Would You Trans-Atlantic Again?

[cruisemom42]

7 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

If you shop around, there are TA’s with fewer sea days - our next involves the gap between Bantry, Ireland and St. John’s, Newfoundland - and more southern routes involving Madeira, the Canaries, and/or the Azores also break up the sea days.

 

Of course, you might find, as we did, that once retired and enjoying seven day weekends you learn to tolerate things like sea days fairly well.

 

One other problem with TAs for me is the timing. I like being in Europe in the very low season to avoid crowds.  Think mid-October through mid-April. The problem is that most ships are coming over to Europe about when I'd want to go home and vice-versa....

 

[clo]

31 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

One other problem with TAs for me is the timing. I like being in Europe in the very low season to avoid crowds.  Think mid-October through mid-April. The problem is that most ships are coming over to Europe about when I'd want to go home and vice-versa....

 

Exactly!  I try to avoid those dang tourists...especially the "Ugly Americans."  Plus I hate the heat.

[rkacruiser]

7 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

they pale in comparison to a TransPacific cruise like Sydney - L.A. or S.F.

 

Maybe the best of my trans-Pacific cruises have been a re-positioning of Volendam on an Auckland-Sydney-Vancouver itinerary and the final HAL cruise of the Statendam from Seattle to Singapore.  Each of those cruises were memorable and enjoyable in their own way.

Edited October 26, 2019 by rkacruiser

[Canuker]

Directly answering the OP: In a hearbeat!

Eastbound (with the seas and the prevailing wind).

May through September, assuming the cruise doesn't go into hurricane territory; otherwise May through July.

Don't forget that mant TA's feature a theme for each crossing (e.g. jazz, genealogy, etc.). Choose one you like or are interested in. Last time we got Herbie Hancock live (2 different shows), all included.

Lovely.

[navybankerteacher]

5 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

One other problem with TAs for me is the timing. I like being in Europe in the very low season to avoid crowds.  Think mid-October through mid-April. The problem is that most ships are coming over to Europe about when I'd want to go home and vice-versa....

 

Well, if your travels in Europe take place in what I think are the best months (weather-wise and reduced crowds): September and October, you could easily find a westbound TA repositioning as late as mid- November, when fares are near their low - partially because so many people are not aware that the Atlantic is still warmer than in any other,  and as calm as any other, season.

[babs135]

We've done several.  Some with ports, some without, east and west bound and enjoyed them all.  Like everything else you get out of it what you put into it.  

And whilst I understand the preference of doing a westbound (from the UK) for the extra hours, for me the bonus of an eastbound crossing is twofold - get the flying out of the way and NO PROBLEMS with excess baggage from shopping in New York!!!  🤣🤣

[navybankerteacher]

2 hours ago, babs135 said:

We've done several.  Some with ports, some without, east and west bound and enjoyed them all.  Like everything else you get out of it what you put into it.  

And whilst I understand the preference of doing a westbound (from the UK) for the extra hours, for me the bonus of an eastbound crossing is twofold - get the flying out of the way and NO PROBLEMS with excess baggage from shopping in New York!!!  🤣🤣

Agreed - having the sea crossing on the way home (whichever way that is) is always a plus.

[K32682]

I wouldn't do another. Too much dead time on the boat.  The one we did take met both my desire to cross the North Atlantic by ship and to visit Iceland. Mission accomplished and interest in doing it again is zero.

[cruisemom42]

12 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Well, if your travels in Europe take place in what I think are the best months (weather-wise and reduced crowds): September and October, you could easily find a westbound TA repositioning as late as mid- November, when fares are near their low - partially because so many people are not aware that the Atlantic is still warmer than in any other,  and as calm as any other, season.

 

I'd be going over in late fall or early winter and spending 2-3 months in Europe -- if all goes according to my "world domination retirement plan".

Edited October 27, 2019 by cruisemom42

[navybankerteacher]

15 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I'd be going over in late fall or early winter and spending 2-3 months in Europe -- if all goes according to my "world domination retirement plan".

Great approach - I necessarily eased into retirement once long term full-time career transitioned into consulting gigs of anything from one month to one year-plus durations (sometimes overlapping) — so my blocks of overseas travel never exceeded four or five weeks at a time.  

[rkacruiser]

6 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I'd be going over in late fall or early winter and spending 2-3 months in Europe -- if all goes according to my "world domination retirement plan".

 

😀! I like your definition of retirement!  Don't forget to include Asia, New Zealand and Australia, Brazil/Amazon itineraries, Chile, Antarctica ( if it is still possible to visit in the future), and some of the more less frequently visited Pacific ports, i.e. Guam, Majuro, Chuuk, etc.  Visits to Dakar and Rabat (from Casablanca) were interesting.  But, Egypt?  The Valley of the Kings and Luxor were worth the time, effort, and money.  But, once was clearly enough for me.  Armed police/army personnel escorting our bus caravan from/to the port and the armed personnel I saw at the tourist site diminished my enjoyment of the experience.

[clo]

11 hours ago, babs135 said:

New York!!!

Do you get some bagels?!?!?!

[nybumpkin]

On 10/25/2019 at 11:54 PM, cruisemom42 said:

 

I have never been tempted by a TA -- however, I foresee a few trends that might change that. Flights to Europe keep increasing in price and hassle. Often I see TAs for about the price of a flight to Europe from my home city. So perhaps one day once I am retired and old(er), and time off from work no longer becomes a factor, I might consider a TA as a more pleasant way to cross the pond. Still, I'd look for one with interesting ports and fewer sea days (5 vs 6 or even 7 as I've seen on some....). 

 

We did a BTB TA on QM2 in July,. Sailed the EB Brooklyn to Southampton ,and then the return WB TA visited Liverpool, Reykjavik (overnight), Corner Brook, Halifax, and then back to Brooklyn. Originally we booked the Southampton-Brooklyn trip and planned to fly into LHR, spend a few days in Winchester, then board the ship - but when we started pricing flights and hotels we found that we could book an inside cabin on QM2 for less. We love sea days, and found that our biggest problem with QM2 was trying to fit in everything we wanted to do.

[babs135]

16 minutes ago, clo said:

Do you get some bagels?!?!?!

How can anyone go to New York and not have bagels?. It would be an utter crime!!  

[clo]

15 minutes ago, babs135 said:

How can anyone go to New York and not have bagels?. It would be an utter crime!!  

We live on the Left Coast and bring back a couple of dozen to freeze.

[ger_77]

We've done 4 trans-Atlantics, all from Europe to the US, and loved every one of them.  We're planning on another next year - we like traveling in the fall when the weather in Europe is a little cooler and there are less tourists.  We love sailing out of Barcelona, as there's so much to see and do in and around the city, then heading for a couple of Spanish ports (Palma de Mallorca, Cadiz, etc), perhaps Gibraltar, Funchal, and then the wonderful sea days (7 or 8 in a row) until we reach Ft. Lauderdale. 

 

Not everyone likes trans-Atlantics because of the number of sea days - I love to read, take part in ship activities and lectures, and sit on the balcony marveling at how fortunate we are to be able to do so, while DH is working on a book, so we both keep busy and enjoy the time away from our daily commitments.  Before you book the cruise for you and your spouse, be sure she enjoys sea days, otherwise you could have trouble on your hands!  LOL

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

[wowzz]

I have to say that I find this topic quite amusing.  Us Brits are quite used to doing a return cruise to the Caribbean,  lasting anything between 28 and 55 days.  

In January 21, for example, we'll be doing a 35 day round trip from Southampton to New Orleans,  Miami,  plus assorted Caribbean islands.  Lots of sea days, lots of ports. 

Why don't US cruise lines offer similar 35 day  return cruises from Miami to Europe ?

[Heidi13]

On 10/25/2019 at 8:15 AM, ldubs said:

BTW, I've never seen cricket on a cruise ship.  We are talking about the game that uses the flat bat yes?  That is one of the craziest sports I've seen.  I would enjoy watching that.  

 

Used to play cricket on the SS Uganda back in the 70's

[geoherb]

We got home from a transatlantic cruise on the Crown Princess earlier this month. My favorite port on this one was Bilbao, Spain. We also went to Zeebruge, Belgium; Le Verdon, France; and Lisbon, Portugal. We missed Portland, England, and Ponta Delgada in the Azores due to weather. Last year, we were on the Royal's transatlantic. That time we missed Bergen, Norway; Belfast, Northern Ireland; and St. John's, Canada. They added Vigo, Spain, and Ponta Delgada and took a more southerly course.

 

I love relaxing days at sea. We had a great roll call thread, and meeting our fellow CC folks was great. Both of our cruises originated in Southampton. We spent time in London before both. 

Edited October 28, 2019 by geoherb

[nybumpkin]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

I have to say that I find this topic quite amusing.  Us Brits are quite used to doing a return cruise to the Caribbean,  lasting anything between 28 and 55 days.  

In January 21, for example, we'll be doing a 35 day round trip from Southampton to New Orleans,  Miami,  plus assorted Caribbean islands.  Lots of sea days, lots of ports. 

Why don't US cruise lines offer similar 35 day  return cruises from Miami to Europe ?

Most Americans don't have the vacation time for lengthy trips. I know of companies that don;'t permit their employees to take more than 2 weeks off at a stretch, if their employees have that much time to begin with. I'm very fortunate that after 32 years on the job I have the time to take a 21-day vacation.

[navybankerteacher]

16 minutes ago, nybumpkin said:

Most Americans don't have the vacation time for lengthy trips. I know of companies that don;'t permit their employees to take more than 2 weeks off at a stretch, if their employees have that much time to begin with. I'm very fortunate that after 32 years on the job I have the time to take a 21-day vacation.

This is the thing: a lot of Europeans get six week’s vacation per year, while very few Americans get much more than two weeks.  Because I had many years with one employer, I got five weeks after 20 years - but there was no way I could take more than three weeks in one chunk.  I generally burned through a lot of days by taking off at least  ten Wednesdays in the Fall - to shorten weeks, get leaves raked, and cope with the coming depression which came with diminishing daylight.

[nybumpkin]

4 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

This is the thing: a lot of Europeans get six week’s vacation per year, while very few Americans get much more than two weeks.  Because I had many years with one employer, I got five weeks after 20 years - but there was no way I could take more than three weeks in one chunk.  I generally burned through a lot of days by taking off at least  ten Wednesdays in the Fall - to shorten weeks, get leaves raked, and cope with the coming depression which came with diminishing daylight.

Right now my time bank shows that I "owe" five hours of time because I've taken more time than I earned to this point in the year, even though I have five days still coming to me by the end of the year. And I consider myself fortunate.

[clo]

9 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Wednesdays in the Fall

Back when there was "sick leave," we would sometimes plan one together so we could get some of those things done.

[navybankerteacher]

1 minute ago, nybumpkin said:

Right now my time bank shows that I "owe" five hours of time because I've taken more time than I earned to this point in the year, even though I have five days still coming to me by the end of the year. And I consider myself fortunate.

If you can “earn” five days between now and year end (presumably paying off your five hour {almost another full day} deficit) you are really talking about 30 days per year - not bad.

[clo]

2 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

If you can “earn” five days between now and year end (presumably paying off your five hour {almost another full day} deficit) you are really talking about 30 days per year - not bad.

Which is six weeks.