Lisbon-NY in Nov for someone sensitive to motion

[wencel]

Hi All, after years of gleaning excellent knowledge pouring through volumes of posts (including many on this thread) I have questions about a TA that necessitates help from my fellow CC followers.

I'm contemplating a Lisbon to NY 11 day TA this November. Ponta Delgada is the only stop. Can someone help me identify if the ship will take the north or south route? In general, how much more does the risk of rough seas increase once it's mid November?

 

I'm sensitive to motion so usually book lower deck, mid ship. A day or two of discomfort is fine but I worry that so many days at sea will mean many days of misery. I'll be traveling solo and would enjoy the quiet time but obviously will be paying a supplement fare so spending half my time nauseated would...really suck!

 

I was planning to fly back to NY from Europe a few days before this sailing and, though the cruise is much more costly than the flight, thought the cruise would be fun... assuming mother nature cooperates somewhat... but she's a tough one to predict.

Thanks for any and all perspective on this.

[crdtrnr]

I did the same route last December.  We took the northern route.  We did miss the Azores stop, due to pilot strike in Lisbon.  The weather did get a little rough at times..

[ColdCruise]

It could be perfectly fine. We did the TA from Rome to NYC arriving in NYC on 5 or 6 December (NCL Epic) and we’re blessedly surprised by the crossing.
 

We were supposed to stop in Azores but NCL canceled with some made up claptrap; the real reason was to get them an extra day in NYC at our expense for the (then) new Covid clearance protocols to sail from US ports so the following cruise would depart on time. A bunch of hogwash and blowing smoke. However not germane to the question here.

 

our 4 sea days turned into 5 and we were up on deck in shorts, and a couple days  in the pool, for the 1st 4 days of the crossing. The weather was cooler the last full sea day and not quite the glass sea the other days were, but we still sat on deck, albeit in long pants and a jacket/sweater.

 

it just depends on weather….

 

have fun, we’re doing our 2nd TA this November (again over Thanksgiving) and looking forward to it - I enjoyed it more than I thought I would (I’m a port junkie!).

[wencel]

Thanks @ColdCruise I've always liked the idea of days at sea as a way to slow down, enjoy the ship, read and reflect. I'm not concerned about shorts on deck. I make sure to cruise somewhere warm at year end for some vit D...I just don't want to be on a roller coaster on water 😁

Edited September 17, 2023 by wencel

[tigervixxxen]

Weather plays a big part no doubt but in general open waters are not rough seas, it’s getting close to the shoreline that makes for rocky waters. The first sea day leaving a large land mass and last sea day approaching one have been the roughest non weather related seas I have experienced. 

[wencel]

4 hours ago, tigervixxxen said:

Weather plays a big part no doubt but in general open waters are not rough seas, it’s getting close to the shoreline that makes for rocky waters. The first sea day leaving a large land mass and last sea day approaching one have been the roughest non weather related seas I have experienced. 

Very helpful to know. Thanks @tigervixxxen!

 

[Heidi13]

15 hours ago, tigervixxxen said:

Weather plays a big part no doubt but in general open waters are not rough seas, it’s getting close to the shoreline that makes for rocky waters. The first sea day leaving a large land mass and last sea day approaching one have been the roughest non weather related seas I have experienced. 

 

Not sure how much seatime you have, but with 40 years at sea, my overall experience is the exact opposite. Over the years I have experience numerous storms and horrendous seas in open waters. 

Some of the worst are in the Southern Ocean in the roaring 40's, where there is no land masses.

 

Now for the science.

 

Seas can increase significantly on approaching a coast, as shallower water causes the seas to build up. As the water depth reduces the waves interact with the bottom, which reduced the wave speed, shorting the distance between waves, with a resultant increase in height. The distance of the continental shelf determines how far offshore the effect is felt. In some places, such as South Pacific islands, the water is thousands of feet deep a short distance from shore, so minimal shallow water effect. In most ports, if steaming away from the coast, it doesn't last for a day.

 

Seas are a combination of wind waves and swell. Wind waves are created by current weather patterns, with the wave height being determined by both wind speed  and fetch. Fetch is the unrestricted distance the wind blows over the water. The longer the fetch, the higher the waves for any given wind speed. Swells are caused by distant weather systems and can travel for thousands of miles across water, after the wind quits.

 

Example - Gulf of Tehuantepec, which is SE of Acapulco and is notorious for winds blowing across the isthmus and out to sea. The Master can take the longer inshore routing where wind speed is high but sea state is lower, due to less fetch. Taking the open water route, straight across, increases the fetch, so the seas are often considerably higher in open water.

 

Therefore, what you may have experienced is not normal practice. I have crossed the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans many times, experiencing anything from mill pond to 100' seas.  

[ColdCruise]

6 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Not sure how much seatime you have, but with 40 years at sea, my overall experience is the exact opposite. Over the years I have experience numerous storms and horrendous seas in open waters. 

Some of the worst are in the Southern Ocean in the roaring 40's, where there is no land masses.

 

Now for the science.

 

Seas can increase significantly on approaching a coast, as shallower water causes the seas to build up. As the water depth reduces the waves interact with the bottom, which reduced the wave speed, shorting the distance between waves, with a resultant increase in height. The distance of the continental shelf determines how far offshore the effect is felt. In some places, such as South Pacific islands, the water is thousands of feet deep a short distance from shore, so minimal shallow water effect. In most ports, if steaming away from the coast, it doesn't last for a day.

 

@Heidi13 thanks for that info - I’ve never heard of the fetch before (other than playing with my dogs 😁). Quite interesting.
 

Our 5 day TA was so much milder than I expected, and thankfully not like my round trip across the Drake in February. Normally I don’t suffer sea sickness, or at least it’s mild enough that sea bands and ginger suffice, BUT… that was something else, especially northbound . And the expedition crew said it was not the worse they’ve seen. Fingers crossed my upcoming TA on Viva will be more like my TA on Epic!!! 🤞🏾🤞🏽🤞🏼🤞🏻🤞

[wencel]

2 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Not sure how much seatime you have, but with 40 years at sea, my overall experience is the exact opposite. Over the years I have experience numerous storms and horrendous seas in open waters. 

Some of the worst are in the Southern Ocean in the roaring 40's, where there is no land masses.

 

Now for the science.

Great education. Thanks @ColdCruise. So I guess it takes me back to... only Mother Nature knows what might be in store for me and she's not giving any hints 😁

[Heidi13]

34 minutes ago, wencel said:

Great education. Thanks @ColdCruise. So I guess it takes me back to... only Mother Nature knows what might be in store for me and she's not giving any hints 😁

 

When dealing with ocean transits, you are totally correct, only Mother Nature really knows. We can have educated guesses, based on previous experiences and meteorology knowledge, but the unexpected, both good and not so good can always happen.

 

Fortunately, forecasting and weather routing services are vastly superior to what they were 40 - 50 yrs ago, so even when the weather is bad, the Master has a good chance of avoiding the worst areas. 

[CGTNORMANDIE]

On 9/17/2023 at 5:20 PM, wencel said:

Great education. Thanks @ColdCruise. So I guess it takes me back to... only Mother Nature knows what might be in store for me and she's not giving any hints 😁

The route you are taking from Lisbon is definitely not in the North Atlantic.  I’m surprised you are not stopping at Bermuda so, without knowing what ship you are on, my guess would be you’ll be sailing north of Bermuda to New York.  I would say you have a good chance of seeing smooth seas.  There is always the chance that you could run into a storm as you near New York but that would only last for a day.  So I would say…take the shot and sail home from Lisbon.  BTW…Ponta Delgada is gorgeous.

[wencel]

4 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

The route you are taking from Lisbon is definitely not in the North Atlantic.  I’m surprised you are not stopping at Bermuda so, without knowing what ship you are on, my guess would be you’ll be sailing north of Bermuda to New York.  I would say you have a good chance of seeing smooth seas.  There is always the chance that you could run into a storm as you near New York but that would only last for a day.  So I would say…take the shot and sail home from Lisbon.  BTW…Ponta Delgada is gorgeous.

It's the Silversea Nova departing Lisbon on 7 Nov. Good to know about Ponta Delgada! Thanks @CGTNORMANDIE

 

[CGTNORMANDIE]

2 hours ago, wencel said:

It's the Silversea Nova departing Lisbon on 7 Nov. Good to know about Ponta Delgada! Thanks @CGTNORMANDIE

 

Silversea Nova?…OHHH definitely go for it!!!  

[Lois R]

On 9/19/2023 at 2:19 AM, wencel said:

It's the Silversea Nova departing Lisbon on 7 Nov. Good to know about Ponta Delgada! Thanks @CGTNORMANDIE

 

Hi Wencel, there is a roll call started for this sailing and a few of us have been chatting. Come over and say hello if you like🙂 the ship looks absolutely beautiful on line and I think in person she will be outstanding🙂

[paulco]

On 9/14/2023 at 7:41 PM, wencel said:

followers.

I'm contemplating a Lisbon to NY 11 day TA this November. Ponta Delgada is the only stop. Can someone help me identify if the ship will take the north or south route? In general, how much

With the Atlantic in Nov ya just never know!

[SoloAlaska]

I was worried about the seas on my upcoming TA so I got myself an Emeterm bracelet and tested in on my Alaskan cruise a few weeks ago. Worked like a charm and yes I get monitor sickness and sea sick.

[wencel]

1 hour ago, SoloAlaska said:

I was worried about the seas on my upcoming TA so I got myself an Emeterm bracelet and tested in on my Alaskan cruise a few weeks ago. Worked like a charm and yes I get monitor sickness and sea sick.

I just came off an Alaska cruise where I tested the Emeterm Explore and it did nothing for me 😞 I know it can work really well or not at all from person to person and am so disappointed it didn't work for me. I've previously tried the old school terry cloth with button pressure bands and they didn't do much either. Am considering one of those behind the ear patches now.

[SoloAlaska]

3 hours ago, wencel said:

I just came off an Alaska cruise where I tested the Emeterm Explore and it did nothing for me 😞 I know it can work really well or not at all from person to person and am so disappointed it didn't work for me. I've previously tried the old school terry cloth with button pressure bands and they didn't do much either. Am considering one of those behind the ear patches now.

The behind the ear patches are no longer available in Canada which is why I tried Emeterm. Sorry to hear it didn’t work for you, I hope you find your solution soon.

[8mma]

I have never gotten sea sick but my husband has.  I bought him a Relief Band and it has worked for him.  You might check it out.  It is FDA cleared.  I hadn't heard about the Emeterm bracelet and don't know if it is similar.

https://www.reliefband.com/

 

The patches did work for him but he likes the band because of no medicine.  Good luck!

[SoloAlaska]

On 10/14/2023 at 3:43 PM, 8mma said:

I have never gotten sea sick but my husband has.  I bought him a Relief Band and it has worked for him.  You might check it out.  It is FDA cleared.  I hadn't heard about the Emeterm bracelet and don't know if it is similar.

https://www.reliefband.com/

 

The patches did work for him but he likes the band because of no medicine.  Good luck!

Emeterm is the same kind of thing, also FDA approved. Different look and less expensive. Both are worth comparing. The no medication solution is such a great feature plus it starts working so fast for me.

[HopefulCruiser123]

Having suffered through sea sickness a few times in my life, I cannot bring myself to go on a ship unless I have Scopolamine transdermal patches.  In the US I think you can still get them with a prescription.  I am hoping for a transatlantic in 2025 and plan to start discussing these with my doctor at my next visit to make sure I'll be able to get them.