Crossing the BIG pond

[geocruiser]

Hi,

We are thinking of doing a transatlantic in the fall. How rough are the crossings? We are looking at HAL's beautiful Noordam. We have cruise a lot, but never across the big pond.

Geo

[bepsf]

Depends on the weather, but Transatlantics are generally not smooth.

Might want to check out the Cunard boards too, since they do them more often.

[tjcox9]

We did the fall crossing on the Prinsendam and encountered two periods of rough seas. One area was from Marseilles to Barcelona when we had gale force winds and then we hit a tropical depression during the crossing.

There were some nights at dinner when we had to grab the stemware to keep them from toppling over. As we left the dining room, it was obvious that not everyone caught theirs! And there were a few loud crashes during dinner when the servers lost some dishes. It was very hard for the waiters to do their jobs during this period.

That said, you may or may not encounter rough seas as we did. One just never knows, does one?? Isn't that some of the fun of cruising??;)

[leoandhugh]

I have not checked the Noordam itinerary, but I am assuming it is from somewhere in the Mediterranean. Therefore, it would be what is considered South Atlantic and usually quite smooth. We have done several out of either Civitavecchia or Barcelona, and the weather has always been good at that time of year. Of course, Mother Nature provides no guarantees so you have to go with normal. Book a cabin on the port side of the ship to get maximum afternoon sun, and remember you will get 5 or 6 25hour days going west - and they are just wonderful.:)

[Bill S]

First, there is no guarantee either way of how the seas will be.

Having said that, we did a transatlantic crossing on the Noordam in October of 2006, from Spain, via the Azores, to Bermuda and then on to NYC. The crossing was incredibly smooth and the weather was very mild with only one rain day. I guess we were lucky, as other passengers onboard who had done several transatlantic crossings said it was by far the smoothest one they had encountered.

Hope you have a great cruise--the Noordam is one beautiful ship!

[Fblack]

We did the Westerdam last October from Spain to the Azores and then Ft. Lauderdale. The Captain said the Southern routes are usually smoother. We had only one rough day and it was not that rough. My wife did wear a patch for a few days just to be on the safe side. They only closed the pools one day due to rough seas.

[ltsally]

We've done two crossings, east and westbound, but on smaller vessels (SB and SS). The SB eastbound crossing was southern route last March and we encountered very rough seas the first five days out of Ft. Lauderdale; after that, it was a great voyage. The SS crossing, northern route,(westbound in Aug/Sept) also had about two 'lumpy' days (as the British call it). Personally, I find a little bit of rough seas invigorating and luckily am not bothered; my spouse isn't quite so lucky. Nonetheless, we both love the leisurely experience of a crossing - and would do one again in a heartbeat!

[RetiredMustang]

We are actually booked on the cruise that you are considering. It has changed itinerary; originally it was to go from Cadiz to Bermuda and then end in New York. Now, the itinerary calls for a port call in Funchal, Madeira instead of Bermuda, and then 7 days at sea, ending in Fort Lauderdale.

This is one of the more southerly tracks for a Transatlantic, and, while others have pointed out that there are no guarantees, the southern tracks tend to be quieter than more northern ones, especially at that time of year.

Hope you decide to join us. We agree -- Noordam is a beautiful ship!

Dave

[Jsipes]

I say Livingston...old chap....The Big Pond is not the Atlantic, rather historically the Pacific has been referred to as the Big Pond.

[geocruiser]

Jsipes,
Just a little info on the Atlantic ocean being called the Big Pond


http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-big2.htm

Geo