Transatlantic Cruise?

[shay1]

We are looking at our 1st Transatlantic cruise this April or May 2019. We have narrowed it down to 3 RCCL cruises and would like opinions, tips etc regarding these 3. Independence of the Sea, Serenade of the Sea and/or Oasis of the Sea. 2 of these sail from Ft Lauderdale and 1 from Port Canaveral. We like the ports on Serenade of the Sea but we like the Independence of the Sea ship better from research we have done. We have not sailed on any of these 3 ships yet. We would have liked to have taken the Cruise Connection bus but from what I have checked online it does not go to the cruise ports for all of these 3 sailings. We live in Bradenton, Fl and will probably drive so we can fly back to Ft Lauderdale since the flights should be cheaper than flying into Sarasota. Would like to know if anyone has done any of these before and your thoughts.

Thank you.

[Sailor_Sally]

We also live in Bradenton and when we did a transatlantic we got a one way rental car from Sarasota airport so we could go down the night before . We dropped it at the airport and took a shuttle to a hotel . The one way rental was pretty inexpensive . We then flew into Tampa and had a car service drive us home .After a transatlantic flight the jet lag is pretty intense so no way did I want to drive from the airport .

[Jingerwoppy]

For a transatlantic I would say go with the Serenade if the ports are more interesting to you. 

[grinningimm]

One other option: From Tampa, Rhapsody of the Seas to Barcelona.  Smaller ship, but the fares are really low now on that particular sailing.  Leaves April 27.

[Hoopster95]

What's your purpose of sailing a Transatlantic? Is it to enjoy the ship, or to visit Europe and new places? To me, it sounds like you're flying home right away and not staying in Europe, so why bother with a TA? Why not just do an oasis ship back to back in the Caribbean and never get off as many people do? No flights for you, less costly,  and much more convenient. Your Indy sailing has 8 straight days at sea, all Caribbean ports, nothing in Europe

 

The best choice in my humble opinion is Oasis. Much more to do, see and experience on this ship. Plus it takes the southern Atlantic route from San Juan and St Marten, thus the weather likely waaaaaay better, and therefore much more enjoyable experience for you.

Edited February 13, 2019 by Hoopster95

[Tim,n,Sue]

We have done trans-Atlantics on each of these class of ships.  Sounds like you have to make a decision, are you going for the ship or the ports.  If you are going for the ship then the Oasis would be my first choice then the Independence.  If it is the ports then the Serenade would be my first choice.  

 

BTW.  We have approximately 12 TA's and we have found that the smaller ships are less bouncy in poor weather.  Most of the ships in the fleet have a draft around 26-28 feet and we have hit some inclement weather on about 4 of our TA's where the ship moved quite a bit.  It was on the Vision and the Radiance class ships that handled it better.  This is just my observation and others may disagree.  It really depends on the wind, height of the waves and at what angle the waves hit the ship.

[chev29]

We are on the Serenade of the seas on 26 April. We live in Port Charlotte, just a few miles from you. We have decided to rent a car and drive to Ft Lauderdale the day before and return car next day, Budget rental is close to port, and am told have transport to port for free. We are flying back to Ft Myers on Eurowings on 14 May, for $1100 for two people, with bags and meals and seat selection. We checked into parking, etc and found this the cheapest and best way for us. Good luck on your choice. Would like to see you on Serenade.

[Hoopster95]

26 minutes ago, Tim,n,Sue said:

We have done trans-Atlantics on each of these class of ships.  Sounds like you have to make a decision, are you going for the ship or the ports.  If you are going for the ship then the Oasis would be my first choice then the Independence.  If it is the ports then the Serenade would be my first choice.  

 

 

Great post from another experienced cruiser....

 

I'll add that one of my worst cruises ever was on Indy from Ft Lauderdale, northern route to Azores in 6 days.

Rain and cold in FLL leaving. Rain, cold and wind the entire 6 days to Azores. Only cleared up once we got to Madeira.

The ship was miserable, staff and cruisers.... those in balconies couldn't use them because of the weather, top deck (pools, no covered solarium, Florider, Sports court, were totally empty and unusable. Imagine 3600 somewhat grumpy/stir crazy cruisers zombie like all day long sitting around doing nothing for 6 long days in the Promenade on Indy. 

 

Anyhow, I also did TA on Adventure from San Juan... excellent sailing with Southern Atlantic route. Mostly sunny the whole way, pool deck activities, Sports Court activities, and a great group of cruisers to befriend as everyone was happy.

 

I high-lighted Tim,n,Sue's post above regarding ports... if you're choosing a TA, you're absolute bottom criteria should be for the ports! There's no way ports should even factor in when you're considering being on a ship for 300+ hours and on land maybe 20-30 hours total over 2 weeks. So, my biggest regret on the Indy sailing I mentioned above is I stayed in Southern Spain for 6 days after the cruise, driving to Granada (alahambra), Sevilla, Cadiz, Malaga... absolutely and totally awesome!!! I fully regret not flying direct to Europe doing more land in Spain... could've easily added MUCH MUCH MUCH better 7-10 day cruise from Barcelona or Rome on RCL

[taglovestocruise]

We have done a TA on Oasis as well as Independence. My choice would be Oasis as it is much larger with more to do and many more shows at night.  Oasis is all about the ship. Our Oasis cruise was 12 nights with a couple of port stops and Independence was 15 nights with 5 ports in the Caribbean.  Be sure to check out Royals Air2sea program, they have great prices for oneway international. Last year we did the Symphony TA and now have the Allure TA in Nov. 2020 booked.  As hoopster95  pointed out your last consideration on a TA should be the ports, it is all about the sea days.  happy cruising

[shipgeeks]

Be sure to check AirToSea for flights home.  Usually much cheaper than booking one-way flights yourself.

I have to disagree with the posters who are shocked that you would fly home right away.  We have done that three times. The crossing itself is the highlight - wonderful atmosphere onboard - and having several European ports at the far end is a fabulous bonus.  My favorite way to cruise.

[SkaterJasp]

Figure out how what you want out of your cruise and the ship and that will determine what ship to go on. If you want a ton of stuff to do during sea days, obviously go for Oasis or Indy... if you want a more intimate ship and possibly more destinations and better ports.. go for Vision or Serenade.

[smc99]

We've done TA's on both Navigator out of New Orleans and Vision out of Barcelona.  Loved them both!   

One thing to consider if your timing is flexible - Due to the time zone changes,  any TA from the US to Europe will have at least 6 days where you lose an hour. A TA from Europe to the US has 6 days with an extra hour. Sounds minor, but very nice having that extra hour to sleep for those 6 days!   We also liked getting the long boring flight out of the way before the cruise rather than having to do it after.  

[taglovestocruise]

23 minutes ago, smc99 said:

We've done TA's on both Navigator out of New Orleans and Vision out of Barcelona.  Loved them both!   

One thing to consider if your timing is flexible - Due to the time zone changes,  any TA from the US to Europe will have at least 6 days where you lose an hour. A TA from Europe to the US has 6 days with an extra hour. Sounds minor, but very nice having that extra hour to sleep for those 6 days!   We also liked getting the long boring flight out of the way before the cruise rather than having to do it after.  

Spot on + weather much warmer on a west bound. To the OP,  if you are getting a balcony the sun never shows on the Portside eastbound or starboard side westbound.  Also Oasis class ships are considered warm weather ships because of all the outdoor open space, it is very populated inside when the weather is rainy. 

[LBumb]

I’d vote oasis

[vols52]

Is the weather better going the southern route out of FL for the Transatlantic than from NY/NJ?

Looking at two different cruises, one from each port.

[Clarea]

2 minutes ago, vols52 said:

Is the weather better going the southern route out of FL for the Transatlantic than from NY/NJ?

Looking at two different cruises, one from each port.

 

In our experience, the southern route has had better weather.

[vols52]

1 minute ago, Host Clarea said:

 

In our experience, the southern route has had better weather.

Thank you. That is what was mind kept saying but wanted it verified by someone else.

[robtulipe]

We did a TA cruise in April from Port Everglades with a stop in Bermuda on way to Greenock (for Glasgow) UK and our extra large mini-suite balcony was pretty well useless because of the cold after that first stop. Same situation with a TA cruise, again in April,  from NYC with stop in Halifax on way to Southampton, UK. That ship actually had to deviate its course to avoid icebergs on that crossing. Other four TA cruises we've done have been southern route between southern USA and Mediterranean in April, October, November and early December and all had very good warm weather particularly when out of the Mediterranean. Outdoor pools could be even enjoyed most of the time.

Edited April 29, 2019 by robtulipe