Why no Transatlanic round trip cruises?

[JAMESCC]

I ask this here because RCCL is our preferred cruise line but question could be for other lines such as NCL. Why does't RCCL throw in a couple of 10 or 12 day Transatlantic round trip cruises? Its what 3 days to South Hampton? Could go and stay for 2 days like going to Bermuda, see some really incredible history and then come back. Royal would also get something they like quite a few sea days for people to spend lots of money. So what do you think, good idea, bad idea, it'll never happen? All of the above?

[taglovestocruise]

We are sailing on the Independence November TA. The first 8 days are sea days. A slow cruise ship would need 15 or 16 sea days for a round trip Southampton to Fll.

[chengkp75]

Not sure where you are going to Southampton from that is only 3 days away, but it isn't the US. The fastest merchant ships ever, the Sealand SL-7 class only did it in 3 days, 10 hours, just about what the SS United States did to win the Blue Riband.

 

Oasis of the Seas, at full speed, with good weather, would take 7.25 days from FLL to Southampton, and she would be guzzling fuel, which is why transatlantics are generally only for repositioning. TA's are typically sold at a loss just to offset the repositioning cost, but if there were a round trip that was to make money, the prices would be significantly higher to offset the fuel cost.

 

The fact that Cunard only has one ship doing regular Atlantic crossings shows the limited demand for these cruises, which could be combined in a back to back, or with a two week interlude. And Cunard's ships, which could make a 5 day crossing, have slowed to a 7 day because of fuel expense.

 

So, to answer your question, nope, never going to happen.

[shipgeeks]

Holland America has one coming up in the fall, but it is 47 days round trip. IMO, a dream trip, but not everyone's cup of tea.

[John Reid]

Because most trans-Atlantics are repositionings???

[Biker19]

If you can find a spring Eastbound TA to Barcelona that gets there before May 7 you could combine with the Mariner westbound next year to do a round trip - assuming the Mariner schedule stays. Even then, you are looking at about 4 weeks.

[John&LaLa]

Mariner has a May 2018 west bound. Just do an April east bound first. She leaves from Barcelona May 7, 2018

 

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[Biker19]

^ I'm getting like Bob and beating others to the punch.

[John&LaLa]

^ I'm getting like Bob and beating others to the punch.

Congrats, [emoji12]

 

Why wouldn't Mariner schedule stay

 

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[Bra_BE2014]

I thought P&O had such 'no-flight' cruises to The Caribbean from/to Southampton.

 

 

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[Oakman]

Holland America does a R/T Ft. Lauderdale cruise to Europe, tours the Mediterranean and Africa, and then returns to Florida. Great way to see the Med without flying. However, it is 54 days. The departure date is Mar. 2018

[Biker19]

Why wouldn't Mariner schedule stay

In Mariner thread someone mentioned that RCI told them that the Barcelona-Miami leg of the tour is no longer available.

[John&LaLa]

In Mariner thread someone mentioned that RCI told them that the Barcelona-Miami leg of the tour is no longer available.

How are they getting us back to Miami?

 

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[Biker19]

How are they getting us back to Miami?

This is not the thread to even go there and as I mentioned that could be a totally bogus thing from an uninformed RCI CSR - the sailing still shows available online.

[Thorben-Hendrik]

We love TA but roundtrip would be too much for us!

[JAMESCC]

Oh wow thanks guys. I don't know why I thought it was a general 3 days to get to South Hampton. Guess I should have done more research. Too bad because I'd love to go, visit Normandie, and some other historic D-Day sites for a few days and come back. I don't fly so that is why I asked about round trip transatlantic cruises. I think the QM2 does them actually sometimes but that ship is too fancy for me. I'm not wearing a tux just to walk around at night. I once posted on Cunards boards and snooty doesn't even begin to describe the comments I got back. Not complaining, it's just the type of people that sail on a ship like that.

 

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[rafinmd]

Cunard forum on Cruise Critic is dominated by a group of dress code fanatics not really representative of the people on the ship. You don't need a tux; a suit and tie will do quite nicely on the 3 formal nights. You will need a jacket (ie sport coat) on the other nights. The people I've met on the ship are quite nice.

 

You could combine a QM2 TA with a cruise in the other direction on another ship with time in Europe in between. If you live in Florida and don't fly you would need to get to New York, perhaps on Amtrak.

 

Roy

[JAMESCC]

Cunard forum on Cruise Critic is dominated by a group of dress code fanatics not really representative of the people on the ship. You don't need a tux; a suit and tie will do quite nicely on the 3 formal nights. You will need a jacket (ie sport coat) on the other nights. The people I've met on the ship are quite nice.

 

You could combine a QM2 TA with a cruise in the other direction on another ship with time in Europe in between. If you live in Florida and don't fly you would need to get to New York, perhaps on Amtrak.

 

Roy

Thanks, I live in Jersey which is why we cruise and thank God we have option to cruise from here. RCCL and NCL have mega ships here thank God again. Yes we are a bit limited on itineraries but at least we have options. On the Cunard boards they made it sound like I'd be stuck in my room with an armed guard outside my door because I didn't have a tux. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

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[Host Hattie]

Oh wow thanks guys. I don't know why I thought it was a general 3 days to get to South Hampton. Guess I should have done more research. Too bad because I'd love to go, visit Normandie, and some other historic D-Day sites for a few days and come back. I don't fly so that is why I asked about round trip transatlantic cruises. I think the QM2 does them actually sometimes but that ship is too fancy for me. I'm not wearing a tux just to walk around at night. I once posted on Cunards boards and snooty doesn't even begin to describe the comments I got back. Not complaining, it's just the type of people that sail on a ship like that.

 

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As the moderator on the Cunard board, I'm sorry that you felt the answers you received were snooty. I thought they were an honest reflection of the dress code expectations and reality..

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2377967

 

As others have said, the only ship to do round trip transatlantic crossings is the QM2 and even she takes 2 weeks for the round trip.

[123funcruiser]

As the moderator on the Cunard board, I'm sorry that you felt the answers you received were snooty. I thought they were an honest reflection of the dress code expectations and reality..

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2377967

 

 

I had a look at the above linked thread and have to say I didn´t think the replies were snooty, but as Host Hattie said a proper refection on the Dress Code on QM2 crossings. I´ve done the QM2 crossing a few times and what the People on that thread described is what I experienced. A QM2 crossing is certanly a formal affair.

It is what it is and you Need to be Aware of it before going.

 

 

As others have said, the only ship to do round trip transatlantic crossings is the QM2 and even she takes 2 weeks for the round trip.

 

QM2 is not the only ship doing this. HAL does roundtrips to Europe, but they are usually a lot longer.

 

Right now the QM2 would be the one to do it with the least amount of time. If you Chose a sailing that goes to Hamburg and Returns right away it gave you a couple days to explore if you debark in Southampton and rejoin the ship there as well.

[JAMESCC]

I'm not going to get into an argument. I felt they were a bit snooty. There were a few comments if you read that basically saying go find another line. If I recall there were a few about the mass shmoes go on other lines, not Cunard. Read so all of them, you'll see. Also I didn't rip the people who sail on the QM2, it's just a different older fashioned experience and there's nothing wrong with that.

 

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[rebeccalouiseagain]

I've done two transatlantics. One on Celebrity (14 night) and one on Cunard. Cunard is the quickest way to get to Europe- as a rule. It's a 7 day voyage and the ship handles very well in the North Atlantic. If you are a sunworshiper- you may be disappointed on this voyage. It's extremely windy outside. It was built for this purpose- to cut through waves and get people from point A to point B. Even in August, when I sailed last, there were few people in the outside pool- too windy. The ship is formal and the people who sail on it are looking for a traditional cruise experience- formal means formal. Even by day, people tend to dress more business casual than "casual". My son did get some looks for wearing t shirts and cargo shorts. So snooty does apply to this cruise line. Not that I didn't have a good time. The thing that I didn't like about Cunard (and I've sailed them 3 times now) is the main dining room staff was unpleasant. The food was mediocre and appeals to the English palette perhaps. Meat with gravy is very important to the Brits and the menu was uninspired to me. This was in the regular dining room- the Britannia is probably much better. I will enjoy my cruise and it's a good way to get from NYC to England. I will try the MDR (again) and see if it's any better this time around. If not, the buffet has enough to please me. I really like the pasta station in the buffet- where they will make it to order. As for Celebrity- that cruise was wonderful in every way. If you have time to do a longer TA- try one that sails out of Ft. Lauderdale. The seas are smoother on the route from there to Europe, and you get a lot of bang for your buck.

[DKNYC]

Britannia IS the regular (MDR) dining room on QM2.

To the OP, I am not arguing with you but I think the replies you got on the Cunard board were not snooty, but rather a fairly accurate representation of life onboard a QM2 TA. I am not fond of dressing up either but I have been on 11 Cunard cruises ( 4 Transatlantics) and have made the effort. And I think this involves more effort for us women. :-) I enjoyed them very much and feel blessed to have been able to experience them. I think the Cunarders were trying to save you from having a potentially less than stellar experience. I think this is the purpose of these cruise critic forums.

I have booked a round trip TA of sorts on QM2 next fall. They are booked as 2 cruises with a 3 day gap in between as the ship is doing a 3 day trip to Belgium.

I also want to thank Host Hattie for posting that link.

 

Denise

[JAMESCC]

Britannia IS the regular (MDR) dining room on QM2.

To the OP, I am not arguing with you but I think the replies you got on the Cunard board were not snooty, but rather a fairly accurate representation of life onboard a QM2 TA. I am not fond of dressing up either but I have been on 11 Cunard cruises ( 4 Transatlantics) and have made the effort. And I think this involves more effort for us women. :-) I enjoyed them very much and feel blessed to have been able to experience them. I think the Cunarders were trying to save you from having a potentially less than stellar experience. I think this is the purpose of these cruise critic forums.

I have booked a round trip TA of sorts on QM2 next fall. They are booked as 2 cruises with a 3 day gap in between as the ship is doing a 3 day trip to Belgium.

I also want to thank Host Hattie for posting that link.

 

Denise

It's all good. No problem, no worries. It is what it is. I'm sure it's an incredible trip, and as a fan of old time ocean liners I am in love with the QM2. It's the last of that type ocean travel and I'm gonna there is one left. Me I'm the RCCL and NCL type guy. There's nothing wrong with that either. Different choices is what makes the world go 'round. Maybe someday I'll get the nerve to try it and dress in my best. 😀

 

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[knittinggirl]

We did a 16-night TA from FLL to Copenhagen. It took us 7 days to reach Ponta Delgado, and another two to reach Ireland. Then another one or two to get across the English Channel.

 

HAL offers a Voyage of the Vikings (VOTV) that is a Round trip Europe from Boston. You hit a port every three sea days. Royal Caribbean has a similar itinerary on Radiance (one way) from Copenhagen to Boston. VOTV did several Canada Ports, two Greenland ports, two scenic cruising days (weather permitting) through Prince Christian Sund. Three stops in Iceland, two Norway, three or more in British Isles. Loved it, but it was pretty expensive. Also, the ship didn't have an equivalent to the JS which we prefer. Their Vista Suite felt cramped, more like Concierge Class on Celebrity than a JS, and the Neptune Suite was too expensive.

 

We tried to get Atlantic Adventures (HAL) for 2018, but they didn't offer it. Their 2016 was a 42 round trip from FLL doing the Mediterranean. But they added several days to it on the 2017 version.

 

Cunard also offers a 21 day Norwegian Explorer from New York to New York w/ one week up to Norway. We had it booked, but had to cancel once we discovered we couldn't afford it w/ everything else we booked. Definitely not a good day for us. We're hoping they'll offer it again, perhaps with a few new ports for us.

 

I hope the cruise lines offer more round trip TAs, especially with us under threat of that laptop ban.

 

Royal Caribbean is going to have to rethink their cruises, because the longest I've seen is around 18 days.