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Crew members reacted quickly to clean up, including putting towels down to soak up water in flooded areas and to ensure flooring was safe for guests. Security was stationed around the ship to reassure guests and offer guidance as needed. Sailing around the storm can take longer than the original route and disrupt the company’s cruise schedule, leading to delays or cancellations. The cruise line may have to reimburse passengers or provide them with future credits because of the inconvenience. Throughout the storm, Branham wondered why there weren’t more announcements from Carnival staff. Besides the warning of rougher seas earlier Friday and one Saturday morning after they’d weathered the storm, Branham said they weren’t given any official updates on their situation.
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Royal Caribbean cruise ship floods amid rough weather - USA TODAY
Royal Caribbean cruise ship floods amid rough weather.
Posted: Thu, 01 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
While cruise ships do attempt to steer clear of bad weather, it is not always possible to completely avoid lengthy squall lines or large storm systems. This is particularly true in the case of Voyager of the Seas and Carnival Dream, both of which were heading back to Galveston at the time of the severe weather. Even in the midst of bad weather, however, cruise ships can change their orientation, adjust speed, deploy stabilizers, and take other steps to ensure guests’ safety and comfort as much as possible until the severe weather passes.
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Jim Walker, a maritime lawyer and cruise industry legal expert, says his firm has been contacted by some Carnival Sunshine passengers who were injured during the storm, including a man who says he was struck by a door and broke his foot. MSC also said it offered passengers a choice of sailing to the new destinations or canceling for future credit, "which allows them to put the full value paid for this cruise toward another at their convenience." Passengers of a cruise who were expecting a sunny getaway in the Bahamas this week were instead sailed to a much colder climate due to severe weather. The vessel carrying 266 passengers and 131 crew suffered shattered windows on its bridge when it encountered a powerful storm in the North Sea late Thursday, Danish authorities said. Streets around harbors flooded overnight in some Dutch North Sea towns including Scheveningen, the seaside suburb of The Hague.
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"We were surrounded by lightning and the ship took a huge hit by a wave and sounded like it split in two," Tutrone tweeted. The footage also shows sunbeds piled up on the deck after being tossed around in the powerful storm. Water flowed into rooms and sunbeds were strewn across the deck as the vessel was battered by the fierce weather conditions. Matthew Branham and his fiancée, Madison Davis, were lying by a Carnival Sunshine pool on Friday aboard a cruise returning to Charleston, S.C., from the Bahamas when an announcement came over the loudspeaker. The captain was expecting rougher weather that evening, but there was nothing to worry about.
"An Esvagt ship is towing it slowly towards Bremerhafen in Germany at around 8-9 knots," the spokesperson told Reuters. She has previously written for outlets including PIX11 News, The New York Daily News, Inside Edition and DNAinfo. "Myself being in emergency services and retired, I knew nobody was going to come and rescue us with winds over 40 knots," Overcash said. Fellow passenger Elaina Escobedo, 21, went to her grandparent's cabin to check on them during the storm.
"The complexities involved in obtaining last-minute berths for unplanned stops and provisioning the ship along its new route left sailing to Canada and New England as the only viable option," the cruise line added. In Hamburg, the Elbe River flooded streets around the city's fish market, with water waist-high in places. German authorities warned of a storm surge of up to three meters (nearly 10 feet) or more above mean high tide on parts of the North Sea coast on Friday. Pike estimated winds reached between 40 and 50 miles per hour at the height of the storm, which he added was "terrifying" to watch. A meteorologist for Fox 35 reported winds reached from 55 to 60 miles an hour at their peak strength. He said he's not going to let the frightening experience stop him from going on more cruises in the future.
In stormy conditions, the crew can deploy the stabilizers, which will prevent the ship from rolling and bucking. Passenger Sharon Tutrone, a professor at Coastal Carolina University, tweeted Friday that the ship was rocking. She said that the only time passengers heard from the captain was in the afternoon, when he told them he had an experienced crew and would do everything he could to minimize discomfort as the ship encountered the storm.
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We make sure cruisers are fully prepared for their cruise vacation with tips on ships and ports.Millions of travelers rely on Cruise Hive in the United States, Europe, Australia, and around the world. Pete Peterson, owner of Storybook Cruises, which is affiliated with Cruise Planners, said cruise ships keep a close eye on weather developments and will adjust their itinerary depending on the severity of the storm. The cruise ship can accommodate up to 5,624 passengers and 1,608 crew members, the cruise line says on its website. It was unclear how many passengers were aboard the rerouted Bahamas cruise. A Norwegian cruise liner carrying hundreds of passengers weathered a “terrifying” storm before a rogue wave temporarily took out its power, stomach-churning footage showed.
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Similarly, guests may be advised to stay off their private balconies or verandahs during bad weather, especially as these areas can be prone to flooding when waves are high or rainfall is intense. It is unknown whether guests onboard Voyager of the Seas were similarly asked to return to their staterooms during the roughest weather. The storm was likely the same squall line that Carnival Dream also passed through when guests and crew members were advised to stay in their cabins. Despite the difficult seas, the ship was able to return to Galveston as planned, and departed on her next sailing – another 5-night Western Caribbean sailing – without problems. Voyager of the Seas had to sail through a severe sudden storm over the weekend, causing flooding and interior damage on the ship.
Because the ships were heading back to their homeport, they were not able to adjust their route as significantly as if the incidents happened mid-cruise, when a port of call could be rescheduled or cancelled. Videos and photos shared to different social media sites also show flooding in both public areas and guest staterooms, as well as passengers milling about in general confusion as the situation evolved. The vessel was listed noticeably, and furniture on the open decks was tossed about, while indoor lounges had broken glassware and other damage. Displays tipped over in retail stores, and in the ship’s casino, slot machines tipped and fell. Royal Caribbean International’s Voyager of the Seas recently encountered a severe squall in the Gulf of Mexico while finishing her most recent sailing. “Waves were hitting the boat so hard that it was like an earthquake experience, jarring you like a really rough roller coaster — even in the middle floor,” Branham said.
Tour operator Thorsten Hansen shared a video of the foamy waves battering the hull of the MS Maud, which made headlines Thursday when its electricity failed mid-voyage. The company said that falling trees damaged overhead electric wires or blocked tracks largely in northern Germany, but also in the central state of Hesse. "The Independence was just getting battered by winds as it was trying to push off the dock," Pike said. "Then [it] was covered by the gray cloud of rain and we couldn't see more than 20 yards out the window."
While Walker said passengers should make their complaints known to Carnival, he doesn’t believe filing a lawsuit would be an efficient next step. Instead, impacted passengers can ask Carnival for a refund or a credit for another cruise, although there’s no guarantee the cruise line will grant such requests. The MS Maud’s on-board technology makes her “exceptionally well-suited” to trips through Norway and the British Isles, the company boasted. A woman who was struck by a falling tree on Thursday in the eastern Dutch town of Wilp later died of her injuries, her employer said. On Thursday, high winds also grounded flights in parts of the U.K., suspended train services and stopped Scottish ferries.
A storm off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, battered a Carnival cruise ship for hours late Friday night before it docked, leaving passengers terrified. En route back to Charleston Friday night into Saturday, the Carnival Sunshine navigated into a strong storm system that battered the southeast over the holiday weekend. Videos emerged on social media showing cabins and hallways flooding, shop floors littered with destroyed merchandise and leaking ceilings.
Reuters reported that the ship was being towed to Bremerhafen in Germany after the power outage. A spokesperson for the Danish Joint Rescue Coordination Centre told the news agency that a ship from civil rescue firm Esvagt had managed to connect a tow line to the MS Maud. "Instead of telling people to come up to the top deck when we have a severe thunderstorm warning, maybe you should be more worried about your guests and employees and tell them to get inside," tweeted one passenger who filmed the storm.
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