Cruise lines do everything they can to steer cruise ships away from bad weather.
Royal Caribbean Meteorologist Craig Setzer and his team monitor storms 24/7 and advise ships as to what's going on. The captain of each ship makes choices to change itineraries and keep their ships out of harm's way.
Related: Forget hurricanes, Royal Caribbean shares biggest cruise danger
Not all danger, however, can be avoided. That's a lesson passengers on the current Explorer of the Seas transatlantic sailing learned in a shocking way.
The ship was hit by an unexpected wave, which caused disarray including loose items scattered and some tables tipped over.
Once the wave hit, the captain ordered passengers back to their cabins to ensure that everyone on the ship was accounted for. Various Facebook reports on the incident said a few passengers and some crew members were injured, none seriously.
The ship, according to an on-board source, was hit by a surprise squall — hurricane-force winds — which caused it to list to the port side. The ship remained tilted for between 5 and 10 minutes.
In this situation sending passengers back to their rooms is protocol.
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Image source: Craig Setzer
Unexpected weather is a cruise ship's biggest danger
While cruise lines have all sorts of weather information available, not every situation can be predicted.
In July, Mark Sudduth of Hurricane Track interviewed Setzer on a YouTube series called Hurricane U. During the show, Setzer called tracking all the moving parts involved in keeping the cruise line's ships safe during inclement weather "slow-moving chess."
"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?" Royal Caribbean Blog reported.
Trackable weather events, Setzer explained, can be avoided, or at least ships can be positioned to lessen the impact. The biggest danger, he said, is "unforeseen weather events."
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These are storms and other weather-related issues that don't show up on models.
"These events can be a microburst of air or a gust front of wind that wasn't visible on the forecast," Matt Hochberg wrote on Royal Caribbean Blog, which is not affiliated with the cruise line.
In the case of Explorer of the Seas, many of the online reports credit the captain with reacting well to the weather situation, which seemed to have come out of nowhere. He changed its course and slowed down as Explorer slowly righted itself.
Related: Update: Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas heads back to Spain
Explorer Of The Seas' current location is at West Africa, cruising at speed of 19.3 kn (36 kmh, 22 mph) en route to Miami, according to CruiseMapper. The ship left Barcelona on Nov. 2 and is expected to reach Miami on Nov. 14.
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