Questions about Transatlantic cruises

[hannahsnana]

We are in the beginning stages of booking our first Transatlantic cruise! I have read this forum every day since joining and received much information for all of our previous cruises, so hope someone can help me with the Transatlantic.

1. When is the best time to cross in your opinion?

2. Is there a particular route across that is better weatherwise?

3. We have done the Mediterranean from Barcelona but not Northern Europe . Would this be a good choice?

4. Airfare one way is so expensive!! Have you used RCI to book air and was it less than booking on your own?

5. What insurance would you recommend for seniors in case of needing to be evacuated from the ship?

Thanks in advance for any tips you can give to me!

[Clarea]

We like the westbound route to Florida. They cross farther south than the crossings from England to the US Northwest, so it tends to be warmer.

 

We use Air2Sea (Royal's air booking program) and have found one way flights much less expensive than direct from the airlines.

[emilygrace]

I have done 2 transatlantic, one northern westbound and a southern eastbound. Definitely preferred the northern one as we had a port every 3 days (at the most) as opposed to 10 straight days at sea on the southern. Westbound was in early September from Harwich, England to Boston, southern was in April from FLL to Barcelona. Used Sea2Air both times for the US-London and Barcelona-US portions. Cost was 1/3 of airline websites. We booked the Boston-home and home-FLL on our own.

[Bobal]

We've crossed from West to East in October/November for the last 3 years. I would always prefer this route as I like to head from the cold in England (via Barcelona or Rome) towards sunnier climes. There have been some awful crossings doing the more northerly route and the further south you go the better, so choosing a cruise which drops down to the Canary Islands en route would be a great itinerary.

 

Additionally the route west to East gives you 6 nights in which you gain an extra hour, making for nice long days :)

 

One way airfare is expensive and we have always used airmiles to purchase our long flight back from the US, although there are some carriers (such as Norwegian) which do good one-way prices over the Atlantic. I have heard that booking airfare via the cruise company can work out to be good value but we prefer to have control of our own flights.

 

As for insurance, I can't help you there but you need to be aware that once you set off on those days at sea in the middle of the Atlantic there will be no opportunity for medical evacuation.

[Baseball fan]

I've sailed from Barcelona, Rome and Southampton. The Southampton sailing was the coldest and roughest (until a couple days from Florida). It stayed a more northern route. Personally I prefer the fall sailings (shorter flight coming home) but I have seen great pictures and weather on the spring ones.

 

One way airfare....either use miles or book with Air2Sea.

 

Insurance....I book with insuremytrip.com and book a policy that best fits the vacation. Luckily I've never used it, but I still get it.

 

Dena

 

 

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[Beachin2]

We have only done the westbound TAs. We would rather get the long flight(s) out of the way and "cruise home".

 

Our one and only TP was to SYD and the flights back to the mainland US were not a nice way to end the trip. Took us a few days to recover. Our next TP will be the other way from SYD to SEA to eliminate the jet lag on the back end.

 

For us, we would rather deal with the lag on the front end rather than the back end - YMMV.

 

One way international air (even premium economy) has been a much better value on Air2Sea by a wide margin. We choose our flights on their site (and seats) then just monitor for changes. Not sure I get the "not in control" issue that some have. The airline (not like the cruise line) will deal with you directly after the booking.

[hannahsnana]

Thanks so much for all of the information! We have always purchased the insurance through RCI and actually had to use it for 3 cruises in the past year due to medical issues. We had no problems with being reimbursed. However I am a bit leery of being in the middle of the Atlantic and having medical problems . Is there no way to evacuate in that instance?

[Clarea]

Thanks so much for all of the information! We have always purchased the insurance through RCI and actually had to use it for 3 cruises in the past year due to medical issues. We had no problems with being reimbursed. However I am a bit leery of being in the middle of the Atlantic and having medical problems . Is there no way to evacuate in that instance?

Not really. The helicopters don't have that kind of range.

[slg1979]

Thanks so much for all of the information! We have always purchased the insurance through RCI and actually had to use it for 3 cruises in the past year due to medical issues. We had no problems with being reimbursed. However I am a bit leery of being in the middle of the Atlantic and having medical problems . Is there no way to evacuate in that instance?

 

 

Hubby had medical emergency three days from east coast heading east across the Atlantic. The doctor and staff were excellent. I have complete faith in their facilities and staff.

 

 

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[knittinggirl]

We did FLL to Copenhagen and got 7 sea days in a row, then two more after Ponta Del Gada, and one or two crossing the English Channel.

 

Also done Rotterdam to Boston via Iceland. Two sea days in a row at most then a port. If you prefer to wait until a port day to shower, this works much better. Those JS bathtubs can be pretty scary while the ship is rocking.

 

Both had rough seas. But I think the North Atlantic was a little choppier.

 

We got burned on ChoiceAir from Copenhagen.

[Ery]

We are sailing on Freedom this fall on the ta, our airfare from San Fran to Barcelona, non stop, with two bags each, assigned seating, meals and refundable in the even of illness etc was $309. Out airfare from Florida home was $175. It was cheaper for both legs than we pay round trip to Florida for our cruises.

The flights we booked on our own- but the choice air was the same price, it just wasn't showing when we booked.

 

 

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[PSCruiser]

We've done 14 TAs and counting and I much prefer west-bound to east for 2 reasons: first, its nice to get the flight, and the sometimes tiring euro travel out of the way first, and then relax on the ship back to the US. Second, we find that the 25 hour sea days make a big difference compared to the 23 hour going east - seems like there is never enough time that way.

As for route, we have done both north and south and never had really bad seas. Since air temp is very dependent on sea temp on the open ocean, the temps are just what you might expect on each route.

 

Air2Sea airfares: you will be pleasantly surprised by the prices. Recently booked one-ways to Barcelona this fall for $270, when the same seats are showing at $2500 on Expedia. However, this type of discount on international only, on domestic little or nothing.

 

Medical emergency: yes, there are a few days in mid-ocean when the only medical care is going to be on-ship. However, we were on a west-bound TA cruise where the ship turned back to Europe and ran for 1 1/2 days to get back to helicopter range. BTW, the ship does not need to have a helipad, the patient was removed by basket from the jogging track, midship.

[Biker19]

I have heard that booking airfare via the cruise company can work out to be good value but we prefer to have control of our own flights..

Booking on Air2Sea is like using an online TA - you have as much control as you want.Once booked, you typically deal directly with the airline.

[Traveling Library]

We are flying Iceland Air to pick up our TA in Copenhagen. Their economy comfort (seat sometimes is business class or can be regular economy seat with empty middle seat) is usually priced the same as the major US carrier price for economy. We'll take economy comfort fare (includes priority check in and airport lounge access) any day. Their economy seats are very reasonable.

[Bigjennifer]

Living in the U.K. We like to fly to the heat in April and sail home and then it is a bit warmer.Cruising from the Med in Oct is warm sailing to U.S. it gets warmer.have done this every year for 7 years. It's very relaxing Enjoy.

We buy a return flight and it does both cruises.

[TravelMadBrits]

Hi

We did our first TA in Nov 2014 - Indie from Southampton. 9 days at sea was amazing then straight into St Maarten, we loved then enjoying the Caribbean before docking in Miami for a flight back. It was the most relaxing cruise, the sea was 'choppy' on the first 3 days then that was it, every day it got hotter (we've had worse storms in the med). Perhaps we were lucky with our weather, but I would try this crossing again. We had port-side balconies which were in the sun most of the trip. We booked the cruise and flights direct with Royal - the flight wasn't too bad, £425 but that was premium seats we upgraded. We tried not to worry too much about emergencies (we took our 9 year old) as we didn't have any health issues and just relaxed and enjoyed! I am sure you won't regret what ever you chose. Clo

[Tarnished45]

Flights are very good value with Norwegian Air

 

 

Hi

We did our first TA in Nov 2014 - Indie from Southampton. 9 days at sea was amazing then straight into St Maarten, we loved then enjoying the Caribbean before docking in Miami for a flight back. It was the most relaxing cruise, the sea was 'choppy' on the first 3 days then that was it, every day it got hotter (we've had worse storms in the med). Perhaps we were lucky with our weather, but I would try this crossing again. We had port-side balconies which were in the sun most of the trip. We booked the cruise and flights direct with Royal - the flight wasn't too bad, £425 but that was premium seats we upgraded. We tried not to worry too much about emergencies (we took our 9 year old) as we didn't have any health issues and just relaxed and enjoyed! I am sure you won't regret what ever you chose. Clo

[dagunny]

We are in the beginning stages of booking our first Transatlantic cruise! I have read this forum every day since joining and received much information for all of our previous cruises, so hope someone can help me with the Transatlantic.

1. When is the best time to cross in your opinion?

2. Is there a particular route across that is better weatherwise?

3. We have done the Mediterranean from Barcelona but not Northern Europe . Would this be a good choice?

4. Airfare one way is so expensive!! Have you used RCI to book air and was it less than booking on your own?

5. What insurance would you recommend for seniors in case of needing to be evacuated from the ship?

Thanks in advance for any tips you can give to me!

 

Anytime you can get off is the best time. Sure wish RCCL had a continuous TA like Cunard. Weather wise, stay away from the northern routes. Coming back to US on Cunard, we'd be dancing and the waves were so bad the floor wasn't where it was seconds ago. Thud. Would never take Cunard again - too stuffy and the Brits like to outdo one another. Too formal. We like the Florida to southern Europe. Warm, calm seas.

 

What you could do for airfare is book a round trip and do two TA, one over and one back and do it six months apart. We always book our seats the day the flight is announced as we want either first class or business, and specific seats. We worked too hard and too long to take a back seat. Same with ships - we book suites. Life is too short. If we think there could be weather problems delaying flights we would use cruise air or a travel agent so we have someone to do the re-bookings and telephone a friend.

 

For insurance - we use USAA. We immediately put an insurance call in for a small price, say the cost of an inside and economy air, and then, say, a month before we sail, we up the insurance to the full amount of the cruise and air. We have used insurance before in lost luggage, which later showed up anyway but got temporary clothes and were reimbursed. After that we NEVER allow stevedores to take our luggage and travel with only carryons. Also, once on a South America around the horn, my wife got an infection and we used the doctor on board and were reimbursed.

 

We were on a Baltic and a man was airlifted to Sweden by chopper. The next day or so, the wife of the man had a medical emergency. It was too rough for a chopper, so the crew took a life boat and medevaced the woman to Denmark. That must have cost a fortune - first the medical costs on ship, airlift, two hospitals, treatment, flights back to US or wherever they came from. Pays to be safe and buy the insurance.

 

Get yourself a Kindle or Kindle app, load your books, and get on the ship. One week till our TA.