Small Ships across the Atlantic

We are working on a TA Crossing on Oceania, and wanted some insight. The ships looks great, however two questions come to mind:

1) These are smaller ships. How do they hold up to open ocean movement? fear of sea sickness.

2) There are many "at sea" days. Are there enough activities to keep everyone entertained? vs. sitting by the pool, or on balcony.

Input from CC members that have done this would be greatly appreciated!!

We've been on both Nautica and Regatta, and thought their sea keeping abilities fine. We did not hit particularly rough water either trip. On Regatta into the Baltic, we had only one true sea day. On Nautica, Istanbul to Singapore, we had 15 sea days (not all together), and didn't get bored.

We've also been on Pacific Princess, another R-class ship, and she handled the Tasman Sea fine. The Tasman does have a reputation for being rough (on occasion).

We'll be on Regatta 3-22-08, Miami to Barcelona, and we'll see how she handles that trip.

We've never been bored with sea days, and always find enought to keep us occupied. If one becomes bored, I think it is their own doing. There are usually several different activities offered - just pick and choose.

We have done the TA on the Star Princess and the Seven Seas Voyager which was half the size. Both voyages, in November and January were smooth and although we did experience some "seas" between the European mainland and the Azores both vessels were very comfortable. On Regatta last year we did hit a "rogue wave" (actually exactly a year ago today, it was my birthday dinner!!) between Cartagena and the Panama. That was a scary experience!!!!

The worst weather we experienced in our 40 years of cruising was between New Zealand and Samoa when we met a typhoon causing us to zig-zag for 6 days in massive seas. That was on board the old Crown Odyssey. Equally bad but of shorter duration was crossing of the Bay of Biscay on the Song of Flower, an old Radisson ship. One of the best!!!!

We will be on the Insignia for its Rio - Barcelona crossing in March. We really love TA crossings but this is our first W - E one. The great disadvantage is that the return flight from Europe to California takes the shine off the wonderful time we plan aboard the Insignia.

AS i told my wife on our first cruise, "Go with the motion of the ocean, you will never get mal-d-mer!!"

I know what you mean about typhoons!

Nov 86, on the little Golden Odyssey, a 10,000 tonner, we were trying to outrun the back end of a typhoon in the China Sea, between HongKong and Manila.

We had screws out of the water, green water over the bridge, and the inclinometer was pegged several times. It was rough!!

In roughly those same waters (but closer to Okinawa), Halsey's fleet lost three destroyers (or destroyer escorts) to capsizing, closing days of WW2.

Our smoothest trans-Atlantic was Mar 98, on the late great Royal Princess, Buenos Aires to Barcelona.

Our roughest trans-Atlantic was Aug 02, on Golden Princess, Venice to NYC. We hit two large storms West of the Azores. We had bow slap spray raining down on our balcony on Caribe deck (deck 10), several windows along Prom Deck shattered, and there was a lot of glass/crockery breakage in the shops, bars, and restaurants, while the ship was fighting for seaway.

Recently completed Insignia's transAtlantic from Barcelona to Rio. One of our stops was Cape Verde Islands, from whence most of the hurricanes spawn. Of course, the end of November is past the end of hurricane season, so seas were low and smooth. I did detect a slight amount of movement in the Horizons Lounge, which is at the very front of the ship and almost as high as you can go (Deck 10; only the cabanas are higher). It was enough to distract me from my Sudoku; it was not enough to distract Betsy from her Brazilian Embroidery class in the same location.

We deliberately chose a cabin low and amidships (4043), and experienced absolutely no motion in the cabin.

The heading on this trip is mostly SSW (210 degrees), so it is not a direct E-W crossing. We would rather have ended up in Miami so we could have avoided a flight home (we live only 2 hours N of Miami), but we felt there was more chance of rough seas on the more direct E-W route. This year, it appears I was correct, as Regatta apparently suffered some rough weather on their crossing to Miami a week earlier. No one reported any danger, however.

As far as daytime activities, I tend to entertain myself with books, puzzles, people watching, movies and naps, so I have no direct experience. Betsy seemed to be busy all the time with something or other, even though she did not participate in any deck activities like the Oceania Olympics or Team Trivia. There is plenty to do, but whether it suits you or not is an individual decision.

There is no rock climbing or wave machine. :rolleyes:

On Regatta last year we did hit a "rogue wave" (actually exactly a year ago today, it was my birthday dinner!!) between Cartagena and the Panama. That was a scary experience!!!!

 

That was a scary one for sure.:eek:

I was waiting for the abandon ship horn!!

Happy Birthday David!!

Lyn

We were on Regatta last May when we experienced a 36 hr. storm during which even the staff on the ship were sick. We missed a port and had a pretty miserable time.

On Insignia May of 2005 we had a very bad night from Rome to Barcelona

with very high seas and again most of the ship were sick.

Hopefully you will have smooth sailing but if not be prepared, have ginger and Bonine with you so that you can weather the storms. We were also brought GREEN APPLES by our butler who said they were a sailor's secret that really works.

Enjoy your trip.:)

We just got off the Regatta on Sat. - Miami 10 day Caribbean. After the first night on board, we hit VERY rough waters. Truly a freaky thing. For 36 hours the ship rocked and rolled to the point of only 50 % of the passengers eating that night. Very few attending the show. (That was rescheduled). I NEVER get sea sick and needed meds to calm my stomach. Actually took them too late and pretty much spent part of the night in the bathroom. UGH It was very dangerous for the older passengers. Passengers were not allowed to go on any outside deck for 2 nights. You couldn't move anywhere on the ship or in your stateroom without hanging on to something.

Once we hit the Carib, things calmed down and even our last 2 days at sea heading back to Miami were smooth as ice. The Captain explained that it definitely was an unusual event. Gees...even the waiters were looking green!

My advice to anyone sailing the Atlantic, especially, if there is any sign of rough wind and waters, take a Bonine right away. If you wait until you are sick, they don't work. Even after pills, if if the passengers weren't well, the Dr on board was giving shots. However those knock you out totally for 12 hours. But if you're too sick to move around anyways, who cares? I'll write my thoughts about Oceania, as I was a first timer, later today or tomorrow. We were very pleased.

Cruise Meister -

The ships are indeed smaller, which is one of the reasons we prefer them to the bigger ones. We have our stern cabin with balcony, and that takes care of our entertainment. Like Hondorner, we entertain ourselves with books (our own and from O's wonderful library), puzzles, naps, literally watching the world (ocean) go by our balcony, deciding where to eat, etc. We have done two crossings on the Regatta. The first was non-eventful with relatively smooth seas. The last one, in November, made up for it. The captain announced at noon that we would have to pass through a low-pressure system, no way to get around it. My DW and I (masochists both) were looking forward to it. Our first real storm in the middle of the Atlantic! Wow, how will we take it? Spend a day or two in the bathroom? Fortunately the seas and wind came over the starboard bow, not directly from the side. According to the captain, we had sustained winds of 60-65kn with seas between 25 and 30'. At first the ship would shudder every time a bigger wave would hit us. Then the speed was reduced from 18 kn to abt 12 kn, which made a great difference. The ship rose to each wave, sort of climbed over it and then slid down into the trough to repeat this up-and-down pattern for hours on end. All exits were closed to the outside, the two premium restaurants were closed, and lots of merchandise had fallen off the shelves in the shops. We were up in Horizons and I filmed the spray fly by the windows!

Saw quiet a few people in the buffet, all of them walking like drunks on the heaving deck, but saw no sick passengers. You may not appreciate it, but to us it was the perfect storm. Could not spend too much time on the balcony, because the spray came whipping around the ship and onto our balcony. No the waves, just the spray. Once my DW had been assured that we were perfectly, well, reasonably safe, she enjoyed it too. Because of the slower speed, we had to bypass Bermuda and head straight for Miami. No loss for us. We will cherish that crossing for years to come.

It wasn't by far as rough as in "Ferry depart" on YouTube. Now that's awesome.

Love to read your posts and glad you are enjoying "O' again.

I have cruised twice on Nautica and plenty of times on bigger ships. Just last week the quite large Sapphire Princess was here in Melbourne - she filled up most of the dock here. She left, and the next day Nautica was in at the same dock. Driving over our westgate bridge, which provides a birdseye view of the dock, provided a stark comparison between the two ships: Nautica appeared tiny. Yet we have travelled half way round the world on her in some fairly rough sea, and I believe she handles it very well. In my opinion you would not notice the difference between her and a larger ship. But then we always go for midships inside cabins...nevertheless I am yet to take a bonine or miss a meal :p

Cruise Meister -

According to the captain, we had sustained winds of 60-65kn with seas between 25 and 30'. At first the ship would shudder every time a bigger wave would hit us. Then the speed was reduced from 18 kn to abt 12 kn, which made a great difference. The ship rose to each wave, sort of climbed over it and then slid down into the trough to repeat this up-and-down pattern for hours on end. All exits were closed to the outside, the two premium restaurants were closed, and lots of merchandise had fallen off the shelves in the shops. We were up in Horizons and I filmed the spray fly by the windows!

Saw quiet a few people in the buffet, all of them walking like drunks on the heaving deck, but saw no sick passengers. You may not appreciate it, but to us it was the perfect storm. Could not spend too much time on the balcony, because the spray came whipping around the ship and onto our balcony. No the waves, just the spray. .

This is a perfect description of what we just experienced on the Regatta on the 3rd of Jan. in the Caribbean. Rocking and rolling for sure!!! What I forgot to mention is that there were "sick bags" placed all over the ship for the first 3 days. Not very appetizing as we wobbled to dinner! I'm thinking why you didn't see any "sick" passengers is that they were hunkered down in their rooms. You wouldn't have seen ME one night at dinner!

You are right to be concerned, but that concern may be misplaced. We were on the Nov 07 Regatta transit from Barcelona to Miami and we encountered about 2 days of rough seas. While some people -- maybe 20 --- didn't show up for meals, almost everyone did OK. The ship rocked and rolled but rode very well. We held on the the rails going up and down the halls and used two hands on the stair railings, but everything was fine.

One the seas days things were repetitive and this was compounded by the bad weather -- the outside decks were closed. Also the weather was colder than expected, so pool time was limited.

If you like relaxation, a crossing is for you. If you want organized activities and port calls look elsewhere.

Seems like most responses have focused on the rough seas part of the original posting, not much on the activities part, so I will add some thoughts on that.

I've been on three Oceania transatlantic trips, and for me and I think for most people there was plenty enough to do. There are quite a few things scheduled throughout the day including:

At no extra charge:

1. Participation events such as ping pong, golf putting, team trivia, arts and crafts classes, bridge classes. Each of these occur daily, each activity ocurring pretty much at the same time each day (e.g. ping pong tourney at 10 am)

2. Lectures - one one trip there was one guest lecturer who spoke 3 or 4 times. On the other two trips, there were two lecturers, each of which spoke 3 or 4 times.

3. There were several one or two time only events such as cooking demos, napkin folding, and ice carvings

4. Afternoon tea with live music

5. Movies in one of the lounges - maybe 3 or 4 times per trip

At no extra charge but designed to sell something:

1. Art auctions - held a few times per trip

2. Some "spa-related" talks e.g. hair care tips

Extra charge items

1. Bingo

2. Casino

3. Spa

Free or extra charge, depending on the specific event:

1. Gym classes (of course the gym is available all day for general use)

2. Computer classes

If you are not interested in any or few of the above items, you could get bored. At times, I felt myself somewhat over-scheduled (as a result of my own doing of course) since I participated in ping pong, golf, trivia every day, maybe on average one other orgainzed thing per day...plus a bunch of scrabble games.

How about dancing classes? We did a single ballroom dancing class on a ship recently, and had a great time. On a crossing, this would be great.

This information has been highly informative. It comes down to: making as much fun as you want, and all the extra activities help in that respect.

The smallness can be a downside, on TA crossing, but the high level of service on Oceania, makes up for that

Appreciate it !!

Ray

On the other hand you can watch the sea, read a book, sit by the pool, swim if it's hot enough, eat, sleep then repeat. It works for me ;)

How about dancing classes? We did a single ballroom dancing class on a ship recently, and had a great time. On a crossing, this would be great.

We are looking forward to this cruise, and are big trivia buffs, and enjoy the diversion on sea days ( of which we will have several). We have mainly cruised aboard the larger, mass market ships of RCCL, NCL, and Princess, but are Oceania 'virgins'. We tend to like more adult oriented vacations ( meaning sans kids) and activities, but are young at heart baby boomers. What is the average age of the Oceania Demographic?

What is the average age of the Oceania Demographic?

For our Mediterranean voyage in Spring 2004, most are in their sixties and seventies, with as many in their thirties and forties as those in their eighties. You can count the number of children with your fingers, literally.