What exactly are "rough seas?"

[AKBeagleMom]

Hello,

 

We are soon embarking on our first ever cruise! We are very excited. Being from Alaska, we see ships sail in and out of our city all summer long. We finally decided to give it a try for ourselves.

 

I see people talking about booking lower rooms mid-ship to help deal with seasickness. I'm not worried at all about getting sick, I actually like the rolling feeling of the ocean. That said, I'm a little worried about my bf.

 

Can someone explain what is meant by "rough seas?" We've been out in our boat when the seas unexpectedly picked up. Our boat is 22 feet, and we've been in 6-8 foot seas. That's a lot of getting thrown around, and while I wasn't sick at all, it was scary. I can't imagine that you would even feel 6-8 foot seas in a ship.

 

How big are the waves to be qualified as "rough," and what does it feel like in the ship?

 

In case it matters, we live on the inside passage, so when we go boating on our own, we're not in the open sea.

 

Can anyone enlighten me with their own experiences?

 

Thanks in advance!

[Toyz711]

between seattle and entering the passage, we had 10 to 12 ft seas..i thought is was a nice gentle rocking...but others were sick. some are bother by the gentle side-to-side motion. that's why it's suggest to get cabins on the lower levels and mid-ship.

it's a totally different motion then a small boat.

check with some of the locals on the alaska boards:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

[AKBeagleMom]

Thanks for the info, Cathi.

 

I guess I should have clarified a little more. We are from Alaska, on the inside passage, and are used to boating (in a small boat) around here with rough seas.

 

We will be cruising in Sept. from Vancouver to the Mexican Riviera. What sort of "rough seas" will we possibly encounter in this area?

[JanineM]

The seas you encounter will really depend on the weather. If there is a tropical storm out there you could have really rough seas. We had 14-20 foot swells for 2 days in the Atlantic this spring, and many people were pretty green. But you could have perfectly calm waters.

 

There is a good site that shows the wave heights - so you can check it occasionally to get an idea of what you're facing. Just select the right region.

 

http://www.oceanweather.com/data/

[cb at sea]

I think anything over 13 ft. is rough--you will feel it, even on a huge ship! While it may not knock you off your feet, the ship will be moving erratically. Can't be helped! Despite how large the ships look when you board at the port, just wait until you are out in the middle of the ocean, with no land in sight--it will actually be pretty damn small! The ocean is soooooo much larger and more powerful than any ship out there!

[kitty9]

I've been on a few cruises where we had 40ft seas and higher. You know it's rough when you see nothing but green water covering the windows on deck 6 or 7. Crossings in the North Atlantic in fall and winter can have really rough seas. Cruising Drake's Passage can have seas of more than 50ft with winds over 100mph. To me, rough seas are those that are 20ft and higher. Anything under that is just mildly rolling, and not at all rough.

[Toyz711]

my in-laws are boaters and fishing people..don't have any problems on small boats....BUT the sway of a cruiseship? they can't go cruising without thier seaband or patch. sometimes it's the gentle sway of a lite swell, that does people in.

on one cruise, it was the sway of the curtain on a small stage. as the program went on, you saw more and more people running out of the area.

[AKBeagleMom]

The seas you encounter will really depend on the weather. If there is a tropical storm out there you could have really rough seas. We had 14-20 foot swells for 2 days in the Atlantic this spring, and many people were pretty green. But you could have perfectly calm waters.

 

There is a good site that shows the wave heights - so you can check it occasionally to get an idea of what you're facing. Just select the right region.

 

http://www.oceanweather.com/data/

 

Wow, that's a great link. Thanks for the info!

[AKBeagleMom]

I've been on a few cruises where we had 40ft seas and higher. You know it's rough when you see nothing but green water covering the windows on deck 6 or 7. Crossings in the North Atlantic in fall and winter can have really rough seas. Cruising Drake's Passage can have seas of more than 50ft with winds over 100mph. To me, rough seas are those that are 20ft and higher. Anything under that is just mildly rolling, and not at all rough.

 

40-50 foot seas? Yes, that would possibly do me in! Wow. :eek:

 

Thanks to everyone for helping to answer my question!

[dna1990]

You should have no problems...but as others have said, it is not the actual movement that often does people in - but the fact you are inside, no horizon reference, you were in the hot sun all day, had a few too many DODs, and now a five course meal - then you go sit in the big auditorium and that 'gentle sway' or roll...you don't think anything is happening, but your eyes and inner ear get in a disagreement about what is what.

 

Ship size and winds have a big affect on motion on board, sometimes more so than actual wave height. But it usually take 15+ to really feel anything beyond slow roll sensations. IMO.

 

We LOVE some ocean motion, otherwise you might as well be at a Vegas hotel or something!

[Suebee42]

When the only people walking in a straight line are the drunk ones, then it might be a little rough. LOL!

[AKBeagleMom]

When the only people walking in a straight line are the drunk ones, then it might be a little rough. LOL!

 

So is your advice to drink plenty when the seas become rough? :D OMG...I can't even imagine having a hangover in that situation...yikes! :eek:

[Suebee42]

LOL!

 

No, I actually don't drink! Does that make it funnier?

 

But I did notice on my first cruise, when we had some semi-rough days, the only people not staggering everywhere were the ones that were clearly "happy." ;)

[cruiserbryce]

we had 20-25 foot swells on Liberty of the Seas

[kitty9]

Actually, the size of a ship and how it handles rough seas can be confusing. Some of the really huge ships handle rough seas worse than a smaller ship. The behemoth QM2 didn't handle 10ft swells very well, but on the much smaller Crystal ships, we had the 35 to 40 ft waves and unless you sat there and saw the green water by the windows on deck 6, you wouldn't have known the seas were so high because those ships handle rough seas really easily.

 

Also, swells are worse for queesy travelers than waves. It's the high swells that bounce ships all over the place.

[Wylie Coyote]

Can someone explain what is meant by "rough seas?"

 

My definition: Any sea rough enough to make you sick. That is rough seas! :p

[dforeigner]

Here is a map of the current and future wave heights around the world.

 

[celbercrz333]

AK, if you are used to 8 foot waves, then you'll be ok. We're originally from Maryland and have been on the Chesapeake Bay many times. Some were during summer storms. When we did our first cruise from NYC to Bermuda we hit a tropical storm (Oct 11, 2003) and we were told we had 11 foot swells. We did just fine. Sleeping wasn't easy though.