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What are the roughest seas?


GJClay

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Can somebody tell me which seas are the most likely to rock the ship regularly? For example, my TA said that there is a passage between St. Thomas and San Juan on an Eastern Caribbean itin where you will almost always feels some rocking. My husband gets very sick AND nervous with any type of movement felt. We have only sailed Western and Eastern Caribbean, and were lucky both times to have had minimal movement, although I do remember more on the Eastern Carib.

 

I've heard that on Mexican Riviera cruises more movement is felt due to the Pacific being a rougher sea than the Caribbean. Is this true? If so, are there any other itineraries that provide the possibility for more moving of the ship to be felt?

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You might think about the Alaska Inside Passage. Compared to Mexican Riviera, Caribbean, Pacific Northwest and New England Coast, the cruise is much smoother in the Inside Passage.

 

That being said, you are on a ship in the water. You are going to feel rocking movement anywhere you cruise. Some will be worse than others, especially if there are any storms in the area.

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You might think about the Alaska Inside Passage. Compared to Mexican Riviera, Caribbean, Pacific Northwest and New England Coast, the cruise is much smoother in the Inside Passage.

 

That being said, you are on a ship in the water. You are going to feel rocking movement anywhere you cruise. Some will be worse than others, especially if there are any storms in the area.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm trying to collect as much information as possible for future cruising because my husband truly has a fear of being out on the open sea, and although movement on the ship doesn't bother me at all, I'm trying to figure out which itineraries provide him the best chance for comfort. Of course, there are no guarantees anywhere, but he is sweet enough to cruise for me because I love it so much (I'm sure his first choice would always be a land vacation), so I'm trying to keep him as comfortable as possible.

 

Thanks!

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The Caribbean (some of us in the cruise industry call it Lake Caribbean) rarely gets very choppy. I have very rarely seen waves higher than 20 or 30 feet. Usually it is more like 10 to 15 feet, and quite comfortable.

 

The Alaska inside passage is a very good choice for you. More like sailing on a river than the sea most of the time. Although there are a few places on most inside passage cruises where the ship hits open sea for a few hours. Under storm conditions, we have occcasionally seen waves in the 40 to 50 foot range, with high winds and plenty of movement.

 

But since we know:

1. that cruise ships nearly always have a bit of movement

2. that weather is very unpredictable and changeable without notice

3. your husband is very sensitive to movement,

 

Why oh why would you invest a large amount of money in such a risky vacation? Wouldn't a camping trip make more sense?

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I guess I just thought that there were some strategies to planning cruises that would be less risky than others for rough seas. As I said, we have been on two cruises so far, and experienced very few rough seas, so I'm trying to research time of year, smoothest seas, etc. I didn't know that was such an odd thing.

 

In answer to the question as to why we don't go camping instead, I hardly find the two vacation types comparable, and as to why we would get on a cruise ship to begin with....well, our daughter is 14 years old and loves cruising, and we will only have her at home for a few more years. I feel it's a perfect family vacation.

 

I, too, love cruising, and my husband does enjoy it, although, as I said, he gets nervous when the ship moves, so I was attempting to gain advice as to which itineraries are TYPICALLY the smoothest. I realize there are no guarantees, but I thought this board was for just that; advice. I feel I am being degraded by being told to go camping, which was not anywhere near an answer to my question. Maybe these boards just are not for me, because I feel I'm being ridiculed for my question and it's stressing me out.

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Dear GJClay, Now my story. The hardened cruisers and ones that don't feel motion will have a good laugh at this but I hope to encourage your husband. I am just like him. I have given up anything that causes motion because I feel it all. When I was younger on family vacations, we would stop 2-3 times for me to be sick on the side of the road. I even have gotten sick while on a float in a pool if I have my eyes closed and people are splashing causing ripples. I went to Hawaii 2 yrs. ago (on plane) and while there wanted to go whale watching and on a submarine. I was scared to death and decided my fear was worse than possibly getting sick. So I took a couple of tranquilizers, not enough to feel drugged or sleepy, but enough to take edge off my fear. Because I was so relaxed, I felt the motion, it wasn't bad, and I came nowhere near feeling sick. Because of that, I now am going on first cruise and not worried at all that MAYBE I will feel more than I want to. The fear makes it worse for your husband and possibly makes the motion feel worse than it is. Ask him to think abt. medicine for relaxation. We MIGHT feel sick but we will be relaxed abt. it. Ha!

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Reading this thread I find that personal experience colors your view, often forever. bamafan1292, I admire your flexibility and courage to beat this.

 

In my experience the Pacific Ocean was quite calm from Valparaiso to Acapulco. The roughest seas were the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica and the Bay of Biscay off the Atlantic coast of France. Yes, I was the kid who got carsick and am still the adult who does. I do the driving now and it is fine. Unfortunately I can't control the ship but I have internalized that it is not my job.

 

On the ship I will be ill for one day but I love cruising. Meclizine is a great help and I agree that stress makes it worse.

 

I wish you all a positive attitude and calm seas.

Fran

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Dear GJClay, Now my story. The hardened cruisers and ones that don't feel motion will have a good laugh at this but I hope to encourage your husband. I am just like him. I have given up anything that causes motion because I feel it all. When I was younger on family vacations, we would stop 2-3 times for me to be sick on the side of the road. I even have gotten sick while on a float in a pool if I have my eyes closed and people are splashing causing ripples. I went to Hawaii 2 yrs. ago (on plane) and while there wanted to go whale watching and on a submarine. I was scared to death and decided my fear was worse than possibly getting sick. So I took a couple of tranquilizers, not enough to feel drugged or sleepy, but enough to take edge off my fear. Because I was so relaxed, I felt the motion, it wasn't bad, and I came nowhere near feeling sick. Because of that, I now am going on first cruise and not worried at all that MAYBE I will feel more than I want to. The fear makes it worse for your husband and possibly makes the motion feel worse than it is. Ask him to think abt. medicine for relaxation. We MIGHT feel sick but we will be relaxed abt. it. Ha!

 

Thanks! I'm glad to know we're not the only one's who want to cruise in spite of someone in the family struggling with motion sickness.

 

I'll never forget a deep sea fishing trip my husband took while on a company/family trip to Hawaii. Only the guys went, and when he returned after a full day of full blown sickness (much worse than any cruise ship motion could cause, I would imagine), I have never seen anyone's complexion with such a shade of green! Needless to say, he now gets to spend the day with me on the company vacations come deep sea fishing time, because his boss doesn't ever want to see him that way again!

 

On both of our cruises, he has used that prescription patch (can't recall the name), and it seemed to help, with only a few times in which he was uncomfortable. When he did get a little sick, he rested for a bit, the seas calmed down, and everything was great again.

 

I, on the other hand, didn't know prior to our first cruise if I would get sick or not, so also used that patch, and the patch itself made me sick. I suffered some rare side effect in which my eye dialated, I was dizzy, drowsy, etc. Once I removed the patch, I was fine, and found I don't have a motion sickness issue; at least not on a cruise ship.

 

I still think that particular times of year and itineraries (and cabin selection) can be deciding factors in producing the best odds he will be comfortable , and appreciate the advice given about my original question.

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Bamafan - we're related. I get violently seasick, but I do carefully choose cruises.... I do take a fair amount of land vacations because I just won't risk getting sick (transatlantic - Hurricane Camille coming up - lost a TON of weight, not in a good way:eek: ). First, I use the patch which definitely helps. Alaska is good, the Mediterranean is good, and the Panama Canal is not bad at all. I wouldn't do most of the other Caribbean cruises because of my issue - for those, I prefer picking an island and really enjoying that island. As someone extremely prone to getting motion sick - I have enjoyed some of the cruises I've been on.... enough to do it again, but I tend to focus on destinations.... The next one we're looking at (which will be a long way off due to cost) is one that visits Egypt and maybe Turkey - that part of the world... In the Caribbean, my favorite island is Grand Cayman. I've been there 3 times - 2 times for week long vacations, and once on a cruise. The times we were there for a week, we saw probably at least a third to a half of the cruise ships not able to tender in due to choppy seas. There were no hurricanes, just weather fronts moving through. The time we cruised there, we lucked out and got in, but the weather was changing as we got back on the ship, and the trip back to the ship was starting to get bumpy. Now, my husband REALLY wanted to go to the Panama Canal (wasn't really my first choice), so we stopped a few places on the way there and back. I probably would not do that cruise again (loved the canal, would prefer to spend more time in the islands/places we visited. If I wanted to go to Costa Rica - I would go and spend time there, same with Belize (if you dive or snorkel - and amazing place to visit....). That is me, though, and it's my fear of seasickness.... I like cruise ships (I certainly enjoyed Celebrity and Crystal), but I do have to carefully pick my cruises. I would LOVE to go to the Galapagos Islands - but I just cannot get my nerve to take that chance..... I am looking at land based vacation there.... I certainly wouldn't discount cruise vacations - they can be so nice, but you're sure right to worry about your husband's issue - it is SO real....;)

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I'm trying to collect as much information as possible for future cruising because my husband truly has a fear of being out on the open sea, and although movement on the ship doesn't bother me at all, I'm trying to figure out which itineraries provide him the best chance for comfort.

 

Our cruise last summer on the Baltic (Copenhagen to Stockholm) was like a sheet of glass. And the itinerary was wonderful!

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Have you thought of going on a river cruise? I've done a number of them in Europe, even down the Volga in Russia. They're very different, though, from cruise ships doing the ocean. First of all they're much smaller, usually 2 - 3 decks, with many fewer passengers, 100-250. They're very itinerary oriented, i.e., you're going for the locations you visit, not all the bells and whistles on the large cruise ships. That being said, though, the service is excellent, the food is wonderful. Sometimes they'll bring a local band onboard or other local entertainment for the evening. There isn't a lot of night life. No casino. Everyone heads for bed relatively early in order to be ready for the next destination the next morning.

 

It could really be the best of both worlds for your family. You get the pampering and adventure of traveling new places (taking your floating hotel with you). Your husband gets a smooth ride, in sight of land all the time. The views can be extraordinary depending on the itinerary (think Rhine river overshadowed by crusaders' castles). And this could be an excellent experience for your daughter.

 

Some of the cruiselines are chartered so that only Americans are on them. Others are marketed in both American and Europe so they have a more continental flavor. I prefer the latter, but, that's just a matter of choice.

 

Anyway - thought I'd just mention this as another option.

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I do understand how your husband feels. I don't get seasick as a rule but on our Hawaii cruise from LA in October 2005 the first night out was rougher than we had experienced before. I wasn't sick at that point but the movement made me anxious. I even thought about sleeping with my life jacket. I also don't like the movement of an airplane. Just keep it smooth. Not sure if my clock is working but you may notice that we are going again in November on Princess - so it is not enough to keep me from cruising.

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I've had the opportunity to dine at the Captain's table on several cruises and I always ask them their opinion as to which seas are the roughest. Here's what they said starting with the roughest:

 

1. Drake's Passage near Antarctica

2. Tasman Sea near Australia

3. South China Sea

4. North Sea

5. Cape Horn in South Africa

6. North Atlantic in fall and winter

7. Eastern Pacific between Acapulco and San Diego

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I have done a lot of research on the best motion sickness meds. A lot of posts have stated that the patch has caused eye problems and dizziness. I am going to try ginger root and Bonine.

 

 

If you take blood thinner, consult your PCP before taking Ginger Root. Ginger root is to control the nausea. Bonine is to control the dizziness. Good luck!

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Why oh why would you invest a large amount of money in such a risky vacation? Wouldn't a camping trip make more sense?

 

 

What a rude thing to say!!:eek: Even if the OP IS risking a lot of money by going on a cruise, that is their business! How silly to suggest an alternative to cruising when you don't even know them or what they like!:eek:

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