Wednesday afternoon......Castaway Cay is cancelled. It looks like the eye of the storm will be over the Bahamas on the 26th, which was CC day. Captain Tom shows maps of the storm before the evening shows and explains why he just cannot get us there. Everyone is very understanding.
Thursday........ Ship is rolling. I am seasick for the first time in my entire life. But waves aren't bad, just enough motion to feel affected. We are warned that Friday the waves will be worse. Sun is out at times so people are still in pool and going about the day.
Friday...... Cloudy, windy. Gusts up to 70mph. Aqua duck closed. Pools sloshing, but still open. Waves a bit rougher. It is my birthday and I am stuck in room with sick kid (DS 4, who had puked at dinner the night before and is running a temp.)
Friday late Afternoon, just before 1st seating dinner........Pools closed. Decks closed. Grey clouds, high winds. During 1st performance, a dancer falls. It was like they leapt, and when they landed the floor wasn't where it was supposed to be. If you took the stairs you could feel the same sensation. The step would be higher or lower than when you started the step. Walking becomes an Olympic sport. Must. Hold. Handrail. 630pm Captain Tom comes on speaker to say that conditions will remain like this through the night and to take precaution when walking around the ship. Announcements are made that we may not get back to Port Canaveral at the scheduled time and that breakfast and debarkation times have changed. Now there will be open seating at Cabanas, Enchanted Garden, and Royal Court.
2nd seating dinner.......DS 9 is green around the gills, DD 6 is crying because her tummy hurts. I go to dinner with everyone, including DS 4, who no longer has a fever. DS 4 acts like he hasn't seen food in weeks and gobbles down a roll and apple juice. And then pukes all over his plate for the second night in a row. Other two kids are doing fine with some food in them. I give them some Dramamine and pop 2 meclazine for myself. Continue with dinner, get a birthday dessert, we all stumble back to our room.
10pm.......the fun begins. Waves are ridiculous. Tops of waves can be seen at 5th floor windows. Ship is pitching up and down, and it feels like a roller coaster. I go to 11th floor to beverage station to fill our mugs. Everything is closed. winds are howling. We don't want to put anyone in top bunk, so we settle in DS 9 and DD 6 into their bunks, and DS 4 sleeps with us. There will be no sleeping on this night, however. We are in room 9000. 9th floor, directly under the bridge. The ship is rolling side to side. When I say rolling, I mean that I actually rolled out of my bed onto the floor. The hangers in the closet would slide back and forth, the bathroom doors would fly open then slam shut. Ice bucket, glasses, wave phones, all on the floor. Thunderous crashes as waves would slam into the ship, so loud it sounded like a firework going off in the room. Somehow my kids are sleeping ( must have been the Dramamine
DH and I are wide awake. It is next to impossible to walk in the room.
1245am......"When You Wish Upon A Star" comes piping into our room, followed by Captain Tom asking everyone to return to their rooms and stay there. I figure that if he is making this announcement over a loudspeaker into the rooms knowing kids are on board and possibly sleeping, he must mean business!
105am........Again with the music.... Then Captain Tom says " I want to reassure everyone that you are safe. This ship can handle the storm. You will be ok."
Saturday am........message over loudspeaker in rooms. " Sorry , folks, for the rough night. The waves and wind were worse than predicted". Off to Enchanted Garden at about 830 for breakfast. Broken pictures on ground. detective agency desk turned over. Merchandise on floor in gift shops. Broken glass in White Caps due to falling liquor bottles. Multiple crew members discussing openly with guests how frightened they were. Many guests already in lobby waiting to get off the ship. This won't happen anytime soon. We decide to go back to our rooms and let the kids watch cartoons and wait for an announcement. Announcement for 25% made. Debarkation begins at around 1145am. We don't get off ship until 145pm because so many people a trying to get off at once.
I am not a big panicker, so I never felt like "This is it!" I will admit to a bit of terror when Captain Tom came back on the speaker at 105am. I thought for sure he was going to tell us to get a life jacket on. I always felt like the ship could handle the storm but it was very uncomfortable and not something I wish to relive. I think that is what rattles a bunch a folks......Disney did not have the comfort of the guests as a priority. Yes I am alive and unhurt, but I was physically ill, and missed out on a full night's rest. Worse things could happen. I don't blame Disney for the weather. They may control many things, but that isn't one of them
I didn't complain, I didn't write nasty comments on the comment card, I didn't descend on guest services demanding a full refund. But deep down I do feel that possibly the haste to return to port was more of a financial decision than a sane one.