Which is the better transatlantic cruise?

[INeedaVacationNow]

We are debating about doing a transatlantic cruise from Barcelona to Florida and we have two that we are considering. One is in mid to late October and the other is in late November to mid December. I am concerned that it will be too cold to be out by the pool at the end of November/early December going across the Atlantic. Has anyone done a transatlantic in late November/early December and what was your experience with the weather going across the Atlantic? Any opinions on which time would be the best choice and why?

[Essiesmom]

Transatlantics are usually in the shoulder seasons, as they are repositioning voyages. Thus it is usually too chilly to stay out by the pool. However, depending on the ship, you might have one that has a roof they can close over the pool deck, and if makes the pool usable in any weather. HALs Vista class ships have this. Then too, there are always the hot tubs...EM

[Creeks]

Last year on the Voyager from Barcelona to Galveston we had some great weather, even though it was after Thanksgiving and included the first week of December. However, Captain Patrick said he had sailed further south to avoid the storms that were north of us, and suggested some ships had sailed through the storms - we were glad he had taken us the southern route.

There is no way to know for sure how the weather will be or where the storms will be.

[John&LaLa]

We are debating about doing a transatlantic cruise from Barcelona to Florida and we have two that we are considering. One is in mid to late October and the other is in late November to mid December. I am concerned that it will be too cold to be out by the pool at the end of November/early December going across the Atlantic. Has anyone done a transatlantic in late November/early December and what was your experience with the weather going across the Atlantic? Any opinions on which time would be the best choice and why?

we did the gem inaugural crossing, 9 days from Barcelona to Boston. left Dec 3. really rough weather once we left the azores. luckily we had one of the owner suites so it was a nice escape. i believe they have changed that crossing to make it 13 days with some time in the med first. i much preferred our crossing from Galveston to rome in May. it was 19 days and the weather was fantastic most every day. we had a sky suite on that one and had a party on our deck one night. best thing about trans-atlantics is you can afford to upgrade to the suites. bottom line, if you are serious about a fall crossing i'd go in october

[julieanne]

It will all depend on the route that the captain chooses to take. We did a spring crossing in 2007, expecting neutral temps (low to mid 70's) and our captain chose the northerly route. The weather was quite cool. Check the NOAA site for weather patterns and you should be able to get a good idea of what the weather will be like in those months as well as sea conditions.

[hajekfam]

We are debating about doing a transatlantic cruise from Barcelona to Florida and we have two that we are considering. One is in mid to late October and the other is in late November to mid December. I am concerned that it will be too cold to be out by the pool at the end of November/early December going across the Atlantic. Has anyone done a transatlantic in late November/early December and what was your experience with the weather going across the Atlantic? Any opinions on which time would be the best choice and why?

Weather can be completely unpredictable. Even a day or two difference can make a difference in the weather. On one of our transatantics a sister ship left Barcelona the day before our ship and they encountered quite a bit of rain - we only had rain 2 times - both times during the night.

We have done 4 transatalantics - Barcelona to Ft Lauderdale - one in Sept 2001, one in Oct 2003, one in Nov 2005, and one in Dec 2007. All of them have had great weather and calm seas. The odd thing is that the one in Dec 2007 was the warmest crossing of all. - even though Barcelona and the European ports were cooler than our previous visits on transatlantics.

[John&LaLa]

Weather can be completely unpredictable. Even a day or two difference can make a difference in the weather. On one of our transatantics a sister ship left Barcelona the day before our ship and they encountered quite a bit of rain - we only had rain 2 times - both times during the night.

We have done 4 transatalantics - Barcelona to Ft Lauderdale - one in Sept 2001, one in Oct 2003, one in Nov 2005, and one in Dec 2007. All of them have had great weather and calm seas. The odd thing is that the one in Dec 2007 was the warmest crossing of all. - even though Barcelona and the European ports were cooler than our previous visits on transatlantics.

 

wow i guess a day or two can matter. we left Barcelona in Dec 07 and they closed the decks for three days. all the furniture was tied down during the day. on the last night our side balcony whistled all night long. the solution was to jam a wood block in the handle. i think i'll stick with spring