It has been a rough season for transatlantic (TA) cruises.
These are sailings where ships reposition either from Florida, New York, or Texas to Europe or ships moving to an East Coast port from a European one.
In the fall, ships sail from Europe to Florida because the European cruise season ends when colder weather sets in. These sailings generally last from 12-16 days, about half of which will be sea days.
Related: Video: See Explorer of the Seas as it was hit by a massive wave
As is always the case, the captain of the ship charts a course designed to keep passengers safe. But, unlike sailing in the Caribbean, where distances being traveled to port are generally not that long, TAs must cover great distances.
That means that while the captain on a TA will make course corrections to avoid danger, they won’t make major corrections to avoid bad weather. There’s only so much you can deviate on your course and still make it across the Atlantic in the allotted amount of time.
Because of that, it’s not uncommon for a TA to sail through rough seas. When that happens, the captain might close the outdoor decks, and in rare cases, they may even order passengers back to their rooms.
The weather you can plan for, however, is generally not the problem. Unexpected weather — as we saw when Explorer of the Seas was hit on Nov. 7 by rogue hurricane-force winds — can cause major problems.
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Rough seas hit Odyssey of the Seas
Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas left Rome on Nov. 3 for a 14-day transatlantic sailing to New York. As it nears the end of that journey, the ship faced an unexpected weather even that led to the captain issuing a warning to passengers.
The video above, shared by a passenger who uses the name “Rainmaker” on YouTube, shows the ship being impacted by what he called “angry seas.”
“Yeah, we’ve got some angry seas today. Probably the most angry we’ve seen,” he shared. “It’s really kind of hard to tell. Winds are in excess of 55 knots today. I’m not going to go out, I’m just going to stand here.”
Rainmaker did, however, despite the scary weather.
“Seas are almost 20 feet today. That’s really hard to tell in the video. But, it ain’t pretty. But, I ain’t at work today so it ain’t bad,” he added.
Photos shared by passengers showed damage like broken bottles and glasses in the ship’s pubs. Odyssey of the Seas is a Quantum Ultra-class ship. These are mega-ships designed for colder weather itineraries.
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Unlike the event on Explorer of the Seas, which happened with no warning, passengers on Odyssey of the Seas did get some advance notice.
“The captain of the 169,300 gross registered ton ship told guests they were going to change directions because of a powerful storm front, which brought 6-7 meter waves and 50-knot winds. He advised passengers to remain seated, as the ship would be changing course and there was a possibility it could list,” shared the Royal Caribbean Blog.
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