Bad weather isn’t supposed to happen on vacation. But unfortunately, Mother Nature doesn’t always get that memo.
A man on a Royal Caribbean ship bound for Alaska quickly realized that bad weather doesn’t stop at the hull. He posted a short video showing a swimming pool with wall-to-wall waves while a storm rages all around.
The clip was posted by CrimetimeWjay (@crimetimewjay), a creator whose channel mostly runs takes on true crime and breaking news along with a brief series devoted to his Alaska cruise.
His video has drawn more than 122,700 views so far. The caption identifies the ship: “Rough seas on Alaskan cruise #alaskancruise #voyageroftheseas #cruise.”
Jay’s value-add is the commentary. “All right, we got some rough seas out here in the I don’t even know where the [expletive] we are, but we’re heading to Alaska, and look at the pool,” Jay says, before swinging the phone around to the deck. “That’s how rough it is.”
Why Voyager Of The Seas Was There
The ship in the caption, Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas, sails a 7-night Alaska Adventure itinerary from Seattle: Seattle, a day at sea, Juneau, Skagway, Sitka, another day at sea, Victoria, then back to Seattle. The legs at the start and end of the trip are the same stretch of open water Pacific Ocean the pool footage was likely filmed on.
Several commenters who said they’d done the same route mentioned that May is part of Alaska cruise “shoulder” season when fares are less than during the peak summer season and the weather is less predictable.
Holland America’s Alaska weather guide notes, “Temperatures will be lower in the spring (early May to late June), and the weather a bit more unpredictable, but on the plus side there are fewer visitors in Alaska and the prices are likely to be a bit lower.” Spring daytime highs in Southeast Alaska run mid-50s to upper 60s, against low-60s to low-70s in summer.
Geography is also a factor. Most Seattle round-trips spend the bulk of the cruise inside the Inside Passage, the protected channel between the mainland and the chain of islands running up the coast through British Columbia.
The exposed part is the open-Pacific transit at each end — as the Alaska Tourism Marketing site puts it, “Seattle itineraries sail in the Pacific and don’t enter the Inside Passage until north of Vancouver Island, which means a couple days of at-sea time.” That is the pool slosh zone.
Commenter dawninflorida78 said of the typical experience: “I’ve never been sea sick except for the first night of our Alaskan cruise out of Seattle last June. Thankfully once we got inside the passage it was smooth sailing.”
“Pretty Normal For An Alaskan Cruise”
The comments thread included cruise veterans who recognized the conditions immediately. “Pretty normal for an Alaskan cruise,” wrote noturbusiness.
The vision provoked nerves in those with upcoming cruises. “Ugh! We leave in 21 days! I hope it’s not bad,” wrote Proud mom of 2.
People on other ships reported back on their weather conditions. “On the Princess right now and it’s smooth as glass,” wrote Sam.Chao).
A whole sub-thread devolved into bewilderment that the pool had water in it at all. “Why is there even a pool for Alaska cruises lol,” wrote It’s just Autumn. Regulars chimed in to point out that the pools are heated, summer Alaska is warmer than people think, and ships that work the Alaska route in summer work the Caribbean in winter and don’t drain the pool for the season.
Anna, a repeat Alaska cruiser, had some practical advice. “Highly recommend covering the hangers in your closet with towels,” she wrote. “The clanging hangers annoyed me so bad at like 3am on my last Alaskan cruise.”
For anyone booked to cruise Alaska this season, especially out of Seattle, the first and last day of the trip are most likely to bring unpredictable weather. During the middle of the trip in the Inside Passage the waters below the hull and above the deck are likely to be much smooth sailing—and swimming.
BoardingArea reached out to CrimetimeWjay via TikTok direct message and to Royal Caribbean via email for comment. We’ll be sure to update this if either responds.
@crimetimewjay Rough seas on Alaskan cruise #alaskancruise #voyageroftheseas #cruise #fyp #travel ♬ original sound – CrimetimeWjay
