First transatlantic - northern route - small ship???

[YoPhilly]

We're looking at an 18-day August '09 itinerary from London to NYC via British Isles, Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland on the Tahitian Princess (30,000 tons). This would be our first transatlantic, which we're excited about, the itinerary is right up our alley, and we've been eager to try the Tahitian Princess.

 

For those of you who have done a northern TA route, what are your thoughts re: a small ship? Is there enough to do onboard, considering it's an 18-day cruise? (Our longest cruise to date is 12 days.)

 

I've read that the seas around Iceland can be very rough. We love being out on the sea and have never had a problem with seasickness, but we haven't experienced really, really rough seas. What about from Greenland to Newfoundland and NYC? Any ideas as to what we could expect in August?

[Mines]

We have recently come back from our first transatlantic on Splendour of the Seas. It was a wonderful trip with calm seas all of the time. I took four books to read and didn't manage to get through one of them, there was surprisingly so much to do. For sure, you will not be bored.

 

As to the northerly route, this sounds fantastic and I would recommend going for it. You will not have sunbathing weather, but they have picked August because it is the month when the seas are traditionally calmest in the Northern Atlantic. But you never know. At times the tail end of tropical storms drift up North and can create rough seas.

 

As for the size of the ship, the ex-Renaissaunce ships are all beautifully made and equipped. Again, the smaller the ship the more it bounces around.

 

Good luck.

[YoPhilly]

Thanks Mines for your comments. I think I've hit upon the perfect solution to my dilemma. I'm booking a 14-day Carib on the Royal Princess (small ship, warm weather) and the 18-day northern transatlantic on the Crown Princess (big ship, choppy seas).

 

You see, if you look hard enough, there's always a positive solution to any problem!!:D :D

[mycruz]

YoPhilly, some of the worse seas I've experienced were in the Gulf of Mexico on the way back from Panama. We'll be doing a northern TA this summer in August on the Sea Princess. Hopefully we'll have the calm seas!

[YoPhilly]

The Sea Princess is a lovely ship. Bon voyage!