Sea conditions? What to expect in April?

[Shand9219]

Sailing on the Oasis and the itinerary order is (from ft lauderdale) 2 sea days, St kitts, St Maarten and St Thomas then Cococay last. For April 5th. I thought it was strange doing St Kitts first. I noticed RCL doesn't have the itinerary maps so is there any way to find out if we would sail through the Atlantic or through the actually Caribbean sea for this? 

 

Its our first time ever cruising, so I may be asking stupid questions but is there any chance that the sea could be rocky with this route ? I've no idea of the route etc. We've booked deck 12 so I'm wondering if motion sickness might be an issue? I realise nobody can predict the weather but any insight would be helpful from people who know their stuff. I naively assumed it would be smooth sailing in the Caribbean in April 😅 

[crewsweeper]

No one can predict the weather or weather patterns out that far.    Might be like glass, might be in the middle of a storm.   Most likely, if no storms present there will be rolling seas with 2-3 foot swells and the Oasis will just plow merrily through them.

[Shand9219]

14 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

No one can predict the weather or weather patterns out that far.    Might be like glass, might be in the middle of a storm.   Most likely, if no storms present there will be rolling seas with 2-3 foot swells and the Oasis will just plow merrily through them.

Thank you. I guess I'm more wondering if there's a way to find out which way the ship goes 

[smokeybandit]

I can remember like 2-3 days for all the cruises I've been on where I've felt any tangible motion.

[RedIguana]

3 minutes ago, Shand9219 said:

Thank you. I guess I'm more wondering if there's a way to find out which way the ship goes

Assuming April 2025 sailing, itinerary lists route north or Grand Bahamas and then SE to St Kitts. That part of the Atlantic is usually not horribly rough in April. Typical seas are probably 3-5 feet, the Oasis will plow through 8-10 like it is on a lake.

[Fouremco]

It appears that your sailing is in 2025, all the more reason to heed the warning on the itinerary page: *Port sequence may vary by sailing date.

 

With the growing number of cruise ships in the Caribbean and the congestion at many of the more popular ports, there is always the possibility of a changed itinerary as they juggle port availability, particularly for a cruise over two years in the future.

 

As for motion sickness, my wife is quite prone to it but has never had a problem sailing to or from the Eastern Caribbean.

 

*Port sequence may vary by sailing date.

Edited March 10, 2023 by Fouremco

[Shand9219]

55 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

It appears that your sailing is in 2025, all the more reason to heed the warning on the itinerary page: *Port sequence may vary by sailing date.

 

With the growing number of cruise ships in the Caribbean and the congestion at many of the more popular ports, there is always the possibility of a changed itinerary as they juggle port availability, particularly for a cruise over two years in the future.

 

As for motion sickness, my wife is quite prone to it but has never had a problem sailing to or from the Eastern Caribbean.

 

*Port sequence may vary by sailing date.

Thank you this is helpful 

[RedIguana]

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

With the growing number of cruise ships in the Caribbean and the congestion at many of the more popular ports, there is always the possibility of a changed itinerary as they juggle port availability, particularly for a cruise over two years in the future.

While itinerary changes are always possible, the Oasis class ships have fewer ports that can accept them, so I suspect their itineraries are a little more stable than most. Unless my wife is onboard. I have yet to have a cruise with my wife that was not canceled or changed (1 canceled-Big C, at least 4 altered since 2019)  For some reason never an issue when traveling with my daughter....

[crewsweeper]

I will say this, typical wind direction is from the east so chopper heading toward the islands, then returning from.

 

However, that can shift at anytime.  

[Fouremco]

21 minutes ago, RedIguana said:

While itinerary changes are always possible, the Oasis class ships have fewer ports that can accept them, so I suspect their itineraries are a little more stable than most. Unless my wife is onboard. I have yet to have a cruise with my wife that was not canceled or changed (1 canceled-Big C, at least 4 altered since 2019)  For some reason never an issue when traveling with my daughter....

There was a news article that I read recently on Apple News commenting on the increasing number of ships that are the same size or larger than the Oasis class ships, and the problems faced even now trying to accommodate them all. By 2025, the problem will be even worse, as most of the cruise industry's new builds are similar behemoths. RCI's Icon of the Seas is a prime example.

[RedIguana]

I think the 5 oasis class ships are still the largest, at least until Icon starts sailing. MSC probably has the next closest large ship fleet. MSC has been building a few new 180,000 ton (give or take some) every year for a few years. I think they have one over 200,000. It would not surprise me if MSC becomes the first line to build one larger than RCI, if anyone ever does. CCL and NCL have jumped into the 175,000 ton ships also.  I'm not sure if the actual number of ships sailing the next few seasons is down a bit due to the number scrapped over Covid, but passenger counts are probably higher because of increased ship size. I think they are reaching the point where they can upgrade the port facilities to handle the ship size, but not be able to handle the passenger load without overwhelming the local populace. I personally prefer 2500-3500 passenger ship size over the oasis class size. It's only been 35 years since the sovereign class came out at 70,000 tons and was considered huge. 

[rockmom]

3 hours ago, Shand9219 said:

Sailing on the Oasis and the itinerary order is (from ft lauderdale) 2 sea days, St kitts, St Maarten and St Thomas then Cococay last. For April 5th. I thought it was strange doing St Kitts first. I noticed RCL doesn't have the itinerary maps so is there any way to find out if we would sail through the Atlantic or through the actually Caribbean sea for this? 

 

Its our first time ever cruising, so I may be asking stupid questions but is there any chance that the sea could be rocky with this route ? I've no idea of the route etc. We've booked deck 12 so I'm wondering if motion sickness might be an issue? I realise nobody can predict the weather but any insight would be helpful from people who know their stuff. I naively assumed it would be smooth sailing in the Caribbean in April 😅 

April of 2025?   That's the only time I see that itinerary on Oasis.   I'm on that sailing.  That's a long time from now.  🙂  

[rockmom]

3 hours ago, Shand9219 said:

Sailing on the Oasis and the itinerary order is (from ft lauderdale) 2 sea days, St kitts, St Maarten and St Thomas then Cococay last. For April 5th. I thought it was strange doing St Kitts first. I noticed RCL doesn't have the itinerary maps so is there any way to find out if we would sail through the Atlantic or through the actually Caribbean sea for this? 

 

Its our first time ever cruising, so I may be asking stupid questions but is there any chance that the sea could be rocky with this route ? I've no idea of the route etc. We've booked deck 12 so I'm wondering if motion sickness might be an issue? I realise nobody can predict the weather but any insight would be helpful from people who know their stuff. I naively assumed it would be smooth sailing in the Caribbean in April 😅 

This is not a map of our sailing, but similar.  This is the way they head to the eastern Caribbean.  Oasis will leave Fort Lauderdale and head southeast until they get to Basseterre. I've sailed in spring and had very calm seas, sailed in spring and had wind and waves.  You can't predict the weather (although you CAN avoid booking during hurricane season, lol)   On Symphony last March, they had to close the pools and upper outer decks from the wind.  The Oasis class ships are big, they do fine in very choppy seas and you don't feel it nearly as much as you would on a smaller ship. It's actually kind of cool to see the ocean all crazy like that.  

 

[orville99]

4 hours ago, Shand9219 said:

Thank you. I guess I'm more wondering if there's a way to find out which way the ship goes 

 

[Biker19]

8 hours ago, Shand9219 said:

I guess I'm more wondering if there's a way to find out which way the ship goes

You can look on cruisemapper and you can see the actual track O class ships take for Eastern routes, like Wonder this week.

[lkg276]

Just get your Dr to prescribe some patches. I cut mine in half, works great for 3 days then my body is use to the motion. https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a682509.html

[Shand9219]

18 hours ago, rockmom said:

April of 2025?   That's the only time I see that itinerary on Oasis.   I'm on that sailing.  That's a long time from now.  🙂  

Yes thats the one. We're doing a trip to Disney april 2024 and had to reschedule our 2024 cruise due to work commitments. So when the Oasis popped up for 2025 and I decided to move to that one to get on the ship. I realise it seems a long time in advance especially for people in the US. But it all gets expensive for a family of 4 coming from the UK to cruise and fly.

[Shand9219]

12 hours ago, Biker19 said:

You can look on cruisemapper and you can see the actual track O class ships take for Eastern routes, like Wonder this week.

Oh I didn't know this thanks I'll check it out

[Shand9219]

16 hours ago, orville99 said:

 

Thank you 

[Shand9219]

17 hours ago, rockmom said:

This is not a map of our sailing, but similar.  This is the way they head to the eastern Caribbean.  Oasis will leave Fort Lauderdale and head southeast until they get to Basseterre. I've sailed in spring and had very calm seas, sailed in spring and had wind and waves.  You can't predict the weather (although you CAN avoid booking during hurricane season, lol)   On Symphony last March, they had to close the pools and upper outer decks from the wind.  The Oasis class ships are big, they do fine in very choppy seas and you don't feel it nearly as much as you would on a smaller ship. It's actually kind of cool to see the ocean all crazy like that.  

 

The information you've given me is very helpful. I posted this in the oasis facebook group and some people got very rude asking did I want a time traveller to tell me the weather. Im not asking the weather forecast.

 

Just anything on the route and the potential conditions if sailing the altantic at that time of year. This is exactly the info I wanted so thank you.  I get travel sick too, so on one hand I'd kind of love a stormy sea day experience, but on the other hand no lol.

[orville99]

44 minutes ago, Shand9219 said:

Just anything on the route

Just to close the loop on this, the map I posted is the route shown for an April 2025 Oasis Eastern cruise that visits the ports you listed. I have found the routes published by this site to be very accurate overall.

Edited March 11, 2023 by orville99

[resetjet]

Not to freak you out,  but that area of the atlantic can be pretty rough in spring.  However the big “O” is twice as wide as a normal ship so i have yet to have a bad cruise on an oasis class ship. You will likely feel some movement but not to the point of seasickness.  Bring some patches or pills.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

22 hours ago, Shand9219 said:

Sailing on the Oasis and the itinerary order is (from ft lauderdale) 2 sea days, St kitts, St Maarten and St Thomas then Cococay last. For April 5th.

in 2025?

Nobody can tell this far in advance, but we always sail the Caribbean itineraries the first week of April (school holiday), and we've never had bad weather. With the climate changes - who knows what it's going to be like in 2 years.

[Shand9219]

8 minutes ago, resetjet said:

Not to freak you out,  but that area of the atlantic can be pretty rough in spring.  However the big “O” is twice as wide as a normal ship so i have yet to have a bad cruise on an oasis class ship. You will likely feel some movement but not to the point of seasickness.  Bring some patches or pills.

Thanks honestly this is helpful regardless 

[Shand9219]

1 minute ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

in 2025?

Nobody can tell this far in advance, but we always sail the Caribbean itineraries the first week of April (school holiday), and we've never had bad weather. With the climate changes - who knows what it's going to be like in 2 years.

Thanks. It's not a weather forecast I'm wanting. I'm of course aware nobody could possibly predict two years in advance. Just experiences sailing on Oasis beginning of April.  And if it would be atlantic or carribean sea we'd sail. Some people have probably done this type of sailing many times on here I'd imagine. I've had really helpful advice I needed so far on this thread though.