Grand to Alaska from San Francisco - question about sea

Has anyone recently cruised to Alaska from San Francisco. Trying to see what the ocean will be like until you get to the inside passage. Trying to get an idea if we will get any rough waters on the way up the coast.

Thank you for your response.

It really varies. The weather is what the weather is...

We did the 10 day SF/Alaska round trip and the first night at sea and the first day at sea were wild. Woke up the first night with the cabin rocking and rolling. The first day people were staggering all over the ship and hanging onto the handrails in the passageways. We were on Sea Princess and the sea outside the buffet on the bow was crazy. I loved it. :) I get horribly seasick but had my patch so didn't have even the slightest qualm even though our cabin was waaaaaaaaaaaay forward and high up.

You may have seas like that. You may have much calmer seas. I believe it is usually a "bit bumpy" the first bit of the cruise but it should hopefully settle down quickly. It did on our cruise after that first day and we had absolutely beautiful weather every day afterward. The cruise I'm referring to was early in the month of September.

The first night and the next day and the last day and night the course takes you through the "Potato Patch" so named for the 'lumpy' seas. The name has to do with the Humboldt Current interacting with another current (I don't remember its' name). If there is a storm near the seas get more interesting. The area of the Potato Patch is huge, making it difficult to plot around.

We've been through a hurricane in the Caribbean and a North Atlantic Low (what the ship's officers called a storm with hurricane force winds). If those were 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 then the Potato Patch would rate between a 2 and a 4.

We've done this itinerary over a dozen times ... twice, once in May (on the Star) and once at the end of August (on the Grand) were so calm and peaceful, we couldn't believe it. Other times, nobody was out and about, not many in the MDR or show rooms, no lines for anything and there were sea sick bags placed in every elevator vestibule on the ship. A few of these cruises were so rough that I was thrown right out of bed, saw all the dishes slide off the tables in the MDR and covered with bruises from hitting the handrailing walking down the hallway and once even fell right out of the bathroom. On a smaller ship once (the old Sky Princess), there was a line of over 200 sea sick people waiting at the doctor's office. That was the one where all the dishes went sliding off the table in the dining room. It was so rough, I thought I'd never cruise again ... but was cured of that notion very quickly. We've mostly sailed north out of San Francisco in May and early to mid Sept. if that helps ... but as another poster mentioned, weather can be weather.

...... A few of these cruises were so rough that I was thrown right out of bed,..... and once even fell right out of the bathroom.

Looks like I'll be bringing some rope to tie myself onto the bed and a seat belt for the toilet. :p

Seriously, there is no way to predict how the seas will be. Anything can happen almost anytime in that area. But, for most of the time the seas are pretty mild. I have owned sailboats and sailed around this area in a boat much smaller than a cruise ship and the ride was usually not too bad at all.

you are still in hurricane season - it could be a very bumpy ride - the season ends at the end of November.

eclue:cool:

you are still in hurricane season - it could be a very bumpy ride - the season ends at the end of November.

eclue:cool:

Nobody cruises to Alaska that late in the year. Also I don't think hurricanes are an issue when cruising to Alaska. Perhaps I'm wrong...

A friend of mine sailed on the Grand a couple years ago in May and on that cruise there was 20 footers for two entire days ... some of the seasoned cruisers here on CC were even talking about that cruise and how rough it was. Anything north out of SF can be rough.

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As mentioned before, the potato patch is pretty bumpy, but our experience is that once through that things smooth out a lot.

you are still in hurricane season - it could be a very bumpy ride - the season ends at the end of November.

eclue:cool:

Nobody cruises to Alaska that late in the year. Also I don't think hurricanes are an issue when cruising to Alaska. Perhaps I'm wrong...

Hurricanes have nothing to do with seas north of the Mexico/California border area. Hurricanes aren't an issue sailing anywhere in California, north to Alaska.

Can't make this stuff up folks...

We took that San Fransico-Alaska roundtrip cruise a few years ago--it was in early September. That cruise was fairly sedate. I don't remember any roughness. The thing that surprised us, REALLY SURPRISED US, was at about 2:00 or 3:00 am on the first night of the cruise we were very harshly awakened by a VERY LOUD foghorn. After I scraped myself off the cabin ceiling and realized what it was, I calmed down. It then became pretty neat. We encountered fog banks two or three more times during that cruise--sometimes at night, sometimes during the day. Once you know what's going on, it becomes pretty neat.

I should mention that we had the farthest forward balcony on the port side of the C deck. Being that far forward means that, physically, we were pretty close to the horn. My guess is that the foghorn is not as noticeable in cabins farther aft or in inside cabins.

The point is, as others have mentioned, it is open ocean. Weather happens, and weather does have an affect on sea conditions. Modern science, as wonderful as it is, is not able to reliably predict weather in any location on the earth more than a few hours ahead of time.

Hurricanes have nothing to do with seas north of the Mexico/California border area. Hurricanes aren't an issue sailing anywhere in California, north to Alaska.

 

Can't make this stuff up folks...

[emoji23]🤣

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Hurricanes have nothing to do with seas north of the Mexico/California border area. Hurricanes aren't an issue sailing anywhere in California, north to Alaska.

 

Can't make this stuff up folks...

I was trying to be nice. Living in Northern California I am well aware of this but didn't really want to beat the guy up over it. I was as surprised as you but...

(OK. I have to admit I had read the original post about hurricanes to my wife and she laughed out loud.)

We did this cruise last summer in mid-June and had no rough seas at all. But you never know, so always bring seasick meds just in case. And try to book a cabin that is low and mid-ship. A balcony also helps because you can quickly run out and get some fresh air and watch the horizon if you feel queasy.

I really depends on the weather. I have sailed out of San Francisco twice before and the did not experience any rocking and rolling leaving, however coming home it was a little stormy with high winds and a little bumpy. I work my half of patch, 1/4 behind each ear and was just fine.

One of our first cruises the water was so rough almost everyone on the ship got sea sick except for us. No lines, Free run of the ship, tossing and turning, IT WAS THE BEST! One of the best cruises we ever took.

The first night and the next day and the last day and night the course takes you through the "Potato Patch" so named for the 'lumpy' seas. The name has to do with the Humboldt Current interacting with another current (I don't remember its' name). If there is a storm near the seas get more interesting. The area of the Potato Patch is huge, making it difficult to plot around.

We've been through a hurricane in the Caribbean and a North Atlantic Low (what the ship's officers called a storm with hurricane force winds). If those were 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 then the Potato Patch would rate between a 2 and a 4.

California Current which flows south from the coast of B.C. Sailing against north and south against and with the current can get rough at times. Humbolt current is off of Chile and turns west at the equator.

I like the term the weather is the weather. Just got off the Star from the 10-day California coastal that was RT Vancouver. The two sea days down to LA and the two back from San Francisco; there was quite a bit of ship movement while underway. We were doing 20+ knots down the coast to LA and both nights you could really feel the ships movement, and it was sometimes unpredictable, however it was manageable. The return sailing from San Francisco, I believe the average speeds were around 15 knots and I think the seas were a little calmer. Again, you could feel a good deal of ships movement, but it didn't seem as strong as the trip down to LA.

A sailing from San Francisco to Alaska will spend a number of days at sea until you get close to the Inside Passage, so expect at least some vessel movement while traversing open seas.

California Current which flows south from the coast of B.C. Sailing against north and south against and with the current can get rough at times. Humbolt current is off of Chile and turns west at the equator.

sknight,

Thanx for the correction. I knew that, I guess I had a brain cramp.:o

I like the term the weather is the weather. Just got off the Star from the 10-day California coastal that was RT Vancouver. The two sea days down to LA and the two back from San Francisco; there was quite a bit of ship movement while underway. We were doing 20+ knots down the coast to LA and both nights you could really feel the ships movement, and it was sometimes unpredictable, however it was manageable. The return sailing from San Francisco, I believe the average speeds were around 15 knots and I think the seas were a little calmer. Again, you could feel a good deal of ships movement, but it didn't seem as strong as the trip down to LA.

Point Conception, about half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco, is one of the most difficult to navigate along the western coastline. It is a protruding section of the coast that pinches the currents as they pass by. Sailors have given it the appropriate nickname 'Cape Horn of the Pacific'. https://yankeebarbareno.com/2014/02/09/point-conception-cape-horn-california/

I used to own a sailboat. On a round trip between San Francisco and Mexico, we had a very difficult time making any headway around this point after leaving Santa Barbara. Two tries were needed, the first ending in defeat as we could not go forward due to the strong and rough current. Only after attempting the run very early in the AM were we able to gain enough ground to finally get into less hostile seas, and that was with all sails up AND the motor running full speed. It was like riding a slow motion mechanical bull - lots of motion without going anywhere.

The first night and the next day and the last day and night the course takes you through the "Potato Patch" so named for the 'lumpy' seas. The name has to do with the Humboldt Current interacting with another current (I don't remember its' name). If there is a storm near the seas get more interesting. The area of the Potato Patch is huge, making it difficult to plot around.

 

We experienced just what you described on our SF to Alaska cruise. Not too bad going, however the return was a bit rocky that even I got seasick. Someone told us this is around the Washington state area. I was okay going but on the return it was a bit rocky.

The first night and the next day and the last day and night the course takes you through the "Potato Patch" so named for the 'lumpy' seas. The name has to do with the Humboldt Current interacting with another current (I don't remember its' name). If there is a storm near the seas get more interesting. The area of the Potato Patch is huge, making it difficult to plot around.

We've been through a hurricane in the Caribbean and a North Atlantic Low (what the ship's officers called a storm with hurricane force winds). If those were 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 then the Potato Patch would rate between a 2 and a 4.

I'm so glad for your explanation. After18 cruises and no sea sickness I experienced sea sickness for the first time on our last Alaskan Cruise out of San Francisco. I woke up the first morning with a queazy stomach and dizziness. Spent the whole day in bed trying to shake it off drinking ginger ale, taking Dramine, and chewing ginger gum. Next day woke up nd was fine. I did continue to take Dramine for a couple of days. The on the return it happened again but only for half a day. We just came back from a 10 day Panama Cruise and just in case it would happen again I took Bonine for the first couple of days. I also brought ginger candy sot and hard tack, plus ginger tea, but luckily I didn't need to use any of it

on a Alaska carnival spirit cruise from Vancouver r.t. the weather was very bad from queen charottes island to Alaska.broadsided by large waves.waves higher than the promenade deck.our inside cabin had beds that weren't parallel to the the ship.so we had more roll but no rocking..that trip was sept.9.we do have hurricane force winds many times in the winter on the wet coast of b.c.

We went to Alaska last May from San Francisco and the seas were calm going but coming back it was a little rough. Lots of folks got sick. I was glad I had taken my Bonnine that day!

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Hurricanes have nothing to do with seas north of the Mexico/California border area. Hurricanes aren't an issue sailing anywhere in California, north to Alaska.

 

Can't make this stuff up folks...

Thank you! I was scratching my head. That being said, we do get storms and it can get rough usually right out of San Francisco. The Potato Patch is usually rough and by the second day it usually smooths out unless there is a storm. None of the weather that we have had off the coast of California can compare to the 28 ft. swells were have had in the Caribbean! No one should ever step foot on a ship without sea sick remedies if they are prone to sea sickness! Great way to spoil a wonderful vacation!