Transatlantic Weather/Seastate conditions questions

[LobsterStalker]

Hi all , Looking for some opinions from those of you who have done multiple Transatlac crossings , or even from those of you smarter than me who have done the necessary research.

Considering doing a Transatlantic crossing at some point in the next couple years and I am wondering how the weather,(Sky condition/Temperatures) compares Late Winter VS mid Fall when they generally cross. Is one more clearly favourable than the other ? And also and probably more importantly the Seastate,(Wave height/prevailing wind/choppiness). Is one direction clearly favourable to the the other , IE. East to West VS. West to East ?

Hopefully you can educate me 

Thx

[jsf]

Be leary if someone tells you that they can tell you how weather will be in the future. We did TA and the weather was not factor.

[njkruzer]

Sometimes nice, sometimes not, just as it is at home! No promises. 

[Maria63]

We've done TAs both ways and in both seasons several times. Only once did we have distinctly unfavorable weather, it was an early January sailing from Southampton.

 

If you are concerned about rough seas, I'd recommend going with as large a ship as possible. On the eastbound crossings you can get lovely sunsets, so an aft balcony is nice - unless you are very prone to motion sickness. Otherwise I can't say that I'd personally prefer one direction / season over the other.

[HicksRA]

Here’s a pic of the ocean on an eastbound TA in April.  It was like that the entire cruise except for some chop going through the strait. 
Our last westbound in September had 13 ft seas. 
 

[LobsterStalker]

27 minutes ago, jsf said:

Be leary if someone tells you that they can tell you how weather will be in the future. We did TA and the weather was not factor.

jsf

Clearly not lookin for someone to predict weather . However there can be clear trends that we can count on . 

...In Nova Scotia the prevailing winter winds are from the NW. Doesnt mean it will blow NW every day , but I can bet on it and be right more than I am wrong

Also more likely to snow in the winter rather than summer .  :)

 

[LobsterStalker]

17 minutes ago, Maria63 said:

We've done TAs both ways and in both seasons several times. Only once did we have distinctly unfavorable weather, it was an early January sailing from Southampton.

 

If you are concerned about rough seas, I'd recommend going with as large a ship as possible. On the eastbound crossings you can get lovely sunsets, so an aft balcony is nice - unless you are very prone to motion sickness. Otherwise I can't say that I'd personally prefer one direction / season over the other.

Thx. Maria

If I do follow through , I would be looking at a Symphony for sure . Weather doesnt faze me , but , Happy Wife ...Happy Life !

 

[larryfromtexas]

I took a cruise to Antarctica in February and was concerned (properly, it turns out) about the Drake Passage.  I used an app called Predict Wind (I think there is a website by that name also) that has current conditions and forecasted conditions for temps, precipitation, and wind (of course).  But there is also a tab for wave conditions... world wide.  At least in the short term it was very accurate and easy to read.  Naturally the longer out the forecast = less accurate.

[LobsterStalker]

13 minutes ago, HicksRA said:

Here’s a pic of the ocean on an eastbound TA in April.  It was like that the entire cruise except for some chop going through the strait. 
Our last westbound in September had 13 ft seas. 
 

What about temperatures ? Guessing in April they would be warming up nicely ?

[njkruzer]

I think the smoothest TA was a mid October sailing on the QM2. Beautiful weather. Asked dh if we were really moving!   On other sailings from Harwich and Copenhagen,  sailed north before heading west. English Channel could be bumpy.  This April's Jewel sailing was lovely. 

[BirdTravels]

Count on some rough days. Maybe not as pictured, but the moth Atlantic is normally not the smoothest on a cruise ship (as compared to an ocean liner designed to do the cruising). 

[LobsterStalker]

2 minutes ago, larryfromtexas said:

I took a cruise to Antarctica in February and was concerned (properly, it turns out) about the Drake Passage.  I used an app called Predict Wind (I think there is a website by that name also) that has current conditions and forecasted conditions for temps, precipitation, and wind (of course).  But there is also a tab for wave conditions... world wide.  At least in the short term it was very accurate and easy to read.  Naturally the longer out the forecast = less accurate.

Ya , looking for Trends , not forecasts.

Pretty hard to 'forecast'18 months out. 

Drakes must have been a little wild eh , wouldnt want to make that your first cruise probably..

 

[HicksRA]

4 minutes ago, LobsterStalker said:

What about temperatures ? Guessing in April they would be warming up nicely ?

Temps were perfect that time of year.  

[LobsterStalker]

2 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Count on some rough days. Maybe not as pictured, but the moth Atlantic is normally not the smoothest on a cruise ship (as compared to an ocean liner designed to do the cruising). 

Bird;

That last part leaves me confused ..? 

Explain please

[Another_Critic]

2 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

I think the smoothest TA was a mid October sailing on the QM2. Beautiful weather. Asked dh if we were really moving!   

And my roughest TA was a late October sailing on Anthem.  Rainy weather, 40 to 45 foot swells.

 

Of course QM2 is an ocean liner and Anthem is a cruise ship ... makes a difference.

[LobsterStalker]

2 minutes ago, HicksRA said:

Temps were perfect that time of year.  

Perfect varies greatly by individual 

What is your perfect ?

 

[Another_Critic]

3 minutes ago, LobsterStalker said:

Bird;

That last part leaves me confused ..? 

Explain please

https://www.chriscunard.com/history-fleet/ocean-liners/

[njkruzer]

4 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

And my roughest TA was a late October sailing on Anthem.  Rainy weather, 40 to 45 foot swells.

 

Of course QM2 is an ocean liner and Anthem is a cruise ship ... makes a difference.

Absolutely agree. Our other TAs were on Radiance class ships.  All very nice. Will be on Anthem TA in October.   I remember a very rough sailing in the Caribbean in January.  You never know.

[larryfromtexas]

9 minutes ago, LobsterStalker said:

Ya , looking for Trends , not forecasts.

Pretty hard to 'forecast'18 months out. 

Drakes must have been a little wild eh , wouldnt want to make that your first cruise probably..

 

I'm an enrichment speaker (Pop Music History topics)  and went with Atlas Ocean Voyages to Antarctica.  Sometimes you get the Drake Shakes, and sometimes if you're lucky you get a Drake Lake.  We got the Shakes going and coming, even worse coming back (ship's crew said it was the worst they had seen all season.)  Only cruise I've used the patch as a precautionary measure.

 

I have a Hawaii cruise with Royal Caribbean coming up in September and a transatlantic with Celebrity in October.  I'm glad to have this app in my travel arsenal.  The ship's captain usually makes daily announcements and even predictions regarding weather and waves.  Of course, too late to get off then.  Ha!

[Another_Critic]

10 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

Absolutely agree. Our other TAs were on Radiance class ships.  All very nice. Will be on Anthem TA in October.   I remember a very rough sailing in the Caribbean in January.  You never know.

Did the Anthem crossing in May.  It was a smooth sailing for the most part.

[LobsterStalker]

13 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

https://www.chriscunard.com/history-fleet/ocean-liners/

Thx;

Just watched a 10 minute video and added to the education.

Interesting stuff

[ECCruise]

We've done over 30 crossings, West to east and the reverse, Spring, summer and fall.

 

I realize that you are searching for trends but even that is so variable that it is almost impossible to answer.  We've had sailings in spring and fall that were like glass all the way across and others that the wind, rain and seas (up to 10 meters+) barely let up.  On at least 50% of the crossings, itineraries needed to be altered, either minor changes (1 port cancelled) to major ones (the entire itinerary changed except for embarkation and disembarkation ports).

 

Even after all these days at sea  in the Atlantic, we go in with total flexibility.  If you want even a basic idea of what the weather will be like much beyond "the temperatures will likely be between 50F and 80F", then you are trying to hit a widely moving target.  Our next crossing is in November and honestly I can say I haven't thought of weather even once. 

[taglovestocruise]

We have done east and west, westbound have always been warmer. Shorts and polos almost every day on every cruise.  West bound has five or six 25 hour days.  Portside on westbound gets all the sun, sun never makes it over the top of the ship. Last TA was on Symphony in Oct.  and it was awesome if you are a sea day lover.  Symphony sailed with about 4500, which is normal for a Oasis Class TA. There were a total of 6 kids under 16 on that cruise.  Most sea days were extremely calm. 

[HicksRA]

We did a westbound port side OV Balcony on Symphony in late Sept and had hot sun the entire trip which made it impossible to keep the cabin cool. Had to leave the blackout curtains closed during the daytime. Made us wish we were starboard. 

[twangster]

The only generalization you can make about transatlantics is that the air temperature is mostly bound to the sea temperature.  Absent of any land masses that heat up and cool down, sea temperatures are more consistent and the air right above the sea is probably going to be very close to sea temperatures as you cross.  If you search for average sea temps in any given month you'll get an idea what the temps will be outdoors around the ship.  

 

In terms of rough seas or bad weather there is no trend or accurate estimate of what to expect.  

 

To give you an idea of the types of things that a Captain will consider when planning a crossing here are some video from Symphony's crossing in October 2018.

 

 

 

 

Time lapse to capture the effect of low period swell:

 

 

Otherwise flat seas can still have some motion in the ocean from this type of swell however not everyone is susceptible.  Some people are while other people react more to the pitching or porpoising effect of largest waves.  There are several different factors that cause different types of motion so it mostly depends what's going on during a cruise while a few days in advance or after along the same track can have very different motion.  YMMV.