Sister just called from the Sovereign of the Seas

[andyjo0930]

My sister is scheduled to go out tonight on the 4 night SOS cruise out of Port Canaveral. They arrived at the port this morning around 11:30 and were unable to board until almost 2 because of the weather conditions. Apparently, it was so rough, they were unable to put the gangplank out to allow people to board. They were able to disembark the passengers this morning, but had to postpone boarding because of this. They are supposedly headed to Nassau on Wednesday and Coco Cay on Thursday, but something tells me with this weather, I don't think they are going to make it.

[Emi's Mom]

My sister is scheduled to go out tonight on the 4 night SOS cruise out of Port Canaveral. They arrived at the port this morning around 11:30 and were unable to board until almost 2 because of the weather conditions. Apparently, it was so rough, they were unable to put the gangplank out to allow people to board. They were able to disembark the passengers this morning, but had to postpone boarding because of this. They are supposedly headed to Nassau on Wednesday and Coco Cay on Thursday, but something tells me with this weather, I don't think they are going to make it.

 

 

Probably not :( . Keep checking the weather channel.

[wrp96]

If you talk to her again, remind her to take some seasick pills now (if she hadn't already) because if the weather is so bad they can't embark at Port Canaveral they are going to be hitting some rough seas.:( I would say that CocoCay is probably definitely out unless things improve rapidly.

[karena1]

Wow, it has been cloudy all day, but not getting any really horrid weather here in Orlando. Must be a lot worse over at Canaveral. Hopefully, they can be on their way, but I agree, chances of Coco Cay are slim unless the weather vastly improves. I did see on the news this morning that our weather is supposed to get better as the week goes by, so maybe they will get lucky.

[Eileen G]

The weather has been cloudy here all day but on the news this morning they were showing the wind and waves off the coast and we have TS Noel headed for the Bahamas. We were on the Sovereign in late Sept and didn't make it to Coco Cay. The way the weather has been here lately I wonder if the Sovereign has made it to Coco Cay at all the past two months?

[PH8]

Dont think its a good week to go the Bahamas..............thats too bad...:(

[Bellalago Breeze]

Our son & DIL just boarded the Majesty and they're also expecting to miss Coco Cay this week too. DIL said the ship is really rocking and they haven't even left port!

 

We were on Sovereign last month and we had to leave Coco Cay about 2 hours early. Guess we were lucky to make it at all.

[addictedinflorida]

We just got off the Sovereign this morning and I was just telling my husband how bad I feel for those getting on and what they have to face. Besides my review of ship problems (posted also on the board), the weather is just getting worse. We had some really bad waters coming in from the Bahamas last night so I can only imagine that they are getting worse with the storms. They are also going to be headed straight into the bands of Noel.

Here's hoping that they have a better time though! I always hate to hear of peoples vacations being ruined. :(

[Gator0178]

I just looked on the webcam and they are still in port. I guess due to the late start in boarding.

[island lady]

I can usually hear the ship's horn from my house, as the port is only a couple miles away from my home.

I heard her call out that she was leaving, about a half hour ago. So it looks like they are still a go. Will be a bumpy ride, however.

 

Too bad about the weather timing, but it's always a gamble.

Hope she still has a great time, anyway.

A bad day at sea, is still better than a good one at work.

 

Cheers! :)

[Gator0178]

They just sailed from Port.Canaveral. It was the last chance anyone had to chicken out and get off. ;)

[KTMFactoryRider]

Yep, Just watched her sail out on the webcam... Wish I was there. :D

[kc320]

Sounds like my 1st cruise... a 4 nite from Miami with a tropical depression in the gulf... rocky, rocky rocky! Almost turned me off cruising completely! Thank God for seasick meds!

[PH8]

Looks like it will make a direct hit on the Bahamas,,:(

 

At 11 a.m. EDT, Noel's poorly organized center was about 80 miles east-southeast of Cuba's eastern tip and about 300 miles southeast of the central Bahamas, forecasters said.

 

It was heading north-northwest at roughly 12 mph. A long-term forecast has the storm passing through the Bahamas and gradually turning east, away from the U.S. coastline.

[FL_Cruiser64]

My sister is scheduled to go out tonight on the 4 night SOS cruise out of Port Canaveral. They arrived at the port this morning around 11:30 and were unable to board until almost 2 because of the weather conditions. Apparently, it was so rough, they were unable to put the gangplank out to allow people to board. They were able to disembark the passengers this morning, but had to postpone boarding because of this. They are supposedly headed to Nassau on Wednesday and Coco Cay on Thursday, but something tells me with this weather, I don't think they are going to make it.

 

 

I doubt they will be going to the bahamas. Noel is expect to be between Florida and the Bahamas (the center of Noel that is) in like 48-72 hours. It is expected to have 60mph sustained winds. Gale Force winds by then are supposed to be 150 miles out from the center and tropical storm force winds somewhere around 50 miles out.

 

Unfortunately they will have rough seas no matter what they do.

[andyjo0930]

My sister called about 4:00 to let me know that there was one couple in their group who had flown in today from new york and was at the port, but they had stopped people from boarding again because of the weather. When I talked to her, she didn't know how many people were waiting to board. She did say that they put a revised itinery with nassau tomorrow and then a sea day on wed and then coco cay on thursday. Don't know how the seas are, but she is supposed to e-mail later and let me know how they are doing.

[JanineM]

I just drove home up A1A south of PC by about 20 miles and there were squally winds. We had splashes of rain all day. There are loads of whitecaps on the river. It sure looks like a tropical storm!

[RevSmith]

gosh and I love rough weather...sorry I'm missing this cruise.

[lin712]

I have 3 friends that were going on this cruise today, sure hope they made it ok and everything will be ok for the cruise, hopefully the weather will improve.

And hopefully it won't be to bad around Orlando tomorrow I fly in for a week to visit my dad.

[Retired LEO]

According to our local weather the seas will be 12 - 16 ft. tomorrow and get worse as the week goes on.

[FL_Cruiser64]

[FL_Cruiser64]

....

[Merion_Mom]

Our son & DIL just boarded the Majesty and they're also expecting to miss Coco Cay this week too. DIL said the ship is really rocking and they haven't even left port!

 

We were on Sovereign last month and we had to leave Coco Cay about 2 hours early. Guess we were lucky to make it at all.

 

I've read things like this before.

 

How do they do it?

 

How do they round up everyone all over CocoCay to get them back on the tenders early??!?!?!?!

 

How do they ensure that they are not leaving anyone behind? :eek:

[PH8]

 

How do they ensure that they are not leaving anyone behind? :eek:

You have to swipe your seapass......

[Tranquil Waters]

I've read things like this before.

 

How do they do it?

 

How do they round up everyone all over CocoCay to get them back on the tenders early??!?!?!?!

 

How do they ensure that they are not leaving anyone behind? :eek:

 

The heck with getting everyone off the island, we didn't think they were going to be able to get off the tender and on to the ship several years ago. DH and one DD had gone back to ship earlier. Younger DD and I followed about an hour later. We got on the tender and the sea was too rough for the tender to join to the ship. They tried for about 15 minutes.

 

Finally took the tender to the other side of the ship (I guess hoping the ship would block the wind and make things better). Again no luck after about 15 minutes.

 

Now they rev up the ship's engines and actually move the ship around. Still no luck.

 

Finally back to original side and actually get the gangplank hooked onto the ship. They start letting people on the gangplank and back on the ship. About the 5th person steps up on the gangplank and big wave comes and lifts the gangplank up off the hook of the ship. The only thing that kept the woman out of the water was there was this maybe 6 inch "lip" of gangplank past the "hook" that keeps it on the ship. And the lip caught the edge of the ship giving the crew a second to grab and hold the gangplank down til they could get it rehooked.

 

Then 2 crew members stood on the gangplank to keep it from hopping over the hook again as the rest of us got off the tender. It was definately "exciting" for a moment. And could have been deadly for the woman had she ended up in the water crushed between the tender and the ship!