How rough out of Seattle

[dreameral]

We are thinking of cruising out of Seattle for our next Alaskan cruise. We would like to try Princess due to the itinerary. Previously have sailed out of Vancouver with Holland America. I've read that it can be rough out of Seattle but how rough is it. When we sailed out of Vancouver and when through the queen Charlotte islands, that was the sickest I've ever been on a cruise... Actually most people I spoke to said they have never been that sick and the water was calm looking. A different type of wave action according to an officer I spoke to. So, is Seattle cruising bad seas or just a bit more rough than the inside passage

[mr green]

If the tide is 'wrong', it can be very rough.

 

john

[cavecreekguy]

I think this is very subjective, and will depend a lot on the weather.

 

I've never been seasick. Even after leaving the Azores on a TA and the ship was so up and down I could barely remain standing. But never felt ill.

 

I think the secret is to "go with the flow". Your body naturally wants to zig when the ship zags. I just let the motion of the ocean carry me and no illness.

[CruiserBruce]

The roughest of our 16 cruises was at the entrance to Puget Sound coming in from the Pacific, for about 3 hours. Throw you out of bed rough. But we went with it. We are on a ship- we don't expect it to be flat.

Edited May 12, 2014 by CruiserBruce

[paylady]

Don't expect to see the lovely scenery you see in the inside passage. As for sea conditions, it's a gamble. We were lucky not to have had an issue. We had been on two inside passage cruises prior to our Seattle one and one after.

[Budget Queen]

Round trip Seattle cruises, have the roughest sailing potential, of the Alaska cruises. Overall, you can expect one day. No guarantees on any ship, you are on the water.

[sherryf]

While I have heard that it can be rough out of Seattle, and I don't doubt that it can, I have not experienced it. I've done round trip Seattle 5 times now and have not yet thought the seas were rough at all. It's only 5 data points, and I might not always be so lucky, but it certainly isn't *always* rough.

[bonvoyagie]

We have done the outside of the island 3 times now - each time we had smooth sailings. In fact our last trip in 12 we had glassy water all the way out of the sound and slight chop the rest of the way - this was both coming and going. I have also monitored the various ship tracking sites and have seen all the cruise ships huddled in around Prince Rupert while they waited out a storm with 17-25kt winds out of the north. I think that time of year makes the most difference - storms can happen any time but the larger ones seem to come in the fall. We usually cruise in mid to late June and have had excellent weather.

[Crew News]

We are thinking of cruising out of Seattle for our next Alaskan cruise. We would like to try Princess due to the itinerary. Previously have sailed out of Vancouver with Holland America. I've read that it can be rough out of Seattle but how rough is it. When we sailed out of Vancouver and when through the queen Charlotte islands, that was the sickest I've ever been on a cruise... Actually most people I spoke to said they have never been that sick and the water was calm looking. A different type of wave action according to an officer I spoke to. So, is Seattle cruising bad seas or just a bit more rough than the inside passage

 

A touch of seasickness might be more probable when leaving from Seattle than leaving Vancouver. If you take precautions, Dramamine, seabands, ginger gum, etc before you depart, you will probably be fine. It must be noted that the human brain wants to keep you stable but by the next morning, it realizes that motion will be ever present and just gets used to the motion.

 

Walking with your feet a bit wider apart will keep you more stable.

 

If you watch the TV series, "Deadliest Catch," with their huge waves, you will realize that a cruise is a piece of cake once your body adjusts.

[tobyt]

We have gone out of Seattle twice both times were pretty smooth with limited rocky seas. We have had far more rough patches coming through the straights in Florida which always shocks me!

[Eaglecw]

This upcoming cruise to Alaska will be number 8. Out of those 7 cruises to Alaska we have only experienced rough seas off of the Queen Charlotte Islands twice and those cruises were early in the season, it wasn’t rough enough for us to get seasick or take anything, some people did get very sick. When you leave Seattle it takes about 6 hours to navigate Puget Sound and the straits of Juan De Fuca before heading out into the open ocean. Early in the cruise season the seas seem to be the roughest, lots of rollers/swells.

 

 

 

If you want to experience a wild boat ride go Salmon fishing out of Ilwaco Washington and cross the Columbia River bar. The Columbia River bar is the wildest and most dangerous river bar in the world. The US Coast Guard has a training school there.

[At_Sea]

Most Seattle cruises go out side of Vancouver Island, where when you leave from Vancouver, you stay inside of Vancouver Island. Much nicer views on the inside.

[Gitane]

This was Oct 2007 on Celebrity after leaving Victoria for a "day at sea"!!! Late afternoon, heading NW into the Pacific. Don't know why the Captain stayed on his route with the winds and waves what they were!! That day in Seattle, lots of wind damage and trees downed. In the boat, lots of damage to many heirloom items (booze bottles!!) The lounge up forward where I took the pics was going up and down 4-6 feet, very unstable for a landlubber but pretty wild and exciting!!

 

This is an extreme example, and not meant to scare you into not cruising out of Seattle. Just a little info on how quickly things can change!!

[Lukecruisewalker]

When leaving out of Seattle on say saturday afternoon, at what point can one expect to see land again? Will be on the Golden out of Seattle next week.

[Eaglecw]

If you leave Seattle on Saturday, with Sunday being a sea day you won't see land again until Monday morning

[geoherb]

We've taken two cruises from Seattle. The first one was rough the first night but calm after that. One problem was that someone had left a water glass in a drawer, and it rolled back and forth making a lot of noise as the ship rocked until I finally found it. The second cruise was fine the whole trip.

[JimAOk1945]

I guess we were very lucky. When we took our round trip Seattle cruise on the Star Princess in August 2009, we had smooth seas the whole time. It was fantastic.

 

Alaska Inside Passage ~ Star Princess

 

Happy Cruising!

[Traveller20074]

this will be my 4th on the same itinerary out of Seattle.

 

 

All 3 prior cruises were at the end of May-ish/1st week of June.

 

 

the 1st two times were smooth as glass...well, that's not exactly right, there's always a little "bumping"

 

 

This last time? the Pearl was swaying a bit. Husband and I both got a little sick, but not bad. he went to bed and I walked around.

 

 

hope it's smooth as glass the whole trip :p

Edited May 18, 2014 by Traveller20074

[Traveller20074]

If you leave Seattle on Saturday, with Sunday being a sea day you won't see land again until Monday morning

 

??? we saw the shoreline all the way up.

 

 

The Strait of Juan De Fuca, etc.

[Okie1946]

We had smooth sailing leaving out of Seattle and returning also. Our second time leaving we had the good luck to see a pod of whales doing what is called a "bubble net feeding". It was really neat and the sound was really smooth.

 

Our last cruise was a 14 day trip where the captain had to drop two port calls (Kodiak and Homer) because of a really bad storm that moved in. We out ran it and the sailing was kind of rough, but other than that event, sailing hasn't been bad. To replace the missed ports - the ship was given permission to cruise Glacier Bay. (A bonus - since we had already been to Tracy Arm).

 

You need to remember that you will be out in the Pacific Ocean and anything can happen there, but they watch the weather and if it is going to be rough, they do warn the passengers.

 

What ever you decide, have a great trip.

 

Okie

[Lukecruisewalker]

??? we saw the shoreline all the way up.

 

 

The Strait of Juan De Fuca, etc.

 

Thats what I was hoping for, but it looks like the inside passage trips out of vancouver are better in that regard. No worries Im sure ill spend plenty of time on the deck and on our HUGE caribe balcony on the other days!!! CAN NOT WAIT

[Eaglecw]

Thats what I was hoping for, but it looks like the inside passage trips out of vancouver are better in that regard. No worries Im sure ill spend plenty of time on the deck and on our HUGE caribe balcony on the other days!!! CAN NOT WAIT

 

I just checked the position of the Golden Princess. It’s about halfway up the coast of Vancouver Island, about 16 miles from the coast line. I don’t think you’ll be seeing too much from your balcony on the first sea day. Remember to bundle up when you’re out on the balcony, it’ll be cold out there. Starboard side is the best side to be on. I would diffidently be out on my balcony for a couple of hours when ship leaves Seattle

[sredish]

Thats what I was hoping for, but it looks like the inside passage trips out of vancouver are better in that regard. No worries Im sure ill spend plenty of time on the deck and on our HUGE caribe balcony on the other days!!! CAN NOT WAIT

 

You always see land...always.

[donaldsc]

On one cruise coming into Seattle, they cancelled the 1st dinner seating after it had started and completely cancelled the 2nd seating. We were told to stay in our cabin and not walk around the ship. About 10:30 PM, they came around to the cabins with sandwiches and snacks so we did not have to go hungry that night.

 

I enjoy and even love rough seas but this one was a bit rough even for me.

 

DON

[Eaglecw]

You always see land...always.

 

Your eyes must be a lot better than mine. On the first full sea day out of Seattle you can't see land, well maybe the tops of the mountains. You be out about 15 miles from land.