Worst Seas I Ever Encountered

[negc]

We were on the Brilliance inaugural transatlantic in 2002. It was my husband's first cruise and quite memorable.

 

We had 40-45 foot seas for almost 3 days. It was unbelievable. The winds were over 90mph, too. Everything was closed off and you could not go outside unless it was your own balcony. Even then, it wasn't a good idea and we were strongly advised NOT to do so.

 

One evening and night, it was particularly horrible with many back-2-back 45 footers hitting us one right after the other. It is a strange feeling to be walking and then your feet totally lose contact with the floor. You really couldn't hold on to the bed, either. It was like the worst roller coaster ride ever! (but I thought it was fun and didn't get sick at all)

 

 

 

Capt James MacDonald kept us well informed at all times. He really did his best with multiple course changes. Hurricane Gustav was determined to get us.

 

I will always remember the sounds of the ship groaning during that cruise.

Hi Mavis Marie. Rita and I sailed with you on that crossing (no ports of call between Harwich and Boston). We well remember those high seas which, at one point I believe had 60 foot swells, and we remember sitting up in the Viking Crown lounge at that time watching the waves break over the bow of the ship. I agree with you about Captain MacDonald and the terrific job he did and how well informed he kept everyone as he continually altered his course to avoid the worst effects of Gustav. I also remember that while we arrived in Boston with the ship intact and showing no signs of the experience, a Princess ship arrived in New York at the same time after crossing from Europe to the US, with all sorts of broken windows, broken dishes etc.

Last year on the Constellation we encountered such rough seas during the westbound crossing that when we arrived in Halifax, NS towards the end of the trip, we noticed that the ship's name on the starboard side of the ship (forward) had actually been scoured off by the wave action.

We depart for the Caribbean on Jewel of the Seas on Tuesday and Captain MacDonald is once again Master of the Ship. Makes us feel very confident that he will keep us safe and as comfortable as possible. I don't think I have sailed to Bermuda anytime when we did not encounter rough seas going in one direction or the other. A few years back we actually were delayed in leaving Kings Wharf when Wilma was passing by on its way up the East Coast. The seas had been rough between Boston and Bermuda but heading south of Bermuda afterward and then returning to Boston, the seas were calm and almost as smooth as glass.

Hi Dale. Glad to see both of you on the boards and hope we will sail with you again sometime in the future.:)

I may be a bit strange but I enjoy a bit of motion when I am cruising but even when we were in sixty foot swells, I thought that the Brilliance rode out the high seas remarkably well and we were traveling with another couple, one of whom is very prone to motion sickness. She came through the experience and did surprisingly well. I do remember meeting someone who had an outside room on deck two or three who said that looking out her porthole reminded her of watching the water sloshing around in one of those washing machines that have a glass window in the front. LOL

[mcca2]

For everyone who likes rough seas. Enjoy.

 

http://home.carolina.rr.com/jralaw/Transatlantic.wmv

[aqhacruiser]

We've sailed thru some very rough Trop. storms and hurricanes on the Explorer but the worse storm the ship was ever in was on the 12/2/07 cruise. We had waves breaking over deck 12 on 12/3 and the glass up next to Johnny Rockets also broke early that morning when we were struck with a very big wave about 3am that woke everyone up. That was just the start of the fun:) There are pics posted on CC somewhere of the waves that afternoon coming over deck 12. Rough seas do not bother us which is a good thing since we've been in them many times and just part of the adventure:D

[Dale]

Hi Dale. Glad to see both of you on the boards and hope we will sail with you again sometime in the future.:)

Bill, I see that you will be sailing the Norwegian Spirit in May, 2009. This may sound like something out of “Mission Impossible”, but if you feel adventurous and would like to do something you have never done before on a cruise. I would like to challenge you to find the “Tiger’s Cage” that’s on the Spirit. Verna and I sailed the Spirit shortly after she came into NCL’s fleet from Asia. In Asia they had an act that included a Tiger. So if you decide to accept, your mission is, find the “Tiger’s Cage”.

Take good care of the Jewel of the Seas coming down to Miami. We will be sailing on her the 28th of November.

[QTBabyNurse]

Babynurse, was your cruise on the Dolphin back in 1987 by chance? That was our 1st cruise & there was a tropical depression in the gulf of mexico... my husband had a ball with the ship going up & down...I was on the floor of the cabin.. felt to much motion to even be on the bed... wasn't sure if I ever wanted to step foot on a ship again..but he talked me into another cruise & we had a fine time...

 

No...our cruise was in January, 1994. I felt the same way as you...I wasn't sure that I wanted to cruise again afterwards! But as you can see by my signature, I got over that feeling pretty quick! I've never had any problems since!

[Gator0178]

For everyone who likes rough seas. Enjoy.

 

http://home.carolina.rr.com/jralaw/Transatlantic.wmv

 

 

Thanks for the video! Nice waves!:D

[rencity]

I was on this one too. It was only crazy for a day. The rest of the cruise was great. Those waves and winds were def like no other. There was so much to do on the ship, I barely noticed.

 

Glad you had a great trip too!

[LuvMyVette]

The worst storm I was in was on the 12/2/07 cruise. On Day 2 we sailed through a low pressure system. 42 foot swells and 100+mph winds. This is a picture I took from Dizzy's in the Viking Crown. We had many weather conditions on this storm from leaving in the snow to the ship listing returing from San Juan. I have to say I never experienced anything as crazy as we did on this cruise! LOL

Sea ya!

[Cruisingboyo]

The worst storm I was in was on the 12/2/07 cruise. On Day 2 we sailed through a low pressure system. 42 foot swells and 100+mph winds. This is a picture I took from Dizzy's in the Viking Crown. We had many weather conditions on this storm from leaving in the snow to the ship listing returing from San Juan. I have to say I never experienced anything as crazy as we did on this cruise! LOL

Sea ya!

 

Great pic - Were the deck chair's flying all over the deck? :eek:

[LuvMyVette]

Ste is going cruising:

Great pic - Were the deck chair's flying all over the deck? :eek:

Thank you. I was there at the right time to get that picture. One of my favorites from that storm. A few chairs flew over the deck. When DH/I came out of the Windjammer we were looking at the main pool area. One deck chair came loose and was heading for the window that we were standing at. Luckily the chair hit the railing rather than the window. The ship had quite of bit of damaged from that storm. The crew was fantastic in cleaning it up as fast as they could.

Sea ya!

[Luv4dacruise]

We were on the JOS back in September 05 to the Caribbean out of Boston. The seas were i wanna say 20-25 feet, when i found that out, i was quite surprised as the ship rode very well. Well, we were supposed to stop in Bermuda on day 3 of the cruise, sitting off the coast of Bermuda in the morning, all of us pretty much salivating at going off exploring and the captain comes on the PA and informs us Bermuda will not let us in because of the weather. We were all pretty much dumbfounded as the weather was beautiful, bright and sunny. He then told us to take a look around at the sky, and all around us, 360 degrees were some insane looking storm clouds. Well, turns out we were in the eye of what was a hurricane broken up, but had formed back into a TS and that was the cause of the bad seas to begin with. So, he found us dock space in St Maarten, we saidl off into the bad seas again, day 5 of the cruise we finally docked. I loved the JOS, my favortie ship ive been on, but i could not wait to get off of her :p.

[Janice M]

What a ride. I'm going around the horn in January on Mariner. My TA said to ride low in the ship for that leg. Said the Mariner has a "flat bottom" and will probably be rough. Kind of exciting, but after looking at the photos-YIPES-might be lots of dramamine. Zu~:eek:

 

We went around the horn in Feb. of this year on the Splendor. We really did not encounter any rough seas in my estimation. We had some waves, but nothing real exciting. And the Splendor is a much smaller ship. By the way you are in for some magnificent scenery along the west coast of Chile.

 

Jan

[Kykitty]

Was there any ice skating on this cruise? Or does Explorer have an ice rink? Sorry, can't remember if it does or not.

[akcruz]

For a slightly different take on the situation here. We sailed on the Explorer Bermuda route in June of this year. This was the first time I had sailed from the NE and was a bit concerned about what weather we would hit. Normally bad weather doesn't bother me but wasn't sure what it was going to be like. Well, we had the most wonderful sailing, seas not quite like glass but almost and sunny skies all the way down and back. Was talking to one of the bartenders on the last night and he even commented on how calm the sailing was. Said it usually is a little rough either on the way down or back but not usually both ways and hardly ever calm both ways. So bottom line, you never know what kind of seas you'll have!

 

Sailing in 6 days on the Freedom, hope we didn't wear out all of our good weather with that cruise :eek: !!

[negc]

Bill, I see that you will be sailing the Norwegian Spirit in May, 2009. This may sound like something out of “Mission Impossible”, but if you feel adventurous and would like to do something you have never done before on a cruise. I would like to challenge you to find the “Tiger’s Cage” that’s on the Spirit. Verna and I sailed the Spirit shortly after she came into NCL’s fleet from Asia. In Asia they had an act that included a Tiger. So if you decide to accept, your mission is, find the “Tiger’s Cage”.

Take good care of the Jewel of the Seas coming down to Miami. We will be sailing on her the 28th of November.

Thanks Dale. I'll try to remember to look for it when we are onboard. Enjoy thour cruise on the 28th. We'll do our best to see that she is in as good shape as we find it. If I should fail in the task, I expect that, in true Mission Impossible fashion, you will deny any knowledge. :D

Jewel was in fantastic condition when we were on her in September and during her recent dry dock, the crew was scheduled to perform a deep cleaning.

[stones902]

Babynurse, was your cruise on the Dolphin back in 1987 by chance? That was our 1st cruise & there was a tropical depression in the gulf of mexico... my husband had a ball with the ship going up & down...I was on the floor of the cabin.. felt to much motion to even be on the bed... wasn't sure if I ever wanted to step foot on a ship again..but he talked me into another cruise & we had a fine time...

 

Not sure (it was a long time ago) but we might have been on that Dolphin cruise. It was a 3 day to the Bahamas departing from Miami on the Dolphin IV correct?

 

It was our first cruise and shortly after leaving Miami we hit some rough seas. There was supposed to be a buffet aft on the fantail which they had to close because of the waves and spray. Full wine bottles were tipping over in the dining room. Barf bags were lining the rails.

 

I was never so sick in my life. The next day in the Bahamas however, the weather was beautiful.

 

That was our first cruise and despite our experience we were hooked. I'll never forget it.

[piercetc4]

thanks for the pics and video! this is a neat thread! our sr trip cruise in april 1981 went thru some storm - the capt asked that no one go on deck or do so at your own risk- so of course we went out there being 18 and stupid- the winds were really strong- actually blew the shirt off one of my classmates- ( a guy...lol) the wind got under the shirt while on his body and lifted it up and up so he raised his arms and the shirt flew off and out to sea- most of the passengers were sea sick- our ship was tiny......the commodore caribe- so it didnt take much to toss her around- i am sure the capt mentioned the height of the swells but i didnt catch that info.......lol

the sea is really beautiful when she is angry..............:)

[LuvMyVette]

kykitty:

Was there any ice skating on this cruise? Or does Explorer have an ice rink? Sorry, can't remember if it does or not.

Explorer does have an ice rink. The rink is open to the passengers during certain times of the cruise. Check the Cruise Compass for details. If the weather is bad, the rink will not be open.

Sea ya!

[MavisMarie]

Hi Mavis Marie. Rita and I sailed with you on that crossing (no ports of call between Harwich and Boston). We well remember those high seas which, at one point I believe had 60 foot swells, and we remember sitting up in the Viking Crown lounge at that time watching the waves break over the bow of the ship. I agree with you about Captain MacDonald and the terrific job he did and how well informed he kept everyone as he continually altered his course to avoid the worst effects of Gustav. I also remember that while we arrived in Boston with the ship intact and showing no signs of the experience, a Princess ship arrived in New York at the same time after crossing from Europe to the US, with all sorts of broken windows, broken dishes etc.

Last year on the Constellation we encountered such rough seas during the westbound crossing that when we arrived in Halifax, NS towards the end of the trip, we noticed that the ship's name on the starboard side of the ship (forward) had actually been scoured off by the wave action.

We depart for the Caribbean on Jewel of the Seas on Tuesday and Captain MacDonald is once again Master of the Ship. Makes us feel very confident that he will keep us safe and as comfortable as possible. I don't think I have sailed to Bermuda anytime when we did not encounter rough seas going in one direction or the other. A few years back we actually were delayed in leaving Kings Wharf when Wilma was passing by on its way up the East Coast. The seas had been rough between Boston and Bermuda but heading south of Bermuda afterward and then returning to Boston, the seas were calm and almost as smooth as glass.

Hi Dale. Glad to see both of you on the boards and hope we will sail with you again sometime in the future.:)

I may be a bit strange but I enjoy a bit of motion when I am cruising but even when we were in sixty foot swells, I thought that the Brilliance rode out the high seas remarkably well and we were traveling with another couple, one of whom is very prone to motion sickness. She came through the experience and did surprisingly well. I do remember meeting someone who had an outside room on deck two or three who said that looking out her porthole reminded her of watching the water sloshing around in one of those washing machines that have a glass window in the front. LOL

 

Hi Bill & Rita ! I was wondering if you would post on this thread. I *thought* we might have had up to 60 foot swells but I wasn't sure. You do remember that night when we couldn't walk across the floor easily and Captain came on and said we were 70 miles from the Titanic grave site? That was the night my husband slept with his life jacket on the bed. :D

I thought it was a fun trip and enjoyed it all tremendously. That CC group was just about the best I've ever seen, too.

We have sailed with Capt MacDonald 3 times and feel so happy and content when he's in charge. He's one heck of a sailor, that's for sure. He's definitely my favorite.

[jplotts865]

Oh, I love it! My first cruise was on Cunard's Franconia from New York to Bermuda and it was so rough you simply could not stand up on the ship...at one point everyone on the dance floor slid, as a unit, into the band when the ship took a particularly nasty dive! On the Queen Mary 2 transatlantic it was blustery and rough nearly the entire crossing...going out on deck was on option only for the brave! However, the ship rode very well. On Olympic Voyager we had nasty weather one night and anything on a shelf not fastened down ended up on the floor...but, you know, I love "rough weather" on a ship as it makes me realize I am at sea...and the sea can be very powerful. It can be fun...loved the story!

[cruiserbryce]

while I do enjoy a little rocking I could do without the extreme swells...the worst we have had was 45mph and 25 feet

[attitudeda]

Was there any ice skating on this cruise? Or does Explorer have an ice rink? Sorry, can't remember if it does or not.

 

Yes the Explorer has an ice skating. They canceled all ice shows and the production show on Sunday.

[karenem]

I've been on all of ONE cruise, but 10 minutes outside the Golden Gate we hit 25-ft seas and 70-mph winds. Pools were drained, outside doors were closed with warnings attached, sick bags everywhere, looooong lines to buy Dramamine, nobody eating anything but green apples and saltines... good times! I was about to swim for shore but the drugs finally kicked in. For the rest of the cruise one of the standard conversation-starters was, "so, how'd you do that first night? Wild, eh?"

[Cruisin' Again 86]

Anyone else on Enchantment during hurricane Wilma ?

Now that was a "rough" cruise....

[karkee07]

omg sounds like fun....that kind of stuff is fun to go through also long as everyone is safe!