Ever done a Transatlantic cruise?

[smrtwoman]

My husband and I are considering doing the 15 day Transatlantic cruise on the Crown in May 08 from Ft. L to Copenhagen.

What experinces have you had with repositioning cruises? Are the services/food/entertainment the same quality? How about the weather? Do 5 straight sea days make you crazy?

All suggestions are much appreciated!!

[Pam in CA]

I've done a T/A cruise and as always, the services/food/entertainment are the same quality. (Why wouldn't they be?) As for weather, you'll have to ask Mother Nature. Five straight sea days are, IMHO, to be looked for and enjoyed. I've taken two 15-day HI cruises (with 10 sea days) deliberately for the sea days. I'd take it again and consider the five days in HI as sea days. My upcoming 31-day cruise from Sydney to LA will have 19 sea days. I'm never bored nor will I go crazy. Sea days are a good thing.

[Druke I]

We've done several trans-Atlantic cruises, ranging from 7 to 19 nights. We've also done trans-Pacific cruises, ranging from 15 to 27 nights.

 

We love those sea days, and no, 5 straight sea days does not drive one crazy. There is a full range of activities scheduled - you pick and chose - hard to be bored unless you want to be!

 

Food, service, and entertainment are usually on a par with "regional" cruising.

 

Weather is a crap shoot - we have had very smooth crossings with great weather, and rough crossings with lousy weather!

 

We did hit the back end of a typhoon in the China Sea years ago, but that is a different story.

[ancldaca]

I hope OP doesn't mind an ancillary question: How important is a balcony, or even an OV, on a TA? (I've never been aflicted by motion sickness and don't think I need the horizon for steadying purposes)

[Pam in CA]

I hope OP doesn't mind an ancillary question: How important is a balcony, or even an OV, on a TA? (I've never been aflicted by motion sickness and don't think I need the horizon for steadying purposes)

To me, the only importance would be if one enjoys being outside on your balcony during the day. One thing I like about a balcony, particularly in warmer weather, is that you can open the door and get fresh air at night when sleeping. I had just an OV on my T/A cruise and didn't miss the balcony during the day, there was so much to do. On my upcoming Sapphire cruise, I've got a Caribe deck balcony for a couple of reasons: one is that we're going across the Pacific and the weather should be beautiful, and warm, for most of the cruise. The other reason is that we're going on the Sapphire and I really, really prefer getting away from all those thousands of people onboard. I'm not anti-social and enjoy doing things with other people who were perfect strangers the day before; I just like some downtime from the constant swirl of people.

[CruisinChris]

One thing to consider before you book: traveling east you lose an hour every night. If you opt for a westbound you gain an hour every night - more fun!

 

Our mediterrean transatlantic (15 nights) was hands down my favorite cruise. We had a huge group of CCs onboard, huge waves (Druke mentions this periodically), and an amazing time. Also westbound, things are still "stepped up" from the European season. Traveling the other direction, they'll be trying to gear up.

[Sadebud]

My husband and I are considering doing the 15 day Transatlantic cruise on the Crown in May 08 from Ft. L to Copenhagen.

What experinces have you had with repositioning cruises? Are the services/food/entertainment the same quality? How about the weather? Do 5 straight sea days make you crazy?

All suggestions are much appreciated!!

We have done 2 TA's, both on the Star, both Westbound. I agree with the other CC poster that westbound rules, as you gain instead of lose hours. The first TA was Copenhagen to NY. We did not have more than 2 days consecutive at sea because we hit Iceland and Greenland before going to St Johns NF before heading in to NY. The second TA we did (just got off 12/20) had 6 sea days and they were FABULOUS!! Relaxing...yet there was always plenty to do! It was great because the first part of the cruise was port intensive (9 ports in 11 days!), it was exhausting so we welcomed the slower pace of the sea days!! We also had a balcony cabin on the most recent cruise and enjoyed sleeping with the door open every night (except the night of the 93 MPH winds!!!). On the Copenhagen to NY last year, we only had an OV cabin...but wished we'd opted for Balcony.

[AliceS]

We have done FLL to Barcelona in the spring and plan VCE to FLL in the fall this year on Emerald Princess. We loved the sea days. We were on Celebrity and the activities were outstanding. I hope that I enjoy Princess as much. I did over do the activities. I didn't relax enough or read enough. We were both always on the go. We enjoyed our balcony because the weather was great. We have one again, we'll see about the weather. I like the idea of the long flight first and adding an hour every night to our days. We had body clock issues with losing an hour every night. We also had fixed dining on Celebrity and have Anytime on Princess. We weren't ready for dinner many of the nights. Anytime will be perfect.

[DougH]

Just did my first TA on the Grand in Sept and it ws fantastic. Loved the Northern route itinerary, weather was hit and miss. We got a major stornm after sailing from Greenland and missed a port and were rockin and rollin for a couple of days. Still it was a fantastic trip and I'd do it again in a second. I've done 36 cruises and this is in my top 3.

[vince_g]

Have done many on QM2, all eastbound. Did one from Bayonne NJ to Dover on Celebrity Constellation, and really hated losing that hour each night. Will only do westbounds from now on. As for which ship I liked better, QM2 offers a much better ride than the Constellation did, that's for sure.

 

If you are looking for rest and relaxation, there's nothing quite like a transatlantic IMO.

[smrtwoman]

Thank you all! You have convinced me that a TA is the way to go. I am working on booking it now! I never thought about the lost time traveling eastbound...gives me an excuse to schedule another next fall.

Thanks, Cathy

[PescadoAmarillo]

I've done 2 transatlantics and 2 transpacifics, and agree that westbound is an ideal way to go. Saying that, however, I prefer to do all sightseeing pre-cruise and not post-cruise, and so I enjoy doing transatlantics westbound and transpacifics eastbound. When the cruise is over, I want to go HOME, not pack up to leave the ship, go to a hotel and then unpack again.

 

As for sea days...five in a row is no problem, particularly if you enjoy reading or doing needlework. You'd be amazed by the people who find each other on long cruises...the crocheters do that together somewhere in the atrium, the beaders, the scrapbookers ditto. It's kind of fun.

 

We found that, on Princess, we get the best service on the longer cruises.

[Dame Delilah]

We've done a several Trans-Atlantic's. We Love the long sea days!! :D The service always seems even better, since they have a longer time to get to know you, serve you well and (perhaps) get a larger tip. ;)

 

My suggestion, for what it's worth, -- on a TA--get the very best cabin you can afford! We always try for a suite -- if anywhere near affordable and we've always had wonderful (!!!) service.

 

Just my humble opinion--but Me thinks, -- There are fewer kids, fewer singles and lots of people who really enjoy the cruise experience on TA repositions! Go For It!!:D