Rough Seas Give Carnival Splendor and Adventure Passengers a Wild Ride Back to Sydney

Image: Natalia Gusakova / Unsplash

Passengers aboard two Carnival cruise ships have endured a rough night at sea as strong southerly winds and large swells affect the New South Wales coast.

Both Carnival Splendor and Carnival Adventure are currently making their way back to Sydney, with passengers aboard both ships reporting significant movement overnight as they head south.

The ships are due to arrive in Sydney on Friday morning, 18 September, after spending Thursday at sea. Carnival Splendor is returning from a nine-night Great Barrier Reef cruise, while Carnival Adventure is nearing the end of a 10-night South Pacific cruise.

For some passengers, however, the final stretch home has been anything but relaxing.

Passengers aboard Carnival Splendor began reporting increasingly rough conditions on Wednesday night, with numerous guests describing significant ship movement as the vessel travelled south.

In the ship's sailing group, some passengers said they had given up on the evening's activities and gone to bed, while others described hearing items moving and crashing inside cabins.

One passenger compared the experience to “driving on a road full of potholes”, while another simply described it as “a very long night.”

Others were taking the conditions considerably more in their stride, reporting that activities onboard continued despite the movement and that venues including the RedFrog Pub and comedy club remained operating.

There were also reports from passengers travelling with children who found the conditions frightening, while several first-time cruisers questioned whether the amount of movement they were experiencing was normal.

The conditions being reported by passengers coincide with a period of strong winds and significant swell along the NSW coastline.

Carnival Splendor isn't the only Carnival ship getting a lively ride back to Sydney.

Passengers aboard Carnival Adventure, currently returning from a 10-night South Pacific cruise, have reported similarly rough conditions as the ship makes its way towards Sydney for its Friday morning arrival.

One passenger described winds of around 60 knots, although Voyage Ready has not independently verified that figure and official coastal forecasts have reported lower sustained wind speeds.

Another passenger said the captain had warned guests on Wednesday night that the ship was expecting rough seas from around 10pm.

According to that passenger's account, guests were told the conditions would be monitored and the ship's speed adjusted where possible to make the journey more comfortable, although there was only so much that could be done given the weather.

And apparently one of the more immediate consequences of rough seas was discovering just how noisy a wardrobe full of coat hangers can become.

One Carnival Adventure passenger reported things had improved considerably once the coat hangers had been secured.

Sometimes it's the little things.

Rough seas experienced on a previous Voyage Ready Cruise. 

Video: Voyage Ready

For anyone aboard either ship who has spent the night counting down the hours until Sydney, the forecast becomes considerably more encouraging as Thursday progresses.

The Bureau expects winds and seas along the Sydney Coast to ease during the day.

Seas forecast at two to three metres early Thursday are expected to fall to around one to 1.5 metres by midday and below one metre by early evening, while winds are also forecast to weaken significantly.

Conditions inside Sydney Harbour on Friday are looking much calmer again, with winds below 10 knots and seas below half a metre forecast as the ships return.

So while passengers aboard Carnival Splendor and Carnival Adventure may not have had quite the peaceful final night at sea they were hoping for, conditions should improve considerably before both ships arrive home.

And for anyone who has discovered exactly how many things in a cruise cabin can rattle simultaneously, at least they'll have something to talk about over breakfast.