I was only a child in the 1960s when my family emigrated to Australia and I remember vividly sailing through the Bay of Biscay and I was so sick. Of course, the ships were very much smaller in those days.
I had 2 cruises through there last summer with P&O and MSC. The weather was good, but I was sick on the 2nd trip and missed out on the formal dinner. The ports are very nice, with Vigo, La Coruna and Porto as good as any I've seen.
We feel you Paul, Mark missed out on the 1st formal night on our trip through the Bay. La Coruna in particular is one of our favourite ports this side of the atlantic.
We sailed in the ventura last oct & sailed over the Bay of Biscay & had no problems. We are doing a transatlantic cruise to canada in sept & hoping we'll have a calm voyage.
Although the bay can be a challenge at times, most modern day cruise ships can pass through without too much of a wobble, famous last words😂 my second ever cruise 30 odd years ago was on the Thompson Topaz, oh my god, it was in January coming back from the canaries, the ship was running late and captain took the stabilisers off to make up time, we literally bounced back to Southampton, glasses were smashing everywhere, it was proper scary😂 so now if the ship is swaying a bit going through and people are getting excited/ worried about it? We just laugh, because without any exaggeration, we thought the ship wasn't going to make it, if it had been our 1st cruise, it would have been our last one ever😂
Whenever anyone asks where they should go for their first cruise, we proactively encourage them to not go through the Bay, as like you said, if it is your first cruise, and first full day you end up seasick it could put you off forever, it probably would have us.
Absolutely not. Brittany Ferries make the crossings to Santander constantly (far more than the cruise ships) and whilst it could get a bit bumpy, the captains are very experienced at minimising this. Plus August, in theory, is one of the better months of the year weather wise across the Bay of Biscay.
Hi you two, Linzi sounds like she's crushed about not going to Bordeaux. Thank you for the information. It was very informative. Is there a month that is better to travel through that area, or is it hit or miss? Cheers
Hi Steve and thanks. There's not a guaranteed good time to go, but there are times that the probability of bad weather is far higher. Avoid end of November through end of Feb. Generally May to August is generally good. We've not had a bad crossing at that time of year yet.
Hi Suzie, it night 2 is going across the bay of biscay (which we are assuming it is), then no, we wouldn't recommend it, go with either night 1 or night 3 for a special dinner. Cruising out of La Coruna is lovely. You can always play it by ear though and see how the BOB is behaving (sometimes it can be like sailing on glass) as the speciality dining is normally quieter those days and just do a last minute booking or walk up. Hope this helps, Linzi & Mark
@@SuiteNatured thanks very much for the advice we won't book until the 3rd day probably do the beach hut or greenhouse . We enjoy your videos thanks again 😊
That's right Chris, and it doesn't really matter what time of year you go, it can be smooth or rough, although you edge your bets one way or another if you go in the middle of summer compared to the middle of winter.
We might get that on a t-shirt Rocky :) But you are right, if it looks remotely iffy, we take a seasickness pill and some gingers tablets and are absolutely fine.
