How rough is a pacific coastal cruise?

[latebuyer]

The only cruise i've been on is an alaskan cruise. There was only one night where it was quite rough and i didn't enjoy it. I'm wondering if the pacific coastal is rough all the time? I think i may not enjoy it.

[CruiserBruce]

No place is rough all the time. The seas are not predictable more than a few days in advance. And it depends on which way you are going...northbound tends to be rougher, southbound smoother. But there is no absolute. And the time of the year matters.

[latebuyer]

Thanks. Which time of year is better?

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, christinand said:

Thanks. Which time of year is better?

Probably early Fall...like September or early October. But again, not predictable or an absolute. Also know that its a long way from Seattle to LA or San Diego. The sea conditions can vary quite a bit in that distance.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

We did a Panama (15 days) all the way to SF many years ago from San Juan.  The northbound from SD to SF was the worst of all we have ever done, include a TA on a 60,000 ton ship.  Crew told us if you can do the N/B pacific coast you can handle anything.  We did an Alaska S/B to SF and it wasn't bad at all.  But, as Bob said, it's all a crap shoot.      

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

We did a Panama (15 days) all the way to SF many years ago from San Juan.  The northbound from SD to SF was the worst of all we have ever done, include a TA on a 60,000 ton ship.  Crew told us if you can do the N/B pacific coast you can handle anything.  We did an Alaska S/B to SF and it wasn't bad at all.  But, as Bob said, it's all a crap shoot.      

Bob? 🤗🤗🤗

[KeepCalmBearOn]

Rough is in the eye of the beholder. I've done several CA Coastal, Mexico and Transpacific cruises and it has never been too rough for me. It has rocked a couple of times pretty good and the pools looked like wave pools, but plates and drink glasses weren't sliding off the tables, which would be my definition of "too rough".

[xlxo]

The size of the ships makes a huge difference on my Vancouver to California trips.  Ships above 2000 passengers (Royal Princess, NCL Joy) barely rock on strong waves.

[phoenix_dream]

I am very susceptible to motion sickness, although I can usually control it with meds, ginger, wrist bands, etc..

 

I have taken several Pacific Coast cruises and they are some of my favorites!  In fact I have two booked for next year.  I mostly sail the Caribbean and I can honestly tell you that I have not found the seas to be any worse (and often better) than those.  In fact the worst seas I've ever sailed were 30'+ in the Gulf of Mexico.  I can't promise you might not have a bad day or two - no one can - but overall they have not been bad.  Keep in mind they do not need to sail far away from the coast, so they are not in open water like they would be,  say on the way to Hawaii.

[CruiserBruce]

5 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I am very susceptible to motion sickness, although I can usually control it with meds, ginger, wrist bands, etc..

 

I have taken several Pacific Coast cruises and they are some of my favorites!  In fact I have two booked for next year.  I mostly sail the Caribbean and I can honestly tell you that I have not found the seas to be any worse (and often better) than those.  In fact the worst seas I've ever sailed were 30'+ in the Gulf of Mexico.  I can't promise you might not have a bad day or two - no one can - but overall they have not been bad.  Keep in mind they do not need to sail far away from the coast, so they are not in open water like they would be,  say on the way to Hawaii.

30+ foot waves in the Caribbean would be notable. The Atlantic side, less so. 

 

Actually, the ships need to sail a fair distance off the West Coast for a number of reasons. They are definitely in the open ocean.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

On 7/7/2021 at 4:40 PM, CruiserBruce said:

Bob? 🤗🤗🤗

Oh crap, I just saw that.  Sorry, Bill.   

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

On 8/24/2021 at 11:38 AM, CruiserBruce said:

30+ foot waves in the Caribbean would be notable. The Atlantic side, less so. 

 

Actually, the ships need to sail a fair distance off the West Coast for a number of reasons. They are definitely in the open ocean.

We watch them most every night and I track the ships going past our condo at Rosarito headed north.  They are at 25-30 Km out, so it's definitely open ocean.  Many are to far out to see.  Obviously, the larger newer ships handle rougher seas better than the 60,000 ton Oceania.  Personally, if SF works as a good homeport for you (it does for us) then go for it at least once and see.  

[Desert Diamond]

We did a short, four day Pacific Coastal cruise a few years ago from L.A. to Vancouver during May. The seas were not noticeably rough. Worth mentioning, though, is that the weather was windy, cool-ish to cold at times and quite rainy.  As a result, almost all of the passengers ended up being indoors, rather than spread around the ship on the pool and promenade decks. On the two sea days, we opted not to wait in the very long line for the dining room at lunch and headed to the buffet. We were unable to find an empty table in the buffet anywhere. We've never experienced that before. We ended up ordering room service both days so of course, going hungry was a non-issue.😉 Even the bars, piazza and other common spaces were packed too,  since many balconies were cold and wet. Just something to think about on Pacific coastal cruises. 

We have a ten day booked for May of this year and we're hoping that with our very deep, covered aft balcony, we'll have a private refuge if the weather drives everyone indoors. We know we'll have a great cruise no matter the weather, though with just a bit of adapting. 

[latebuyer]

Thanks. It never occurred to me that I wouldn’t be able to go outside, although my cruise is in September.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

4 hours ago, latebuyer said:

Thanks. It never occurred to me that I wouldn’t be able to go outside, although my cruise is in September.

 

Between San Francisco and Vancouver in May, it should hardly have been a surprise.

 

I'd worry about it being too hot, depending on what the port stops are.

[BruceMuzz]

On 6/29/2021 at 1:34 AM, latebuyer said:

The only cruise i've been on is an alaskan cruise. There was only one night where it was quite rough and i didn't enjoy it. I'm wondering if the pacific coastal is rough all the time? I think i may not enjoy it.

Pacific Coastal seas are smoother on alternate Tuesdays  - but only in months that have an "r" in them.

[Heidi13]

On 10/31/2021 at 5:12 PM, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

We watch them most every night and I track the ships going past our condo at Rosarito headed north.  They are at 25-30 Km out, so it's definitely open ocean.  Many are to far out to see.  Obviously, the larger newer ships handle rougher seas better than the 60,000 ton Oceania.  Personally, if SF works as a good homeport for you (it does for us) then go for it at least once and see.  

 

The size of a ship has minimal impact on its ability to handle heavy weather. The design, specifically the scantlings and block co-efficient have way more impact than the size of a ship.

 

I have many heavy weather crossings of the Atlantic and Pacific in 45,000 ton liners at 20+ kts in significant seas. Most modern ships (except QM2) would be down to under 10 kts. If any Master maintained 20 kts through heavy weather, in a modern mega ship, it would be heading to drydock for repairs.

 

Also note the RCCL mega ship that damaged a number of her lifeboats on her Trans-Atlantic when sailing to Maimi for her maiden voyage.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

On 3/12/2022 at 4:18 PM, Heidi13 said:

 

The size of a ship has minimal impact on its ability to handle heavy weather. The design, specifically the scantlings and block co-efficient have way more impact than the size of a ship.

 

I have many heavy weather crossings of the Atlantic and Pacific in 45,000 ton liners at 20+ kts in significant seas. Most modern ships (except QM2) would be down to under 10 kts. If any Master maintained 20 kts through heavy weather, in a modern mega ship, it would be heading to drydock for repairs.

 

Also note the RCCL mega ship that damaged a number of her lifeboats on her Trans-Atlantic when sailing to Maimi for her maiden voyage.

Not sure why you quoted my post to make your point.  I made no mention of speed.  What RCCL mega ship are you referring to that was damaged by heavy weather on her maiden voyage?  The advantage for the mega ships are the more modern stabilizers and thrusters, usually lacking on 45k ton ocean liners.   I doubt there are many ocean liners left doing trans Atlantic/Pacific crossing in the last 20 years in the 45,000 ton range.  At least that most of us can afford.        

[Heidi13]

27 minutes ago, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

Not sure why you quoted my post to make your point.  I made no mention of speed.  What RCCL mega ship are you referring to that was damaged by heavy weather on her maiden voyage?  The advantage for the mega ships are the more modern stabilizers and thrusters, usually lacking on 45k ton ocean liners.   I doubt there are many ocean liners left doing trans Atlantic/Pacific crossing in the last 20 years in the 45,000 ton range.  At least that most of us can afford.        

 

I quoted your post as your statement that newer, larger ships handle rough seas better than a 60,000 tons ship, is incorrect. The size of a ship has minimal bearing on how a ship handles heavy weather, as lots of other factors are way more important.

 

Modern stabalisers & thrusters - modern stabalisers are fitted to most modern cruise ships, regardless of size. Our preferred cruise ships are 47,000 tons and have the latest stabiliser technology.  Stabalisers also only work on transverse movement, they have no effect on pitching. Thrusters are actually useless when the ship is making more than about 4 kts, as venturi effect sucks the water out the tunnels. If by thrusters, you meant azimuthing pods, again they are no different to a properly designed conventional propulsion system. My last ship with twin high-lift rudders and CP props was equally as manoeuvreable as an Azipod ship, even when docking.

 

We sailed Trans-Pacific on a 47,000 ton ship in 2020 and have a 2022 Trans-Atlantic on the maiden voyage of a similar 47,000 ton ship, followed by a Trans-Pacific. So yes, this size of ship is still in operation and completing ocean voyages.

 

I believe the RCI mega ship was Oasis of the Seas. A number of lifeboats were damaged and our local Schat-Harding technician was called down to Miami to assist with repairs. He was originally scheduled to be servicing my ship that week. The seas they encountered were reportedly only about 50 - 60'. Been through much worse a few times with no damage, on much smaller ships.

[latebuyer]

Glad to see this thread is still active! I’m still thinking of going. The ship is the serenade of the seas which i believe is a smaller ship.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

I quoted your post as your statement that newer, larger ships handle rough seas better than a 60,000 tons ship, is incorrect. The size of a ship has minimal bearing on how a ship handles heavy weather, as lots of other factors are way more important.

 

I believe the RCI mega ship was Oasis of the Seas. 

We have sailed the Oceania Insignia TA east bound and Harmony of the Seas TA west bound on her maiden voyage to the US.  I will take the larger ship any day for stability.  Design might play a part, but "size really does matter."  It appeared you ran your response about speed and damage into my post.  If that's not accurate I apologize as I misread.  We have cruised on the Oasis of the Seas a couple of times and I'm not aware of any damage attributed to rough seas and the captain's speed.  She was damaged by a crane in 2019 in dry dock in Bahamas and brought to FL for repairs.  

[Heidi13]

On 3/14/2022 at 7:23 PM, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

We have sailed the Oceania Insignia TA east bound and Harmony of the Seas TA west bound on her maiden voyage to the US.  I will take the larger ship any day for stability.  Design might play a part, but "size really does matter."  It appeared you ran your response about speed and damage into my post.  If that's not accurate I apologize as I misread.  We have cruised on the Oasis of the Seas a couple of times and I'm not aware of any damage attributed to rough seas and the captain's speed.  She was damaged by a crane in 2019 in dry dock in Bahamas and brought to FL for repairs.  

 

I recall reading the D/D incident, but I recall the ship was taken to Cadiz for repairs, with the ship out of service for over 1-month. You can Google the Oasis OTS lifeboats damage which was Oct/Nov 2009, as my ship was in refit at the time. I know this is factual, as I still recall the phone call from our local Schat-Harding (major lifeboat & davit manufacture) technician, postponing his service appointment for my davits, as he was called to Miami.

 

While you may have experienced a more comfortable cruise on a larger ship, the size again has minimal effect on the actual "Stability", which is represented by the ship's GM and shown on the cross-curves of stability. Most passenger ships normally operate with a fairly low GM, as it provides a more gentle roll. With a high GM, the ship doesn't roll so far, but snaps back uncomfortably.

 

I spent 40 yrs at sea, with almost 30 of them in command. Been on all sizes of vessel and in sea states, both coastal and open ocean, and the ship's size has minimal impact on the ship's ability to weather seas. Scantlings, design, stability and sea state, coupled with the ship's course and speed all are much larger factors.

 

When dealing with heavy weather, altering course a few degrees and/or adjusting speed makes a huge difference to the comfort, regardless of ship size.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

I spent 40 yrs at sea, with almost 30 of them in command.

Then obviously you know more about commanding a ship than I do and I will respect your opinion.  

[jkrislc]

I’ve always found that high winds blowing across deck have made for more uncomfortable sailings than the height of the waves. Of course, this is my anecdotal experience, but we hit high seas coming back from Iceland and the ride wasn’t that bad even though the waves were breaking over our ocean view window. We were low and midship, which I’m sure helped. 
 

We had a very rough ride out of NY in January. The waves weren’t very high, but we did have strong winds which really made the ship rock and roll for a whole day. 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

21 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

I recall reading the D/D incident, but I recall the ship was taken to Cadiz for repairs, with the ship out of service for over 1-month. You can Google the Oasis OTS lifeboats damage which was Oct/Nov 2009, as my ship was in refit at the time. I know this is factual, as I still recall the phone call from our local Schat-Harding (major lifeboat & davit manufacture) technician, postponing his service appointment for my davits, as he was called to Miami.

 

If you are referring to the Oasis of the Seas and the Nov 2009 incident where the ship encountered 60 foot seas; the lifeboats sustained minor damage. The ship put into port in Fort Lauderdale two days late (Nov 13 instead of Nov 11). It left on its maiden voyage on time three weeks later, Dec. 5, 2009.