Transatlantic Round Trip?

[Live4cruises]

I know most of the crossings are for seasonal repositioning.  Does anyone know of a cruise line that does a round trip US (any ports) to Europe, including European ports of call?  If we could do crossings on different lines, we will happily manage the European land portion on our own, just not for three months.  Long flights are becoming more daunting for us, and we enjoy sea days.

 

Thank you!

[travelingman]

Cunard is the only cruise line I know of that does these cruises year round.  You could take one from the US; then do some land portion trip on your own; and then Cunard back to the US.  Just have to arrange your schedule to coincide with their schedule.

 

Stan

[TheOldBear]

34 minutes ago, Live4cruises said:

I know most of the crossings are for seasonal repositioning.  Does anyone know of a cruise line that does a round trip US (any ports) to Europe, including European ports of call?  If we could do crossings on different lines, we will happily manage the European land portion on our own, just not for three months.  Long flights are becoming more daunting for us, and we enjoy sea days.

 

Thank you!

As previously mentioned Cunard's QM2 is the only line & ship that does regular crossings - sometimes combined with multiple port visits as a Southampton  round trip. My scheduled cruise has an eastbound crossing, a 12 day Norway & Northern Lights sailing, and a westbound crossing. A total of 26 nights, and you only need to unpack once.

 

If you are planning on mixing a repositioning cruise with a crossing to approximate a round trip, it is likely that you'll be on the QM2 for the crossing, just because no other ship is sailing in non repositioning direction.

 

I think that Some other lines [e.g. HAL's "Voyage of the Vikings"] have transatlantic round trips, featuring many port visits [Greenland, Iceland...] 

[NantahalaCruiser]

As the old bear mentioned, Holland America offers RT transatlantics on the Zuiderdam:

 

17N July 22, 2023 Boston to Amsterdam

18N August 8, 2023 Amsterdam back to Boston

 

The itineraries are similar but not identical - stops in Greenland and Iceland, but different ports. Also the outbound stops in Norway while the return stops in Ireland

 

Hope this is helpful - Happy Cruising

[paul929207]

Princess did a few b2b transatlantic cruises about 10 years ago. They were great. Unfortunately, they discontinued them.

[Essiesmom]

One of the trips that canceled by Covid was a TA on Carnival Legend to the UK and included Greenland and Iceland.  Two days in England, then back on the QM2.  You might do better to cross to Europe on QM2 and return on a repo in the fall.  It seemed like spring TAs we’re getting earlier and earlier, and QM2 would not be back from her world cruise.  EM

[Hlitner]

Holland America used to do an approximate 2 month "Grand Med Cruise" which was round trip from Port Everglades (we have done this twice).  HAL also does its very popular "Voyage of the VIkings" cruise which usually happens in late July or early August and is about a 32 day round trip cruise from Boston which includes Greenland, Iceland, and parts of Northern Europe.  

 

We have also done quite a few trips where we cruised to Europe, spent time in Europe, and then took a different cruise back to the USA.  In many cases the TA cruises were less expensive than Business Class Air :).    This kind of trip often involves a spring repositioning cruise (from the USA to Europe) coupled with a return on the Queen Mary 2.  It takes a little homework to look at all the options and the viability depends on how much time one wants to spend in Europe.  

 

Hank

[pris993]

YOu might look for a Transatlantic from US on various lines, i.e., Princess, Celebrity, Cunard, etc., and then book a separate cruise back to US on Cunard.  But this would involve two different bookings vs a round trip.  

 

Over the years, I have done a number of TAs on Princess, HAL, Cunard, Celebrity. I looked for TAs with some interesting ports on Europe.  I disembarked in Barcelona, Rome, Southhampton.  From Mediterranean ports you can do independent travel and they arrange to meet a Cunard ship in Southampton to return to USA.

 

I understand the desire to avoid air, it is a pain in the butt.  Happy travels. 

[wowzz]

Ironically, P&O (UK) does what you are looking for, but in reverse ! 35 day cruises to the US and Caribbean to and from Southampton, normally in January or February. 

I wouid have thought that Princess or Celebrity could have done a 35 day to the Med and back in the summer months.  

[ouse456]

This April Emerald Princess is sailing from Fort Lauderdale to South Hampton and a day after arrival in South Hampton, Cunard's Queen Elizabeth is sailing from South Hampton back to Fort Lauderdale. Oceanview rooms on the Emerald are being advertised on VTG at $40 a night and for the Queen Elizabeth it's $81 per night.  Bargains for both!  I wish this had dawned upon me as a possibility before booking another transatlantic cruise.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by ouse456

[zoncom]

 Look up Oceania Insignia. They have a final leg coming back to States from Europe in late Spring; forgot times.

[Hlitner]

I just want to shout out a gentle warning!  All travelers/cruisers have to now consider the COVID rules/restrictions of relevant countries and the cruise lines.  Doing a one-day (or relatively short) turn-around in a country might become difficult depending on the various testing requirements.  So, for example, while you might well meet the requirements to disembark you might find yourself without enough time to comply with the requirements to embark the following day (or within a few days).  This is just one more of those possible hassles that need to be explored before making a major financial commitement.

 

Hank

[eurodl]

We are looking at doing something similar.  The hardest part is figuring the timing on the cruises to and from Europe.  We have found combos with 3, 4 and 5 weeks on land.  It also depends are where you want to end up (Southampton, Amsterdam, Rome, Spain).  You will end up take Cunard either east or west bound as they are the only ones I have found that do transatlantic throughout the year.

[ouse456]

On 1/23/2022 at 5:52 PM, Hlitner said:

I just want to shout out a gentle warning!  All travelers/cruisers have to now consider the COVID rules/restrictions of relevant countries and the cruise lines.  Doing a one-day (or relatively short) turn-around in a country might become difficult depending on the various testing requirements.  So, for example, while you might well meet the requirements to disembark you might find yourself without enough time to comply with the requirements to embark the following day (or within a few days).  This is just one more of those possible hassles that need to be explored before making a major financial commitement.

 

Hank

Yes. Someone above mentioned that Barcelona airport has COVID testing including the rapid test and I just checked out the Lisbon airport which is indicating the rapid test is available for 25 Euros. I would Google the return airport for each country where return flights are scheduled. My fear is that a positive test would mean denial to board the return flight.  

[CGTNORMANDIE]

Best bet is a late summer crossing on QM2 then a Fall repositioning on another line.

[CruzinMermaid]

Virgin Voyages has two repo cruises April 2023

• Miami to Barcelona, 4/22 - 5/7, 15 nights
• Puerto Rico to Portugal, 4/22 - 5/3, 11 nights though I'm guessing this is out for you

I'm doing the Puerto Rico crossing next year and planning to return from Seville rather than where we land in Portugal. I'll be taking the train to Seville from Lisbon. I mention this only because taking the train in Europe is a wonderful experience and you could transit from Barcelona to Paris or Ireland. 

[muggo11]

Not exactly a back to back but we are sailing to Southhampton on the QE2 in mid-october, staying 3 weeks in Liverpool, London and the Isle of Wight and returning on brand new Carnival Celebration in early November.  Vacations to Go has a great search function for repositioning cruises to see what you might mix and match. 

[Heidi13]

13 hours ago, muggo11 said:

Not exactly a back to back but we are sailing to Southhampton on the QE2 in mid-october, staying 3 weeks in Liverpool, London and the Isle of Wight and returning on brand new Carnival Celebration in early November.  Vacations to Go has a great search function for repositioning cruises to see what you might mix and match. 

 

Might want to check the ship, as QE2 is permanently moored in Port Rashid, Dubai. Sold by Cunard in 2008.

[muggo11]

2 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Might want to check the ship, as QE2 is permanently moored in Port Rashid, Dubai. Sold by Cunard in 2008.

Ooops.  Typo. I meant QM2!  Thanks.  

[ouse456]

Last week I googled Fort Lauderdale airport to see if it had COVID testing. If someone was desperate he could delay precruise rapid testing until landing. I think I'd rather not travel far from home until I knew the results of a test, but if testing somehow fell through at home I might do it in a pinch. 

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, muggo11 said:

Ooops.  Typo. I meant QM2!  Thanks.  

 

Enjoy, great ship for crossing the Atlantic.

[ouse456]

On 1/30/2022 at 3:39 AM, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Best bet is a late summer crossing on QM2 then a Fall repositioning on another line.

And another one to consider is the Cunard Queen Elizabeth transatlantic from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona on August 9.