Northbound 1st sea day question

I tried many times to search for the answer to my question but its little tricky to search for. I was wondering, on the first sea day leaving from Seattle northbound, is there much scenery in view? I realize it is open ocean but there will be land on one side. Another side question, has anyone experienced sea sickness on that first day who normally doesn't have any problem on cruise ships? I've read the seas can be more rough. Thanks so much!

There will be some scenery as you sail out of seattle most likely until you go to sleep or until it gets dark depending what time of year. When you wake up you will be off Vancouver Island and it will be barely visible off the Starboard side (you will be 30+ miles offshore). It can be a bit rolly out there, but we have not experienced anything really bad in our two trips up that way.

Just got back today and that first sea day was the roughest sea day that we have ever had on an Alaskan cruise and I have been 4 times and my parents have been six times. And many people on our ship were sick that usually were not. If you cruise other parts of the world and are not bothered out in open ocean and you will probably be fine but it was much rougher than a normal Alaskan cruise. Also there is not much scenery that first sea day. It's a good day to do things around the ship and not feel like you have to sit somewhere to look out. However in the morning of that day we did see two different Orca pods swimming so that was cool.

Thanks so much! I was wondering if that could be a lazy day to sleep in etc since the other days will be long and busy.

I tried many times to search for the answer to my question but its little tricky to search for. I was wondering, on the first sea day leaving from Seattle northbound, is there much scenery in view? I realize it is open ocean but there will be land on one side. Another side question, has anyone experienced sea sickness on that first day who normally doesn't have any problem on cruise ships? I've read the seas can be more rough. Thanks so much!

You are no where near land that first day, so once you get out of Seattle it is all open ocean. You might see a line of land on the distant horizon from an upper deck, but that is it.

What about leaving out of Vancouver? Is there much to look at or is it the same way.

Tons to see leaving Vancouver... The ships will take various routes once they get above Vancouver Island. Assuming they still do this, some go the inside way (Grenville Channel and so on) and some go outside between the mainland and Queen Charlotte Islands. Either way the scenery is much better than on the Seattle cruise. There are chances of seeing whales on both trips, but in terms of being closer to shore during the first and last sea day there is really no comparison the Vancouver Itinerary is much better overall.

Tropy 23, I don't believe tha any cruise ships any longer sail in Grenville Channel. It's a lovely passage, I have sailed it many times but to my knowledge the only ships that still sail it are BC Ferries and Alaskan Ferries. The last cruise ships to sail it were HAL and Celebrity however a Master told me a few years back that insurance companies have told the cruise industry that so long as there is alternative routing cruise ships should not sail in a pass that they can't safely turn around in ..... Grenville Channel was gone.

If anyone has sailed it on a mainstream cruise line in the past 2 years I would be very interested in hearing from them.

I recorded these cruise routes on my GPS during two previous cruises. The first is Celebrity Mercury in 2001, sailing the Vancouver to Seward route via Grenville Channel. As you can see, on this cruise route the ship is close to land most all of the time.

Vancouver to Seward:

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.248849,-136.268127,5z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!6m1!1szpyB3e3tMWZM.kn_KxZHj9oJA

This route is a Seattle round trip on Golden Princess in 2012. As you can see, this route takes the ship out to open sea west of Vancouver Island. The land is visible in the distance, but it certainly is not close like the Vancouver route.

Seattle Round Trip:

https://www.google.com/maps/@53.942489,-129.723064,5z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!6m1!1szpyB3e3tMWZM.kJnw5g9QVLBo

Here is a picture of Mercury's wake in Grenville channel. You can see how narrow it is. It will be interesting to see if Millenium takes this same route on our upcoming cruise in June.

Thanks for your replies!

Tons to see leaving Vancouver... The ships will take various routes once they get above Vancouver Island. Assuming they still do this, some go the inside way (Grenville Channel and so on) and some go outside between the mainland and Queen Charlotte Islands. Either way the scenery is much better than on the Seattle cruise. There are chances of seeing whales on both trips, but in terms of being closer to shore during the first and last sea day there is really no comparison the Vancouver Itinerary is much better overall.

Thank you for your response.

Tropy 23, I don't believe tha any cruise ships any longer sail in Grenville Channel. It's a lovely passage, I have sailed it many times but to my knowledge the only ships that still sail it are BC Ferries and Alaskan Ferries. The last cruise ships to sail it were HAL and Celebrity however a Master told me a few years back that insurance companies have told the cruise industry that so long as there is alternative routing cruise ships should not sail in a pass that they can't safely turn around in ..... Grenville Channel was gone.

 

 

 

If anyone has sailed it on a mainstream cruise line in the past 2 years I would be very interested in hearing from them.

I wasn't sure, when we sailed out of Vancouver on the Ryndam in 2008 we sailed Grenville Channel and it was amazing! In 2009 we sailed Ryndam again and went outside. I wonder if the Queen of the North incident had anything to do with this decision? Though it does sound like the ferries still sail this route. Our last couple Alaska trips have been out of Seattle so thanks for the update!

We sailed via the grenville channel in 2011 and 2012 with HAL. Not the last two years though, not quite the same cruise experience, still enjoyable. Just read a review on the holland board from the oosterdam which sailed the grenville channel so ships can and do still travel this route,

Last June on the NCL Sun, the captain announced at the Latitudes meeting that because conditions were most favorable, we would be sailing the "inside" inside passage that day. We very much enjoyed sailing through Grenville Channel.

Tropy 23, I don't believe tha any cruise ships any longer sail in Grenville Channel. It's a lovely passage, I have sailed it many times but to my knowledge the only ships that still sail it are BC Ferries and Alaskan Ferries. The last cruise ships to sail it were HAL and Celebrity however a Master told me a few years back that insurance companies have told the cruise industry that so long as there is alternative routing cruise ships should not sail in a pass that they can't safely turn around in ..... Grenville Channel was gone.

 

If anyone has sailed it on a mainstream cruise line in the past 2 years I would be very interested in hearing from them.

Hi Putterdude:

According to a poster currently on HAL's Oosterdam, their ship did go through the Grenville Channel yesterday:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=46655926&postcount=56

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=46655936&postcount=57

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=46655950&postcount=58

Just thought you might like to know, and also enjoy the beautiful photos.:)

I tried many times to search for the answer to my question but its little tricky to search for. I was wondering, on the first sea day leaving from Seattle northbound, is there much scenery in view? I realize it is open ocean but there will be land on one side. Another side question, has anyone experienced sea sickness on that first day who normally doesn't have any problem on cruise ships? I've read the seas can be more rough. Thanks so much!

It's open ocean your first sea day from Seattle. and Yep- several times, I've experienced rough sailing on this section- with the barf bags out in full force. :)