Another sea conditions question - this time Western Europe

[Chrislovesdisney]

I just recently asked about the North Sea sea conditions for my DH who is very prone to sea sickness. Seems like the Norwegian fjords cruise isn’t a good idea. My second choice would be the Western Europe cruise, which runs alongside Spain /Portugal from Barcelona to its northwest tip, then to Southampton. I know the Bay of Biscay can be hit or miss but any other thoughts on how the seas are around Spain in July? For comparison, DH was fine in the Alaska inner passage but very sick the day between Vancouver and the passage, when it was more open sea (we did also have bad weather).

 

[Disturbia]

I just recently asked about the North Sea sea conditions for my DH who is very prone to sea sickness. Seems like the Norwegian fjords cruise isn’t a good idea. My second choice would be the Western Europe cruise, which runs alongside Spain /Portugal from Barcelona to its northwest tip, then to Southampton. I know the Bay of Biscay can be hit or miss but any other thoughts on how the seas are around Spain in July? For comparison, DH was fine in the Alaska inner passage but very sick the day between Vancouver and the passage, when it was more open sea (we did also have bad weather).

Not sure about the above (never cruised there) but I was reading about Mediterranean cruises and there is a new emissions tax (Barcelona; Venice banned cruise ships) and port closures for environmental cleanup and limited cruise docking (sudden port cancellations)

https://www.travelpulse.com/news/cr...celona-seeks-to-curb-cruise-ship-traffic.html

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Not sure about the above (never cruised there) but I was reading about Mediterranean cruises and there is a new emissions tax (Barcelona; Venice banned cruise ships) and port closures for environmental cleanup and limited cruise docking (sudden port cancellations)

https://www.travelpulse.com/news/cr...celona-seeks-to-curb-cruise-ship-traffic.html

Venice hasn't banned cruise ships but they do only allow ones of certain sizes dock in the heart of Venice.

Our cruise starts in Venice and the ship is just under 42,000 tonnes and typically docks in either Marghera or Fusina seems to be Fusina more recently. Rarely have they had to do a complete port switch (as in it changes on your itinerary) to Trieste.

Unless something has changed that's what I'm aware of. Our cruise isn't until July but so far nothing has been advised to change. For our particular cruise company they have you meet at the port on Venice island and they bus to the port where the ship is at.

 

[Marc D]

OP, unfortunately, the only place where you can pretty much guarantee a smooth sailing is the inside passage in Alaska. The days to and from Vancouver on an Alaska cruise are on open seas, just like any other cruise by DCL. There are usually smoother and rougher spots but everything depends on the weather.

We've sailed all around the Med, the British Isles, the Baltic, the Caribbean and Alaska. Our roughest seas ever were on an evening after leaving Casablanca in Morocco, heading for Gibraltar. The Gulf of Mexico has also been a good spot for heavy movement, probably because ships go full-speed ahead to cross it. The fact is that cruise ships need to get outside of continental waters to dump grey water and pump water for desalination. That's why they don't hug the coastlines. The second they cross over to deeper waters, nothing is guaranteed.

 

[KDG]

We did the Western Europe cruise in 2019. The roughest seas we had were the night we left Lisbon and headed for France. There is a current we were battling that parallels the coast and we encountered large swells during the night. It wasn’t alarming but we walked near walls so we could balance when needed.

We had smooth as glass seas in the Mediterranean and we passed through the strait of Gibraltar in the middle of the night so didn’t see the famous rock.

Of the 3 European cruises we have been on (Baltic, Western Europe and British Isles), this was our roughest passage.

 

[Chrislovesdisney]

Thank you all for your responses. We are going to give the Western Europe (Barcelona to Southampton) a try. We love that it’s a different itinerary and places we’d likely not go on our own to see. I’ll send DH down for medical support if the waters get choppy.

 

[Hubie]

We did Norway and the Baltic twice and had no rough sea experiences. Only rough day was when crossing the Gulf on the WBPC cruise.

 

[auntlynne]