When Vacations Attack!

Up to the time on our trip when we left Rhodes, the whole vacation had been pretty magical.  The weather was beautiful--cool, but sunny--we'd seen amazing sights, and we were really enjoying the cruise experience.  Then, the rains came.  And near-hurricane force winds.The day after Rhodes was a day at sea as we made our way toward the port of Alexandria, Egypt.  The skies were a menacing grey, matching the swirling grey seas.  Colby and I had a room on the 3rd deck, and the waves, which on a typical day had been about 15 feet below our window, were now breaking over the top of the window on a regular basis.  On my parents 7th deck balcony room, the motion of the ship was so severe, that even Colby with his iron stomach couldn't handle more than a few minutes at a time without feeling sick.  At lunch in the cafeteria, stacks of plates and dishes from the bussing stations were tossed across the ship as the waves rocked us pretty violently a few times.  At dinner, a huge percentage of glassware was lost when there was another violent sway back and forth.  Still, we were assured that all was well, and we continued our progress toward Alexandria.Around 2 o'clock in the morning, I jerked upright in my bed, thinking I had heard a sharp crack of thunder.  I opened the curtains, and peered out to see the waves still breaking over our window, but didn't hear any more thunder or see lightning.  The ship, however, was still tossing violently.  Colby woke up and asked what was wrong.  As I was telling him, the ship suddenly began to groan, and before I could even finish talking, we felt as though the ship was capsizing.  Our bed rolled rapidly away from the wall, stopping when it hit the sofa, then rocketed back toward the window as the ship snapped back in the other direction, slamming us into the wall.  I was facing away from the window, but saw Colby's eyes widen.  I turned around and saw nothing but the dark grey and black of the cloudy sky, then suddenly we were listing back toward starboard and our window was plunged into the inky black sea.  At this point, I completely lost my fucking mind and descended into hysteria.  I was clinging to Colby like a spider monkey on ecstacy, and expecting a gush of water through our window at any moment as the ship continued to whip back and forth.

Honestly, this probably all took a total of maybe 4 or 5 minutes.  If that.  But it seemed like the longest moment of my life, and I honest to God believed that we were all going to die.  Eventually the violent listing stopped, and we sat rigidly where we had been tossed off the bed, onto the floor.  The first thing I did when I regained my faculties was locate the phone and try to call my parents.  Of course, they didn't answer, and Colby and I began tossing on boots and jackets, expecting any moment to be told that we were evacuating to a central area.  My dad called back, what seemed like hours, but was probably only minutes later, and I finally just started sobbing and shaking uncontrollably.  He assured me they were okay, and I pulled myself together enough to tell him that we were fine too.  Colby looked out into the hall as we were trying to decide what to do, and finally Captain Erik came over the intercom to tell us that we had experienced high winds while attempting to enter the port of Alexandria, and we were now heading back out to sea while he came up with an alternate plan.  Our stateroom attendant came to check on us, looking just as terrified as we were, and eventually we were able to fall back into an uneasy sleep.

What we determined later was pieced together based on what few details we got from the Captain, various news sources, speaking to fellow passengers, and our own observations and experiences.  On the night of December 12, we attempted to enter the port of Alexandria in 80 mph winds, and for some reason that is still a mystery to us, we had slowed down to less than 5 knots, far below the minimum speed needed for the ship's stabilizers to function properly.  At that point, we were at a near stop in high winds, with 30-40 foot seas hitting us broad side, which led to the increased listing that the Captain claimed was 10-15 degrees in either direction.  In all actuality, we were never in danger of capsizing, but I guaran-damn-tee you, in that moment, I'd bet more than 70% of the passengers on that ship were making peace with whatever god they believe in.

There was a great deal of cosmetic damage to the ship.  TVs had been hurled out of the shelves they were bolted onto.  The X-ray machine and copiers at guest relations were ruined.  The gym and salon were wrecked.  Huge planter pots and heavy furniture, none of which was bolted down, had been flung across the ship, shattering the glass paneled elevators and balconies.  Refrigerator doors were flung open, ruining most of the perishable food.  Drink machines and bottles were shattered, leaving us with a minimum of alcohol to soothe our mangled nerves.  60-70% of the glassware in the dining rooms was broken, and only two of the six or seven eating establishments were open for the thousands of passengers to make their way through refugee-camp style.

Of course, we didn't go back to Alexandria.  We later found out that when the weather conditions are such as they were the night of the "incident", ships pull up their anchors and bob around the harbor where ever the waves take them.  My personal theory is that there may have been a ship bobbing unanchored in our path, leading the Captain to slow the ship to the near halt so that we wouldn't hit it.  I don't know.  These are just speculations on my part.  But we did hear that a ship did sink in the harbor that night and 28 buildings in Alexandria collapsed.  We were hugely disappointed to miss out on the pyramids, but happy to still have our lives.

We were at sea for three days straight, and things started turning Lord of the Flies reeeaaaal quick.  Following the decision to skip Egypt and go straight to Malta, we were told that each stateroom would receive a $200 credit.  Okay.  That's fine.  Until rumors started swirling that some of the swanky staterooms were receiving $400 credits.  And all hell broke loose.  I know I have a tendency toward hyperbole, but when I tell you that this discovery started a riot in the atrium, I AM NOT KIDDING.  There was anger, there were signs, there were petitions, there were curses being hurled, there were armed security guards.  And later that day, Royal Caribbean issued everyone on board a full refund for the cost of the cruise.

And that, my friends, is just the beginning of how our adventures abroad went from Vacation of a Lifetime to Oh My God, Just Kill Me Now and End the Madness.

Comments

[To the Nth]

Yikes, what an ordeal! Not exactly the relaxing and rejuvenating experience one hopes for when booking a cruise.

[Chels]

Oh my gosh. I would have had a HEART ATTACK. Even just reading about it makes me all paranoid and antsy. Sheesh.

[Miriam]

Oh.My! I cannot even begin to imagine the kind of terror you must of have been going through. Wayt o go Royal Carribean with refunding your money. You should totally use it to go on a carribean cruise where the seas are much nicer to you! At least they were to us when we went right at the end of hurricane season.

Though, to be fair, you're probably never going to want to go on another cruise for a very long time...if ever!

[The Incubator]

Way to go Angel - The Old Warrior is out on the road tonite, so I will be here having my flashbacks all by myself:) Why do you have to write so vividly?

[melissa]

Oh MY God. That is so scary! I would have been freaking out too! I'm glad everyone was ok, but wow....what an awful part of your vacation.

[Heidi Renée]

I've been on a cruise before and it was all totally fine, but reading this made me panic on the inside and wish I'd never seen Titanic. I would have reacted exactly the same crazed spider monkey way that you did.

[Julie]

OMG - I realize that this was horrifying and oh my god I would have been so freaking scared and behaving the same way...but this?:

"At this point, I completely lost my fucking mind and descended into hysteria. I was clinging to Colby like a spider monkey on ecstacy,"

Made me LOL. Seriously. :)

I'm glad you guys made it safe and sound. So, so scary...

[Jenn]

Oh my God, I would have freaked the eff out. I'm glad everyone made it out safe and sound!

[A Super Girl]

I'm so glad you're sharing this because I was so curious about what all went down!

That is damn scary! Does it make you never want to take a cruise again?! It's good you got a full refund though! And of course got out with your life. I can't believe buildings collapsed. Crazy!

[garden state prep]

Oh my goodness! I cannot imagine how terrifying that must have been!

[Jass]

That is insane! I cannot imagine, all I kept picturing was Titanic and you and Colby in the boat! Glad you guys made it out alive, what a trip!

[Jass]

Oppps, I meant ship.

[Brittany E.]

OMG first of all let me say

A. I'm glad that your cruise didn't turn into the next Titanic.
B. That is just absolutely crazy and I think I would bawl hysterically. That is how I roll.
C. At least you didn't have to pay for your cruise though.
D. It makes a good story.

[katelin]

holy crap that is terrifying! glad everything was okay in the end but man, i would have been done, haha.

[Thoughts Appear]

So scary! I'm glad that nothing worse happened! I'm glad that you got credit, too.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that nothing like that happens on my cruise in April!

[Kate P]

It never occurred to me that something like that could happen on a cruise--and to you guys! Memorable but not in the good way, huh? Glad you were O.K. afterwards.