November transatlantic... typical sea conditions?

hi

We are taking our second transatlantic cruise on the Silhouette this November. Our first was on the same ship back in October 2015 and the sailing conditions from Rome to FLL were perfect. Even the captain would comment in his daily address that if conditions were any better it would be illegal.

This fall we sail from Southampton back to FLL but we sail across much farther north with our first stop being Boston.

I'm wondering what type of sea conditions were experienced by others sailing this route.

You just never know but you will likely have some strong sea swells with winds and it will be cold outside between the temperature and the wind chill. Could be raining.

Always best to hope for the best but prepare for having some rough seas.

Keith

We have done the Reflection TA past 2 years and very smooth seas and spend afternoons at the pool from the Carnies across.

DL, I unsure that typical is a word that can truly describe any sea conditions. Having said that, we took the Eclipse on the same route this past November and the Captain had to struggle to call the seas at 3ft during the noon broadcast. Totally smooth voyage.

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We have done the Reflection TA past 2 years and very smooth seas and spend afternoons at the pool from the Carnies across.

It sounds as though the OP is making a more northern crossing than you did, so I’m not sure they’ll have an experience similar to yours. Fingers crossed though:)

The ship’s course will probably be the northern route but on many occasions they will adjust their course if weather conditions dictates. On many occasions they re-route south before travelling west.

Thanks for the quick replies. Yes, we will be prepared for rough seas...our friend has all her seasickness meds ready...but we will hope for smooth seas

For those responding did you all go all the way North to Boston.

I've done the southern route that time of year and also the northern route and my experience on the northern route is a lot different then what is being posted.

Now that's possible but be sure you have done northern and not right to Florida.

Keith

Thanks for the quick replies. Yes, we will be prepared for rough seas...our friend has all her seasickness meds ready...but we will hope for smooth seas ��

This is the right approach IMHO. ;p

Keith

hi

We are taking our second transatlantic cruise on the Silhouette this November...I'm wondering what type of sea conditions were experienced by others sailing this route.

We are booked on the same transatlantic for November 2018. Hate to 'rain on your parade' but a coupla years ago did a November Celebrity transatlantic from Southampton to Florida via New York. Had to go far south to avoid two large storms. The seas were rather 'lumpy' as the captain said. Got to NYC two days late and had to bypass Bermuda on the way to Florida. As they say, 'ya pays ya money and ya takes ya chances'...but...hopefully it will be a reasonable crossing.

Just remember that November is still hurricane season . Not saying it's likely, that late in the year, but possible. If it's the northern route, be prepared for cool weather at the least. Haven't done a TA myself, but DH spent about a decade sailing the North Atlantic on Navy ships. Winter is the worst for storms, or just rough seas, though.

We did the transatlantic from Rome to Bayonne in October on the Silhouette a couple of years ago. Ran into a snowstorm in the mid-Atlantic. Rock and roll - we had to put pillows in the closet doors and drawers because they kept opening and slamming shut. Baggies on the stairwells (I don't have to tell you what they were for). Had some back issues from the lurching around. Other than that it was a really nice cruise.

I sailed from Southampton to Boston in 2016. Very calm seas except for 1 day when it was rough & very foggy! It was a great trip!

We did the TA from Southampton on Eclipse in October/November 2017--The northern Boston, New York, Bermuda, Bahamas route ending in Miami. Smooth as glass. But, you can never predict Mother Nature.;)

Probably a one-off, but our Eclipse TA departing Southampton on October 28th and arriving in Boston November 4th was as described by WarmH2OSailing earlier on this thread!

However, it was quite chilly when we arrived in Boston though it did warm up beautifully in the pure sunshine. NYC weather was cool, damp but totally tolerable. With the next ports being Bermuda and Nassau a total wardrobe change was in order.

So be prepared for multiple temps and conditions and you will be fine!

We have done 9 TA's and love them all. As others have said weather is unpredictable and you never know. Having said that here are a couple generalities from the crossings we have done -

Northern Crossing - Temperatures are generally lower and average 45-60. Have experienced rainy, cold, foggy and rough seas. On the same cruise we had some really nice days but not what I would call pool weather. At one point the fog was so heavy we had to slow to less than 5 knots with fog horns blaring.

Mid-Atlantic (with stop in Azores) - Mild conditions which got to be pool weather after the Azores. Seas were smooth and sunny for the most part.

Southern Crossing - Have never had a bad southern crossing (6 cruises). Depending on departure port the med in November can be chilly and temperatures don't warm up to pool weather until you get down to the Canaries. Most have been as smooth as glass but a couple times the Captain altered course to give us a smooth sailing.

Hope this helps.

I apologize for resurrecting this thread but I'm hoping for some more folks with specific experience like Jim_Iain above to weigh on average temperatures on a Southampton to Boston crossing - 45-60 sounds about right to me, does anyone have dramatically different experiences? I'm ready for rough seas, I'm more interested in the practicalities of packing. A bracing walk on a windy deck sounds great, will I need gloves, hat and scarf or will a windbreaker with a hood and pockets be enough? were you able to sit out under shelter on the pool deck or was it purely inside weather during the crossing? Particularly the windiness and temp on days when the sea wasn't overly rough - so that outside walks are safe. The current plan is to pack one set of Cuddleduds/long johns and hat etc with a windbreaker, that should be OK for even that 45 degree day with wind, do you think that will be a waste of packing space?

Note, I live in hurricane country so I am well aware of the unpredictability of the weather, and very tuned in to watching storms crossing the Atlantic - I will be watching NOAA very closely starting 2 weeks out from sailing!

You just never know but you will likely have some strong sea swells with winds and it will be cold outside between the temperature and the wind chill. Could be raining.

 

Always best to hope for the best but prepare for having some rough seas.

 

Keith

Agree with Keith!

I apologize for resurrecting this thread but I'm hoping for some more folks with specific experience like Jim_Iain above to weigh on average temperatures on a Southampton to Boston crossing - 45-60 sounds about right to me, does anyone have dramatically different experiences? I'm ready for rough seas, I'm more interested in the practicalities of packing. A bracing walk on a windy deck sounds great, will I need gloves, hat and scarf or will a windbreaker with a hood and pockets be enough? were you able to sit out under shelter on the pool deck or was it purely inside weather during the crossing? Particularly the windiness and temp on days when the sea wasn't overly rough - so that outside walks are safe. The current plan is to pack one set of Cuddleduds/long johns and hat etc with a windbreaker, that should be OK for even that 45 degree day with wind, do you think that will be a waste of packing space?

 

We are on the Silhouette TA with you. We did a northern crossing at the same time of year several years ago (Southampton to Bayonne). We had a mix of weather -- some milder days along with some pretty chilly and windy days. The outside decks were closed for some of those days because of the winds and high seas. We did not bring a base layer on that trip (long johns) and did not miss having one, but we did have outer garments for layering. Given the range of temperature we may encounter on this weird itinerary, I think that remains the most important thing. I suspect we'll also bring a hat, gloves, and scarf; we might even need them in Boston or NY.

done ta's but always and so far they have worked out really well.....we sail to the sun so no hence no november for us

Remember, you are talking about the Atlantic and the weather is variable. Our last TA from Southampton to Montreal encountered tropical storm Ian. The Captain altered course, south towards the Azores to avoid the eye of the storm but we caught the tail of the storm for 1 evening, which was ‘uncomfortable,’ when we turned north again.

The CD had lunch with the CD from another ship in Quebec City. They had endured 3 days of Rock n Roll, as their captain had not diverted, but took a due west course.

I was very grateful that our Captain diverted.

hi

We are taking our second transatlantic cruise on the Silhouette this November. Our first was on the same ship back in October 2015 and the sailing conditions from Rome to FLL were perfect. Even the captain would comment in his daily address that if conditions were any better it would be illegal.

This fall we sail from Southampton back to FLL but we sail across much farther north with our first stop being Boston.

I'm wondering what type of sea conditions were experienced by others sailing this route.

We did a wonderful TA on Eclipse last year that could be the same as your cruise. The sea conditions were a little rougher than on our two previous TA cruises that ended in Miami. However, we had no issues with sea sickness.

Here is my review of that cruise as well as our four week drive tour of Wales and England.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=599139

Thks Turtle, I appreciate everyone's replies, but I really wanted to know about how deep into winter I needed to pack - sounds like I need to leave room for at least hat/scarf/gloves, which i was planning on bringing anyway, and my windbreaker with layers.

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We are spending 3 days in London ahead of time, and I was hoping to get by with a "city" raincoat and/or just the windbreaker - I did 2 weeks in Alaska early in the season with the windbreaker and layers, including 2 hours on deck at glacier Bay and hiking over snowy ground. Sounds like either I will be warm enough or it won't be safe to be up on deck walking

We've only done it once and that was in November quite a few years ago. We were on the QM2 and Captain said it was the worst crossing he had ever had (Southampton to NY) with over 11m waves for over 24 hours. The rest of the trip was pretty rough, but nothing like the peak of the storm. We met some people when we got off in NY who hadn't left their cabin for the entire trip. Even the Medical team were sick and half the crew. Despite that, we had a great trip.