Probably impossible... round trip

[bizzy2010]

Has anyone ever tried to schedule something that works out as a round trip from new york to UK and back say 3-4 weeks apart?   trying to avoid 1 leg of it being flying back or to. 

[terry&mike]

There are people that do this all the time. Many folks don’t like to fly, and do this very thing. For example, sail US to Southampton, spend a few weeks around Europe, sail back from Southampton to US. You will be booking it as 2 different sailings, not as a round trip sailing, as you have open weeks between. 
 

We board in Hamburg to sail to New York tomorrow (Sept 20), then will fly home to Florida.  Originally, we were also booked to sail US to Southampton in late August (around August 20, I think), but had to attend an event in the US, so cancelled our sailing and flew over August 28.  

[Winifred 22]

I think there are also posts on here about being able to store luggage for a fee so you don’t have to take all your cruise wear around with you on youyr travels in between. As someone from UK who just cruises Southampton to Southampton I can’t advise you but plenty on here will be able to.  I have met many folk onboard who do this though. 

 

[Bell Boy]

5 hours ago, bizzy2010 said:

Has anyone ever tried to schedule something that works out as a round trip from new york to UK and back say 3-4 weeks apart?   trying to avoid 1 leg of it being flying back or to. 

Yes I've done this sort of thing ( UK -Brooklyn -UK)  a couple of times with no problem, however, just to clarify as another posted has already commented, you book it as two separate bookings.

Cunard can arrange storage for luggage, however, the storage will not be on the ship.  

 

[White Horse]

We recently did this trip in reverse, travelling to the USA from the UK before returning to the UK three weeks later. The length of time between crossings can vary but we needed at least 3 weeks to allow for some Amtrak travel out to Utah and back. It would be a similar position if you wanted to spend time in Europe instead, with varying lengths of time between crossings. 

[Underwatr]

I haven't done it recently but every year when the schedules were released I used to do a spreadhseet of the eastbounds vs westbounds and the intervals between them to figure out the opportunities for an itinerary like you're hoping to find. The easiest way to do it is when they do a "Grand" voyage which is a pair of transatlantics bookending 5-7 days somewhere like Scandinavia. In 2019 we booked two crossings between New York and Hamburg separated by five days. 

The other option is to find crossings as close together as you want or need. Go eastbound on one and westbound however many weeks later. The ship doesn't always go back and forth without some activity on one end or the other so while you might find a westbound 14 to 16 days after the eastbound it will be more likely that you'll be able to board for the return home around three weeks +/- after you disembark in Southampton (or in some cases Hamburg).
It's just a matter of studying the schedules and figuring out the intervals between crossings vs. how long you'd like to spend.

Edited September 19, 2023 by Underwatr

[moses0]

Just did this but just with 1o days in the UK. Stored our luggage with Cunard and it was in our stateroom on our return. Great trip.

[ExArkie]

On 9/19/2023 at 5:24 PM, Underwatr said:

I haven't done it recently but every year when the schedules were released I used to do a spreadhseet of the eastbounds vs westbounds and the intervals between them to figure out the opportunities for an itinerary like you're hoping to find. The easiest way to do it is when they do a "Grand" voyage which is a pair of transatlantics bookending 5-7 days somewhere like Scandinavia. In 2019 we booked two crossings between New York and Hamburg separated by five days. 

The other option is to find crossings as close together as you want or need. Go eastbound on one and westbound however many weeks later. The ship doesn't always go back and forth without some activity on one end or the other so while you might find a westbound 14 to 16 days after the eastbound it will be more likely that you'll be able to board for the return home around three weeks +/- after you disembark in Southampton (or in some cases Hamburg).
It's just a matter of studying the schedules and figuring out the intervals between crossings vs. how long you'd like to spend.

Ours, based on the same general idea several years ago, was the last leg of the QE World Cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Southampton, returning on QM2 several weeks later (with the intervening time in Ireland, if that matters).