Where to find the smoothest seas, and when?

[ruffs]

We just sailed on two cruises, it will be a while before we book the next but I'm very curious about sea conditions on the various itineraries.

 

We did a 7-day Mexican Riviera cruise and loved it, though we had what I would think are pretty rough seas. We passed by Hurricane Rick, probably had 10 foot swells or something like that for a day or so. It was all very manageable for most, but you could see and feel the swell.

 

We followed that with a 5-day Western Caribbean cruise to Key West and Cozumel. It was hard to tell if the boat was even moving, there was almost no swell for the whole trip.

 

Would the Med be like that, or is the Caribbean usually the best for smooth seas? Maybe we just had bad luck doing the Mexican Riviera at the end of Hurricane season.

 

Also, if a particular area is usually smooth, what's the best time of year for the smoothest seas?

 

Please let me know what you think.

 

Thanks in Advance

[Don Haynes]

Sea conditions are caused mostly by weather. Weather changes day to day. If you want a weather free vacation, your best hope is to take a vacation in a desert. Ever heard of the Beaufort scale.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_scale

[ruffs]

So where would Sir Francis Beaufort book a cruise if he wanted the best chance at smooth seas?

[Seanote]

Try the Great Lakes. Waves rarely get over 4-5 feet in strong winds. :rolleyes:

[NordicPrince]

Try the Great Lakes. Waves rarely get over 4-5 feet in strong winds. :rolleyes:

 

Nothing like working on your suntan while on a Lake Superior cruise in January. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR !

[ruffs]

I was thinking Med(Europe sounds interesting), Caribbean, or Mex. Riviera (easy to get to).

 

I'm just hoping for the best chance at good weather, smaller swells.

[njhorseman]

Try the Great Lakes. Waves rarely get over 4-5 feet in strong winds. :rolleyes:

 

 

Ever hear of the Edmund Fitzgerald?

[njhorseman]

I was thinking Med(Europe sounds interesting), Caribbean, or Mex. Riviera (easy to get to).

 

I'm just hoping for the best chance at good weather, smaller swells.

 

 

You can even get very rough seas in the Mediterranean. There should be something on Cruise Critic about the problems encountered there by a Royal Caribbean ship just a couple of weeks ago.

[rsohn65820]

We did the Mexican Riveria 10/31 to 11/7 we had smooth seas didn't even see any white caps according to the channel on the television we had seas of 1.5 ft to 3 ft. The only time we had any seas at all was on Friday on our way back to LA. It was a little rough the captian said there was a weather distrubance up around Vancouver Island that would be causing us a little bit of rough seas, but Saturday morning everything was smooth again when we sailed back into LA.

[Budget Queen]

You are asking a question that can not be answered, anything mentioned is spectulation and based on past trips. No one can predict the future. You are on water, expect movement.

[Don Haynes]

An Inside Passage cruise to Alaska during the summer months is probably your best hope. The outer islands do tend to block the rough Pacific as you sail close to the coast.

 

Above Vancouver Island there will be movement until the ship sails inside of another island.

 

However a passage outside of Vancouver Island can be very rough.

 

But really, expect movement at sea. The ocean is not a desert....

[Budget Queen]

An Inside Passage cruise to Alaska during the summer months is probably your best hope. The outer islands do tend to block the rough Pacific as you sail close to the coast.

 

Above Vancouver Island there will be movement until the ship sails inside of another island.

 

However a passage outside of Vancouver Island can be very rough.

 

But really, expect movement at sea. The ocean is not a desert....

 

As you probably know, I have sailed Alaska Many times, and this just is not always true. You certainly can encounter rough sailing in Alaska, including the "protected" round trip Vancouver sailings. I have personally been on those which had the ship rocking.

[spongerob]

We've seen calm one day, and rough the next, then back to calm on more than one occasion. You just cannot predict it. The oddest thing is, we've had some very calm seas in places with a reputation for being rough, and vice versa.

[sparks1093]

We just sailed on two cruises, it will be a while before we book the next but I'm very curious about sea conditions on the various itineraries.

 

We did a 7-day Mexican Riviera cruise and loved it, though we had what I would think are pretty rough seas. We passed by Hurricane Rick, probably had 10 foot swells or something like that for a day or so. It was all very manageable for most, but you could see and feel the swell.

 

We followed that with a 5-day Western Caribbean cruise to Key West and Cozumel. It was hard to tell if the boat was even moving, there was almost no swell for the whole trip.

 

Would the Med be like that, or is the Caribbean usually the best for smooth seas? Maybe we just had bad luck doing the Mexican Riviera at the end of Hurricane season.

 

Also, if a particular area is usually smooth, what's the best time of year for the smoothest seas?

 

Please let me know what you think.

 

Thanks in Advance

 

I joined the Navy when I was 17 and sailed on three classes of ship. The aircraft carrier that I was on provided the smoothest ride, so instead of trying to figure out when and where to go hitch a ride on one of the new mega ships that are out there. I'm sure with their size and fin stabalizers you'd be able to sail smoothly in most of what mother nature can throw your way.

[Globaliser]

I was thinking Med(Europe sounds interesting), Caribbean, or Mex. Riviera (easy to get to).

 

I'm just hoping for the best chance at good weather, smaller swells.

If you find the answer, can you please let us have next week's lottery numbers too?

[rollie]

It helps to know when storm season is in each area. The Med for example is the Fall and Winter. Caribbean storm season is late Summer to late Fall. Pacific coast can be rough at almost anytime. These are just general examples and are by no means the rule of thumb.

 

Rollie

[bobbisailsolo]

I was on the Med for 3 weeks in Sept-Oct, sailed both to the east and to the west. Seas were smooth as glass. I think there was one night it got a bit rough, but our of 20 days, thats darn good. Personally, I like a little rocking at night, when I go to sleep. Knocks me right out. Loved the cruise, though it was on HAL not NCL.