Wave Riding

All I have to say is “Oh My God!” This sea day has turned into disaster; A fun disaster, but talk about getting thrown off your schedule. So, I was typing after we did a tech run of “H2Oh!” After lunch and everything. The day was going well. Suddenly the ship starts rocking. I thought we were just going to have a rocky night and modify things a little or even at best we’d pull through and be clear of rough waters since the rocking was starting early. No. I go to the gym to do my cardio and the ship’s really going. Especially up on deck 8 forward. I was laughing because it was so fun and kind of like riding a rollercoaster while working on the elliptical machine. Well, the ship picked up. We were REALLY rocking come 6:00 when I went to dinner. You could see the ship just tip from front to back. Sky then water. Sky then water. I still thought that this wasn’t as rough as the time when I was on a transatlantic cruise from Portugal where we had 2 nights of this and it was about 20-25 ft. swells. So some of us head back up to the gym to get our ab workout in before the show. After all, we were going to need it. As we were finishing and trying to stay on the ab ball, a phone call comes up to the gym from our company manger. The cruise director called the show due to rough weather. They tried to get another act in there, but we have a juggler (no good for the same reason) and a singer. The singer was going to go on, but they couldn’t stabilize the grand piano at this point. We went to the theatre to clean up props and costumes and we could barely stand up. This was around 7ish. We went down to promenade deck where water was just spraying up onto the deck. Our stage is at the level of the bow and so we opened the door to see the bow of the ship and water would pour over the top when we crashed down from a big wave. We were supposed to have a benefit party for hurricane Katrina tonight on mooring deck which is right below the bow. We went down to check it out. It was the most hilarious thing I’ve ever seen. You see there are holes in the floor of the mooring deck to drop anchor and tie up to the docks. Well when the ship crashed down after a big wave, water shot up like a spout and hit the ceiling. It was like watching 5 geysers go off at once! We all jumped at the site and ran out the door. It was hysterically funny. No party was happening there tonight. So now it’s about 8pm and we decide to dress for the evening (formal night) and head up to deck 9 forward (The Crow’s Nest) and watch the horizon. We all figured that being in our rooms on A deck (bottom of the ship) and forward where most of the turbulence was in small enclosed spaces was a bad idea. It made us all feel sick. I was starting to feel sick and the waves must have now been 20ft. At dinner they were 10-15 ft. and they were mild. Well it was definitely a sight to see. Going up then down and up and down and seeing water splash onto the bow as we crashed down. I had to have a ginger ale to calm my stomach by now and I was not doing well. It finally got dark and not seeing what was happening and going up and down got to us all. Just a reminder that the top deck all the way forward is not a good place to be during rough weather. A few times the waves were so strong they knocked bottles and glasses off the bar. We headed to our deck at the bottom and went mid ship in the petty officers lounge. This was after setting all TVs, bottles, and various other shelved items on the floor so they wouldn’t fall and crash. Ahhh. Now it was just like any other rocky night since we’re in the middle. We played games as our stomachs settled. Then all of a sudden the ship starts rocking side to side. We feel it mildly and we hear things rolling on the decks above us. It gets stronger and all of a sudden we hear a crash as the carts behind us full of plates and utensils tips over. This was about 11pm and now the Katrina Aid Party was supposedly moved to the crew messroom next door. We showed up for a bit and then headed back to our rooms. Now there’s no escape from this rocking as I type. It’s about midnight west coast time. We’re supposed to be out of the thick of it by 2am. The shops closed early, the bars closed early, and it turns out since the singer couldn’t go on they showed a movie in the show lounge. I think the passengers are going to be so relieved that we arrive in Juneau tomorrow. I hope we don’t have another night like this. It was fun for a bit, and to have 2 nights in a row off, but not this serious and not this long. Oy!!