Typical late March / April sea conditions for Patagonia / Straight of Magellan cruise on Celebrity Infinity

[Parachute07]

New to the board and to cruising - I hope you'll forgive my newbieness! I'm looking at the possibility of cruising on the Celebrity Infinity from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires (going through the Strait of Magellan to Punta Arenas, back to Ushuaia and around Cape Horn) form late March into early April. I know that conditions can be unpredictable, but I'm trying to get a sense of how rough of a ride to likely expect. I tend to get seasick very easily without medication, but I've been mostly fine on boats with Dramamine (and on large cruise ships the motion hasn't bothered me much -- I took Dramamine during one rough sea day in the Mediterranean on a large cruise ship this year and on a recent Caribbean cruise I didn't take any medicine and I was fine). I have very young kids (ages 5 and 2) and they have been fine on large cruise ships, but both got seasick within an hour on a catamaran in the Mediterranean on a pretty calm sea day. I'm trying to get a sense of what to expect on a boat the size of the Infinity. I read a review on a blog about a trip in February that sounded like it encountered very rough seas. From what I've read, winds should be a bit less in late March / early April, but I don't know whether that means a smoother ride. Are we very likely to hit seas rough enough to be knocking things off of shelves? If that is likely, is it likely to be that way for days at a time or hours or what? Has anyone done it and been completely miserable (or who expected to be miserable and was totally fine)? Is it rocking and rolling the whole time?

 

I completely understand that it is impossible to predict sea conditions, I'm just hoping that someone here is familiar enough with it to help me make a more educated decision rather than winging it thinking "It'll probably be fine". I'm alternatively considering the same ship from Buenos Aires to Antarctica, which goes down past Cape Horn to Paradise Bay, the Gerlache Strait, and Elephant Island. I've posted separately on the Antarctica forum about that and I recognize that both of these cruises might be poor choices for us given sea sickness concerns (I'm open to being convinced not to pursue this course at all), but like I said I am trying to make an educated decision and I include that alternative in case anyone has done both and can offer a comparison. 

 

I appreciate any and all advice / wisdom.  

[TwoSue]

10 hours ago, Parachute07 said:

 Has anyone done it and been completely miserable (or who expected to be miserable and was totally fine)? 

I've never been sick on a cruise ship but I've never been to this area before. So for our cruise to Antarctica next month, I got a prescription for the patch, just in case. Maybe you could do something like that to allay your fears?

[TayanaLorna]

I don't think it would be a good idea to put a patch on children that young.  That said, the southern oceans whether Pacific or Atlantic can be rough any time of year but earlier in the season (November-December) is the historically the worst.  Another consideration traveling with children is do you want them to see the penguins with young?  The penguins are no longer raising their young on land at the end of March or April.  Most will be out to sea.

 

I traveled on a smaller Viking ship from Santiago (Valparaiso) to Buenas Aires from end of January to mid February.  I was concerned about the Pacific but it was fine.  Our scenic cruising around cape horn was so calm that smaller expedition ships were able to launch their inflatables for their guests to land and hike on the island.  However our visit to the Falklands was cancelled because it was too windy for the tenders to safely land.  Then our first sea day to Puerto Madryn gave us 50 knot winds and 25+ foot seas in the Atlantic.  All the outer decks were closed as were the pools due to the water sloshing out from the ship motion.  Surprisingly nothing slid off cabin counters or tables.

 

We really loved the Patagonia area the most and would go back by sea.  There are several ships that ply these protected waters only and visit areas where the larger ones cannot.  If you are into wildlife, small settlements and scenic natural beauty, you may wish to look into these.  And you get calm waters to boot.

[Parachute07]

9 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

I don't think it would be a good idea to put a patch on children that young.  That said, the southern oceans whether Pacific or Atlantic can be rough any time of year but earlier in the season (November-December) is the historically the worst.  Another consideration traveling with children is do you want them to see the penguins with young?  The penguins are no longer raising their young on land at the end of March or April.  Most will be out to sea.

 

I traveled on a smaller Viking ship from Santiago (Valparaiso) to Buenas Aires from end of January to mid February.  I was concerned about the Pacific but it was fine.  Our scenic cruising around cape horn was so calm that smaller expedition ships were able to launch their inflatables for their guests to land and hike on the island.  However our visit to the Falklands was cancelled because it was too windy for the tenders to safely land.  Then our first sea day to Puerto Madryn gave us 50 knot winds and 25+ foot seas in the Atlantic.  All the outer decks were closed as were the pools due to the water sloshing out from the ship motion.  Surprisingly nothing slid off cabin counters or tables.

 

We really loved the Patagonia area the most and would go back by sea.  There are several ships that ply these protected waters only and visit areas where the larger ones cannot.  If you are into wildlife, small settlements and scenic natural beauty, you may wish to look into these.  And you get calm waters to boot.

Thank you very much for all of this! Very helpful.

 

I certainly understand your recommendations regarding other smaller ships. In this case, I specifically have the opportunity to sail with Celebrity for a deeply discounted rate and so I decided to look for the most interesting Celebrity itineraries I could find - hence why I stumbled on the Infinity cruise from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires. I've been fortunate to travel to many places around the world, but haven't yet been to southern South America (we spent a chunk of time in northern South America more than a decade ago). I always assumed we'd eventually visit Patagonia, but had never until now considered cruising. We likely wouldn't cruise if not for the chance at such a deeply discounted rate - and since they have sailings in March, I was specifically considering end of March into early April. I'm mostly concerned with whether the sea is likely to be too rough for us, and 25ft waves is probably beyond our comfort zone in the sense that I feel inclined not to subject the kids to that at such a young age. I'd love to be able to see all of that scenery in a single cruise, but I think we'll probably have to table the idea of taking advantage of this one after all.

[TayanaLorna]

17 hours ago, Parachute07 said:

Thank you very much for all of this! Very helpful.

 

I certainly understand your recommendations regarding other smaller ships. In this case, I specifically have the opportunity to sail with Celebrity for a deeply discounted rate and so I decided to look for the most interesting Celebrity itineraries I could find - hence why I stumbled on the Infinity cruise from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires. I've been fortunate to travel to many places around the world, but haven't yet been to southern South America (we spent a chunk of time in northern South America more than a decade ago). I always assumed we'd eventually visit Patagonia, but had never until now considered cruising. We likely wouldn't cruise if not for the chance at such a deeply discounted rate - and since they have sailings in March, I was specifically considering end of March into early April. I'm mostly concerned with whether the sea is likely to be too rough for us, and 25ft waves is probably beyond our comfort zone in the sense that I feel inclined not to subject the kids to that at such a young age. I'd love to be able to see all of that scenery in a single cruise, but I think we'll probably have to table the idea of taking advantage of this one after all.

It is unpredictable.  Not all cruises have heavy weather.  I followed all the cruises on our cruise line of choice for the year in which we traveled.  I'd say half missed the Falklands due to wind and nd half did not go around Cape Horn only sailing as close as they could get in the weather conditions and then turning around.  One missed Puerto Montt in protected waters because the wind was too strong for docking.  Our stop in Punta Arenas, again protected waters, had 100 km wind gusts and we had to hang on to the permanently installed sidewalk railings in town or get blown over.  It's an adventure.

[AstoriaPreppy]

On 12/12/2022 at 12:10 AM, Parachute07 said:

New to the board and to cruising - I hope you'll forgive my newbieness! I'm looking at the possibility of cruising on the Celebrity Infinity from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires (going through the Strait of Magellan to Punta Arenas, back to Ushuaia and around Cape Horn) form late March into early April. I know that conditions can be unpredictable, but I'm trying to get a sense of how rough of a ride to likely expect. I tend to get seasick very easily without medication, but I've been mostly fine on boats with Dramamine (and on large cruise ships the motion hasn't bothered me much -- I took Dramamine during one rough sea day in the Mediterranean on a large cruise ship this year and on a recent Caribbean cruise I didn't take any medicine and I was fine). I have very young kids (ages 5 and 2) and they have been fine on large cruise ships, but both got seasick within an hour on a catamaran in the Mediterranean on a pretty calm sea day. I'm trying to get a sense of what to expect on a boat the size of the Infinity. I read a review on a blog about a trip in February that sounded like it encountered very rough seas. From what I've read, winds should be a bit less in late March / early April, but I don't know whether that means a smoother ride. Are we very likely to hit seas rough enough to be knocking things off of shelves? If that is likely, is it likely to be that way for days at a time or hours or what? Has anyone done it and been completely miserable (or who expected to be miserable and was totally fine)? Is it rocking and rolling the whole time?

 

I completely understand that it is impossible to predict sea conditions, I'm just hoping that someone here is familiar enough with it to help me make a more educated decision rather than winging it thinking "It'll probably be fine". I'm alternatively considering the same ship from Buenos Aires to Antarctica, which goes down past Cape Horn to Paradise Bay, the Gerlache Strait, and Elephant Island. I've posted separately on the Antarctica forum about that and I recognize that both of these cruises might be poor choices for us given sea sickness concerns (I'm open to being convinced not to pursue this course at all), but like I said I am trying to make an educated decision and I include that alternative in case anyone has done both and can offer a comparison. 

 

I appreciate any and all advice / wisdom.  

 

TBH, if you're remotely prone to seasickness, this is one area of the world you'd likely want to avoid. The Drake Passage (south of Cape Horn) is notorious for rough seas... wikipedia has full details on how/why this happens: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_Passage . Summer tends to be calmer in the area, but the end of March/April is shoulder season and prone to more activity. If the kiddos are prone to motion-sickness on a catamaran in the Med, this would probably be a deal breaker. 

I'd also recommend you read up on the Viking Polaris ship that was just hit by a rogue wave in the area. They were hit by the rogue wave while returning to port for a medical evacuation... because a passenger was seriously injured the day before on an excursion due to rough seas.