Eastbound or Westbound Transatlatic

[goldgoin]

Can some experienced cruisers give recommendations on their preferences for eastbound or westbound cruises on QM2?

Thanks,

Karen

[pepperrn]

Can some experienced cruisers give recommendations on their preferences for eastbound or westbound cruises on QM2?

Thanks,

Karen

 

Hi Karen

 

My preference has always been for Westbound. You get 25 hour days (those 23 hour ones EB must be uncomfortable). You get to do the classic "sailing to the new world" voyage that many of previous generations did. You get to enter New York harbor just as seen in many movies (even if you don't dock in Manhattan these days).

 

Of course one reason to fly out and voyage on Queen Mary 2 back home would be to avoid the weight restrictions of flying. If you were into shopping (which I'm not) then you might want to take advantage of the excellent shopping in either New York or European cities without having to concern yourself with excess baggage. You might also find that EB is less crowded than WB.

 

I would be interested to know if the nationality mix is different EB or WB, and what the booking figures are, IS one way much more popular than the other? I would suspect that many more europeans travel WB and more from north america travel EB but that's only a feeling. I would also imagine that more travel WB than EB.

 

Hope this helps.

[Patch Nelson]

Southampton to NYC ... put the clock back an hour a night and enjoy the extra kip in the morning ...

 

That was me sold from day one ... or more acurately day two, which is when they go back an hour.

[guernseyguy]

Westbound - for the extra hour, arrival in the 'New World', albeit no longer Manhattan, and no jet lag at the start of your vacation in the US.....of course if your vacation is in Europe, that might argue for an eastbound crossing....

[JGR01]

23 hours a day certainly kept me busy on the QM2! Not sure what I would have done GAINING an hour every night (drink more?)!!

 

So many variables! So much to do. I had to limit myself each day just in order to get my Spa time and my deck time and my relaxing on the balcony with a scotch time in! Let alone breakfast, lunch, tea and drinks/dinner.

[dnovak99]

My wife and I have enjoyed three roundtrip transatlantics on the QM2. We have consistently enjoyed the westbounds more than the eastbounds. As mentioned by previous posters the extra hour each day is wonderful but for us it has had more to do with the passengers. We have found that the westbounds tend to draw a more "European" crowd. Dress is generally better throughout the day (a lot less baseball hats, t-shirts and jeans) and, in general, the manners exhibited by the passengers appear to be a bit more refined. We have also noticed that the crew appear to be a bit more attentive - perhaps they enjoy the extra hour of sleep as much as we do.

[goldgoin]

Thanks for your thoughts, everyone. We will definitely try for the westbound.

 

We were looking at a Caribbean cruise on the QM2, but it was for a room with a hull balcony. After reading the other threads, we decided the hull balcony would be ok for a crossing, but not for the warmer weather. It was great that someone posted a video of the room showing just what the hull balcony looked like.

 

Thanks again,

Karen

[Haze]

Just to add to the existing posts. We have completed five transatalantic crossings on QE2 and are booked to do a 6th on QM2 Sept 24th. We have done four wesbounds and one eastbound and the Sept one will be a westbound. I agree that the westbound is the way to go. You adjust to the time difference much easier Also for us, we usually spend two weeks in the UK before we sail and the westbound crossing gives us something to look forward to.

[msk68]

Another vote for westbound for all the reasons listed above!