in case for the second day. They had a lot of sea sick bags laying about everywhere for folks, and of course the gift shop ran out of dramamine, bonine, and meclazine too. However, the shows still went on and it wasn't as bad as one would think. They advised to hold on to hand rails and be careful. There were only a few instances where I felt like I needed to hold onto something. We were all the way on the top of the ship on deck 14 so I suspect got a bit more rocking than those lower in the boat. I never felt like the ship was going to have any issues and the staff/crew certainly knew the ship limits. However, I'm glad now that I booked the Jewel instead of the Pearl for the repo! at least we got a smaller storm =).

[steveokla]

I just got off of the Pearl last week. We had rough seas leaving Seattle on the 22nd so the captain chose to take the inside passage instead of going out into the Pacific. On the way back, we had 56kts force 10 winds, and 7 -12 waves. Bumpy ride into Victoria, but settled down when we reach Vancouver. Pretty rocky where a lot of people were getting sea sick..

[LadyShiva]

We were on Jewel for Sandy with Captain Lars last Halloween. I have no complaints. :) We never felt unsafe, even while the captain was outrunning the storm at full steam (24+ knots). My husband was quite unnerved by me giggling like a maniac while watching the huge waves far below, though. I sat in the bath tub looking out the window for a good portion of the night.

 

There was only minor damage to Jewel, even with the "Super Storm" designation. Lots of dishes being broken, primarily. The crew had used a LOT of plastic wrap to secure things, as they knew ahead of time they were running through Sandy to get to Port Canaveral.

[bob brown]

You guys brought back memories of last October and Hurricane Sandy.

Caribbean Princess in Boston, all thrustsers, 21 lines and two tugs to keep her against the pier in 75knot winds gusting to 90.

 

 

 

Gem and Dawn join the party, Gem is out of fresh food, traveled all they up the east coast with every port closed until Boston. Trucks are already lined up to off load, was interesting to watch since they wouldn't let us off the ship.

BTW the pickup truck is used by the longshoreman to pull the lines from the ship. I've seen boats used, muscle used, not a pickup truck.

 

Hey! Thanks for that last photo! I was on the Dawn that day....

[billie5]

I'm sure the HAL ships could handle rough weather. .....

 

I agree with you. All cruise ships can handle rough weather. The issue I addressed was that some can do better than others.

 

And, indeed, the Dutch are a cautious folk!

[MR NW GUY]

I agree with you. All cruise ships can handle rough weather. The issue I addressed was that some can do better than others.

 

And, indeed, the Dutch are a cautious folk!

Everyone except the Norwegians were cautious....

[ClaireAndMike]

holy crap, we did that route last week.

[Victoria_BC_Mom]

I agree with you. All cruise ships can handle rough weather. The issue I addressed was that some can do better than others.

 

I had no fear for my son's safety, I know that the ships can take it. It is just their comfort and enjoyment (or lack thereof) that I was concerned about.

And to add to their problems, they were really looking forward to touring Alcatraz but it was closed, as of yesterday, due to cutbacks. They already have the tickets. The tour company is substituting a boat tour around the island. Hopefully they will get a refund without hassle.

 

Still no word from them. Hopefully they will call from San Francisco today.

[billie5]

Everyone except the Norwegians were cautious....

Which perhaps is why they reached N. America hundreds of years before Columbus. Well, they called themselves Icelanders, but they were really just Norwegens ............

[Victoria_BC_Mom]

It would be nice to hear from some of the passengers on the Pearl. She is the only ship that left last night from Canada or Washington.

 

I finally heard from my son who is now in SF. He said that it was kinda rough but not too bad. Someone was sick (not them) outside their cabin door (Yech). They emptied the pools in prep for the storm but they were full and useable yesterday, which was calm and hot. They are VERY disappointed about missing Alcatraz, but they got their refund no problem.

 

So the Pearl seems to have handled the storm very well.

[DevCruise]

It would be nice to hear from some of the passengers on the Pearl. She is the only ship that left last night from Canada or Washington.

 

We were on the Seattle-Alaska-Vancouver cruise just before this one. We had rough seas twice during the cruise for a couple hours at a time. While the ship made it to the next port, it was not a fun cruise during those times.

[MR NW GUY]

I finally heard from my son who is now in SF. He said that it was kinda rough but not too bad. Someone was sick (not them) outside their cabin door (Yech). They emptied the pools in prep for the storm but they were full and useable yesterday, which was calm and hot. They are VERY disappointed about missing Alcatraz, but they got their refund no problem.

 

So the Pearl seems to have handled the storm very well.

Great news! Thanks for reporting back to us.