Some seas are rough in February. Nobody tells you which.
Ten years of wave records for every stretch of water European cruise ships cross, matched to the week you would actually sail.
The same winter week, two seas
Bay of Biscay8–83%
72
83
77
40
24
16
8
14
33
55
72
78
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Adriatic Sea0–9%
8
9
5
2
1
0
0
0
2
2
7
6
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Both of these are sold as a winter escape. One of them crosses the Bay of Biscay.
ERA5 reanalysis 2015-2024, 10 years
How this works
1
Named waters, not grid squares
Europe is divided into the seas a passenger can recognise, joined at the straits ships have always had to round.
2
Ten years, week by week
Every sea carries the record of how often its waves passed the point where a holiday stops being comfortable.
3
Matched to your sailing
Each itinerary is routed through the real waters it crosses, at the week it departs, not at some annual average.