curious about Transatlantic 11/9/2009

[mrose1120]

Hi everyone, i've been on the boards a while, but mainly on the Norwegian boards since i'm taking a NCL cruise for new years. Long story short, Fiancee and I will be getting married in miami next november 7th. We are thinking of possibly doing a cruise as a honeymoon, thinking european or transatlantic. RCI has a transatlantic on the Navigator of the Seas going to Malaga, Spain visiting Funchal, Madeira; Tenerife, Canary Islands; Santa Cruz De La Palma, Canary Islands; Nassau, Bahamas; Miami, Florida. Anyone have experience with this itinerary? Are the 6 sea days in a row unbearable? I think being it'd be our honeymoon i'd get some sort of suite..but I wanted to get some info .

 

 

thanks all :)

[Gonzo70]

I haven't done that route, but did recently do a transatlantic for my honeymoon. We had a blast. I really enjoyed the sea days but my wife was ready for land by about the 5th sea day. It really depends on the type of people you are whether or not you will enjoy the sea days and find six in a row to be too much. If you enjoy reading, taking naps, joining trivia and lots of the actiivties the cruise line offers, exercising, doing crossword puzzles, etc. then the sea days likely will be very enjoyable. If you have a short attention span and a hard time having some down time, than a transatlantic may not be a good choice. It also helps to pass the time to befriend other passengers. A good way to do this is to be active in the Roll Call portion of Cruise Critic for the cruise you choose.

 

Good luck with your decision and congratties on the marriage. :)

[negc]

Hi everyone, i've been on the boards a while, but mainly on the Norwegian boards since i'm taking a NCL cruise for new years. Long story short, Fiancee and I will be getting married in miami next november 7th. We are thinking of possibly doing a cruise as a honeymoon, thinking european or transatlantic. RCI has a transatlantic on the Navigator of the Seas going to Malaga, Spain visiting Funchal, Madeira; Tenerife, Canary Islands; Santa Cruz De La Palma, Canary Islands; Nassau, Bahamas; Miami, Florida. Anyone have experience with this itinerary? Are the 6 sea days in a row unbearable? I think being it'd be our honeymoon i'd get some sort of suite..but I wanted to get some info .

 

 

thanks all :)

Congratulations on your upcoming marriage. I think that a Transatlantic cruise would make for a wonderful honeymoon, and six sea days in a row should not be a problem especially for a honeymoon couple.:)

Our first TA was a seven night cruise from Harwich, England to Boston,Massachusetts on Brilliance of the Seas (a smaller ship with no Royal Promenade or some of the other features that you will have available on the Navigator) and we absolutely loved the experience and never were lacking for things to do, if that was our preference.

If you can afford a suite, by all means spring for it. You will enjoy the extra space during those sea days and access to the Concierge Lounge and the services of the Concierge will be very enjoyable.

[truffles2]

Congratulations! and go for it. Transatlantics are great! I'm sure you can find plenty to do during the sea days:p.

[huntingdon]

i was also worried about the sea days......but it turned out-they were the best part of the cruise! the NOS is gorgious, and keeps you so very occupied with lots of activities on those sea days, you won't even want to port. of course, i exaggerate a bit......but really enjoyed that cruise.

congrats on your upcoming nuptuals, and definitely spring for the suite, as you will enjoy the size and amenities.:D

[ILoveScotland]

I haven't done that itinerary but the one transatlantic I did was a similar time, and we stopped at Malaga and Funchal. I particularly loved Funchal, especially the basket ride down the mountain.

 

It's a good time for that itinerary, because it's late in the hurricane season so you should be okay.

 

I loved the sea days because I tend to have a stressful life so loved having time to do nothing but relax, read and look at the sea. I bet as honeymooners you'll find something to do with the time without getting bored. :eek: ;)

[bbrad8]

Congrats!!! :D Have not done that specific itinerary, but have done that 'route' starting in England and ending in Miami while sailing thru some of the same ports. Would do it again w/out hesitation. ;)

 

You have already received some great suggestions. Will add that sea days can be what "you" make them out to be. That is, if you wish to be more "active" about the ship, there is plenty to retain your attention on the Navigator. If you wish to less active about the ship and spend some "quality" time w/ your "better" half, that is certainly an option.

 

As Gonzo said, IF you are looking to make friends, go to your roll call thread. I am certain you will take some good natured ribbing.........but I am also certain that you can become involved w/ that group. This is a GREAT way to know people prior to boarding. If it is anything like our TA groups, it will be a VERY small ship...........that is you will know many people onboard!!! ;)

 

Long and short of it is, you CAN make it what you wish it to be. ONE strong recommendation here, get at least a GS so that you will have access to the Concierge Lounge. This is another great way to meet people onboard. There are MANY other benefits as well..........:D

 

Bruce

[mrose1120]

thanks for the replies so far...were still considering it.... but i'm excited for the possibility of it :)

[divepal]

Hate to put a damper on all your plans, but you might want to take a second look at this itinerary. It is a transatlantic, but it's going from Malaga to Miami. Not from Miami to Malaga.

[mrose1120]

Hate to put a damper on all your plans, but you might want to take a second look at this itinerary. It is a transatlantic, but it's going from Malaga to Miami. Not from Miami to Malaga.

 

not sure why this would put a damper, I understand that :)

 

The idea is that she has family in miami anyway, so i'm perfectly fine with flying out to Spain to do this, we just weren't thrilled with doing a regular european given schedules, etc...

[twosit]

Congratulations on your engagement!

We did the NOS going from Miami to Barcelona last April. I love sea days, but we felt there were too many. In addition to having the normal amount of sea days RC dropped the Azores prior to sailing and then we had a stableizer problem which prevented us from making any of the stops except Bermuda and Lisbon. We made great friends on the cruise and had a lot of fun and we did lots of things that we normally wouldn't have chance to do on a cruise--but we just felt it was too many days on the ship. I would do another transatlantic, but I would prefer no more than 5 sea days in a row. BTW--one of the negatives to a transatlantic was that we ended up having a gigantic bill at the end

[xpcdoojk]

Hate to put a damper on all your plans, but you might want to take a second look at this itinerary. It is a transatlantic, but it's going from Malaga to Miami. Not from Miami to Malaga.

 

Thanks for saving me stating the obvious.:D Fall transatlantics generally (probably always) go west and not east.

 

I love the idea, you just need to get married in April in Miami! :D

 

jc

[mrose1120]

Thanks for saving me stating the obvious.:D Fall transatlantics generally (probably always) go west and not east.

 

I love the idea, you just need to get married in April in Miami! :D

 

jc

 

once again, just cause i'm getting married in Miami doesn't mean I didn't read that it starts in Spain :)

No obvious things to state here, thanks :)

[xpcdoojk]

once again, just cause i'm getting married in Miami doesn't mean I didn't read that it starts in Spain :)

No obvious things to state here, thanks :)

 

In that case, cool! :cool:

 

I think the whole Miami things confused me.;) Because it sort of makes it seem like you will be in Miami and want to go on a cruise... instead you want to take a transatlantic flight and then take a cruise.;)

 

jc

[TSC]

We've only done one TA - it was on the Navigator OTS, November 2007 and we sailed from London (Southhampton) to Fort Lauderdale. We had stops in Spain, Portugal, the Canaries and the Maderias. We loved it and are definitely planning another.

 

I really enjoyed Santa Cruz de Palma and fell in love with Funchal in the Maderias. Funchal has a lovely down-town area. Very nice to stroll around.

 

Like you we were a bit worried about the number of sea days - but for us it ended up being just perfect. However, I have to admit that by the last day I was getting ready to be done. Part of it was just that the vacation was 2 weeks long and I was just getting ready to go home and part of it was that I was starting to look for something else to do.

 

We were very lucky and had really calm warm weather, so in addition to the normal relaxing things already mentioned, I was able to lay out by the pool (which can keep me busy a few hours a day :p).

 

In my opinion, a smaller ship might be more problematic, but the Nav has so much to do - roller blading, ice skating, rock wall, putter golf, health club, basketball court, that you can always find something to do. My DH likes bingo and I became a trivia freak. There were so many trivia addicts on board that we played 3 times a day and had a cruise long contest. In additon, there were lectures most mornings (I did the gym each morning, but one of our "gang" loved the lecture series.)

 

Having a "gang" really helped pass the time and keep us busy. Our gang was made up of our roll call thread. We did not know anyone prior to boarding, but the roll call had an unofficial meet and mingle the first night, and RCCL had the official meet and mingle the next day and it was enough to create some very nice friendship bonds. I also think that having so many sea days helped solidify the on-board friendships because there is more time to actually visit and get to know each other. We met really lovely people on our TA - like JC - (xpcdoojk) and his lovely wife! :D

 

A couple of things from my experience.

 

If you book -a cabin with a balcony - we were told that the word POSH comes from British cruisers who wanted a Port cabin on the way "out" from England and a starboard cabin on the way "home." It makes a difference on whether your balcony will get sunshine or not.

 

And a wonderful bonus to the TA's coming from Europe to the USA - is the time change adjustments. Spain to Florida is between 5-6 hours time difference. What our captain did was add one hour each night that we crossed the sea. So, each day was a 25 hour day (more time to play and still get 8 hours sleep :p) and by the time we got home to the USA we were all time zone adjusted.

 

And another thing to be aware of - is that the ship will probably be more European then most cruises. My TA was very British. About 1/3 of the passengers (we did leave from London so no surprise) were British, and the ship had been cruising to and from London all summer. Some examples of being very "British" - the windjammer had lots of traditionally British food - baked beans for breakfast - kidney pie for lunch - hot tea everywhere. The trivia questions even had a more British slant (and I discovered I was terribly ignorant about British pop culture! :D good thing we adopted a Brit for the trivia team.) The comedians told jokes that American's didn't all "get" and one entertainer spoke with such a strong accent that many Americans said they couldn't understand what he said - much less get the joke.

 

My DH and I loved that part of the cruise - we loved the differences. If we wanted an American cruise we wouldn't have flown to Europe! And I must say that I think most people felt the same way. I did hear a few grumbles (about the jokes and the accent) but most just laughed and considered it part of the experience.

 

Also - a 12-15 days cruise in November will be a bit older crowd. Very few kids and not too many under 30. I think the majority were 45-65.

 

Have fun - whichever cruise you decide to take!

[xpcdoojk]

We've only done one TA - it was on the Navigator OTS, November 2007 and we sailed from London (Southhampton) to Fort Lauderdale. We had stops in Spain, Portugal, the Canaries and the Maderias. We loved it and are definitely planning another.

 

I really enjoyed Santa Cruz de Palma and fell in love with Funchal in the Maderias. Funchal has a lovely down-town area. Very nice to stroll around.

 

Like you we were a bit worried about the number of sea days - but for us it ended up being just perfect. However, I have to admit that by the last day I was getting ready to be done. Part of it was just that the vacation was 2 weeks long and I was just getting ready to go home and part of it was that I was starting to look for something else to do.

 

We were very lucky and had really calm warm weather, so in addition to the normal relaxing things already mentioned, I was able to lay out by the pool (which can keep me busy a few hours a day :p).

 

In my opinion, a smaller ship might be more problematic, but the Nav has so much to do - roller blading, ice skating, rock wall, putter golf, health club, basketball court, that you can always find something to do. My DH likes bingo and I became a trivia freak. There were so many trivia addicts on board that we played 3 times a day and had a cruise long contest. In additon, there were lectures most mornings (I did the gym each morning, but one of our "gang" loved the lecture series.)

 

Having a "gang" really helped pass the time and keep us busy. Our gang was made up of our roll call thread. We did not know anyone prior to boarding, but the roll call had an unofficial meet and mingle the first night, and RCCL had the official meet and mingle the next day and it was enough to create some very nice friendship bonds. I also think that having so many sea days helped solidify the on-board friendships because there is more time to actually visit and get to know each other. We met really lovely people on our TA - like JC - (xpcdoojk) and his lovely wife! :D

 

A couple of things from my experience.

 

If you book -a cabin with a balcony - we were told that the word POSH comes from British cruisers who wanted a Port cabin on the way "out" from England and a starboard cabin on the way "home." It makes a difference on whether your balcony will get sunshine or not.

 

And a wonderful bonus to the TA's coming from Europe to the USA - is the time change adjustments. Spain to Florida is between 5-6 hours time difference. What our captain did was add one hour each night that we crossed the sea. So, each day was a 25 hour day (more time to play and still get 8 hours sleep :p) and by the time we got home to the USA we were all time zone adjusted.

 

And another thing to be aware of - is that the ship will probably be more European then most cruises. My TA was very British. About 1/3 of the passengers (we did leave from London so no surprise) were British, and the ship had been cruising to and from London all summer. Some examples of being very "British" - the windjammer had lots of traditionally British food - baked beans for breakfast - kidney pie for lunch - hot tea everywhere. The trivia questions even had a more British slant (and I discovered I was terribly ignorant about British pop culture! :D good thing we adopted a Brit for the trivia team.) The comedians told jokes that American's didn't all "get" and one entertainer spoke with such a strong accent that many Americans said they couldn't understand what he said - much less get the joke.

 

My DH and I loved that part of the cruise - we loved the differences. If we wanted an American cruise we wouldn't have flown to Europe! And I must say that I think most people felt the same way. I did hear a few grumbles (about the jokes and the accent) but most just laughed and considered it part of the experience.

 

Also - a 12-15 days cruise in November will be a bit older crowd. Very few kids and not too many under 30. I think the majority were 45-65.

 

Have fun - whichever cruise you decide to take!

 

Ahh, those 25 hour days are devine! You need to join us November 2009 on the Independence! My wife is much nicer than me! ;)

 

jc

[mrose1120]

sweet, i'm very excited for it, I guess we will make a decision in the coming weeks :)

[guk]

Hi, we're also going on this cruise for our honeymoon, although we're taking our 3 yr old with us, I don't think the 6 sea days will be a problem as we went on IOS in august and there was so much to do onboard we didn't bother getting for soem of the port days, taking into consideration as well my fiance is like a child and wants entertaining all day long!!!

[mrose1120]

Hi, we're also going on this cruise for our honeymoon, although we're taking our 3 yr old with us, I don't think the 6 sea days will be a problem as we went on IOS in august and there was so much to do onboard we didn't bother getting for soem of the port days, taking into consideration as well my fiance is like a child and wants entertaining all day long!!!

 

 

congrats to you guys too!

 

I'm gonna start looking further into this...airfare is a concern, and I'm not too familiar with RCI, are there known times for sales/deals?

 

Also, anyone know a good site for international air? I myself have never flown out of the country.

 

Thanks!!

[bbrad8]

mrose1120: You will not be able to book airfare further out than 330 days (I didn't do the math here, but you should be close). The best site I have found for what you are after is Best Travel Store (link below). These prices are the best 'normal' prices for open jaw Europe flights, but there have been sales each of the past 3 years that have had better pricing...... You will also want to watch Cheap Tickets, Expedia, etc. Kayak, SideStep, etc can be of assistance here. You will need to check dailey, but would expect 'sale' pricing for your dates to be about early April. This is based upon what has happeded over the past 3 years. ;) Any questions, ask away!!!

 

www.bt-store.com/

 

Bruce

[mrose1120]

mrose1120: You will not be able to book airfare further out than 330 days (I didn't do the math here, but you should be close). The best site I have found for what you are after is Best Travel Store (link below). These prices are the best 'normal' prices for open jaw Europe flights, but there have been sales each of the past 3 years that have had better pricing...... You will also want to watch Cheap Tickets, Expedia, etc. Kayak, SideStep, etc can be of assistance here. You will need to check dailey, but would expect 'sale' pricing for your dates to be about early April. This is based upon what has happeded over the past 3 years. ;) Any questions, ask away!!!

 

www.bt-store.com/

 

Bruce

 

 

goood to know!

thanks

[Ernie1949]

Hi everyone, i've been on the boards a while, but mainly on the Norwegian boards since i'm taking a NCL cruise for new years. Long story short, Fiancee and I will be getting married in miami next november 7th. We are thinking of possibly doing a cruise as a honeymoon, thinking european or transatlantic. RCI has a transatlantic on the Navigator of the Seas going to Malaga, Spain visiting Funchal, Madeira; Tenerife, Canary Islands; Santa Cruz De La Palma, Canary Islands; Nassau, Bahamas; Miami, Florida. Anyone have experience with this itinerary? Are the 6 sea days in a row unbearable? I think being it'd be our honeymoon i'd get some sort of suite..but I wanted to get some info .

 

 

thanks all :)

Just finished a tranatlantic on the Independence from South Hampton Fort Lauderdale via Funchal, Maderia and St. Maarten. A most relaxing cruise with lots of down time on the worlds largest cruise ship.

 

 

 

If you book a transatlantic, remember there is only 1 sunny side to the ship depending on the direction you are travelling which you should consider when booking a stateroom.

 

Ernie1949