Weather on TA - April

[cdwh1902]

Hi, we are booked on the TA with Allure in April 2015. I know no one can predict the weather at any given time, but from experience, could someone please advise as to what to expect on the TA in April?

I'm from Australia and live in Brisbane, Queensland where the weather is generally fine, sunny and sits on 25-27C for 10 months of the year. :D

[bethco]

You will have some people telling it will be very warm many days out, but I am not one of them. I took the Independence TA FLL to Southampton in early May. We had 3 Caribbean stops which were as you would expect. However, we had only one day after leaving St Maarten that I considered warm enough to be out at the pool. It was not cold. I did not wish that I had a heavy coat, but it was too cool for me to be out on deck during the day without my jacket. There were folks at the pool, they have much thicker blood than I. But it sure was nice for leaving your balcony open for that fresh sea air.

IMO do not expect warm Caribbean weather half way across.

[bigboffs]

We have been on at least 10 trans Atlantics, many in April. From our experience, those taking the northern crossing to/from places like Boston and Cape Liberty, general have periods of rough seas and very cool weather. Those that take the Southern route to/from Florida generally have calm seas and warm but not really hot weather unless into the Caribbean area.

[cx7owner]

It's a crap shoot. We were on the Navigator a few years ago from Florida to the UK. Only stop before the crossing was supposed to be Bermuda, but there was such a strong storm that they completely shut down the port. We continued on our way in some pretty (at times very) rough seas for a day or two.

The captain added an unplanned stop in The Azores. I felt really bad for the first two night's entertainers who were supposed to get off in Bermuda, but ended up accross the ocean! Poor things had few clothes with them. And they had to perform a couple more times since the new entertainers didn't get on. Oh, and there were a few people whose luggage didn't make it on and the luggage was supposed to catch up with us in Bermuda. They had one set of clothes for about 7 days (and what they could buy on the ship).

[ShipsInBergen]

On my April TA (Brazil to Portugal) we had a good mix of weather. It wasn't very cold, but it is definitely wise to prepare for wet, windy weather if you like to head out on deck for fresh air.

[mjldvlks]

I looked on the RCI website and your route is from Ft Lauderdale through the straits of Gibraltar to Malaga and Barcelona. So in the context of the above comments [which I generally find to be consistent with our experience] you will be on the "Southern" route.

Our April TA crossed the Atlantic from Ft Lauderdale to Vigo Spain with stops in the Azores and Madeira -- so it was slightly north of the direct route for your itinerary. I say "direct" route because, as others have pointed out, there is no way to predict storms this far out. Given the time you have to make the crossing, the size of the ocean and the speed of the ships, there is a great deal of flexibility -- especially since you have no ports of call between Florida and Malaga. The Captains are pretty good about using that flexibility to avoid bad weather if at all possible. On our TA, my memory is that the weather was not hot, but pleasant all the way across. Once we left Vigo and headed North to Southampton, it got cooler, but still not bad. My memory is that the pools and Flow Rider were in use the entire crossing. I took a look at the pictures I took and they show people were generally dressed in light clothing -- a fair number of shorts and short sleeves, but also some sweaters -- in the same picture. Bottom line, as others have said, I would prepare for moderately warm to cool weather. Bring you shorts [and swimsuit if you care to], but have a sweater or jacket in case.

I recommend you look up the weather history for Malaga and Barcelona to know what to expect in those locations. In fact, you might consider looking up the weather for Gibraltar as well. When you pass through the straits, you will be close enough it should give you an approximation. Unfortunately, I am not aware of a good source for historic weather data for the open ocean. You might consider looking at data for mid Atlantic islands [e.g., the Azores and Madeira, and maybe the Canaries]. You will be South of the Azores and Madeira and North of the Canaries, but maybe that will allow you to interpolate and get an idea of what to expect.

Enjoy your cruise -- I consider our April TA one of my favorite cruises.

[cdwh1902]

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I found them all to be helpful. :)

[peteukmcr]

We crossed from Miami to Southampton this past April and had great seas and weather until 2 days before we reached the UK. Even after leaving the. Azores we were out on the pool deck. Only after that did we feel the chillier air. The seas were still calm though.