TRANSATLANTIC Info. needed

[Kay240]

DH and I are planning a Mediterranean cruise in 2009, and like many of you, hope to use our FF points for our air. Since DH is tall, he really needs a Business Class or First Class seat, but at this point we have no idea if it will be possible.

 

I had a great idea when we were on a HAL cruise a couple of weeks ago, and booked a TRANSATLANTIC cruise for our return! We will be going from ROME to Fort Lauderdale at the end of October. My DH is concerned about weather, rough seas, icebergs :eek: , etc.

 

I have searched the boards for "transatlantic" and, after the investment of too much time, found that fall crossings are a "better value", the price of laundry, and that we can expect a minimum of four formal nights. Is there anyone who has actually been on a similar cruise and is willing to give us a little information on the crossing?

 

Gratefully,

 

Karen

[Bill S]

We did a Rome to NYC transatlantic cruise on HAL's Noordam in October 2006. We did a mid-Atlantic crossing, going from Cadiz, Spain, to the Azores, to Bermuda and then to New York City. It was great; I loved it.

It was our first transatlantic crossing and the seas were incredibly calm, and we had only one cloudy/rainy day during the crossing. We spoke with several other passengers who had done a number of transatantics and they all said it was by far the smoothest crossing they had experienced. But, like the mutual funds ads say, past performance is no guarantee of future results. One thing I can safely say is that you will NOT encounter any icebergs between Spain and Fort Lauderdale. Your itinerary will bee even more southerly than ours.

A transatlantic crossing is so relaxing after the initial port-intensive portion of that cruise. Another great thing is that you will be gaining an hour every other day or so on the way back, so jet lag will not be an issue-how wonderful is that? :) I hope your hubby's fears will be allayed somewhat and that you both will have a great cruise!

[happy cruzer]

We love transatlantic cruises. I don't worry about the weather that much at all. I think its about the same risks you run on many other cruises. Just that usually it might be bit cool to be out on the deck every day but usually you get a nice day or two. It's just a gamble.

 

But the days at sea are very relaxing, getting to relax is just great.

 

One place to find lots of reviews of transatlantics is over on the cruise review section. From the main cruise review section it will let you select to view by itinerary and you can select transatlantics. Look for ones that were posted in the fall and you should find some helpful info.

 

Have a great trip!

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=destinations&destination=22

this is the link to the transaltantic cruise reviews; it was bit hard to locate

[kitty9]

Tell your DH there are no icebergs in the Atlantic in the area in which you're cruising. It's too warm. Now if you were cruising in the far North Atlantic, he might have a point, but not on the itinerary you're considering.

 

The only thing you might encounter with a trans-ocean cruise is the tail end of a late season hurricane. I did a crossing in late November one year, and there was actually a tropical storm at that time.

[Host Kewlguy]

DH and I are planning a Mediterranean cruise in 2009, and like many of you, hope to use our FF points for our air. Since DH is tall, he really needs a Business Class or First Class seat, but at this point we have no idea if it will be possible.

 

I had a great idea when we were on a HAL cruise a couple of weeks ago, and booked a TRANSATLANTIC cruise for our return! We will be going from ROME to Fort Lauderdale at the end of October. My DH is concerned about weather, rough seas, icebergs :eek: , etc.

 

I have searched the boards for "transatlantic" and, after the investment of too much time, found that fall crossings are a "better value", the price of laundry, and that we can expect a minimum of four formal nights. Is there anyone who has actually been on a similar cruise and is willing to give us a little information on the crossing?

 

Gratefully,

 

Karen

 

That's a Southern crossing so you won't be running into any icebergs. While no one can predict the type of weather you'll encounter on any cruise I would think you should have very mild temperatures at that time of year. We did a Southern crossing (Barcelona, Spain to Miami) in November, 2006 and had wonderful weather the entire way across. Temperatures in the mid 70's and sunny every day. Perfect in our opinion. Also if you can't get hubby into first class then try to book a seat in the exit row. Lots of leg room. I'm 6'4" and book a seat in the exit row every flight I take. Sometimes you have to wait until during online check in 24/hrs before the flight to get it, since that's when many of the airlines release those seats.

[hajekfam]

We have done 4 transatlantics (Barcelona to Ft Lauderdale) - one was in Sept, one in Oct., one in Nov, and the last one in Dec. We have had great weather on all and the warmest transatlantic out of the four was the one this past December. Seas on all four were amazingly calm.

Weather is really luck of the draw. On one transatlantic, we left a day after another ship from the same cruiseline, but ended up in front of her because she had more European ports than we did. We had great weather for the crossing with rain only two nights (both of which had parties planned poolside) out of the 14. The other ship that was behind us for the crossing ran into bad weather - just one day difference made a big difference in weather.

[WeBeGone]

We loved our TA last Dec on the Star Princess. After a very port intensive first cruise, having 6 days at sea was just heaven. We didn't have any bad weather and arrived in Ft. Lauderdale rested and with wonderful memories. For your money, a TA is your best value.

[Kay240]

You have all been so helpful, especially Happy Cruzer who provided the link to the TA cruise reviews, which I was unable to find myself. I really didn't expect any iceburgs:D ...

 

DH is a BIG PESSIMIST, which is part of why he is so lucky to have me:p . We know there is no way we can predict weather conditions a year in advance, but generally speaking you all had good crossings. You also all stressed how relaxing a westbound cruise can be after visiting many different ports.

 

We are now more likely to follow through with this. I think the big factor now may be the cost of staying in Italy for a week! As we have never been there, we would have stayed 3 or 4 days anyway. I would love to see Venice; our Mediterranean cruise stops in Naples, so I will explore alternatives.

 

Thanks again for everyone's help!

 

 

Karen