Transatlantic Weather in November on Rome to Florida Cruise

[savoy1977]

Any experienced cruisers able to provide insight on weather in early November cruising from Rome to Florida? This is our first cruise ever and we're looking for your advice. Thank you.

[Turtles06]

Welcome to Cruise Critic and to cruising! Be prepared to become addicted to both! :D

 

You have picked a great route for a TA -- essentially a Med cruise followed by the wonderful seas days crossing the Atlantic. We have sailed from Rome (Civitavecchia) to Florida in early November. We had fabulous weather during our pre-cruise days in Rome, very comfortable for walking around. It was a bit rainy and chilly in the Med, but the crossing itself was like glass.

 

With that said, weather and seas are totally unpredictable. Layers are always a good idea when packing for a cruise of this length, with so many unknowns. I would be prepared for warm and sunny weather (you may well be wearing shorts on the ship), as well as cool/cold and wet weather.

 

Cruise Critic is a great resource, so don't hesitate to ask more questions in preparation for your first cruise!

[kazu]

Welcome to Cruise Critic :)

 

I've done several TA's in the late fall and in your time frame.

 

Weather is great in the Med as in the summer it is really too hot for touring. It might be rainy in Rome, but other than that we enjoyed good weather.

 

Cooler in the mornings and quite warm in the afternoon (pack layers).

 

As to our crossings, we had really nice weather (cooler at night of course) but daytime was very pleasant.

 

Our crossings were quite smooth. Maybe one day with a bit of motion from the ocean but nothing too serious.

 

That, being said, weather is changeable and no one knows what King Neptune has in store for the seas. I hope your sailing is a great one and you have a fabulous cruise.

[dag144]

We have done 14 transatlantic cruises most from Rome, Barcelona and Lisbon. We never had bad weather or rough seas. I love the fall cruises from Europe to the U S, smooth seas, lots of relaxation, and the time changes make the days longer.

[cruisemom42]

Rome weather in early November is generally still very fine. Only later in the month does the chance for rain really become significant. Of course, you can get a rainy day anywhere, but I wouldn't worry too much about it in Rome.

 

If you're into photography, some of my best photos of Rome are from November. Something about the intensely blue sky at that time of year contrasts beautifully with the ancient stone of monuments like the Colosseum.

[sail7seas]

Google to find one of the sites that provide weather history... probab ly better information than someone's crystal ball. :)

 

 

We have enjoyed great weather in Rome on multiple visits mid to late October. A few times ti was very warm during the days..

[navybankerteacher]

Have done several November T/A’s from Rome. Weather is always unpredictable, but we generally had sunny days in 60’s to Gibraltar , then low to mid 70’s as nearing Florida. The Atlantic is probably at its warmest in October, and only slowly cools.

[cruising cockroach]

Prinsendam crossing 6 years ago experienced gales in the Med from night 1 out of Civitavecchia to Alicante (morning 2) all the way from Lisbon to the Azores. 30' swells. Temperature was fairly mild and remarkably consistent between day and night (due to gulf stream?).

 

Guess it's a matter of how lucky youre feeling.

[roses313]

We are on a TA in November from Barcelona to Ft Lauderdale so appreciate the feedback from those who have done the crossing at that time of year. Will be prepared for a bit cooler temperature in Gibraltar, and I assume windy as well.

 

I figure the chances are quite good the weather will be mild as we approach Florida. Always good advice to recommend layers because the weather being what it is will be what it is.

[travelers07]

Hi all-

 

We were on the Ocean Princess on her last transatlantic- Rome to Florida the first part of December, 2015. We love transatlantics and have done several in both directions. We even took an upsell to a full suite- front cabin port side. Everything was wonderful- ports, cool weather, Christmas shopping in the ports. That is until we started across from Madeira to Bermuda. Seven days (seemed like more but I think that is correct) of gale force wind and heavy seas. We are not usually bothered by rough seas but the combination with the location of our cabin and the constant rolling just about finished us.

 

First- consider your cabin location. Usually we love the bow location but much more movement there. One of our neighbors was given another cabin to sleep in. Consider mid-ship and lower deck, especially if movement bothers you.

 

Second- bring seasick medication. Really helped- along with spending some time in the center of the ship during the worst of the rolling.

 

But did we enjoy the crossing? Yes- the seas were beautiful to watch and so interesting.

 

Would we do it again? Of course! In fact, we are on the Rome to Florida sailing this December. Can't wait!

 

Regarding the weather- bring layers and especially a good raincoat. Weather was warmer near Florida and everyone was ready for that.

 

Sue and Curt

Edited July 23, 2018 by travelers07
mistakes

[SetAnOpenCourse]

So far in the replies, the bad weather mentioned was December in one, and in the other there is no time frame given.

 

I’m not as seasoned as many here, having only one TA (northern Atlantic, westbound, November), but I can say that compared to my earlier cruising days, I now find myself virtually ignoring weather considerations.

[tv24]

We've sailed Barcelona to Florida in November twice, and the weather was just fine. The seas were fairly smooth, no severe weather. However this cannot be guaranteed and one should be prepared for some movement, although far less than on the North Atlantic.

[colonialinnkeeper]

We have done several TA's and will be doing another in October/Nov. One of our trips was when the hurricane, Sandy ran through the Caribbean and up the coast to New England. Our captain announced that we would be making a detour of a couple hundred miles to get out of most of it but that we would experience high seas for about 10 hours. I have to say that the high seas were not of the nauseating/vomiting kind (at least for us) but rather the kind where you walked down the hallways in a less than straight line. All our other trips have had beautiful sunny and warm crossings. We are looking forward to our next adventure.

[corkpopr]

:cool: we have done 5 from Rome, 1 from Barcelona, and 2 from Southampton. great weather almost all of the time during the first part of the crossing 66-70 and the last two days nearing Florida 69-74. the ships swing a little south to get to temperate climate but even the two from England were very nice. Hey NBT, remember our trip to Orvieto and that hilltop town from the 1500's?

[Silverback969]

Google to find one of the sites that provide weather history... probab ly better information than someone's crystal ball. :)

 

 

We have enjoyed great weather in Rome on multiple visits mid to late October. A few times ti was very warm during the days..

For weather history, I can recommend WeatherUnderground (wunderground dot com). When we were preparing for Grand Mediterranean last year--and several years ago, when I was preparing for deployment to Iraq--I used that website to provide both a history, and average temps and precipitation. Good luck on your cruise and TA. Sounds like a great time.

Edited July 25, 2018 by Silverback969
Correct spelling and change font and font size.

[travelnap]

A few years back I did a TA on the Rotterdam out of Rome to Florida. We hit some rough seas while in the Med. on the way to Barcelona, but the crossing itself was fairly smooth. We did run into some rain a couple of days, but the waves were not much. This cruise was in early to mid November. Like others have said, the weather can always change. I had done an earlier TA out of Southampton in November a few years before my TA out of Rome, and that trip was seas that were smooth as glass, and sunny every day of the crossing.

[iancal]

If you are in a verandah cabin try to get one on the port side.

 

We have only done. Some afternoons we found it too warm to sit on our verandah. It was our first and last TA. Far too many sea days for our liking.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Could be a little rough, or it could be smooth.

 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

[eggydreams]

On 7/23/2018 at 5:51 PM, travelers07 said:

Hi all-

 

We were on the Ocean Princess on her last transatlantic- Rome to Florida the first part of December, 2015. We love transatlantics and have done several in both directions. We even took an upsell to a full suite- front cabin port side. Everything was wonderful- ports, cool weather, Christmas shopping in the ports. That is until we started across from Madeira to Bermuda. Seven days (seemed like more but I think that is correct) of gale force wind and heavy seas. We are not usually bothered by rough seas but the combination with the location of our cabin and the constant rolling just about finished us.

 

First- consider your cabin location. Usually we love the bow location but much more movement there. One of our neighbors was given another cabin to sleep in. Consider mid-ship and lower deck, especially if movement bothers you.

 

Second- bring seasick medication. Really helped- along with spending some time in the center of the ship during the worst of the rolling.

 

But did we enjoy the crossing? Yes- the seas were beautiful to watch and so interesting.

 

Would we do it again? Of course! In fact, we are on the Rome to Florida sailing this December. Can't wait!

 

Regarding the weather- bring layers and especially a good raincoat. Weather was warmer near Florida and everyone was ready for that.

 

Sue and Curt

Hi there,

I just read about the Rome to Florida crossing you did a while back in December. How did it go? Did you encounter rough seas? We are booked to go from Rome to Miami on Dec. 7 of this year.

Thanks!

Adrienne

[StLouisCruisers]

2 hours ago, eggydreams said:

Hi there,

I just read about the Rome to Florida crossing you did a while back in December. How did it go? Did you encounter rough seas? We are booked to go from Rome to Miami on Dec. 7 of this year.

Thanks!

Adrienne

 

I'm not the person you asked to comment on their transatlantic in December, but recall we had a  Pacific Princess crossing that same year, 2018.  We were in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands on Dec. 13, followed by 8 sea days arriving in Fort Lauderdale on Dec. 22.  The seas were extremely rough the entire 8 days that year.  We had rain that came sideways sometimes on our starboard balcony door, and due to needed maintenance the doors actually leaked onto the carpet there.  Every one of those sea days were spent with the knitters and stitchers group of ladies and we had a great time!  At our last day of knitting and stitching one of the cruise director's staff, Becky, ordered mimosas for the ladies from the bartender in the lounge we met in every day.  It was an enjoyable daily activity.  

 

You could have a very different experience this year, with smooth sailing, or a mix of calm and rough seas.  You never know.  Go in with an open mind and have a great time.  Take a meclizine every day (it's Bonine but cheaper in the generic version!) and you should be good to go.

[jeh10641]

7 hours ago, eggydreams said:

Hi there,

I just read about the Rome to Florida crossing you did a while back in December. How did it go? Did you encounter rough seas? We are booked to go from Rome to Miami on Dec. 7 of this year.

Thanks!

Adrienne

We did Rome to Fort Lauderdale in early November 2016. We had great weather. Oosterdam, HAL.

[WFBgal]

November 3-10, 2019 seas were smooth. Used our balcony. It was great!

[12cruise2]

We too were on the Ocean Princess Dec. 2015 crossing--total cruise length 89 days from London/Dover to Miami--our best cruise ever.  Seas were wonderful, and we've crossed 5-6 times, always with temps in the 70s and calm seas--in December!

[bobpell]

On three trans Atlantics we were able to enjoy temperatures in mid 70 and calm seas. If you have a balcony and want to get sun in the afternoon book on the port side

Bob

[FlaMariner]

On the maiden voyage of the new Rotterdam (Amsterdam to Ft Lauderdale), we arrived in Ft Lauderdale 11/4/21 and had a great crossing...No weather issues.  

 

As mentioned above, we follow the POSH rule....Port Out Starboard Home....So yes to a port side balcony when heading West for more sun. 

 

We love TA's