![]() "You really felt as though you were left unknowing and in the dark," DeLiberali recalls.īob Jagendorf via flickrOn January 3, just as predicted, the waves picked up. But NCL employees weren't transparent about what the ship was about to encounter. DeLiberali says she noticed the waters growing rough and the wind picking up. The passengers had little idea of what lay ahead. January 2, the Norwegian Breakaway left the Bahamas for New York. More than 12 hours after that warning, around 6 p.m. The center also indicated winds would increase to 80 knots and seas to 33 feet by January 4. January 2, the Ocean Prediction Center warned that a "powerful storm" with "hurricane-force winds" would move northeast off the coast January 3 and 4. LvqoTSTJnM- NWS OPC December 31, 2017Īround 5:30 a.m. Rapidly intensifying low pressure is forecast to develop hurricane force winds on Thu as it lifts northward along the outer portion of our offshore zones. Our 96-hr forecast (valid 12Z January 4) highlights very dangerous #Atlantic marine conditions expected later this week. Similar forecasts were issued over the next couple of days. That day, the National Weather Service's Ocean Prediction Center forecasted "very dangerous Atlantic marine conditions expected later this week" and urged "marine interests" to watch closely for updates. The company previously blamed the tumultuous journey on "stronger than forecasted weather conditions."īut as the lawsuit points out, warnings of a severe storm came as early as December 31. NCL, which passengers said did not offer refunds after the harrowing experience, declined to comment on the lawsuit. It's the almighty dollar, which is really tragic." So for them to deviate from their course means a tremendous loss of revenue to them in a number of different ways, and in my opinion, that's a big driving factor as to why they're willing to put passengers' lives at risk. "And you really have to see it from perspective, which is if they don't stay on itinerary, they don't make money. "This isn't a one-off," says Winkleman, whose office also represented passengers on that ship. ![]() In February 2016, Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas was damaged and its passengers badly shaken after a day of hurricane-strength winds and waves on a voyage from New Jersey to Florida. Their attorney, Michael Winkleman of the Miami firm Lipcon, Margulies, Alsina & Winkleman, points out this isn't the first time a cruise line put passengers in the path of a major winter storm. They say they suffered severe distress, citing the violent storm conditions that caused "a reasonable fear of death and the sinking of the vessel." In a complaint recently filed in federal court in South Florida, the jilted travelers accuse the cruise line of negligence for knowingly sailing into the massive weather system. Now, a little over a year after enduring the cruise from hell, DeLiberali and her family are among 200-some passengers suing the Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). "God, not as catastrophic, but in the sense of the ice that had accumulated on the side of the ship, and there were damaged lifeboats." "When we did get into port, it almost reminded me of the Titanic," she tells New Times. As the ship listed, water poured into the staterooms and furniture slammed to the floor.ĭeLiberali worried they might not make it home. Despite days of warnings about a storm of historic proportions taking shape along the East Coast, the Breakaway stuck to its itinerary and sailed straight into what's called a bomb cyclone - essentially a winter hurricane. Instead, it turned into a nightmare for the family of seven and 4,000 other passengers. The trip was supposed to be a celebration. It was the beginning of a new year, and DeLiberali's birthday was coming up. She and her husband, along with her daughter and son-in-law, had booked the cruise as a Christmas present and a surprise for her three young grandchildren. Barbara DeLiberali and her family, thrilled to be trading the cold weather in Pennsylvania for a few days in the Bahamas, boarded the Norwegian Breakaway December 31, 2017.
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