HampshireRose1977

Didn't hear anything on the ship, apart from some moaning about not berthing at Zeebrugge.

No it's some of the stuff I've seen on social media, this and other forums. Never mind!

Well for anyone worried about rough seas, we now have our answer - don't be!

We watched some pretty high seas pass us by and we felt hardly anything. Our friends partied the night away on the Saturday and it was only in the early hours Sunday morning that we felt any sort of movement. Infact, we didn't need any of our seasickness tablets on the Saturday she was so stable.

My husband noticed the seas were well over 4 metres as we approached the Isle of Wight and maybe the stabilisers were brought in during the early hours as everyone had gone to bed?

Our friends were so impressed with how she handled the seas, their confidence has been resorted and they have booked a cruise with us for next year to the Fjords!

On a seprate note, yes it was a pity we couldn't dock in Zeebrugge, but I cannot believe how many people are wingeing about the cruise.

We had a superb time, enjoyed the ship to it's full. We didn't expect any discounts or freebies as others have put it. The captain made the right choice, safety first.

I can only assume the complainers are the type of people who will claim on their travel insurance when they get back? Love cruising....love everything about it, sad to say though, the only thing we can find fault with, is some of the other passengers. Harsh, but true.

Late Saturday afternoon will still see a gale blowing through the Dover Straight with 50mph gusts, by the evening, easing to F7 with 40mph gusts.

Seas 2.8m until the Strait, then up to 3.7m in the Channel, but its easing all the time back.

Sadly, our friends are talking of pulling out with all this 'weather bomb' talk and we are having to tell them she's a big, capable ocean going liner, not a cross-channel ferry.

It's difficult to know what to tell them as we've not sailed in this weather on the channel cruising before, but from what I've been told, F7-8 isn't going to ruin the party atmosphere onboard....plus as we've said to them, P&O won't want to put people off cruising, many will be resting the water on these trips.

I'm not an expert, although hubby knows a bit...he says that the swell won't be nothing like in the Bay, so she may pitch a little and experience the odd thump from bigger waves, but none of the big motions you get on the Bay.

Yes it’s looking rather rough out in the Bay for tomorrow and Saturday.

How do you mean our return will be interesting? Winds easing during the evening in the Channel...still saying F7 with 3.5m seas....shouldn’t think crockery breaking will be an issue!

They might hold us in port my hubby says for the worst to pass....plenty of time to get to Southampton and she can hug the coastline somewhat.

Ventusky.com

It’s amazing, they use them on newspaper websites...

Yes it certainly seems to be better for when we are actually sailing and as you say, Zeebrugge looks sunny but breezy.

Think we are looking at F7-8 with 3 metre seas in the English Channel, which for a ship of her size, won't see crockery flying off tables, which is their worry! We've reassured them, but I think they've been watching too many videos on YouTube ;-)

Yes I've heard really good things about Aurora's sea keeping capabilities. We cruised on her to Amsterdam in 2011 and it was flat calm.

We encountered 5-6m seas in the Bay on Oriana and she rode them superbly, even if it did get a little wearing in during the day...didn't take any Sturgeon!

My husband has a book on both sisters and mentioned the ocean going liner bit.....long and sleek, not too tall unlike Britannia, IotS's etc which don't have those characteristics.

My hubby is fascinated to see how she handles the conditions being a ship lover, I'm concerned about our friends as I want them to come on holiday with us next year!!

Looks like its bad Saturday daytime. We will be in port for the worst of it. Returning could be interesting, F7-8 gusting F9, but after a day of strong winds, looks like 3-4m high seas.

Hopefully Aurora will ride it well....as you say, it's not sickness, is fear of excessive motion they hate!

Interesting to hear about Indy being rough....think our heading into the weather will be more favourable?!

Hi

We are on a two night cruise to Bruges with friends this weekend and looking up the weather, as you do, we noticed it's going to be horrendous.

We've cruised before, but our friends we are going with are first timers. They don't like ships after a bad crossing on a car ferry which put them off, but they are joining us to give it a go as they here us bang on about how good cruises are all the time.

We've had a rough passage of the Bay of Biscay before, but never the English Channel. Does anyone have any experience of cruising back to Southampton from Bruges in Severe Gales?! Saturday is looking like 50mph gusts and F9.

Is it likely to be really rough on the ship? Will it be bad enough for the crew to bring the sickbags out, which might make our friends run for the EuroStar!

Although Aurora is classed a mid-sized ship, she's still big at 270 metres and designed to be ocean going if I remember rightly?

Are we likely to experience alot of movement, or do cruise ships handle the Channel rather well as I'd imagine the swell is nothing like the Bay?

Would be interested in hearing your channel experiences!