Rockin and Rollin on the Enchantment

[chengkp75]

Always remember, despite the size of your ship and stabilizers, you are still sailing on a cruise ship hull, with shallower cruise ship draft. They do not handle rough seas as well as the ocean liners of the past (and only one presently- QM2).

 

 

While its true that a deeper draft will improve stability (QM2 has about 2 meters more than standard cruise ships), she is also 10 meters lower in height above the water than Oasis, presenting less wind surface. Also, the far more important factors in sea keeping are the length (waterline, not overall) to beam ratio, and the block coefficient of the hull (essentially how much the underwater shape looks like a cinder block). QM2 is designed with a hull for sea keeping in mind, while cruise ships are designed to maximize space in the hull.

[shipshape sam]

My preggo wife and I are taking our two kids on a 4 day enchantment cruise on January 11th. This will be our first cruise and reading this thread and seeing that pic of the boat in high winds is freaking me out a little!

Is January typically a windy time to cruise?

 

We hope not! We are on same cruise as you!

 

We have sailed out of FL to Bahamas from Oct through May over the years and it is 'luck of the draw'. We have missed Coco Cay about 50% of the time out of 8 trips. The good news for us on this sailing, is Coco Cay is on day 2. Thus, if missed, we have at least a chance to make it back with Nassau the 3rd day and a sea day the 4th (which means we will be just sailing around the area). Our last sailing where we missed Coco Cay, it was bright and sunny, but windy and rougher seas than they wanted to tender in. This is all assuming there are options open to the Captain!

 

It will be a fun cruise and the picture of the ship would be an extreme case I think. I have been in 20-25 foot waves, but that was on our Antarctica trip, not in Caribbean/Bahamas.

Edited December 13, 2015 by shipshape sam

[island lady]

There's no typical, it can be windy on any cruise.

 

Especially hurricane season! :eek:

[shipshape sam]

Especially hurricane season! :eek:

 

True, but OP's sailing is past that season, at least for this year! We were on a cruise the week after an official hurricane was in the first week of December a number of years ago:). Calm seas though.

[Retired LEO]

Be prepared this weekend. A strong cold front is coming through on Friday. We're currently in the low to mid 80's. The temperature this weekend is expected to be in the 50's to low 60's with overnight temps in the 30's and 40's. Windy, rainy, and just plain nasty. The surf will be churning up pretty good.

[poncho1973]

I just went out to grab a bite to eat and it's 86. That's nuts, even in Florida. It's the middle of December and it's HOT, not just warm.

 

Not sure about the surf going up, but a cold front would be welcome at this point.

Edited December 14, 2015 by poncho1973

[trihawks1]

My DD is on Oasis right now and having quite a lot of motion. They are on the Eastern itinerary and cabins are on Deck 8 balcony. We have never had any issues cruising in December but you never know. She mentioned that their MTD is on Deck 3 and there is no way I could stay and eat in the main dining due to the motion. Lol I have vertigo but I still cruise. I use Bonnie, the patches, ginger pills, and take prescription nausea medication just in case I need it. She has already said that the best ship has been Independence two years ago. No motion at all, rooms on Deck6 hump E2, and our table was in the middle of the dining room.

[Island Hopping]

My wife and I are lucky. Neither of us have a problem with rough seas. A few years back, I had to get extra pillows and stuff them on each side of me to keep from rolling off the bed. My wife said she could not stay on her stool in the casino (probably saved me some money) so she went to a comedy show. The comedian was hanging onto the curtain trying to do his act, he finally gave up. The entire ship was very quite that night as most were in their cabins early.

[Toddcan]

Right you are, Ray. We had an easy 2+ weeks of higher winds here in Boca, and while they have let up, it is still some rain and almost non-stop cloudy skies. Well, at least I can still wear my short pants and shirt!

 

 

70 degrees (21C) here today - that's easily shorts weather.

 

BTW - I'm in Niagara Falls area - Canada.

 

thanks Al Gore :P

[ckfred]

We sailed on the Brilliance this summer. Sailing from Harwich to Norway, the seas were rough. On the first full day after leaving Iceland, it was really rough. Not that my wife and I were seasick, but dinner in the MDR just wasn't enjoyable, the way the ship rolled and pitched.

 

As someone else mentioned, today's ship have shallow drafts. That's so they can get into ports that wouldn't have been possible with the large ocean liners of the past.

[island lady]

True, but OP's sailing is past that season, at least for this year! We were on a cruise the week after an official hurricane was in the first week of December a number of years ago:). Calm seas though.

 

Sorry...it was just intended as a joke back to Bob. ;)

 

But indeed, any cruise ship can experience rough seas at any time of the year. We were

on Freedom one December and watched a storm come in, then a water spout form. First time we saw one up that close. And we were on deck at the time! :eek:

[island lady]

I just went out to grab a bite to eat and it's 86. That's nuts, even in Florida. It's the middle of December and it's HOT, not just warm.

 

Not sure about the surf going up, but a cold front would be welcome at this point.

 

I agree....my A/C is back on at the house again. $$$$

 

Am also hoping finally for a cool down. Don't want the storms, but I guess our palm trees will get watered next week! ;)

[TheTruthCanHurt]

On the Oasis western Caribbean cruise now, as we speak, and have never seen more calm water in my life. It's like glass. You just never know.

 

 

I was on this western as well.

But we would have had a much worse time if we would have gone to the bahamas as that weather mirrored the rainy day we had when we left. I would agree the oasis handled it much better then the smalls ships would, but we would have had a much different experience if we were in nassau or coco cay

[Chelsea1]

Only time I have been really worried bothered by motion was actually on the QM2 crossing the Bay of Biscay. It was unbelievable how much the ship moved. My husband was really ill - never been seasick before or since. We did transatlantic last year on the Oasis and I was a bit worried about the weather. It was a bit rough and we had to sail far north to avoid a hurricane, bit we thought Oasis handled it really well with very little movement.

[Roamer321]

My preggo wife and I are taking our two kids on a 4 day enchantment cruise on January 11th. This will be our first cruise and reading this thread and seeing that pic of the boat in high winds is freaking me out a little!

Is January typically a windy time to cruise?

 

Don't be freaked out by that picture. I did not like seeing it on here because it is in the very extreme.

 

We just got off the Enchantment and we did not get to Coco Cay because of the wind. It was about 30 mph and the sea was too choppy for the tenders and the captain made it sound like it was the Coco tender operator who make that call.

 

We just had a sea day and the captain said that there was sun toward Freeport and he would sail that way. Well we had off and on showers all afternoon. My wife and I found a perch in the Viking Crown room and had fun watching all the people on the pool deck below while we had a cocktail.:)

 

At the captains corner Q&A he told us that the ship has a system of tanks below with water in them and that they can make the ride smoother to a point during the day by moving the water between tanks but at night not so much. When you are in bed you do not feel the motion so much.

[spazzyjanet]

We've sailed twice in April, once early December, and once in early November. The only bad weather/rough seas experience was the one in early November. We were on Freedom and missed Coco Cay, had rain lots of days and the pool turned into a wave pool on the last sea day heading into port. We will probably not attempt any cruises between August and early November again. However, good weather and bad weather can of course happen on any cruise, any week of the year.

[Biker19]

We were on the Freedom the first week of Nov this year - smooth as glass the whole week, including Coco Cay (first time they were able to tender in 6 weeks).

[lauraodonnell86]

That pic wasnt even the Enchantment of the Seas. It was a Carnival ship taken who knows when. Don't be nervous! You will have a wonderful time and the seas will be fine! We ALWAYS cruise the Caribbean in January and have never had issues. The further you get from hurricane season, the better!! Have a great time!

 

My preggo wife and I are taking our two kids on a 4 day enchantment cruise on January 11th. This will be our first cruise and reading this thread and seeing that pic of the boat in high winds is freaking me out a little!

Is January typically a windy time to cruise?

[poncho1973]

It's 100% luck of the draw.

 

We were on a cruise last year where the sea was as calm as glass. We ran into a couple that was on the 2nd leg of a B2B and said the 1st leg was like being in a floating washing machine.

 

We've been on a bunch of cruises and we've had monster seas (these were epic waves... no joke... the boat was seriously slamming into each one) in the middle of a tropical storm ONCE and rough seas a few times. Most times, the captain finds a way to sail around them or with them.

 

Once we were running from another tropical storm in the middle of what the captain called 20-25' waves and we hardly felt a thing. You couldn't even tell unless you went outside. If someone would've asked me blindly, I would've said the seas were calm that night. We didn't feel much of anything.

 

On the rough cruise, I kept hitting my head on the ceiling in the hallways. I was shielding myself because I thought I was going to get knocked out just trying to get back to our room. We don't get seasick, at least we never have yet, but this was like doing some bull riding at times.

 

We've had minor issues a few times, but the overwhelming number of cruises have been quite calm and pleasant.

 

My mom's first cruise was really calm and she psychosomatically said the boat was in constant rough motion. She actually said that for the first time before we had even sailed away. She was fine partway through the 2nd day.

[breeze123]

We've had rough seas in March and July. There is just no telling. I am normally a motion sickness person, but have not had issues on the ship. Last March it looked like I was drunk (I swear I wasn't!) walking into the walls trying to get back to our cabin. LOL Another time we woke up to all the drawers and doors slamming open and shut as we listed from side to side.

 

We sail this weekend. Looking forward to it!