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Sea's at say 12', hows the ride?


sunbrookgal
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For anyone who has already been on Viking Ocean. Have you experienced sea conditions with wave heights around 12' , wondering how she handles this sort of wave height. No not wondering if she can handle 30' waves. A real q, looking at forecasts for next week.

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For anyone who has already been on Viking Ocean. Have you experienced sea conditions with wave heights around 12' , wondering how she handles this sort of wave height. No not wondering if she can handle 30' waves. A real q, looking at forecasts for next week.

 

I was wondering the same thing. On our Sky cruise earlier this month I think we had maybe 6 -8'

waves and the ship handled it beautifully very little movement or vibration. I've been monitoring the marine forecasts also; I've read that another factor in ride is the wind speed which looks pretty benign for next week. Hopefully someone with actual experience with 12' wave heights on Viking will provide input.

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I've not yet sailed VO but I have sailed for years on smaller ships including time in the Bering Sea

(babysitting thise guys on that TV show!!!!!)

 

you can't make judgements just from the height of the seas ......

 

the direction the ship encounters the seas matters a bunch .....

 

and sometimes the seas are STEEP and sometimes the swell is of a long period so you hardly notice a 12 foot change. The north Atlantic is known for steep short period as compared to the Pacific where the period is LONG so altho the heights may be higher things appear 'smoother'

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For anyone who has already been on Viking Ocean. Have you experienced sea conditions with wave heights around 12' , wondering how she handles this sort of wave height. No not wondering if she can handle 30' waves. A real q, looking at forecasts for next week.

We were on the Viking Sea about a month ago. The seas as we left San Juan and the next two nights were fairly rough. The first night was the roughest and I believe the captain said 12’-15’ seas. The next two nights were a little better. It didn’t bother us too much, but a couple of people we were sailing with opted out of dinner that first night. I think the issue was that it was sort of just sprung on people. We were in the Explorer’s Lounge as we left the pier and that’s when the captain came on the PA system to inform us it would be rough and to tell us what he would do to try an mitigate the situation some. With such short notice, people had very little time to take any meds (if they wanted) and have time for them to become effective. Torshaven and the Explorer’s Lounge were pretty dead that first night. The next two nights were a little less rough. It did made the dance floor fun. ;p

 

The crew had sea-sick bags in the stairways and I believe they were dispensing meds to those that wanted them. The captain adjusted our course those three evenings to minimize the motion until after midnight or 1 AM. Since we were just going from San Juan to St. Croix that first night, I thought maybe we should have just stayed in port till after everyone was in bed. It would have made for a better evening for most passengers. But there are probably other considerations that I’m not aware of involved with doing something like that.

 

As a side note, my Fitbit registered almost no sleep time those three nights. I think there was enough motion that the device thought I was moving too much to be asleep in bed.

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We were on the Star last month with 15ft waves out of Barcelona. The captain warned the passengers about the waves and the crew gave out meds by the explorer desk. The wind was bad outside and the boat moved enough but during the night it seemed worse. Some people the next day said they loved it and the motion rocked them to bed. When I asked various crew about the waves and they said that was nothing and they had been thru much worse. Since it got rough after dinner, most people seemed to be back in their rooms.

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...

you can't make judgements just from the height of the seas ......

 

the direction the ship encounters the seas matters a bunch .........

 

BINGO.

 

Direction of swells/waves can make a big difference.

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We were on the 2/15 West Indies cruise. I don’t know how high the swells were but we had a sea day because of high wind. We lost our port stop in Antigua. Apparently we could get in but then we wouldn’t be able to get out. The rocking of the boat didn’t bother me and i am prone to seasickness, even got to the gym that day. What concerned me were the vibrations we would feel every now and then. The worst was when we were heading back to San Juan about 1am. The vibration was so bad i thought we hit something. The ship really shuddered. I’m fairly new to cruising so was wondering if this is “normal”. Anyone????

 

 

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yep 'normal'

 

not at all unusual for a swell to slap the bow and the ship shudders like a dog shaking off the water ..... a little unnerving at times but perfectly normal for it to happen OCCASIONALLY .... when driving into the seas. If it happens when the sea is calm on the other hand ....

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On the Sky last year after Lisbon we missed Porto...really rough seas. We don't get seasick, but our cabin stewards were. And the lady at dinner next to us in the World Cafe threw up in the aisle (the hazmat team was there within 5 minutes to clean it up). The cabin stewards took anything glass in the cabin (glasses, etc) and put them away. All of the shows were canceled. Hubby asked for ginger ale at the World Cafe and they gave him several bottles to go. When the gal in the World Cafe was trying to pour my wine the ship was moving so much she was just hanging on saying...this is OK..this happens...nothing to worry about. I poured my own. Poor thing, she was scared. My only fear was falling. The ship handled it very well, I thought, but walking in the hallways you just had to be sure to go with the waves, and hang on when you could. I sat in the Explorer Lounge in the afternoon and just enjoyed looking out...but it was kind of empty. Remember that it is a small ship, you are going to feel the motion more. But even with the ker PLUNK and back and forth I was never scared or sick. They did empty all of the pools for several days. I kept going down to the spa expecting it to be full again! All of the shows were canceled as well, as was the entertainer in the atrium.

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On the Sky last year after Lisbon we missed Porto...really rough seas. We don't get seasick, but our cabin stewards were. And the lady at dinner next to us in the World Cafe threw up in the aisle (the hazmat team was there within 5 minutes to clean it up). The cabin stewards took anything glass in the cabin (glasses, etc) and put them away. All of the shows were canceled. Hubby asked for ginger ale at the World Cafe and they gave him several bottles to go. When the gal in the World Cafe was trying to pour my wine the ship was moving so much she was just hanging on saying...this is OK..this happens...nothing to worry about. I poured my own. Poor thing, she was scared. My only fear was falling. The ship handled it very well, I thought, but walking in the hallways you just had to be sure to go with the waves, and hang on when you could. I sat in the Explorer Lounge in the afternoon and just enjoyed looking out...but it was kind of empty. Remember that it is a small ship, you are going to feel the motion more. But even with the ker PLUNK and back and forth I was never scared or sick. They did empty all of the pools for several days. I kept going down to the spa expecting it to be full again! All of the shows were canceled as well, as was the entertainer in the atrium.

 

 

I hope I have your fortitude if we encounter water as rough as that on our upcoming cruise on Sky (which also includes Porto, hopefully). On the one sort-of cruise I’ve been on, I hardly felt the ship move at all, so I have no idea what it would be like to encounter truly rough seas. Knowing myself, I’d probably be stuck in the bathroom, imagining scenes from the Titanic.

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Twitchly, we’ll be right there with you too :). Last March on the Star we missed Montenegro because of high winds and we had to cut Santorini short to get into Athens early or maybe not make it in. We didn’t notice anything so no fears.

 

A natural remedy for sea sickness is ginger, I usually buy ginger capsules and take them when we get on the ship, you can’t wait until the last minute. Another is to bring candied ginger, it’s good for upset stomachs and tastes good.

 

Counting down the days....

 

 

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  • 1 month later...
Twitchly, we’ll be right there with you too :). Last March on the Star we missed Montenegro because of high winds and we had to cut Santorini short to get into Athens early or maybe not make it in. We didn’t notice anything so no fears.

 

A natural remedy for sea sickness is ginger, I usually buy ginger capsules and take them when we get on the ship, you can’t wait until the last minute. Another is to bring candied ginger, it’s good for upset stomachs and tastes good.

 

Counting down the days....

 

 

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And now here we are, rockin’ and rollin’ out of Porto. Thanks to you and others here, I’m well stocked with ginger, and it has helped. I blessedly don’t seem too badly affected by these swells. I’m sitting in the Explorer’s Lounge right now where it feels a bit like a roller coaster at times. I’ve decided it’s fun. Mostly. But I certainly wouldn’t object to smoother sailing.

 

Based on this thread, I wonder if it’s often choppy like this around the coast of Spain and Portugal?

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With such short notice, people had very little time to take any meds (if they wanted) and have time for them to become effective. ;p

.

 

Exact reason why we take it whether or not we need it. We take meclizine everyday without complications. It paid off years ago on a DCL Panama cruise when Hurricane Hilary suddenly changed it's course and we rode out some pretty high waves. Our friends were sick and so were many of the crew and passengers. My husband and I had a great time riding the waves because we were prepared.

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And now here we are, rockin’ and rollin’ out of Porto. Thanks to you and others here, I’m well stocked with ginger, and it has helped. I blessedly don’t seem too badly affected by these swells. I’m sitting in the Explorer’s Lounge right now where it feels a bit like a roller coaster at times. I’ve decided it’s fun. Mostly. But I certainly wouldn’t object to smoother sailing.

 

Based on this thread, I wonder if it’s often choppy like this around the coast of Spain and Portugal?

 

Oh boy! We are on your route in less than 2 months. I’m glad you doing great! What would we do without CC ;)

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

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Here are a few shots of our ship skirting the Bay of Biscay today ...

 

4042b84d1912163f350b69bc940ef793.jpg

 

d8045e4b243f2356f4bc71be7c0baaf4.jpg

 

efaf6a74c13c85178abd169e95efb347.jpg

 

Just kidding, of course. I truly cannot imagine. Makes our rather bumpy ride look like a cake walk.

 

 

 

Twitchy, love your sense of humor. Everyone walks around like drunk sailors and the green tinge to the skin is not so impressive, hahaha.

 

 

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Bay of Biscay is famously rough!
Ain't that the truth! I think smooth seas on the Bay of Biscay are more the exception than the rule. We had beautiful skies yesterday in Porto and woke up to skies and rough water that could only say "Yep, we're on our way to the UK." [emoji6]

 

 

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OK, here's a (bad) video of our ship today at the northern edge of the Bay of Biscay. The shakiness is due to wind on our balcony. I had my elbows propped on the railing, but it's pretty fierce out there. In some ways, I don't think it's as bad as the swells we encountered after the Straits of Gibraltar. But maybe I'm just getting used to it.

 

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