For those of you who were on the April 16 Crossing.......

[apfra.]

I heard this one was extremely rough... walls of water. Any stories about how the ship handled?

I was on the 17-day cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Southampton on March 28-April 12.

[Magwa]

Yes, we had a great ride during 2 F10 storms, 30'+ waves, sometimes the odd 70 footer. 70mph winds across the bow. She handled the conditions [B]very[/B] well indeed. Much has been said in other threads re smashed crockery, plant pots, champagne lost, glass wind breakers shattered, balcony divider gone.. but for a sample see Colin's video clip of a wave over a window in the Golden Lion Pub [url="http://63.217.28.3/images/other2/GLwave1.WMV"]here[/url].

I also have many photos online of the trip & some .avi files and indexed [url="http://www.magwa.co.uk/qm2/qm2phototrans.htm"]here[/url].

Pam

[Shipping Out]

I was on this crossing with my mother and my son. Commodore Warwick confirmed that we were in two force 10 gales, and that they had clocked 70 mph winds on the bridge. Waves were running 30 feet high, and breaking against the windows on deck 2. I was in the Logo Shop when we encountered the 70 foot wave. The ship shuddered and came to a stop, and the bridge called down to say that they had taken on a 70 foot wave and to make sure that everything was okay. Apart from a manekin which fell down, and a few things that tumbled from the shelves, no harm was done. The QM2 pitched and rolled - more pronounced at the stern, the bow and on the upper decks - but I was able to get around the entire ship as long as there was a railing to hang onto. Meals continued to be served, drinks poured (you wet a cloth and rest your drink on the wet cloth), and cabins attended to, although the crew had to cover for absent crew that were seasick. The bookstore and a few of the boutiques were closed but the only show that was canceled was the Dance Show on the third night - understandably so! By the way, the G32 was packed every night - try dancing on a dance floor that has just gone 20 degrees south! Our cabin was amidships - deck 6 near the atrium - the best place to be in a storm. We battened everything down from the second night and nothing tumbled or broke. However, my son was sleeping in a bunk which overhung the main double bed, and I truely feared that he would topple right over the rail and onto us - fortunately, he didn't. Elevators were skittish - especially the ones aft in stairwell A. A crew member and I pulled a passenger from one after it stopped running. After that, I didn't ride in any during the storm - just to be sure! I can believe that we may have sustained minor damage during this storm - when we arrived in New York, I saw crew hastily replace a shattered window on deck 7, in crews quarters aft of the Winter Garden. On the last day of the storm, I questioned a Third Officer whether we would be delayed because of the storm. He wouldn't say. Commodore Warwick himself didn't offer any assurances until the night before we made landfall. My husband, who had planned to meet me at the dock, called Cunard and they said that because of the storm, our arrival might be delayed four hours. Despite this, we did arrive off Ambrose Lightship, and take on the harbor pilot exactly at 5:00am, as scheduled. The Today Show broadcast live from the Commodore Club, and we didn't hold up Mayor Bloomberg from his appointed rounds. No other ship afloat could have taken us through this storm system as safely as the QM2 did, or made up for lost time and adhered to schedule as we did. I was once caught in an April storm on the mid Atlantic in a freighter carrying 12 passengers. I was horribly seasick, as was everybody else - including the crew. We heaved in waves so high that our propeller came clear out of the water. By comparison, the storm at sea on the QM2 was a lark - an extra diversion and entertainment cooked up by mother nature - something to tell my grandkids.

[Crouton]

Wonderful report! Thanks.

[Pig&Whistle]

Dear SHIPPING OUT,
My thanks too for the terrific report on your 4/16 crossing. I beg to differ with you on one point,though, that is your remark that QM2 is the only ship afloat that could bring you through as safely as she did through the storm. As long as she's afloat, the QE2's the one I'd pick to be in--on the North Atlantic in a big storm.
In September,'95 on a westbound Trans Atlantic crossing,she encountered Hurricane Luis.As recorded in the ship's log on Sept. 10 and 11, the highest winds were 130 miles per hour,the average wave height was 40 feet with one specific wave at 2:00 AM estimated at ninety feet (it hit the bridge). A lady in the Yacht club secured herself to the bar rail with her pashmina and drank on. Captain Warwick reduced QE2's speed to 5 knots and at one point diverted to respond to another vessel's distress signal.She came through fine with some minor deck damage on the bow. What a ship.

Queen Mary
Queen Elizabeth
Mauretania
Caronia
Liberte
United States
Rotterdam
Nieuw Amsterdam
Iberia
Brasil
Santa Paula
Monterey
Lydia
Mykonos
Norway
QE2
Seabourn Spirit

[Shipping Out]

Pig & Whistle - Point well taken. I've only sailed on the QE2 twice, and both times we had good weather. Once you've been through a storm at sea, you can appreciate the difference between an ocean liner, like the QM2 or the QE2, and a cruise ship. By the way, I read that Royal Caribbean diverted three of their ships to keep them out of the way of the storm we sailed through.

[LORIA]

hello- how should i expect the weather to be on my transatlantic cruise on july 22 from london to ny? i would not mind experiencing a storm, might be fun, but i would also like to lay out in the sun also!!