Stable ship for South America

[wwwmarge]

Not sure where to post this.

 

I don't understand about tonnage of a ship but do know they do rock and roll at times. I've been on two ships that people said... OH! You won't feel a thing. Wrong. So I'm never without sea bands for sea sickness.

 

We are planning on a South America Cruise and it's March 8th or March 25, 2007. I'm talking gale force of 7, which is 30-35 feet. This should make me run but, but, but it doesn't always happen.... I guess.

 

Would appreciate your thoughts and comments between NCL or Princess regarding the above.

 

Marge

[kitty9]

When you get around the Falkland Islands or Drake's Passage, it makes no difference how big the ship is, or how good the stabilizers are, you're going to get tossed. Those areas, along with the Tasman Sea, are considered the roughest seas in the world. On a recent Celebrity cruise on the Millennium, they had terrible seas and had to miss at least one port of call. IF you get lucky and are cruising that area when the seas are calm (maybe one day every couple of months), consider yourself lucky because that rarely happens. As for which cruise line, it makes absolutely no difference, if you have force 10 winds and 40+ft seas (which happens all the time in that area), it's going to be rocky. Personally, I don't care at all for NCL because I feel their food and service are below par with most other cruise lines, and Princess is much better in both the food and service areas.

[CruisinMK]

I like both lines, but...

The golden princess is 3 times as big as the norwegian crown, and 1/3 as old. :)

[cruisincousin]

We were on the Regal Princess Jan 8 sailing to Antarctica. We hit some very bad seas force 10 gale. I can tell you that the right ship and stablizers do make a difference. It was rough and some passengers were sick but not nearly as bad as other cruises on other ships with bad seas. I have sailed on the Tasman Sea as well but I cannot believe how well the Regal did on this voyage. The Drake passage was a piece of cake after that storm (started before the Falklands and was with us for two days)

[Keith1010]

I went around the Horn in South Americ last January/February on a relatively small ship, the Seabourn Pride.

 

If you want a large ship, I really don't think it will make a difference whether or not it is the Princess Ship or the NCL. Likely the most important factor at that point is having a captain who has a great deal of experience in sailing this area of the world.

 

Keith

[lynn21]

March 25 is really too late for Cape Horn. Winter is fast approaching and I think even 8 March is leaving it rather late. We were on the Millenium on the 22 January sailing and we were exceptionally lucky with the weather. We made all 6 ports of call and even though we had 7 cold and very windy days, apart from very early one morning when we were still sleeping, the sea was never rough. We had 7 hot/warm days when we were able to sit out on deck. I dont think you would get this in March.

[dileep]

March 25 is really too late for Cape Horn. Winter is fast approaching and I think even 8 March is leaving it rather late. We were on the Millenium on the 22 January sailing and we were exceptionally lucky with the weather. We made all 6 ports of call and even though we had 7 cold and very windy days, apart from very early one morning when we were still sleeping, the sea was never rough. We had 7 hot/warm days when we were able to sit out on deck. I dont think you would get this in March.

 

The morning Lynn is referring to was when the ship left the Straits of Magellan and entered the Pacific Ocean around 4 am.

 

A ship with a wider beam (width) is less likely to be rocked. Millenium details are:

 

 

Ship Facts

Occupancy: 2032

Tonnage: 91,000

Length: 965 ft

Beam: 105.6 ft

Draught: 26.3

[wwwmarge]

I really appreciate all your help. This will be a difficult decision because I have to “get out of town” mid March because of allergies. But this looks like if I want to go to SA and especially BA I need to look at NOV.

 

Are the seas OK in Nov and Dec? Thanks again,

 

Marge

[Keith1010]

I would not worry about sailing around it in March vs. January. When you sail around Cape Horn you should expect it to be choppy. One of the posters said they sailed in January and they were lucky that it was not choppy. I think the key is the word luck. We sailed around the Horn last January towards the end of the month of January and it was very choppy. On our cruise we were able to make all of the ports but on a different ship that sailed just a couple of days apart from us they missed some ports due to the weather. The odds say it will be choppy.

 

Keith

[dileep]

We sailed on Jan 22 and the cruise before and after us both missed at least one port. So, luck is a factor.

 

The penguins arrive in Sept/Oct and start leaving in March. Jan/Feb is a good time for penguin viewing.

[wwwmarge]

Thank you....... excellent point. For whales and penguin I might be able to live with a barf bag 24/7 & 10 gale force.

 

Marge

 

 

 

We sailed on Jan 22 and the cruise before and after us both missed at least one port. So, luck is a factor.

 

The penguins arrive in Sept/Oct and start leaving in March. Jan/Feb is a good time for penguin viewing.

[dileep]

Thank you....... excellent point. For whales and penguin I might be able to live with a barf bag 24/7 & 10 gale force.

 

Marge

 

We took a bottle of 100 Meclizine tablets ($5 at Costco). Celebrity has them at the Guest service's desk too. We did not have to use them. For seasickness you may want to read what a physician friend said to me:

 

Nothing wrong with taking Dramamine or Meclizine. One does not like to take pills prophylactically, because they would make one drowsy and don't mix well with any alcohol. Those are to treat the seasickness if it occurs. The Transderm Scope Patch is more for those that really feel they are going to get sea sick or usually do and take it prophylactically.

[wwwmarge]

I always have Sea Bands either on or near by when I cruise. I hope to be well prepared for gale force seas for this trip. I'm not joking I'm very worried about this and might not go.

 

One year during an El Nino season, I left on Valentine's day for a whale watching week off the western part of Mexico. I had wanted to do this trip for so many years and didn't want to cancel. I had no idea it was going to get so rough. I was on a small fishing boat that held about 30 passengers.

 

The night I boarded the boat this awful storm hit off San Diego, CA. I was only using ginger at that time when 40 foot waves hit us for hours upon hours. I was so sick for 3 days that my "new" room mate had to take care of me and she was 85 yrs. old.

 

Once the storm was over I had the most beautiful trip watching from a small ponga the California whale mothers and their babies. But believe me.... I'll have never use ginger again.

[Aussie Gal]

We were also on the Regal with Cruisincousin and even though it was extremely rough, I felt the ship was a great sailor. Any time down in those waters you can strike bad weather so it is just the luck of the draw.

 

We actually missed three ports on that cruise due to bad weather - Puerto Madryn, Stanley and Chocabuco - but we were also extremely lucky as we had wonderful weather once we got to Antarctica and also it was just so calm sailing around Cape Horn. We also had good weather in Ushuaia and Puerto Montt which can be very wet.

 

One has to take the good with the bad when so far south and I would just take along precautions if you are prone to seasickness because whatever month you go, you can be lucky or unlucky with the weather.

 

Jennie

[serendipity1499]

We were on the "Amsterdam" in Nov/Dec of 04..The seas were unusually calm & my friends DH & my Dh were very disappointed! We are all sailors & they wanted to have high seas, at least when we rounded the horn..But it was not to be..Seas were very flat;)

 

Had a wonderful time..Be sure to take warm clothes as it can get frigid out on deck..Rio & Santiago were in the 80's but it began to get cold in the Falklands & continued to be cold until we started to go up the coast of Chili..One of the best trips we've ever had & would go again in a minute.. :)

[petlover]

We were on the Radisson Mariner (oops....now it's changed to the Regent Mariner) which is 50,000 tons. We rounded the horn Feb. 15th. Like others have reported, we must have hit it lucky as we only had about one hour in the evening where things really got 'rockin and 'rollin! We didn't have to miss any port stops due to weather. We were actually expecting rougher seas but got lucky with seas and weather!

 

I've cruised on NCL and it's not one of my favorites. (we had fun because we had a large family group but IMO, it's all about $$ and we felt nickel and dimed constantly!!) I think you may prefer Princess over NCL. Don't rule out Regent Mariner either. It's a great ship and a great cruiseline!

 

Whatever ship you choose, I think you'll have a great time. It is a fabulous itinerary!

[Druke I]

We were off the Regal Princess, 3-22-06, Buenos Aires to Valparaiso, 'round the Horn.

 

Very smooth, except for one night North along the Chilean coast, when we rocked a bit (not bad).

 

Next year Golden Princess, a larger ship, is doing that run for Princess, and she does not ride as well in rough seas as the Regal Princess. Golden, bigger, has flatter bottom, blunter prow, and it's wind-prone. On our trans-Atlantic on Golden Princess 8-02, we had bow splap spray raining down on our balcony, C-350, and several windows along Prom deck shattered while the ship was flexing in heavy seas and fighting for seaway.

[xpcdoojk]

We were on the HAL Rotterdam Nov 20 thru Dec 6 and we had very good sea conditions even at the Falklands. At Cape Horn we had a lot of wind, but the seas were relatively very flat. After cruising the fjords and the straits of Magellan that night we were shaken awake the next morning by the the ship heading into huge waves in the open pacific ocean. This lasted for about 6 hours until we reentered protected waters. Really, I was kind of hopeful of exciting weather at Cape Horn and we didn't get it. Honestly other than those 6 hours out of 16 days I have not experienced waters any smoother in the Caribbean.

 

jc

[Aussie Gal]

We were off the Regal Princess, 3-22-06, Buenos Aires to Valparaiso, 'round the Horn.

 

Very smooth, except for one night North along the Chilean coast, when we rocked a bit (not bad).

 

Next year Golden Princess, a larger ship, is doing that run for Princess, and she does not ride as well in rough seas as the Regal Princess. Golden, bigger, has flatter bottom, blunter prow, and it's wind-prone. On our trans-Atlantic on Golden Princess 8-02, we had bow splap spray raining down on our balcony, C-350, and several windows along Prom deck shattered while the ship was flexing in heavy seas and fighting for seaway.

 

I totally agree with Druke. The Regal is a great ship for rough waters. I believe that the larger ships that are being built now are not really good rough water "sailors" and I certainly would not like to be on one of those larger ships way down south.

 

Also, I am wondering how the Golden is going to manouvre the narrow channels in Antarctica. The Regal is larger than the Rotterdam and therefore we weren't able to go up the narrower channels that the Rotterdam was doing. Both ships were down there at the same time so we could watch where the Rotterdam was going and wish we were doing the same.

 

Also, some of the channels in the Chilean Fjords are quite narrow and we had to come out into the Pacific ocean a couple of times. I would hate to miss a lot of that beautiful scenery due to being on too large a ship.

 

Jennie