Steadiness/rockiness of ships

[CJcruzer]

I've noticed that some people who have cruised the megaliners on other lines (Celebrity, Princess) have had some really rocky times at sea, and not while in a storm!!!

 

Are certain ships "balanced" better? or is it just the larger liners are not as steady - I also notice that a lot of these same people now prefer to cruise on smaller ships. Or is it some lines have a ship design that "works" better than others?

 

I found the Westerdam, which I guess is HAL' largest size ship, to be a fabulous cruise - I wish I could be lulled to sleep by the waves every night!!!

 

CJcruzer

[arzz]

With today's modern ships, I do not think that it is the ship that makes the difference (unless there is a problem with the stabilizers -- rare but it does happen). The difference is the seas. High seas do not just correlate to bad weather. It can be quite sunny out but there can be large swells and/or high winds. Seas happen and are not predictable. The majority of the days on the cruises I have taken have been wonderful -- I do miss the constant backround rock of the older ships -- but with today's modern stabalizers significant seas are seldom. However, keep in mind that seas are also relative. What is significant to one cruiser may not be noticed by another.

[RuthC]

...keep in mind that seas are also relative. What is significant to one cruiser may not be noticed by another.

Ain't that the truth! On the Noordam recently I overheard someone talking about how rough the seas were; she felt queezy.

I thought we could have been in a hotel on land for all the motion I could feel.

[jhannah]

It's truly all up to the sea. Arzz pegged it. All ships are built to handle large waves. Just as in a car, a larger ship will ride a bit better. But if the waves are 24' then you're in for a bumpy night.

[Navy_Chief]

Nothing like going to sea on a 550 foot cruiser with a 54 foot beam (oh and fin stablizers? not happining! The only thing stabilized is the Long Range Air Search radar antenna, Satilite antennas, and the ship's Gyro Compass) :D yep I can walk on bulkheads and not get sick doing it :D Hint - Why do they serve so much food on a cruise ship? PS, I have gotten tossed out of my "rack" at night underway. "Rack"=Navy slang for a bunk

[kakalina]

We've been aboard when the green apples and crackers come out along with the "sickness bags" . So far (knock-knock) we have never had even a moment of queasiness. All the motion of the ocean does for us is give us a fabulous nights sleep.

 

We do feel sorry for those affected by rough seas, but we love them, the rougher the better.

 

Trisha

[Copper10-8]

Nothing like going to sea on a 550 foot cruiser with a 54 foot beam (oh and fin stablizers? not happining! The only thing stabilized is the Long Range Air Search radar antenna, Satilite antennas, and the ship's Gyro Compass) :D yep I can walk on bulkheads and not get sick doing it :D Hint - Why do they serve so much food on a cruise ship? PS, I have gotten tossed out of my "rack" at night underway. "Rack"=Navy slang for a bunk

 

H'bout a gator, Chief?:eek:

[Navy_Chief]

H'bout a gator, Chief?:eek:

 

Hehe you can keep that flat bottomed tub John :D Of course they will get you to the beach! Semper Fi Shipmate! Only thing worse is a "Sewer Pipe" on the surface! (I always give em a hard time in the Chief's Mess on the Subase in Groton. Specially those guys hangin' out on COB's Corner :D)

[OldCodger73]

The up and down bucking motion that one experiences in heavy seas doesn't bother me. What gets me is the back and forth rocking motion that one feels from ground swells close to shore when the ship isn't moving.

[bepsf]

The size and shape of a ship's hull have everything to do with how well the ship will ride in rough seas. Stabilizers can only do so much and are really only effective in mitigating roll (side to side rocking motion) - they are rather ineffective at mitigating any yaw (fore/aft rocking motion).

 

Longer hulls will generally ride better as they can bridge larger swells whereas shorter hulls obviously cannot - therefore, QM2 rides better than QE2, just by virtue of the fact that she's longer.

 

There is also a prime ratio of a hull's waterline length to width of approx 8:1 which naturally tends to be more stable (and as a bonus, use fuel more economically) The S-Class ships are quite beam-y - with a hull ratio of slightly less than 7:1 they tend to slam in heavy seas whereas the R-Class ships are closer to 7.5:1, and the Vista's are almost a perfect 8:1, therefore they ride much better in heavy seas.

 

Hulls with deeper drafts also ride better than ships with shallower drafts: Prinsendam has an even shorter hull ratio than the S-Class - about 6:1 - but because she draws a deeper draft (the amount of hull below the waterline) she rides better than any S-Class hull would in the same conditions...

[jhannah]

... they are rather ineffective at mitigating any yaw (fore/aft rocking motion).

I'm not Bill Nye, the Science Guy ... but for today's class I'll point out that the rocking fore and aft (bow up and down) is pitch. Yaw is the rotation around the vertical axis, therefore that would be bow left and right. Class dismissed! ;)

[bepsf]

I'm not Bill Nye, the Science Guy ... but for today's class I'll point out that the rocking fore and aft (bow up and down) is pitch. Yaw is the rotation around the vertical axis, therefore that would be bow left and right. Class dismissed! ;)

 

Thanks for clearing that up for me, Jim - It was late last nite...

;)

[Druke I]

I agree with BEPSF.

 

It all has to do with "hull fineness" - length/beam ratio. Draft if also figured into the equation, along with hull's keel shape.

 

Many of today's megaliners are flat bottomed, and very prone to wind abeam.

 

A hull like the late great Royal Princess, or the Crystal ships, will take to rough water much better than a beamy ship like HAL's Maasdam and sisters.

 

Much too much faith is placed with stabilizers - truth is they are retracted often, as they adversely affect fuel consumption and service speed. Add to that the fact that they tend to pull the hull down by the bow in certain sea states, acting like diving planes on a submarine, and that is not a good thing in a surface ship.

[Copper10-8]

I'm not Bill Nye, the Science Guy ... but for today's class I'll point out that the rocking fore and aft (bow up and down) is pitch. Yaw is the rotation around the vertical axis, therefore that would be bow left and right. Class dismissed! ;)

 

Apple coming up for Jim;)

[bepsf]

Apple coming up for Jim;)

 

...and what do I get?

(No, not a parking ticket...)

[Sunshine91]

As Noordam returned to NYC thru the rough Atlantic seas on her inaugural, crew put out the little white bags near all of the elevators. I snagged a few, hoping they had the HAL logo & "Noordam inaugural voyage" with the date imprinted on them. No such luck :( .

I absolutely LOVED those last couple of days/nights. Thought it was great fun being tossed about in the cabin. John got tossed right out of the bed. I slept right thru that! Never even noticed.

Hey Brian - Heard from M&M? John said if they book for Jan 7 that would be really great. Just 1 more reason for us to book, too. :)

[crayfish]

We were on Statendam's christmas cruise from Auckland to Sydney and encountered one of those fast moving coldfronts, with 40+ knot winds and 20+ ft waves that give the Tasman Sea and the Sydney Hobart Race such a bad reputation, and you are right, the ship did not handle those conditions as well as a a more classical passenger hull would have; the stabilizers took good care of the rolling morion, but the ship did not pitch as gracefully as one would expect from what is still quite a long hull. Our next cruise will be on Prinsendam (the midnight sun cruise to the north Atlantic), and perhaps, if we are lucky, a bit of motion to the south of Iceland. But unlikely to erase the fond memories of a 1944 Maine-built wooden 200ft "ocean" minesweeper in a North Sea gale..

[Copper10-8]

...and what do I get?

(No, not a parking ticket...)

 

H'bout a personalized white paper bag?;)

[Pete Jackson]

I concur with Brian about the Prinsendam; we were amazed by how smoothly she cut through the waves north of Iceland last summer when we encountered some really heavy winds and seas. The captain explained that the Prinsendam's bow cuts into the waves while the boxy R and S class ships are pushed aside by them.

 

Is the reason the larger ships don't have the Prinsendam's shape because the draft would then be too deep for many ports?

[bepsf]

I concur with Brian about the Prinsendam; we were amazed by how smoothly she cut through the waves north of Iceland last summer when we encountered some really heavy winds and seas. The captain explained that the Prinsendam's bow cuts into the waves while the boxy R and S class ships are pushed aside by them.

 

Is the reason the larger ships don't have the Prinsendam's shape because the draft would then be too deep for many ports?

 

That's one reason.

The other reason is that with modular construction, a boxy hull is simpler and therefore cheaper to build than one with curved bows, sterns and keel.

[u4ea]

Hey good thread, ya’ll are clever as a toilet lever.:rolleyes: The roughest seas I experienced was on the north sea on the old Noordam. The sadistic part of me thought it was great having the ship to myself (many seasick). The bummer was they closed the porthole doors, and I love that washing machine effect. Only a piece of glass between you and the fury of the sea.

I’m on the transatlantic crossing (north Atlantic) in three weeks on the Amsterdam, wondering what the sea conditions will be like. Icebergs?:eek:

Mark

[May4]

In reading this thread, I'm reminded of something that sets me to giggling every time. At the conclusion of the Captain's reception, or the Mariner Reception if it's on a formal or informal night, and after we've all had the free hooch, the early seating dinners rise up and start walking toward the diningroom. Many times, there is a side-to-side motion to the ship at that moment.

I watch as the ladies perched on their high heels go ------> and <------

all the way down the hallway and in perfect unison. Fun to be part of and fun to watch.:D

[bepsf]

I’m on the transatlantic crossing (north Atlantic) in three weeks on the Amsterdam, wondering what the sea conditions will be like. Icebergs?:eek:

Mark

 

Dont get your hopes up for a close encounter - nowadays, large 'Bergs are tracked on radar, and I think even marked w/ GPS sensors to track their movements...

[the2ofus]

On another thread I mentioned our Panama Canal cruise on the Regal Princess the week after a hurricane hit Honduras and Guatemala. We had both pitch and yaw going on at the same time. Many folks were seasick, but the waves were not really all that high. I seem to remember the waves were at about 18 feet.

[TJ&Ace]

All of this talk about the ship going up and down and back and forth is making me nervous. My husband and I will be going on our first cruise in November on the Carribean Princess. I am getting skeered! :eek: :(