Eastbound vs. Westbound Transatlantic

Due to dental issues, we have had to cancel our Westbound Transatlantic leaving Barcelona on October 19. We have only done a westbound TA in then past and wonder the pros and cons of each...from people who have done it in both directions.

Once these issues are behind me , I will be antsy to book, another Med cruise. Kind of helps with the disappointment of having to cancel the Noordam. Of any that we've done, the Mediterranean was our absolute favorite. :cool:

I prefer the westbound because you get 5 or 6 long nights instead of short ones, but other than that I don't see a real difference.

While we've only done westbound, from the research I did prior to that:

We liked the 25-hour days. (Eastbound they are 23 hours.)

We liked having all the ports at the beginning as it was quite restful just floating across the Atlantic. We liked having the very long flight first rather than at the end. Returning to the "real world" was easier after the five hour flight from FLL than it would have been after a whole day of flying and hectic airport life. We knew that would have been a very stressful way to end a fabulous cruise.:) (Not to mention the jet lag!) Of course, we were just flying in "coach".:)

But, if you are planning to stay in Europe for a time after the cruise, some of these things may be irrelevant.

Cheers!

Everything AZNative said, except I have done both directions. Several times.

After losing several hours sleep getting to Europe, I was just about too exhausted to get up early for shore excursions. Then that exhaustion built up as the touring progressed.

I have also done east-bound across the Pacific, and find that almost as tiring (not as many consecutive ports, so there is a little time to rest).

Westbound is better.

I agree for all the reasons stated that west is best.

We have a little further to fly from here on the west coast, and I prefer to fly with the sun, so my vote is for the eastbound TA, fly back. What a wonderful, restful start to a holiday in Europe! Also you arrive with no jetlag whatsoever!

That said, we are about to go on a roundtrip TA. :) I'll report on that after our 42 days!

We have done both directions. Going eastward we found ourselves taking naps after lunch. After this crossing we were doing a land tour and had booked 5 nights in London to catch up on the loss of the hours before we headed across Europe.

After that we did the westward TA and loved getting that extra hour each night.

Totally agree with AZ Native and several others - west is best due to time changes and so many fewer hassles getting home when we dock in FL.

We have a little further to fly from here on the west coast, and I prefer to fly with the sun, so my vote is for the eastbound TA, fly back. What a wonderful, restful start to a holiday in Europe! Also you arrive with no jetlag whatsoever!

 

That said, we are about to go on a roundtrip TA. :) I'll report on that after our 42 days!

I would love to do that cruise on the Maasdam!

Thanks, everyone, for your responses. I, too, feel that Westbound suits us better...I just hate to have to wait a year after having to cancel our Noordam cruise leaving BCN tomorrow. :(

I would love to do that cruise on the Maasdam!

 

Thanks, everyone, for your responses. I, too, feel that Westbound suits us better...I just hate to have to wait a year after having to cancel our Noordam cruise leaving BCN tomorrow. :(

Have you considered rushing the dentist? I just found out the Ms Maasdam is going to be departing Rome in beautiful Italy along about the 21 November 2014 to easy to navigate Ft. Lauderdale! It sure sounds interesting to me :D

If that will not work out I am quite sure the Eurotop mattress will cuddle you away on March 29, 2015 on the Eurodam from (warm) Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona and you can take a few days at the end to get your walking in in beautiful Spain! :D

No matter what you do put health first and still sail on a smooth course!

I prefer the westbound because you get 5 or 6 long nights instead of short ones, but other than that I don't see a real difference.

We like going the other way although the clock changes makes it more difficult I think on the crew.

Back in the day of 5 day Transatlantic crossings on QE2, the nightly hour change did make a difference. Today, the ships go so slow that several nights on a Transatlantic have no time change so, to me, it makes little difference from that standpoint. I do like Westbound better as it puts the unpleasant long haul flights at the beginning of the holiday when we are most excited and can put up with it better. Leaves the Transatlantic voyage to look forward to after the busy time ashore.:D

 

I just hate to have to wait a year after having to cancel our Noordam cruise leaving BCN tomorrow. :(

I see you have a couple of cruises planned in the next year. Maybe you could add a cruise or two to make the waiting go faster.:D

We prefer westbound - it is good to get the T/A flight out of the way first rather than to have to look forward to it at the end; we find it easier to adjust to time change after the flight going east; we prefer to gain hours during the cruise rather than lose them; but most important is the weather: not only is the Atlantic much warmer in November than in May ( and certainly April), but if you spend several days or a week in Europe before sailing, October and even early November is likely to give you better weather pre-cruise than April or even May would post-cruise.

We prefer westbound - it is good to get the T/A flight out of the way first rather than to have to look forward to it at the end; we find it easier to adjust to time change after the flight going east; we prefer to gain hours during the cruise rather than lose them; but most important is the weather: not only is the Atlantic much warmer in November than in May ( and certainly April), but if you spend several days or a week in Europe before sailing, October and even early November is likely to give you better weather pre-cruise than April or even May would post-cruise.

I agree totally. We have done both. We prefer westbound as poster stated, you gain an hour every day heading west. We didn't like losing an hour when we sailed east to Rome. LOL. Yes, it is good to get the flight over with first and because we flew later at night, it was great to sleep half the way over. I didn't suffer much from jet lag at all.

We flew over the end of October last year. Weather was gorgeous in Rome and in the Med. The sky was blue blue every day with no rain at all. Days were warm and nights cool. The first rain we experienced was in the Azores. Sailing southwesterly was great as it became progressively warmer as we approached Ft. Lauderdale.

The first time we sailed east in April through the Med. to Rome. There again the weather was beautiful but hotter. No humidity though. The trip across the Atlantic was coolish with a day or two of rough seas. But we didn't like losing that hour as we sailed to the Med. Didn't like the thought of the flight at the end of the journey. (Hate flying).

We sleep very little on an eastbound overnight flight, which leaves us groggy for the first 24 to 36 hours afterward, but by going a day or two ahead we can get adjusted before boarding the ship - and then enjoy several 25 hour days during the westbound crossing.

One other possibility is to go one way on QM2 and then return on another ship. It looks like HAL only has 2 such good possibilities next year, both Eastbound for QM2 and Westbound for HAL:

QM2 is New York to Southampton, and then both would call for a short flight to Barcelona or Rome:

QM2 10/11-10/18 and Nieuw Amsterdam 10/19 to 11/1

OR

QM2 10/29-11/6 and Prinsendam 11/9 to 11/24

There are also several ways of handling the lost hours on an Eastbound transatlantic. Cunard generally moves the clock at noon so you don't end up losing sleep. I prefer that to changing at midnight but the best I saw was on the Rotterdam. A time or 2 we moved the clock both at noon and midnight making a short proportioned day, and then had a few days to recover.

Roy

We have done both, more than once. Another vote for westbound for all the reasons cited above.

Common sense dictates Westbound would be preferable...but after cancelling today's TA cruise, I hate having to wait another year!

But, that is what we will do.....thanks everyone for confirming that for me.

We fly in five days pre cruise so by the time we board, we're well rested.

I know the feeling of disappointment after our ordeal this past summer. We have not done a TA, but if we did, I guess we would do a westbound for the relaxation at the end. We would also fly over to Europe early to acclimate ourselves to the time change.

Sheila the time will pass and you will be able to do it over. We have already booked our do-over Med cruise for next year. While it was a disappointment, we are happy that DH is well.

Besides we are doing a segment of the GV South America in January.

The time will pass and your cruise will be here before you know it.

Terri