Transatlantic questions

[hmdr]

My husband and I are considering a transatlantic crossing on regal princess in September 2019.  Is the quality of the food and shows the same as a “regular” cruise?  It seems like I read or saw that repositioning cruises are a time when shows are practiced and upgrades and construction is done.  I’m also concerned about the weather.  I would appreciate any advice from seasoned crossers. 

[Essiesmom]

Food and shows will be the same.  No construction unless she is headed for drydock.  Weather is unpredictable.  More info if you as on the Princess board here, under Cruise Lines P-Z.  EM

[taglovestocruise]

6 minutes ago, hmdr said:

My husband and I are considering a transatlantic crossing on regal princess in September 2019.  Is the quality of the food and shows the same as a “regular” cruise?  It seems like I read or saw that repositioning cruises are a time when shows are practiced and upgrades and construction is done.  I’m also concerned about the weather.  I would appreciate any advice from seasoned crossers. 

Knock on wood.. We have done a crossing from Southampton and three from the Med all going to FLL in Oct. and all have have great weather. Shorts and T"S everyday. 

[fishywood]

 

2 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

Knock on wood.. We have done a crossing from Southampton and three from the Med all going to FLL in Oct. and all have have great weather. Shorts and T"S everyday. 

The cruise under consideration concludes in New York. The "grand circle" route between the British Isles (last European port call is Cobh) and the Canadian Maritimes (fist port after TA portion is Halifax) is tailor made for fans of rough seas and blustery winds. In fact many of the experienced TA fans on that cruise would be disappointed by good weather. The cruise also embarks in Copenhagen, calls in Norway then circles Britain for ports in Scotland and Ireland. The Irish Sea in September is also not for fans of tropical cruises.

 

Likely there will be some turnover in entertainment staff and the company of singers and dances either right before or after a repo cruise on Princess. The shows will go on, but the theatre may be closed for rehearsals during the day--which is normal all year just more noticeable on a cruise with a bunch of consecutive sea days. You may also see multiple (but different) shows from the guest entertainers as they cannot be swapped out mid-cruise as elsewhere. Menus will be different each day but some dishes will certainly repeat. 

[Hlitner]

We have done a repo cruise (Copenhagen to NYC) on the Regal and it was a terrific cruise on a beautiful new ship.  Regarding the onboard entertainers (who did the Production shows) they were actually very experienced and just finishing up their contract.  Since many of the entertainers are from North America, it is pretty common to use those TA cruises as one of their last cruises since the ship then also gets them home.   

 

As to weather, the standard answer is nobody can predict (far in advance) your weather.  Most of our TA cruises (and we have been on many) have enjoyed relatively good weather, but like any cruise there is no guarantee.  You can have any thing from calm seas and balmy temperatures to rough seas and rainy chilly weather.   Your crossing will usually follow a northern great circle route so be sure to pack a few extra layers in case you get some chilly days on deck.

 

Hank

[kochleffel]

About entertainment on any long cruise: with the same entertainers on board for the whole cruise, does the entertainment tend to repeat? I can't imagine that they would mount different production shows for the latter part of the cruise, although I can see how solo or ensemble performers could have different acts.

[hmdr]

Thank you for sharing your experiences.  Any other words of wisdom would be

appreciated.

[littlecruise]

Have been on 3 reposition and 2 round trip transatlantic cruises and food is the same as any other, entertainment is no different other than they may be on board a couple days longer. Weather ???? have been in calm seas (like glass) and on one north Atlantic cruise had 30 foot swells with the sun shining, the storm was else where and we just caught the after effects. Enjoyed the sea days.

[navybankerteacher]

Having done six Fall trans-Atlantic repositionings —- and planning another for later this year,   I have not found the entertainment to suffer - I know we have switched entertainers at least once at Madeira and, I believe, in the Canaries - so you are not talking about too many days without cast change.  The Atlantic is at its warmest in September  - true, it is during “hurricane season” but predicting is pretty good, and the Atlantic has plenty of maneuvering room, so that should not be a concern.  We have had very calm crossings - and none as rough as on a couple of winter sailings down to the Caribbean. It has usually been ideal cruising weather- in the seventies to low eighties as you near the US.

 

If you book a balcony, port side will give you sun all day every day.The 25 hour days due to time change enhance the leisurely feel.  

 

The only “hardship” I recall was when the Prinsendam ran out of tomato juice - but (strangely) could still sell bloody Mary’s in the bars

[clo]

1 minute ago, navybankerteacher said:

but (strangely) could still sell bloody Mary’s in the bars

A mix.  Yuck.

[evandbob]

We just did our 1st ever TA from Cape Canaveral to Barcelona, 15 days at sea in early May.  The crossing was as smooth as glass, hardly any waves, perhaps 1 to 2', I was amazed at the ocean's calm.  Probably helped we weren't on a northern route like NY to London.

 

What we didn't anticipate were the 5 days at sea when the clocks on NCL fell back one hour each day.  After 5 days of losing time I was thinking breakfast yet it was lunchtime on the ship.

 

If we ever do another TA, we'll most likely do one from Europe to the US, and gain an hour every day with a time change.  I think our minds' clocks will adjust to the extra time easier than how we got spacey from losing those hours.

Edited June 24, 2019 by evandbob

[Hlitner]

4 hours ago, kochleffel said:

About entertainment on any long cruise: with the same entertainers on board for the whole cruise, does the entertainment tend to repeat? I can't imagine that they would mount different production shows for the latter part of the cruise, although I can see how solo or ensemble performers could have different acts.

It would depend on how you define a "long cruise."  To us, a simple Transatlantic cruise is not very long.  We are generally talking about 12 -16 days.  Depending on the line you will get anything from zero (HAL)  to perhaps 4 Production shows and they are generally not repeated.  Guest Entertainers might work 2 shows or sometimes 1 1/2 shows..splitting their second show with another Guest entertainer.  

 

When you get on truly long cruises (we are talking weeks and months) there will be repetition because these cruises are generally in segments (back to back to back, etc).  

 

Hank

[Flatbush Flyer]

7 hours ago, hmdr said:

Thank you for sharing your experiences.  Any other words of wisdom would be

appreciated.

Two major items to consider are whether the cruise line you're considering specializes in longer itineraries and (related to that) doesn't repeat menus less than every 18-21 days.

[navybankerteacher]

5 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Two major items to consider are whether the cruise line you're considering specializes in longer itineraries and (related to that) doesn't repeat menus less than every 18-21 days.

I’ve never seen a problem in menus occasionally repeating.  After all, over a two week period you can have a lot of variety —- and don’t most of us occasionally repeat meals at home in any given three week period?

[lisiamc]

We love repositioning cruises and have done five transatlantics  and four transpacifics so far - number 5 is coming up in August.  We find that inevitably, they run out of something ordinary, like spinach, bananas, limes, or certain brands of beer.  It must be hard to predict what will be unusually popular with any batch of passengers.

 

As far as weather, most have been pretty smooth, and a few have involved route and port changes to avoid bad weather.

[clo]

4 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

don’t most of us occasionally repeat meals at home in any given three week period?

Cooking is my favorite thing to do and I absolutely repeat.  And when we go out for breakfast or lunch we frequently have the same thing as previously.

[taglovestocruise]

Even though I am joking I really am not. My wife is slightly diabetic and controls it with diet. We have chicken broccoli and salad, next night is broccoli chicken and salad, then it's salad chicken and broccoli, we then switch it up with salad broccoli and chicken followed with broccoli chicken and salad, followed with chicken salad and broccoli, there may be a variable I missed but as it works out we only repeat every 6 or 7 days. Variety really is the spice of life.  happy cruising NBT. 

[taglovestocruise]

22 hours ago, evandbob said:

We just did our 1st ever TA from Cape Canaveral to Barcelona, 15 days at sea in early May.  The crossing was as smooth as glass, hardly any waves, perhaps 1 to 2', I was amazed at the ocean's calm.  Probably helped we weren't on a northern route like NY to London.

 

What we didn't anticipate were the 5 days at sea when the clocks on NCL fell back one hour each day.  After 5 days of losing time I was thinking breakfast yet it was lunchtime on the ship.

 

If we ever do another TA, we'll most likely do one from Europe to the US, and gain an hour every day with a time change.  I think our minds' clocks will adjust to the extra time easier than how we got spacey from losing those hours.

Westbound's in Oct. returning to FLL have much warmer weather, plus you get that extra hour five times.  

[evandbob]

7 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

Even though I am joking I really am not. My wife is slightly diabetic and controls it with diet. We have chicken broccoli and salad, next night is broccoli chicken and salad, then it's salad chicken and broccoli, we then switch it up with salad broccoli and chicken followed with broccoli chicken and salad, followed with chicken salad and broccoli, there may be a variable I missed but as it works out we only repeat every 6 or 7 days. Variety really is the spice of life.  happy cruising NBT. 

 

And hopefully, if your wife's diabetes is type 2, your varied diet will put it in remission.  Type 2 can be cured - some combo of diet, exercise, weight loss and meds can reverse this darn disease.

[taglovestocruise]

5 minutes ago, evandbob said:

 

And hopefully, if your wife's diabetes is type 2, your varied diet will put it in remission.  Type 2 can be cured - some combo of diet, exercise, weight loss and meds can reverse this darn disease.

It is and it is. Her A1c went from a 11 last year when she was diagnosed to a current 6.5. Chicken is king. 

[clo]

23 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

Chicken is king. 

But not certain fish?  

 

And actually I think that's "chicken a la king." 🙂

[Hlitner]

14 hours ago, evandbob said:

 

And hopefully, if your wife's diabetes is type 2, your varied diet will put it in remission.  Type 2 can be cured - some combo of diet, exercise, weight loss and meds can reverse this darn disease.

 

[Turtles06]

On 6/23/2019 at 9:16 PM, evandbob said:

What we didn't anticipate were the 5 days at sea when the clocks on NCL fell back one hour each day.  After 5 days of losing time I was thinking breakfast yet it was lunchtime on the ship.

 

Our first TA was an eastbound.  We knew we'd have all those 23-hour days, but did not realize how much of an effect losing only an hour a day several days in a row would have.  It didn't help that we had joined a trivia team; trivia was at 10am every day -- which soon became much earlier body time.   Since then, we've done five more TAs, all westbound.  (We love TAs.)   I wouldn't rule out another eastbound TA, but it would probably have to be a special itinerary, and we'd be sure not to be over-scheduled on board!

[navybankerteacher]

57 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Our first TA was an eastbound.  We knew we'd have all those 23-hour days, but did not realize how much of an effect losing only an hour a day several days in a row would have.  It didn't help that we had joined a trivia team; trivia was at 10am every day -- which soon became much earlier body time.   Since then, we've done five more TAs, all westbound.  (We love TAs.)   I wouldn't rule out another eastbound TA, but it would probably have to be a special itinerary, and we'd be sure not to be over-scheduled on board!

Going to bed a half hour earlier (ship’s) time each day the clocks are put forward helps your body’s time adjust.

Edited June 25, 2019 by navybankerteacher

[Turtles06]

14 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Going to bed a half hour earlier (ship’s) time each day the clocks are put forward helps your body’s time adjust.

 

Yes, thanks. We’ve actually been doing that as our regimen before our last few flights to Europe. Starting several days in advance, we’ve gone to bed an hour earlier each night. Not that we haven’t been tired or jet-lagged, but I think it’s been helping.