Infinity big wave Feb 1st

[Liat]

First - when we did this cruise from Valapraiso to Buenos Aires on Mercury in January 2002 we took a city bus [Not the Train to the End of the World - a total rip-off acording to everybody] to the National Park and had a delightful stroll. We went into the local store/coffee shop in the park. On the wall was a very large map of Cape Horn with small outlines of ship's prows going beneath the waves, with the date and name of the ship which went down. There were obviously more than 100 such sinkings. While most of the dates were from the 19th century, there were several in even the later 20th century. These can be dangerous waters; although our cruise was as smooth as silk.

 

However - while on Infinity in November 2003, when we pulled alongside the pier at Hilo for our initial stop; a "rogue" wave came across the breakwater and bounced all 91,000 tons of us off the dock. The Captain immediately sailed out; leaving a friend of mine on the dock waving goodbye instead of waving hello as he had planned! We simply sailed away to the Kona Coast; and while there was an announcement of what we would do, no explanation was necessary. There was a lot of broken glass and crockery, but we did not hear of any injuries.

[Arizona Art]

I was on this ship and the captain did make an announcement that he was sailing an hour and a half away from the storm. I can't remember if he said he was going into or away from the Straits of Magellan; but that he was changing direction to move away from the waves. He did a great job, some smaller ships had quite a bit of damage (i.e. Prissidam, Marco Polo, "Something" Rose) I guess in the excitement, and that's what everyone I spoke to thought it was, this poster did not hear the annoucement.

 

The announcement that attagirl refers to was "before the waves hit", not after when we needed reassurance. And to answer the question about whwether there has been a response from Celebrity to the email that i sent them...it is now 2 weeks and the answer is still NO!!!!

Art

[Millie6]

My husband and I were also on the Infinity during these waves. Having sailed on our own boat for many years, we have been in rough weather, and were not as worried about the sea condition as we were about how it was being handled by the captain and his crew.

 

This was not a case of a couple of “rogue waves”. There were many waves over the course of the afternoon that were large enough to toss the boat around. What astounded us was the lack of preparation on board. All afternoon there were plates, glasses, trays, dishes of food, flying off counters. Staff members on the galley side of the buffet were hanging onto stanchions and/or trays of food. There was even at least one heavy table in the café tossed around and broken.

 

Cupboard doors in the coffee service stations were flying open with the contents either flying out onto the floor, or in the case of the cupboards directly under the coffee machines, large metal tanks (hot water?) sliding out suddenly. These tanks were attached to some sort of slider and stayed attached, but if anyone had been in front of them, they could have been badly injured. The fellow manning the ice cream station was hanging on to a stanchion with one hand and a tub of syrup with the other, while there was already the contents of another syrup tub or two dripping from him and the counter.

 

In the cabins, items including TV’s were thrown about and/or fallen and/or broken.

 

Even on the ferries in our area (British Columbia), the dining areas have lips and/or posts on the counters in areas where people pick up trays, plates, etc. so that dishes and other service items cannot slide around. There are quite a few types of non-slip materials that can be used to put under trays/plates/bins of food, flatware etc., so that these items stay in place when the boat's angle changes. These things work – I’ve used some of them myself – and I’m very surprised there was nothing like this in use.

 

On ships that travel in unsheltered areas like South America, this type of weather/sea height should be expected and prepared for. There should be latches on cupboard doors, framework/lips around counters and non-slip material used, especially in areas where the passengers are serving themselves without a crew member being there at all times.

 

As far as the dinner service was concerned, the early sitting should have been postponed, or at the very least, the fifth floor tables around the inside perimeter should have been left empty – there were plates etc. falling down from this area onto the diners on the fourth floor level. The navigating crew would have known pretty precisely how long it was going to take to get into more comfortable seas, and the meal service could have easily been delayed until this time.

 

The only announcements that I heard were during the early dinner seating (we were in the late seating, so missed the drama in the dining room) when two “star codes” were called - one on the fifth floor and the second on the fourth floor starboard of the Trellis Restaurant. When I asked a crew member what a star code was, he reluctantly told me that it was a call for medical help. He really didn’t want to elaborate on what these specific calls were for. By the time our dinner time came, the sea conditions were much better, and our waiter told us that the dining room had been quite a mess. Hundreds of wine glasses had been broken (much to the chagrin of red wine drinkers who “had” to have the proper glass), dinners had been spilled, bottles of liquor and wine had been broken, people had been spilt on, fallen on, cut by glass, and a chair containing one elderly woman on the upper dining level had tipped over backwards with the lady banging her head in the process.

 

Announcements from the captain or someone else in charge, should have been made, explaining to the passengers that this type of weather, while uncomfortable and disconcerting, was fairly normal and the waves would be calmer once the ship was into a more sheltered area. The passengers on our ship were quite upset by what they had been through, and many were very scared while it was happening. Some reassurance for them would have been nice. Periodic announcements would also have been reassuring to passengers who may have been extremely scared, and to update everyone on board that the bad conditions were coming to an end and how long that would be.

 

While I do remember an announcement regarding the change of course, I wasn’t really paying it too much attention. I do know there was only one, after we had already been bouncing around for a few hours. It was also quite a while before we were in calm seas. To make an announcement, after it was all over, that other ships had sustained more damage and passenger injuries, was quite irrelevant.

 

If I remember correctly, even that announcement was made after we had been in the next port for the day and experienced an extremely long tendering process, both getting ashore and back to the ship. There were extra cruise ships in port, due to their damages from the sea conditions, and this screwed up the tendering process for us on the Infinity.

 

It seemed that the next day, people were talking more about how poorly the whole situation was handled by the captain and his crew, than about the weather itself.

[Captain Cosmo]

We were on the Infinity on a Valpairiso to Buenos Aires cruise in early December and there are numerous stretches of water down there that are quite treacherous. On the third day of our cruise the ship was rolling very badly, partially due to the fact that we were unable to make full speed. There were several accidents in the dining area and although I've owned 2 sailboats and a powerboat - all used in the open Pacific - I got seasick. Crew members told me that cabinets and closets all over the ship were flying open and merchandise was spilling out onto the floors, and several said they had never seen it that bad. At dinner that night they lowered the shades in the Trellis, even though it was still light out (it didn't get dark that night until almost 11:30 pm). When I asked our waiter why the shades were being lowered he said that they often do that so that diners are not "distracted" by the high waves. At that point of the cruise I felt that I needed to reassure my wife that although the ship was rolling that it was not in any danger. The only announcement that we got about the ship's rolling was when the Captain told us in his daily navigation announcement that we would be entering the Straits of Magellan and that it could get rough, so women should avoid high heels and everyone should use the handrails. As it turned out the rougher water he forecasted for that stretch of the cruise never materialized. That said, it would have been nice if the Captain had taken the time to let everyone know early in the cruise that we were going to have some bad weather and big waves, but that things would be okay. Obviously, the Captain is not responsible for the weather but he is responsible for the safety of the passengers and crew, and it wouldn't have taken much effort to reassure them after the rogue waves hit the Infinity on Feb. 1st.

[Arizona Art]

Millie6, thanks for corroborating my account of the incident. Read the posts by arzz as to how the HAL passengers were treated and how they anticipated a problem. They had no extra plates, glasses, etc on the table during the storm.

It is now two weeks since I sent my email to Celebrity, and have yet to hear anything. Have you emailed them?

[Millie6]

Millie6, thanks for corroborating my account of the incident. Read the posts by arzz as to how the HAL passengers were treated and how they anticipated a problem. They had no extra plates, glasses, etc on the table during the storm.

It is now two weeks since I sent my email to Celebrity, and have yet to hear anything. Have you emailed them?

I agree with you, Art, from arzz's account the incident was handled much better by the HAL crew. It seems that the Celebrity company and the Infinity captain would rather ignore what happened or pretend that nothing did happen, than acknowledge that they didn't handle the situation professionally. This makes them look even worse than they did at the time. I haven't emailed them yet, but intend to do so shortly.

[richsea]

I agree with you, Art, from arzz's account the incident was handled much better by the HAL crew. It seems that the Celebrity company and the Infinity captain would rather ignore what happened or pretend that nothing did happen, than acknowledge that they didn't handle the situation professionally. This makes them look even worse than they did at the time. I haven't emailed them yet, but intend to do so shortly.

 

If I were you, I'd definitely book my next cruise with Holland America. That was a disgrace!

[LauBu]

I too was on Infiniity on 2/1 and took the video below from my 7th floor aft cabin veranda. I did not capture the 2 'big ones' and the videos do not do justice to the power of the seas that day. Not knowing what was going on in the dining room, I found the whole thing quite exciting - and I'm usually a BIG chicken. I spent almost the entire period ont on the veranda at the railing and I felt safe the entire time. Our cabin was in the middle of the aft so I think that made a big difference. From within my cabin I caught a quick glimpse of what I think was one of the big ones and if it had continued at that level I would have been scared. As it was I just saw a wall of water (due to listing I suppose) that was gone in a second.

 

Take a look at the videos:

 

 

[goofysmom99]

LauBu, nice videos! Thanks for posting them.

[Jancruz]

those are really great to watch..

Thanks,

Jan

*****

[excitedofharpenden]

LauBu, thanks for posting your videos. That looks quite a ride:eek:

 

Phil

[Arizona Art]

laubu thanks great video, especially second one

[tak2]

I spent almost the entire period ont on the veranda at the railing and I felt safe the entire time.

 

Good for you. I guess I'm the BIG chicken. I spent the time before dinner watching waves from inside my cabin.

[LauBu]

Tak2 - you were probably the SMART one. :)

[tak2]

LauBu, your video reminded me of the incident that happened with the penthouse suite under your cabin. I'll write more later, got to go to work now. Stay tuned.;)

[Sheik]

Thanks for the movies!

[tak2]

LauBu,

When the big one(s) hit, the occupants in the penthouse suite were in their cabin. They witnessed a variety of " things " in their cabin moved right before their eyes. ( NOT the baby grand that one passenger heard about, it was bolted down ) They are very private people so I don't want to go into further details. What I do want to say is something that annoyed me . As you know, there are some rather big pieces of deck furniture on that verandah. With the waves there was a real danger of those furniture crashing into the glass balcony doors. The chief housekeeper showed up with the butler and ordered the butler to go out there by himself to move/tie down the deck furniture. Our neighbours were so worried about their butler's safety . As we all now know, he didn't get thrown off ship by the waves, nor was he injured. I thought there must be crew that are trained to work on deck in such situations, rather than risking the safety of the butler whose expertise is in more refined type of work.

[whisperpj]

Hope this is ok to ask I am first time cruiser with this line I was wondering have they replaced their bedding. Read somewhere they where going to.

Also what is the charge for the T pool.

[sbmaureen]

Hope this is ok to ask I am first time cruiser with this line I was wondering have they replaced their bedding. Read somewhere they where going to.

Also what is the charge for the T pool.

 

There are a few threads on bedding which can be found with a search. Here is a link to one about Infinity: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=496829&highlight=bedding+infinity

 

There is not charge for the T pool on M class ships.

[LauBu]

Hi Tak2!

We actually watched the butler out there from our veranda. Your story might explain why he never even looked up at us – maybe he was upset about it. I have to say that we didn’t see him get bounced around at all, so that’s good.

[tuggers]

Having been on the Prinsedam for a month long cruise, I can assure you that everything done on that ship is professional and for the best interests of the passengers, the crew and the ship. She is a magnificent ship with an equally magnificent Captain and Crew. I would sail her again, any place, any time.

[Susan-M]

Having been on the Prinsedam for a month long cruise, I can assure you that everything done on that ship is professional and for the best interests of the passengers, the crew and the ship. She is a magnificent ship with an equally magnificent Captain and Crew. I would sail her again, any place, any time.

 

Nice to hear that endorsement Tuggers - I've been keeping an eye on Prinsendam's itineraries (some very interesting/long ones) and the size of the ship appeals to me.

[Host Walt]

The Cruise Critic Community Guidelines include provisions that a thread stay on the original topic. In this case the oroginal topic is clear and unambiguous, and does not include the noro virus. If a discussion about the noro virus is desired, please visit other threads that are discussing the subject, or if you have something new to add, start a new thread.

 

Thanks.

[Wasasalad]

WOW

Now, Infinity is a large ship,is that correct? What will happen if a rather small ship, like the new Journey, is hit by these waves. I will have to really think about going on these smaller ships! Or a cruise at all!

We were on a cruise in January that was stuck in a storm for 12 hours. It was a horrible evening!

 

I just found out about this site and don't know how to check if any other threads exist about the injuries and damage resulting from the waves that hit the Infinity on Feb 1st just before entering the straits of Magellan.

We were on the second floor of the dining room at about 6:30PM when we were broadsided by what must have been two enormous waves. Two folks at our table of eight, were knocked to the floor with water, wine, dishes etc spilled on them. At the table next to us, a woman was injured and taken out on a stretcher. The waiter and head waiter said they had never experienced any thing like this before and were of no help as to what we should do. The waiter said that there were broken arms and legs suffered by galley workers. Passengers throughout the ship later had stories of "where they were and what happened" when the waves hit. Every bottle of booze and all glassware all over the ship hit the floor. The books in the library were all on the ground. The Grand piano in the theater broke legs and pedals. It was a mess and the most astonishing thing is that neither the Captain, nor any of his officers got on the PA system until 36 hours later to talk about it. All he said then was "he did good since three other ships in the same waters had to delay their cruises because they suffered even more severe damage and injuries". When I got back home I emailed Celebrity to ask them to explain their lack of communication during the event. When we needed it most, there was no one to tell us what to do and to reassure us. It is now a week and they have not responded. It is as if they can make believe it never happened if they don't acknowledge what happened. Is this typical of all Cruise lines or just Celebrity?

[tak2]

There's a thread about ability to ride these waves depends on how the ship is built . One comment that stands out is that the new ships are floating hotels, thus the priority is probably esthetics. With all these balconies, the balance of the ship can't be ideal.