Trans-Atlantic Questions

[thrifty99]

I am just starting to look into the Trans-Atlantic cruises and had a couple of questions.  We have never done one but they have always interested us.  We would prefer only the Oasis Class as we enjoy those ships the most and feel they would offer the largest amount of activities on the long days at sea.

 

1.  Motion of ship.  My wife can get seasick on rough sea days.  When we crossed the North Atlantic on a Baltic Sea cruse there was about 24 hours of rough seas and she had to stay in bed.  How are the Trans-Atlantic cruises in general regarding the motion of the ship?  

 

2.  Pricing.  I was looking at a Trans-Atlantic next March 2020 on the Allure.  It is 12 nights from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona and an Ocean View Balcony is $1,849 for the 2 of us (including C&A Discount).  That seems like a great price for a 12 night cruise in a balcony but since I have never looked at these before I have nothing to compare it to.  Any idea if this is a good deal or is it typical of the Trans-Atlantic pricing?

 

3.  If you have done these before, do they do extra things on the ship to keep it from getting boring with that many days at sea?  Are there extra shows / entertainment throughout the 12 days?

 

Thank you very much for any insight you can share.  

 

Randy

[Clarea]

Our experience regarding motion has been that there is constant motion once into the Atlantic.  Sometimes minor, sometimes moderate.  Twice we have had to change itineraries because of storms.  These have all been Fall cruised from Europe to the US.

[rhuntington3]

I've not crossed the Atlantic yet so I cannot fully comment but I'm booked on the 2020 TA of Allure back to Miami.

 

There's lots to do on Allure.  If nothing else, load up your Kindle and find a comfy spot!

[thrifty99]

Thanks Bob.  Something she will definitely have to consider as it could be 12 long days at sea if the motion is too much for her stomach.  

[thrifty99]

1 minute ago, rhuntington3 said:

I've not crossed the Atlantic yet so I cannot fully comment but I'm booked on the 2020 TA of Allure back to Miami.

 

There's lots to do on Allure.  If nothing else, load up your Kindle and find a comfy spot!

That return 14-day Allure back to US was over $5,000 for the same cabin.  That is why the 12-day trip over to Spain at $1,849 seemed like a great deal.  I'll have to keep tracking the Trans-Atlantic prices and maybe look at Quantum class too to get a feel for what is a bargain.  

[Clarea]

5 minutes ago, thrifty99 said:

Thanks Bob.  Something she will definitely have to consider as it could be 12 long days at sea if the motion is too much for her stomach.  

 

Book a stateroom on the lowest level possible and as close to mid-ship as possible.  I'd also opt for an oceanview stateroom.

[rhuntington3]

1 minute ago, thrifty99 said:

That return 14-day Allure back to US was over $5,000 for the same cabin.  That is why the 12-day trip over to Spain at $1,849 seemed like a great deal.  I'll have to keep tracking the Trans-Atlantic prices and maybe look at Quantum class too to get a feel for what is a bargain.  

 

Ouch.  That's a lot for sure.

 

Looks like an Oceanview on west bound Allure TA is around $3600.  Only Mid Ship Oceanview cabins left.  Mid ship on Allure should be pretty stable.

[thrifty99]

4 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Book a stateroom on the lowest level possible and as close to mid-ship as possible.  I'd also opt for an oceanview stateroom.

The past couple years I have picked up some annoying claustrophobia at times so I need a balcony where I can open the door and get some fresh air if needed in the middle of the night.  Otherwise I'm a crazy man running down the hallway to get outside to the deck.  😀

[thrifty99]

There are cheaper OV balconies but at higher decks.  Deck 10 OV Balcony is $1,710 for that 12-night TA.  The $1,849 was for deck 6 as we prefer lower deck balconies on Oasis class.  

[Coochuck]

We will be on this cruise...will be our 6th Transatlantic, and we also did 1 Transpacific.  Motion of the ocean is no biggie...lots do to, and like you we love the Oasis Class Ships.   Allure is one of our favorites, and this pricing can't be beat.  It's always good to bring some extra reading material, and load up some shows from Netflix.  We always find something to do, and love hanging out with fellow cruisers.  

[taglovestocruise]

We have done 1 eastbound TA and 3 westbound TA'S on Oasis class and have Allure  Nov. 2020 booked.  Much preferred the west bound as it has 5  25 hour days and seems much warmer. Always shorts and polos after the second day.   Weather was much nicer on all westbound compared to the eastbound.  We always have deck 12 forward hump and have really never noticed much movement at all, KNOCK on WOOD. Have never yet gotten board, check out the roll call for your cruise, there is usually a ton of activities in play for the group.  We are really lovers of sea days so 8 or 9 in a row is no problem.  Best bonus when doing a Oasis TA is that the ship sails with 1500 fewer kids, last TA on Symphony there were 12 kids under 16, and lots of solos.  Allure will be coming of its major refurb in Sep. 2020. Biggest drawback is it sails with 2000 + Diamonds and Pinnacles which crowds the DL venues. Every TA so far they have used Dazzles, Jazz on 4, and the Attic as overflow each night. Hope this helps, happy cruising. 

[Clarea]

46 minutes ago, thrifty99 said:

The past couple years I have picked up some annoying claustrophobia at times so I need a balcony where I can open the door and get some fresh air if needed in the middle of the night.  Otherwise I'm a crazy man running down the hallway to get outside to the deck.  😀

 

Problem is that a balcony won't be the lowest deck.

[taglovestocruise]

1 hour ago, thrifty99 said:

I am just starting to look into the Trans-Atlantic cruises and had a couple of questions.  We have never done one but they have always interested us.  We would prefer only the Oasis Class as we enjoy those ships the most and feel they would offer the largest amount of activities on the long days at sea.

 

1.  Motion of ship.  My wife can get seasick on rough sea days.  When we crossed the North Atlantic on a Baltic Sea cruse there was about 24 hours of rough seas and she had to stay in bed.  How are the Trans-Atlantic cruises in general regarding the motion of the ship?  

 

2.  Pricing.  I was looking at a Trans-Atlantic next March 2020 on the Allure.  It is 12 nights from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona and an Ocean View Balcony is $1,849 for the 2 of us (including C&A Discount).  That seems like a great price for a 12 night cruise in a balcony but since I have never looked at these before I have nothing to compare it to.  Any idea if this is a good deal or is it typical of the Trans-Atlantic pricing?

 

3.  If you have done these before, do they do extra things on the ship to keep it from getting boring with that many days at sea?  Are there extra shows / entertainment throughout the 12 days?

 

Thank you very much for any insight you can share.  

 

Randy

Check out this link, it is for our 2020 Allure TA.

https://teerich8.wixsite.com/allure2020wbta

[shofer]

We did a TA last November on Silhouette and were dodging the dregs of Hurricane Oscar by going south before we went east.  Outside doors were locked.  It was bouncy and all balcony furniture was removed.   I attached a short video. 

 

Edited August 26, 2019 by shofer

[DavidJrandRichard]

2 hours ago, shofer said:

We did a TA last November on Silhouette and were dodging the dregs of Hurricane Oscar by going south before we went east.  Outside doors were locked.  It was bouncy and all balcony furniture was removed.   I attached a short video. 

 

MVI_4289.mov

Do you mean before you went west?

Edited August 26, 2019 by DavidJrandRichard

[Clarea]

7 hours ago, shofer said:

We did a TA last November on Silhouette and were dodging the dregs of Hurricane Oscar by going south before we went east.  Outside doors were locked.  It was bouncy and all balcony furniture was removed.   I attached a short video. 

 

MVI_4289.mov

 

We've also had days on our transatlantics where the outside doors were locks.  Not uncommon.

[mugtech]

15 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

We have done 1 eastbound TA and 3 westbound TA'S on Oasis class and have Allure  Nov. 2020 booked.  Much preferred the west bound as it has 5  25 hour days and seems much warmer.  

Conversly the east bound has 5 23 hour days.  There is usually progressive trivia available on the sea days along with duplicate bridge daily card games and even beginner and intermediate classes on some TA cruises.  We have found it best to do b2b on TA or TP cruises, especially since the TA or TP comes at a very good price.  Next year we see a TA as a better way to get Amsterdam before our Baltic cruise.  Takes a little longer, little more expensive, but a lot more fun than flying, losing those 5 hours in one day.  Makes a 7 hour flight feel like 12 hours.

[shofer]

5 hours ago, DavidJrandRichard said:

Do you mean before you went west?

Yes, we were going west.  Got turned around.  LOL.

[Rewind]

Did West bound in 2015 on Allure.  We had an interior room for 12 nights for just about $1500 total.

 

I don't think there were any extra activities, but we felt like even with 12 nights we didn't do everything on board.  However this was also our first time on an Oasis class ship.

 

As for motion - our route did get adjusted a bit more South as a large storm was coming across the ocean.  We had one day where things were rocking, but the rest of the time we had calm waters.

[Another_Critic]

My trans-atlantics:

 

Star Princess (14 days) - Port Everglades to Copenhagen.  Smooth as glass until our first scheduled stop in the Azores; port was closed so we continued to Southampton.

 

Azamara Journey (10 days) - Lisbon to San Juan; non-stop.  IIRC, it was pretty smooth sailing.

 

Celebrity Constellation (15 days) - Southampton to Miami.

 

RCCL Quantum of the Seas (8 days) - Southampton to Cape Liberty, NJ; non-stop.

 

RCCL Anthem of the Seas (8 days) - Southampton to Cape Liberty, NJ; non-stop.  Very rough crossing with several days of 40+ foot swells but the ship handled the seas well.

 

RCCL Vision of the Seas (16 days) - Copenhagen to Cape Liberty, NJ.  I don't recall any rough seas on this North Atlantic crossing.

 

[Pratique]

The motion is dampened quite a bit by the size of the Oasis class ships. These ships are several times longer than the period of the swells. The ship will pitch in rough seas but not violently. On Symphony last year the worst effect for me was doing the drunken walk down the corridors. Of course, everyone has different tolerance levels and I love the motion of the ship (as a kid I would get seasick but no longer).

 

The Oasis class ships will have fewer "extra" activities than some of the smaller and more upscale ships, but there is always something to do. My parents are about to do a westbound TA on Oceania Sirena, which is a dinghy by comparison, so I'll be curious to see how it goes for them because I think they are a little nuts to cross the Atlantic on such a small ship. Sirena will have more in the way of special activities but less in terms of roaming and sitting spaces. Wife and I are booked for the westbound TA on Allure next year and it will be awesome. $1,849 is a great price and balcony is the way to go, but remember that there is only one port of call for the eastbound TA and it is a relatively short cruise by TA standards. The cruise line just wants to re-position the ship.

 

Agreed with others that westbound is the better trip with the extra hours and ending up back in your own time zone. Try to get a balcony on the south-facing side of the ship for daylight and sunrises/sunsets.

[Pratique]

10 hours ago, shofer said:

We did a TA last November on Silhouette and were dodging the dregs of Hurricane Oscar by going south before we went east.  Outside doors were locked.  It was bouncy and all balcony furniture was removed.   I attached a short video. 

 

MVI_4289.mov

We crossed at the same time on Symphony, maybe a little further south than you, but with about the same sea conditions near Oscar. The most they did was close the pools and pool deck. I've linked a video from our balcony where you can barely see the horizon rising and falling. It wasn't bad at all.

 

 

[Clarea]

29 minutes ago, Pratique said:

 ...

Agreed with others that westbound is the better trip with the extra hours and ending up back in your own time zone.  ...

 

Plus you get the long plane ride out of the way up front.🙂

[shofer]

4 hours ago, Pratique said:

The motion is dampened quite a bit by the size of the Oasis class ships. These ships are several times longer than the period of the swells. The ship will pitch in rough seas but not violently. On Symphony last year the worst effect for me was doing the drunken walk down the corridors. Of course, everyone has different tolerance levels and I love the motion of the ship (as a kid I would get seasick but no longer).

 

The Oasis class ships will have fewer "extra" activities than some of the smaller and more upscale ships, but there is always something to do. My parents are about to do a westbound TA on Oceania Sirena, which is a dinghy by comparison, so I'll be curious to see how it goes for them because I think they are a little nuts to cross the Atlantic on such a small ship. Sirena will have more in the way of special activities but less in terms of roaming and sitting spaces. Wife and I are booked for the westbound TA on Allure next year and it will be awesome. $1,849 is a great price and balcony is the way to go, but remember that there is only one port of call for the eastbound TA and it is a relatively short cruise by TA standards. The cruise line just wants to re-position the ship.

 

Agreed with others that westbound is the better trip with the extra hours and ending up back in your own time zone. Try to get a balcony on the south-facing side of the ship for daylight and sunrises/sunsets.

We booked our TA because it was booked as Boston, Broadway and Bermuda.  So it wasn't just about the crossing.   Our daughter lives in Boston, so we got a visit in with our only grandchild.  NYC was an overnight and a private tour of the 9/11 site.  Bermuda was another private tour of the entire island with another overnight, although we left @ 6 AM giving us essentially another sea day.  Ended up at FLL.

 

[thrifty99]

Thanks for all the input / tips.  I would prefer Westbound, but the price difference of $1,849 vs $5,104 makes the Eastbound the better option in my opinion.  

 

Hoping that in 2021 there are similar prices.  We already have a Harmony cruise scheduled for April next year so probably can't do the March Trans Atlantic next year.  I will watch the Westbound prices for Nov 2020 also.  Since it seems they are more popular, I'm guessing I may not find an OV Balcony for under $2,000.