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Subscribe to RSSA passenger aboard the Brilliance of the Seas shared her images with NBC News amid travelers' reports of being violently tossed out of bed at night, waves crashing over the bow, bloody injuries, damage to rooms and shops and no electricity. A Royal Caribbean statement says the ship has full power and is sailing as normal. Much of the Middle East is being pummeled with heavy wind, rain and snow. You can see images of those storms here.
Courtesy of Alesha Cirillo
Courtesy of Alesha Cirillo
Courtesy of Alesha Cirillo
Courtesy of Alesha Cirillo
Courtesy of Alesha Cirillo
Tossed by high winds and heavy rains in the eastern Mediterranean, the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Brilliance of the Seas is feeling the wrath of the sea. NBC's Tazeen Ahmad reports.
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oh no! Santa!
My parents were among the passengers on this ship. They are both okay and uninjured with interesting stories to tell us, from what they said on the phone. I'm so glad they are okay, but so upset for them to have to deal with something so frightening as well as missing what they went on this trip for...to see Egypt.
Apparently the commotion was not enough to wake up the sleeping child in picture 1. WTF? How about you get her out of harms way.
The harm passed hours ago.
That's something else, Christmas decorations maybe...it's not a sleeping child. Come down off your high horse and get over yourself... Sheesh.
@montanabug - I'm pretty sure that's a Christmas decoration...not a sleeping child. It looks like one of the characters from Alvin & The Chipmunks.
Sure looks like a living child to me. I noticed it right away, what, their cabin was toast?
Talk about being seasick. Glad I'm not there.
I think it is one of the decorations from the top left of the picture. If it was a sleeping child, they may have moved him/her there for safety if the room was really bad.
Are the oceans beginning to send a message that these HUGE cruise ships are no longer welcome?
Anything built by man can fail. Think Titanic. I hope that the ocean doesn't soon make one of them so welcome that they won't be allowed to leave.
Happens all the time. These boats are more rugged and durable than one would suspect. Rough passages are routine. Most cruise skippers try to avoid them because the 'cruisers' are usually not up to it.
There's no doubt that this has happened on cruise ships around the world for decades. It's just the modern technology and the ability to send pictures, video and interviews instantaneously that puts this in front of the world as it happens now.
We have a Santa down, repeat, we have a Santa Down....
Hey michael. Don't you wish you had been on deck and been able to take a photo of the wave. Now THAT would have been the shot.
SBPhrog -- Not A Santa!!! You mean just SANTA!! There's only ONE and it looks like everyone but you knows that! Sheesh, dude....
haha you are hilarious!
Jesus is the ONLY way.!!!
yeah. I'll donate some paddle boats to Westboro Baptist
Flagged as advertising.
Why this made world news I do not know- this looks like another day at the office to me- I work on a fishing vessel in the Bering Sea, and have made it through 30ft seas, along with the other 120+ in my crew. Ships get tossed around like this all the time, they're just not usually pretty, refined cruise ships.
These ships and their crews are very weill trained. Having said that what I do NOT understand is why in the hell all of the furnishings and every item on that ship is not properly secured to the decks and bulkheads. I do not care how many stabelizers and attitude control systems these ships have the ocean can be much more violent then these automated systems can handle. I have seen aircraft carriers take sea's over there superstructures and roll violently. The cruise lines need to be prepared for these kinds of sea states. There is NO excuse for this at all period. When the Captain saw the the storm and realised he could not navigate around it, he should have made the passengers stay in there cabins. If the ship was properly secured all there would have been were sea sick passengers. again there was NO excuse for this to have happened.
That is all fine and dandy BUT in the Med., you don't have the luxery of having a large, open ocean in which to "RUN" from a storm system.
My condolences to those who were injured and I'm glad there were no fatalities. Except for experiencing the terror of not knowing if the ship would break in half, it looks like it was a rather exciting ride.
as a professional mariner, the weather and wave patterns are uncontrollable. Their are dangers in sailing or cruising, flying etc. I have sailed my entire life, and these ship companies are probably the safest of all ships out there. Thousands of merchant mariners are lost every year but not on cruise ships of this quality. Most ships that sink are a result of poor scheduled maintinence or little regulation based on the flag the ship is registered under. For those who don't know, every effort is made to give passengers the impression they are on a vacation on a large hotel, not a ship. The Captain and management team would not take any chances with your trip because of the bad press or loss of business. I'm sure the passangers would be unhappy if the ship took a detour and didn't make the scheduled port. The ocean is a rough place to make a living and remember mariners do it every day whether good or bad weather for your need of goods and services.
I have a long time client on that ship....she's always been looking for adventure, and I'm sure this will be something she'll never forget. I can't wait to talk to her!!
Hope they didn't close the bars.......
I'm surprised that some extreme surfers on board didn't jump overboard to catch some of the killer waves. Who knows, maybe they did? I'm sure that if that hasn't already been done, it's only a matter of time before some lunatic tries it.
LOL! Funny @ Justiceprincess... But it's a good thing everyone survived.
I'm going on the same boat for the December 17th cruising. I'm really worried...
What's the chances of it happening twice in a week?
That surely is a child asleep on the seats with a white blanket over her and a chair in front of her incase she rolls over. Had it been my child she would have been with me safe in my arms or her daddys arms. Whats wrong with parents .??
As an ex cruiser I am well aware of the dangers of this mode of travel. In the race for the biggest and greatest it is only a matter of time unitil the inevitable happens. Crime, tragity, and worse awaits!
It happened in 1912. To a lot of people.
We cruised in Alaskan waters in 2003. The only really open water is a short shot across the Gulf of Alaska. The boat (excuse me, ship, about 60K tons) rocked a teeny bit and lo and behold the passengers were banned from all weather decks.
Arg me lads, I remember when ships was wood, and men was steel... It's part of going to sea. It's called "secure for sea." If it;s not tied down or bolted down it is a missile hazard - if you can throw it at someone and hurt them, it's dangerous. Rough weather is part of life at sea and you don't know when it will make itself known. Even the occasional big wave out of nowhere can happen. I'm sure the skipper did all he could to make it safe for the passengers. Safety always overrides comfort, so if the paying passengers were hanging out in the head worshiping the porcelain god because it was a tad rough, well, they don't belong at sea, stay home and garden... As for me, give me a cup of coffee and point me to the bridge, million knot winds and waves up to the sky, underway is the only way!
As a frequent cruiser, and travel agent, I have great confidence in the modern cruise ships, and the Captain and his Staff and Crew in dealing with emergencies in the most professional and safe manner possible. It is truly impossible to predict all weather, and the unexpected is surely to be encountered. Cruise ships these days have the most deluxe computerized systems available, and quickly stabilize and deal with the weather systems and quirks as safely as possible. I don't believe that we are in for a repeat of the Titanic, as technology has come a long way since then! What about the weather situations during air flights? That can be pretty upsetting, but we keep on flying, don't we? It's a choice we make! There are alternatives! As for me and my family, we will be cruising on the new and enormous Allure of the Seas next May, and we are looking forward to it!
Paul the apostle warned against sailing the med this time of year.
Spot on chief, I was on deck ten in suite 104* and had no missiles or flying objects only damage was the mini bar chucking its contents out on the floor, I lashed and stowed my suite, despite my wifes mocking, at sea for 12 years in the RN and had a salutary lesson in seamanship the first time I went to sea in January 1976 off Iceland in the Arctic, 70' swells and freezing temps, you learn fast as a young sixteen year old
The ship barely rolled to 15 degrees and not the exagerated claims of almost 45 degrees, you get good at judging these things after spending thousands of hours down boiler rooms watching the inclometer, and I have gone thru much much worse in the North and South atlantic for weeks at a time on frigates and carriers
No head down the heads for me