Few people expect modern-day mega-ships to be rocked by weather. Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines employ meteorologists and have teams of people designed to keep their ships clear of major storms.
A ship may stay at sea, skip stops, or even not sail at all in order to keep passengers and the ship itself as safe as possible. You may experience rain, feel some movement, and even see items fall off a shelf, but, in most cases, the biggest cruise ships won't be impacted by the type of weather their captains will let them sail in.
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Not all weather can be predicted. That's the greatest danger facing cruise ships and it's what happened to Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas. After leaving Barcelona, Nov. 2, the ship was in open water on Nov. 7 when it was hit with a rogue wave.
Royal Caribbean shared an official comment at the request of Come Cruise With Me.
“During an unexpected wind gust near Tenerife, Spain, one of our sailings experienced sudden movement," the cruise line wrote. "One of our guests was injured and requires additional medical care, so the ship will make a call in Las Palmas, Spain, for a medical disembarkation. We are communicating these changes directly with our guests."
Doug Parker of Cruise News Today shared footage of the incident during his show.
Explorer of the Seas hit by rogue wave
Transcript:
This is Cruise News Today with Doug Parker. Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas encountered a rogue wave on Thursday during its transatlantic cruise, causing the ship to list or lean significantly, injuring guests and crew. Passengers reported on social media that plates and furniture were thrown around the ship, as you see in this video, courtesy of Charlie Lead on YouTube.
Now, Explorer has turned around since then and is now back en route to Europe to medically evacuate a guest. The ship's captain quickly adjusted the speed and direction to restore the balance of the ship within minutes. The 4,200 passenger vessel departed Barcelona on November 2 and was heading to Florida.
We reached out to Royal Caribbean for a statement on the incident.
And a third cruise has been canceled. Princess Cruises has now axed the November 10th sailing of the Regal Princess out of Texas due to ongoing power system issues.
This follows earlier cancellations from the ship's October 27th. Now despite repairing one generator, a second unexpected failure has prompted the need for further maintenance, the company said. The cruise line is offering impacted guests a 50% future cruise credit and a full refund.
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The Regal Princess initially had experienced technical issues during a recent transatlantic cruise. The ship is set to operate Caribbean voyages from Galveston this winter. And on Thursday, Carnival Cruise Line marked 20 years of round-trip cruising from Jacksonville, Florida, celebrating its partnership with Jaxport and to 3 million guests who have sailed from Jacksonville.
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An event was held on board Carnival Elation and it featured a tribute to active and retired military members from all different branches and a donation to Canines for Warriors. Carnival first started sailing from Jacksonville in 2004, bringing in more than 150 guests annually. The cruise line recently extended its agreement with Jaxport through 2026, with potential renewals up to 2030.
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And the photo of the week comes from Gary of the P&O Pacific Adventure docking here in Sydney, Australia this morning. Thanks for sending this in my friend. If you have a photo to send in, send it our way, doug@cruiseradio.net. All photos are subject to broadcast.
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