Straits of Gibraltar

[mdunne48]

Does anyone know the answer to this question? (RSSC Splendor is the ship)

 

If you depart Barcelona at 6:00 p.m. (no stops involved) approximately when will the ship pass through the Straits of Gibraltar?  Hoping for a daylight transit.

 

[Portolan]

If you are talking about the November Barcelona to Miami cruise, you'll note that you'll spend a full day "Cruising the Mediterranean Sea" as it's a long way from Barcelona to the Straits of Gibraltar.  There is no way with the information provided by the cruise itinerary to figure out when you'll pass through the Straits.  It appears that you'll be 64 hours from leaving Barcelona and arriving in Arrecife.  The Straits are roughly half way in between, so very approximately 32 hours after departing Barcelona, or 2 AM.  But probably at night in any case.  Sorry.

[NCCruzQueen]

3 hours ago, mdunne48 said:

Does anyone know the answer to this question? (RSSC Splendor is the ship)

 

If you depart Barcelona at 6:00 p.m. (no stops involved) approximately when will the ship pass through the Straits of Gibraltar?  Hoping for a daylight transit.

 

 

Once you are onboard, you can ask someone, maybe in Destination Services or Reception.

[Docnduck]

8 hours ago, Portolan said:

If you are talking about the November Barcelona to Miami cruise, you'll note that you'll spend a full day "Cruising the Mediterranean Sea" as it's a long way from Barcelona to the Straits of Gibraltar.  There is no way with the information provided by the cruise itinerary to figure out when you'll pass through the Straits.  It appears that you'll be 64 hours from leaving Barcelona and arriving in Arrecife.  The Straits are roughly half way in between, so very approximately 32 hours after departing Barcelona, or 2 AM.  But probably at night in any case.  Sorry.

We've passed though the straights 3 times, once from Cadiz, once from Funchal and once from Malaga.  Each time was at the wee hours, usually about 3am.  Unfortunately the lights that were supposed to illuminate the rock were not on any of these transits.   Unless there is a port call in Gibralter, I don't think there is an opportunity to see the sights.  Sorry too.

[JMARINER]

There are lights on the Rock until about 10:00 pm. Even with the lights off, unless it is a very cloudy/rainy night, you will still be able to see it fairly clearly. The city lights below cast enough light that you will see the rough outline. The stone is fairly white chalky color that stands out particularly from the western view. 

 

 

J

[GOARMY]

Our remembrance(s) are twice at dark; and once in daylight.  

 

The most-memorable goes way-back to 2000 when aboard Seabourn's "Sun". 

 

Side-note.  Bad decision by Seabourn to purchase this larger ship with capacity of around 975 passengers.   Could not maintain standards we had experienced while aboard two of Seabourn's "Little Sisters" in the mid to late 1990s in the South Pacific.  Seabourn transferred "Sun" to its Holland America (HA) partner Line in 2002.  Better fit.  Still in service under another HA name. 

 

But, back to the Point. That late March to mid-April 2000 itinerary was from Ft. Lauderdale to, ultimately, Barcelona.  Passage from Atlantic to 'Med" was at 0115H.  This had been announced well-in-advance in the daily Bulletin, and by Ship's Officers.  Not-to-be missed.  Arise from slumbers.  

 

We were advised to be cautious.  Due to high winds and temperature, dress appropriately.  Hang-on.  Do NOT wander the deck because--most of Sun's external lights would be out so as not to interfere with lights onshore.  The "Rock" was fully-illuminated by search lights; the city lights also twinkled.  Sea was rather rough.   We did hang-on for about 30 minutes.  Very-high winds.  I took a video, which did not turn out all that well due to ship's movement.  Best just to commit the experience to memory--which we did.  Magical.  

 

We celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary on that ship.  We had hoped to celebrate our 50th when aboard Splendor during a March-April, 2020 cruise from San Diego to Miami--then on the NYC.  But, of course that did not happen.  

 

Anyway--for what it's worth.   Our daylight passage was aboard Explorer--Inaugural series of 2017 cruises.  This one was Miami via Barcelona to Venice.   Nothing particularly noteworthy while transiting, as it was daytime.  Spend a day at Gibraltar.  Nice Tea in the afternoon at a local hotel. 

 

GOARMY!

 

  

[DavidTheWonderer]

I once did a transit on Voyager.  It was night, the lights on the rock were on, and the captain paused the ship for about half an hour so we had lots of time to marvel at the sight. Definitely a peak experience.

[flossie009]

Not sure about a night transit, but certainly Gibraltar is a fascinating place to visit.

 

One gripe for Regent. The itinerary for the Voyager cruise in February 2022 describes Gibraltar as being Spanish; this could cause an international incident 🤯