Question on cruises out of NY

[BigBrust]

Has anyone ever taken a cruise out of New York City? I was just wondering about the sea condidtions. is it rougher than cruising out of florida? I would like to take a cruise out of NY, since we live in NJ, but my wife refuses unless we find out about the seas. (and she is afraid to sail in the bermuda triangle.) any help would be appreciated.

[foundobjex]

I wouldn't worry about the Bermuda Triangle BUT there is always a chance of rough seas going to and from the Carribbean as we experienced coming back yesterday & today. It wasn't that bad if you don't have problems with seasickness but it lasted a long time and could be miserable for someone who felt badly.

 

The days at sea were lovely to me. I like the ship so much that it gave us time to really do many things on board.

[cruzlover56]

I've cruised both from Fort Lauderdale and New York Definately more chance of rough seas out of New York. You are in the open Atlantic at the start and end of the cruise. Our return was pretty rough and I was a bit sea sick trying to pack our bags. The cruise before ours had very rough seas coming back. The entire outside of the ship was completely encrusted with salt from the wind and high seas. On our Fort Lauderdale cruises the only time I felt the movement was returning the Ft Lauderdale where I think they put the petal to the metal returning to port. :)

[SusieCruisie]

I will be leaving next month out of N.Y. You mention the salt on the outside of ship, does that actually mean that the water is splashing up, even to the balconys? If so, how much and how bad is it. ie: Splashing against your glass doors? Just getting nervous, as I am on deck 5 this cruise. Thanks for all info :)

[Navy_Chief]

I will be leaving next month out of N.Y. You mention the salt on the outside of ship, does that actually mean that the water is splashing up, even to the balconys? If so, how much and how bad is it. ie: Splashing against your glass doors? Just getting nervous, as I am on deck 5 this cruise. Thanks for all info :)

Rough seas is a relitive concept; what some call rough is when they "feel" the ship move in 5 foot swells. That hardly constitutes as "rough" in my book; its not rough until I have to walk on the walls :D . One thing to remember, your on a ship and ships move, the ocean can be smooth as glass one day and the next can get down right nasty or you can hit a "bump" that could off set your balance very quickly. Salt on the weather decks gets everywhere no matter what the sea state is. That's why the deck crew is up at 3 AM every day doing freash water wash downs. It doesn't come from waves or water coming up to the decks; the ship simply driving through the water causes a disturbance in the water and sea spray is generated and that's enough to cause the salt deposits. you will notice it on the railings of your balcony even in the "calm" of the caribbean. Now when the wind and sea state increase, it causes more sea spray and a greater amount of salt build up; 4 to 7 foot waves with some white caps is enough to cause build up but does very little to the ship and that's probabl average for a good day off the eastern seaboard until you get past the virginia capes. the bermuda triangle "stuff" is just that; I can't count the number of times I've been in that region of the sea, it's no different than any other region of the sea.

[kruisekathy]

We saided from NYC last year and will do so again in 3 weeks. We did not find the movement to be excessive. Yes it is rough but we encountered much higher seas while traveling from Aruba to Panama. We had a balcony on Deck 9 and we would sit outside and a swell would come and spray us. We found that we could not use our balcony because we were becoming salt encrusted. The balcony was always a mess. That is much worse than what we had sailing to and from NYC. That said, I am one of those people who love rough seas, so I slept like a baby.

[adjournthis120]

Never sailed in and out of NY, but our last cruise from Port Everglades through the Caribbean was rather rough. Waves of course did not come up to our 8th deck balcony, but all the deck rails and chairs always had a sticky and salty covering on them. This was on Mariner of the Seas, and there wasn't all that much attempt to clean things off. I carried a damp washcloth in a baggie with me and had to wipe down every chair on deck before I sat down. Kind of inconvenient, but it sure didn't damper my enjoyment of the cruise.

[SusieCruisie]

Rough seas is a relitive concept; what some call rough is when they "feel" the ship move in 5 foot swells. That hardly constitutes as "rough" in my book; its not rough until I have to walk on the walls :D . One thing to remember, your on a ship and ships move, the ocean can be smooth as glass one day and the next can get down right nasty or you can hit a "bump" that could off set your balance very quickly. Salt on the weather decks gets everywhere no matter what the sea state is. That's why the deck crew is up at 3 AM every day doing freash water wash downs. It doesn't come from waves or water coming up to the decks; the ship simply driving through the water causes a disturbance in the water and sea spray is generated and that's enough to cause the salt deposits. you will notice it on the railings of your balcony even in the "calm" of the caribbean. Now when the wind and sea state increase, it causes more sea spray and a greater amount of salt build up; 4 to 7 foot waves with some white caps is enough to cause build up but does very little to the ship and that's probabl average for a good day off the eastern seaboard until you get past the virginia capes. the bermuda triangle "stuff" is just that; I can't count the number of times I've been in that region of the sea, it's no different than any other region of the sea.

 

Thank You Navy Chief, always informative as usual! Love reading your posts! I am traveling in a little less than 3 weeks, just hope it's not too rough. :)

[Seago2]

I will be leaving next month out of N.Y. You mention the salt on the outside of ship, does that actually mean that the water is splashing up, even to the balconys? If so, how much and how bad is it. ie: Splashing against your glass doors? Just getting nervous, as I am on deck 5 this cruise. Thanks for all info :)

 

We had waves crashing over the bow and hitting the Crow's Nest with walls of water. Never thought I would see that! It was a very difficult 30 hours for a lot of people, especially the elderly. Decks were closed and only the insane would have gone out on a verandah on any level. I can't even get the message across of what it felt like to be tossed and bumped for such a long period of time. DH is a pretty rugged guy and he was scared big time. I try to disengage but I could not be in the Crow's Nest. If you were sitting on the Lido deck you would watch the view of the sea as it covered one window and then completely disappeared (the view of it, I mean).

 

I have cruised out of NYC three times and had no problems until this cruise. It was still an excellent cruise and the storm was just part of it that will stand out in my mind forever. I always thought 18 foot seas were nothing but... they are something! These were not swells, either. These were disorganized waves coming at us from the east and west.

 

Hope to never relive that but I will DEFINITELY cruise out of NYC again. Too much of a hassle to fly to FLA. We were 6 hours late coming in to NY and a lot of people missed their flights. We just got a late start driving home!

 

Oh, and to answer your specific question, the waves didn't hit the doors. The doors are in a protected area of the balcony and the waves went right by. They were at our level, however (Deck 4).

[dianelevene]

Waves were definitely splashing above where we were on deck 5 last week. I was up at the Lido pool and some of the spray from the big waves was hitting the glass dome up there. However, I never felt like the ship was unsafe and we would definitely travel out of NYC again. We loved being able to drive to the cruise and then not having to worry about plane reservations when we knew the ship would be getting into port late.

[Lynne Myrna]

We were on the Noordam 2/16/06 Christmas cruise.....this was our first time on HAL, we usually fly down to Fla for our cruises, it was so convenient for us to depart out of N.Y.C. We had very mild weather when we left, but coming home was a different story.....on our last leg of our trip we had 73 mph winds, 37 foot waves, we were in a storm off the Carolina coast.....my husband & myself took 2 non drowsy Bonnine each.....it worked great. Nothing can deter us from going out of N.Y.C. again.....it was a treat to see that skyline....whatever you decide, hope you have a great cruise......

[bepsf]

Has anyone ever taken a cruise out of New York City? I was just wondering about the sea condidtions. is it rougher than cruising out of florida? I would like to take a cruise out of NY, since we live in NJ, but my wife refuses unless we find out about the seas. (and she is afraid to sail in the bermuda triangle.) any help would be appreciated.

 

Yes, the Atlantic can be rougher than in the Caribbean - have a look at the other recent threads about Noordam arriving into NYC late, and recall the big whoo-hah about big waves smacking into NCL's Dawn a couple years back....

...and with modern radar, GPS, etc - nothing of importance (maritime or aeronautical, anyways ;) ) has been lost in the Bermuda Triangle in decades.

[Navy_Chief]

We had waves crashing over the bow and hitting the Crow's Nest with walls of water. Never thought I would see that! It was a very difficult 30 hours for a lot of people, especially the elderly. Decks were closed and only the insane would have gone out on a verandah on any level. I can't even get the message across of what it felt like to be tossed and bumped for such a long period of time. DH is a pretty rugged guy and he was scared big time. I try to disengage but I could not be in the Crow's Nest. If you were sitting on the Lido deck you would watch the view of the sea as it covered one window and then completely disappeared (the view of it, I mean).

 

I have cruised out of NYC three times and had no problems until this cruise. It was still an excellent cruise and the storm was just part of it that will stand out in my mind forever. I always thought 18 foot seas were nothing but... they are something! These were not swells, either. These were disorganized waves coming at us from the east and west.

 

Hope to never relive that but I will DEFINITELY cruise out of NYC again. Too much of a hassle to fly to FLA. We were 6 hours late coming in to NY and a lot of people missed their flights. We just got a late start driving home!

 

Oh, and to answer your specific question, the waves didn't hit the doors. The doors are in a protected area of the balcony and the waves went right by. They were at our level, however (Deck 4).

 

Yes this type of activity at sea is not uncommon to those of us who have spent a great deal of time at sea. I remember standing on the bridge of the Fast Frigate I was on (actually holding the coated steel cable which is streached across it) and watching the 5 inch gun completely disappear under "Green" water and taking white water over the bridge. Of course that ship is only half the size of a cruise ship such as Noordam and has no stablizers. Actually, I'm not sure that stabizers would work in that sea state. My Grandfather, also a career sailor, once said he "joined the submarine service because he was tierd of going over one wave and under two without getting paid for it" :D One thing to keep in mind, make sure you secure EVERY loose item in your stateroom so that they don't become "Missile Hazards" flying about and possibly causing injury. I know for those of you who haven't experianced this, it can be unsettling but keep in mind, the ship is designed to take much worse. Just do the best you can to avoid things that have not been properly tied down or secured (like all that artwork :D )

[madelinerose]

Whoa!!! The Noordam will only be our 3rd cruise and this sounds like something that would definitely make me a little nervous, to say the least. Both of our cruises so far have been out of Baltimore and we had some pretty good rocking coming back each time, but nothing like this. Hmmmm...we're on Deck 6, but if we move up to 8, then we feel more rocking but may got get the waves, right?

 

Did anyone have any water in their balcony cabins or am I picturing the wrong scenario?

 

Karen

 

We had waves crashing over the bow and hitting the Crow's Nest with walls of water. Never thought I would see that! It was a very difficult 30 hours for a lot of people, especially the elderly. Decks were closed and only the insane would have gone out on a verandah on any level. that will stand out in my mind forever. I always thought 18 foot seas were nothing but... they are something! These were not swells, either. These were disorganized waves coming at us from the east and west.

 

Hope to never relive that but I will DEFINITELY cruise out of NYC again. Too much of a hassle to fly to FLA. We were 6 hours late coming in to NY and a lot of people missed their flights. We just got a late start driving home!

[GayleArc]

We were on the Jan 6th cruise on the Noordam out of NY. Hardly a riple. So you never know. We expected some motion and were disappointed when we

arrived home and the house was not rocking a little.

[Seago2]

Whoa!!! The Noordam will only be our 3rd cruise and this sounds like something that would definitely make me a little nervous, to say the least. Both of our cruises so far have been out of Baltimore and we had some pretty good rocking coming back each time, but nothing like this. Hmmmm...we're on Deck 6, but if we move up to 8, then we feel more rocking but may got get the waves, right?

 

Did anyone have any water in their balcony cabins or am I picturing the wrong scenario?

 

Karen

 

Lower decks: more noise from crashing waves. Higher decks: more rocking.

 

The water doesn't come in the balconies as the waves are going quickly from fore to aft, not pooling around the balcony. It's hard to describe! The water is going very, very fast.

[innlady1]

I will be leaving next month out of N.Y. You mention the salt on the outside of ship, does that actually mean that the water is splashing up, even to the balconys? If so, how much and how bad is it. ie: Splashing against your glass doors? Just getting nervous, as I am on deck 5 this cruise. Thanks for all info :)

 

We're on Deck 5 on the Noordam next week...I guess it might be quite a ride, from what I've been reading lately! :eek:

[SusieCruisie]

Thank you all for the info, and your personal experiences, good, and not so good. Glad to hear the waves are from bow to aft, and not crashing against the balcony. I hope I read this correctly! I am going to make a new post due to the fact that some in my party are freaking out about all this new weather news. Feel free to answer on my new post. It will be something like "Reassuring the Fearful!" lol

[bepsf]

Glad to hear the waves are from bow to aft, and not crashing against the balcony.

 

If the ocean starts crashing against the verandahs on the side of the ship: there's a definate problem!!!

:eek:

[madelinerose]

Brian, you are sooooo bad. ;)

[Chivalrygirl]

Brian thats truly great.

 

Just sat here thinking what is cruising all about ?? Why do people join a cruise??

 

Do they not realise that it's basically about going to SEA ??

 

What more can one say ? Cn't wait to sail out of NY, know my luck I will get the mill pond condition. :-(

[Navy_Chief]

You trying to promote new Cruise Submarines Brian? :D

[sab490]

You trying to promote new Cruise Submarines Brian? :D

 

How cool would that be? Don't want a verandah cabin on that one though!;)

 

- Steve

[Seago2]

 

Just sat here thinking what is cruising all about ?? Why do people join a cruise??

 

Do they not realise that it's basically about going to SEA ??

 

What more can one say ? Cn't wait to sail out of NY, know my luck I will get the mill pond condition. :-(

 

 

I know you are joking but that is SO TRUE. I kept looking around at all the seriously overweight people (not too many on this last cruise, but a few people clearly well above 300 pounds) and the very frail elderly people (too many to count) and as the seas kicked up I thought: who exactly is going to help all of these people??? There were many crewmembers under the weather and room srvice was very backed up. I saw one elderly man take a tray from the Lido, fill it up, and walk back across the Lido pool area and wait for the elevator. When I say it took ten minutes I am not joking. He had to keep stopping to place the tray on a table to catch his balance. He looked like he couldn't even carry something that awkward on LAND. His wife was probably waiting in the cabin. I would have helped him but I was so dizzy from the lack of sleep and turbulence that it was either lie there motionless on a deck chair or throw up.

 

I have always loved bad weather! Always, always. I have never been seasick, ever. This last cruise- I can't explain how bad it was. They weren't swells. It was Perfect Storm time. I kept thinking "shallow draft/floating hotel." It sounded like the ship was breaking up. Grown men were clearly scared.

 

That being said, I took some Dramamine for the first time in my life (unopened, expired) and I felt fine after that, qeasy-wise. I've been home for 4 days and neither of us is laughing about those 36 hours yet.

 

I will cruise out of NY in the future, though. But after 9/11 I kept thinking about the seriously unfit people who couldn't walk down the stairs without assistance. This is the thing on a cruise- as other posters have said, what do you expect- you're at sea! But look at how unfit some cruisers are- the threat of fire or other emergency is very real- so I guess it makes the bad weather a little less "fun" for me now. Those poor old people were really in a jam.

[debsjc]

I

I have always loved bad weather! Always, always. I have never been seasick, ever. This last cruise- I can't explain how bad it was. They weren't swells. It was Perfect Storm time. I kept thinking "shallow draft/floating hotel." It sounded like the ship was breaking up. Grown men were clearly scared.

 

 

Well you have scared me Carla, that sounds terrible. :eek:

 

I'm sailing on the Noordam in about 5 weeks time, I hope we don't have seas like that.

 

The worst I have ever had was a force 10 off the coast of Norway near Bergen in a small Hurtigruten (Norweigan coastal steamer) and that was pretty scary, especially as the waves kept smashing against the port holes. I hope the Noordam is at least a bit better equiped for big seas. :o