North Pacific Crossing in April

[RosannaEL]

Hi all!

 

I'm looking at a Pacific Crossing in April 2021 on the Noordam, Yokohama to Vancouver, but I'm a bit nervous about rough seas. I understand it's impossible to predict the weather, but any input would be appreciated. I have never been seasick, but my husband can be sensetive to movement. Should we opt for a mid-ship stateroom? Or should be skip this cruise completerly? (We have sailed Alaska, Nova Scotia, the Med and northern Europe before.) Any other advise? We'll be flying into Japan from Europe - is one day before enough to get over the jetlag? Should we choose port or starboard side? Any difference? Anything you can tell me about this run is much appreciated! Apart from possible rough seas the weather doesn't bother us - we don't mind rain and we know it will be cold.

 

Best, Rosanna

Edited June 1, 2020 by RosannaEL

[RuthC]

I have done the eastbound cruise on this route. The seas can be rough, so my advice is definitely choose a mid-ship location if one of you is sensitive. When I took the cruise, the captain changed the route to north of the Aleutian Islands to get us into smoother waters; it worked. 

You asked about port vs. starboard: If you will be in anything other than an inside cabin, do be aware that the sun will be to starboard side. So, if you want sun coming in, that's the side for you; however, if you prefer shade, go with port. 

The hardest thing I found on this route is the loss of sleep so many nights! Because the time zones are so close together at the extreme of the earth, there was one just about every night; there were even two in one day once! 
If coming a long distance, I highly recommend coming a few days early to recover from jet lag, and to see some of your arrival city. Japan is a fascinating country, and you might as well take some time there. 

Hope your cruise sails as planned and you have a great time.  

[JimnKaren]

And...welcome to Cruise Critic. Keep asking questions.

Jim

[RosannaEL]

Thank you, RuthC, that is very helpful. We will probably pick a stateroom then, rather than go with guarantee, like we normally do. And thanks, JimnKaren!

 

Rosanna

[wolfie11]

I've done this twice.  The first trip, seas were rough.  The second trip it was dead calm all the way across. The first trip I got on the ship the day after I arrived from the East coast of the US, and the second time I spent a week in Japan before sailing.  The first few days are rough for jet lag, and as mentioned above, you lose an hour every day crossing time zones and there is an extra day stuck in for crossing the date line (we had Sunday twice). I would definitely recommend spending time in Japan before boarding.  I can barely remember my first trip as I was so jet lagged and then trying to deal with the time changes.  I was generally asleep by 5pm and wide awake at 2am...not the best schedule for enjoying a cruise!  I was fine by the time we got to Alaska though.

[Mary Ellen]

We’ve also done this crossing twice. Both times the seas were extremely calm - because the Captain changed the original plan and went further north to avoid storms. I’m one who gets seasick very, very easily. I didn’t have any problems, but I was prepared. The first time we had very heavy fog for a few days. That meant the fog horn sounded for 5 seconds every 2 minutes - around the clock. In our inside cabin we heard nothing but everyone else had the opportunity to attempt to sleep to the sound of the fog horn. We could hear it in the passageway outside our cabin but once our door closed, absolutely nothing.

 

The only time zone / jet lag issues we had were arriving in Asia. Our crossings were back to back or Collector’s Cruises as HAL calls them. We sailed from Kobe the first time and Hong Kong the second. We also did the cruise before our crossings. Given how many time zones were involved on the trans-Pacific portions, particularly in such a short time frame, our clocks were set ahead at 2 p.m. rather than 2 a.m. We loved this arrangement. For us it meant that dinner was an hour earlier rather than losing an hour of sleep practically every night. We could live with that.
 

We arrived in Japan a week before we sailed. Due to the availability of frequent flier seats in our preferred class, we flew into HK two weeks early. Flying all that distance and only arriving a day early isn’t something we would do, but others have no problems doing so.
 

Both crossings we saw a LOT of whales.

 

 

Edited June 2, 2020 by Mary Ellen

[rkacruiser]

May I add to what the other posters have said about stateroom location for a possible seasick prone guest?  As close to mid-ship as possible and on the lowest possible passenger deck:  that will provide the best ride possible when seas are turbulent.  

[RosannaEL]

Thank you all! I have now booked the cruise, mid-ship starboard stateroom and we will fly into Japan a few days ahead of the cruise. Fingers crossed for relatively calm seas and no more cancellations. 🤞 What a great community!