Beyond the Wow

Last night, we set sail from New Zealand and are now en route to Australia, moving in a westerly direction. During the night, the drawers in our cabinet were opening and closing intermittently, accompanied by creaking sounds echoing throughout the cabin. The wave swells are currently at 4.6 meters, and we are experiencing a moderate breeze. These forces, along with the ship's motion, are all contributing to the overall movement of the ship. Some refer to this as "Beyond the Wow" - attempting to navigate a ship that is rolling, pitching, swaying, heaving, and surging. A body that is not restricted in its motion, like the Serenade of the Seas, can have six degrees of freedom. These six freedoms are divided into two categories: three translational degrees and three rotational degrees.

Here is a quick look at the six planes of ship motion:

• Pitch describes the up and down motion of a vessel. This is characterized by the rising and falling of the bow and stern in much the same way as a teeter-totter moves up and down.

• Roll is how we describe the tilting motion of the ship from side to side. Wind and waves push against the ship and cause it to rock back and forth.

• Yaw spins the ship on an invisible middle line similar to swiveling on a chair. This can be caused by waves moving in perpendicular to the motion of the ship and can change its heading, or direction.

• Heave defines the up and down motion of a ship as large swells heave Serenade of the Seas vertically on the crests and troughs of waves.

• Sway this sliding motion occurs when the hull of a ship is pushed by the wind or current.

• Surge occurs when our ship is being followed by larger swells, which can push the vessel forward and impact the front to back motion of the ship.

When understanding that the main cause of motion sickness is the brain's inability to reconcile conflicting signals from the body, inner ear, and eyes, it becomes clear why this issue affects many cruisers today. Fortunately, not us!

On another note, that is also beyond the wow ... It's National Oreo Day today. Now I know many of you love these delicious cookies. In fact, so many of you love them that more than 40 billion oreo cookies are made each year! Wow!