Trans-Atlantic Cruise??

Hi All:

We have been on many ocean cruises over the last 20 years but we have never taken a Trans-Atlantic cruise. The cruise that we are considering --Southhampton to New York -- involves 5 straight days at sea.

We are two Seniors and were wondering if the relatively large number of sea days would be boring?

Any impression/opinions of a Trans-Atlantic voyage would be very much appreciated.

We have taken five transatlantic cruises. The only reason that we haven't taken one in the last couple of years is that the ports before the crossing have become "been there, done that". All of ours have been westbound so that we can wear ourselves out touring Europe then relax for a period of time during the crossing. There are always plenty of daytime activities to keep you interested from movies to trivia to enrichment lectures on a variety of topics. And, I can enjoy just sitting in a quiet spot with a good book. We are never bored on a transatlantic cruise.

Those who love sea days will say this is fabulous and many have done it multiple times. Not my favorite use of time so we fly the big pond. There is no right or wrong, simply different preferences. Thus it is hard for us to know what will work fo you.

We’ve sailed several transatlantic cruises in both directions & have never been close to being bored. [emoji6]

They generally have more activities & have interesting lectures by guest speakers. We much prefer the westbound TAs because the busy days in ports are first & are followed by many relaxing 25 hour days. That’s a result of the ET zone being 5 hours behind the UK & thus falling back an hour on 5 days. (y)

We enjoy not having to set an alarm for days in port & on sea days there are no schedules to follow so we can escape completely. :D

But as wheezedr wrote they’re not best for everyone.

We’ve taken several TA’s, in both directions. I have thoroughly enjoyed the unwinding from daily stresses back home. There are plenty of activities and also plenty of time for a good book. QEII was strictly transportation, but cruise ships will give you a few ports at the beginning of a westbound or the end of an eastbound.

We prefer eastbound because the daylight flight back isn’t as painful as trying to sleep across the water.

Try one and you’ll probably do it again!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I've done 7 TA cruises....highly recommend them. Depending on the cruise line, they schedule lots of special activities. But it is really a personal thing. If you use the ship as basically a floating hotel between cities, a TA may not be for you. We feel that the ship IS the destination. Anything else is a bonus to us (OK, this is not true of all cruises, but Caribbean is "been there, done that.") I've never been bored on a TA...obviously since I've done so many.

A few years ago we did a Transatlantic on Carnival during October (Rome to NYC). We spent seven days at sea before we got to NY. We were not really bored but it was too cool to use the pool and other outside amenities. It is a relaxed vibe, if you like that kind of atmosphere. We did a lot of reading.....and if my memory serves me correctly, internet and live TV were unavailable for a couple of days while we were in the middle of the Atlantic. The cruise ship (Dream) also ran out of lettuce and tomatoes, but that is a slight inconvenience. We ran into a tropical storm during our last three days, which is not uncommon during hurricane season..seas were rough..quite a few passengers got sick. We were prohibited from using our balconies until we got to NY, but I would guess this is an example of "worse case scenario". We would do it again on Princess if the opportunity presented itself.

Interesting. We've always had internet and TV, even in the middle of the ocean. But yes, the ships did run out of some things, usually on the last full day on board. We did learn to stash a roll of toilet paper in our closet or wherever as a "just in case." Yup, the ship supply location ran out. The stewards were sent to retrieve all the "spare" rolls from guest cabins, which meant that when you used what was left on your roll, you wouldn't get any more. That never happened again though. One crossing ran out of Diet Coke and the fittings available at the first port in Europe wouldn't fit the connectors on the ship. In fairness, the cruise line did buy up all the cans they could get at that port. And the fruit may not last the whole journey.

Minor details......

Go for it!!!

We are very senior seniors and came off our 11th TA in April. The next one is in November.

P&J

I love TA's, sea days, hard to say what works for some might not for others. You've cruised, were those cruises port intensive, were there sea days, did you enjoy them? Even when I first started cruising to the Caribbean in the early 1980's, I never chose a port intensive itinerary. I've always been about sea days. I like to see new places, never go to the Caribbean anymore, but the one cruise I will repeat is a transatlantic.

I’ve taken several trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific cruises and am never bored on sea days. Some people are but I enjoy the lectures and other extra activities that are planned. There’ll be far more than a typical itinerary. My longest cruise was 31 days from Sydney to LA with 20 sea days and it still ranks as one of my all-time favorite cruises.

I’ve taken several trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific cruises and am never bored on sea days.

We are like Pam and are never bored on sea days. We are actually often busier on a sea day than when touring on a port day. Of course you could "chill out" as much as you want on sea days.

Longest stretch we have had at sea was 7.5 days.

We have taken many, many trans-oceanic cruises and very few port-intensive cruises. We use cruise ships as a means of transportation, to get across the ocean without the unpleasant features of airports and long-distance air travel. We enjoy being on sea and love our sea days.

I do not recommend Princess for a TA. We just completed one on the Royal and there was not much to do on board of quality. Out on the sea the weather was cool so everyone was jammed inside in the Atrium area making it very crowded and impossible to find a peaceful spot other than one's cabin.

I recommend that you look into Cunard's Queen Mary 2. The crossings are mostly 7 days and there is lots to do on board, much of a fairly high quality. A good lecture series with at least 2 speakers per day, a real library with real books, a good fitness center, a somewhat sheltered promenade deck, plus the usual trivia games and classes. The ship is huge, uncrowded even when fully-booked with lots of quiet nooks for reading and watching the ocean slip by.

Have fun shopping around!

We board the Pacific Princess this Thursday for a TA. The most we will have is 4 sea days in a row, but we will have a total of 10 on that leg. The cruise is popular, so Princess has been offering Move Overs for the last week or two. The were still filling guarantees yesterday.

We have taken many, many trans-oceanic cruises and very few port-intensive cruises. We use cruise ships as a means of transportation, to get across the ocean without the unpleasant features of airports and long-distance air travel. We enjoy being on sea and love our sea days.

I do not recommend Princess for a TA. We just completed one on the Royal and there was not much to do on board of quality. Out on the sea the weather was cool so everyone was jammed inside in the Atrium area making it very crowded and impossible to find a peaceful spot other than one's cabin.

 

I recommend that you look into Cunard's Queen Mary 2. The crossings are mostly 7 days and there is lots to do on board, much of a fairly high quality. A good lecture series with at least 2 speakers per day, a real library with real books, a good fitness center, a somewhat sheltered promenade deck, plus the usual trivia games and classes. The ship is huge, uncrowded even when fully-booked with lots of quiet nooks for reading and watching the ocean slip by.

 

Have fun shopping around!

My opinion about the red part of the above quote. ….. I think it's inappropriate to blame Princess Cruises as a whole because of your perceived notion of lack of activities or for the fact that what was offered was not to of interest to YOU! When scanning thru the daily Patter at the listings of activities, and considering the number of passengers onboard, and the wide variety of interests of those passengers, it's impossible to please everyone. That doesn't mean that Princess (or any other cruise line, for that matter) has done something wrong or failed to provide things to do on sea days.

I've done several TA's in both directions on Princess ships, and thoroughly enjoyed them. And while only some of the sea day offerings were something I had enough interest in to attend or participate, I did not view that as a fault or failure to provide on the part of the cruise line. Instead it was merely that their available options and my interests did not sync.

We love sea days and love crossings. They are very relaxing and there are also lots of activities offered. We also love the "25" hour days. Whether you curl up with a good book, or do the trivia, dance lessons, lectures, various games, crafts, bingo......well, you can keep very busy or be very relaxed. You choose.

We did our first transatlantic last April to Bermuda, Ireland, England and France and loved it. We had 2 sea days to Bermuda followed by 7 sea days on the Caribbean Princess. Never bored. Only thing was, because it’s colder outside There was little seating in the Piazza. Everything went well but now we’ve decided that it’s better to come back across as we will be more relaxed going home. We were exhausted from all the days of excursions then flying home through Atlanta which customs took a good 3 hours to go through. Almost missed the next flight. We had to literally run and the planes doors closed behind us. I know that not everyone made their flights.

We are booked on the Crown in November from Rome. Spending 4 nights in Rome. Can’t wait!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We did the Southampton to NewYork in mid April. Only drawback is it was cold all the way over

We did our first transatlantic last April to Bermuda, Ireland, England and France and loved it. We had 2 sea days to Bermuda followed by 7 sea days on the Caribbean Princess. Never bored. Only thing was, because it’s colder outside There was little seating in the Piazza. Everything went well but now we’ve decided that it’s better to come back across as we will be more relaxed going home. We were exhausted from all the days of excursions then flying home through Atlanta which customs took a good 3 hours to go through. Almost missed the next flight. We had to literally run and the planes doors closed behind us. I know that not everyone made their flights.

We are booked on the Crown in November from Rome. Spending 4 nights in Rome. Can’t wait!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We will also be on the Crown Nov 3. Really looking forward to our first TA.

We did the Southampton to NewYork in mid April. Only drawback is it was cold all the way over

Southern crossings (Florida to Barcelona, for example) are warmer.

Southern crossings (Florida to Barcelona' date=' for example) are warmer.[/quote']

 

That’s also been my experience when crossing via the Azores and even more so by way of Madeira.

 

For our April 2015 transatlantic from FL to Copenhagen the ship sailed a more southern route via the Azores due to a North Atlantic storm. Checking the Log of the Cruise high temperatures began at 78° and remained in the upper 60° to lower 70° range until arrival in Cobh, Ireland at 64°. The crossing was warmer than our European ports (Le Havre, Rotterdam, Hamburg & Copenhagen) which averaged about 50° in each port.

Our most recent cruise was 14 days with 8 ports. We found it somewhat exhausting to have so many ports. The cruise before that was 28 days with 18 sea days. In fact, the last 8 days were all sea days as we returned from the South Pacific to LA. We loved it!

My neighbors across the street express horror at the thought of even 7 days "trapped on a ship" even if 4 of those 7 are port days. People are different.

So far we have managed two TA's and all West bound. We prefer to get the long flight out of the way then relax and cruise home, enjoying the ports along the way. We have yet to be bored, there are enough activities planned that we can choose what we want or sit back and relax other times.

Go for it!!!

 

We are very senior seniors and came off our 11th TA in April. The next one is in November.

 

P&J

Which direction do you travel TA? Or have you done both? Which is favorite? I have never done a TA cruise ... but am considering one.

Thanks.

We're booked for our first trans-Atlantic cruise on the Royal in September. One reason I liked its itinerary is that there are only four sea days in a row between Belfast and Newfoundland. I've loved sea days on our previous cruises, but we've never had more than two in a row.