rough waves / Smaller ships

[md80fan]

I was on Oasis last week when due to high winds and rough seas we could not dock at Perfect Day. It was also to first time I could feel the ship rocking in the waves and wind. After a couple of hours of rocking I noticed I was starting to feel a slight nauseous but nothing serious from the motion. I have started looking at other cruises as it is getting a little old to continue to go to St. Thomas and San Juan. In  one of our ports Vision was docked next to us and I was surprised at how small the ship is. In looking at the itinerary it was going to some new and interesting ports. It got me to thinking if the motion and rocking is more noticeable on the smaller ships in rougher seas then on Oasis class ships. On all of my past cruises on Oasis class I have never really felt the ship move except for the last day on this last cruise.  Thoughts from people who have sailed on both the large and small ships during rough weather

[baldilocks]

We have been on the Radiance, Jewel, Granduer and Allure during rough sea moments. You are right that the bigger ships don't 'rock & roll' as much. We were on the Jewel many years back when we got hit with 90 mph winds and seas that went over the 5th deck. Royal closed all the bars, put 'crime scene tape' over all the exits to the decks outside and told everyone to go to their cabins. We got a pretty good 'ride' out of it for about 4 hours. 

[Sunshine3601]

We have been on sailings on Grandeur and Serenade with rough seas and definitely felt it but didn't bother either of us.      We went through 30' swells on Grandeur for most of the night into the morning.   Hardly anyone at the WJ for breakfast, most areas were closed down and just a couple of us at the pool deck by mid morning (was nice sunny day - just rough seas as we were slightly ahead of the storm as we left Barbados).     

 

When booking on a smaller ship try to position yourself in the center of the ship, middle decks then you won't feel it as much when in your cabin.     We love the smaller ships, especially the Radiance Class.   Fear of rough seas would never stop me from booking a smaller ship.    You just never know when bad weather can happen, anywhere in the world. 

[LeeW]

All the Royal ships have stabilizers that minimize roll.  Smaller ships will rock forward/aft when hitting waves a bit more than larger ships.  If you watch the horizon in the solarium you can see even Oasis class ships moving quite a bit.  Slow, so not too noticeable.   

 

We had huge waves in the solarium pool on Radiance to Alaska but they were letting people into it with two foot waves.  Four foot and they closed it so lifeguards could maintain the dams trying to keep water mostly in the pool.  Didn't feel it much walking around.

 

It all depends on direction of waves and wind relative to ship sailing direction.  We've been on large ships with 14' waves and motion was less than small ships with 4' waves.  And often can't feel 10' waves on any ship (except when walking down long halls).

[teddie]

Ships are big, but the ocean is always bigger. My husband loves the roll, pitch and yaw.  
 

teddie

Edited January 22, 2023 by teddie

[silentbob007]

The easy sign of rough weather ahead is when they start putting barf bags in the stairwells.

 

I don't generally take sea-sickness medication for Oasis ships, but I do take it with me just in case.  On cruises where there seems to be a bigger likelihood of rocking and rolling (transatlantics, smaller ships, notoriously rough areas, etc), I will proactively take something like Bonine (non-drowsy) as a once-a-day precaution.

[JsMom2]

The oasis class ships have a shallow draft.  There are only a few decks below water and many more above.  So you do feel the motion more on these ships even though they are so large.  I learned that at Captains corner on Symphony. 

[twangster]

There are waves and then there is swell.

 

Waves are mostly wind driven.

 

Swell can travel hundreds of miles and originate from weather systems far away.  Swell will lift and move ships of all sizes.  A small ship is no better or worse in swell.  The heading of the ship relative to the direction of the swell is one factor in how much it is felt on a ship.  Larger ships also move up and down in swell just as smaller ships do.     

 

There can be multiple swells reaching the ship from different directions.  Depending on how strong each swell is and it's direction when a ship is being hit by multiple swells it can cause even more motion on any ship. large or small.  

 

The smallest ship can sail in glass like seas and have no motion while a larger ship can sail in different conditions and have lots of motion.  A day later another ship following the same route might have no swell.  That doesn't make small ships better or worse, it's a matter of luck and how much this type of motion causes one person to feel it more than another person.  

 

The best way to see swell is with a time lapse video or a video sped up when it's played.  Symphony pitching in some swell while the seas are mostly flat with no wind driven waves to speak of:

 

 

Stabilizers on all ships only control the side to side roll of a ship.  Stabilizers on no ship control pitch or porpoising, the forward/aft up/down motion.  The angle of all swells reaching the ship will influence how effective stabilizers are at that moment in time.

 

In this video from the Symphony crossing in 2018 Captain Rob talks about stabilizers and swell. Start around the 5:25 mark.

 

 

 

[CynBeth6]

I don’t remember which Royal ship we were on but there was a rough night where my other family members felt sick luckily never actually got sick so after that we always have gotten the prescription patch you wear behind the ear.  

[Morecruisesplz]

9 hours ago, md80fan said:

I was on Oasis last week when due to high winds and rough seas we could not dock at Perfect Day. It was also to first time I could feel the ship rocking in the waves and wind. After a couple of hours of rocking I noticed I was starting to feel a slight nauseous but nothing serious from the motion. I have started looking at other cruises as it is getting a little old to continue to go to St. Thomas and San Juan. In  one of our ports Vision was docked next to us and I was surprised at how small the ship is. In looking at the itinerary it was going to some new and interesting ports. It got me to thinking if the motion and rocking is more noticeable on the smaller ships in rougher seas then on Oasis class ships. On all of my past cruises on Oasis class I have never really felt the ship move except for the last day on this last cruise.  Thoughts from people who have sailed on both the large and small ships during rough weather

We sailed on the Grandeur in 30 ft waves and all survived. Dining closed, cabin areas closed. Everyone had to sit in open areas and listen to the wind and waves. The light globes on top of poles on deck all blew off. Fun times!

[Joseph2017China]

Regardless of what ship you are on, if the weather is bad, you will feel it. 

[shipgeeks]

1 hour ago, Joseph2017China said:

Regardless of what ship you are on, if the weather is bad, you will feel it. 

And some of us really enjoy that!

[* Angela *]

On smaller, older ships, like the other posters said, if the weather is bad, you will feel it.  I have been on 30+ cruises and really prone to motion sickness so I just make sure if the weather is going to be bad, I take some travel sickness medication like Bonine and I am usually fine.

[goldfish65]

9 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

And some of us really enjoy that!

 

One thing I admit I had not thought about, while some passengers including me enjoy the motion, the crew's jobs are more difficult and less safe.