Rough Seas on Oceania?

[212cruiser]

Would anyone be willing to comment on the difference, if any, they have experienced between rough seas on one of Oceania's ships and a larger vessel such as those used by Celebrity/NCL? I'm a bit concerned because we've read that the ships have a stabilizer, but their much smaller size would imply greater motion. Am I wrong? Thanks in advance!

[LHT28]

We have been in two rough sea situations...it all depends on a lot of variables

wind, wave height, direction of the waves etc...

we had them off the beam in the Caribbean this year & it was a bit rocky ...didn't not bother us

We also had rough seas in the Irish sea and it was bumpy but not the same as this past one.

If you are sensitive to the motion it could be a problem ...take the proper medication with you & stay midships, low decks and it is fine.

 

I did find Horizons to be a little to rolly for me so I stay aft.:)

[lahore]

I have experienced bad seas in larger ships too. I just reckon if you are unlucky enough to hit really bad weather you are going to notice it no matter what you are in. That ocean out there is rather large and powerful, and in the end any ship is tiny and insigificant in comparison. That being said, I didn't notice Nautica to be any worse or better than say Legend OTS or the Wind and we had some relatively bad weather.

[Druke I]

A large ship does not necessarily ride well or better in rough water.

 

Case in point: Golden Princess, 113,000GRT, 8-02, West of Azores on a trans-Atlantic. We had bow slap spray raining down on our balcony on Caribe Deck (Deck 10). Elevator cars could be heard banging about in the forward elevator shafts.

 

Windows along Prom Deck (deck 7) shattered while ship flexing fighting for headway. Much merchandise breakage in shops on Prom Deck. Bars all over ship had many bottles breaking when thrown to deck.

 

Don't put too much faith in stabilizers - they only reduce roll, and are usually retracted in heavy pitching seas!

 

We also had a very rough ferry crossing of the Irish sea, Ireland to Wales.

 

Sea state is always a crap shoot - smooth one time, rough the next.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

We are just off the Nautica, and it was the smoothest sailing I have ever been on. I had to keep looking out the window to see if we were moving.

[212cruiser]

Thank you for all the replies. We have been aboard many ships, and in varying seas, but all of them from the major lines on ships greater than 75,000 tons. We have also sailed on a large private yacht and, when in rough water, we did not enjoy the experience; the proverbial cork on water feeling.

We are looking forward to Oceania and I was hoping to hear comparisons from those who have traveled on both large and smaller vessels.

Thank you.

[Druke I]

I've been on three of the R-class ships: Regatta, Nautica, and Pacific Princess (new), and all three times have had fairly smooth waters. That includes transits of the North Sea and Tasman Sea, both known for rough periods.

 

I did mention our rough trans-Atlantic on Golden Princess (113,000GRT), but our roughest trip any waters was on the little Golden Odyssey, (10,000GRT), in the China Sea, trying to out-run the back end of a typhoon, 11-86.

 

We had green water over the bridge, screws out of the water, and the inclinometer was pegged. My wife thought we might capsize.

 

In those same waters (closer to Okinawa), Halsey's Fleet lost three destroyers (or perhaps DDEs) to capsizing, closing days of WW2.

 

There are no guarantees on the water, but that should not "scare" you away from cruising. We've had many more smooth cruises than very rough cruises.

[lahore]

I notice you know a lot about ships, from your posts over the last two or three years. My dad was a Navy man. How do you know all this stuff? What's an inclinometer and how do you know if it's pegged - is it on the bridge? Screws out of the water - how did you know that too; I mean you can't usually seen them from aft?

 

These are questions of genuine interest - not trying to be a smart Xss.

 

Cheers

 

Navy daughter

[Druke I]

Not a Navy man, but a proud veteran of the US Army's Military Police Corps.

 

An inclinometer is a gauge on the bridge that shows the amount of roll, and usually has a peg at the maximum allowable roll from which a ship can recover, and not capsize. It looks like, and functions somewhat like a metronome, although you certainly would not want to be on a ship that was moving like a metronome.

 

When the screws come out of the water and lose "their bite", you'll know it; the vibration throughout the ship becomes intense, as the props spin unhindered by water. It is so intense, you'd think the ship was shaking itself apart. When they go back into the water, there is a very sharp jar as they regain "their bite".

 

When you combine the roll, pitch, screws out of the water, it looks like the typhoon scene in "The Caine Mutiny", that fine flick with Bogart, Johnson, MacMurray, Ferrer, et all.

 

Much of my knowledge (thanks for calling it that) comes from experience, reading, and asking questions. Some think that is a sign of an opinionated person, rather than a knowledgeable one.

[lahore]

Ah, thanks. Like you, I find asking questions is a jolly good way to learn! I have definitely had the screws out of the water thing, I just didn't know that I could be sure that was what was happening, I presumed it was. The inclinometer thing...I don't think I want to see that really. My old man used to say just look straight ahead at the horizen and go with the rolls - it works for me. Knowing how far we are listing would just make me anxious - I'll leave that to The Old Man.

 

Cheers

 

Lyn

[Steph27]

Having been on Celebrity Constellation and also Oceania Insignia during rough seas I think they both fared well. The Constellation was very rough on our approach to Copenhagen and worse than the experience on Oceania. On the Constellation the captain told the women not to wear high heels. I did not hear anything breaking though. On Oceania before we had reached the Magellan Strait it was very rough but did not seem as bad as the experience on the Constellation. I was surprised that Oceania did so well as I was under the misconception that a larger ship meant it would be more stable in rough seas. Oceania handles rough seas very well.

[LHT28]

We are looking forward to Oceania and I was hoping to hear comparisons from those who have traveled on both large and smaller vessels.

Thank you.

 

In order to do a proper comparison on how the ships compare during rough seas you would have to be on the larger ship & small ship during the same weather conditions.

Some people are more sensitive to the motion

 

We had a rough 36 hrs this winter on Regatta ...we did not find it all that bad but a lot of people thought we were not going to survive and the reception desk was handing out seasick pills at a good rate.

We were hit by a rogue wave that went over the jogging track (found out later) at the time we were in our cabin and thought we hit something ...was waiting for the signal to abandon ship!! :eek: