Please Weigh in on Rough or Calm Seas

[luvtosing]

Having only sailed on very large ships previously, and looking forward to trying Viking, I am eager to hear about which itineraries have the best chances for smooth sailing and which are often a challenge. Currently booked on Neptune for In the Wake of the Vikings and have been a little concerned from some comments here about rough seas during that itinerary. Thank you! 

[Cienfuegos]

The North Sea and the Bay of Biscay (north of Spain, west of France) have had rough seas since the days of the Vikings. Some of the turbulence is the result of post-hurricane tropical waves, usually in the late Summer and Fall.

 

Current Viking ships handle the rough water very well. We sailed through the remains of hurricane Lorenzo with waves crashing on deck 7, and warnings to use handrails, avoid unnecessary travel, etc. Sitting in the Explorer Lounge / Mamsen's with a cup of hot chocolate (my wife) and a beer (me) was delightful.

[Heidi13]

5 hours ago, luvtosing said:

Having only sailed on very large ships previously, and looking forward to trying Viking, I am eager to hear about which itineraries have the best chances for smooth sailing and which are often a challenge. Currently booked on Neptune for In the Wake of the Vikings and have been a little concerned from some comments here about rough seas during that itinerary. Thank you! 

 

The size of a ship has no bearing on how a ship handles heavy weather. How a ship handles seas is based on the design, as the ocean liners I worked on were slightly smaller than the Viking ships, but handled rough seas better than any current ship, with the exception of QM2.

 

We experienced a couple of Tropical Revolving Storms and a deep frontal depression on a Viking ship and it handled the seas well. However, In the Wake of the Vikings does transit the North Sea and North Atlantic, which have the potential for being rough at any time. You also have the potential for missing ports due to weather.

[longterm]

15 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

...does transit the North Sea and North Atlantic, which have the potential for being rough at any time. You also have the potential for missing ports due to weather.

Question: I've been under the impression that June/July are better months for traversing the North Sea;  we're boarding the British Isles Explorer on July 4th. 

 

Am I correct, or is the North Sea in those summer months just as turbulent as other months?

 

(fingers crossed)

 

Thanks,

bob

 

 

[KforKitty]

As others have indicated, you can encounter storms any time of year in the North Sea.  We get the tail end of Atlantic hurricanes in the summer months.

 

Catherine

 

[Heidi13]

49 minutes ago, longterm said:

Question: I've been under the impression that June/July are better months for traversing the North Sea;  we're boarding the British Isles Explorer on July 4th. 

 

Am I correct, or is the North Sea in those summer months just as turbulent as other months?

 

(fingers crossed)

 

Thanks,

bob

 

 

 

June and July have lower probability of storms than the winter months, but storms can be experienced at any time in the North Sea.

[Jim Avery]

I agree with Andy.  Prepare for the worst, hope for the best...  And the infamous Bay of Biscay is the roughest I ever experienced on a passenger ship.  Including years of North Atlantic crossings.  Baaaaad....🥃

[Hobson1754]

We live on the North Sea coast and I can definitely attest to the fact that storms can happen any time.  Our summer in North East England is usually 1 or 2 days in July LOL 😂

[luvtosing]

1 hour ago, Jim Avery said:

I agree with Andy.  Prepare for the worst, hope for the best...  And the infamous Bay of Biscay is the roughest I ever experienced on a passenger ship.  Including years of North Atlantic crossings.  Baaaaad....🥃

What itinerary was Bay of Biscayne? Thanks for the input! 

[Jim Avery]

Queen Mary 2. Southampton to Ft Lauderdale via the Canary Islands and Barbados.

[OneSixtyToOne]

1 hour ago, luvtosing said:

What itinerary was Bay of Biscayne? Thanks for the input! 

Bay of Biscay off the coast of France. Biscayne is Florida.
It’s on Trade Routes of the Middle Ages (a great itinerary). We had rougher seas in the Bay Biscay than our trip around Cape Horn.

Edited January 2 by OneSixtyToOne

[Cienfuegos]

33 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Bay of Biscay off the coast of France. Biscayne is Florida.
It’s on Trade Routes of the Middle Ages (a great itinerary). We had rougher seas in the Bay Biscay than our trip around Cape Horn.

We missed the port of Falmouth on the Cornish coast due to rough seas on our Trade Routes trip.  Too windy to enter the port. The next day we passed through the Bay of Biscay (north of Spain, west of France)  where we encountered the seven deck waves.

[FlyerTalker]

21 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

The size of a ship has no bearing on how a ship handles heavy weather. How a ship handles seas is based on the design,

 

Ding Ding Ding...we have a winner.

 

Wish that more people understood some of the physics involved with ships -- that size, in and of itself, is no indicator of stability or handling capabilities.

 

 

[Reaniel]

19 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Ding Ding Ding...we have a winner.

 

Wish that more people understood some of the physics involved with ships -- that size, in and of itself, is no indicator of stability or handling capabilities.

 

 

 

I think it has to do with the (over) simplistic thinking that more tonnage = more stability for ships.

[OneSixtyToOne]

51 minutes ago, Reaniel said:

 

I think it has to do with the (over) simplistic thinking that more tonnage = more stability for ships.

Octantis was one of the most stable ships I’ve been on. Last October we hit 10-11 on the Beaufort Scale and hardly felt it. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Twitchly]

6 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Bay of Biscay off the coast of France. Biscayne is Florida.
It’s on Trade Routes of the Middle Ages (a great itinerary). We had rougher seas in the Bay Biscay than our trip around Cape Horn.

Loved that cruise. We’d do it again in a heartbeat. Yes, we had quite the swells in Biscay. No storms, sunny skies, but massive swells. Fortunately neither of us got seasick (I took ginger capsules). At one point we sat on the top deck and listened to the crashing of dishes from somewhere below. (Ship tilts waaaaay left — crash crash crash. Then waaaaaaay right — crash tinkle crash.) We felt bad for the staff but I have to admit we enjoyed the experience.

Edited January 3 by Twitchly

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Octantis was one of the most stable ships I’ve been on. Last October we hit 10-11 on the Beaufort Scale and hardly felt it. 

 

 

When dealing with heavy weather, especially in coastal waters, the actual wind speed can be a minor factor in impacting a smooth sailing. Significant heavy weather requires "Fetch", which is the distance wind blows over water in a consistent direction. It is the wind blowing over water for a considerable distance that builds up seas, and then when the wind quits, the resultant is swell. Swells can travel thousands of miles across the ocean.

 

On the photos, you had significant wind speed, identified by the volume of spray, indicating at least Force 9. However, the wave height was very low, due to navigating in coastal waters, with no fetch. With those minimal wave heights, the ship should have been stable, with minimal pitching and no rolling.

 

If you were in the middle of Drake Passage, with sustained winds of 55 - 60 kts, you would have experienced seas of 40 - 50 feet. In the photo, the wave height is difficult to estimate, but best guess is 3 - 5 feet.

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Ding Ding Ding...we have a winner.

 

Wish that more people understood some of the physics involved with ships -- that size, in and of itself, is no indicator of stability or handling capabilities.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, Ship Stability and Ship Construction are rather complex subjects, especially stability, a subject we spent years learning.

 

Jim had the best "Cole's Notes" version of ship construction with the recent bow photo of QE2. For stability, they really don't have a useful Cole's Notes version. To comprehend stability, you need to study Capt Derrett's Ship Stability for Masters & Mates.

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, Reaniel said:

 

I think it has to do with the (over) simplistic thinking that more tonnage = more stability for ships.

 

It isn't overly simplistic thinking, it is inherently incorrect thinking to believe more tonnage = more stability. That would be pax that don't understand physics and haven't played on a "Seesaw" in a kids playground.

 

Greater tonnage means a bigger ship, which means numerous parts of the ship are further from the CoG than on a smaller ship. The further you are from the CoG the more movement you experience, so bigger ships can have more movement than smaller ships.

 

Stability is all about keeping the hull in the water and bringing the ship back upright once it leans over, and equally important is how quickly it is returned upright.

[Frisky070802]

21 hours ago, longterm said:

Question: I've been under the impression that June/July are better months for traversing the North Sea;  we're boarding the British Isles Explorer on July 4th. 

 

Am I correct, or is the North Sea in those summer months just as turbulent as other months?

 

(fingers crossed)

 

Thanks,

bob

 

 

We did the BIE last August, so not quite the same window but a datapoint.  Mild most of the time, rough enough one day to give the tender drivers conniptions, and rough enough another day to cancel a port.   Probably that was the day I almost fell in someone's lap in the theater :) 

[longterm]

2 hours ago, Frisky070802 said:

We did the BIE last August, so not quite the same window but a datapoint.  Mild most of the time, rough enough one day to give the tender drivers conniptions, and rough enough another day to cancel a port.   Probably that was the day I almost fell in someone's lap in the theater 🙂

Which port did you have to skip? We're really hoping to get to see the Orkney and Shetland Islands, but my impression is that these 2 are probably more likely than most to be at risk of a port skip.

[Tas353]

1 hour ago, longterm said:

Which port did you have to skip? We're really hoping to get to see the Orkney and Shetland Islands, but my impression is that these 2 are probably more likely than most to be at risk of a port skip.

I did this cruise last September We did stop in Orkney. It was amazing. We missed Highlands- Ullapool due to weather and missed the Shetland Islands also due to weather. The Ullapool miss was a sea day and instead of the Shetland Islands we went to Stavenger, Norway. 

[Frisky070802]

8 hours ago, longterm said:

Which port did you have to skip? We're really hoping to get to see the Orkney and Shetland Islands, but my impression is that these 2 are probably more likely than most to be at risk of a port skip.

We had Orkney, Belfast, and ullapool swapped out well in advance. They subbed in Stornaway, which was washed out. 

[Twitchly]

7 hours ago, Tas353 said:

I did this cruise last September We did stop in Orkney. It was amazing. We missed Highlands- Ullapool due to weather and missed the Shetland Islands also due to weather. The Ullapool miss was a sea day and instead of the Shetland Islands we went to Stavenger, Norway. 

This was exactly our experience when sailing the previous September.

Edited January 4 by Twitchly

[ericosmith]

On 1/1/2024 at 9:08 PM, Heidi13 said:

The size of a ship has no bearing on how a ship handles heavy weather. How a ship handles seas is based on the design, as the ocean liners I worked on were slightly smaller than the Viking ships, but handled rough seas better than any current ship, with the exception of QM2

Is there a limit to this?  With the advent of yacht like ships carrying around 100 passengers can they be as stable as traditional cruise ships?

Also what is the impact of the new bow design that most of the newer ships have migrated to?  I do find it interesting that Viking doesn't seem to be moving in that direction.