Where is smooth sailing most likely?

We are trying to convince my mother in law to go on a cruise with us. She is hesitant only because she gets motion sickness very easily. I am wondering where and when to cruise to have the greatest chance of very calm seas. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I think that the smoothest seas are in Alaska. If you do an Alaska inside passage cruise that leaves out of Vancouver you should run into nothing but smooth seas. When going through the inside passage you are surrounded by land on one side and a continuous chain of islands on the other side which protect you from the Pacific Ocean currents for the most part.

Also Alaska is just the greatest cruise destination there is!

jstducky!
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Hi:

I have been on several Carribean cruises and have only had rough seas once and even at that you could barely feel it and no one complained about being sick. I think if you stick to one of the larger ships like the Voyager class and get a cabin located mid ship and mid level-no higher than deck 8, I think you should be alright. With that said, I would definitely avoid any that are sailing from New England as the north Atlantic usually will have rougher seas.

First of all, one person's "smooth" ride is another person's nightmare. If one is prone to getting seasick, they will get sick even if there is just a little motion. Some cannot tolerate even a little vibration of the ship. You can put a group of people on a ship and some will say it was as smooth as glass and others will say it was the cruise from hell. It all depends on your own health and tolerance for movement.

With that said, the smoothest cruise would be a riverboat cruise. Hardly any motion at all because rivers rarely have waves and the boats cruise close to shore. Alaska can be rough depending on the weather (we were bouncing all over the place on our Alaska cruise two years ago), the Caribbean can have it's rough days. Do not do a trans-Atlantic crossing as those tend to be rougher than anything. Also, don't cruise during hurricane season because even if you're not close to the hurricane, the seas can be affected as far as 400 miles away.

My best advice is to try a very short cruise, say perhaps a 3 day one, and see how she tolerates that. If she does well, then go from there.

Darcie

Thank you for all the advice. I would love to try an Alaska cruise myself, I don't think my mother in law would be up to both a long flight (we live on east coast) and a cruise. I think I would have to try something a little closer to home.

I think a shorter cruise is a great suggestion. I understand there are no guarantees when in comes to weather, but, what months are likely to be most calm?