Hurricane Joaquin bearing down on the Bahamas, what does DCL do?

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

We are on the Fantasy now, our room is in between the 2 Roy Disney Suites. I stayed up until 3am scared last night, winds on my stateroom tv said 70 that was the highest I saw. The boat was really moving last night, it was terrible. My stateroom host told us several cabins had sick adults and children. I also talked to many people whose patrician on the balcony was blown off. I don't want to ever go through this kind of storm again. I sure hope Castaway is ok.

On our very first sailing on the Dream in 6/2012 we had cabin 6188 which is far aft. Our partition also blew off on the way back to Port Canaveral (it was our last night) and was flapping something fierce. I believe it was TS Debbie although we weren't in it but were still in the remnants as I recall. It happened right before 10pm and no way could we sleep like that so we told our cabin steward who was still working on cabins and he called a friend of his and the two of them tied it up so it wouldn't flap at least and then advised the maintenance cm's would fix in port and to let them know if it came undone and luckily it did not. The weather was pretty nutty.

I won't try and take away from anyone's experience as bottom line I wasn't there so I can't say. I have experienced some varying degrees of waves and winds, all times throughout the year and now can add the North Sea to mine on the Magic this summer. We had deck 2 and the waves were so high it was covering our cabin windows at times - nuts (and cool). Lots of people were "green" and they had bowls of sea sickness meds sitting out at Guest Services. We were fine and it was slightly fascinating watching the waves crash. We were rocking and rolling for sure and other nights we were pitching up and down and we were forward so definitely felt the up and down movement and it was like slight weightlessness waiting to come back down. this didn't happen every night/day but we had varying degrees and I still think it was "normal" but the person next door to us might have been freaked out completely. We all handle things differently and that's ok too

I would not want to sail *in* a hurricane but I know the sea is a very powerful force to be reckoned with and I do trust DCL will do their best to keep us safe. Crazy weather and conditions can really happen at any time and I just try and remember that.

Heather

 

[PrincessTrisha]

,Hey

Please you say the other 2 vessels stayed at sea, which is correct. Where were there cruises going to in relationship to where the Fantasy was? Was it eastern? western? Bahamas?, southern? Please let me know what sea conditions did they have from the storm?.....There location in relation to the Fantasy?.........What options did they have in comparison to the Fantasy in her position and sea and storms conditions?......Would it have been safe or even possible for the Fantasy to try and get to a area the other 2 vessels were?

No I do not expect anyone here to have this information, just pointing out how much information is involved here, not just *gee the other ships stayed at sea, so the Fantasy was wrong*. However I do expect everyone to admit the media and bogs are not nautical people and have little or no idea about what they are printing. Of course they do need to keep there readership numbers high and what better way then spinning a story with the Disney name involved.


What I read in the maritime industry reports as I have reported.......Sandy slowed down and trapped the fantasy.

AKK

The Carnival Dream stayed at sea out by Miami for an extra day. They had come from doing the Eastern Caribbean route (St. Thomas, St. Maarten). They had the same conditions that the Disney Fantasy had (large sea swells, rough seas) and ran the same routes as the Fantasy (rotating between the Eastern and Western Caribbean).

It's similar to the time that Royal left while Disney and Carnival remained at port overnight due to high winds and large swells. The Royal ship experienced the very rough seas and sustained a lot of glassware damage (not only glasses, plates, and whatnot but also around their shops and plate glass doors). They came under criticism for their decision as well.

Whenever multiple cruiselines are coming or going from the same place, and 1 chooses to do something different than the other two, and experiences issues, they should expect that the public will see the decision as "wrong". It's life.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

The Carnival Dream stayed at sea out by Miami for an extra day. They had come from doing the Eastern Caribbean route (St. Thomas, St. Maarten). They had the same conditions that the Disney Fantasy had (large sea swells, rough seas) and ran the same routes as the Fantasy (rotating between the Eastern and Western Caribbean).

It's similar to the time that Royal left while Disney and Carnival remained at port overnight due to high winds and large swells. The Royal ship experienced the very rough seas and sustained a lot of glassware damage (not only glasses, plates, and whatnot but also around their shops and plate glass doors). They came under criticism for their decision as well.

Whenever multiple cruiselines are coming or going from the same place, and 1 chooses to do something different than the other two, and experiences issues, they should expect that the public will see the decision as "wrong". It's life.

Ok fine, that does not mean they followed the same courses or port. It does not show where the vessels respectively especailly toward thw end of th3 cruise when the vessels were diverting

Add to that all the other questions I raised and the conditions. Nlow remember you have to include all the factors.

1. The Carnival ship was behind the Fantasy a good deal.

2. Sandy increasing in force and the winds worked againist the gut stream which was running 4 to 6 knots and greatly increased the swells.

3. As pointed out the Fantasy was further up the Florida Straits when it became appear the Storm was much stronger then reported. The weather report finnily showed the worsening storm , and the Fantasy and other vessels were passing the information on thier conditions to vessels further south.

At that point the Fantasy could not slow down a any further and could not turn around.

4 The carnival ship now knowing the worsening conditions slowed down and worked slowly north ward. And still had the advantage od not getting further into the storm due partly dues to Fantasy's reports.

There was no mistake on the part of the Master, it was a mix on bad weather, limitedanuvearing rooms and overall conditions.

As we both stated we did not know the RCCL ships a situation

And as I pointed out conditions and location of the Fantasy and the Carnival vessel were very different. The Strom was not predicted to get near as bad as it was, which could not be forseen.

Folks if tour going to cruise you have to expect heavy weather conditions now and then and except a unusual situation like the criminaly qwron Master of the Concordia, it's not fair to sit back and say the Master was wrong ,or draw unsupported statement like ,*they just wanted to get in on time*.

Akk

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Ok fine, that does not mean they followed the same courses or port. It does not show where the vessels respectively especailly toward thw end of th3 cruise when the vessels were diverting

Add to that all the other questions I raised and the conditions. Nlow remember you have to include all the factors.

1. The Carnival ship was behind the Fantasy a good deal.

2. Sandy increasing in force and the winds worked againist the gut stream which was running 4 to 6 knots and greatly increased the swells.

3. As pointed out the Fantasy was further up the Florida Straits when it became appear the Storm was much stronger then reported. The weather report finnily showed the worsening storm , and the Fantasy and other vessels were passing the information on thier conditions to vessels further south.

At that point the Fantasy could not slow down a any further and could not turn around.

4 The carnival ship now knowing the worsening conditions slowed down and worked slowly north ward. And still had the advantage od not getting further into the storm due partly dues to Fantasy's reports.

There was no mistake on the part of the Master, it was a mix on bad weather, limitedanuvearing rooms and overall conditions.

As we both stated we did not know the RCCL ships a situation

And as I pointed out conditions and location of the Fantasy and the Carnival vessel were very different. The Strom was not predicted to get near as bad as it was, which could not be forseen.

Folks if tour going to cruise you have to expect heavy weather conditions now and then and except a unusual situation like the criminaly qwron Master of the Concordia, it's not fair to sit back and say the Master was wrong ,or draw unsupported statement like ,*they just wanted to get in on time*.

Akk

Except that the Carnival ship made the decision not to port at Canaveral early on Friday (during the day - I received an email from Carnival at 1:30 Friday afternoon letting me know the ship would be delayed by a day) so the decision was made before even entering the Florida Straits. It wasn't a case of the Fantasy Captain telling them, "Hey this is too rough, stay where you are." The decision had already been finalized and the next cruise had already been informed before the Fantasy ran into the really bad stuff through the night.

 

[mlayton14]

Except that the Carnival ship made the decision not to port at Canaveral early on Friday (during the day - I received an email from Carnival at 1:30 Friday afternoon letting me know the ship would be delayed by a day) so the decision was made before even entering the Florida Straits. It wasn't a case of the Fantasy Captain telling them, "Hey this is too rough, stay where you are." The decision had already been finalized and the next cruise had already been informed before the Fantasy ran into the really bad stuff through the night.

Yes in most people's world that is called an "Abundance of caution" which wasn't the priority for the fantasy captain. The technical arguments are to try to create reasonable doubt just like a slick attorney would do in a courtroom. If it walks like a duck, talks luck a duck, smells like a duck, it's a duck.

 

[wdwgirl21]

We just debarked the Fantasy today, and Commadore Tom did an excellent job of keeping us safe. Waves Thursday night ran 12 feet or so, maybe slightly larger, the stateroom tv showed both apparent wind and regular winds, highest of which I saw were 64 mph. The crew did a great job, and while the motion was uncomfortable for some, we were very safe.

 

[DISGRL13]

Glad you all returned safely this morning!

 

[GioCruise]

We just debarked the Fantasy today, and Commadore Tom did an excellent job of keeping us safe. Waves Thursday night ran 12 feet or so, maybe slightly larger, the stateroom tv showed both apparent wind and regular winds, highest of which I saw were 64 mph. The crew did a great job, and while the motion was uncomfortable for some, we were very safe.

We were on board as well! Glad your safe....it was an adventure to say the least!
I'm already booked for next year! See ya real soon!

 

[Bdunn]

I am incredibly sensitive to motion sickness but did not experience it in the least (debarked Fantasy this morning). We were on deck 12. No glasses fell off of tables, no chairs were careening across rooms. It's hard to estimate, but I would guess seas at 15 to maybe 20 feet. Highest apparent wind I saw was 82 mph (wind plus ship speed). I think the seaworthiness of a 1000 foot ship is underestimated. Additionally, we were never taking seas broadside; I felt that rocking was very well controlled.

 

[lilysgigi]

This was amusing to me, thought I'd share

just back from the Fantasy and liturally riding out Joaquin beteen Cuba and Bahamas, saying good bye to the elusive cabana booked for CC, and arriving late to port changing everything from pre baggage check and flight home...I really wanted to say thanks for this funny graphic. I need to check through some more posts now but woulld love to share how things were for us...pretty amazing experince in all ways

 

[NancyDVC]

We were on the Magic in 2004, the year 4 storms hit Florida. Two or three weeks before our cruise was scheduled the Wonder took all the CMs off CC before the first storm hit CC. The island is too low to allow safe haven if there are extreme tides expected. Port Canaveral was closed for 2+ weeks. DCL had to divert to Miami for several cruises. They took passengers to and from Orlando by bus. One cruise became a 10 day because there were no ports open in Florida. The Magic stopped in Galveston to replenish supplies and allow guests to disembark if they chose to. The next was shortened. Ours was next and was the first out of PC and back to CC. When we checked in at the port we were told that our Western cruise would be changed to San Juan, Puerto Rico and St. Thomas because of a storm headed west. We made San Juan but then had to head to Nassau because another storm was headed toward St. Thomas. Had a great time but heard some complaints from folks who were annoyed that the itinerary had to be changed. I didn't care because we made it to the ship and had a great time. Thanks to folks I met on this board I knew that we would be leaving from PC, and that my hotel in Cocoa Beach for the night before was open. Thanks! We had a rougher cruise in January a year later when there was a storm headed off the coast.

 

[LookOutBelow]

I am incredibly sensitive to motion sickness but did not experience it in the least (debarked Fantasy this morning). We were on deck 12. No glasses fell off of tables, no chairs were careening across rooms. It's hard to estimate, but I would guess seas at 15 to maybe 20 feet. Highest apparent wind I saw was 82 mph (wind plus ship speed). I think the seaworthiness of a 1000 foot ship is underestimated. Additionally, we were never taking seas broadside; I felt that rocking was very well controlled.

We'll put. Was it uncomfortable? Yes. Noisy? Yes. Had I wished we were updated on the situation more than the follow up we received the next day? Absolutely!! But, maybe ignorance is bliss. We were Deck 7, Forward. We definitely felt the "ups and downs" of Thursday evening and night. Proudly, we kept our dinners where they belonged!!

 

[EONSO]

i hope this was a short time problem... we leave at the end of october.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

i hope this was a short time problem... we leave at the end of october.

Well, hurricane season runs June 1 to Nov 30, so anything's possible.

 

[mhconley]

We were in 9120 on the Fantasy as we skirted hurricane Joaquin and I was very impressed with how stable the ship remained through steady 65 mph apparent winds (at 20 knots) and seas of 3-5 meters. I was using the level built into the compass app on my iPhone and never saw more than 3 degrees off level. Yes we felt shudders, bumps, up-and-down and side-to-side motion but nowhere near as bad as I expected. DS and I had zero issues with the motion, DW took Bonine and still had to skip dinner Thursday evening. What was fun was standing in a Racetrac buying bottled water on the way home and "feeling" the motion on solid ground. Weirdness.

I understand the Dream did a 4-night cruise to nowhere.

Martin