How cruise ship captains keep you safe in bad weather
Sometimes a ship does have to sail into bad weather but only when that's a safe decision.
Cruise ship captains' most sacred responsibility is keeping passengers, crew, and the ship safe.
They will never sail into dangerous water if they have the option of not doing so. That does not mean a ship won't sail into rough waters. Sometimes, that's required to get the ship and its passengers where they need to go.
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The captain has all the information needed to decide the difference between rough waters and dangerous waters. When a situation turns dangerous, they can make the decision to radically reroute a ship;
That could literally include turning around and sailing away from the storm. It's very rare, but sometimes a captain keeps a ship out longer than expected to avoid bad weather or because the final port is not a safe place to visit.
Yes, captains have to think about fuel cost and other expenses, but that's always secondary.
Come Cruise With Me Executive Editor Dan Kline and PostCard Travel Planning's Dennis Post talked about what goes into those decisions from the blustery deck of Celebrity Silhouette.
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Here's how cruise captains keep their ships safe
Dan Kline: Hello, cruisers. I am Dan Kline, executive editor of Come Cruise With Me. Next to me is burgeoning meteorologist, Dennis Post.
As you can tell, we are on the deck of the Celebrity Silhouette, and it is windy. We have just passed through a storm. There was a lot of water on the deck.
We have brought over dry chairs, but Dennis, we are going from Florida, really from Curacao, that was our last port, all the way to New York. So normally when you're sailing in Florida and the Caribbean, they can sail away from bad weather. What options does the captain have on a sort of longer trip like this, where we have to get someplace that's kind of far away?
Dennis Post: Well, they do weather predictions, as you know. They're looking out four, five, ten days in advance on their trip to where they're going, and they'll try to make predictions on when to go and where to go. But like Dan said, we have to get there.
So they're going to push through some heavy weather if they have to. But a lot of times in the Caribbean, there's smaller storms, and they will deviate port or starboard to get around it to make it a little bit better for the passengers on the ship.
Kline: So the last time I did this, I did a New York to the Caribbean, and on the way back, we were sort of following a storm that already happened. And basically, they take safety into concern. They'll turn you around and bring you right back to Florida if they have to.
But as long as it's safe, they closed the pool deck in that ship. They had one night where they put on air sickness bags, so it could get a little rough. You could see, you know, water sloshing around in the pools.
So this might be a rough trip the rest of the way. But remember, the captain will never put you or perhaps more importantly, his billion dollar cruise ship in danger.
He is Dennis Post. I am Dan Kline. Come cruise with us soon.
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Make a free appointment with Come Cruise With Me's Travel Agent Partner, Postcard Travel, or email Amy Post at amypost@postcardtravelplanning.com or call or text her at 386-383-2472.
