Transatlantic crossing something for us?

[geer55]

We recently have retired and one of our dreams was to do a transatlantic crossing. We live in the Netherlands and the idea is to fly to Florida next year, stay there for a week or so and then board the Zuiderdam in Fort Lauderdale in may.

 

Any thoughts or suggestions regarding this ittenary? Secondly we were wondering what the CC members who have done a TA did like most about this trip? 
 

Looking forward to your response!

[*Miss G*]

I was a little concerned that I would hate transatlantics before I did one.  What I discovered was that I enjoyed the forced downtime and the multiple days at sea.

 

With regard to the itinerary:  I much prefer the westbound TA’s, over the eastbound, for three reasons:

 

1. You gain an hour going westbound every two days (+/-) as opposed to losing an hour every two days going eastbound.

2.  The weather is much warmer going westbound.  Going eastbound, in the Spring, things are still trying to warm up.

3.  There are multiple ports to visit before you set out across the Atlantic, giving you the opportunity to rest afterwards.  With an eastbound, your multiple ports come at the end of the itinerary so you’re resting before they come.

[Hlitner]

43 minutes ago, geer55 said:

We recently have retired and one of our dreams was to do a transatlantic crossing. We live in the Netherlands and the idea is to fly to Florida next year, stay there for a week or so and then board the Zuiderdam in Fort Lauderdale in may.

 

Any thoughts or suggestions regarding this ittenary? Secondly we were wondering what the CC members who have done a TA did like most about this trip? 
 

Looking forward to your response!

It is a pretty typical TA itinerary except for adding a couple of ports (Waterford and Torquay) not all that common.  We have done dozens of TAs (both directions with many lines including HAL) and I would suggest that TAs are very much about the sea days.  For folks (like me) that love sea days, every TA is wonderful :).    I have another suggestion which is you might want to touch base with another CC poster with the nick of "Ine" who is a countryperson of yours and has done some TAs back to the Netherlands.   Not sure that Ine will see this post but you could simply post on the Ports of Call boards under "Mexican Riviera" with a subject line something like "Ine, please respond" and she will certainly give you a shout.

 

Hank

[SilvertoGold]

Loved the three we have taken!  Open ocean, long days at sea, relaxing time!

 

We take Collectors TAs of + 28 days and really loved the European ports.  A straight TA is much too short for us.  Nevertheless as Europeans you have possibly been to a lot of the cruise ports in the Med and Baltic, so this is just a suggestion from my own point of view.

[Mary229]

I love them but my DH is not such a fan.  Even though he is more social than myself he doesn’t like all of the sea days.  Sea days for me are occupied with the gym and pools, the afternoon programs, puzzles, reading and in-room movie watching.  The evenings are like any other cruise - casino, music or theater.    
 

my only suggestion is to rent a car in Florida, you certainly cannot expect to use public transportation for a week.  I would visit Miami spending at least an overnight there, Everglades and then drive to the Keys.   Eat some Cuban food.  

[CruiseMGM]

17 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

I was a little concerned that I would hate transatlantics before I did one.  What I discovered was that I enjoyed the forced downtime and the multiple days at sea.

 

With regard to the itinerary:  I much prefer the westbound TA’s, over the eastbound, for three reasons:

 

1. You gain an hour going westbound every two days (+/-) as opposed to losing an hour every two days going eastbound.

2.  The weather is much warmer going westbound.  Going eastbound, in the Spring, things are still trying to warm up.

3.  There are multiple ports to visit before you set out across the Atlantic, giving you the opportunity to rest afterwards.  With an eastbound, your multiple ports come at the end of the itinerary so you’re resting before they come.

 

1000% this, all three points! Our VERY first cruise was a TA (on Celebrity) and we loved it. We've always said we wanted to do an eastbound itinerary for the exact three reasons listed by Miss G, but haven't managed to book one yet. 

 

geer55, congratulations on your retirement, and have a wonderful cruise!

[DCThunder]

I did an eastbound TA on Princess in April and loved it and doing a westbound one in early September.  Interesting thing is that (at least on Princess) the clocks moved forward at noon on the days they changed, not during the night.  I was told this was for the benefit of the crew, especially those on the overnight shifts.  I will be interested to see if we gain an hour at noon on the westbound cruise.

 

But I can echo the statements that the sea days were the best days.  We had great weather the whole trip, including across the Bay of Biscay and up the Channel and this was in early-mid April.

[0106]

I recently booked our first TA.  I spent a great deal of time reading the posts on CC Special Interest: Transatlantic, Transpacific, Repositioning & Trans-Ocean Cruises.  You may find it helpful too.

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

We have done several TAs going both ways, and have enjoyed all of them.  About 20 years ago, on a eastbound few TAs, HAL moved the clock forward at 2pm.   Most passengers seemed to like the idea since they did not lose an hour of sleep, but there were some who complained they lost an hour of the daily activities.

 

@DCThunder I imagine on the westbound TA, the clocks will be changed at 2 am to give everyone an extra hour of sleep.  I've never seen the clocks changed during the day on westbound TA and trans Pacific cruises.

 

We like TAs for the sea days and a chance to relax before or after a busy port intensive cruise.

[geer55]

5 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

I was a little concerned that I would hate transatlantics before I did one.  What I discovered was that I enjoyed the forced downtime and the multiple days at sea.

 

With regard to the itinerary:  I much prefer the westbound TA’s, over the eastbound, for three reasons:

 

1. You gain an hour going westbound every two days (+/-) as opposed to losing an hour every two days going eastbound.

2.  The weather is much warmer going westbound.  Going eastbound, in the Spring, things are still trying to warm up.

3.  There are multiple ports to visit before you set out across the Atlantic, giving you the opportunity to rest afterwards.  With an eastbound, your multiple ports come at the end of the itinerary so you’re resting before they come.

Thnx Miss G! Sound advice, you certainly gave us something to think about.

[geer55]

5 hours ago, Hlitner said:

It is a pretty typical TA itinerary except for adding a couple of ports (Waterford and Torquay) not all that common.  We have done dozens of TAs (both directions with many lines including HAL) and I would suggest that TAs are very much about the sea days.  For folks (like me) that love sea days, every TA is wonderful :).    I have another suggestion which is you might want to touch base with another CC poster with the nick of "Ine" who is a countryperson of yours and has done some TAs back to the Netherlands.   Not sure that Ine will see this post but you could simply post on the Ports of Call boards under "Mexican Riviera" with a subject line something like "Ine, please respond" and she will certainly give you a shout.

 

Hank

Thanks Hank! Good to read that you loved the seadays, a little bit concern on our part. I certainly will try to contact Ine.

[geer55]

5 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

Loved the three we have taken!  Open ocean, long days at sea, relaxing time!

 

We take Collectors TAs of + 28 days and really loved the European ports.  A straight TA is much too short for us.  Nevertheless as Europeans you have possibly been to a lot of the cruise ports in the Med and Baltic, so this is just a suggestion from my own point of view.

Thank you silvertogold! You are right about is visiting lots of places all over Europe. But we have never done a TA but are getting more and more exited after reading your commentaar and those of other CC members.

[geer55]

5 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I love them but my DH is not such a fan.  Even though he is more social than myself he doesn’t like all of the sea days.  Sea days for me are occupied with the gym and pools, the afternoon programs, puzzles, reading and in-room movie watching.  The evenings are like any other cruise - casino, music or theater.    
 

my only suggestion is to rent a car in Florida, you certainly cannot expect to use public transportation for a week.  I would visit Miami spending at least an overnight there, Everglades and then drive to the Keys.   Eat some Cuban food.  

Thanks Mary. I have looked at rental cars and noticed that prices (compared to European car rentals) are pretty high. But I realise that public transportation in Florida is not really an option.

[geer55]

4 hours ago, CruiseMGM said:

 

1000% this, all three points! Our VERY first cruise was a TA (on Celebrity) and we loved it. We've always said we wanted to do an eastbound itinerary for the exact three reasons listed by Miss G, but haven't managed to book one yet. 

 

geer55, congratulations on your retirement, and have a wonderful cruise!

Thank you CruiseMGM! We are certainly enjoying retirement. Good to read that you are fans of TA’s.

 

[geer55]

4 hours ago, DCThunder said:

I did an eastbound TA on Princess in April and loved it and doing a westbound one in early September.  Interesting thing is that (at least on Princess) the clocks moved forward at noon on the days they changed, not during the night.  I was told this was for the benefit of the crew, especially those on the overnight shifts.  I will be interested to see if we gain an hour at noon on the westbound cruise.

 

But I can echo the statements that the sea days were the best days.  We had great weather the whole trip, including across the Bay of Biscay and up the Channel and this was in early-mid April.

Thank you DCThunder! Learned a nee fact about the moving of clocks Durlinger the trip.

[geer55]

4 hours ago, 0106 said:

I recently booked our first TA.  I spent a great deal of time reading the posts on CC Special Interest: Transatlantic, Transpacific, Repositioning & Trans-Ocean Cruises.  You may find it helpful too.

Great advice 0106! I certainly will search for the posts you mentioned.

[geer55]

3 hours ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

We have done several TAs going both ways, and have enjoyed all of them.  About 20 years ago, on a eastbound few TAs, HAL moved the clock forward at 2pm.   Most passengers seemed to like the idea since they did not lose an hour of sleep, but there were some who complained they lost an hour of the daily activities.

 

@DCThunder I imagine on the westbound TA, the clocks will be changed at 2 am to give everyone an extra hour of sleep.  I've never seen the clocks changed during the day on westbound TA and trans Pacific cruises.

 

We like TAs for the sea days and a chance to relax before or after a busy port intensive cruise.

Thanks Quartzsite! Great to read that you have enjoyed the TA’s you have made.

[Mary229]

12 minutes ago, geer55 said:

Thanks Mary. I have looked at rental cars and noticed that prices (compared to European car rentals) are pretty high. But I realise that public transportation in Florida is not really an option.

Everything in Florida is currently higher than normal.  Check after mid September there may be better options.  

[FlaMariner]

We think HAL TA's are "the only way to fly"....We love them.  Have done 3 in the last few years and we are going to try our first "trans Pacific" in 2023.

 

Sea days fly by......and they are especially great after we do a land tour in Europe for 5 or 7 days and then jump on a ship w/4 or so stops...and then relax as we cross the pond (vice versa for you).  

 

(Only problem is you have to fly in one direction!)

 

And to the OP....enjoy my home state of Florida......we are grateful to have you visit!

 

 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2022 by FlaMariner

[crystalspin]

7 hours ago, geer55 said:

We recently have retired and one of our dreams was to do a transatlantic crossing. We live in the Netherlands and the idea is to fly to Florida next year, stay there for a week or so and then board the Zuiderdam in Fort Lauderdale in may.

 

Any thoughts or suggestions regarding this ittenary? Secondly we were wondering what the CC members who have done a TA did like most about this trip? 

Our last cruise (hopefully not last forever) was Apr/May 2019 FLL/CPH on the Zuiderdam. The ports were Bermuda, Azores, Cherbourg, Zeebrugge, Amsterdam, Copenhagen. We went on our own (via taxi) to a small "zoo" at Bermuda, our Azores port was changed from São Miguel Island to Praia da Vitoria with no comparable shore excursion being offered so we stayed on the ship, we did ship's tours in Normandy and Amsterdam (Keukenhof!) both of which were very good! But you don't need to go on a cruise to visit Keukenhof! At Zeebrugge we joined a private tour that a RollCall member had organized and it was very disorganized. We stayed on three additional days in Copenhagen and enjoyed that city very much -- my husband is half-Danish.

 

This is not to disuade you from taking private tours; we have taken satisfactory ones both in Europe and South America, that were very good.

 

This was our third transAtlantic (two eastbound and one west) so we knew we would like the seadays. We really liked having our cabin on the Observation Deck and spending most of our time in the Crows Nest (now sometimes labelled Exploration Cafe). We had one of the most-aft insides, which have a window although no view. Today I would book a starboard balcony... So far the Zuidy is my favorite ship! Just the right size -- enough venues for variety and not so big that you get lost!  

[geer55]

1 hour ago, FlaMariner said:

We think HAL TA's are "the only way to fly"....We love them.  Have done 3 in the last few years and we are going to try our first "trans Pacific" in 2023.

 

Sea days fly by......and they are especially great after we do a land tour in Europe for 5 or 7 days and then jump on a ship w/4 or so stops...and then relax as we cross the pond (vice versa for you).  

 

(Only problem is you have to fly in one direction!)

 

And to the OP....enjoy my home state of Florida......we are grateful to have you visit!

 

 

 

 

Thnx FlaMariner! We sure are exited to visit Florida as well as the TA!

[mysticsailor]

We have also done multiple T/A in both directions and the ones we like best, regardless of direction, are the ones taking us home. L-o-n-g flights after weeks cruising is not our preferred mode of travel to arrive home relaxed. 

[geer55]

1 hour ago, crystalspin said:

Our last cruise (hopefully not last forever) was Apr/May 2019 FLL/CPH on the Zuiderdam. The ports were Bermuda, Azores, Cherbourg, Zeebrugge, Amsterdam, Copenhagen. We went on our own (via taxi) to a small "zoo" at Bermuda, our Azores port was changed from São Miguel Island to Praia da Vitoria with no comparable shore excursion being offered so we stayed on the ship, we did ship's tours in Normandy and Amsterdam (Keukenhof!) both of which were very good! But you don't need to go on a cruise to visit Keukenhof! At Zeebrugge we joined a private tour that a RollCall member had organized and it was very disorganized. We stayed on three additional days in Copenhagen and enjoyed that city very much -- my husband is half-Danish.

 

This is not to disuade you from taking private tours; we have taken satisfactory ones both in Europe and South America, that were very good.

 

This was our third transAtlantic (two eastbound and one west) so we knew we would like the seadays. We really liked having our cabin on the Observation Deck and spending most of our time in the Crows Nest (now sometimes labelled Exploration Cafe). We had one of the most-aft insides, which have a window although no view. Today I would book a starboard balcony... So far the Zuidy is my favorite ship! Just the right size -- enough venues for variety and not so big that you get lost!  

Thank you chrystalspin for your extensive reaction and advice!  

[geer55]

3 minutes ago, mysticsailor said:

We have also done multiple T/A in both directions and the ones we like best, regardless of direction, are the ones taking us home. L-o-n-g flights after weeks cruising is not our preferred mode of travel to arrive home relaxed. 

Thank you mysticsailor, I agree that traveling on a cruiseship is very relaxing.

[albingirl]

Boy, we miss the Atlantic Adventures where you went transatlantic both ways! Fabulous cruises...long and elegant. We'd see some familiar faces on them, and developed friendships with them.  This was back in the day of the Maasdam and Veendam.  Wishing they still had those.  I'd sign up in a New York minute!