Are the seas ever good cruising from Sydney to New Zealand??????

hi fellow cruisers.

Just trying to put wife's mind at rest a bit.

We are doing a 12 nighter on the celebrity solstice in late January/early February next year and my wife keeps reading horror stories about the sea conditions for our cruise. She is getting a bit paranoid about it at the moment.

Is there anyone out there that has had nice weather on this trip in January/February in years past????.

Regards bob.

Yes. It is the luck of the draw. we have probably had good weather crossing the Tasman many more times than we have had bad weather. I suggest you go prepared in case of seasickness. I use Avomine (on the rare occasions I need it).

Cruised on Solstice across in November. Like a mill pond ......

We had gorgeous weather and very slight seas crossing from the bottom of the South Island to Tasmania in late February this year. It was just beautiful sitting out on our balcony during the day, and there was barely enough motion to rock me to sleep at night.

But regardless, Solstice weathers rough seas extremely well. On our previous crossing, a December cruise, we encountered a day of bouncy seas but we really only noticed them when we were walking back to our cabin late at night.

................ but we really only noticed them when we were walking back to our cabin late at night.

I suspect it may not have been the Tasman !!!:evilsmile:

End of August 2007, on last voyage of old Regal Princess - LA to Sydney before her rebirth as Pacific Dawn.

Encountered 40 foot seas (12 - 13 metres) off bottom of NZ South Island. Really shook the ship, damage caused to bow and superstructure, buffet closed, lifts closed down, half a dozen pax fell down stairways and broke limbs, not nice.:loudcry:

Yes, often wild seas around the 'Shaky Isles.'

End of August 2007, on last voyage of old Regal Princess - LA to Sydney before her rebirth as Pacific Dawn.

 

Encountered 40 foot seas (12 - 13 metres) off bottom of NZ South Island. Really shook the ship, damage caused to bow and superstructure, buffet closed, lifts closed down, half a dozen pax fell down stairways and broke limbs, not nice.:loudcry:

 

Yes, often wild seas around the 'Shaky Isles.'

If I was the OP I wouldn't tell my wife about Uncle Les's experience! :eek:

We last cruised to NZ in November nearly 9 years ago. Yes the Tasman was rough BUT I loved it. Really felt like we were on a cruise ship.If your wife is at all concerned ensure that you have booked a cabin in the middle of the ship.Have her take seasickness tablets a couple of days prior to travel and for the first couple of days of travel (check with doctor first).If there is motion on the ocean. Find a good place to sit and relax.

Sure it's fairly smooth at times.

But how it will be on any given crossing is guess work.

I suspect it may not have been the Tasman !!!:evilsmile:

That's the only sea I know between NZ and Australia!

Those seas were only around 5 metres, not too bad for the Tasman with a southerly blow in force. I was surprised how well Solstice handled it though.

We did a nz cruise in Dec 15 and had millpond conditions one way and 1 to 2m swells the other. Yet the cruise before us missed almost the entire south island due rough seas, go figure?

We did a nz cruise in Dec 15 and had millpond conditions one way and 1 to 2m swells the other. Yet the cruise before us missed almost the entire south island due rough seas, go figure?

We were similar Oct-Nov 2015, the ship behind us, by one day, from the same line missed almost everything and rough seas all the way, we missed one port (due to high winds not rough seas) and the rest of the time had smooth sailings

We cruised on Voyager of the Seas to NZ late Jan, Feb a couple of years ago.

We had a corner aft cabin with extra large balcony.

We had wind and choppy seas across and back. Being at the back we probably felt movement more.

We managed to get into every port and cruised around NZ comfortably and had good weather especially when ashore and cruising the fiords.

If you have chosen a well placed cabin and take along some avomine or sea sickness remedy of your choice you will be fine. Then again it may be smooth as silk. Enjoy and don't worry too much. Just beautiful there.

Sydney to Auckland late Jan last year seas were apparently moderate but were enough to upset DD and my sensitive stomachs. I had Avomine with me but didn't take it in time that first day. Needless to say I was very sure to take it after that and no further problems.

On the return to Sydney from the South Island the sea was dead calm and we also had thick fog, which was quite an experience especially in summer!

If your concern about the seas relates to sea sickness, I recommend Avomine which is dispensed by the pharmacist without prescription. I am extremely sensitive to motion but these do the trick. Just one tablet at night so you can enjoy the cruise, no matter how high the seas!

Motion Sickness (aka sea sickness) is a sense of ya balances going all funny on ya... I have spent most of my life on Small boats as small as 5metresin length fishing off the tassie coast chasing gamefish and at times as fars 20kms past the continental shelf in these small boats.. I also found i had shocking sea sickness. What i would do is get a couple packets of ginger biscuits and chew on these all day as well getting a ear plug similar to what you will find on a industrial site. i would put it in the ear oppisite to what my writing hand is so if ya write right handed ya put an ear plug in the left

another thing i found and you can only do this when ya out on deck is look at the horizon as the horizon never changes.

As others have said its luck of the draw in what weather you get in any water

cheers

ozdevil

Thanks guys for all your posts.

We are going to go with a positive attitude and really looking forward to cruising on the solstice for the first time and also visiting New Zealand.

Thanks again bob.

While picking what the seas and wether would be like at any given time is too difficult, all I can say is I have had more smooth seas than rough seas with the crossings. Size of the ships would help somewhat as well.

Thanks guys for all your posts.

We are going to go with a positive attitude and really looking forward to cruising on the solstice for the first time and also visiting New Zealand.

 

Thanks again bob.

Do not worry, The Solstice handles the larger seas very well if you get any.

We have sailed twice in Dec/Jan to and from NZ from Sydney. First trip over very rough, trip back not too bad. Second trip over very calm, one day on the trip back was rough. Not enough to bother us as we are going again in Jan 2019 (but flying back)

That's the only sea I know between NZ and Australia!

I think that the inference was there may have been other forces at play late at night...;p

I think that the inference was there may have been other forces at play late at night...;p

No different to any other night. :D

The seas had been gradually increasing all day but weren't too bad when we went down for drinks and dinner. We had a fantastic group of dinnermates and tended to linger over the meal. In those few hours the ship must have moved into the worst of the seas and things were quite rocky when we headed back to our cabin, a few decks above where we'd been dining. Because we'd been sitting right in the middle of the ship and down low we just hadn't noticed the increase in movement until then.

I know how you would have felt, you have one or two and then you go to get up and realise that the ship has hit a rough patch of water. Next time, just sit back down and have another while you wait for the seas to calm.

Oddly enough we didn't even really notice it when we stood up from the table. It was only when we were walking back to our cabin, which was midships so a bit of a walk from the lifts, that we realised the ship was moving a lot more than it had on previous nights.

Never mind the Tasman/Bass Straight/Southern Ocean, I am already cringing at the thought of being on the little Adonia next year, crossing ye olde Bay of Biscay. Been through it 4 times before on bigger ships like Ruby Princess, Crown Princess and Arcadia and each time got a pounding from those Atlantic swells.:loudcry::eek:

Another stretch of water that is notorious.