Transatlantic cruises

[preschool teacher]

Hi all, are there any chat boards that discuss transatlantic cruises?

thanks

[navybankerteacher]

11 minutes ago, preschool teacher said:

Hi all, are there any chat boards that discuss transatlantic cruises?

thanks

Not that I am aware of - but there is no reason not to start one here - have you any particular thoughts/questions? We’ve done a number of crossings - some straight shots on QM2, and several repositioning from the Med and Northern Europe with a number of port calls. It’s a great way to come home after travelling in Europe.

[babs135]

Are you asking about a specific ship or just a general discussion?  Cunard's Queen Mary 2 is really the only one who does a regular transatlantic crossing but there are plenty of other cruises which would probably come under the heading of 'repositioning cruises'.  These ships sail in the Med and area in the summer and then decamp to warmer climates in the winter.

[dogs4fun]

9 hours ago, preschool teacher said:

Hi all, are there any chat boards that discuss transatlantic cruises?

If you are contemplating a specific TA cruise, I would recommend checking the roll call for that cruise.

[Markanddonna]

10 hours ago, preschool teacher said:

Hi all, are there any chat boards that discuss transatlantic cruises?

thanks

I wrote to the staff in charge of these boards to request a board just for transatlantics. Crickets. Maybe if more of us asked?

[navybankerteacher]

53 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

I wrote to the staff in charge of these boards to request a board just for transatlantics. Crickets. Maybe if more of us asked?

HELLO !!!!!   Aren’t we discussing trans-Atlantics on this board right now?

[Markanddonna]

4 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

HELLO !!!!!   Aren’t we discussing trans-Atlantics on this board right now?

Please note the verbage I used. I said "a board just for transatlantics."  CC has one for world cruises that isn't very well used. Surely, more people take transpacifics and transatlantics than world cruises.

 

No need for sarcasm or chastening. 

 

[navybankerteacher]

51 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

Please note the verbage I used. I said "a board just for transatlantics."  CC has one for world cruises that isn't very well used. Surely, more people take transpacifics and transatlantics than world cruises.

 

No need for sarcasm or chastening. 

 

I was simply pointing out that a thread titled “Transatlantic cruises” in the “Ask a Cruise Question” is an appropriate forum for discussing trans-Atlantic cruises.

[preschool teacher]

So let’s chat. And yes, I meant like a specific board for transatlantic or cruises crossing the ocean..

we are going on our first one in May. On the Brilliance. Leave out of Tampa and call on Bermuda, Punta Delgada, Cobb, and Waterford and disembarking in Amsterdam.

Have to go back to work...more later...

thanks for all who join in the conversation!!!!

[dogs4fun]

1 hour ago, preschool teacher said:

So let’s chat. And yes, I meant like a specific board for transatlantic or cruises crossing the ocean..

we are going on our first one in May. On the Brilliance. Leave out of Tampa and call on Bermuda, Punta Delgada, Cobb, and Waterford and disembarking in Amsterdam.

Have to go back to work...more later...

thanks for all who join in the conversation!!!!

There is a lively roll call already established for your TA cruise where you can chat with others on your cruise. Perhaps you have already found it?

 

Edited January 20, 2020 by dogs4fun

[jimdalva]

We are looking to do our first Transatlantic , Maybe April 10 2021 on Rhapsody OTS. Once in Rome we would like a land tour that takes us around to Barcelona . Then a Med cruise, and fly back to Orlando from Barcelona. The 2 cruises are easy, lots to pick from. But a land tour from Rome to Barcelona is not so easy. Any advice or experiences would be welcome.

[dogs4fun]

Usually, we prefer to do two TA cruises in the same year - we like one in the spring & one in the fall. We book open jaw (multi-city) round trip air tickets so that we only need to purchase one R/T airfare. We booked a TA to Amsterdam in May, spent a week in Amsterdam, took the train to Prague, spent a week in Prague & flew home from Prague.

We flew to Venice (the other half of our r/t air) in October, took a Med cruise that ended in Barcelona & then TA from Barcelona to FLL.  We are taking a TA on X's Edge to Rome in May and will spend a few weeks in Italy before flying home. Not doing 2 TAs this year.

[preschool teacher]

I am on our roll call, thanks

[Markanddonna]

Do you want to pretty much just visit Rome and Barcelona? A cheap flight is your best bet. Look on skyscanner.com. If you want to see sites in between, rent a car or train connections. I've been to both cities twice and can offer some advice. 

[Cruisingranny1]

I was also looking for a TA board. We are doing our first in Oct from Barcelona to Tampa. I was wondering how time changes work on a TA? All of our other cruises we kept on ship time but how does that work on a TA? We surely dont stay on Barcelona time until we get to Tampa do we? Sorry if this is a silly question! 🙂

[odblnt]

On 1/20/2020 at 9:38 AM, jimdalva said:

We are looking to do our first Transatlantic , Maybe April 10 2021 on Rhapsody OTS. Once in Rome we would like a land tour that takes us around to Barcelona . Then a Med cruise, and fly back to Orlando from Barcelona. The 2 cruises are easy, lots to pick from. But a land tour from Rome to Barcelona is not so easy. Any advice or experiences would be welcome.

 

I just did a Google search of "tour rome to barcelona" and found a number of options. Hope this helps and is within the rules of the board.

[TheOldBear]

1 hour ago, Cruisingranny1 said:

I was also looking for a TA board. We are doing our first in Oct from Barcelona to Tampa. I was wondering how time changes work on a TA? All of our other cruises we kept on ship time but how does that work on a TA? We surely dont stay on Barcelona time until we get to Tampa do we? Sorry if this is a silly question! 🙂

 

Time changes are at the ship's discretion.

On recent transatlantic round trips the eastbound leg moved clocks to 1PM at Noon [lose an hour] - and got the hours back on the westbound [I think there were two 2AMs for an extra hour's sleep.

 

[hallasm]

10 hours ago, Cruisingranny1 said:

I was wondering how time changes work on a TA? All of our other cruises we kept on ship time but how does that work on a TA?

On a westbound cruise you’ll gain six hours - time changes will be divided over your cruise - one hour each time. 
Eastbound you’ll loose six hours - but then you’ll arrive into Europe without jet lag. 
Personally I have no problems with jet lag when traveling west while sever problems when traveling East - hence I prefer the eastbound TA arriving to Europe without jet lag - my next TA is 12 days in March from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona.

[Cruisercl]

On 1/20/2020 at 4:03 PM, dogs4fun said:

Usually, we prefer to do two TA cruises in the same year - we like one in the spring & one in the fall. We book open jaw (multi-city) round trip air tickets so that we only need to purchase one R/T airfare. We booked a TA to Amsterdam in May, spent a week in Amsterdam, took the train to Prague, spent a week in Prague & flew home from Prague.

We flew to Venice (the other half of our r/t air) in October, took a Med cruise that ended in Barcelona & then TA from Barcelona to FLL.  We are taking a TA on X's Edge to Rome in May and will spend a few weeks in Italy before flying home. Not doing 2 TAs this year.

This is a great idea; I would need to look how far out I could book the second flight so we could space them out a bit.

Thx!

[Markanddonna]

12 hours ago, Cruisingranny1 said:

I was also looking for a TA board. We are doing our first in Oct from Barcelona to Tampa. I was wondering how time changes work on a TA? All of our other cruises we kept on ship time but how does that work on a TA? We surely dont stay on Barcelona time until we get to Tampa do we? Sorry if this is a silly question! 🙂

This isn't a silly question and there isn't one answer. The captain on each ship sets the time schedule. Typically, you receive a change the time notice in both the daily planner and a note on the bed. The time is changed one hour at a time. What differs is when the time is changed. Most captains make it around 2AM while a few choose to do it at noon. The CD usually mentions it at the show and sometimes waiters also mention it.

 

Btw, always check to see that the ship and port time is the same before you leave a ship at port. The captain on my last cruise buried that change in "cruise trips" in the daily and it wasn't noted until 10:00 at night. Everyone on our private excursion was in panic as we were trying to inform one another. One person did miss the excursion. 

[Markanddonna]

32 minutes ago, Cruisercl said:

This is a great idea; I would need to look how far out I could book the second flight .

Doing this is practical only if you have all the components of your trip all figured our. Some low cost airlines like Norwegian offer very cheap flights. We were on a beautiful Dreamliner on a OW flight from Copenhagen to fort Lauderdale. Look at skyscanner.com and Google flights to check for great fares.

[PBTravelBug]

On 1/19/2020 at 9:04 PM, preschool teacher said:

Hi all, are there any chat boards that discuss transatlantic cruises?

thanks

Thank you for starting this discussion.

Have not booked a TA yet but it is on my bucket list.

A dedicated area/topic for this type of itinerary would be a great resource.

[Markanddonna]

52 minutes ago, PBTravelBug said:

 

A dedicated area/topic for this type of itinerary would be a great resource.

You might want to email the administrators of this board. Are you listening Cruise Critic?  

 

lauras@cruisecritic.com 

Edited January 22, 2020 by Markanddonna

[PBTravelBug]

5 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

You might want to email the administrators of this board. Are you listening Cruise Critic?  

 

lauras@cruisecritic.com 

Thanks for this info.

I would like to see Trans Atlantic/Trans Pacific / Re-positioning as a dedicated subject. 

Would also like to see a dedicated subject for Back to Back cruising.

I will send an email.

[PBTravelBug]

2 minutes ago, PBTravelBug said:

Thanks for this info.

I would like to see Trans Atlantic/Trans Pacific / Re-positioning as a dedicated subject. 

Would also like to see a dedicated subject for Back to Back cruising.

I will send an email.

 

Email sent!