ladbible homepage
ladbible homepage
  • iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK
    • US
    • World
    • Ireland
    • Australia
    • Science
    • Crime
    • Weather
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV
    • Film
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • Netflix
    • Disney
  • Sport
  • Technology
  • Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Money
  • Originals
    • FFS PRODUCTIONS
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Archive
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content Here
  • SPORTbible
  • Tyla
  • GAMINGbible
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • FOODbible
  • UNILAD Tech
Royal Caribbean cruise ship expert reveals the biggest danger he constantly worries about

Home> Lifestyle> Travel

Published 11:53 2 Jul 2024 GMT+1

Royal Caribbean cruise ship expert reveals the biggest danger he constantly worries about

The Royal Caribbean employee worries big time about this natural phenomenon

Tom Earnshaw

Tom Earnshaw

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover

A cruise ship expert working for Royal Caribbean has revealed the biggest danger that leaves him constantly worried.

Founded in 1968, Royal Caribbean is one of the world's leading cruise lines working out of Miami, Florida, taking millions of people around the globe every year on a wide range of holiday offerings.

The company's flagship ship - Wonder of the Seas - can carry more than 7,000 passengers.

There's also Serenade of the Seas, which is used by Royal Caribbean's for its Ultimate World Cruise where it travels right around the world for nine months straight.

Advert

Key to making all of these voyages an overwhelming success is the thousands of people employed to making the paying customer's holiday as perfect as it can be, from tidying their room and cooking the food in ship restaurants to helping with organising excursions and making cocktails.

There is also a tonne of vital work done that passengers will never see; the behind the scenes jobs that keep the ship well oiled in every sense.

That includes drill work in case of extreme events such as a fire.

Things are obviously a little different if such an event happened at sea, given you can't just walk away from it like you could on the high street. This is where safety drills are put in to action and staff become essential to controlling risks faced by you on board.

But such an event is not top of the list of worries when it comes to life on Royal Caribbean cruise ships.

It's tradition to wave off from a cruise ship as it leaves port (Paul Hennessy/Anadolu via Getty Images)
It's tradition to wave off from a cruise ship as it leaves port (Paul Hennessy/Anadolu via Getty Images)

No, that goes to another phenomenon that doesn't happen on board the ship at all. And it's 'unforeseen', which is terrifying.

The top spot goes to the storms that cannot be tracked.

"You're anticipating, where's the storm going to be? Where's my ship going to be? What am I going to do with my ship," according to Craig Seltzer, who has worked as Royal Caribbean's Chief Meteorologist for the last nine months.

Speaking to Mark Sudduth of Hurricane Track over on YouTube, Seltzer explained that there is real difficulty when it comes to tropical storms and hurricanes moving across multiple itineraries planned for the ship.

Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas is the largest cruise ship in the world (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas is the largest cruise ship in the world (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The ship has to physically avoid these if they can, which includes docking at ports not planned - a logistical nightmare for those trying to find space.

He said 'you want to get tropical storms from the beginning' with a big push on long term forecasting, which includes risk management of different outcomes.

On top of the two regular weather patterns monitored - which are port weather and voyage weather - there is the fear of unforeseen weather events.

Stormy weather can cause real problems (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Stormy weather can cause real problems (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The problem with this is the inability to properly monitor the weather from shore due to how far out in the ocean storms can be happening.

Micro-bursts of stormy weather form part of this phenomenon; something Seltzer himself experienced when he'd only been on the job for a month.

He'd checked in with one of the ship's captains and believing everything was fine with winds at 40 knots.

An hour later, the captain called him to say winds were now up to 65 knots. That's 46mph to 74mph, so quite a big difference and pretty bloody windy.

Seltzer said: "I'm like, what is happening? It's ahead of what the forecast was.

"It's not even near what the forecast was, and it's higher than what the forecast was."

Such events can cause big problems for a cruise ship, with the sudden change in gusts potentially blowing deck chairs around on the top decks.

Featured Image Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Topics: Cruise Ship, Holiday, Travel, US News, Weather, World News

Tom Earnshaw
Tom Earnshaw

Tom joined LADbible Group in 2024, currently working as SEO Lead across all brands including LADbible, UNILAD, SPORTbible, Tyla, UNILAD Tech, and GAMINGbible. He moved to the company from Reach plc where he enjoyed spells as a content editor and senior reporter for one of the country's most-read local news brands, LancsLive. When he's not in work, Tom spends his adult life as a suffering Manchester United supporter after a childhood filled with trebles and Premier League titles. You can't have it all forever, I suppose.

X

@TREarnshaw

Recommended reads

Food you likely keep in your cupboard could kill you if you eat a surprisingly small amountTOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty ImagesAll UK airports that have scrapped 100ml liquid rule ahead of summer holidaysGetty Stock PhotoMan who went to doctor for stomach bug died eight months later from ‘silent killer’Claire Armishaw/SWNS'Embarrassed' plane passenger 'soaked' by unidentified liquid, speaks outInstagram/glovesho1

Advert

Choose your content:

13 mins ago
18 hours ago
a day ago
  • TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images
    13 mins ago

    Food you likely keep in your cupboard could kill you if you eat a surprisingly small amount

    Sorry news for those with a taste for the stuff

    Lifestyle
  • Getty stock
    18 hours ago

    Therapist explains major benefits if you stop having sex for a while

    Is intimacy used for validation too much?

    Lifestyle
  • YouTube/Cole Anderson-James
    a day ago

    Cole Anderson-James has successful hair transplant after first op denied due to ‘1% chance of death’

    Cole Anderson-James, who was later able to get a hair transplant done in London, has provided an update two and a half months post-procedure

    Lifestyle
  • YouTube/@drjeremylondon
    a day ago

    Surgeon reveals truth behind smoking weed and heart health

    Dr Jeremy London is a heart surgeon in the US

    Lifestyle
  • Royal Caribbean gives update after passenger was 'sliced open' when waterslide on world's biggest cruise ship shattered
  • 'Cruise ship smell' explained as travel expert reveals grim cause
  • 'Rogue wave' phenomenon explained as it causes havoc on Royal Caribbean cruise ship
  • Royal Caribbean cruise passengers warned over extra cost to visit European country