Transatlantic questions Weather & activities?

We are thinking of a transatlantic in April, will it be cold? I like Caribbean cruises due to the warm weather. We might be joined by our young adult children, in their late 20's.. they like the surf riders, rock climbing Royal Caribbean things.. but the only ship with that is the Independence and that sails in May which doesn't work, the jewel is too small. So would the Emerald Princess work? The Regal Princess be better? We want things to do, other than gamble and drink. I am wondering if the outdoor pool things might all be too cool anyway? Is fall warmer? Which crossing is usually smoother.. thanks in advance with any and all help on my multitude of questions .. didn't even know quite where to ask these.

For your Princess questions I would ask on the Princess Board.

If you are crossing on the southern route portions of it will be warm and portions might be cooler. Overall much nicer than crossing all the way north.

On crossings cruise lines increase the level of activities and they days go by quickly.

Keith

I would be sure to ask on the Princess board:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=197

Personally I would choose the Emerald Princess over the Regal(one of Princess' new mega ships). I have cruised on her multiple times, and she is one of my favorites.

I have not yet done an eastbound T/A, but will be in April, on the Caribbean Princess. I have done 3 westbound T/As, enjoyed them very much and plan on doing another one late this year.

As to temps .... on the one in April I am fully expecting to need to pack clothes I can layer, for the crossing. The Atlantic Ocean will not have warmed up yet, and I imagine that will keep the air cooler. On a sunny day one might be able to sit out in the sun, but I don't imagine there will be much use of the pools. Of course, I could be wrong too!! Sometime it amazes me at how many people are willing to brave chilly weather to hang out by the pools and sun themselves. And there is usually a hardy few who will swim no matter what the weather is.

On all 3 of my westbound T/As the temps were quite moderate, and in one case when the route was more southern, it was just plain hot out in the sun, and quite a few passengers were sporting lobster colored sunburns by the time we got to FLL.

If your timing is open, Fall T/A's are much warmer than those in the Spring. An October sailing from the Med to Florida will enjoy temps in mid/high 70's to low 80's, while an April sailing to northern Europe could have many days in 40's-50's.

We did a westbound TA, southern route, to FLL in November. The weather was warm. So warm that on some afternoons we found it too warm to sit on our balcony for too long.

The cruise was perfect but we would not do another TA or similar cruise. We were ready to jump ship after three sea days. This is a personal preference, not a criticism of the ship or the cruise. We had a good speaker but most of the activities were of no interest to us. We were using the cruise as a mode of transportation rather than a cruise.

I appreciate all the help here. Fall won't work for us this year.. but might hold off the TA and do that in 2017... I am sure we would/will have a great time whatever we decide...after all it is all about reasonable expectations and attitude, right? Just trying to get those expectations in line.