Cape Horn Conquers the Prinsendam (we got rocked)

After the initial er, excitement?, Stephen was taken to the infirmary and told it was likely his knee was shattered. I had to collect myself and get back to work as we still had a Cooking Demonstration to do. Everything on the ship had been cancelled in terms of events: the shops were closed due to every bottle of liquor falling off the shelves and smashing all over the store, shelving units completely turned over etc., and yet the room with hot pans and oven tops that can burn you was to stay open? These people don’t mess around when it comes to food. We know the guests won’t miss a meal, or a chance to sample something cooked in front of them. Our guest Chef, Dean Corbett was quite seasick and I hoped just the psychological reasons for giving him a dose of sea-calm would be enough to get him through the demo. I hoped it wouldn’t kick in until afterward, thus making him sleepy. Other than everything on the ship sliding back and forth and a few broken dishes – no-one was harmed during the demo and people even showed up! Dean retired to his cabin (as had most sea-sick pax) and Peter, Mike, Lisa, Dave and Chris went up to the Lido for lunch. The lido, on most ships is at the top of the ship, deck 11 for our ship and so that means you feel the motion of the ocean a little more than if you happened to be on deck 4 or 5 amidships.
We were really being thrown around and our trays and drinks were sliding from one side of our large table to the other, I kept sliding away from our table and back. It was sort of fun. I was looking outside at the massive waves when I realized that a wave was about eye-level to us on deck 11. We were pushed one way, our trays and chairs suddenly sliding as well as all the guests and food preparations on the counters. Then, violently we were rocked the other way. Mike, Chris and I were thrown backward off our chairs and slid all the way through the doors of the lido, through the elevator bank and to the other side. Meanwhile, people and chairs were falling (we had listed so badly, there was no gravity but to hold onto a railing) rapid-fire from the lido and we had to find a safe spot to dodge them. Given the average age of the passengers of the ship (70) we knew we were in trouble. Sander, the dining room manager was shouting at everyone to sit down and hold on. Stupid people trying to make it back to their partners/friends did not listen and therefore slipped easily and further injured themselves. There was broken glass, porcelain, food, chairs and various people strewn about. Medical Triage was setup where the four-piece strings orchestra usually plays, and the crew began a long day of reclaiming the ship. However, because of the many injuries – further medical care was needed for many passengers and crew members. The captain made the decision to turn the ship around, (back through the storm) and return to Ushuaia.