Motion in the ocean

[dpepper64]

We have cruised all over the east coast and west coast and notice the Pacific is a little rougher than the atlantic going to San Juan and other places.  I would like to know about if they have rough seas doing the med.  We are going on a 10 day cruise with another couple and she got sick sick on the Pacific cruise.  So I was wondering if the Med is any rougher or calmer.  Thank you in advance for your help  

[KeithJenner]

29 minutes ago, dpepper64 said:

We have cruised all over the east coast and west coast and notice the Pacific is a little rougher than the atlantic going to San Juan and other places.  I would like to know about if they have rough seas doing the med.  We are going on a 10 day cruise with another couple and she got sick sick on the Pacific cruise.  So I was wondering if the Med is any rougher or calmer.  Thank you in advance for your help  

Generally the Med is very calm. Compared to The Atlantic or the Pacific it is relatively sheltered and there aren't the distances available for large waves to develop.

 

It sometimes gets windy and that can mean a bit of movement, but we have only experienced a couple of days that I would even remotely describe as rough on all of our Med cruises, and that includes sailing at Christmas and Easter.

Edited May 16, 2021 by KeithJenner

[don't-use-real-name]

Season that with the Moon and the tides -

Hurricane season in the Gulf and Caribbean -

Pacific coastal cruises outside of the Inside Passage -

North Atlantic Ocean aftermath of the Hurricanes -

Tip of South America a water roller coaster -

 

In July of '61 went to Europe (MSTS DARBY) - ocean was like glass not a ripple until our wake

Came back February '64 (MSTS DARBY) - the rug was pulled out from underneath

7 decks could be made in 7 giant steps 

 

In  October '18 (NCL DAWN) Gulf of St. Lawrence - rouge waves knocked several windows

out deck 6 port side flood in casino - Le Bistro had a sea water buffet

 

Other than that nothing but boring stable uneventful cruises - with no mal de mer 

[zerooveride]

Scopolamine patches work great! Just ask your doctor for a prescription. Put it on a day or two before the cruise and wear a day or two after. Won't even realize you're wearing one.

[Turtles06]

2 hours ago, dpepper64 said:

I would like to know about if they have rough seas doing the med. 

 

Any large body of water, including the Mediterranean, can have rough seas.  You can have storms and high winds anywhere.  Our first cruise in the Med was in the winter, and we had some rough seas a couple of days. 

 

The bottom line is that someone going on a cruise should be prepared for what you called "motion."  

 

Here's a pertinent article from Cruise Critic:

 https://www.cruisecritic.com/ab/agents/variation-a/articles.cfm?ID=1226  

[Sailing12Away]

We sailed the Mediterranean route in May and felt nothing at all. The trip we felt the most motion on was in the DOS on the Jade, sailing from San Juan to Belize. I chalk that up more to the room we were in than the sailing itself. 

 

Stay on a lower deck, mid ship, and pre-medicate.

[complawyer]

many years ago, we took a cruise out  of genoa. i believe it was early november. at that time of year there is what i was told is called the winds of the lion. the ship rock and rolled so badly you could hear the life boats banging against the side of they ship. again this was about 25 years ago,

 

at 3 a.m. we hear a knock on the cabin door, it was our 25 year old daughter and she was a lovely shade of green. she was sharing a 2nd cabin with her grandmother

 

as it was a long day prior to embarkation, (we flew from l.a. to new york to rome to genoa, by the time the ship sailed, i was wiped out.  being woke up at 3 all i could do was order a ham and cheese sandwich from room service, which made our daughter even greener,

 

being young and dunb, my wife and i went went  up on deck, and believe me, the winds were blowing something fierce. after that, the rest of the cruise seemed to be smooth sailing

[bonsai3s]

Yes, you could experience what's called a "Medicane".

Many years ago, we skipped the port of Toulon (France) and had to overnight in Barcelona because of bad weather...rough seas and high winds.  It may have been in November...it was a transatlantic sailing.

[lissie]

21 hours ago, zerooveride said:

Scopolamine patches work great! Just ask your doctor for a prescription. Put it on a day or two before the cruise and wear a day or two after. Won't even realize you're wearing one.

They ae a game changer for me - I survived the Southern Pacific - south of NZ - some of the roughest water in the world with these.  They do dry your mouth out badly though - if they are working ie its rough - take  some sweets to suck.  

 

I still threw up - but it stopped the nausea . They are over the counter meds in NZ 

[lissie]

23 hours ago, dpepper64 said:

We have cruised all over the east coast and west coast and notice the Pacific is a little rougher than the atlantic going to San Juan and other places.  I would like to know about if they have rough seas doing the med.  We are going on a 10 day cruise with another couple and she got sick sick on the Pacific cruise.  So I was wondering if the Med is any rougher or calmer.  Thank you in advance for your help  

Book cabins as low as possible and midships - it makes a huge difference. And make sure she has all the meds 

[complawyer]

if yiu are prone to sea -sickness, in addition to the patches, there are wrist bands available at any pharmacy you can purchase without a prescription.

 

bring along ginger candy or ginger gum (either will counter the effects of sea sickness) 

 

also (and straight from the food officer) a few pieces of green apple and some ginger ale  will fix you right up.

 

the patches,however may have unwanted side effects.

 

true story: my wife who makes friends with anyone and everyone, on our 1st cruise met this woman. she introduced me and i inquired as to where her husband was. she told us that he was having an adverse effect from the patches.... he was seeing monkeys in the cabin.

 

i merely said "OK" and walked away. how else you anyone respond?

[ldubs]

On 5/16/2021 at 11:36 AM, KeithJenner said:

Generally the Med is very calm. Compared to The Atlantic or the Pacific it is relatively sheltered and there aren't the distances available for large waves to develop.

 

It sometimes gets windy and that can mean a bit of movement, but we have only experienced a couple of days that I would even remotely describe as rough on all of our Med cruises, and that includes sailing at Christmas and Easter.

 

I think this is a pretty good description and response.  There can be storms but in comparison it is pretty calm. 

[donaldsc]

Google "Rouge waves Mediterranean".

 

DON

[jocap]

Easter 2018- everyone was on deck on our ship to watch Symphony of the Seas battle out from Barcelona in a terrible gale, for her maiden cruise,  and we all felt that there wouldn't be much outside entertainment on her that night.

We followed her round the northern Med for a few days, and the gales never dropped.

During that same week, P&O's Azura broke all her moorings inside the port of Civitavecchia, and had to be held against the dock by three tugs.

We had those gales for five days, until reaching our departure dock in Malta.

[Heidi13]

On 5/16/2021 at 11:07 AM, dpepper64 said:

We have cruised all over the east coast and west coast and notice the Pacific is a little rougher than the atlantic going to San Juan and other places.  I would like to know about if they have rough seas doing the med.  We are going on a 10 day cruise with another couple and she got sick sick on the Pacific cruise.  So I was wondering if the Med is any rougher or calmer.  Thank you in advance for your help  

 

With respect to the Pacific Ocean & Atlantic Ocean - both are unpredictable and I have experienced multiple severe storms in both.

 

Meddy - although past weather is not a prediction of what you will receive, you didn't mention the time of year, which can have a significant impact. A previous response stated the Meddy is relatively sheltered and there isn't the distances for waves to develop - this is known as "fetch"

 

Having completed three months cruising in the Meddy in each of 2 years, plus numerous other transits, this was not my experience. While the Meddy is more sheltered than the open ocean, it still has over 2,000 miles of fetch East/West and many hundreds of miles in the Adriatic. While it has some deep sections, it also has shallow spots, with depth of water having more impact on wave height than fetch.

 

Most of my transits have experienced relatively smooth to moderate seas and winds up to 25 kts. However, on SS Uganda, we experienced a significant storm off the Greek Coast that ripped away one of our gangways. That was a rather uncomfortable night for many pax and was comparible to open ocean.

[donaldsc]

12 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

With respect to the Pacific Ocean & Atlantic Ocean - both are unpredictable and I have experienced multiple severe storms in both.

 

Meddy - although past weather is not a prediction of what you will receive, you didn't mention the time of year, which can have a significant impact. A previous response stated the Meddy is relatively sheltered and there isn't the distances for waves to develop - this is known as "fetch"

 

Having completed three months cruising in the Meddy in each of 2 years, plus numerous other transits, this was not my experience. While the Meddy is more sheltered than the open ocean, it still has over 2,000 miles of fetch East/West and many hundreds of miles in the Adriatic. While it has some deep sections, it also has shallow spots, with depth of water having more impact on wave height than fetch.

 

Most of my transits have experienced relatively smooth to moderate seas and winds up to 25 kts. However, on SS Uganda, we experienced a significant storm off the Greek Coast that ripped away one of our gangways. That was a rather uncomfortable night for many pax and was comparible to open ocean.

 

A friend of mine was on a Med cruise where a rogue wave took out some of the windows of the bridge and also bent some steel. 

 

My best storm was on the Ocean Adventurer on a Falklands / S Georgia Islands cruise.  Some of the ship trying to get out of Ushuaia had their start delayed 1 or 2 days because the wind.  We managed to dodge the winds going to S Georgia but we got hit on the way back.  Going into Drygalski Fjord at the end of our S Georgia visit, the wind anemometer on the bridge hit 100 knots.  It was amazing how well the ship handled in those winds.  They even let us go outside and most of us ate dinner w/o problems.  The zodiac ride that we were going to do that day was cancelled however.  They also closed the portholes in out cabin and covered up the windows in the public areas of the ship.  It was a hoot.

 

DON

 

DON

 

DON

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, donaldsc said:

 

A friend of mine was on a Med cruise where a rogue wave took out some of the windows of the bridge and also bent some steel. 

 

My best storm was on the Ocean Adventurer on a Falklands / S Georgia Islands cruise.  Some of the ship trying to get out of Ushuaia had their start delayed 1 or 2 days because the wind.  We managed to dodge the winds going to S Georgia but we got hit on the way back.  Going into Drygalski Fjord at the end of our S Georgia visit, the wind anemometer on the bridge hit 100 knots.  It was amazing how well the ship handled in those winds.  They even let us go outside and most of us ate dinner w/o problems.  The zodiac ride that we were going to do that day was cancelled however.  They also closed the portholes in out cabin and covered up the windows in the public areas of the ship.  It was a hoot.

 

DON

 

 

Closing the "Deadlights" on the cabin portholes was a standard operating procedure any time we expected some heavy weather. Didn't require the "Old Man's" approval, just a quick call from the Bridge to the Purser's Office. Used to get a fair few complaints when they were closed for many hours.

 

On ship's with fwd windows, we often had steel shutters that were placed over the windows. I recall once on Island Princess, we hit some unforecast weather and the bow dug in, smashing a fwd lounge window. Soaked the lounge. 

[chengkp75]

13 hours ago, donaldsc said:

Google "Rouge waves Mediterranean".

 

DON

"Rogue" waves might get better results.

[MBP&O2/O]

Some of the most ‘vicious’ seas I have experienced have been in the Med.

 

Everything moving towards the Straits of Gibralter and then being almost ‘backlogged’ and bouncing back 😁 🤢🤮

 

Very short and sharp. Exceedingly uncomfortable but all part of being on a ship at sea.

[evandbob]

Since the scopolamine patch has been mentioned as an effective agent against motion sickness, I do want to point out that one side effect for some can be increased thirst.

 

And there are warnings about the using the patch and drinking alcohol.

Edited May 18, 2021 by evandbob

[DirtyDawg]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

"Rogue" waves might get better results.

But "Rouge"  gets you more colourful  waves.😉

 

Edited May 18, 2021 by DirtyDawg

[K32682]

If you get sick on one cruise you can get sick on any of them. There's no point in asking if one sea is calmer than another because there's no guarantee anywhere you go.  Even large inland lakes such as Lake Superior can put up some pretty rough seas.
 

I'm not predisposed to motion sickness but it puzzles me that those who are still insist on cruising. They dope themselves with prescription drugs that can have side effects, wear goofy glasses and magic amulets or pop Gravol and ginger pills. Any vacation I have to dope myself up for isn't a vacation worth taking. 

[ColeThornton]

46 minutes ago, DirtyDawg said:

But "Rouge"  gets you more colourful  waves.😉

 

 

 

The "rouge" waves are in the Red Sea.

 

(sorry)

[DirtyDawg]

21 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

The "rouge" waves are in the Red Sea.

 

(sorry)

LOL 😃

 

BTW Congrats on landing the comedian gig on Carnival.

[MBP&O2/O]

“I'm not predisposed to motion sickness but it puzzles me that those who are still insist on cruising. They dope themselves with prescription drugs that can have side effects, wear goofy glasses and magic amulets or pop Gravol and ginger pills.”

Agree. It amuses me the amount of people who are going on a cruises and they think they ‘might’ be seasick ?  So people tell them to ‘dose up’ as a preventative measure!  Why not wait and see?

The other factor is what ‘motion’ are we talking about?  Morion sickness covers a multitude of sins. Pitching? Rolling? Corkscrew? Big ‘greenies’ over the bow? 😳

 

I have been in the Pacific when we sailed through the remnants of a typhoon. No great problem ... heavy seas and a long slow rolling motion which was regularly hitting 35 degrees of roll ... each way.  Slightly different to a short whipping motion with a small angle of roll.

 

I suffer from ‘motion sickness’ in that I hate roller coasters etc but that ‘motion sickness’ never gave me any problems at sea.