Just booked my first transatlantic!!

Hello all!

I am very excited as I have just booked my first transatlantic cruise! so far we have a group of 6 going (all in our 30s) but surely there will be more!

Now i know its a long way away as its the 16 day on the NCL epic departing November 22 2019. However I have a few questions that maybe some of you can help me out with!

1) Weather? what can we expect? I picked this one for us as we seem to stay quite south for the crossing so hopefully some sun!

2) how rough is a transatlantic.. we cruised to the Bahamas out of NYC last winter and I assume it would be comparable ?

3) Thoughts on the Epic? does it have a dry dock coming up? We thoroughly enjoyed the breakaway.

4) flights and Barcelona? any advice on how long to spend in Barcelona as I have never been to Spain. lots to see in the port area? thinking of booking flights through the cruise line as one way airfares can be hard to find from Canada.

5) types of people on board? are transatlantic's generally less busy? less children? older clientele not that it matters just curious as there will be a couple singles within the group who will be interested in mingling.

Thanks for any advice that may come my way ! I know its a long way out but its never to early to start planning and most importantly saving!

Kory

Hello all!

 

I am very excited as I have just booked my first transatlantic cruise! so far we have a group of 6 going (all in our 30s) but surely there will be more!

 

Now i know its a long way away as its the 16 day on the NCL epic departing November 22 2019. However I have a few questions that maybe some of you can help me out with!

 

1) Weather? what can we expect? I picked this one for us as we seem to stay quite south for the crossing so hopefully some sun!

 

2) how rough is a transatlantic.. we cruised to the Bahamas out of NYC last winter and I assume it would be comparable ?

 

3) Thoughts on the Epic? does it have a dry dock coming up? We thoroughly enjoyed the breakaway.

 

4) flights and Barcelona? any advice on how long to spend in Barcelona as I have never been to Spain. lots to see in the port area? thinking of booking flights through the cruise line as one way airfares can be hard to find from Canada.

 

5) types of people on board? are transatlantic's generally less busy? less children? older clientele not that it matters just curious as there will be a couple singles within the group who will be interested in mingling.

 

 

Thanks for any advice that may come my way ! I know its a long way out but its never to early to start planning and most importantly saving!

 

 

Kory

Following this thread

I am booked on the previous sailing and also on the one after the Transatlantic so a 35 days for me.

This will also be my first time in Europe and first time on a Trans

Less children for sure....sounds like fun. Especially with a group.

Now i know its a long way away as its the 16 day on the NCL epic departing November 22 2019. However I have a few questions that maybe some of you can help me out with!

I did a transatlantic on the Epic out of Barca in fall 2016. You will have a fantastic time. I have a review on here somewhere...

1) Weather? what can we expect? I picked this one for us as we seem to stay quite south for the crossing so hopefully some sun!

Ours was a bit earlier, end of Oct, beginning of Nov but we had very warm, pool and water slide appropriate weather.

2) how rough is a transatlantic.. we cruised to the Bahamas out of NYC last winter and I assume it would be comparable ?

Ours was like glass. Never more than a wavelet. Captain said it was his calmest crossing yet. Just depends. But generally the Atlantic at this time should be pretty smooth.

3) Thoughts on the Epic? does it have a dry dock coming up? We thoroughly enjoyed the breakaway.

Eh. Lots of people don't like the Epic but I thought it was fine. It doesn't have the waterfront on deck 8 (bummer) like the Breakaway does and the cabins have an odd bathroom setup.

4) flights and Barcelona? any advice on how long to spend in Barcelona as I have never been to Spain. lots to see in the port area? thinking of booking flights through the cruise line as one way airfares can be hard to find from Canada.

We spent 3 days in Barca and it was perfect. Watch out for pickpocketers there, though. Definitely go se Sagrada Familia, first thing in the morning. Book ahead of time. It's magnificent. What part of Canada are you flying from? I would think there would be lots of flights reasonably priced one way from, say, Toronto.

5) types of people on board? are transatlantic's generally less busy? less children? older clientele not that it matters just curious as there will be a couple singles within the group who will be interested in mingling.

There will be very few children/families and clientele will tend older. There will still be some Gen Xers, you'll just need to seek them out. Sign up for your roll call and meet other CCers the first day.

Hello all!

 

I am very excited as I have just booked my first transatlantic cruise! so far we have a group of 6 going (all in our 30s) but surely there will be more!

 

Now i know its a long way away as its the 16 day on the NCL epic departing November 22 2019. However I have a few questions that maybe some of you can help me out with!

 

1) Weather? what can we expect? I picked this one for us as we seem to stay quite south for the crossing so hopefully some sun!

 

2) how rough is a transatlantic.. we cruised to the Bahamas out of NYC last winter and I assume it would be comparable ?

 

3) Thoughts on the Epic? does it have a dry dock coming up? We thoroughly enjoyed the breakaway.

 

4) flights and Barcelona? any advice on how long to spend in Barcelona as I have never been to Spain. lots to see in the port area? thinking of booking flights through the cruise line as one way airfares can be hard to find from Canada.

 

5) types of people on board? are transatlantic's generally less busy? less children? older clientele not that it matters just curious as there will be a couple singles within the group who will be interested in mingling.

 

 

Thanks for any advice that may come my way ! I know its a long way out but its never to early to start planning and most importantly saving!

We just booked OUR first Transatlantic, and it's this April on the Breakaway. VERY excited, but have similar questions (although we already know the weather will be no great shakes).

I just wanted to say that Barcelona is a great city. If you can spend a couple of days there...do. Great moderniste architecture (mostly from Gaudi...such as the world-famous, still under construction Sagrada Familia), lots of medieval architecture, including the Cathedral. And lots of good food! It's a fairly small city and easy to get around. Cabs are reasonably priced and the subway works well too. If you have kids, I recommend Gaudi's Park Guell.

Anyway, enjoy your cruise!

Thanks for all the great info everyone!

Definitely hoping to spend at least 2 days in Barcelona, really interested in seeing anything medieval and of course good food sounds great!

To answer your question indykitten, we will be flying from 3 different cities we may all meet in Toronto then fly out but we'll see and thank you so much for all of your detailed answers for me!

The thing I forgot to put on my original post is tell me about some of these ports! The itinerary looks incredible on this cruise

35 days!! That's incredible! I don't think I could go back to real life after that long I was worried about the 16 days as it is! Lol well we will see ya on board! Hopefully the time flies between now and then 👍

Following this thread

I am booked on the previous sailing and also on the one after the Transatlantic so a 35 days for me.

This will also be my first time in Europe and first time on a Trans

Had our first TA on the Jade westbound in 2015. We did BCN-Funchal-St Thomas-Miami-Houston. Our weather was pretty good and seas not so bad. However, the Escape was on their TA from Southhampton-MIA at the same time, their course was west of ours and they had pretty rough seas for a couple of days.

As for the age, I was 49 on ours and was probably, outside of some of the entertainers, one of the 25 youngest people on the ship. They had crackers with prunes on them at the night buffet!!

I loved the cruise, just felt kind of out of place with the clientele most of the time and probably will not do another one until I'm at least 55.

Hello all!

 

 

 

I am very excited as I have just booked my first transatlantic cruise! so far we have a group of 6 going (all in our 30s) but surely there will be more!

 

 

 

Now i know its a long way away as its the 16 day on the NCL epic departing November 22 2019. However I have a few questions that maybe some of you can help me out with!

 

 

 

1) Weather? what can we expect? I picked this one for us as we seem to stay quite south for the crossing so hopefully some sun!

 

 

 

2) how rough is a transatlantic.. we cruised to the Bahamas out of NYC last winter and I assume it would be comparable ?

 

 

 

3) Thoughts on the Epic? does it have a dry dock coming up? We thoroughly enjoyed the breakaway.

 

 

 

4) flights and Barcelona? any advice on how long to spend in Barcelona as I have never been to Spain. lots to see in the port area? thinking of booking flights through the cruise line as one way airfares can be hard to find from Canada.

 

 

 

5) types of people on board? are transatlantic's generally less busy? less children? older clientele not that it matters just curious as there will be a couple singles within the group who will be interested in mingling.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for any advice that may come my way ! I know its a long way out but its never to early to start planning and most importantly saving!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kory

I’m booked on this TA as well time will tell whether or not it will work out time wise for me or not.

I just did my first TA this past November on the Epic and it was fantastic.

1) Weather was pretty good, the ports in Spain had great weather and then we stopped in the Azores and it was a little cooler and we had a touch or rain but still s nice port.

2)The sea days were great very smooth only one rainy day.

3)Epic was nice I enjoyed it more than I thought. I didn’t miss the waterfront like Getaway as much as I thought I might. Spent a lot of time up in Spice H2O which was a great outdoor spot.

4) look into Norwegian Air they have great one way air fare deals

5) age range was all over the board though it does tend more to an older crowd but not exclusively. But very low on the kid factor and since this is even longer I would think even less kids but it is over the US Thanksgiving holiday so it’s hard to say.

Also there is already a meet and mingle forum set up so join in there too. Also a FB group too 🤫

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WRT dry dick, the Epic did a complete overhaul in October 2015 at the old age of 5 years. Public areas were torn down to the deck plates and cabins got new furnishings.

Weather can be hit and miss. Some days glassy waters. Sometimes days of heavy seas.

Good for you , enjoy it.

We have done four Epic TA’s, never as late as November 22. Have always found the first day or so at sea to be a little cool. Have not experienced any real bad sea conditions, just a little rocking. During our cruises, the average age has been late 50’s. We are also booked on this cruise, this will be our longest TA.

Kory, are you sailing to San Juan? According to my info there are 2 TAs on 11/22/19: Epic to San Juan, Star to Miami. I was considering the Star. Do I have incorrect info?

Never been on the Epic, but have several TA's under my belt.

We experienced some significant waves in the far western Med. Pretty rocky and the waves up to the MDR were quite impressive.

Barcelona is great. If you want an exciting day, go to Montserrat. Take the subway to the train station and the regional train to the cable cars. It is a monastery that is about 1,000 years old. Of course, Familia La Sagrada is sensational and shouldn't be missed.

For ow flights, check out the recommendations for transatlantic flights on Rick Steves website. Skyscanner.com might be a good start.

Be sure to sign up for your roll call. I bet lots of folks will be organizing private tours of the ports.

Most of your fellow passengers will be older, but most are very active and have lots of travel knowledge, so take the opportunity to learn from them. Very few children will be on board.

We just did a TA on RCCL this past November. It also was our first TA and we loved it. We love the Sea days and we had a 13 day cruise with 3 ports, so that gave us 10 sea days.

Weather wise, we never had rough seas but we did have rain almost every day. It was too cool for the pool until we got into some tropical air about 2-3 days out of PR (where we docked). We opted for pants almost every day.

We did leave from Rome, so I can't comment on Barcelona, but we loved it so much, we have booked another RCCL in December 2018, Barcelona to Tampa and we are thinking of doing the NCL TA in November Rome to Miami. The prices are so low they are almost ridiculous (for insides).

If you love Sea days, these cruises can't be beat.

Cheers

Len

I've been tempted to do this since it's over thanksgiving so it's not as much pto needed as other TAs. I'd be doing it solo though, so nice to hear there'd be others my age if I bite the bullet! Really wish epic was going to Canaveral for this sailing, would have already booked if it was!

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Join your roll call!!

Hook up with others there who are doing private tours, it will work out a lot cheaper and you'll see more. Have fun, I love sea days and long to do another Transatlantic.

Not to hijack this thread but are there any round trip 12 or 14 day transatlantic cruises? I would assume if there are it'll be on Cunard and I'm not a Cunard type passenger if you know what I mean. [emoji16]

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Not to hijack this thread but are there any round trip 12 or 14 day transatlantic cruises? I would assume if there are it'll be on Cunard and I'm not a Cunard type passenger if you know what I mean. [emoji16]

 

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No, not transatlantic but there are longer cruises that will begin and end at the same port. I love Cunard, its not as stuffy as you think. If you own a dark suit you can swing any dress code they have (don't be afraid LOL)

No, not transatlantic but there are longer cruises that will begin and end at the same port. I love Cunard, its not as stuffy as you think. If you own a dark suit you can swing any dress code they have (don't be afraid LOL)

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Not to hijack this thread but are there any round trip 12 or 14 day transatlantic cruises? I would assume if there are it'll be on Cunard and I'm not a Cunard type passenger if you know what I mean. [emoji16]

 

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We are cruising on the Epic for 15 days from Orlando to Barcelona April 2019,

That is really a great itinerary with plenty of ports. Plus Barcelona is an amazing city!!

TA's are such a great experience and value, been on 2 with my 3rd on Epic in 60 days.

Really nice not be jammed with the kiddies with passengers tending to be more seasoned, but not stuffy on NCL!!

1) Weather? what can we expect? I picked this one for us as we seem to stay quite south for the crossing so hopefully some sun!

We did one in November once and it was cool and misty. It was on Princess out of Southampton/London.

2) how rough is a transatlantic.. we cruised to the Bahamas out of NYC last winter and I assume it would be comparable ?

We had some rocking but nothing serious from the Azores to Bermuda.

4) flights and Barcelona? any advice on how long to spend in Barcelona as I have never been to Spain. lots to see in the port area? thinking of booking flights through the cruise line as one way airfares can be hard to find from Canada.

I’m doing a cruise out of Barcelona in 2 weeks. You can find a Air Transat sale $400cdn one way from YVR to London Gatwick and catch a British Airways flight to Barcelona for $$100cdn. I would spend 3-4 nights as the first night is arrival. We spent 2 pre cruise and 4 post cruise in 2008 and we saw everything on the trip advisor list that we were interested in. I would stay as many days as your vacation time allows. The crossing will be relaxing so no need for a post vacation rest before going back to work.

5) types of people on board? are transatlantic's generally less busy? less children? older clientele not that it matters just curious as there will be a couple singles within the group who will be interested in mingling.

Not many children, mostly over 50

Out of 13 TAs, both ways, we had 3 brief periods of rough seas, which we enjoyed immensely. Not scary at all. We just got to realize how tiny and insignificant we are.

We are very fortunate, we do not get seasick.

Out of 13 TAs, both ways, we had 3 brief periods of rough seas, which we enjoyed immensely. Not scary at all. We just got to realize how tiny and insignificant we are.

We are very fortunate, we do not get seasick.

When might be your next TA? Any chance soon for you my friend??