A Wild Day at Sea!

As we entered the Tasman Sea around 8PM the water was as smooth as glass. At about 4AM the next morning I was awakened by some sharp movements of the ship. These were stronger than any pitches or rolls I’d felt before but it didn’t seem too bad. As the morning progressed things got worse. We went up to breakfast to find that most of the water had sloshed out of the main Lido pool and the crew was draining what was left. The ship was rocking and rolling and the sky was overcast. There were dark rain clouds on the horizon. We saw lots of whitecaps and the swells seemed to get bigger and bigger. Around noon it started to rain and the wind really started howling. We couldn’t open the door to our verandah because the pressure was so strong. The captain made his 1PM announcement and said we were in Force 10 winds on the Balfour scale and the seas were rough. (No lie) He also said not to go on any outside deck. By this time the waves were crashing up to our verandah on Deck 6. Deck 3, the Promenade Deck was constantly drenched with wave after wave of angry sea. One of the glass doors that opens onto Deck 3 was cracked when the force of the wind pulled it away from some curious (but not smart) passenger. Few people were out of their cabins and we noticed barf bags were now deployed at many locations throughout the ship. The ship creaked and bumped and shuttered and there was no place you couldn’t hear it or feel it. We tried to keep our minds off the situation as best we could but it was impossible not to be a little concerned. Neither of us ever got seasick, although many people did. I remember walking up the steps at one point when the ship was cresting a huge swell. As I took a step up I felt weightless for a second as I was sort of suspended in mid-air waiting for the ship to come back down. Pretty amazing! We decided to keep things as close to normal as possible so we got all dressed up for dinner since it was supposed to be a formal night. Now I know how important the rails in the shower are, as I held on for dear life while trying to wash my hair. This was around 6PM and it seemed that the ship was the worst we’d felt it. Apparently, during this time the early diners were really tossed about and the waiters dropped several dishes and broke many glasses trying to serve dinner. When we got to dinner at 8PM things were still rocking and rolling but it seemed slightly less. There were only a few of us who had made it to the dining room. The waiters were a little freaked out by all this also and we held onto our wine glasses the whole time to avoid any spills. It was a strange evening in the dining room. We saw the Navigator who said we had passed through the eye of the gale and were on the way out of the storm. That was the best news we had heard all day!! We went to bed that night but neither of us slept. It was still pretty scary. It seems around 3AM that the wind stopped sounding so loud and we were back to the more normal movements of the ship. By 6AM it was calm seas and clearer skies. We were exhausted but thankful it was over. We hugged each other and said “We survived!”