Updated: Cruise ship captain says storm was worst he experienced in 35 years
The captain of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship that was in the midst of a savage storm in the Eastern Mediterranean on Sunday morning said today it was something he had never seen in 35 years at sea.
“It was a horrifying experience for us crew members as much as it was for the passengers,” Captain Erik Tengelsen said.
The Brilliance of the Seas (80,000 tons) was on a 12-day cruise from Spain to Italy, Greece and Egypt with Malta meant to be the last port of call when it encountered 30 foot waves and hurricane force winds as it approached Alexandria.
The captain said he had followed normal procedure for bad weather. The weather forecast was of 45 knot winds yet the storm produced wind of between 50 and 68 knots.
Terrifying as the experience was, he stressed that the ship was built to withstand such weather and was “very far” from disaster.
The Brilliance of the Seas sailed into Grand Harbour for minor repairs this morning, having opted to drop its stop in Egypt.
It appeared none the worse, externally, as it berthed at the Valletta Waterfront at dawn.
Passengers, however, reported having gone through a 'nightmare'. A few suffered slight injuries but two suffered fractures.
As they disembarked this morning, they soaked up the sunny weather as they recounted the “terrifying” experience when the ship battled the rough seas.
All the passengers who spoke to timesofmalta.com praised the crew for the professional way in which they handled the situation and tried to see to everyone’s needs.
Most people were in their cabins, at about 2.30 a.m.. when suddenly the ship shook violently.
Television sets, telephones and bedside tables were slammed onto the decks as passengers tried to keep their balance in a “nightmare” that lasted a few minutes
One couple, whose cabin was towards the bottom of the ship, described how they momentarily feared for their lives since, through their porthole, they could see they were underwater.
A woman and her daughter-in-law said that they laughed through the scary experience “because we didn’t know what else to do”.
Dominic Paul, Royal Carribbean’s managing director for the UK and Ireland, said that the weather had been twice as bad as forecast.
He assured passengers that the ship remained seaworthy as it had suffered no external damage.
Although the incident could not have been predicted, he said, the company felt that passengers had gone through an ordeal and deserved compensation. All passengers received a full refund of their cruise fare.
American passenger Evelyn Hoffa told CBS' The Early Show it was "horrifying" as the waves crashed above the ship's 10th floor windows. She said water was all over the passenger quarters as ice buckets and papers flew across cabins.
Another American on the ship, Lorraine Brewer, told "The Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith she woke up to "very rough" seas before being hurled back and forth in her cabin with her husband for about five minutes.
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Pule' Carmel
Dec 16th 2010, 11:04
See, YouTube, " Cargo vessel in heavy conditions" to appreciate parametric oscilllations (sort of) in sea going vessels. also to appreciate the headaches of all ship designer engineers.
See, You tube, " Container ship flexing in rough weather". This is scaring!
One lesson about the sea. Never Never underestimate its power and you do not and never design on the statistical "average weather" in operational waters, but on the highest storm recorded in history for you never know, and what it is going to cost you! Also Imagine 50,000 horse power driving an immersed ship propellor and all of a sudden the propellor loses all the water around it due to the wavemotion and then to be immersed again, suddenly. That poor shaft! I think at this stage AN ENGIEER SHOULD TAKE OVER RESPONSIBILITIES! and not the Captain, for it is no longer a case of knowing navigation and sea laws.
Of course it also applies to designing the wings of an aircraft carrying 900 passengers/ soldiers as the A 380 or the Jumbo 747 can. It certainly scares me! All that responsibility! It should scare anybody especially engineers who know more detail than anybody else!
Godfrey Gatt
Dec 16th 2010, 00:09
I think most online commentators are missing the wood for the tree here. The real issue here is not how generous the company was to give the passengers full compensation, but that they could have been spared this whole ordeal if Royal Carribean ( or tha captain in this instance), cancelled the trip and remained at port. By his own admission, the captain was expecting 45 knot winds - not ideal conditions by any strecth of imagination.
So why take the risk? I don't think that any passenger worth his salt has this in mind when booking a holiday aboard a cruise liner? It runs counter to what a cruise is all about!
Dare I say that this was a case of respecting the cruise company's itenirary at all cost !
Cmuscat
Dec 15th 2010, 22:57
Why are you all so surprised with the refund? Over here Melita Cable television are light years ahead in customer care. Aren't we all satisfied with their impeccable service?
Pule' Carmel
Dec 15th 2010, 19:55
See You tube "Extreme Rough Sea - Cruiser Roll Motions " to have an idea what this Royal Carribean Cruise Ship went through.
S Azzopardi
Dec 16th 2010, 00:10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kohr0KfVXZA
Pule' Carmel
Dec 15th 2010, 19:49
Malta too has quite heavy high and short waves that scare the life out of you. In fact captains taking part in theMiddleSea Race declared that they had never seen killer waves as they had seen in the mediterranian.When I was courting my wife, I owned an American sailing boat , fully watertight as a modern laser but bigger. It had no counterweight below. Once we decided to take off from Kalkara and as we approached the innerside of the breakwater, I tucked in close protected by it where I could see the heavy waves coming in between the two lighthouses.As I navigated the Lighthouse on the longer arm, boy I was in it, and went to windward rising with the waves and dropping in the troughs, where as we went over the wave we flew for a couple of feet. I only went out about 200 yards and then gybe around back home. As we were now going downwind, the bow sank below the water and because of the flat deck, the whole boat was being driven underwater like a submarine with the to of us trying to stabilise it. It was the most stupid decision I ever did.
fabian muliet
Dec 15th 2010, 12:41
Although the incident could not have been predicted, he said, the company felt that passengers had gone through an ordeal and deserved compensation. All passengers received a full refund of their cruise fare.... Would they get that from a maltese company????
John F. & Monica GALEA
Dec 15th 2010, 09:16
We did cruise quite a lot but thank God so far we have never had such a terribel experience.
Of course we are always very cautious booking a midship, lower cabin.
We have sailed seven times with Royal Caribbean, most recent one was only two months ago from Miami. We always look forward to board R. C. ships as they have one of the finest, most sea worthy and passenger friendly fleet in the world. The crew is always pleasing and friendly and well see to all the passengers needs in the highest professional way.
Full praise is extended to Capt.Erik Tengelsen and Royal Caribbean Cruise line on their immedaiate announcement that all passengers are to receive a full refund of their fare.
We are both looking forward to book another cruise with said distinguished cruise line.
M Vella
Dec 15th 2010, 09:15
These very strong winds were in fact forecast from some 5-6 days ahead!
Joe Vitale
Dec 15th 2010, 00:36
I fully agree with Mr Paul Barrett. This is the kind of P.R. a good compony should have. Unfortunately, this summer I've cruised to Norway & Iceland with Costa and unlike these passengers (which at least had only a couple of hours of bad weather), our cruise was a nightmare from day one. I have booked my cabin for 4 persons in Dec 09 and when we set foot in it, it was hardly big enough for two, let alone my wife, 2 kids and myself. Costa staff told me there and then that since the ship (Luminosa) was fully booked, there was little they could do. We had to settle for that so called cabin with 2 make shift beds near our bed. I took some photos to prove myself once we returned to Malta. We had practically no room to even dress after bathing. But the arrogance showed in Malta by Costa's agents (SMS Travel of Valletta) is unbelievable. I was told on the ship and given proof that the mistake was done by the Maltese agent when they booked online, but they just didn't care. For me, SMS & Costa can evaporate into thin air.
leo attard
Dec 14th 2010, 20:37
In gozo one has to pay for the little sauce packets at McDonald's which are free everywhere around the world! I guess in Malta and |Gozo we have that attitude that comes from years of raising cows, sheep and goats ----- milk them! milk them! milk until they run dry!
Charles Vella
Dec 15th 2010, 12:47
You are SO wrong! Customers are charged for Ketchup and Mayo in Malta, Italy, Germany, Austria, France, Latvia, Estonia, Lituania & Egypt! In many areas in the UK customers are charged for ketchup and mayo too, and soon it will be all over.
It's important to know what one is saying before saying that 'ONLY IN MALTA' !! We are part of the world and 'only in malta' DOES NOT EXIST, in whatever situation!! Grow up!
M. Schembri
Dec 16th 2010, 13:23
Heqq, in the US, customers are given unlimited free drink refills. But can you imagine what would happen in Malta if that were the case? People would start queuing up with empty bottles so that they won't have to buy any!
And when the ketchup was for free, people would fill up multiple tiny cups and only end up using one! So I think it was pretty wise of them to introduce this charge.
Paul Barrett
Dec 14th 2010, 11:47
Quote: All passengers received a full refund of their cruise fare. Unquote.
Now that is what you call good customer relations - no arguments, no delay, a clear decision which will undoubtedly pay for itself in the future. It takes years to build a good name and only seconds to loose it.
R.Vella
Dec 14th 2010, 13:44
This is the kind of attitude most if not all Maltese companies should adopt. Customer care here is still way back.
This frightening situation passengers and crew experienced was dealt professionally from beginning to end.
I will surely consider this company when planning a future cruise vacation.
lgalea
Dec 14th 2010, 14:11
This is unlike my experienced this morning at a Maltapost branch. There were 35 - 40 people paying their telephone etc bills and I just went for a quick errand nearby. I made it back just one minute past 12.45 still open half shutter and people paying. As I entered one of the employees started shouting that they were closed. I said I only had a letter to register but he shouted that they were closed. When I brought to his attention that Maltapost was supposed to be a POST OFFICE and first of all deal with the post and not paying bills he said that they have many services and that they were closed. I felt that although I was 1 minute late I should have been allowed to register my letter because people were still paying bills. What irritated me was the totally arrogant attitude of the person and when I told him I was going to make a complaint he answered back "U ghamel lill-O***A trid". This is certainly not the way to treat people especially blaspheming by a Maltapost employee. When will MCA order Maltapost to first serve people with postal items and not bill payments?
Christian Sciberras
Dec 14th 2010, 14:47
Just because someone labels a phone number as "customer service" doesn't mean it is actually....
Daniel Camilleri
Dec 14th 2010, 15:57
Arms Ltd will be the first to adopt it...
Walter Joseph Attard
Dec 14th 2010, 20:50
A company must not only give a good service but to sustain any complaints whatsoever to keep the customer happy! Ot must have been a terrifing experience but remember St Paul had faith and landed in MalIa. So did this ship, our island is the land of salvation.... let's keep this Catholic outcome! Ps Thirteen years ago i have been on The Sovereign of the seas during a one day storm in Nassau! I can immagine what it felt like! We managed to get into port when the storm was about to begin, Nassau was flooded! I cant immagine during huricane winds! The people who work on ships must be brave!
Christopher Ripard
Dec 15th 2010, 00:07
Customer service a' la Dwana: I once went to release some merchandise urgently need for a manufacturing company I worked with. It was 3pm (they officially closed at 5) but all I got was 'xeba dagha b'Alla' + 'maghluqin hi' (we're closed mate). When I looked at my watch, again, 'xeba dagha' + 'ghalxejn tara l-arlogg' (f* * * the time), il-cash ghoddejnih (we've counted the cash). It was worth joining the EU just to not have to go thru these people any more. In England, Australia and the U.S., even if you are a criminal/suspect, you are always referrred to as "sir" (or "madam"). Compare that with the "service" we sometimes get here!
William P Flynn
Dec 14th 2010, 10:31
If you cruise a lot, sooner or later you WILL have an experience like this no matter when, where, or the size of ship.
My wife and I got our comeuppance on a Pacific voyage on the Regal Princess between Auckland New Zealand and Sydney Australia.
The waves had to be 30 metres and more and the ship (a large one) got an incredible pounding.
The captain woke us up at 6am. He told us NOT to go out on the balconies or the open decks; and that if anyone ventured out, they WILL be blown off the ship and there will be nothing the crew can do to bring them back. Cruiseship captains don't talk like that except in drastic circumstances. He was right. The life boats were on Deck 5; our stateroom was on deck 10 and waves were going past our window.
Yet we once criss-crossed the Bay of Biscayne 3 times in a month and it was like a millpond. Another time we went to Antarctica and, on our way back to Ushuaia, we celebrated New Year's Eve dancing the night away at Cape Horn in flat calm seas.
The sea, the sea, the unpredictable sea.
Tony Gatt
Dec 14th 2010, 13:38
I remember a case some time ago where American passengers were going to sue a cruise company because the ship encountered bad weather!
It takes all sorts, I guess.
david calleja-urry
Dec 15th 2010, 01:34
30 mts??? - surely you meant 30 FEET?... 30 mts would be around 100 feet, that's a tsunami ?..