The Bay of Biscay...

[MaiTaiQueen]

Cruising on Independence in March and have heard some different stories about the Bay of Biscay.

Is it really as bad as people say?? :confused:

[amajaa]

I've just booked for February. That was one of my concerns as well in the winter. We travelled across it in July and it was as calm as anything.

[Albert Ross]

Cruising on Independence in March and have heard some different stories about the Bay of Biscay.

Is it really as bad as people say?? :confused:

You've booked to go across one of the roughest stretches of water in the world in the winter. Expect the worse so anything else will be a pleasant surprise:rolleyes:

[Marley-Bop]

Hi

 

We had a horrendous trip across The Bay of Biscay in 2008 onboard The Navigator - even the crew were being sick! :eek: On the way home it was like a mill pond and we didnt even know we were going through it.

 

Its the luck of the draw, Im hoping for smooth seas on IOS end of September but will be packing sea sickness treatments just in case. If needed, guest services have strong tablets free of charge.

[MaiTaiQueen]

You've booked to go across one of the roughest stretches of water in the world in the winter. Expect the worse so anything else will be a pleasant surprise:rolleyes:

 

Have you done it yourself?

[Marley-Bop]

MaiTaiQueen, we think its worth it even if its a bit rough, we take the pills, have a good sleep and wake up in calmer seas :)

[navybankerteacher]

There is no magic about the Bay of Biscay -- aside from lots of people blathering about how bad it can be. Take a look at a map -- it is essentially part of the Atlantic Ocean (which happens to be at least partly shielded by Spain and France to the South and East). The rest of the Atlantic is not so shielded --- why don't people go on and on about that?

Simple -- they have not heard other people saying how rough it is.

[Barrowman]

Cruising on Independence in March and have heard some different stories about the Bay of Biscay.

Is it really as bad as people say?? :confused:

 

We have crossed the bay twelve times now and not once have we encountered rough sea's, that's not to say it

cannot be rough just the same as any other sea.

 

Dont worry about it, take your pills with you just in case and be prepared just in case it is........

 

Good Luck. :cool: :cool:

[Hlitner]

We have crossed the Bay of Biscay 8 or 9 times (usually in the Spring) and have never had rough seas. Sure, it can be rough (particularly in the winter) but its like seas in most of the world in that the conditions vary from day to day.

 

Hank

[navybankerteacher]

Very few cruise ships actually cross the Bay of Biscay -- which essentially is the area southeast of a line drawn from Brest in northwestern France to Cape Finisterre in northwestern Spain. Unless a ship calls at a port on the west coast of France or the north coast of Spain, it is extremely unlikely to cross any part of the Bay of Biscay. If heavy seas are experienced - it is because you are in the Atlantic - which sometimes has heavy seas.

[jocap]

We've crossed quite a few times, and even had a short 7 day cruise around the Bay- which was fine. OH was queasy this year, but only because he was swimming in the front pool, which was crashing up the sides a lot- apparently that can bring on the queasiness.

Indy is a massive, stable ship, who, for the last 2 years or so, has done the crossing there and back every fortnight or less, and you don't hear many complaints of illness on her. Buy some Stugeron from Boots and listen to the captain's forecast- that will tell you if it's going to be rough enough to take a pill.

Jo.

[dsrdsrdsr]

Contrary to what you may have heard, there is a specific reason why the Bay of Biscay can be rough. It's a particularly deep basin surrounded by relative shallows, so when cold water currents go into the bay, the water sinks down into the basin, thus driving the water that's at the bottom up to the surface, causing turbulence.

[Hlitner]

Very few cruise ships actually cross the Bay of Biscay -- which essentially is the area southeast of a line drawn from Brest in northwestern France to Cape Finisterre in northwestern Spain. Unless a ship calls at a port on the west coast of France or the north coast of Spain, it is extremely unlikely to cross any part of the Bay of Biscay. If heavy seas are experienced - it is because you are in the Atlantic - which sometimes has heavy seas.

 

There are quite a few cruises that go between Spain and the Western Coast of France (we have been on more then a few). In fact, we were just in that Bay a few months ago (June)on the Prinsendam....and the seas were relatively calm.

 

Hank

[SuiteTraveler]

We cruised through the Bay of Biscay last May. On boarding the Captain notified us all "Welcome aboard! Tomorrow...very, very rough seas." He wasn't kidding - the next day it was very, very rough - but we also had a forward cabin. We had to walk with bent knees and it was tough not to crash into things in our cabin. Taking a shower was a bit of a challenge and my husband and I are very fit, so I can only imagine the difficulty for the elderly passengers or those with physical disabilities that day. When I went to get dressed, I got pitched head first into the closet but managed to catch myself so I didn't hit my head. LOL! It was so uncomfortable in our cabin that day, that we couldn't read or even watch TV - so we just went midship and sat around reading. Meanwhile all the outside decks were closed down. Most folks stayed in their cabins. That night was the comedian's show - he couldn't stand still on the stage and joked that "This is the first time I've worn out a pair of shoes doing my act." LOL!

 

We took bonine on most days of the cruise, but for that particular day, we put on a Transderm Scop - which we've used in the past with much success. We were very glad to have the Scop. In late afternoon we went to the gym, but I found the seas just too wild to use the equipment effectively.

 

I have to admit. that was NOT one of my most fun days at sea, cooped up in the ship as we were and with it so very difficult to move about. But the next day, everything was calm and for the rest of the cruise things were fine.