As appeared in the Albuquerque Journal Rio Rancho section September 11, 2010
There is a viral video that has surfaced on the Internet this past week showing the inside of a Pacific Sun cruise ship as it hits extremely rough waters. The Australian cruise ship was hit with huge waves about 400 miles off the coast of New Zealand in July 2008, and if any of you have ever been on a cruise, you're aware that these things can happen from time to time. This particular video, I have to believe, is of a rare and extreme case. And if you have a tendency to get queasy on the high seas, this video just might do it to you on solid ground.
At first the expressions on the faces of the passengers and crew are that of amusement, obviously because they think it's just typical turbulence at sea. But very soon, not only forks, knives, spoons and plates are flying across the room, but tables, chairs, food carts and bodies; it's like watching a tennis match in slow motion.
The video is amusing until one woman is seen hitting her head on a pillar and collapsing. Reports indicated passengers suffered broken ribs and limbs, a fractured pelvis and cuts. Many of the worst injuries occurred when gambling machines crashed on top of people. The ship, on the other hand, was not badly damaged.
My 12-year-old daughter saw the video and asked, "Can boats really do that?"
"Yes," I snapped. "Haven't you see 'The Poseidon Adventure?'" Flashbacks of Shelley Winters and Gene Hackman filled my head as I remembered the 1972 movie and the S.S. Poseidon capsizing under a 90-foot tidal wave.
All I got was a blank stare and a "What are you talking about?"
I've been on two cruises — three if you count a three-hour whale-watching tour off the coast of Maui. People did get seasick on that one, as I recall.
My first real cruise was the southbound inside passage along the Alaskan coast. Cruising close to shore kept the waters just as I like them: calm. My only worry was that a glacier might break apart in Glacier Bay and possibly create one big ripple. That I could handle.
My second cruise was along the Mexican coast from Long Beach, Calif., down to Mazatlan, Mexico and back. For the most part, we stayed close to shore, venturing out into the ocean only one day, where the waves were a little rougher but nothing like the Pacific Sun video.
What amazes me is the fact that videos like these can be seen around the world by everyone now. Only a few years ago our kids wouldn't have known the force of Mother Nature and that a cruise ship and its passengers have the capability of rocking so violently. Take that, Sponge Bob Square Pants.
Quote of the Week: "Joe, what the hell's going on down there? Is there nothing more you can do with those stabilizers?" — Captain Harrison, "The Poseidon Adventure"
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