Caribbean Princess - Question On Smoothness

[pxgrant]

Hi there - we are sailing over Thanksgiving week for my husband's 60th birthday. Most of the Reviews are wonderful and we are really getting excited. The only question I have for those of you that have sailed this beauty before - is she more "rocky" :confused: than other ships. The Costa Atlantica only had one bad day which we were able to tolerate, but several of these reviews say that the ship doesn't handle the seas very well. I'm wondering if it's attributed to all of the tropical storms!!?? Please post replies - I'm wondering if I should get a patch, just in case. Thanks - and please look us up.

 

:p

[rickdeb]

We were on the extended 9/18 sailing on the CB. Hardly noticed any movement except for one day. Swells were around 12ft and the ship was travelling around 20-22 knots. Lots were ill that morning. We were not - in fact we found it quite fascinating to watch the waves and the ship bounce. The water in the main pools created lots of fun with the motion of the ship.

 

I have seen other postings indicating problems, but then everyone is different and react differently to motion.

 

Debbie

[Michael Kays]

We were just on the 10/23/2004 Caribbean Princess cruise to Eastern Caribbean..it was not smooth..not intolerable, but you knew the ship was rocking..not port to starboard, but fore to aft..in the pools you definitely noticed as waves were going back and forth from one end of the pool to the other..

 

I have heard the newer architectural design for ships hulls, using flatter hulls with thrusters to allow them to maneuver into shallow ports, where before they needed to tender you in, has caused increased motion..

 

I get seasick really easy on a small boat..but on a cruise ship it doesn't seem to effect me..but if I were you I'd take a patch just in case..lots of passengers on board were wearing them.

 

life is a beach~

[tom-n-jules]

We were on the Grand and it was pretty smooth except for one night. I've done both the patch and Bonine. Fair warning.....the patch works great for sea sickness, but dehydrates you terribly! I took one Bonine per day and have never had a problem. :)

[CruiseFever]

Hi there - we are sailing over Thanksgiving week for my husband's 60th birthday. Most of the Reviews are wonderful and we are really getting excited. The only question I have for those of you that have sailed this beauty before - is she more "rocky" :confused: than other ships. The Costa Atlantica only had one bad day which we were able to tolerate, but several of these reviews say that the ship doesn't handle the seas very well. I'm wondering if it's attributed to all of the tropical storms!!?? Please post replies - I'm wondering if I should get a patch, just in case. Thanks - and please look us up.

 

:p

I don't know if you'll have a motion discomfort issue to deal with or not but I know that on our sailing of the Caribbean Princess that it was no more or less "smooth" than any other sailing. Maybe less. There are some extra passengers on that one, maybe their weight holds it down better?

[spongerob]

All of the Grand-class ships pitch (bounce up-and-down) quite noticeably when the waves start getting large. It's probably true of any vessel that has relatively shallow draft and no real keel. Rolling is handled easily by the stabilizers, usually most of what you feel is the stabilizer biting and counteracting the roll. The vast majority of people quickly get used to the sense of motion after a day or two and have no difficulties with motion sickness.

[LVIGGIANI]

We just got off the CP this Sat. And it was rocky, from FLL till we reached San Juan. It was tolerable, but I could not stand the rocking any more. I did have a patch on, my husband did not. I did notice she was more rocky than the Grand Princess, and she makes a lot of noises. But we did have rough seas, and the winds were going across the ship and were quite strong.I did not see anyone get sick though. A lot of people seem to like the rocking back and forth. We had smooth sailing from San Juan all the way back to FLL.

[beachlovergirl]

Our 10/16 sailing on the Caribbean Princess was very smooth.....probably the smoothest sailing ever for us. No need for Bonine that week, but we brought it just in case! Wouldn't use the patch....too many side effects....it effected our vision and had dry mouth too!

[taxatty]

We were on the extended 9/18 sailing on the CB. Hardly noticed any movement except for one day. Swells were around 12ft and the ship was travelling around 20-22 knots. Lots were ill that morning.

Debbie

If anyone knows of a ship with no movement in these types of conditions, please let me know!

Les

[meab]

we were also on the 10/30 caribbean princess. there was some slight motion from FLL to SJU, but the worst was the noise from the ship. we were on the plaza deck, and it was so loud we couldn't even sleep. it sounded like the hull was being sheared off. they told us it was from rocky seas, but we thought maybe there was some kind of problem with the stabilizers.

 

no problems with any motion sickness at all though.

[jparcell]

We sailed on the Golden last April, and although many wrote on the boards about motion, we rarely felt much motion at all. There was one sea day that was somewhat cloudy, windy and rainy, but the motion we felt that day was very tolerable. I am prone to motion suckness, so I wore a patch the entire cruise. The windy day we had, the motion actually put me to sleep. These ships are huge and they handle the seas well. No one in my family had any discomfort at all. The gentle rocking was very relaxing.

Enjoy your cruise!

[marktac]

It is a large ship....a very large ship. It is in water. Water is very fluid, meaning that it moves around. There are waves out there, especially when traversing the Gulf Stream, as the CP does every week at one place or another. Add it all together and the ship will move. There is no such thing as a ship that doesn't.

 

For me, that is part of the fun of cruising. If you get woozy riding in the back seat of your car to the cruise, then you will probably do so while on board. If you don't then you will have a fine time.

 

The thing that helps me through the post-cruise depression is the two or so days after the cruise when I find myself swaying back and forth while standing in place, or even walking somewhere.

 

Counting the days until our April, 2005 excursion on the CP

 

Mark T.

[jandiart]

Just returned on Saturday. The Caribbean Princess did have some real rocking from Fort Lauderdale to San Juan. Our cabin was dead center of the ship on the Baja deck. We did not hear the noises that other people have written about. Our cabin was very quiet and we were rocked to sleep. We also did not experience the vibration that was felt in the rear of the ship. All in our party used "sea bands". Not one of us even felt queasy. They do work well. These are wristlets that have a button that is placed over a pressure point on your wrists. They cost about 7-10 dollars for a pair and they can be used over and over again. No medicines needed. Before using them we always had some queasy times on ships. We have been using them since 1990 and have gone on about 15 cruises since then and have never felt sick at all. Also, the most stable ship that we have been on was the Radiance of The Sea (Royal Caribbean). The Horizon stayed still even when there were waves of 12-15 feet. Occassionally we would hear a loud thud when the stabilizer kicked in, but the ship did not rock.

[pejay]

I noticed a lot of motion on the 10/09 Caribbean Princess cruise....many on board also felt there was more than usual movement. On the Golden in Feb. I only noticed movement in the Princess Theater, but on the CP it was felt on most of the ship.