Anyone done a transatlantic?

[Cruisin 4 Ever]

I have just retired, and my husband will be in January. There is a repositioning/transatlantic cruise we're interested in on the Pride, leaving Tampa and arriving in Barcelona in April and thought it could be our kick off to retirement. We've done a number of cruises and in fact will both become platinum on this 14 nighter. 

Has anyone done a similar cruise? What are your thoughts. We will get a balcony stateroom

[groundloop]

We're thinking about doing either that same one or else the return trip from Lisbon to Tampa in October, with a week or two in Europe thrown in.  I'm anxiously awaiting the thoughts of those who have been there and done that.  For one thing I'm looking for input as to where to visit in Europe and possibly a good tour company for when we're there.

[LouChamp]

Queen Mary 2.  Well worth the experience 

[ColeThornton]

10 minutes ago, groundloop said:

For one thing I'm looking for input as to where to visit in Europe and possibly a good tour company for when we're there.

 

For that information look on the ports of call forums here on CC.   Lots of good information there.

[miataman19]

A while ago. Did a Transatlantic on QE2. Southampton to NYC. Tuxedos every night. Best cruise I've ever taken.  

[Essiesmom]

Oosterdam 2009. San Diego to Rome.  32 nights

Carnival Dream 2009.  Rome to NYC. 16 nights

Celebrity Solstice 2010 FLL to Barcelona

Celebrity Infinity 2013 San Diego to Harwich 27 nights.  Love them.  EM

[BlerkOne]

I love them.

[evandbob]

We were surprised by how much the 6 different time changes on an E/B TA affected us.  Towards the end of the crossing, my mind and stomach were on breakfast and the ship was almost closing the lunch venues. 

Might only do W/B TAs in the future, I handle gaining hours better than losing them.

 

Another surprise for our late April crossing to Barcelona from Florida was how flat the ocean was for several days, no waves or swells at all, just flat like a lake but with lots of seaweed floating around.

[Grandmaanne7]

Did a Transatlantic in April 2009 on Norwegian.  Loved every minute of it!  Lots of time for relaxing and enjoying your travel companions (in my case it was my parents) and all that the ship has to offer.  Our sailing was also smooth as mentioned by the above poster.  Would do it again in a heartbeat!

 

[cellfree]

Only did one, loved it, Horizon Barcelona to Miami, would not hesitate to do another one.

We cruised East to West, as a result "gained" an hour every night  for several nights in a row, and that was great. If you choose West to East be aware that you will lose an hour every night for several nights in a row, some say that is harder to adjust to.

[tourismtessy]

Have done one on Princess in the reverse order and loved it.  Started in Venice, Italy with an overnight onboard the ship then we hit several ports in Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal.  Very port intensive the first 9 days, then several relaxing days at sea before getting off ship in Fort Lauderdale.  We sailed in October and had perfect weather the whole time.  We also gained an extra hour most days at sea so that was nice.

[Heidi13]

6 hours ago, Cruisin 4 Ever said:

I have just retired, and my husband will be in January. There is a repositioning/transatlantic cruise we're interested in on the Pride, leaving Tampa and arriving in Barcelona in April and thought it could be our kick off to retirement. We've done a number of cruises and in fact will both become platinum on this 14 nighter. 

Has anyone done a similar cruise? What are your thoughts. We will get a balcony stateroom

 

Have crossed the Atlantic in both directions, way too many times. While weather is never guaranteed, at least in April, you have a reasonable chance of reasonable weather.

 

One downside of E'bd is moving the clox fwd. Hopefully you will get one of the Masters that move the clox at Noon, rather than 02:00, so you don't skip an hour sleep most nights.

[TheOldBear]

We’ve done two QM2 transatlantic round trips so far, with a third booked for next year. The 2017 and 2019 sailings were mostly about the ship, with only a couple of port days. 
The 2022 sailing will have a twelve night ‘northern lights’ cruise between the eastbound and westbound crossings. A 26 night vacation trip, without flying, not crossing a bridge or tunnel on the way to the ship, and only unpacking once.

[sanmarcosman]

14 hours ago, miataman19 said:

A while ago. Did a Transatlantic on QE2. Southampton to NYC. Tuxedos every night. Best cruise I've ever taken.  

No one wore formal clothes the first and last nights on our 1988 QE2 crossing, business attire was the norm. The other 3 evenings of the then 5 night crossing were formal. The ocean liner tradition that people didn't dress in formal for dinner the first and last evenings still prevailed. This was because in those times on the first night it was assumed passengers had been travelling that day to the ship and likely had not unpacked their steamer trunks. On the last evening it was assumed everyone would have packed their clothes for their departure the next morning. 

 

The tradition, in a way, lives on today on Carnival and most cruise lines sailing from North America where cruise elegant nights are usually not scheduled the first or last evening of the cruise.

Edited June 5, 2021 by sanmarcosman

[tourismtessy]

5 hours ago, TheOldBear said:

We’ve done two QM2 transatlantic round trips so far, with a third booked for next year. The 2017 and 2019 sailings were mostly about the ship, with only a couple of port days. 
The 2022 sailing will have a twelve night ‘northern lights’ cruise between the eastbound and westbound crossings. A 26 night vacation trip, without flying, not crossing a bridge or tunnel on the way to the ship, and only unpacking once.

What cruise line and date / ship?  Sounds like a great trip!

[TheOldBear]

13 minutes ago, tourismtessy said:

What cruise line and date / ship?  Sounds like a great trip!

The only ship that does regular Transatlantic service is Cunard's Queen Mary 2 - the M234A voyage leaves Brooklyn on 25 October 2022

 

During the non world cruise 'normal' season, the schedule has many transatlantic crossings [currently 7 night crossings - 5 nights is possible but burns more fuel].

 

Some of the crossings have an additional stop or two [like LeHavre or Amsterdam] for Southampton tun arounds, or Canada/New England ports [Boston, Halifax] for the NYC turnaround.

 

Sometimes the side trips are fairly long - the Norway sailing, NYC - Montreal round trips or Southampton - Hamburg round trips.

 

[rkacruiser]

My first trans-Atlantic was in 1980 on the Royal Viking Sky:  New York to Copenhagen with no ports in between.  Loved it!  

 

I have sailed on QE2 Hamburg-Southampton-New York, the original Royal Princess from Fort Lauderdale to Manaus and on to Civitavecchia, the Amsterdam from Civitavecchia to Fort Lauderdale on the last segment of the 2007 Grand World Voyage as well as in 2008's Grand World Voyage returning to Fort Lauderdale.  The round trip Voyage of the Viking from Boston to Rotterdam and return on Rotterdam VI has been my most recent trans-Atlantic.  Each cruise has been unique in its own way.  Enjoyed all of them; QE2, not as much as the others, but that was due to labor issues aboard the ship.  

 

On 6/4/2021 at 4:33 PM, Cruisin 4 Ever said:

we're interested in on the Pride, leaving Tampa and arriving in Barcelona in April

 

I have sailed on Carnival Pride and I think you would be pleased with the ship.  She is large enough that she ought to be able to deal with anything King Neptune might have in store for her.  Many facilities for the guests and I enjoy Carnival's entertainment.  Arriving in Barcelona in April is a good time for visits to the Med.  My cruises on Royal Princess and on Amsterdam has been in that time period and I was pleased with the weather that I experienced.  

 

Since you are in the "area", I'd recommend an extension of your trip with a visit to Rome.  Rome in April has been a delight.  However, even in April, a visit to the Vatican Museum (no air conditioning) can be quite a "toasty" experience.  But, not a reason to avoid this Museum.  

[Cruisin 4 Ever]

On 6/4/2021 at 8:28 PM, evandbob said:

We were surprised by how much the 6 different time changes on an E/B TA affected us.  Towards the end of the crossing, my mind and stomach were on breakfast and the ship was almost closing the lunch venues. 

Might only do W/B TAs in the future, I handle gaining hours better than losing them.

 

Another surprise for our late April crossing to Barcelona from Florida was how flat the ocean was for several days, no waves or swells at all, just flat like a lake but with lots of seaweed floating around.

That's great to hear. I was wondering if there would be large waves being in the middle of the Atlantic.

[LHT28]

5 hours ago, Cruisin 4 Ever said:

That's great to hear. I was wondering if there would be large waves being in the middle of the Atlantic.

It can happen

Just go prepared with meds 😉

 

I think I would rather fly & put up with the few hours of jet lag  I was so tired by the time we got to the UK

YMMV

[Hlitner]

On 6/6/2021 at 1:01 PM, Cruisin 4 Ever said:

That's great to hear. I was wondering if there would be large waves being in the middle of the Atlantic.

We have done at least 2 dozen crossings and only on two trips have we hit rough seas.  But when you ask about large waves (or swells which can worse then waves) then my answer (based on an awful lot of sea time) is that anytime you are on sea that is going to be a risk.  The advantage to crossings are that weather forecasting is pretty good and ships will often alter their course (within limits) to avoid the worst weather and/or seas.    But sometimes the best plans go awry.  Many years ago we did a Spring repositioning cruise on a RCI ship (I think it was the the Brilliance of the Seas) from Florida to Amsterdam.  The day after we left Florida we ran into an awful storm that had come across the USA and was now out to sea and on its way to Europe along our course.  The storm was huge, no way to get our ship out of it, and it had the seas running 5-10 meters for our entire crossing.  When we finally got to land in Cobh that darn storm was still with us and ruined a port day in Ireland.   I still remember watching the wind driven rain moving horizontal right into the faces of returning passengers (on the long pier).  Out of far more then 100 cruises that one was the worst in terms of lousy weather.  

 

But the large majority of our crossings have been in fine weather (and seas) so keep your fingers crossed.

 

Hank

[TeaBag]

Our last one on Silhouette in Nov 2018 was very rough.  We were a day late arriving in NYC .  They had to tie the furniture down on the balconies.  We still had a good time though.  We are well behind you, Hank, with only 6 TA crossings.  We, too, prefer the westbound ones.

[Heidi13]

On 6/6/2021 at 10:01 AM, Cruisin 4 Ever said:

That's great to hear. I was wondering if there would be large waves being in the middle of the Atlantic.

 

Everyone has a different definition of large waves. Once you pass the continental shelf, the wave heights can increase significantly, as the depth decreases, so it isn't only the middle of the ocean that is a potential concern.

 

Most ships now employ a weather routing service, which provides the Master optimum routing advice to supplement the Master's meteorological training & experience, so the worst areas of many storms can be avoided.

 

While nothing is guaranteed, most of my transits in April/May have been at worst moderate winds/seas. I define moderate as up to about 35 kts.

 

However, in addition to wind, you also have swell, which can travel considerable distances and are harder to avoid.

[JimmyTheSaint]

We did a transatlantic in 2018 and enjoyed it so much we booked another for summer 2020, which obviously didn't happen and have recently booked another for October 2022.

 

Mrs Jimmy wouldn't be a good sailor and came well prepared with all sorts of medication, all remained unused. Fingers crossed for same again. 

[rkacruiser]

14 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

However, in addition to wind, you also have swell, which can travel considerable distances and are harder to avoid.

 

Sometimes, the ship's movement because of the swell can be more of a problem for some than other sea conditions.  

 

23 hours ago, Hlitner said:

   But sometimes the best plans go awry.

 

My best example of that the first morning at sea when the Volendam left Vancouver for her Maiden Asia Pacific Cruise.  West of Vancouver Island, traveling in a Northwesterly direction, we encountered a storm with sea conditions that were most unexpected/forecast.  It was so significant and unexpected that when Captain Harris reported the situation to Head Office in Seattle, he told us that the reply was "Are you lost"?  For this cruiser, it was a memorable start to a memorable cruise!

[Heidi13]

10 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

My best example of that the first morning at sea when the Volendam left Vancouver for her Maiden Asia Pacific Cruise.  West of Vancouver Island, traveling in a Northwesterly direction, we encountered a storm with sea conditions that were most unexpected/forecast.  It was so significant and unexpected that when Captain Harris reported the situation to Head Office in Seattle, he told us that the reply was "Are you lost"?  For this cruiser, it was a memorable start to a memorable cruise!

 

Now there is a name from the past. When I knew him he was but a S/2/O and was the Cadet Training Officer on SS Oriana, when I was a lowly Cadet. Had heard he left P&O and moved to HAL. Never sailed with him as Captain, but he was a great watchkeeping officer.