SD II Transatlantic 22 April 2023 Palm Beach to Lisbon Roll Call (sort of)

[Carnac767]

Don't look now, but this sailing is less than a year away.  We were wondering who else is joining us on this bodacious event.  I guess nobody needs to worry about arranging pub crawls (that would go by quickly), slot pulls (ditto), cabin crawls and private tour excursions.  That gives us plenty of time to concentrate on cruise essentials--eating and drinking.  I lived in Bermuda but that was in the 1980s when a coat and tie was mandatory for almost everywhere.  We were there four years ago and times they have changed . . . and so have the prices.  We went to one of my favorite watering holes, the Swizzle Inn.  Two rum swizzles and two fish and chips cost us nearly $70, but hey, we were in Bermuda, so it was still awesome.  Looking forward to meeting the rest of the motley crew for this adventure.

[Carnac767]

One of the cruisers on this year's crossing on SD II (2022 San Juan to Barcelona) just posted a video on YouTube:  

 

 

He has several other episodes about SeaDream on his channel, as well.  He mentions that on Day 8 of the crossing that a couple of crewmembers tested positive for Covid.  Everyone was tested and restricted to their cabin until the test results were read.  It doesn't seem to have been too big a deal.  The crew masked up for the remainder of the sailing and passengers were required to wear masks unless outside.

[Carnac767]

Chicken, anyone?  Chicken in Lisbon?  A little something to stir up the taste buds, courtesy of Phil Rosenthal.

 

[Carnac767]

I forgot to mention on the previous post that if you have access to Netflix, I encourage to watch Phil's episode of "Somebody Feed Phil--Lisbon" from Season 1.  Here's another quick video from Iz Harris titled What to Eat, See, and Do in Lisbon: 

 

[Carnac767]

And you can never go wrong with Rick Steves guide to Lisbon:

 

[Carnac767]

Bueller? Bueller?  Is this thing working?  😂  Maybe we're the only ones on the cruise.  That's cool.

[Zimmy]

Trapper & I just booked this crossing today. We're veteran Seadreamers, but this will be our first crossing. We were going back through old posts on this board to find whatever we could regarding the crossing. We're very excited.

[TrapperZimmy]

Have always said I wasn't interested in doing a crossing, but now I'm really looking forward to it.  Being away for that long is now more attractive.  I will probably have several questions for those who have done crossings, so here is my first.  Is stopping to swim in the ocean done on the eastward, or only westward when I assume the water is warmer?

[ctbjr1309]

On 10/28/2022 at 12:43 PM, TrapperZimmy said:

Have always said I wasn't interested in doing a crossing, but now I'm really looking forward to it.  Being away for that long is now more attractive.  I will probably have several questions for those who have done crossings, so here is my first.  Is stopping to swim in the ocean done on the eastward, or only westward when I assume the water is warmer?

Very glad to hear that you all have decided to do a crossing.  I'm confident that you'll love it!   Sorry that we aren't able to join you though.  We have been on both EB and WB crossings where the ship stopped and passengers were able to swim in the ocean.  Totally dependent though on weather and sea conditions.  I'd say that in 7 crossings we've stopped to swim twice.

 

As for water temperature, bear in mind that this crossing is commencing about 1,000 miles north of the normal starting location for EB crossings.  Also, stopping in Bermuda will require a much more northerly track than normal so I expect the weather to be cooler sooner than on normal EB crossings.

 

Have a wonderful voyage.  We'll be thinking of you guys.

[Carnac767]

On 10/27/2022 at 3:57 PM, Zimmy said:

Trapper & I just booked this crossing today. We're veteran Seadreamers, but this will be our first crossing. We were going back through old posts on this board to find whatever we could regarding the crossing. We're very excited.

Welcome aboard.

[Carnac767]

On 10/28/2022 at 12:43 PM, TrapperZimmy said:

Have always said I wasn't interested in doing a crossing, but now I'm really looking forward to it.  Being away for that long is now more attractive.  I will probably have several questions for those who have done crossings, so here is my first.  Is stopping to swim in the ocean done on the eastward, or only westward when I assume the water is warmer?

Welcome aboard, TZ.  I hope we have swim call.  I've done it in the mid-Pacific, right where the equator meets the international date line.  Want to add the Atlantic to that very short list.  When I lived in Bermuda in the 80s, the water temperature in late April/late May was in the high 60s/low 70s, which to me was like the Arctic.  The further east we go the cooler it will be.  So, it won't be a long swim. 🥶

[TrapperZimmy]

I just want to say that I did it.  Of course, I've taken credit for doing a lot of things that I haven't, and I am counting on fellow passengers not ratting me out.  I'd be happy to do a swim during one of the sea days before we get to Bermuda, where the water might be a little warmer.  Maybe going down the new water slide?

 

Sorry you won't be joining us, CTBJR, now that we know who you are.  Hope to see you again sometime soon.

[ctbjr1309]

5 hours ago, TrapperZimmy said:

Sorry you won't be joining us, CTBJR, now that we know who you are.  

Gosh, I thought you remembered me from last December/January.  Wasn't trying to be coy!

 

[TrapperZimmy]

21 hours ago, ctbjr1309 said:

Gosh, I thought you remembered me from last December/January.  Wasn't trying to be coy!

 

That's what I meant when I said "now that we know who you are."  I remember that light bulb going on when we were on the pier in STT.  That was quite an afternoon, eh?

[ctbjr1309]

16 hours ago, TrapperZimmy said:

That was quite an afternoon, eh?

Sure was!  The week that followed was quite something as well 🙂

Edited November 7, 2022 by ctbjr1309

[Carnac767]

The question often arises concerning Transatlantic cruises and that is "what will the sea conditions be like?"  Here are a couple of photos taken from USS Teddy Roosevelt in 1999 on her way from Norfolk to the Med. She ran into this storm in early April.  The ship encountered 20' swells and 80' waves.  The first shot is TR taking white water over the flight deck, which is roughly 60' above the sea surface.  The second photo is of one of the escorts getting clobbered.  

 

Now that I've terrified everyone, let me add that this was a freak storm and very unusual.  I've made several crossings in late May and they've all been bathtub calm for the most part.  But as these photos illustrate, the Atlantic Ocean is a fickle beast.  If we ever encounter conditions like this on SDII, we won't have to stop for swim call.  The ocean will call on us.

[TrapperZimmy]

Nah, that doesn't scare me.  I'll just be very careful tying my plane down on the deck.  Excuse me, waiter, the fish that just landed on my plate looks like it hasn't been cooked.  It may be a new experience - eating dinner in the dining room.  Can someone please show me where it is?

[Dorinda]

Hi kids - my friend, Kay, and I are booked for this crossing. I did a crossing a few years back that ended in London - at Tower Bridge.  Great experience.  We're looking forward to this trip across the pond.  

 

Cheers!

Dee

[Zimmy]

On 1/12/2023 at 10:47 AM, Dorinda said:

Hi kids - my friend, Kay, and I are booked for this crossing. I did a crossing a few years back that ended in London - at Tower Bridge.  Great experience.  We're looking forward to this trip across the pond.  

 

Cheers!

Dee

Hi Dee. Looking forward to meeting you. We just debarked the II yesterday, and we can't wait to return. 

 

[garysarah]

I do have friends that are doing this cruise.  It will be their second crossing.  Last year they did the other direction.  I can tell you that there will be a large group of people that know each other from prior trips.  They basically do crossings but not usually the regular Caribbean or Med cruises.  

 

I'll be there in Lisbon waiting for you!  We are on the following 2 cruises so will go to Lisbon a few days ear;y.

[JES4845]

We will be on this crossing as well - easy for us to embark - only a half hour Uber ride from home.

 

We are also on the first voyage after the crossing - the sold out Lisbon to Morocco to Barcelona.

 

This will be our second crossing, but the first going east.  This one is 16 days, our other was 13 (Spain to Puerto Rico).

 

Last I heard there will be around 65 of us, plus or minus …. unless more booked recently.

 

Looking forward to it all … and hope for calm seas and fair weather.

[TrapperZimmy]

Glad to see that you are joining us, JES.  I don't think we've sailed with your before, so it will be nice to meet you.  65 seems like a nice number.  Last I looked, there was one Commodore left and several regular cabins.  Is it likely that all of the other Commodores are being booked as Commodores? 

 

This is our first crossing, but hardly our first SD.  When we get off in Lisbon it is off to the airport for a flight to Paris for a few days.  My biggest question at this point is how to pack for varying weather conditions.  Will we need to bundle up to sit on deck, or can we sunbathe every day?  I expect that Paris will be in the mid-60s for the middle of May.

[JES4845]

Look forward to meeting you as well.  We found from our one and only crossing - plus even recently in the Caribbean twice this season - not to be fooled by average, high and low temps.  We now always pack at least a little bit for chillier and warmer than expected - layers, layers, layers.

 

For example, even in the Caribbean in late January when it was sunny and warm during the day, we needed jackets or sweaters some mornings at breakfast and ditto at night for cocktails and dinner when outside.   As we all know, it gets windy out there on deck especially in the open Atlantic Ocean.  We plan to bring a little of everything and send to the laundry as needed.  We are on the voyage after the crossing as well (Lisbon to Barcelona) which complicates packing!

 

Another factor we learned “the hard way” on our other crossing is that shade is at a real premium because they can’t put up any umbrellas since the ship is constantly underway (except our one day in Bermuda).  I imagine there will be sunny but cool days when we are all out around the pool deck and Bali beds, etc. in windbreakers or sweaters/sweatshirts enjoying a tasty adult beverage!

[TrapperZimmy]

So true about "average temperatures."  When we did our Norway cruise, we planned on sweaters and sweatshirts.  I ended up buying shorts and a polo shirt on board because it was so warm.  Layers it is.

[Vacation dentist]

My parents Art & Nancy will be joining in Lisbon until Nice. This is their second SeaDream Sept 2021 Rome to Venice via Croatia. Enjoy!

my husband Randy and I are looking forward to a back to back in Sept 2023 on SeaDream from Malta to Istanbul.  
Cheers, 

Kendra