Sea conditions leaving England for the Baltic States

[Optobear]

We are contemplating going on a cruise next year in the Baltic. Our choices are to leave from England on Royal Caribbean or from Copenhagen on Princess. We heard that the North Sea is very rough on the way to Scandinavia. Can anyone shed any light on this? Is seasickness a major concern in the North Sea?:confused:

[soraya]

Hi, I live in Scotland and think that the two roughest places around the UK are the Bay of Biscay - which you would go through to get to the Med and also rounding the top of the UK, Cape Wrath. I think you should be OK for the rest. They may know more on the Britain board though

 

HTH Soraya

[gbc]

In more than 10 cruises, the only time I was sea sick was crossing the North Sea but in full disclosure, we hit a storm and had gale force winds and some 70% of the pax and crew were sick. However, my understanding is that the North Sea is generally regarding as a rough crossing. If you aren't a good sailor, you may wish to consider CPH as your embarkation point (I did the Baltic on the Grand last year from CPH and had a great trip). The Baltic cruise is wonderful and I would encourage you to go.

[dileep]

We took a Baltics cruise from Dover last May and did not experience any rough seas. Pick the ship and itinerary that you want and of course the cost. Th part I did not like about Dover is the long transfer time and costly arrangements to get there from Heathrow.

 

Our first stop was Copenhagen after a full day at sea, so leaving from Copenhagen would have reduced the length by 2 days and cost of the cruise.

[Globaliser]

The North Sea can be very unpredictable, and is pretty notorious. However, having just crossed it to get from Southampton to Stavanger and then back from Bergen to Southampton (Sea Princess), I can report that it was like glass for us.

[lamwnfa]

It got a bit "bumpy" on our cruise. It was mostly because of the 70-90 mph winds chopping things up. I took a Bonine everyday and never had a problem. I didn't talk with anyone who got sick either but we did do the "stagger" walking around the ship for awhile but it was only for a few hours.

[damerch]

We are leaving from Harwich on July 14 on the 12 day cruise. We purchased in November and could do the 12 day for the same price as the 10 day. I think it was that we would have flown into Heathrow and then another flight to Copenhagen. We did not try to book our own flights.

[tartangal]

Conditions out of Dover were excellent in late May. Earlier Spring cruises typically experience rougher seas as I can confirm from 2 previous April Transatlantic sailings which I wouldn't want to repeat! I can also confirm the posting regarding the worst being the Bay of Biscay. The QE2 encountered such rough seas there in 93 that they said the degree of tilt was the worst it had ever experienced. I believe we were told it was 28 degrees. We only had one fairly rough night on the Baltic Cruise and the rest was delightfully calm.

[bermudafan8]

In July 2003 we crossed the North Sea from Newcastle to Bergen on a large ferry w/ 1000 passengers. Don't do it if you don't have to. We were only in 'near gale force' winds but it was horrible & felt like the ship was going to be destroyed by the waves. (I had experienced gale force on the QE2 on the Atlantic but it wasn't this bad.) I did not get sea sick, but my boyfriend did repeatedly, as did the other 2 people in our cabin. Could not get any sleep as whenever I laid on the bunk, felt like the ship was going to sink or be crushed by the waves that were moving the ship severely in every direction. I sat on a lobby couch all night listening to the howling wind and feeling the waves going up and down. A crew member told me it really wasn't as bad as it seems, it's just that we were going into the wind. We were part of a tour group, and the next day found out most tour members had been sick. Lucky I took the double dose of dramamine but even so, not sure how much more I could take before being seasick. It stayed light until 12:15 am and at some point they informed us the temp was 12 Celsius. Going outside to "get air" was not an option due to the rain/mist kicked up by the waves & wind and which covered all levels of the ship. As we neared Norway, the captain kept revising our arrival time & adding hours to the voyage as the waves were so rough. Perhaps you won't feel it so much on a larger ship, but for us the North Sea was a terrible experience, but one that we laugh about now and talk about our "flashbacks."

:eek:

[Call me Ishmael]

Our June '05 cruise to the Baltic went from Le Havre, France (across the channel from England) up to Copenhagen and into the Baltic. While I wouldn't call it "very rough," the part in the North Sea was rough enough to cause seasickness in a number of the more sensitive passengers including my wife. Not fun for either of us!

 

If you are prone to motion sickness, skip the North Sea.