Biggest waves encountered?

[drey_p]

The biggest waves waves we've ever encountered were on Independence of the Seas going Transatlantic from Southampton in November 2013. According to the Captain, the waves were 30 foot with peaks of 50 foot. It was pretty dreadful for about 36 hours or so.

 

The sound of the waves hitting the ship's hull caused it to shake and rattle - it kinda made a noise like we had run into an island or something LOL.

 

There were also gale force winds so the outer decks were all shut for safety.

 

Even the crew were a little bit green.

Edited March 15, 2015 by drey_p

[Granny DI]

We were sailing a transatlantic on the Grand Princes in 2007. We had just spent a gorgeous day in Greenland. As we sailed into the ice fields off of Greenland the sky began to darken and within a few hours we were in the middle of a category 3 hurricane. The ship at full power couldn't move. On the second day of the storm, the Capt asked us all to return to our cabins and not to move until further instructions. He was going to make a sharp right turn to escape the hurricane, but everything had to be tied down in the event we leaned heavily to the right...talk about scared!!! The Capt did the maneuver, the skies cleared, the winds stopped and it was a beautiful day. We missed the next two ports but frankly no one cared! My scariest time was the night before when we were surrounded by ice bergs in the middle of a hurricane! Many people were injured. My friends were literally thrown out of their beds. They never sailed the North Atlantic again.

I've decided if I can survive that and not get hurt or sick then I can survive anything!

[nelblu]

There were 2 instances that I recall waves being pretty bad. As a comparison on the 2/2/16 Quantum cruise coming back we hit some 18-20 ft waves and the ship handled it well, although there was a lot of creaking.

 

As a comparison:

 

When we emigrated from Italy some 55 years ago we traversed the Atlantic on the USS Constitution and faced waves some 35-40+ft. One must remember this was before stabilizers and they used to put ropes out. Needless to say we bounced around pretty good and of course the dining room was empty for about a day and a half.

 

The second instance was a cruise some 40 years ago in February from NYC to the Bahamas on the Leonardo Da Vinci. We were out a couple of days and there was this huge storm that the captain skirted and stayed on the fringe. However, the waves from the storm were pretty awful and as we looked from an enclosed area in the back of the ship and as the ship dipped/rose in the front, the waves at back seemed so much higher than the ship that we thought it would overwhelm the ship. It was awesome, but scary.

 

Her sister ship the Raffaello was not so lucky. She was coming the opposite way and couldn't escape and hit the storm. We were told by the Leonardo staff that there were injuries, all dishes broken and the plumbing system knocked out.

 

We do most of our cruising from San Juan and Florida.

[Pagogo]

Last year while on the Explorer ,sailing out of NJ. On the first night we got hit about 5am off the south Jersey coast with what the Captain said we were hit with a rouge 50 foot wave. Two of the life boats were knocked out of service with one down on the deck. The wave broke the door near the lifeboats and entered the fourth deck. The water rushed in and hit the Aque bar area. They had to close that area down and for days removed the rugs and furniture. The water also ran down the steps to deck 2.

As the captain said it was a good thing that it hit early in the morning with no one on the deck.

 

We were on that sailing as well, and if you look at the lifeboat positions, I believe the roque wave was closer to 60 feet. (not that it makes that much of a difference ). Besides that, we had 9-12 meter seas steady for a couple days! Still a great cruise.

[jules815]

I was on Carnival Dream during Hurricane Sandy; that was probably the worst.

 

On Liberty just last week, we had a couple of evenings that were pretty bad; Labadee to Ocho Rios, and the evening we left Jamaica before our last sea day. I was actually woken up a couple of times due to rocking.

 

Do they sometimes turn off the stabilizers during the night?

[DaytonCruiser]

Pacific Sun Cruise liner in very heavy seas:

 

Pacific Sun Cruise liner in very heavy seas. Internal CCTV footage of se...:

 

 

Raw Video: Huge Waves Slam Cruise Ship:

Edited March 15, 2015 by DaytonCruiser

[Susie51]

30 ft waves on an Alaska Sept. cruise.

[nelblu]

Do you remember, a couple of years ago, there was a rogue wave that hit a Norwegian Cruise Line that shattered part of the Captain's control room. Also, the Captain and the company came under criticism because they did not avoid the storm because they had to be in NYC for a reality show. Can't remember the name of the ship or the estimated size of the wave.

[cruising sister]

In December 2010 on the Brilliance of the Seas trying to get into the Port of Alexandria we were trapped in between the waves with no stabilizers. The ship listed from side to side. All I know is that when we flew back across the room on our bed, my husband pulled back the curtains and all we saw was a wall of water and we were on deck 7.

[debshomespun]

Explorer sailing from Bayonne to Bermuda 10/28/12 sailing into hurricane Sandy. We encountered 45 ft waves, and winds way over 100 MPH. This went on from shortly after we left port at 4:00PM, into the next afternoon. There was several windows broken out of the gym, most of the liquor in the shop fell over, and the windjammer had to close just before the end of breakfast, and then re-opened for dinner.

 

We also just experienced a cyclone off the NE coast of Australia on Rhapsody, Cyclone Maria was a category 5 Cyclone. Captain Rob slowed down to let the Cyclone pass, so we ended up with 2 days of rain, but the waves were not all that big (15 to 20 ft). We had rougher seas a couple weeks before this cruise on the Celebrity Solstice crossing the Tasman Sea.

[BearsAhoy]

The biggest waves waves we've ever encountered were on Independence of the Seas going Transatlantic from Southampton in November 2013. According to the Captain, the waves were 30 foot with peaks of 50 foot. It was pretty dreadful for about 36 hours or so.

 

The sound of the waves hitting the ship's hull caused it to shake and rattle - it kinda made a noise like we had run into an island or something LOL.

 

There were also gale force winds so the outer decks were all shut for safety.

 

Even the crew were a little bit green.

 

 

We were on that one, too. I can't believe how well I slept in those waves! And yeah, when the waves hit broadside, the slam/shudder was such a surprise. Imagine that we weren't even in the worst of that storm?

 

Capt. Teo told us he had once (not that crossing) had a wave hit a lifeboat.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk, please excuse wonky autocorrects.

[LuCruise]

A couple weeks ago I was watching You Tube videos on cruises (random searches)...and then I started watching these type of videos about huge waves and disasters. Then realized...what am I doing watching these things? I want to enjoy our cruise and not be terrified of something that is not likely to occur :eek:

[sea shepherd]

The worst storm I have been in was on the Grandeur Nov 27th 2013.

They said we had 50 ft seas and it lasted for A day and a half before the seas calmed down. Some one posted a video.

- Video Tube for YouTube - iPhone/iPad

[leobugtravels]

Between Falmouth and Labadee a few days ago on Indy we had 50mph winds and the navigation channel said 9 Beaufort. A quick googling says that corresponds to 20-30ft seas??? I wouldn't have guessed that, but there were quite a few motion sick passengers (including my GF). I thought it made cruising way more fun than a silly hotel!

 

Side note- seemed like especially after we were south of Cuba every evening got quite windy and choppy. Is that the norm?

 

No, not the normal. Depends on the time of year. I was on this sailing as well and was REALLY surprised how rocky it was! Walking to a show the 2nd night a man in front of me told his wife "I'm walking like a drunk person!"

Edited March 16, 2015 by leobugtravels

[GUT2407]

They reckoned our were 13-15 metres, so 40-50 ft.

 

But we were on deck 7 and a wave broke over the balcony above us, not sure how high it went and that's way over 15 metres.

[pspercy]

Full Force 11 in southern N. Sea in a December - and in a 150ft craft with one prop fouled. No idea of wave size except large, wind was blowing crests off.

 

Don't need a storm for large seas:

 

:)

[Langley Cruisers]

The Captain[i forget his name]kept coming up on the speakers and let us all know what was going on at the time and areas to avoid.

 

Captain Rick Sullivan. :)

[sg1phileshipper]

The worst storm I have been in was on the Grandeur Nov 27th 2013.

 

They said we had 50 ft seas and it lasted for A day and a half before the seas calmed down. Some one posted a video.

 

- Video Tube for YouTube - iPhone/iPad

 

 

And I thought 30ft waves lasting all night were scary, but I am glad not having rocked for a day and a half. Thanks for sharing the video, hadn't seen that one.

Cindy

 

 

Verzonden vanaf mijn iPad met Tapatalk

[Kartgv]

Our roughest seas have been 25 Ft. waves while crossing from Wellington, NZ, to Sydney. The waves really didn't seem that bad, but the sudden 117mph wind gust that came out of nowhere felt like an earthquake and left the ship listing about 4 degrees until the captain could turn into the wind.

 

One other thing comes to mind, though it also was wind rather than waves. We were on the old SS Constitution in Hawaii, 1988, I think it was leaving Kona. Sitting in the top deck bar watching sunset, we watched deck chairs flying off the pool deck and overboard.

 

How many remember the old ships without stabilizers, that had raised rims on the dining tables so that dishes and glassware wouldn't slide off?

[cruzinlady1947]

Heading back to Baltimore on Grandeur in March 2014 we had 30-35 foot waves. For at least 12 hours, we had 25-30 with a few 35 foot and when they went down to 20, we were thrilled. I've heard people on most of my cruises complain about 10 foot waves and I just laugh. I did miss dinner after spending some time in the DL which is in the aft. I couldn't handle the motion of the ships cavitating. I wasn't the only one. Most of us after spending the day dealing with it, it just got to be too much for my stomach and inner ear. DH was a US Naval officer and encountered higher waves and "rollers". He talks about walking on the bulkhead (walls) with the rolls. As for winds up and down the east coast, almost every cruise we've been on has had the upper decks closed for at least one day each way due to winds. It's not uncommon.

Was on this cruise too. That is when this happened......crack in jogging deck, railing and lights blown off. Railing and lights have been fixed as of Feb., this year, but, the deck still has a "speed bump" over the crack as a "fix" for the problem. Not sure if it can be fixed at all. You just have to be careful when you are walking or jogging over the area. There is another crack on the opposite side of the track, that happened on a cruise or two before ours.

 

 

I was in the Windjammer (at the bow of the ship) when this particular wave hit. We hit it head on. Needless to say that everything went crashing. A rough ride for sure, but, not the roughest we've encountered.

 

 

Gwen :)

 

 

 

[cruzinlady1947]

Overnight a rouge wave hit hard and broke a few windows in dining room, which they then had boarded up for the rest of the cruise. After those 2 days we had smooth sailing!

We were also on this cruise. The "rogue" wave hit shortly after 10:30pm. I know this, because our friends were just finishing up late dining with Capt. Olav, when the wave hit and broke the windows. Fortunately the Captain's table is in the center of the dining room. Everyone else had left the MDR earlier. Needless to say, Capt. Olav had to excuse himself immediately. At least they were done with dinner and were just conversing with the Capt. at the time.

 

 

Gwen :)

[DEIx15x8]

Worst seas we had were on the Indy transatlantic a few years ago. When we left Southampton we were delayed due to horrible flooding that was hitting the country and delayed many people from making it to the ship on time. We finally departed at night and by that time the winds had gotten so bad that we spent over 30 minutes just trying to get off the pier, eventually they got permission to use the full power of the azipods to get us away. At that point we had 124 km/h winds (about 80mph) while at the pier (according to the TV).

3AGap9cUUFU

 

The storm followed us south through the next day, and then on the second night into the third while passing through the Bay of Biscay we got hit hard. According to the captain's noon announcement the next day there were three storms around us, one chasing us, and one to either side. According to the captain nobody saw it coming or could have predicted it, but they all suddenly converged right on our location into a super storm. We had 60 foot sustained seas with 80 foot peaks. The winds were in excess of 100mph as well. It lasted most of the night. By morning when it was light out and we could see what was going on they were about 40 foot for the rest of the day.

3VVYBHi8cA8

 

Amazingly in the afternoon we turned with the wind and had an eerily calm afternoon into evening even with the seas churning below us. We could actually go out on the promenade deck and stare right out at the waves, really cool to see.

PW9MujvL_Qg

[BecciBoo]

I can remember one trip where the waves were so large, it almost capsized Guam..............hee hee hee;)

[BecciBoo]

In December 2010 on the Brilliance of the Seas trying to get into the Port of Alexandria we were trapped in between the waves with no stabilizers. The ship listed from side to side. All I know is that when we flew back across the room on our bed, my husband pulled back the curtains and all we saw was a wall of water and we were on deck 7.

 

One of my good friends was on that cruise and there were many with major injuries, broken arms etc. The huge Christmas Tree in a shambles on the floor of the centrum. The T.V. came off their cabin wall and crashed to the floor. They clung to their beds but were thrown out. She showed me pics from her deck 3 cabin porthole that were horrific, completely under water and a water spout you could see out of the porthole pretty close as the ship rolled. That storm decimated 2 Israeli ports.

[wavesoffun]

NCL Sun out of Whittier, June 2014. You know its going to be interesting when the captain comes on the PA and says he will try to get out of the harbour! We were supposed to leave at 9p.m. were delayed about 45 minutes. we had 75 mph winds and 25 ft waves. We were rocking and rolling all night. Still rough the next day, but we were able to get around tge ship.