Rocky Cruise Gave Family Experience In 30-foot Waves, Winds of 125 mph

CAPE MAY – “Rock ‘n’ Roll” took on a new meaning earlier this month for Dennis Crowley and his family. He, his wife, daughter and four grandchildren had the “experience of a lifetime” aboard Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas when the ship got caught in an “extreme wind and sea condition” offshore of Cape Hatteras, N.C.
Thirty-foot waves and 125 mph winds rocked the ship Feb. 7, which is 1,141 feet long and 168,666 gross tons. It is one of the world’s third largest cruise ships, sharing similar dimensions with its sister ship Quantum of the Seas.
Royal Caribbean describes the Anthem of the Seas as the “world’s most revolutionary ship” with amenities such as a skydiving simulator, bumper cars, roller rink, circus school and 220-foot pool. There are 18 decks, of which 16 have passenger access. It was launched about a year ago.
“Despite all the rocking and rolling,” Crowley said, “the ship was able to maintain its satellite feed so we were able to watch the Super Bowl without a problem.”
Crowley, his wife Nancy, Cape May homeowners since 2002, daughter Alison and her children Emily, 17; Jerry, 16; Denny, 15, and Ally, 11, had decided to take a family cruise over winter break.
“Emily will be going away to college this fall so my daughter wanted to have a family vacation before she went,” Crowley said. Alison and her children live in Manasquan.
“The cruise was a tremendous success in that we all bonded,” he noted, “and did have a great time except for about three or four hours. It was a great experience of a lifetime.”
Crowley said about 2:30 p.m. Feb. 7, and lasting for about 11 hours, “We faced sustained winds of about 120 mph with gusts of up to 155 mph. The barometric pressure was 990-991, wave heights of 30-50 feet (for comparison an average wooden utility pole is 45 feet) and an almost constant Beaufort Scale of 12. (The Beaufort Scale measures wind speed related to conditions at sea or on land; 0-12 with 12 regarded as hurricane force.)
“We were heading south with these winds at our back,” he continued explaining. The ship had left dock at Bayonne, and was headed south to Port Canaveral, Fla., before its final destination in the Bahamas.
“We were sailing at the western side of the hurricane, and about 100 miles due west of the center, which was slowly moving northeast.
“The captain made a decision to turn 180 degrees in order to sail into the wind, which is a sound navigation tactic,” Crowley said. “The turn exposed our starboard (right) side to the full force of the wind for about 30 minutes and produced a fairly constant list (tilt) to port side (left) of about 15-20 degrees. Once facing into the wind, the ship stabilized and, while pounding, rocking and rolling at significant rates, performed well.
“We proceeded on a due-north heading for about seven hours, at a speed of zero knots per hour, essentially standing still in place at full throttle into the wind. This maneuver saved the ship.
 “Once free of the storm, we sailed south once again for a time, but the captain decided to come back around north and head for Bayonne, because of the growing threat of a second, similar weather system forming in front of us,” he noted.
“Before, after and especially during this event, we were kept informed, cared for and protected to the highest degree of professional conduct I have ever seen,” Crowley said. He noted the captain and cruise director were some of the key staff who kept passengers informed and “up tempo.”
Describing the 30-minute turn as the “scariest” part of the event, he said it “felt like you were in a washing machine with everything moving in all directions.” Crowley and his family huddled in their room and watched the Super Bowl.
“My grandson is quarterback for the Manasquan football team, and he had wanted to watch the game on the large TV in the pool deck, but that wasn’t possible,” Crowley said. “We were on the eighth level so we were OK. I didn’t go out onto the balcony during the storm, but waves were breaking over the fifth level where the lifeboats were.”
Once the boat was out of the turn, Crowley said the water was “rough and choppy.
“It was a great moment when the captain came on and said all the pay-for-TV movies would be free,” Crowley added. “Then about 30 minutes later, he said everything in the room mini-bars was free. Then they gave everyone free WiFi; they were pretty accommodating. Amazingly, the (TV) picture was perfect for the game.”
The Crowleys are no strangers to cruises or storms while cruising. The couple has cruised to Nova Scotia and the Mediterranean Sea. “We were on the Nova Scotia cruise the day before Hurricane Sandy hit,” he recalled. “The captain rushed us back into Brooklyn and we rushed to Cape May to get our cars out before Sandy hit. We weren’t in Cape May when it hit, but we were close by.
“When we were on the Mediterranean cruise, we had these mistral winds, which are cold northwest winds from southern France that come down into the Mediterranean,” he said. “We were sideways for eight hours; it was pretty scary.
“In both cases, the captains told everyone it was the worst storm they had been in,” he added. “Maybe we shouldn’t cruise.”
Crowley wanted to tell his story because he thought most of the media coverage of the cruise event was negative. “The stories in the media told of angry passengers,” he said. “Some people were angry, but I was surprised by the high degree of camaraderie among the passengers. The real story is that nature put 6,000 people in harm’s way and the captain and crew got them through it. We are safe and nothing really bad happened.”
Four people were reported to suffer minor injuries. The U.S. Coast Guard stated that part of the ship’s propulsion system was damaged, but it still could safely maneuver. According to Royal Caribbean’s website, the ship suffered “largely cosmetic damage.” Royal Caribbean refunded passengers their fares and offered credit for a future cruise. The vessel was repaired and inspected by the Coast Guard then set sail Feb. 13 on its next cruise.
“We haven’t decided yet where we will go,” Crowley said, “but we definitely will go. This did not deter us. We’re just going to look for some place warm with calmer seas.”
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.