Crystal Serenity Catches A Wave

Wikipedia defines rogue waves as "relatively large and spontaneous ocean surface waves that occur far out at sea, and are a threat even to large ships and ocean liners."

If you've ever been on a ship that's been hit by a rogue wave, it's a frightening experience. I know that first hand because our Renaissance cruise ship was smacked by one after leaving Civitivecchia more than a dozen years ago. It's an uncommon experience and usually results in broken plates in the ship's galley and sometimes broken bones if passengers are out and about when the wave strikes. We were seated in a lounge when the wave hit the R6 in the Mediterranean and the tilt was dramatic to say the least.

Luckily, for passengers aboard Crystal Serenity when a likely rogue wave hit the ship while en route to Monte Carlo a few nights ago, the wave occurred when most were likely asleep. On Saturday Crystal Cruises reported on their Facebook page, "Fortunately, nobody was hurt. Repairs have begun and the Crystal Dining Room is expected to be open for dinner. Many thanks to our wonderful crew for handling everything so smoothly and quickly."

Apparently repairs were accomplished in record time as passenger Keith Steiner subsequently posted on Sunday, "Kudos to the Crystal Crew who worked tirelessly to reopen the Crystal Dining Room for dinner last night. If we did not know about the incident, we would not have been aware of it when we entered the dining room. On top of this, some of the crew from the dining room who were up in the wee hours of the night were there last night working as hard as they do on each and every night to make the dining experience the best possible. To provide alternatives for those having lunch yesterday while the dining room was closed, Prego was open for lunch. Thankfully, the rogue wave hit around 1:30 AM and that no one was hurt."

Image Courtesy Crystal Cruises