How rough can rough seas get?

[alcpa1]

Anyone ever been given a 25% off your next cruise certificate when you board...Empress of the Seas, September 28, 2001!!! We hit two tropical storms - one going to and one coming from Bermuda. We lost one of the props to compound the mess. Still it was a great cruise and one of the most amazing things was sailing an absolutely FLAT Atlantic knowing you were heading into a storm. Those were the flatest seas we have ever experienced in almost 20 cruises, even flatter than Port Everglades with no scuba divers checking out the hull.

[excitedofharpenden]

This pic was recently posted on the Kroooz-CAMS website. It is a picture taken during a hurricane, by the coastguard helicopter, I believe. Yikes

 

 

Phil

 

Mercury Western Caribbean November 2002

Galaxy Eastern Caribbean November 2003

 

<BR

 

Until Galaxy Panama Canal Out Of Galveston

13th November 2004

 

 

<center>

<a href="http://www.escati.com/counter98/free_time_codes.htm">

</center>

 

 

[lssteele]

Our cruise in '01 ran parallel to a hurricane for about a day. Waves were only 20' high (the hurricane was app. 225 miles from us). Hubby was on Deck 9 trying just to get out of bed to be sick. I was having the drink of the day and winning bingo...probably won 'cause people were too sick to play.

 

Panama Canal on the Galaxy

[excitedofharpenden]

And the moral of the story.......If it is rough and you can hold your food down, go to the Bingo!

 

Phil

 

Mercury Western Caribbean November 2002

Galaxy Eastern Caribbean November 2003

 

<BR

 

Until Galaxy Panama Canal Out Of Galveston

13th November 2004

 

 

<center>

<a href="http://www.escati.com/counter98/free_time_codes.htm">

</center>

 

[This message was edited by excitedofharpenden on 06-19-04 at 11:41 AM.]

[brigittetom]

Phil, That's the good news for me. I don't get seasick. I've seen that picture before. I always say, to paraphrase, A rough day at sea is better than no sea day at all. Personally, I'd rather have an uneventful cruise with wonderful memories.

 

The Century had engine problems and we just sat in the water outside of Nassau for four hours. That got a little uncomfortable because the hallways smelled like diesel fuel and none of the elevators were working. I didn't mind the inconvienience but I kept thinking the ship was going to blow up. Lucky for us, we had a good natured Captain that bought us drinks.

 

Zenith from Jacksonville

Feb. 13 05

[gwrod]

I have seen the dents on the Zenith...how did they happen???

[Andym]

Between Barcelona and Villefranche is notorious for a very rocky time. Last year people were actually thrown out of bed. Its where the mistral wind comes down from the mountains. It is usually quite light in the summer, but if the water temperature rises, there is a higher risk of the sea being rougher.

[Lillykat]

About 10 years ago I took a cruise in the Med. with my parents (not celebrity) and there was a storm one night that hit during dinner - I never get seasick but it was so rough that almost everyone cleared out of the dining room in a short time span. They had buckets every few feet and most of the crew was even sick.

 

The funniest part (or saddest) was the couple at the next table who was celebrating their 50 year Anniversary with their family. Right as they were getting up from the table because they were sick - the band came over to play for them. They later told us that they actually followed this poor couple to the deck railings and played while they were getting sick over the side. That is a story I will never forget!

 

Century Honeymoon!!!!

[CajunLiner]

Bow wave on QE2

 

 

Justin

 

Et introibo ad altare Dei: ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam.

[nealberk]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by gwrod:

I have seen the dents on the Zenith...how did they happen???<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

From what I remember, it was a sailing from New York to Bermuda. There was a major storm off the coast but the captain set sail anyway. It was a mess. People spent much of the cruise in the halls with matresses piled along the walls to cushion the blows from the rocking ship.

 

The whole story was on this board about a year ago but I can't find it right now.

[emilysmom]

Wow!!!!! I guess I haven't been in rough seas! Seeing all this makes me realize that even if I'm thrown out of bed by the rocking of the ship, I'm still basically safe.

 

Keep em coming!

 

Countdown to Bermuda on the Zenith

[tuggers]

Cool! Very cool! But then I don't get seasick.

 

Going on CENTURY! Third X Cruise In Four Months!

 

 

 

[brigittetom]

Wow, great picture. I still vote for calm seas.

 

Zenith from Jacksonville

Feb. 13 05

[choirlady]

We took the Norwegian Sea on a transition cruise out of Philadelphia last October/November. Her first stop was Bermuda. The seas were rough enough that they locked down the swimming pool area - the water in the pool was splashing out onto the deck in huge waves at one point. Holding on to the rails while you go for those martinis in the top lounge - very interesting and very rewarding in the end! Loved those "Just Peachie" martinis!

 

Celebrity to Panama 4/14/05

NCL Star to Alaska 6/6/04

NCL Sea Transition Cruise 10/03

NCL Norway to Caribbean 02/03

Carnival Celebration to Caribbean 05/93

 

[woodofpine]

To Quote Little Richard, "It's not he size of the ship, it's the size of the waves!".

 

Those photos are pretty - very - scary! But the scariest I've seen was the 1968 July 4 Lake Eire storm. We in a 28' foot cabin cruiser, 14' white caps (chop not swells). US and Canadian Coast Gaurd definately had their hands full that day!

[stephy1]

A couple of years ago we hit some rough seas on the way back from Bermuda, on the Horizon. The sea was pretty calm during the day, but that night we hit a very rough patch. I was sound asleep and the ship pitched pretty hard, the closet doors popped open and my mother screamed and jumped out of bed. I couldn't figure out why at first, then I turned the light on and realized that heavy tray with the ice bucket and water pitcher had slid off the dresser and on to her bed, spilling ice and water everywhere. I called Housekeeping and they were there right away. We left the door open while the cabin steward went to retrieve more bedding, there must have been 5 or 6 cabin stewards running up and down the halls, apparently we weren't the only ones with a big mess. We were told they lost several bottles of wine and liquor in the bars.

We were on the Noordam, sailing back to Tampa. There was a tropical storm, the captain had tried to sail around it but could not. Around 7AM the captain made an announcement apologizing for the rough seas and said that he couldn't sail around this storm. (the storm later became Hurricane Mitch) I'll never forget that experience. No one was allowed on the promenade deck because the waves were crashing up over them. There were barf bags everywhere, lots of sea sick people. I saw some just laying on their backs in the lounges. The ship made so much noise when it hit the waves, it was incredible. We managed to get outside on Deck 11 and the sea spray was still hitting us. The best part of the whole thing was they were showing Titanic in the movie theater!! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif[/img]

Stephanie

1986 Southward, NCL;1987 Holiday, Carnival;1988 Seaward, NCL; 1989 SS Norway, NCL;1990 Starward, NCL;1991 Skyward, NCL;1993 & 1994 Viking Serande, RCL; 1996 & 1997 Westerdam, HAL;1998 Noordam, HAL;1999 Veendam, HAL; 2000 Galaxy, Celebrity; 2001 Ryndam, HAL; 2001 Horizon, Celebrity;2002 Zaandam, HAL;2002 Horizon, Celebrity;2003 Constellation, Celebrity;2004 Mercury, Celebrity

[Host Kewlguy]

On my first cruise back in 2000 I had no idea what to expect as I had never even been on a boat before. Well, it was a short 5 day cruise to Halifax and Saint John's on the Carnival Destiny. Well, anyway everything was fine the entire cruise until the last night coming home (New York) from Halifax when we noticed some rocking at the late dinner seating. Nothing major though at the start. As time went on though it got progressively worse to the point of being noticeable. Well, anyway by time we went to the show it was so bad that many people became sick from staring at the curtains on stage. I learned this lesson well. DO NOT stare at the curtains in the theater when there are rough seas. Mind you I had no idea what was going on outside all this time. I finally told my girlfriend we had to leave the theater as I was feeling "strange." Well, it turns out we were in the middle of a major storm with 30-40 foot waves. Experienced cruisers I spoke to told me it was as bad as they had seen during hurricanes. Mind you this is my first time on a cruise. We were seeing people sitting on stairs sick and messes all over the hallways. It was an eye opening experience for me. I was saying to myself why do people like cruising if this can happen? Well, to fast forward the story it was now 1:30 am and we decided to try to sleep. Now comes the fun part. Impossible to stay on the bed without rolling back and forth. I'm like "no way I'm going to sleep tonight" I took a sleeping pill and started to doze off when all of a sudden the fog horn starts blowing. Little did I know the darn thing was right outside my window and nearly blew me out of the bed. Well, as I had never heard a fog horn before I went into panic mode thinking the boat was sinking. I remembered they had said three horns means evacuate the ship. Well, after the third horn I was running around the cabin looking for my lifejacket. I woke up my girlfriend saying they are evacuating the ship wake up and lets get going. Mind you this is a true story. So anyway there I'm running around the cabin in my underwear with the lifejacket around my neck. I ran out in the hallway only to find it empty. I'm thinking to myself "Are these people stupid? Don't they realize we are evacuating the ship? Obviously they were not paying attention during the drill before we left New York. I specifically remember three blasts head for the lifeboats. Now mind you there is no way those lifeboats will withstand the raging storm outside and as I can't swim at this point I'm assuming I'm history and this is the end for me. Well, my girlfriend is furious because I woke her up and tells me to call the pursers desk. So I call and I'm like "is everything ok?" She's like yes, why? So I said well they are blowing the horn so I'm assuming we are evacuating" She starts laughing and says "nooo that is just the fog horn" Well let me tell you that was music to my ears and my girlfriends also. I proceeded to remove my lifejacket and head to bed much more relaxed. Lesson of the story is I have been in rough seas since that first cruise but nothing can compare to that. And if we do hit those conditions again I know what it will be like. I'm kind of glad it happened now. But at the time I thought I was about to meet my maker.
[img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

[RickT]

I'm sticking to Caribbean cruises after seeing that clip! Wooohhhh. Getting sea sick just watching it.

[crzrr]

Our experience was on RCCL's Nordic Prince back in 92 (not sure if the ship is even around anywhere anymore). It was a small ship and on our way back from Bermuda. We were 3 or 4 decks above sea level and the wave were regularly crashing over the port holes.

Walking was quite a challenge. At least 1/2 the people were sick. We found that if just kept eating a little bit, we felt better. Luckily we were on a cruise ship. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

[FSHLOT]

With all these cool stories,we should all keep one thing in mind!!.....Pay attention at your safety drills and know where to go in an emergency!!!....I thought i hit some rough seas before,HAHA,the seas i seen were babies compared to some of these stories and pics....GREAT THREAD!!!!!....BTW...Them dents on ZENITH,,,We Were leaving on that ship the week after...We were only concerned from the outside of the ship.Once on board we were like "what dents?"... [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

dreamward 1994
zenith 1996
norweigen 1998
zenith 2000
nordic empress 2002
zenith 2003
nordic empress?...2004

If i'm not cruising i'm fshing!!!

[cruiseLMG]

These are great stories. I wouldn't mind a little rocking, but, these stories are amazing. My husband would probably never go on another cruise with me if any of these things happened to him. I better not let him read this thread!

[Bookit]

I had seen the link before (Excitedofharpenden so kindly provided) -- just made the mistake of showing it to SO, who proclaimed that "he will never go on a Transatlantic cruise" [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif[/img] ). I tried to soften up this idea with, "Oh, that's just the NORTHERN route Transatlantics" ... [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Bookit

[ccletzgo]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by brigittetom:
Tuggers, Thanks

There is nothing like being all dolled up for formal night and having a face like a prize fighter. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

Zenith from Jacksonville
Feb. 13 05<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

And your WHITE running shoes on!! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[cruiseLMG]

bump. Anymore rough water stories?