Ocean conditions, British Isles, are North Sea and English Channel always rocky?

[MaxFan]

Hello, my husband and I are looking at the British Isles cruise and are wondering what the stretch between Bergen and the Shetland Islands and travel around the English Channel is like. What I’m wondering is what that stretch of sailing is like. Is it rough seas? Does the ship usually rock due to the waves and wind rocking the boat? Do you need to hold on to the handrails and walls everyday? How likely is that route to be smooth or to have a port skipped due to weather? Is traveling during summer months more likely to have noticeably calmer seas? And any thoughts on conditions around the English Channel? 

 

We recently traveled on the Panama Canal Passage cruise from the Canal to Ft. Lauderdale. We were surprised at the amount of rocking that took place, which was almost every day, and we missed our final port at Cozumel, ending up with three sailing days in a row. So we want to have a better or more realistic idea of what sailing on the British Isles cruise is like.

 

Thank you!

[Heidi13]

58 minutes ago, MaxFan said:

Hello, my husband and I are looking at the British Isles cruise and are wondering what the stretch between Bergen and the Shetland Islands and travel around the English Channel is like. What I’m wondering is what that stretch of sailing is like. Is it rough seas? Does the ship usually rock due to the waves and wind rocking the boat? Do you need to hold on to the handrails and walls everyday? How likely is that route to be smooth or to have a port skipped due to weather? Is traveling during summer months more likely to have noticeably calmer seas? And any thoughts on conditions around the English Channel? 

 

We recently traveled on the Panama Canal Passage cruise from the Canal to Ft. Lauderdale. We were surprised at the amount of rocking that took place, which was almost every day, and we missed our final port at Cozumel, ending up with three sailing days in a row. So we want to have a better or more realistic idea of what sailing on the British Isles cruise is like.

 

Thank you!

 

I can assure you the English Channel is not always rough, as I recall 1 transit when it was like a millpond. Mind you, I have sailed those waters more times than I care to remember.

 

Unfortunately weather is unpredictable, at any time of the year. When working on ships sailing the same itinerary week after week, you quickly realised the weather and seas are rarely the same 2 weeks in a row.

 

When ships are in beam seas, the stabilisers assist in reducing the rolling, but in head or following seas they do nothing to prevent the vessel pitching. So the ship's course in relation to the seas also has an impact on movement.

 

You also didn't mention which month you are cruising, as that can also make a difference.

[MaxFan]

2 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

I can assure you the English Channel is not always rough, as I recall 1 transit when it was like a millpond. Mind you, I have sailed those waters more times than I care to remember.

 

Unfortunately weather is unpredictable, at any time of the year. When working on ships sailing the same itinerary week after week, you quickly realised the weather and seas are rarely the same 2 weeks in a row.

 

When ships are in beam seas, the stabilisers assist in reducing the rolling, but in head or following seas they do nothing to prevent the vessel pitching. So the ship's course in relation to the seas also has an impact on movement.

 

You also didn't mention which month you are cruising, as that can also make a difference.

Hi. If we're going this year, it would be July or August (there is very little still available). That's good to know that at least once the channel was still! I don't know about beam seas or following seas, so I'll have to look that up. Thank you for the response!

 

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, MaxFan said:

Hi. If we're going this year, it would be July or August (there is very little still available). That's good to know that at least once the channel was still! I don't know about beam seas or following seas, so I'll have to look that up. Thank you for the response!

 

 

Beam sea come from the side of the ship, resulting in rolling and following seas are from astern and cause pitching.

[Lady Meer]

We often cruise in British waters including the English Channel, the only port we have missed is Guernsey, Channel Islands. This is a tender port and the pilot was unable to board due to a strong wind but the sea wasn’t ‘rough’.

[MaxFan]

4 hours ago, Lady Meer said:

We often cruise in British waters including the English Channel, the only port we have missed is Guernsey, Channel Islands. This is a tender port and the pilot was unable to board due to a strong wind but the sea wasn’t ‘rough’.

That's good to hear. Thank you!

 

[Goosebear Mum]

I live on the coast of the North Sea, and have done ‘a few’ cruises up from the English Channel to Scandinavia. We’ve had mill ponds and storms. July / August there is more chance of calmer weather but not guaranteed by any chance, summer storms do occur.  

[mbiggers]

Currently onboard the Venus. We were supposed to have two sea days between Amsterdam and Narvik. Yesterday we had 20’ waves and 40mph winds. Last night things got worse. You could not stand without holding onto something. The Captain announced this morning that waves had been over 35’ and he had been forced to greatly reduce speed for safety. We were heading straight into the waves which caused loud bangs and jerking- like trying to sleep on a trampoline while someone was jumping! Due to the slow speed he was canceling the Narvik call and heading up to Tromso. The good news is that things have calmed down to moderate seas this afternoon. Our previous crossing from Tilbury to Stavanger was also rough (also in January).

[Twitchly]

We took the British Isles cruise in September 2022 and missed a couple of ports due to rough seas (Ullapool and the Shetlands). Looking back through many reviews of this cruise, it’s not unusual to miss a port or two. Perhaps in part because tender ports are trickier and require calmer seas? That said, we didn’t have to hold onto rails while walking around the ship.

Take a look at past reviews of cruises that interest you. It’s a great way to see patterns.

Edited January 15 by Twitchly

[MaxFan]

10 hours ago, mbiggers said:

Currently onboard the Venus. We were supposed to have two sea days between Amsterdam and Narvik. Yesterday we had 20’ waves and 40mph winds. Last night things got worse. You could not stand without holding onto something. The Captain announced this morning that waves had been over 35’ and he had been forced to greatly reduce speed for safety. We were heading straight into the waves which caused loud bangs and jerking- like trying to sleep on a trampoline while someone was jumping! Due to the slow speed he was canceling the Narvik call and heading up to Tromso. The good news is that things have calmed down to moderate seas this afternoon. Our previous crossing from Tilbury to Stavanger was also rough (also in January).

Wow, scary! I'm glad I was not on that ship! Good to know that things settled down a little, and that your other rough crossing was in January. Thanks!

[MaxFan]

10 hours ago, Twitchly said:

We took the British Isles cruise in September 2022 and missed a couple of ports due to rough seas (Ullapool and the Shetlands). Looking back through many reviews of this cruise, it’s not unusual to miss a port or two. Perhaps in part because tender ports are trickier and require calmer seas? That said, we didn’t have to hold onto rails while walking around the ship.

Take a look at past reviews of cruises that interest you. It’s a great way to see patterns.

Thanks!

[katlew]

We did the into the midnight sun cruise and sailed from Honningsvåg to Shetland, Orkney, Edinburgh, and then London. It was August and we had incredibly smooth seas and warm weather. We spent a lot of time in the infinity pool outdoors while crossing the North Sea. It's all luck of the draw really.