Have you done this?

I was thinking it may be fun to use a transatlantic as roundtrip means for transportation for a european vacay. 7 days from NY to UK, a couple weeks in the UK then a return to NY via a 7 day. Has anyone done this? Thoughts? Feelings?

I was thinking it may be fun to use a transatlantic as roundtrip means for transportation for a european vacay. 7 days from NY to UK, a couple weeks in the UK then a return to NY via a 7 day. Has anyone done this? Thoughts? Feelings?

Yes, I've done this for many years. I used to fly in / out but have been crossing on the QM2 for about the last 5 years. I stay for months, though, not weeks.

To me it is just conveyance, a time to think about what I want to do for the next several months. Others feel quite differently, that the crossing is part of their holiday, or IS their holiday, and like to participate fully in all the activities, dinners, and events.

I haven't done this personally, but on our autumn westbound crossing in 2011 we met several of our "cousins" from the west side of the pond who did this regularly - indeed our table companions had come to Europe some 2 months before and then headed off around Europe for the summer visiting Spain, France, Italy and the UK (all by train) before returning back to the U.S. Said they had done the same for several years as they didn't like flying, but had friends and relatives in the UK and France and liked to see them. They loved the relaxing way of return to the U.S. after a more hectic time travelling around Europe and always felt refreshed by the time they got home as the voyage was a holiday in its own right.

Hope that helps!

If you have the time then it sounds perfect :)

We've done this in reverse twice.

The first time we spent just over 5 weeks in the US and the second time just over 7 weeks.

Absolutely brilliant holidays and the return trip by ship means that, even when coming home, you have something to look forward to.

Only slight inconvenience is what to do with all the fancy evening wear which is not likely to be needed during the land based trip.

First time we were able to leave a suitcase with the hotel we stayed in on our first and last nights in New York but the second time no hotel was prepared to let us do this so we used the Cunard White Star luggage service. We left our suitcase in the terminal as we arrived and it was in our cabin waiting for us on our return journey.

I did a B2B TA Crossing (not exactly the same, I admit, as I only toured Southampton for a few hours prior to head back to NYC).

Even then, I enjoy every minute (almost... a very heavy storm did put a damper on my mood toward the end of the trip and I started to miss my boyfriend on the last day. But I really loved my trip despite 12 days at sea, the storm and blackout we encountered).

Done it the other way a couple of times, 6 days out week or so in NYC 6 days back (QE2)

Twice on QM2 but a longer sea passage of course. Makes for a nice 3 week (approx) break. Works for me but I love NYC.

Off again in May.

MM

We are doing just this in May - Eastbound on the 10th and Westbound on the 27th. We have previously sailed just one way and flew the other. However, with the costs of flights these days there is very little difference in sailing both ways; none at all if you add in the OBC.

We do prefer the Westbound journey - an extra hour on several days and the clocks were changed during the middle of the night instead of noon.

It makes for a wonderful relaxing beginning and end to your vacation.:)

I haven't done it but every year I analyze the QM2 transatlantic schedule to see which sailings lend themselves to two crossings with some time (for me, ideally between 5 and 12 days) in England between the crossings.

For 2015 the good itineraries are (eastbound/westbound/days ashore):

May 10 / May 27 / 10 days

July 14 / August 11 / 20 days

August 4 / August 27 / 16 days

September 4 / September 20 / 9 days

October 11 / October 22 / 4 days

For 2016:

May 31 (Q.Victoria) / June 23 (QM2) / 14 days

July 6 / July 17 / 4 days

August 9 / September 1 / 16 days

September 8 / September 20 / 4 days

October 11 / November 3 / 16 days

October 26 / November 19 / 23 days

The best are the itineraries with something like an 8 day circumnavigation of the UK between two transatlantics. There were two of these in 2014 but none in 2015 or 2016.

When there were a lot more crossings - mainly because there were more ships - we liked to do the round-trip especially if we could either depart or arrive in a Canadian port. Yes, that was a long time ago:(. Sailing to England and flying home to Toronto has been the usual for us for a few decades. Now that Cunard is occasionally including Halifax on crossings, limited possibility exists for a round trip. We did so last May going e/b from New York and disembarking Halifax on the w/b. This gave us 13 days in Britain.

We spent many of our holidays hiking in The UK and then would take one of the Cunard ships back to the U.S. The greatest advantage was having 25 hour days to rest up from the hiking. and the stimulation of the 3 courses that Cunard offered on the voyage (not sure if they still offer the courses). We skipped the formal evenings as we didn't have room for formal clothes, but found the Lido just fine. Going from the U.S. to the UK didn't work as well, due to 23 hour days.

I was thinking it may be fun to use a transatlantic as roundtrip means for transportation for a european vacay. 7 days from NY to UK, a couple weeks in the UK then a return to NY via a 7 day. Has anyone done this? Thoughts? Feelings?

We did this last year except that we boarded the QM2 in Hamburg. We had a wonderful time both on land and at sea. We don't consider a TA crossing on the QM2 as transportation. It is one of the highlights of our voyages. After doing this the first time, we wouldn't even consider traveling to and from the UK any other way.

Bob

I did this a few years ago. Sailed over on QM2, disembarked for a week with family in England and then reboarded for the return. I don't like long flights.

We've made three roundtrip crossings on QM2 to take us to European holidays lasting two to five weeks. If you have the time, there is no better way to do it. For us, the ship itself is a destination in its own right. Traveling east you do lose an hour most days, but we've found the excitement of beginning our vacation and the many pleasures on board well worth the slight inconvenience. And nothing eases the pain of returning to the real world than sailing to it. But be forewarned; traveling like this can be addictive. Before we began, we thought that our first roundtrip would be our last. Now we're getting ready for our fourth this summer!

I haven't done it but every year I analyze the QM2 transatlantic schedule to see which sailings lend themselves to two crossings with some time (for me, ideally between 5 and 12 days) in England between the crossings.

 

For 2015 the good itineraries are (eastbound/westbound/days ashore):

May 10 / May 27 / 10 days

July 14 / August 11 / 20 days

August 4 / August 27 / 16 days

September 4 / September 20 / 9 days

October 11 / October 22 / 4 days

 

For 2016:

May 31 (Q.Victoria) / June 23 (QM2) / 14 days

July 6 / July 17 / 4 days

August 9 / September 1 / 16 days

September 8 / September 20 / 4 days

October 11 / November 3 / 16 days

October 26 / November 19 / 23 days

 

The best are the itineraries with something like an 8 day circumnavigation of the UK between two transatlantics. There were two of these in 2014 but none in 2015 or 2016.

This is a great piece of research you've done! Thanks to you and everyone for chiming in.

Since our family doesn't fly, and we have friends and family in Europe, we have made the round trip crossing 3 times over the past 9 years. Usually we stay for 1-2 months.

Heading over again this fall, but hoping to stay for a year or so this time!

--

whyohwhyoh

Beats the heck out of flying!

We have chosen to do this in 2015 - August 4 to Southampton and September 20 to NY. While in Europe we will do a 14 day P & O cruise to Norway/Iceland/Faroe Islands and then spend 3 weeks in England. The cost of the two Cunard transatlantic crossings is comparable to business class (Atlanta to London round trip) and much more enjoyble. We expect this will be our new way to cross the Atlantic.

We've made three roundtrip crossings on QM2 to take us to European holidays lasting two to five weeks. If you have the time, there is no better way to do it. For us, the ship itself is a destination in its own right. Traveling east you do lose an hour most days, but we've found the excitement of beginning our vacation and the many pleasures on board well worth the slight inconvenience. And nothing eases the pain of returning to the real world than sailing to it. But be forewarned; traveling like this can be addictive. Before we began, we thought that our first roundtrip would be our last. Now we're getting ready for our fourth this summer!

Greetings! When are you traveling this summer? Haven't booked yet but would like to. Hope to see you again. And I agree -- it is addictive! Katherine

With limited schedules, it is difficult to line up a round trip, but on our regular trips to visit family in England we always come back by ship. It is good to get the T/A flight out of the way first and then have a comfortable sail back to New York - debarking about 45 minutes from home -- with coach fare over and sailing back (in balcony cabin) costing well less than what business class both ways would be -- and just about totalling $500 more p/p than round trip coach flight would be. I still keep my eyes open for round trip possibilities by ship.

Greetings! When are you traveling this summer? Haven't booked yet but would like to. Hope to see you again. And I agree -- it is addictive! Katherine

Katherine,

We're sailing east on July 14, returning on August 11. It would be lovely indeed to see you this summer!

Thaxted - - We are on exactly the same QM2 crossings that you are on with a QE Mediterranean cruise in between.

Patti

Patti,

This is good news. We look forward to seeing you on both crossings. We'll be poking about the UK and France while you're on the Mediterranean.

John

We did a round trip Fort Lauderdale-Southampton on QE, a month or so on the other side of the pond, then return from Southampton to New York on QM2. I was supposed to be on a project in Ireland, so we decided to add vacation before and after (I'm semi-retired, closing in on mostly retired). However, the equipment my client was ordering wasn't delivered on time and we spent an extra week in Dublin and central Ireland before starting our vacation driving about the southern parts. My client paid to fly me back to Ireland seven weeks after our return.

We have friends in Oxfordshire that we visited after our eastbound trip. They allowed us to store our unneeded luggage with them while we were in Ireland, which we picked up while heading back to Southampton. They also drove us from Didcot to Southampton to board QM2. Very good friends.

We are doing just this in May - Eastbound on the 10th and Westbound on the 27th. We have previously sailed just one way and flew the other. However, with the costs of flights these days there is very little difference in sailing both ways; none at all if you add in the OBC.

 

We do prefer the Westbound journey - an extra hour on several days and the clocks were changed during the middle of the night instead of noon.

 

It makes for a wonderful relaxing beginning and end to your vacation.:)

My husband and I will also be doing those B2B crossings, going over on May 10th and returning May 27th. Looking forward to it, and perhaps we will meet you during the journey.

Darlene