Transatlantic Tips

[Sailing Bond]

Hi all

 

Great site:D

 

We are sailing on the Indy from FLL to Southampton on 12th April and would welcome any tips or experience from members of this type of cruise.

 

We have cruised on the Navigator a couple of times in the Med but nothing this long and through so many different weather conditions.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Darren

[robtulipe]

We did a TA on Century for the first two weeks of Dec.08 that went from Barcelona to Miami. It was very cool at low to mid 50 F in Europe, low 60 F in Morocco, mid 60 F in the Canaries and mid 70 F crossing over. We used our aft balcony and the pools, which are all outdoors on this ship, every day crossing over. The sea were fairly calm with notations of slight or moderate from the captain in his daily update. If you check the following site just before you go it will give you an indication of what the temperature and seas will be like for your crossing. The southern route is definitely the route to take as the seas tend to be calmer and warmer there, even in the late fall. Even now it shows water temperature in the low to mid 70F. Click on a section of the map to enlarge it.

Also with the west bound cruise you get five 25 hours sea days upon leaving the Canary Islands. That plus the hour set back when leaving Europe gives a extra 1/4 day of cruising. By the the morning of the sixth sea day when all time changes were done, there were all kinds of people up at 5 or 6AM because of the time gained. By comparison a similar east bound TA which you are doing is about 1/2 day shorter. In your case it is a 11 hours shorter cruise.

Check the site below for temperature info along your route since water temperature greatly influences air temperature. Initial map is wave height, click on buoy/water temps in Select a Map Type to get that reading.

http://www.wunderground.com/MAR/mmm.html#map

[VickyMcG]

Welcome, Bond,

We did the Transatlantic the same time last year and the cruise was very smooth. I was worried that I would be bored with all of those days at sea but RCL is very good at keeping you occupied. The gym facilities are good and the activities are varied. You tend to get up later and later as you lose time for 6 days while crossing. Oh well, you're on a cruise. I come from California, so I have to make up 3 hours as soon as I get to Florida.

The food is pretty good, nothing fancy. Dress code is a bit on the casual side, you won't need a tux! We are going on the transatlantic just 4 days after you from FLL. Hubby is bringing his sport jacket since we will be traveling through Europe and he doesn't want to lug around a suite. That and a sports jacket is acceptable for this cruise.

I bring clothes that don't wrinkle easily. Bring your personal items as the ship has shampoo and soap. That's about it. Do everything, see everything, consider finding your own tours but remember that you have to be back to ship on time and RCL won't be responsible for you if they don't sponsor the tour. Your ship is the Freedom class and considered pretty large, lots of "built in" things to do, such as skating, rock climbing, flowriding. Good fun. Any specific questions and this board is very helpful. Have fun, cheers!

[cstory3]

Hi all

 

Great site:D

 

We are sailing on the Indy from FLL to Southampton on 12th April and would welcome any tips or experience from members of this type of cruise.

 

We have cruised on the Navigator a couple of times in the Med but nothing this long and through so many different weather conditions.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Darren

We are on this Transatlantic crossing too, join the Roll-call and you will be amazed at all the activities that have been planned and information!

This will be our 5th TA and one of the most important items of clothing is a lightweight, windproof, waterproof jacket with a hood.

[PSCruiser]

We were on the fall TA bringing the Indy over- you will have a great time. The only drawback is that you should do your swimming the first part of the cruise - no covered solarium. This is a great cruise to try the Flowrider, few kids so no long line. One other tip, as you leave the ship in Vigo Spain, you will pass the open-air oyster market - don't even think about it! Several cases of food poisoning on our cruise.