Are we crazy?

[Briny]

Are we crazy?

DW and I are thinking about booking a 17-day west-to-east transatlantic crossing in the fall of 2008 on the Zuiderdam – specifically, a cruise called the Autumn Odyssey from Venice to Ft. Lauderdale, with many interesting sounding ports of call in: Croatia, Italy, Spain and Portugal. The cruise ends with a stop at Half Moon Cay, before arrival the next day in Ft. Lauderdale.

Other than HMC, we have been to none of those places. We would like to get a taste of the Mediterranean, and this kind of cruise sounds like a perfect opportunity to get our feet wet for, perhaps, a future land adventure to one or more of the countries we visit. Moreover, we find air travel today such a dreadful experience, that we are intrigued by any vacation that would allow us to fly only one way – especially if we are able to get it over with at the beginning of the trip. Luckily for us, Ft. Lauderdale is within a few hours driving time of our home, meaning no need for us to deal with airlines once we get back to the U.S.

Here’s the kicker: We have been on only one cruise before (which we absolutely loved and thought was over much too quickly--Eastern Caribbean, Westerdam.) We are booked for a Western Caribbean cruise on the Veendam this coming December, which we also fully expect to enjoy to the utmost.

So, do you seasoned HAL cruisers think we are crazy, jumping directly from a couple of one-week cruises to a cross-ocean voyage? Are there better choices for us that we have overlooked? What are the drawbacks of a transatlantic cruise, e.g., does one get tired/bored after six straight at-sea days? And, if we do go through with this, how many extra days should we plan to stay in Venice before the cruise begins?

Any thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated.

[sail7seas]

I don't think you're crazy at all!!! I'm jealous.

 

You have tried cruising. You know what it is all about. The cruise you are looking at sounds like a dream. Only having to fly one way on your vacation is the frosting.

 

Go for it...... I wish DH was retired and we could!!!

 

[grannynurse]

Briny,

There is a post on this board called Zuiderdam TA. The original poster Lawyerrose is booked on your cruise. She and I have had many interesting conversations that may cover most of your questions. I'll bump it up so it will be on this page as it just went to page 2.

GN

[RetiredMustang]

Briny,

 

Since DW and I are already booked on Noordam from Rome to NYC in Oct. 2008, I don't think you are crazy at all. Enjoy it as much as you can -- get off the ship and see something in each port. If you are nervous about going on your own in a foreign port, take the ship's excursions, but go!

 

But, also plan for the six days at sea in a row that you mentioned. We have found that the pace slows and we really enjoy those days, but you may want to plan to bring some books or other activities for that down time. We love the down time! We have found that it is time for us, for exploring ourselves yet again. For a change from our normal lives, we find time -- time to share simple things, time for each other, time for long companionable silences and long conversations: time for us to be "us" again.

 

We can't wait for our Trans-Atlantic, and I hope you have a wonderful time if you book yours!

 

Dave

[fcorey]

Are we crazy?

 

DW and I are thinking about booking a 17-day west-to-east transatlantic crossing in the fall of 2008 on the Zuiderdam – specifically, a cruise called the Autumn Odyssey from Venice to Ft. Lauderdale, with many interesting sounding ports of call in: Croatia, Italy, Spain and Portugal. The cruise ends with a stop at Half Moon Cay, before arrival the next day in Ft.Lauderdale.

 

Other than HMC, we have been to none of those places. We would like to get a taste of the Mediterranean, and this kind of cruise sounds like a perfect opportunity to get our feet wet for, perhaps, a future land adventure to one or more of the countries we visit. Moreover, we find air travel today such a dreadful experience, that we are intrigued by any vacation that would allow us to fly only one way – especially if we are able to get it over with at the beginning of the trip. Luckily for us, Ft. Lauderdale is within a few hours driving time of our home, meaning no need for us to deal with airlines once we get back to the U.S.

 

Here’s the kicker: We have been on only one cruise before (which we absolutely loved and thought was over much too quickly--Eastern Caribbean, Westerdam.) We are booked for a Western Caribbean cruise on the Veendam this coming December, which we also fully expect to enjoy to the utmost.

 

So, do you seasoned HAL cruisers think we are crazy, jumping directly from a couple of one-week cruises to a cross-ocean voyage? Are there better choices for us that we have overlooked? What are the drawbacks of a transatlantic cruise, e.g., does one get tired/bored after six straight at-sea days? And, if we do go through with this, how many extra days should we plan to stay in Venice before the cruise begins?

 

Any thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated.

 

crazy?? good lord no.... we're not HAL veterans, having only been on one HAL cruise, but I cant imagine how wonderful it would be to take a 17 day.. Unfortunately my DW cannot get away for that long... like Sail said , I am jealous :)

[rodree]

Have been on several of these and think it is one of the best selections.

Enjoyed all the sea days and activities.

You will have a great time.

We are booked again in Sept.West toEast.

[jtl513]

e.g., does one get tired/bored after six straight at-sea days?

The question is not "does one get tired/bored" on sea days, but do you? How were you on the sea days on your 7 day cruises?

 

I cruise for the ports, not the ship or ocean, and would never book a cruise with 2 consecutive sea days, never mind 6!! :eek: Others obviously disagree!

 

p.s. - here's a link to the thread the GN mentioned in case it gets buried again.

[Briny]

Thanks, everyone for such a fast and positive response.

s7s, fcorey -- We are indeed blessed to be able to even think about such a vacation.

RetiredMustang -- Thanks for the beautiful thoughts for those at-sea days. BTW, I assume I am correct that you are USN. DW is CDR/NC/RET. We met in Roosevelt Roads around 1970, where I was an HM2. She stayed in; I got out.

Grannynurse -- I appreciate your pointing me to the Lawyerrose thread. Somehow I missed that one. It has a wealth of information. Thanks so much.

[waiting2retire]

If you are crazy, then so are most of us here :D

 

I would love to do a TA someday. My second cruise was on HAL from San Diego to Hawaii return, 15 days, with a total of 9 sea days. I loved every one of the sea days.

 

Your itinerary sounds perfect to me -- busy with sightseeing at the beginning, then just a lot of R&R on the last part. Heaven! I have heard some people suggest two or three days (minimum) prior to the cruise to recuperate from jetlag and reenergize before the port-intensive part of the cruise.

 

Have a fabulous time!

[localady]

My name is loca lady and I am cruise crazy too. I don't think you are crazy at all! ;)

Life is short, what are you waiting for??? :D

We did a similar itinerary on the Noordam last year and it was a fabulous trip!!! I would love to do another TA again, and think you will have the time of your life.

Enjoy your trip and the 6 extra hours you gain on your trip going East to West!!:D

[SakeDad]

I'd rather be "crazy" for 17 days on a fabulous ship than STIR-crazy for 17 days WISHING I was on the ship!!:D Go for it!!

[Bill S]

GO FOR IT! If you have the opportunity to take a 17-day cruise, take it!

We were on the same cruise with localady last Sept-Oct on the Noordam and loved it! We enjoyed every minute of it, especially the 5 straight sea das crossing the mid-Atlantic from the Azores to Bermuda. Sea days are so relaxing-yet you have he option to make them as active and stimulating as you like. The ports were great, too.

We had never been to Rome before so we took HAL's 5-day pre-cruise package which we totally enjoyed. I provided some scheduled tours, including a day-trip up to Siena and San Gigigmano (sp??). We took a couple of private tours around Rome as well. I would recommend at least 2 full days in Venice not including arrival or embarkation days.

No, you are NOT crazy for considering a long cruise! Have fun!

[Krazy Kruizers]

You are not crazy!!! That sounds like a wonderful cruise!! Having sailed the Med several times you will enjoy those ports. 17 days -- go for it!!!

[Druke I]

Sounds perfectly logical to me. We do like the longer cruises, and recently had a 25 night cruise, Istanbul to Singapore via the Suez, on Oceania's Nautica. Lovely trip

[Briny]

Boy, the consensus here seems to be that we should do a transatlantic, even though we are really new to the cruising game. Somehow, it seemed that we might want to work our way up slowly to such a big adventure, but I guess that’s not necessary. My gratitude to all of you for taking the time to respond. I expect that if we do this, we will find that our fellow HAL cruisers are just as helpful and encouraging when we get onboard.

[Briny]

The question is not "does one get tired/bored" on sea days, but do you? How were you on the sea days on your 7 day cruises?

 

I cruise for the ports, not the ship or ocean, and would never book a cruise with 2 consecutive sea days, never mind 6!! :eek: Others obviously disagree!

 

p.s. - here's a link to the thread the GN mentioned in case it gets buried again.

 

jtl513- Excellent point. I do have some anxiety about being at sea for nearly a week; otherwise I probably wouldn’t have raised the issue. We thoroughly enjoyed our sea days in the Caribbean, where the weather was perfect, but that was at most two days in a row. I know DW would love it (she loves to read) and I think I would be able to occupy myself. We did find on our one cruise to date that the ship and the sailing were at least as much fun – maybe more – than the ports of call.

[grannynurse]

Briny,

HAL ships feel like real ocean liners and the best way to experience that is to do a transatlantic. They have wrap-around promenade decks with teak steamer chairs and lap blankets. It feels like sailing in the days when sailing across was the only way to go.

You would love it, I'm sure

HAL does Europe very, very well, we think so as our upcoming TA is our 4th in 4 years.

GN

[agabbymama]

JMO, but I wouldn't want to be on a ship for 17 days. I just did an 11 day New England/Canada cruise for 11 days and by day 11 I was climbing the walls. We were supposed to have a couple of port days, at sea day, a couple more port days, 2 at sea days, port in Quebec, at sea day southbound, 1 port day and 2 at sea days. Thought I could handle 2 at sea days but they changed our itinerary, and we hit all the ports northbound, so we ended up with the 4 at sea days southbound. Just too many days with nothing to do. Read all my books, played cards, walked about the ship, shopped and packed until there was just nothing to do on the last day.

 

Then I've heard other folks complain about the menu on that length of a cruise. They don't vary the menu for the 17 days. Each week is the same menu, so it keeps getting repeated. I didn't particularly notice it on our 11 day because we were eating ashore quite a bit of the time. Then in Quebec we even did an evening dinner excursion. I think we missed dinner on-board twice. I don't think I'd notice, I just enjoy the fact I'm having to prepare the food, no matter what it is.

 

I think I would take it more gradually if I were you, rather than jump into a 17 day cruise and hate it so much it might turn you off to cruising altogether.

[grannynurse]

I have never had a menu repeated on a weekly basis. That does happen on back to backs that are not linked as one cruise. Even on our 35 day they did not do a menu repeat. There were some isolated dishes that showed up twice but never a whole menu.

 

I agree that long cruises are not for everyone but there are some of us who really love them. Our 16 day next fall even seems short to me now and 7 days seems like a hiccup.

 

To me there is nothing better than being in the middle of the Atlantic on a crossing. We hope to do it in the pacific some day.

 

All I can say is if you know you get a confined feeling at over 7 days, don't book a long cruise, it's not for you.

GN

[J&R Cruisers]

By all means take the trans Altlantic if you can. Have done this three times and enjoy them the most. At least two days in Venice if possible. Vevice is a wonderful walking around place.

The five or six days at sea are the most restful part of the cruise. We have never been bored and after taking the Noordam TA last year and then a seven day at Christmas we found the seven day to be just a little hectic. Seems the cruise line wishes to make sure you experience every thing in one week.

Also after having taken three TA's we have never had a menu repeat and if we did it was not noticeable.

I would do a thirty day if I could afford it.

[Mary Ellen]

Then I've heard other folks complain about the menu on that length of a cruise. They don't vary the menu for the 17 days. Each week is the same menu, so it keeps getting repeated.

We did NOT experience this on HAL for our 15-day cruise to Hawaii. If one were to book b-to-b cruises with the same itineary, yes it would occur, but that would actually be 2 cruises, not 1 longer cruise.

 

If one were to think about it, do you really believe the folks on the World cruise are getting the same menus each week for MONTHS???

 

I don't know about other cruise lines, but on HAL it will NOT happen.

 

We LOVED the many sea days on our Hawaii cruise, I think it was 5-days each direction. HAL does have experience with planning activites to fill your time - if you wish to partake. Some need to be 'entertained' constantly, we do not. Only you can decide what will work for you.

 

Good Luck-

[OldCodger73]

This brings up an interesting question, one that relates to the original post and perhaps someone who has done a trans-Atlantic cruise could respond to this.

 

The original poster is, I'm sure, going to be looking for a one-way fare as she lives within driving distance to Fort Lauderdale. But what about those of you who have to fly to the embarkation point and need to book an open-jaw? It should be easy to do on a paid ticket, but what about a frequent flyer award ticket? Has anyone done an open-jaw award and are there special distance rules pertaining to the open-jaw section? I'd be interested in reading about anyone's experience.

[Mary Ellen]

Has anyone done an open-jaw award and are there special distance rules pertaining to the open-jaw section? I'd be interested in reading about anyone's experience.

There are distance regulations for any open-jaw. If memory serves, the 'open' part of the jaw has to be less that the 'legs' of the jaw (or a % of the legs). Not feasible for a TA cruise from NA. We've considered a TA and looked into the air. I was (favorably) surprised at the cost of some one-ways back from Europe.

 

As to FFmiles for such a trip, they are 'priced' by zone (NA, SA, Europe....). It doesn't matter if you are using miles for a one-way or a r/t - at least for the airlines we have milage with. I wouldn't use FFmiles for a one-way TA flight, but you may have a LOT more than we.

[Spender Nui]

My only concern is that on European or exotic cruises to places that we may not get to see again we tend to wear ourselves out and not get the relaxation we look for on a cruise.

 

You're going from West to East so you should get a few days rest on the way home.

 

It sounds like something you should do.

[RetiredMustang]

 

RetiredMustang -- Thanks for the beautiful thoughts for those at-sea days. BTW, I assume I am correct that you are USN. DW is CDR/NC/RET. We met in Roosevelt Roads around 1970, where I was an HM2. She stayed in; I got out.

 

 

 

Briny,

 

Break out the cuffs - guilty as charged! USN Feb 1973-Dec 2001, active when the last helo left Saigon, active when the Twin Towers were attacked, although I was not personally present at either. Hence the Retired part. First half enlisted (final permanent enlisted rank of Master Chief), and the rest commissioned, hence the Mustang part. Did one WestPac tour, but was mostly a Lant/Med/Europe Sailor. But, the closest I've gotten to Roosy Roads was on HAL to San Juan :D .

 

Dave

LCDR, USN (Ret.)