Transatlantic cruises

[Kaptivate]

Looking for people who have done transatlantic cruises. Someone who has done multiples would be great. What do you like and hate about it? Which ship is your favorite for such a trip and why? We are considering our options and everyone here is awesome at giving honest opinions.

 

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[Kwaj girl]

We have enjoyed probably a dozen such voyages. Most people like the westbound since you gain an hour here and there as you cross and change time zones vs eastbound where you lose those hours. Conversely, the westbound-daytime flight post-cruise tends to be easier on the body than the eastbound-overnight flight pre-cruise. YMMV

In any case, the Queen Mary 2 will give you the traditional crossing experience with a British flair. Our favorites have been on the smaller ships of the Regent and Seabourn fleets with their relaxed country club atmosphere. Sea days are so relaxing but filled with a variety of activities to suit most every taste AND there will likely be few children on the longer voyages.

[Sauer-kraut]

I love transatlantics, but I love sea days. I have done two, one on the SUN and the other on the Queen Mary 2. Both ships were fine, I'd give the QM2 as my favorite though because of all the extra enrichment programs on board.

 

Had lots of fun on the SUN, lots of progressive team trivia, our CC roll call had several activities throughout the week and you really get a good sense of just totally relaxing. I would do one again if I had the time and the money, I just really really enjoy them.

[www3traveler]

I did The Getaway's Transatlantic which was very very different because we left Southampton, United Kingdom on the 15th of January 2014 and headed for New York City. We had less than 1100 passengers- like being in an empty ship. Wonderful time. All of it was sea days. Lots of things to keep you busy all day and night.

 

Seriously thinking of going back and bringing The Bliss out in 2018.

[Kaptivate]

We have enjoyed probably a dozen such voyages. Most people like the westbound since you gain an hour here and there as you cross and change time zones vs eastbound where you lose those hours. Conversely, the westbound-daytime flight post-cruise tends to be easier on the body than the eastbound-overnight flight pre-cruise. YMMV

In any case, the Queen Mary 2 will give you the traditional crossing experience with a British flair. Our favorites have been on the smaller ships of the Regent and Seabourn fleets with their relaxed country club atmosphere. Sea days are so relaxing but filled with a variety of activities to suit most every taste AND there will likely be few children on the longer voyages.

Oh thank you, I had not even considered the time changes yet. That is very good information. We are so new to cruising I find this forum to be very helpful. Since we don't have children we do enjoy the quite times. Lots to consider.

 

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[Griller]

Really need to cross on a ship with enough public space for all the passengers to be comfortable on all the seadays rather than a ship built for port days when most passengers are off the ship.

This excludes most newer NCL ships unless they are sailing half empty.

If you have a large balcony or suite then this may not be such a consideration.

Edited October 21, 2016 by Griller

[navybankerteacher]

We've done several. We prefer westbound for several reasons: it is good to get the fight out of the way first; time change gives 25 hour days, vs 23 eastbound; the weather in Europe is usually better in October than in April and the Atlantic is a whole lot warmer in October/November than April/May.

[Kaptivate]

Lots of good information here. We did our first NCL cruise in a suite last year. And we are cruising in a Haven next december. So I doubt we would settle for anything less than a suite for a transatlantic. That also means we would consider a few higher end cruise lines if that is the best option.

For those of you who have take several of these trips. How rough are the seas? Is there a big difference between the roughness with the size of the ship. Never been sea sick, just something to consider.

 

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[karoo]

I did one on the Jade- eastbound. Loved it. Get a balcony - so you can relax in your cabin if you want to and still see the ocean. It also has a great promenade deck you could walk around if you felt like walking. Great outdoor area at the back also to enjoy the fresh air. Personally I wouldn't do one on the Epic- promenade deck doesn't go around the ship, just up and down the side with lifeboats blocking your view. No really good places to see the ocean outdoors unless you have a balcony. I would only do the Epic on a port intensive cruise. Jewel class and the Sun - all good. Plus you've got an upstairs observatory lounge. Dawn/Star - I wouldn't consider- no great outdoors or Upstairs Observatory lounge. Spinnaker is now the only real area for activities and it has been moved midship - very dark and gloomy.

 

The seas were rough from Houston to Miami, Miami to Barcelona very smooth sailing. Just luck I guess!

 

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Edited October 21, 2016 by karoo

[DandDM]

We've gone both directions and I'll put my vote in for the Eastbound. We enjoy touring in Europe and appreciate that when we arrive in Europe on the ship we are well rested and adjusted to the time zone. When we fly to Europe, it usually takes a day or two to get over our jetlag and to really start enjoying the trip. We have also found that the eastbound cruises often have stops in Europe while the westbounds stop in the Caribbean. Since we have been to the Caribbean so many times, the Europe stops are much more appealing to us.

 

I say you should make a point to try both and decide for yourself!

 

As far as the trip itself, we absolutely love the seadays and the ability to totally disconnect and relax for five or six days. The per night cost of TA's are also pretty good.

[Blondie008]

We have done so many TA cruises I have lost count - but never Eastbound - always West although we are doing Eastbound on the Getaway next April - looking forward to a 16 night vacation!

Things to love about TAs?

Value for money - always fantastic value -

For us the ship is the destination. We have been there done that on so many ports - we just love making the ship our destination.

Very few kids!

Halloween at sea!

The weather - oh yes, the weather - so far beautiful sunshining crossings (touchwood!).

Looooooong days - (westbound that is don't know yet how shorter days are going to appeal to me but at least there are 16 of them ;) )

The SPA - if you don't have a spa cabin - get a spa pass - We love early morning (recovery from hangover usually) and late afternoon (40 winks before the partying of the night!). Also useful if you do hit bad weather - for sure I wouldn't miss a spa cabin for the Eastbound.

I have to add here our last years TA cruise was on Celebrity and we yearned to be back on NCL for that one. Love Celebrity but on the TA there wasn't that NCL vibe which we love.

This year's is days away - cant wait - counting the hours and minutes ! :D

[bazbov]

Looking for people who have done transatlantic cruises. Someone who has done multiples would be great. What do you like and hate about it? Which ship is your favorite for such a trip and why? We are considering our options and everyone here is awesome at giving honest opinions.

 

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Hello Kaptivate and all. We prefer to do transatlantic cruises as we love sea days, We can sit and relax or join in the many activities. Chat to fellow passengers etc.

 

As for ships, i really don't mind, They all have something good to offer and we go on each cruise with a positive outlook. I really don't think that anyone can honestly say they hated ALL aspects of any ship they've sailed on. Happy cruising. :)

[teach2travel]

Hi....I have done 2 or 3 of the transatlantic (repositioning ) cruises and have really enjoyed tnem! Initially it was the price that attracted me to my first.....it was like $400 for 10 days! My favorite was the one I took on Royal Caribbean....even though we had a lot of sea days, they had so many activities it was impossible to get bored. Cooking demos, financial talks, a former space center official etc. Now it may have been because it was early December and the ship was amazingly decorated for Christmas, but the other transatlantic I have taken have not had as many sea day options

 

 

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[NMLady]

We will be embarking on our 7th transatlantic cruise next week, this one on NCL Jade. We have also done NCL crossings on the Sun and the Star and we did the eastbound crossing on the Jade last April. We prefer the westbound since the 6 or 7 time zone changes on westbound reqiure setting clocks back rather than ahead.

 

We have done both a northern crossing as well as the southern crossing. We have been very fortunate that all of our crossings have had mild ocean conditions, some choppy water but not huge waves.

 

We have done 2 ta's on Oceania and 1 on Celebrity as well as the three so far on NCL. We do not cruise on the megaships. Just a personal preference.

 

To enjoy transatlantics you must like seadays, which we do. There are a variety of activities to choose from, but I use most of the time to read. Talking with other travel-experienced passengers is enjoyable too. I also spend some time each seaday in the casino and sometimes enter slot and/or Blackjack

Tournaments. My husband spends time in Texas Hold Em tournaments. He also enjoys the trivia competitions as well as socializing with passengers.

 

You are fortunate to be able to afford suites or the Haven. Awesome. In order to be able to do more cruises we usually book cheapest oceanview or inside. This will be our 3rd ta in an inside cabin. But since we are only in it to sleep, no problem. On Oceania we were upgraded to a balcony for the crossing and really enjoyed that. But regardless of accomodations we love the relaxing non-scheduled days on a ta.

Edited October 21, 2016 by NMLady

[frenchcanrican]

DH and I did a TA last year Harwich to Boston with stops in Ireland, France, Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Canada.

This was our best cruise to date. Loved everything about the ship (Brilliance) crew, passengers (no kids). The seas were ROUGH between Iceland and Canada. Tables and people fell over. I personally like the rough seas. So that was okay.

 

Enjoy your trip.

 

 

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[Kaptivate]

Thank you everyone for all of the information. I am feeling even more confident now about the next cruise we will be booking. We have not yet been on a megaship and I think we will continue to avoid that. Time to do a little more research on ships and stateroom layouts. Thanks again everyone!

 

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[4774Papa]

We have done one eastbound and one westbound TA.

 

The best thing about a TA is that you don't have to fly.

 

Also, our last TA cost about $700 pp and we saved about $500 in airfare pp, so the cruise was really cheap.

 

The actual cruise is better, in my opinion take AFTER the primary touring. That makes the westbound the best. Both our TA cruises in the past were B2B and we really like having the TA after the primary cruise. and land travel.

 

There are many things the CC Roll Call can organize. I usually allot about 4 books to read on the cruise and try picking up more at the library, leaving my read books there for others.

 

Our TA on Celebrity Eclipse for October next year stops in Boston, NYC (overnight), Bermuda and Nassau. That is more ports that we have had on our other TA cruises.

[SuiteCruiser]

A week from now I will be in Barcelona getting ready to board the Epic for my 5th transatlantic and I cannot wait!

 

They are my favourite cruises, they're longer and so many amazing sea days!

 

I will be doing a Live From blog if you're interested, you're welcome to follow along :)

Edited October 21, 2016 by SuiteCruiser

[spanishguy1970]

We are about to embark on a Transatlantic next week on the Epic. We enjoy sea days ( you must like them) if you are a person who needs to go from port to port because you get bored on board then transatlantics are not for you. We feel is a cruise that you actually get to relax. Like others i like Westbound just because your body adapts to time changes, so no jet lag. I also find they are less expensive to do. :D

[Kaptivate]

A week from now I will be in Barcelona getting ready to board the Epic for my 5th transatlantic and I cannot wait!

 

They are my favourite cruises, they're longer and so many amazing sea days!

 

I will be doing a Live From blog if you're interested, you're welcome to follow along :)

I would love to follow along and read your review. Thanks.

 

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[dad son team]

I am debating booking the Epic crossing in early April 2017. It is Canaveral to Barcelona so southern crossing with a stop in Bermuda. How much of it are you able to sit outside by the pool for versus staying inside because its too cold? I know it can't control the weather, but was just wondering what most people pack for? Jeans or shorts?

Edited December 28, 2016 by dad son team

[cruise pup]

I did a t/a on the Gem in 2008. Jeans and shorts were both worn. Best thing was I bought the spa pass because it wasn't pool weather.