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Riding Out A Storm

Posted by (Austin, TX) on

One of the highlights on my trip may have been riding out a storm, I think Babette, while on my cruise ship.

Of course, I am saying this after the fact, there were times during the storm that I was thinking of Jonah and The Whale or movies that I had seen where waves burst into cabins

We were given no advance warnings by the ship.

I only heard about Babette from this forum when isn31c messaged me about sailing into Storm Babette. Had no idea what he was talking about until after midnight when everything in my cabin began to open and close while I rocked back and forth in my bed.

One passenger later said that she knew something was up when she saw that a six pack was greatly reduced in price and the hot tubs in the spa had been drained but nothing was said to us. Maybe NCL was afraid that passengers might over react if we knew in advance.

We were not laughing during the storm but looking back, I will include it as one of the highlights.

Before a trip, I dot all my i’s and cross all my t’s and then …….

Posted by
11159 posts

It sounds like NCL was negligent by not warning passengers of this storm.

Posted by
5764 posts

The P and O Arvia sailed through the same storm (I was getting several updates a day from someone on board her) and it is routine for cruise ships to sail through such weather in the Bay of Biscay, so I am not sure it was necessarily negligent.

While the Celebrity Silhouette stayed in Lisbon during the storm it is not clear if that was by the choice of Celebrity, or if the pilots refused to take her and other vessels out of port as they then had to disembark at the mouth of the Tagus.

That can and does happen- quite regularly for instance at the mouth of the River Thames, for the port of London. There are two Thames pilot stations- one off the Essex Coast and one off the Kent Coast. Sometimes one is safe to operate when the other isn't.

Posted by
4844 posts

...not clear if that was by the choice of Celebrity, or if the pilots refused to take her and other vessels out of port...

Could very well be a pilot issue. We bypassed a port on one Celebrity cruise because, while the sea was calm, the harbor was too risky to enter.

Posted by
1925 posts

Thank you Mardee

I never could figure out what the name of the storm is or was. I was never told by the ship that the storm was Babet but I am assuming it was.

Posted by
1925 posts

Suki.

Maybe NCL was hoping that it would not be as bad as it became

Also, there were a lot of older person with health issues on board. Lots. of children

If NCL had warned passengers, maybe there would have been panic. What about heart attacks. What about hysteria.

I think NCL did the best they could

Posted by
1925 posts

isn31c

I think you are the person who mentioned Storm Babet to me and I answered back something about no storm

Well, we had a storm. I am sorry that we could not port in La Coruna but what an experience it was

Posted by
3163 posts

My bride and I were on the Oceanic in September 1967 for our honeymoon to the Bahamas from New York City. We were affected by hurricanes Beulah, Chloe and Doria. Got back to NY in time to welcome Daria a second time! 2 rough days but still had a pretty good time!

Posted by
3761 posts

You've had quite an adventure!
I can't wait to read your Trip Report about the London portion of your trip!
Best wishes to you.

Posted by
5764 posts

There was an interesting video on tonight about Hurricane Tammy, which is heading straight for Bermuda.

Cruise ships there have been forced to leave port early or to divert. Nothing unusual in hurricane season.

And guess what, reports from one of the ships involved are of the usual objectionable and entitled cruisers demanding full refunds, or that the captain and weather forecasters are over reacting, making all sorts of stupid accusations, being generally utterly obnoxious to the guest services staff.

I think that is what NCL were partly trying to avoid.

Posted by
1925 posts

i have recently received more information about this storm from another site that I am on, I will try to find the link that was sent me.

But according to the poster, this storm was "the perfect storm". It was two storms coming together. And according to the poster, NCL Corporate told the captain to sail into it.

Posted by
1549 posts

Glad to hear that you are looking on it as a kind of highlight. I love a rough sea and always say I feel cheated if I can't feel the ship moving, but this might have been too much even for me.

Next April/May we sail through the Bay of Biscay and are expecting a wild ride.

Posted by
32768 posts

Before jets became popular, my first was a 707 in 1961, my parents and us boys used liners for transatlantic crossings New York to Southampton and Southampton to New York nearly every year. Then between 1961 and 1965 we sometimes flew and sometimes took a liner, usually Cunard or the SS United States.

I loved it. Always have enjoyed mucking about in boats.

Now these were liners, not cruise ships, designed for speed not the huge palatial craft of current times. We did the runs in 4 and a half days to 5 days and unless the storm was really awful didn't diverge much from the planned route. What they did do in bad weather was slow down a touch. British and French alike. Not the SS United States though. No matter what, they stayed to the timetable and the planned route, at speed. Plenty of speed.

I learned early on what the velvet ropes on both sides of corridors was for, what the raised edge on dining tables was for, and how not to go out on deck in heavy seas.

We all survived in one piece (that doesn't sound right somehow) and always enjoyed the voyage - even on the SS United States which in addition to the full speed captain also was made of aluminum so it creaked and shrieked in heavy seas.

Sorry to say that after 1965 we never returned to the transatlantic liner trade. Fun and special as it was 5 days per crossing couldn't compete with an overnight flight. I do miss it though...

Posted by
5764 posts

The thing is that NCL had an impossible choice-

They had 3 options-
1) Ride the storm out, and miss a port, but stay on time. Basically, everyone reasonably happy.
2) Stay in the remote port at Bordeaux, run a day or two late with repercussions both for departing passengers and arriving pax for the next cruise which would then have had to be cut short.
3) Cut your cruise short somewhere after an extended stay in Bordeaux, then have to arrange flights or buses for you to Lisbon, and for arriving pax from Lisbon. Neither charter aircraft or buses grow on trees.

Look at the recent Princess breakdown in Kiel to see how badly that went down, and the total over reactions from some over-entitled passengers.

If you had stayed in Bordeaux the port may not have had dock space or security staff on hand to accept you; as you can't get out of that port independently excursions would have had to be arranged at short notice.

In this instance, and I am not known for defending NCL, I think they made the best choice from a bad set of options. Some will say it was about saving money. I don't really agree.

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