When is best sailing weather and what is best ship?

[Crazy planning mom]

I am following a live trip report on another board.  Seas have been very choppy.  Is there a time of year when seas are less choppy?  What is the best ship/line to take in the Mexican Riviera?  We have sailed Royal and NCL the most.  I am tempted to try Princess but will it be too sleepy?

Edited March 25, 2023 by Crazy planning mom

[CruiserBruce]

Seas can be choppy ANY time. It's almost always choppy as you sail NW from Cabo back to California as you are sailing against the current and the wind (most of the time).

 

You are on a ship on the sea, which moves. 

[Ixtoras]

From what I've seen the first day out heading down from LA and the last night back up to Ensenada / LA can be somewhat choppy,  But unless there's a real weather system forecast, its relatively minimal.  We've had pretty good luck and missed any "real" weather in the three times we've done the Mexican Riviera.   We've gone in April and October, Don't know about deeper in the season.

 

Both NCL and Carnival have pretty large / modern ships based out of LA doing the Mexican Riviera itinerary, Panorama is 134,000t and Bliss is 168,000t.   Neither should really have much of a problem with the chop.  Our first cruise was on the Carmival Splendor at 113,000 and while you could "feel" it, we didn't get seasick or see anyone having a problem. 

 

I've not tried Princess yet for the very reason you mention, although I've noticed that Holland America has some interesting itineraries with additional ports, so we might try that sometime.

 

Whatever you choose, I hope you have a great time.

[CruiserBruce]

The size of the ship is not the key factor in how much roughness you might feel. It's the design.

[canadjineh]

We've done Mex Riv with Holland America on the Oosterdam (just under 2000 passengers) and had no sea waves/chop issues in early March.  But it leaves from San Diego, so that could be a factor as it's much further down the coast.

[Ashland]

We've been doing this itinerary for years and as recently as this past January. We've sailed during many different months and have been just fine with what weather we've encountered.

 

RCI has always been our favorite cruiseline.