Transatlantic Question Please

[OperaJoe]

Have done two TAs the last two years - Caribbean Princess from NY to Southampton in May 2012 and Liberty of the Seas from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona April 8 to 20 2013. I generally enjoy sea days, but this time around, I did find 8 sea days in a row to be a bit too long. As a bit of a news junkie, the toughest for me was no CNN for 6 days in the middle of the Atlantic. I bought the biggest internet package they offered, but had to get online mostly late at night or early in the morning to get decent connectivity, so that was frustrating.

 

On the plus side, I didn't have any seasickness at all, not even the TA last year from Halifax to Dublin when it was very choppy. This time on the Liberty, the sea was really quite calm 80% of the time. We had Anytime Dining, but ended up having the same table for two and same time every evening. Didn't mind that at all. For breakfast and lunch we ate at the MDR as much as possible, and shared tables with some very nice people. Overall it was a very enjoyable experience. For one thing, it forced me to relax and not answer every single email that came in instantly... a bad habit of mine, I know :-)

[stompy]

Hi, it is an eastbound. New Orleans to Barcelona, 16 nights. April 26 to May 12,

 

2014. AFT cabin ( first time for us also ) wondering if to expect very high seas etc.?

Thank You:)

 

While we don't care for NOLA as a departure port we had a very nice cruise. See pics on the link in my email sig.

 

No high seas on our cruise - love AFTS

[ombrelle]

Have done two TAs the last two years - Caribbean Princess from NY to Southampton in May 2012 and Liberty of the Seas from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona April 8 to 20 2013. I generally enjoy sea days, but this time around, I did find 8 sea days in a row to be a bit too long. As a bit of a news junkie, the toughest for me was no CNN for 6 days in the middle of the Atlantic. I bought the biggest internet package they offered, but had to get online mostly late at night or early in the morning to get decent connectivity, so that was frustrating.

 

On the plus side, I didn't have any seasickness at all, not even the TA last year from Halifax to Dublin when it was very choppy. This time on the Liberty, the sea was really quite calm 80% of the time. We had Anytime Dining, but ended up having the same table for two and same time every evening. Didn't mind that at all. For breakfast and lunch we ate at the MDR as much as possible, and shared tables with some very nice people. Overall it was a very enjoyable experience. For one thing, it forced me to relax and not answer every single email that came in instantly... a bad habit of mine, I know :-)

 

We have 11 days at sea!:eek:I'm not worried about me, but my husband might be a little bored, especially with no CNN!:eek:That's all he seems to watch, especially of late. Are the movies any good on board? Were you able to use your balcony even in rough seas? Any sun on an Eastbound AFT port side balcony?

 

Thank you

[MadManOfBethesda]

Hi everybody,

 

Booked a Transatlantic, first time for us, very nervous about it. Love to cruise, but always had intensive port itineraries.

 

For the ones who have already done this, did you enjoy it?

 

My wife and I thoroughly enjoy transatlantic voyages. Last April, we sailed on Grandeur from Miami to Malaga. The year before, we actually did three TAs in the same year on three different cruiselines. In April, we sailed HAL's Noordam from Ft. Lauderdale to Rome. In October, we flew to Barcelona and boarded Voyager for it's westbound trip from Barcelona to New Orleans. We spent a few nights in New Orleans, flew home to Las Vegas, and then the following week flew to Rome to board Celebrity's Equinox for its TA from Rome to Ft. Lauderdale.

 

We've usually had extremely good weather on all of our TAs. Of the above four TAs, weather only came into play on one of them: Due to a storm southwest of Spain, the captain of the Voyager made a decision to change our last port of call from Punta Delgado in the Azores to Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Then, after we crossed the Atlantic, he sailed around a storm in the Caribbean before we arrived in N.O.

 

Other than the above, we've had perfect weather. In fact, sometimes the Atlantic seemed as smooth as a lake. I've never taken a TA through the north Atlantic, but I understand that one may encounter rougher seas on those voyages as opposed to ones going to/from the Mediterranean.

[ticktoneer]

We have 11 days at sea!:eek:I'm not worried about me, but my husband might be a little bored, especially with no CNN!:eek:That's all he seems to watch, especially of late. Are the movies any good on board? Were you able to use your balcony even in rough seas? Any sun on an Eastbound AFT port side balcony?

 

Thank you

We had CNN onboard !!!

[Markanddonna]

We stopped at Tenerife on our last cruise. One of our roll call folks set up a wonderful tour of Teide National Park. It is a very unique island and a tour like that will give you the best of what the island has to offer.

 

We also stopped at Cartegena and really enjoyed walking around the town and also got some shopping done there. It is very clean and walkable. We didn't take a tour of the Roman Theatre because we thought it was closed but discovered you could see it very well from the farther side. We walked up the hill and got some great photos.

 

Fox was the TV channel on our RCL TA. I bet it depends which port you leave from and the demographics. This group would have probably disliked CNN.

 

I never tired of sea days and am a TA lover. I'm going on an Alaskan cruise next month and lamenting that it is only 7 days.

[ombrelle]

You guys are great!:) Keep the encouragement flowing!:)

 

Thank you

[LarryL]

One of the things we did every day was join in on the daily, progressive trivia contest in the Sphinx. We had a regular team of 5. The place was packed every day and it was a lot of fun.

[baldercash]

Did NOLA to Barcelona on Voyager last spring 16 days and similar itinerary. A great sail and we stayed in an apartment in the Gothic district for a week and flew back.

An apartment is the way to go, lots of benefits in cooking and enjoying down time after a day sight seeing. The city is easy to move around on the subway and bus system. Ten rides for 10e and the card can be shared.

 

Just got off Navigator 15 days from NOLA and we are spending a week in Rome in a apartment in the Piazza Navona area a block from the Pantheon.

We had 8 sea days in a row the longest yet but they passed in a blur in a deck 9 rear balcony. We could not get my time dinning which meant 5:30 dinning we arranged with the Head waiter to arrive late at 6:00, no problem.

 

While on board I booked the Sept 1st 2014 Oasis Ft.Lauderdale to Barcelona and it's Oct 15th Rotterdam to Ft. Lauderdale return. Will spend a month in Europe traveling between cruises.

Booking was a night mare the morning of the release but I sat at the desk at 7:00am and got the same hump cabin I wanted both ways.

 

View the Trans Atlantic cruise as an alternative to air travel.

The only down side is the 7 days you loose an hour in, really can mess up your sleep pattern.

[OperaJoe]

We have 11 days at sea!:eek:I'm not worried about me, but my husband might be a little bored, especially with no CNN!:eek:That's all he seems to watch, especially of late. Are the movies any good on board? Were you able to use your balcony even in rough seas? Any sun on an Eastbound AFT port side balcony?

 

Thank you

 

I admit I was bored during the eight sea days with no CNN The only news channel was Fox, not something I normally watch :eek: I doesn't makte much sense to me why one news channel would be available and not the other... O well. The movies are not very good I am afraid - didn't watch a single one. The Turner Movie Channel played the same ones over and over again. Thank goodness I brought lots of movies with me to play on my tablet :D As to balcony - we didn't really use it much because from Halifax to Dublin, it was windy and occasionally rainy, with lots of white caps and 10 meter swells. The Ft Lauderdale to Barcelona trip was much better, with calmer seas but still cold. Personally I think a balcony on a TA is a waste of money...

[baldercash]

I admit I was bored during the eight sea days with no CNN The only news channel was Fox, not something I normally watch :eek: I doesn't makte much sense to me why one news channel would be available and not the other... O well. The Ft Lauderdale to Barcelona trip was much better, with calmer seas but still cold. Personally I think a balcony on a TA is a waste of money...

Funny how a news station can be a problem, I can watch either CNN or Fox and take both with a grain of salt and adjust for bias. Fox is far more entertaining though.

 

You are wrong on use of a balcony on a TA. I thought the same after having done 5 trans-Atlantics 2 inside, 2 Ocean view and 1 side balcony.

Last year we met a couple who invited us on their rear balcony for drinks one night and it was wonderful.

We just did a deck 9 rear balcony on Navigator and we were on it every day and most evenings. With the over hang we could go out even if raining, we went out 1st thing every morning to have a coffee and judge the weather for the day. Breeze is minimal on the back, booked a spring crossing on Legend for the spring 2014 on the rear. We believe the difference price is well worth the small difference in price with the Diamond balcony discount.

 

I think insides are $500+ and ours was about $800 I will take the fresh air extra light and added space for that.

We had 8 people on our balcony for a party passing through Gibraltar all of them in Ocean views and insides.

[OperaJoe]

You are wrong on use of a balcony on a TA. I thought the same after having done 5 trans-Atlantics 2 inside, 2 Ocean view and 1 side balcony.

Last year we met a couple who invited us on their rear balcony for drinks one night and it was wonderful.

We just did a deck 9 rear balcony on Navigator and we were on it every day and most evenings. With the over hang we could go out even if raining, we went out 1st thing every morning to have a coffee and judge the weather for the day. Breeze is minimal on the back, booked a spring crossing on Legend for the spring 2014 on the rear. We believe the difference price is well worth the small difference in price with the Diamond balcony discount.

 

I do agree that AFT balconies may be more usable on a TA as there is likely less wind and rain due to its position and the overhang. We may give that a try sometime, especially a more southern crossing.

[MadManOfBethesda]

The only down side is the 7 days you loose an hour in, really can mess up your sleep pattern.

 

On some of the TAs we've been on, the time change was done in the afternoon, moving the clocks forward from

2pm -> 3pm rather than the traditional early morning 2am -> 3am. At first, I thought that it was strange, but then it was explained to me that this was done for the benefit of the crew moreso than the passengers, so that they didn't lose an hour of sleep each night. Even so, it enabled the passengers to keep their usual sleep patterns as well.

[ombrelle]

Did NOLA to Barcelona on Voyager last spring 16 days and similar itinerary. A great sail and we stayed in an apartment in the Gothic district for a week and flew back.

An apartment is the way to go, lots of benefits in cooking and enjoying down time after a day sight seeing. The city is easy to move around on the subway and bus system. Ten rides for 10e and the card can be shared.

 

Just got off Navigator 15 days from NOLA and we are spending a week in Rome in a apartment in the Piazza Navona area a block from the Pantheon.

We had 8 sea days in a row the longest yet but they passed in a blur in a deck 9 rear balcony. We could not get my time dinning which meant 5:30 dinning we arranged with the Head waiter to arrive late at 6:00, no problem.

 

While on board I booked the Sept 1st 2014 Oasis Ft.Lauderdale to Barcelona and it's Oct 15th Rotterdam to Ft. Lauderdale return. Will spend a month in Europe traveling between cruises.

Booking was a night mare the morning of the release but I sat at the desk at 7:00am and got the same hump cabin I wanted both ways.

 

View the Trans Atlantic cruise as an alternative to air travel.

The only down side is the 7 days you loose an hour in, really can mess up your sleep pattern.

 

Baldercash,

 

We are going on a cruise in the Med, leaving May 3 ( next week! )Leaves us in Savona, so we rented a sea view apartment in Nice for 10 days. I think we are more excited about that than the cruise itself!. Would you like to share the info on the apartment you stayed in Barcelona? Did it have a balcony?

Thank you!:)

[LarryL]

As far as the news channels on ships, CNN or Fox, it was nice to be able to exist, if only for a 7 or 8 days on a TA, without the news. If anything extreme happened, we check our email periodically. I have to agree, CNN has become more of an opinion network, like Fox, and has almost followed the same pattern of becoming the news instead of reporting it. Now what? I think 24 hour news has been a detriment because on the slow news days they have to come up with something and it usually has nothing to do with news or they begin to insert extremist ideas (both sides) that have no real value.

 

We had a balcony and couldn't imagine not having one for a transatlantic. OMBRELLE, if you decide on a balcony for your transatlantic the eastbound balconies are best on the starboard side if you want any measure of sun. We were on the westbound and chose a portside balcony and got plenty of sun. For my wife's birthday we had the romance package and the balcony was a nice place to have our "breakfast in bed".;)

[ombrelle]

As far as the news channels on ships, CNN or Fox, it was nice to be able to exist, if only for a 7 or 8 days on a TA, without the news. If anything extreme happened, we check our email periodically. I have to agree, CNN has become more of an opinion network, like Fox, and has almost followed the same pattern of becoming the news instead of reporting it. Now what? I think 24 hour news has been a detriment because on the slow news days they have to come up with something and it usually has nothing to do with news or they begin to insert extremist ideas (both sides) that have no real value.

 

We had a balcony and couldn't imagine not having one for a transatlantic. OMBRELLE, if you decide on a balcony for your transatlantic the eastbound balconies are best on the starboard side if you want any measure of sun. We were on the westbound and chose a portside balcony and got plenty of sun. For my wife's birthday we had the romance package and the balcony was a nice place to have our "breakfast in bed".;)

 

Larry, We booked an AFT cabin Port side the only one we could get at the time, it's a corner cabin Deck 8. Do you think it makes a difference sun wise? Do all AFT cabins get the same amount of sun?

 

Thank you

[LarryL]

Larry, We booked an AFT cabin Port side the only one we could get at the time, it's a corner cabin Deck 8. Do you think it makes a difference sun wise? Do all AFT cabins get the same amount of sun?

 

Thank you

 

I would be thrilled with an aft cabin, especially on an ocean crossing. I think you'll get plenty of afternoon sun and, as a bonus, see some amazing sunsets. I'm jealous.:o I think you made a great choice in cabins.

[ombrelle]

I would be thrilled with an aft cabin, especially on an ocean crossing. I think you'll get plenty of afternoon sun and, as a bonus, see some amazing sunsets. I'm jealous.:o I think you made a great choice in cabins.

 

Thank you Larry, I'm so happy, first for us, must have been my lucky day! I hope this won't spoil us forever!:D

[LarryL]

One observation I made, on our TA, was that the lounges had a tendency to develop their own clientele during the cruise. We were no different. Before supper we always stopped for a "before dinner" drink and ended up doing so at the Champagne Bar every early evening. The same people began showing up and the little group began looking for and welcoming each other as they started showing up. It never got to the level of shouting "NORM" :eek: when someone came in, but it was nice to have a little daily camaraderie.

[Beachin2]

We did our first TA last fall Rome to Galveston. In anticipation of lousy TV and spotty internet I packed several DVD movies. On sea day #4 (I think) we gave the room steward the day off - ordered breakfast in - and stayed in our jammies & watched movies all day. The screen on the laptop was small - but adequate.

 

If you are Diamond or above you will probably never see the DL or CL as crowded as they are on a TA.

[ombrelle]

One observation I made, on our TA, was that the lounges had a tendency to develop their own clientele during the cruise. We were no different. Before supper we always stopped for a "before dinner" drink and ended up doing so at the Champagne Bar every early evening. The same people began showing up and the little group began looking for and welcoming each other as they started showing up. It never got to the level of shouting "NORM" :eek: when someone came in, but it was nice to have a little daily camaraderie.

 

Larry, is the Champagne Bar included in the Premium package?:D

 

Thank you

[peteukmcr]

We were also on the same TA as LarryL (Hi Larry) and KeywestK (Hi Karen) which was a first for us. We also did the daily progressive trivia and our team mates were our new friends KeywestK and her husband. Great way to catch up each day. Also met for afternoon tea in the Windjammer to catch up on the gossip of the day with other people we met on the roll call initially but who are now great friends.

 

We had MTD which meant we had the opportunity to dine alone if we wished or join our new found friends. This flexibility was a great way to vary our dining arrangements.

 

Barcelona is one of our favourite cities and a must see given the opportunity.

 

We just wandered around Cartegena as the ship docked so close to the town centre, Malaga we did a ships tour as the ship docked quite a way from the centre, although the port was having a lot of development so maybe different now. Malaga was very interesting in the old town as being from the UK we only know Malaga as a major airport in southern Spain for the tourist resorts of Torremolinos, Benalmadena etc.

 

In Tenerife again we did a ships tour to the capital Peurto de la Cruz and the 'parrot park' Loro Parque which is huge and not just full of parrots!

 

Enjoyed our first TA so much we're booked on another in 2014 too, this time eastbound from Miami back home to the UK ending up in Southampton. This time we'll be on Adventure of the Seas.

[baldercash]

Baldercash,

 

We are going on a cruise in the Med, leaving May 3 ( next week! )Leaves us in Savona, so we rented a sea view apartment in Nice for 10 days. I think we are more excited about that than the cruise itself!. Would you like to share the info on the apartment you stayed in Barcelona? Did it have a balcony?

Thank you!:)

It did have a small Romeo & Juliet balcony we could not sit on it but we did sit by it.

We could stand on it which we did and we got to meet our neighbors. The apartment was on the 2nd floor in the Gothic district. It was a great location. Lots to see and spots to visit, we ate local fare, shopped in the local markets. We ate breakfast in our apartment and then went out and had a coffee at a local cafe and people watched before we started the day. Old women would put a few items of laundry out to dry. It was a narrow ancient street.

We knew if a ship was in port by the number of lost tourists that wandered down our street. No ship in port no tourists.

Our apartment in Rome was very similar but the number of tourists is crushing.

We still got up early and had a coffee at a cafe 1.20e for an Americano. We would move about without crowds up until 11:00am then the tour groups arrived in force. It was beautiful and peaceful up until then.

 

After 2 years of staying a week in the port we have decided to do it again next year and will be staying in Paris for 2 weeks in an apartment above a small grocery store or on a river barge near the tower.

We are not interested in doing Europe in the summer we are confident the heat and crush of tourists will detract from the land vacation unless we do a more rural rental.

[Clarea]

Larry, is the Champagne Bar included in the Premium package?:D

 

Thank you

Sure, as long as the drink you order is covered by the package, it does not matter what bar it comes from.

[LarryL]

I was just thinking of a local tapas restaurant and remembered I would update as I thought of things. If you are on the La Ramblas, in Barcelona, there are many Tapas restaurants to eat at. Many are quite good, but there are some to stay away from. We stopped at La Zarzuela at La Rambla 66. It was one of the worst places I have ever been in.:mad: I would recommend checking out Tripadvisor to get ideas on where to go. We did, after he fact, and most of the reviews about this place where spot on. It's terrible.