Transatlantic crossings

[stringo]

My partner & I are booked on our first transatlantic crossing on Liberty of the Seas, sailing Oct 26 from Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale. We have cruised quite a few times but never transatlantic and I wondered if the sailing would be fairly rough at that time of year. I know with the ships being larger now that you don't experience as much sea sickness but I have heard crossings at this time of year can be quite rocky :eek: Any information much appreciated.

[roitan]

We were on that sailing last year and it was great weather...you could feel the boat moving at times but it was never what I considered rough and noone seemed to be sick. You will love the Liberty for a crossing!!:)

[roitan]

Oh, and the Halloween Parade is Awesome...pack a mask or something to enjoy the festivities!

[Clarea]

My partner & I are booked on our first transatlantic crossing on Liberty of the Seas, sailing Oct 26 from Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale. We have cruised quite a few times but never transatlantic and I wondered if the sailing would be fairly rough at that time of year. I know with the ships being larger now that you don't experience as much sea sickness but I have heard crossings at this time of year can be quite rocky :eek: Any information much appreciated.

You never can tell what the weather will bring. We did the same route in Oct 2011 on Voyager, and the ship was in motion most all the time. I'd call minor to moderate motion.

[Grandma Dazzles]

As others have said, you really can't know. We did a transatlantic last November on the Independence - researched ahead of time and had comments about smooth sailings to rough crossings.

 

Last November we had very rough seas and high winds in the Bay of Biscayne. We also had a lot of rain - almost every day.

 

We had a great cruise, met great people, but it was much wetter and cooler than we had thought. There were days when pools on deck were closed. There was definitely motion most of the time.

[bobmacliberty]

I was just ready to start a new thread on TAs, but I'll jump in on this one instead (sorry stringo). Thinking about surprising DW with one in a couple of years for a special birthday. Obviously it depends on time of year, but could weather be good enough to sit by the pool? What other activities do they schedule during the day, particularly if everything is indoors?

[fla jack]

The Bay of Biscay should be the only "rough" area.

The Passsage is about 12-16 hours.

After that it "should be" smooth sailing.

Remember-you are going West on a southerly route.

Jack

P.S. You also get to turn your watch BACK

an hour X 6.

[FLACRUISER99]

Who No's it is like asking will it rain on July 7th.

[joe6666]

You could have a hurricane….It’s happened that time of year.

[Clarea]

I was just ready to start a new thread on TAs, but I'll jump in on this one instead (sorry stringo). Thinking about surprising DW with one in a couple of years for a special birthday. Obviously it depends on time of year, but could weather be good enough to sit by the pool? What other activities do they schedule during the day, particularly if everything is indoors?

We got on the ship in Barcelona on Oct 30. Some of the days were warm enough to sit by the pool, but not all of them. You could consider cruising on a ship with a covered Solarium, such as a Vision or Radiance class ship. Then you would have no problem sitting by the pool.

[psbchris]

Oh, and the Halloween Parade is Awesome...pack a mask or something to enjoy the festivities!

 

I agree!! I have been on several Halloween cruises and they are a blast! Take a costume!!

[KeywestK]

We did the TA from Barcelona to FLL on Liberty OTS in Oct/Nov '11. For the most part, the seas were not bad. I think there was one or two days of occasional showers, and by the time we were 2 days from FLL, it was downright warm and balmy. We also had the added benefit of 25 hour days going westbound.

 

I was disappointed there weren't more activities schedule for all those sea days, but we stayed busy, relaxing, socializing, eating, (and eating some more,) and just enjoying ourselves! We had a very active roll call, and we made some wonderful and lifelong friends.

 

I would do it all again in a heartbeat!

[TSC]

We had smooth seas for all 6 days of our crossing in 2009 on the Navigator. A bit Bumpy on the way to Lisbon, but that was it. Out TA went from SouTh Hampton to Fort Lauderdale. It was cool and rainy leaving England, but by the time we got to the Canaries it was shorts, T-shirts and bathing suits by the pool. One of our favorite cruises and by far the most relaxing. Kind of like adult summer camp, we played trivia, went to shows, and ate far too much.

[kymbakitty]

On Liberty in Oct/Nov 2012--had fabulous weather. One day it rained....in La Palma I believe. DH lived on our balcony with tons of sun in balcony (whew).

 

Dawn

[buzzandjulie]

Just did a TA Celebrity cruise Dec 2012. Seas were calm all but 1 day when everyone was rolling from side to side walking around ship. Weather was wonderful started out alittle chilly but by the time we left Barcelona and headed to Canary Islands it warmed up to mid 60's headed south past Rock of Gibraltar to latitude equal to Ft Lauderdale with temps in 80's everyday

[Aviator of the Seas]

I would think that October would be better than December (when we did our TA), except for the occasional hurricane which I'm sure the ship would veer around. On our AD crossing from Barcelona to San Juan, we had lousy weather the first week, and decent weather the second week. Even during the lousy weather first week, with the cold and the high seas, we still enjoyed a thoroughly great cruise. The V class ship handled the seas quite well so I'm sure the bigger cousins could do so as well.

 

The only real problem was that because of the outside weather, most people elected to stay indoors. IMHO, so many people indoors for a week with no fresh air caused A LOT of people to develop a cough if not a nasty cold.

 

My DW was one of them and we elected to keep our balcony door open at nights and that helped her cough/cold a lot (vis a vis the cabin a/c). Like others mentioned, once down at the lower lattitudes outside of the Mediterranean, it was quite enjoyable out on the pool and other outside decks.

 

As for motion sickness, IMO, these big ships handle the high seas quite well. You can fell the motion, definitively, but it is not worse than, say, a slow motion roller coaster.

 

Good luck!

[dwjoe]

The Bay of Biscay should be the only "rough" area.

Just FYI, Barcelona is on the south coast of Spain. This sailing shouldn't be going anywhere near the Bay of Biscay, which is on the north coast.

[dwjoe]

Who No's it is like asking will it rain on July 7th.

Don't pick your No's in public. :cool:

[Desert Cruizers]

We did the crosssing on the Liberty Oct 29, 2011 with Karen ( Keywestk) and except for a few times, mostly after we left the Canary islands where it was a little rocky, nothing to be alarmed about, other then that, very smooth. Early on we were dodging a tropical storm so hit a few rainy windy days, but nobody seemed to mind .

[maxy35]

My wife and our 3 year old are doing the same b2b as you. We have had the same questions to ask so hopefully warm weather and calm seas will bless us! :)

[rubrrick]

We were aboard a TA last year from Harwich to Boston in September of last year, (there were a number of CC members aboard) and the sailing was smooth till we left Iceland, and then we encountered a bit of rough seas, but only for a day, as our captain took us straight south, to miss a hurricane, and by the second day out from Iceland, the seas were calmer, and from there on, we had great sailing, as we did during the first part of our cruise. We only missed one port, and someday, since we have not been to St. Johns, Newfoundland, we will make it there.:)

 

No one can predict what mother nature has in store for ships crossing any ocean!;)

 

Rick

[celticfc]

Just FYI, Barcelona is on the south coast of Spain. This sailing shouldn't be going anywhere near the Bay of Biscay, which is on the north coast.

 

Your right they wont be near the Bay of Biscay, but Barcelona in not on the South Coast of Spain!

[shopper77]

We were aboard a TA last year from Harwich to Boston in September of last year, (there were a number of CC members aboard) and the sailing was smooth till we left Iceland, and then we encountered a bit of rough seas, but only for a day, as our captain took us straight south, to miss a hurricane, and by the second day out from Iceland, the seas were calmer, and from there on, we had great sailing, as we did during the first part of our cruise. We only missed one port, and someday, since we have not been to St. Johns, Newfoundland, we will make it there.:)

 

No one can predict what mother nature has in store for ships crossing any ocean!;)

 

Rick

 

We visited St. John's in 2010, you did not miss anything. Not much to see.

[dwjoe]

Your right they wont be near the Bay of Biscay, but Barcelona in not on the South Coast of Spain!

Heh. I used to play this game "Diplomacy" where Spain's Mediterannean coast was referred to as the South coast.

The Bay of Biscay coast was known as the North coast. Barcelona is on the former. Sorry for confusion.

[peteukmcr]

We also sailed on Liberty in 2011 with KeywestK and Desert Cruizers on the TA from Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale and other than the couple of days mentioned the weather IMHO was better than on our last Mediterranean sailing on Mariner (boy that was a day and a half!) and would sail on a TA again in a heartbeat.