I'm going on a cruise next year on Royal Caribbean & am trying to get an idea of how much you really feel it. Are the waves huge? Does the ship pitch & roll? What about rogue waves?

I've looked online, but this seems to be one topic that's not discussed at all. I can get all other information except this topic.

[ 02-23-2004: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

Rough seas don't happen often where cruise ships sail, but when it does most large ships handle them well. Cruise ships have stabilizers to make the ride a little more comfortable. It is up to the captain of the vessel to decide whether stabilizers are used or not as stabilizers impede the ship’s speed and may not be used if they are behind schedule. Of course, even with the aid of stabilizers this does not mean you won't get seasick!!

I’ve experienced line voyages in the southern Indian Ocean between Fremantle (Australia) and Cape Town (South Africa), the Great Australian Bight and Bass Strait in Australia where the sea can get very rough. Luckily passenger ships/cruise ships will only do these kind of passages in summer when there is less likelihood of bad seas. The Great Australian Bight was the worst of these, our ship was up-and-down most of the night. I got through it with a mild headache, the stomach held!! Bottomline: ships will always pitch, roll, heave and yaw in large seas, ultimately it will be up to you on how you adapt to these.

If you've never been on a cruise ship you will feel some (extremely slight!) movement -it's not quite like being on a sidewalk! - if you're enjoying yourself with interesting company, you won't feel a thing! A trip in a row boat is likely to be more rocky!

Pay little attention to those folks who claim to have been 'sick as dogs' -chances are they're the folks who 'pigged out because they paid for it; and ate or drank too much!

Seriously, you have nothing to worry about - Cruise ship Captains do everything in their power to avoid any rough weather, passenger comfort is of prime importance.

If you're really worried, arm yourself with Ginger Capsules and take them as directed - they are all natural and really work.

Go - Enjoy!

Happy cruisin'

like to hear from everyone & anyone who has ever experienced any kind of stormy weather while on a cruise ship. Either mild or bad.

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Originally posted by OCEANSDEVINE:
...It is uncomfortable for most but if you relax and almost enjoy it (we went out on deck, which I wouldn't recommend in too much lightning) you'll come back for more.

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I don’t want to sound alarmist, but there are certain precautions you need to adhere to when the weather turns bad and the seas are rough. Like OCEANSDEVINE pointed out, whatever you do, do not go out on open decks when there is lightning. This means even your balcony. And just in case you intend wandering out onto one of the lower decks (maybe a promenade), be warned, you may be swept out to sea by a freak wave!! Your best bet is to ride out any bad weather by enjoying your time inside.

Before flying from Canada, we had heard that Hurricane Lenny, which was forming to the west of San Juan was expected to turn northeast and run away from our intended cruise course. However during the first night of the cruise it began to track east southeast (a near impossibility) towards us, building up winds to gusts of 90 knots.

The next morning we docked in St. Thomas, but was warned that the ship might be departing early if Lenny kept coming our way and all should be back on the ship by 2:00pm. Before noon local police cars and fire trucks used loudspeakers to tell all passengers to return to their ships immediately. From accross the harbour, one of the vessels sounded its whistle first, then the others did the same. My daughter and I packed into an already loaded taxi that took us back to the Empress. Passengers were hurrying back from all directions. Overhead, the sky was turning wierd shades of deep blues, blacks and purples.

Shortly after we boarded the Nordic Empress cast off without waiting for everyone to make it back, and raced, and I do mean raced, out of the harbour as the darkness descended. At that point my daughter and I stood overlooking the stern, catching all the excitement. The bow of a big new Carnival Destiny class ship (I forget which one) towered over us in our foam barely 300-400 feet directly behind us, going full out with a huge bone in it's teeth . What an awesome sight! Our deck and rails were vibrating and shaking as the officers pushed the Empress to emergency flank speed (The next day an officer said we had been doing well over 22 knots).

Soon the reason for the mad scramble made itself known. We had no more than cleared the harbour when the whistles on both ships sounded in alarm several times. An officer shouted in Norwegian accented English over the public address system that multiple waterspouts had been spotted nearby and all passengers and crew were ordered to seek shelter inside immediately, away from outside doors and windows. We were surprised to hear the level of urgency and authority in his voice.

A few minutes later, after the ship turned once or twice, we were told by the Captain that the danger was over, but passengers should stay inside. Well, that was like telling people not to chase a firetruck. Everyone poured out to have a look but could not see anything very dramatic. Apparently RCCL thought that the storm would turn north-east, so we ran out to sea to the south-east. Carnival, I suppose, predicted that the hurricane would continue easterly and southerly, so they turned north-east and we parted company just as the wind began to blow. Carnival was right, and they had a pleasant few days. We were wrong, and did not.

Needless to say we never came close to our scheduled ports of call. Lenny made a direct hit on St. Croix, devestating the island. We sailed in a wide circle from the south-east to south, then to the west, and finally to the north-east back to San Juan. I am not sure of our whole course details but we did get a close in look at Martinique through the sheets of rain at some point, as we tried to circle in behind the hurricane.

We were taking waves for three days in excess of 45 to 60 feet, in winds over 90 knots (according to scuttlebutt). The wind was a solid wall of force that sounded like a cross between a freight train and jumbo jets taking off. Even though our outside forward cabin (port side) was four decks above the waterline, it was being pushed under solid green water, and I have several pictures taken through our big picture window to prove it! We even brought other passengers whose cabins were admidships to see for themselves. Our cabin became sort of an unofficial tourist attraction to our new friends.

At night the ship would fall away so fast that just the blanket held us in bed. Then she would instantly stop at the bottom of the fall with a loud echoeing crack and a wrenching twist that would compress my body into the mattress, followed by a boosted thrust upward until I became wieghtless, only to free-fall again until another jarring smash, and so on, over and over and over again, hour after hour, day after day!

I have video shots of the ship's bow disappearing deep into green water, while twin jets of spray, compressed by the anchor holes, shot as high as the wheelhouse. I saw one giant wave slop onto the forward port boat deck and race aft two or three feet high all the way to break on the stern superstructure. Had anyone been caught in it, they would have been either crushed or drowned.

Needless to say, during the worst of it, we had the aft dining room mostly to ourselves and perhaps a hundred or so others. I won't go into the details of some of the more interesting food games that are played at times like that, but more than once I kept my eyes averted as I wanted to eat my food, not join those un-eating what they just eaten. Many slept outside for the whole three nights, on the upper deck, lee side, with a pillow, blanket and bucket.

On the last afternoon of the cruise things calmed down to a full gale. We had successfully worked our way behind hurricane Lenny, following it back through churned up seas towards San Juan. The mood of the passengers could be described as something between mutinious and murderous. Nearly everyone hated the ship, hated the crew, hated the sea, hated each other, and hated themselves! Some of the poor landlubbers looked like walking zombies, having neither eaten or slept well for three days.

Knowing that they had a bit of a morale problem on their hands, RCCL announced a $50.00 "storm" account credit per cabin, that must be spent before desembarking. This seemed to just add insult to injury, although my daughter and I enjoyed our new cheap, and very flashy, matching neon watches.

We loved it! My daughter and I had a riot the whole time! She got to monopolize the kareoke mike in the show lounge, and I got to watch all the excitement of a sea that I think, very nearly had the full measure of the Nordic Empress. We were not seasick, I having old sea legs, and her being her father's daughter, but I was concerned at times with just how hard the ship was working.

Besides predictable shortcomings like some water entry from the exterior glass work, there seemed to be enormous structural stress. The ship itself was not having a good time. The sound of the "crack" that accompanied the taking of huge rollers on the bow would be followed by a twisting shutter and the sound of tortured metal. I assumed (correctly, as it turned out) that the Nordic Empress was designed and built to withstand such a battering once or twice in it's lifetime, but could not help wandering just where the design tolerances might be. Were we in some danger? I should think so. But the crew performed wonderfully, and the Nordic Empress adequately for the occasion. It has left me with a real appreciation of the difference between a fair weather cruise ship, and a liner built to take it, come what may.

I have to end this sea yarn somewhere, so I will leave off with the words of our waiter. I think that there were 4 or 5 of us at our table of 8 when one lady said that at least if the ship sinks, we have enough lifeboats, not like the Titanic! (This was not a joke, as evacuating the ship was a serious topic of conversation started at a neighboring table) Our waiter responded, " Madame, you are already in the only lifeboat that could be launched in a sea like this!" then he smiled, and said. "Just kidding!

SpiritSailor

[ 02-27-2004: Message edited by: SpiritSailor ]

See this

After, thinking on our Nordic Empress experience a bit more, I went back and added a detail or two in the above account. I want to make one thing clear to any new cruisers that may get the wrong idea from my account.

At all times, RCCL was exemplary in its conduct and seamanship, in keeping with the best traditions of seafaring. I am sure there has been, and will be, more severe circumstances than the one we enjoyed, that turn out just fine because of such skill and dedication under duress. After having been caught in the center of a killer hurricane before, in 1969, as a watch keeping helmsmen on the freighter "William Samara," I was most impressed with the Empress' navigation, hotel and deck crew.

The chances of anyone being involved in a hurricane on a cruise ship are very slight. Please understand that shipping companies take great precautions not to be caught in situations where ship, crew and passenger safety is endangered.

Hurricane Lenny, for whatever reason, defied all the predictions of the experts, following an east by south-east track that was nearly unheard of before. No decision makers can be blamed for not being able to discern the undiscernable. The seamanship exibited however proves that they were trained and equiped to expect the unexpected.

Even then, the violence of the hurricane did not exceed the level of preparedness and ability of the Nordic Empress and her crew to weather it. Since fair weather makes poor sailors, I would not hesitate to sail with either of them again under any foreseeable circumstances. From me, praise and graditude does not come much higher than this. Well done RCCL. Thanks for the ride to remember!

SpiritSailor

[ 02-26-2004: Message edited by: SpiritSailor ]

"On the QM2 Maiden voyage, first sea-day in the Bay of Biscay, we had 40 ft waves"

Actually there are some on Web-Shots. Search under Storms Ships. This will bring up a wonderful series of pics of a crossing of the Constitution. (May be Indy). Anyway, enjoy. But, don't let it scare ya. You won't be crossing the Atlantic!

Sympatico -
I remember that! - Peter and I were quietly praying for a bit of excitement!

The Atlantic all the way over had been like a mill pond. We did have one little jolt though - an over anxious husband managed to break 2 of his wife's ribs - the ship listed - he grabbed the wooden arm of her chair to prevent (as he figured) her being overturned (it was only a slight sway, into which she leaned) and violently yanked her back, 2 ribs were broken! Ooooh! need I say more!

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Originally posted by sympatico:
Welcome back Thulewx!

My late husband and Green would have loved that. When we did the crossing on the old Westerdam, the 2 of them stood at the rail wondering where the rought seas were and why the Bay was so calm.

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