Bay of biscay!

[JuliaNicker]

although neither of us, thankfully, never get sea sick, the crossing is not very nice.

 

Prepare yourself, but a trip to the bar may help :D

[silver service]

All I can say is,in all of the crossings,of this famous area of sea is

In my experience,is. The worst sea I have seen is a heavy swell.

Now, to a cruise novice, this can be quite alarming. But the reputation

Is I feel undeserved. Perhaps, force eight. Like others, have known

Force twelve. That is very noticeable.

[JuliaNicker]

a couple of bouncy BOBs and some even worse bits down the coast.

 

That sounds very serious.

[Mark-Sheffield]

Been once through the Bay of Biscay in August and it was really calm. Our next trip is next May so that could be different. My adult son who is travelling with us is hoping for rough seas ! We are not.

[ormy]

We did the Bay of Biscay last August - going out - 110mph wind, just awful the noise of the ship creaking and furniture moving about on the balcony kept most awake all night, the next morning the Captain announced that the ship had a serious list and he had to spend the night on the bridge, this was on the Azura - the biggest in the fleet - never again from Southampton, fly cruises for us in future. Calm on the return, but visibility down to about 20yds from getting up in the morning and lasted all day. Even in summer months just too many days in English type weather before hitting the sun.

[silver service]

You are right about the UK weather, up to three days out, and two or three days on the return. I accept this as the norm, for the convienance of sailing

In and out of Southampton. It is my home town! Have not been on a plane

For nine years. Happy not to go to an airport. I understand how you feel

Of course, especially if your journey to the port is a long one.

[Angel19]

We did the Bay of Biscay last August - going out - 110mph wind, just awful the noise of the ship creaking and furniture moving about on the balcony kept most awake all night, the next morning the Captain announced that the ship had a serious list and he had to spend the night on the bridge, this was on the Azura - the biggest in the fleet - never again from Southampton, fly cruises for us in future. Calm on the return, but visibility down to about 20yds from getting up in the morning and lasted all day. Even in summer months just too many days in English type weather before hitting the sun.

 

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience! Having seen the other comments on here it would seem that sailing in conditions like that seems quite rare!

[Our Tracey]

Admittedly not BoB - but North Atlantic........ we came from Iceland on Oriana heading back down to UK in force 8-10 gales and yes we were wobbling about a bit but Oriana coped beautifully with it and I heard no reports of any large numbers of people being sea-sick and certainly we were both fine. As others have said - don't worry too much about it, the ship will cope. Also - we've been in the English channel in July and had much, much worse weather than in December - and I hear that BoB is the same. Just enjoy. (Joining Oriana again in 2 weeks !!!)

[balf]

Thing is, cruise ships may be regarded as resort hotels but they sail on the oceans and oceans can get very rough at times, including the Bay where the ship (Saga Saphire) suffered much internal damage in severe sea conditions on one of our voyages.

 

David.

[Angel19]

Thing is, cruise ships may be regarded as resort hotels but they sail on the oceans and oceans can get very rough at times, including the Bay where the ship (Saga Saphire) suffered much internal damage in severe sea conditions on one of our voyages.

 

David.

 

Haha David, thanks for putting my mind at rest!! Lol

[Mark-Sheffield]

From the Wolf of Wall Street film, it's only a bit of chop !!!

[Angel19]

From the Wolf of Wall Street film, it's only a bit of chop !!!

 

Thanks Mark! :)

[Josy1953]

It is impossible to predict the conditions in th BoB. Our worst crossing was in August when the bars and shops were closed because everything was falling from the shelves, when we went to dinner the MDR was almost empty. On the other hand we went through in December 2013 and it was as smooth as the park lake.

 

I would just advise getting some seasickness medication just in case get a bad crossing and feel ill. My husband and I are both fortunate and don't seem to suffer regardless of how rough it gets but we err on the side of caution and always take a packet of Stugeron with us just in case.

[NSWP]

We were on Oriana in Bay of Biscay in late October/early November this year. Some heavy swells around 6 metres, but not too bad, Oriana handles the heavy seas quite well, better than some of the big Princess Grand Class vessels I have been on through B of B.

 

A bit of motion on the ocean is all part of the adventure !!

Edited November 25, 2015 by NSWP

[ormy]

It was not that we felt any sea sickness, just the noise and inability to move around the cabin - as most journeys through the bay, outward, are at night it was most uncomfortable. Oh and we do like the sun, so never from Southampton again, it will always be a fly cruise for us in future - cannot be beaten.

[Mark-Sheffield]

It was not that we felt any sea sickness, just the noise and inability to move around the cabin - as most journeys through the bay, outward, are at night it was most uncomfortable. Oh and we do like the sun, so never from Southampton again, it will always be a fly cruise for us in future - cannot be beaten.

 

Where's your spirit of adventure !!! LOL,

 

Problem with fly cruises is the luggage allowance which causes my wife horrendous decisions about packing. Grrrrrr

[ormy]

Forget the spirit of adventure - we like the sun - sooner rather than later, never had much trouble luggage wise, just pay the excess if need be, but to be honest we have never found it a problem.

[Mysticalmother]

Just as well we are all different!

 

I really enjoy those first couple of days - getting to know the ship, and just starting to relax. For me a flight to the ship would push my stress levels up to mega heights and would negate the benefits of the holiday. And then all over again to get home!

No thanks - I will stick with the Bay! In all my years of crossing the Bay (and i have done many on a ferry as well as cruise ships) I have had far more smooth crossings than rough ones.

Edited November 29, 2015 by Mysticalmother

[jeanlyon]

Yes me too. I don't do airports any more. Arrive at the ship, luggage goes, car goes, I get on board. I'm on holiday. then 2 days to chill out. Lovely.

[Josy1953]

We no longer fly because of husband's health issues. I thought that not flying would be an issue because we would have several days before starting our holidays but I actually look forward to getting in board and relaxing completely before getting to the first port. My husband has not flown now for 12 years and I have not flown since I retired 7 years ago. I once calculated that during my working life I had spent around of 4500 hours of my life sitting around in airports and I dread to think how many hours were spent in the air in a tin can, I would have much preferred to spend that time relaxing at sea on a cruise ship. If anyone enjoys the stress at the airport then I just that the Lord that we are all different.

[tokyo]

I have no problem with flying, but love starting our cruise from Southampton. We stay in an hotel the night before the cruise, have a nice meal in the town. In the morning we have no stress getting to the terminal as it's just a taxi ride away. As for the two days getting down to the med, we just relax. As for the bay, we are one of the lucky ones. Never had a bad crossing. YET:D

[ormy]

I note Mysticalmother that you live in Devon - we live in the Northwest so we prefer a couple of hours in the airport, 20 min drive for us, to spending nearly half a day driving down to Southampton, last August it took nearly two hours to complete the last ten miles into the port - now that is real stress for you. But of course everyone to their own.