A T/A at the end of October '16 on the Northern route???

[LuAnn]

What do you all think? We love T/As and have done 1 on the Northern route on the Connie in early September several years ago...and it was "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride"!! Some passengers actually "jumped" ship in Iceland!! The seas were very rough from Scotland to Iceland...and then again from Iceland to Halifax.

 

I know that seas and weather are the "luck of the draw"...but...is it too late in the year? The route is Southampton to Boston (no stop in Iceland) and it's on the Eclipse.

 

We are lucky and don't get sea-sick...and while we love T/As and have done many...we are a little tired of the same ports of call from MIA to Barcelona.

 

We are on board Eclipse for Xmas & NYears and would like to book while on board so would really appreciate you CCers thoughts/experiences with this time frame and route!! Thanks!! LuAnn

[cle-guy]

50/50....no way to really know without divine intervention.

 

This year Eclipse had a tough time getting across, they canceled the bermuda calls and stayed extra in the Azores and called in Cape Canaveral instead to meet the "beaches" part of the "Beaches and Broadway" cruise. Good news, without Bermuda after NY, no need to clear US immigration a second time (US immigration requires you to clear anytime you've visited a foreign port, and they Cleared NYC, then were to go to Bermuda, then back to USA thus the potential for the second clearing that didn't happen).

 

Other years, people have had great experiences from what I've read. I've done the Eastbound TA on Eclipse to Southampton last 2 years, and it was practically glass the whole way, the Caribbean was the rough spot.

 

If one is at all concerned, another cruise should be choses to avoid that chance of a bad crossing. If the motion isn't bothersome, then no worries go for it and enjoy the ride if it coms to that.

[teecee60]

Absolutely LOVE transatlantic cruises! (as well as transpacific ones ;))

 

The many sea days might allow for some FANTASTIC guest speaker programs. :p

 

Overnight in NYC is almost worth it, all by itself. AND a day to tour the Kennedy Space Center to boot! :D

 

Rough seas don't bother me either... sheesh... I think *I* might have to start looking into this one...:cool:

Edited December 12, 2014 by teecee60

[ghstudio]

Transatlantics going eastbound in the spring seem to have great weather and seas. Our two TA's in the fall have found very rough seas at least at some point and weather not so good either. I agree that the eastbound cruises seem to stop at the same ports year after year, but there are only so many places to stop. We won't do another westbound....and taking one that goes north really maximizes the chances of hitting a storm heading across to the UK.

 

My recommendation...skip that cruise.

[Project_gal]

We have just taken this cruise [minus Boston] on Eclipse. Like you, we had also previously sailed on Eclipse for New Year [2012/13].

 

The night before embarkation, the itinerary had to change because of a huge storm in the Atlantic. We sailed, instead, for Madeira and, then, round beneath the storm to New York, 2 days late. We then skipped Bermuda.

 

We arrived in New York at the same time as a really cold spell. New York Immigration was very, very, very long making it difficult for everyone. Everyone had to leave the ship and pass through Immigration and, then, not return to the ship until everyone [including all crew] had been cleared by Immigration. This took over five hours. Thus, you had to hang around awaiting your number to be called for a very long time, get off early and stay on shore in the freezing weather until the process had completed, or both. As we were sailing round the storm for some time, it was still bumpier than many guests were prepared for [although one does wonder what they expected on a northerly TA.]

 

Would we do this cruise again? Probably not - been there, done that. Are we glad that we took this cruise? Definitely! Would not have missed the sail into NY - even if the photographs were rubbish because of frozen fingers - for the world. Would not have missed "parking" bang slap in the heart of NY either. Did we have a great time? Yes, yes, yes.

 

We have done a number of TAs now. The others have been on M-class ships. The final night of the cruise on our other TAs the ship has been like a morgue. Eclipse was almost as lively as it was on our New Year cruise. [Not sure if that was the ship, the itinerary or both.]

 

The cruise you are considering appears to be a little earlier and, therefore, likely to be much warmer in NY than ours.

 

You are calling at Boston first and the Immigration experience may be better BUT in our experience the worst US Immigration experience flying into the States has been Boston [but we have never flown into NY]. With just one day in Boston, that may just turn out to be an Immigration stop rather than a proper port day.

 

Unless you have to skip Bermuda as we did, guests will have to pass through US Immigration twice [i believe the crew will only have to do it in Boston]. That is a definite negative. Almost the first thing people said on our cruise when they realised that we were missing Bermuda was "at least we only have to go through Immigration once"!

 

I have been brutally honest here. As I said, we had a great cruise and so did many people but very many people were totally unable to cope with a change to the itinerary, late arrivals, rough seas, bad weather and challenging Immigration [in NY]/Customs [in Miami]. Many appear to have done little research, others failed to read information given to the/listen when told about changes and some did neither!

 

Read the reviews [in Cruise Critic Review section], reflect on the type of people you are and consider what you want from a cruise. Only you can decide it this cruise is for you.

 

And us? We are taking the Millennium transpacific next Spring. This is likely to be another challenging cruise. We really want to do it and will be positive but, after that, it will be the Caribbean for us. After avoiding the area for all our previous cruising, we discovered that we really loved the Caribbean in 2012 and it looks like that is where we will head for the foreseeable future!

Edited December 12, 2014 by Project_gal

[upwarduk]

seas were very rough from Scotland to Iceland...and then again from Iceland to Halifax.

I have sailed between Iceland and Ireland (force12) in July!!

 

Friends of ours were on the Eclipse TA in Nov'14. They booked an excursion( HoHo bus) so we're in the first group through immigration and off the ship.

[Xport]

Other years, people have had great experiences from what I've read. I've done the Eastbound TA on Eclipse to Southampton last 2 years, and it was practically glass the whole way, the Caribbean was the rough spot.

 

To have missed the Eclipse eastbound Transatlantic--Miami to Southampton--during late April/early May 2012! It was not a star-crossed sailing...

 

Surely Celebrity can't control weather but it rained--I think we saw a total of four hours of sunshine [never on a port day] about 10 days into the crossing--the entire trip... In fact, the rain was so torrential that the drains around the pool [Deck 12] became so choked with water as to cause Michael's Club [Deck 5] to flood/to be closed... It was so cold--not chilly, cold--that many were wrapped in multiple blankets when venturing across open deck... Our port call at Cork needed to be cancelled [A Coruña was substituted; sadly we got there on a national holiday with most everything closed] so as to avoid gale force winds and 30 foot seas in the Bay Of Biscay [England and Wales encountered very significant flooding at the time]... Few toured so as to avoid being drenched... Fewer were ready for the weather dress-wise... And the Medical Department was doing a land-office business... It was the only cruise I've ever taken--and again, X did nothing wrong; instead they worked hard to keep guests comfortable and preoccupied with indoor activities--in which I couldn't wait for disembarkation!

 

Glad to hear about your better experiences and, if that sailing has become a tradition for you, hope that your track record continues... Me? Well I'm an adventuresome traveler but this one leaves me reluctant to repeat [that said, weather on Reflection's inaugural Transatlantic six months later--from Barcelona to Miami--was idyllic]...

 

As you note... No way to really know... When booking anything, I keep reminding myself that there are no guarantees and that Columbus took a chance! For the most part and aside from a few bumpy rides, that's worked...

[Turtles06]

To have missed the Eclipse eastbound Transatlantic--Miami to Southampton--during late April/early May 2012! It was not a star-crossed sailing...

 

Surely Celebrity can't control weather but it rained--I think we saw a total of four hours of sunshine [never on a port day] about 10 days into the crossing--the entire trip... In fact, the rain was so torrential that the drains around the pool [Deck 12] became so choked with water as to cause Michael's Club [Deck 5] to flood/to be closed... It was so cold--not chilly, cold--that many were wrapped in multiple blankets when venturing across open deck... Our port call at Cork needed to be cancelled [A Coruña was substituted; sadly we got there on a national holiday with most everything closed] so as to avoid gale force winds and 30 foot seas in the Bay Of Biscay [England and Wales encountered very significant flooding at the time]... Few toured so as to avoid being drenched... Fewer were ready for the weather dress-wise... And the Medical Department was doing a land-office business... It was the only cruise I've ever taken--and again, X did nothing wrong; instead they worked hard to keep guests comfortable and preoccupied with indoor activities--in which I couldn't wait for disembarkation!

 

 

As I read your description of that TA I was thinking "what a terrible trip" and feeling very sorry for you, but when you mentioned the change in port calls from Cobh to A Coruña (something we encountered on a crossing as well) I looked again at your sailing date and realized that my spouse and I are were on the same TA you were describing, but we would never have described it that way at all. We had a wonderful time!

 

Yes, there was some rain along the way, but it did not put a damper on the crossing, nor do I recall it being quite that cold. I remember one afternoon in the mid Atlantic when it was in fact pouring rain, and we were sitting in a hot tub with a friend, with the rain pouring down, and thinking what a marvelous thing to be doing in the middle of the Atlantic ocean.

 

As for the unplanned port call at A Coruña, we immediately booked a ship's excursion to Santiago de Compostela, a UNESCO world heritage site and home to a very famous Cathedral, and had a terrific day.

 

Travel experiences certainly are subjective, as our differing views of the same crossing underscore! :)

 

In terms of the OP's topic: we are booked on the Anthem of the Seas' inaugural transatlantic from Southampton to Cape Liberty in late October, and I guess there is the potential for experiencing "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride." :)

[CruisinNole]

We were on the November 9th Eclipse transatlantic and decided afterwards that we would never take a TA that late in the year. The weather is just too "iffy". The seas were quite rough and there were many seasick passengers.

 

And to defend passengers who were upset with the long immigration procedure in NYC -- 3 days before we cruised, while we were in London, we received an email telling us that immigration could take up to 5 hours. We'd already heard this on the Roll Call and had booked a ship's excursion, so the short notification didn't impact us. But, there were many, many passengers who are not on Cruise Critic, had already made private shore excursions or made plans to meet with relatives or friends and may not have seen this email. If we knew about it weeks before the cruise on the Roll Call, then Celebrity must have known about it too and should have informed the passengers well in advance.

 

Communication during the immigration process was poor. Announcements regarding progress were nonexistant. While waiting in line to get off the ship at 11:00am, I heard Sue Denning tell a man who had #37 and asked when he might be getting off, "Well, Luv, you have time to get a cup of coffee". Well, Luv had time to pick the coffee beans, roast them and brew enough coffee for the ship. Our friends who were #17 got off at 1:30 so Luv probably got off at 3:00pm.

Edited December 12, 2014 by CruisinNole

[Xport]

As I read your description of that TA I was thinking "what a terrible trip" and feeling very sorry for you, but when you mentioned the change in port calls from Cobh to A Coruña (something we encountered on a crossing as well) I looked again at your sailing date and realized that my spouse and I are were on the same TA you were describing, but we would never have described it that way at all. We had a wonderful time!

 

Yes, there was some rain along the way, but it did not put a damper on the crossing, nor do I recall it being quite that cold. I remember one afternoon in the mid Atlantic when it was in fact pouring rain, and we were sitting in a hot tub with a friend, with the rain pouring down, and thinking what a marvelous thing to be doing in the middle of the Atlantic ocean.

 

As for the unplanned port call at A Coruña, we immediately booked a ship's excursion to Santiago de Compostela, a UNESCO world heritage site and home to a very famous Cathedral, and had a terrific day.

 

Travel experiences certainly are subjective, as our differing views of the same crossing underscore! :)

 

Or that I was eliciting sympathy... Quite the contrary; I'm an avid cruiser who prefers just about any day at sea to being ashore... And as I pointed out, I think Celebrity did an astounding job of trying to keep guests engaged and interested when weather conditions pretty much precluded outdoor activites/fun in the sun--surely it wasn't anticipated--for all but the most hearty and determined during the 2012 eastbound TA... My take on the weather during that trip may be influenced by the fact that I am a Floridian and abhor cold, rainy weather [even people from the UK commented to it] but, given that the line to visit the Medical Department was down the corridor with guests needing assisance, I surely wan't the only one who came down with a severe case of cruise cough... Glad you escaped it...

 

You are right... A Coruña is a terrific port and Santiago de Compostela is a wonderful/memorable experience but I'd visited/done it justice--in gorgeous weather--less than fourteen months [also while aboard Eclipse] earlier... And so, there wasn't a whole lot to do there during my second visit--I soldiered on/tried--given that the town was essentially shut down [the Ho Ho Bus operated but none of the sights and few businesses were open] for a holiday... Nonetheless, I'm glad that the Captain decided to defer the Biscayne Bay transit as scheduled and skipped Cobh [which I've also visited before and to which I eagerly return next July]...

 

I never say never when it comes to cruising... And I do enjoy crossings... But I am saying that my experience with a northern route Transatlantic leaves me a bit reluctant--for me, it's never about motion; I've endured far worse without difficulty--so as to rush to book another...

 

Enjoy Anthem! It looks like a terrific ship that will provide unique/fun experiences!

[LuAnn]

For your input!! I know it is the luck of the draw re weather etc! I'll see what our CC friends who live in Germany think about your comments...as they are considering joining us.."misery loves company"..right??? :rolleyes: Just kidding!! LuAnn

[Wine-O]

We did the Northern route on Eclipse in 2011, and won't do one again. We missed 2 ports due to weather which they made up with last minute 2 other ports, but all the planning and tours scheduled went down the tubes.

 

Prefer Rome or Barcelona and the Southern route.

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

I recently did a transatlantic crossing on the Queen Mary 2 (Nov. 12-19, 2014) from Southampton to New York. I had a wonderful time, but the seas were rough during much of the crossing. Also, it was very windy several days (in fact, some of the decks were closed due to high winds). Of course the weather varies, but I would not plan to spend much time on deck during this time of the year.

 

Chuck