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Posted

Explorer had a SEVERE listing at about 7:06 this evening in the middle of the transatlantic. (3:06 eastern time) during our Barcelona to Miami Transatlantic. 
 

It took a bit of time, understandably, for the captain to announce that we were hit with a pop up squall with hurricane force winds of 80 mph. 

 it was for quite some time we were listing, I’m sure for some it felt like forever.  Things crashed down, tables overturned etc. 

reports of a” stampede “ to exit the theater, passengers grabbed their life vests, and you could hear some screaming and crying. 
 

dinner was announced to continue about 8 pm or so, with delays due to gallery disarray. Even the theater announced to continue the show later as well. 

almost 2 1/2 hrs later they’ve decided to start checking to see if anyone is missing.  We have all been sent to our cabins and cannot leave till all are accounted for

stateroom attendant started with red cards in the key slot to establish we are there.  It’s supposed to be a scan.  Seems somewhat disorganized. Attendant has now-10 minutes later removed cards. 
My friend on the other side of the ship was scanned and told she could now leave her cabin which totally contradicts the captains announcement .

 Imagine if this was a real incident.

 The good news is I’ve given away 5 bottles of wine and a bottle of champagne  to my hallway neighbors. The bad news-not all of the wine was twists of!

Posted

A lot of crew mobilized on deck 5 to receive scanners and instructions. Note: No announcements were made about a drill or mobilizations of crew so there has been another means of communication. (Unless I missed it)  I had heard a call for a supervisor to report to an “”ECC” within about 20-30 minutes after the listing. 
 

I’m now scanned-9:55-and awaiting the announcement I can leave my room…once everyone has been scanned in. 
 

spoke to a neighbor who stated she went to and opened her balcony during this listing and was surprised how close we were to the water.  She’s lucky she didn’t go in.  Her son is deck 2 and his window was in the ocean

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Posted

I am also on this cruise and was in the theater when it happened. Lots of people did get up and rush towards the exits while others stood and advised people to stay in their seats before the cruise director was able to get on the microphone and implore people to stay seated. She said the piano had slid all the way across the stage behind the backdrop. 

When we eventually came out of the theater there were people opening the doors to the outdoor deck on 5!!! We hurried to get away from the wind, so I don’t know if some people actually went outside to “see” the crazy waves  

Captain Frank has said repeatedly that it was an unexpected squall and we were hit broadside by 80mph winds as @Pattycruisementioned while we were going 23 knots. He immediately slowed our speed. 

Fingers crossed that when they complete this room-by-room accounting of passengers that all souls are on board.  Only heard one Alpha Alpha Alpha following the big tilt.

Posted
35 minutes ago, FloatyBoaty said:

I am also on this cruise and was in the theater when it happened. Lots of people did get up and rush towards the exits while others stood and advised people to stay in their seats before the cruise director was able to get on the microphone and implore people to stay seated. She said the piano had slid all the way across the stage behind the backdrop. 

When we eventually came out of the theater there were people opening the doors to the outdoor deck on 5!!! We hurried to get away from the wind, so I don’t know if some people actually went outside to “see” the crazy waves  

Captain Frank has said repeatedly that it was an unexpected squall and we were hit broadside by 80mph winds as @Pattycruisementioned while we were going 23 knots. He immediately slowed our speed. 

Fingers crossed that when they complete this room-by-room accounting of passengers that all souls are on board.  Only heard one Alpha Alpha Alpha following the big tilt.

Just heard my stateroom attendant tell a neighbor down the hall the passenger count is done, now they are accounting for crew. 
i feel bad for the crew, they had the drill today and now this-it surely has cut into their sleep and rest.

  • Pattycruise changed the title to Explorer listed what felt like 45 degrees, over 2 hours later…
Posted
7 minutes ago, Pattycruise said:

Just heard my stateroom attendant tell a neighbor down the hall the passenger count is done, now they are accounting for crew. 
i feel bad for the crew, they had the drill today and now this-it surely has cut into their sleep and rest.

I was just thinking the same thing. First of 7 sea days trying to keep us safe & entertained, their long drill, and now having to clean up this massive mess. We are still rolling quite a lot too!

Posted
3 minutes ago, FloatyBoaty said:

I was just thinking the same thing. First of 7 sea days trying to keep us safe & entertained, their long drill, and now having to clean up this massive mess. We are still rolling quite a lot too!

I’m deck 7 aft and it doesn’t feel “too bad”. (I’ve felt a lot worse)

I recall the captain stating we’d be having rough seas around Sunday…I’m hoping he doesn’t mean anything much worse than this!  Imagine being a first time cruiser?!

Posted
6 minutes ago, Pattycruise said:

I’m deck 7 aft and it doesn’t feel “too bad”. (I’ve felt a lot worse)

I recall the captain stating we’d be having rough seas around Sunday…I’m hoping he doesn’t mean anything much worse than this!  Imagine being a first time cruiser?!

Funny-I’m deck 7 forward. I’ve also definitely felt worse, but it felt like Captain meant we’d be returning to our little 2 meter seas once the squall passed. Guess not! 
And yes, I’ve met some first time cruisers onboard…between this event and 2 of our 3 ports being switched, I can only imagine what they’re thinking! 

Posted

There is a reason to cruise high season, when weather conditions are supposedly at their optimum. 

Hopefully all are well and safe.

I have done TA on Cunard, and that is the only way I would recommend to go during the low season, as several of the ships like QM2 are ocean liners, not cruise ships, and are specifically built to handle rough weather. 

At least the passengers will have some interesting memories!

Posted

Docking in Canary Islands tomorrow
Medical reasons and a resupply
We will be back in Miami 3 days late, 
November 17

This announcement made at 8:00 am our time. I’m sure they will work on the details for payments for flights etc. And update us accordingly.

As I ponder this situation I am amazed at the quickness of the cleanup.
I imagine there were emergency calls to Miami all through the night due to the time change and those people in Miami are making the calls to get the medical lined up as well as the resupply that we’ll need to complete our crossing. 
I’d spoken to a bartender last night who stated the inventory in nearly every bar was ruined and furthermore the inventory in the storeroom was also impacted.  I imagine the food inventory suffered as well. 

I’ve posted in both Facebook groups for this sailing that I’ll be keeping my do not disturb sign and a note that states “no service today “ on my door today because I believe the crew need a break.
Yesterday we had drills while at sea and then this happened last night just after 7pm our time.

  • Pattycruise changed the title to Update-well be back 3 days late to Miami—-Explorer listed what felt like 45 degrees, over 2 hours later…
Posted
3 minutes ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

😜 my kids are already concerned about our TA on Odyssey next year!  Me?  Hey…it is what it is and will be what will be!   Does that make me a true cruiser?  
I am happy to hear that all those on board (except for the casino woman 🙏) seem to have escaped any serious problems.  Keep us informed @Pattycruise and @FloatyBoaty.  I am now following this post 😆.

We’re in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria now. Since we had already turned the clocks back 2 hours we are staying on ship time today. We docked around 8:00 ship time and we were soon free to get off the ship and explore Las Palmas. The ambulance was alongside. They have a fuel boat on the non-gangway side and thankfully have pulled all of the ashtrays and have “fueling in progress-no smoking” signs out. They are also re-provisioning since so much liquor, glassware, and food prep was lost. We are scheduled to leave Las Palmas for Miami at 4:30 ship time. They said that we needed to be able to hit that time to be able to make the (no promises) docking time in Miami of 6am Nov 17. 

We got our letters from corporate-I’m not in my stateroom to photo and post it, but it’s the standard $200 for domestic flight changes. There are some options with the beverage packages-you can extend the full package for 35.99/day or go to a la carte at a 50% discount if you previously had a package I believe.  I’m D+ so don’t buy it anymore (love those vouchers). Voom packages extended no additional fee (I had to ask about that)

There are guests disembarking today as well. They had immigration control on the ship for non-EU passport holders and there was a good sized line at guest services of people settling their bills. 
 
The crew is amazing. After spending all night cleaning the other night they were their usual positive, helpful selves yesterday. Bar and restaurant service was barely affected ( they were out of one kind of gin, but offered a premium one instead). Obviously that would not have been sustainable had we continued straight to Miami. 
 

So that’s the current scoop from my perspective. We’re glad we’re in the position that we can spend 3 more days onboard without messing up our home schedules too much! Have fun on your Odyssey TA next year. I’d love to be on that one too. 

Posted
21 hours ago, asquared17 said:

unreal. we don’t give the crew enough credit in my opinion. they are truly unsung heroes 💚💚💚

You are so right!  They work so hard with very little down time!  Some staff get no days off for weeks at a time…and when mishaps occur those short hours of rest disappear 🫥.  Kudos to the crew! 👏 

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