Crossing the Atlantic

Has anyone done an Atlantic crossing in either Seadream, Windstar, Silverseas, Seabourn or Viking Ocean. We love the smaller ships, but I was wondering how they handle out on the ocean.

Silver Spectre is curently doing a Transatlantic itinerary on the Silver Wind, (a small SS ship with slightly less than 300 pax. You might post on the thread here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2620945 and ask directly.

We have done a TA on Silversea Spirit. Yes, there was some movement at times, but nothing that made my husband or I feel unwell. Nothing that made us unable to go about our usual activities.

That being said, the roughest ocean I have ever been in was on Silversea Explorer (a very small ship) between Canada and Greenland. I felt I needed to lash myself to the bed on that one.

Did a Seadream TA years ago. Not a pleasant trip and we normally love a TA. Extremely rough, tiny ship so there wasn't really any place to go except your cabin. The good part was watching some dvd's and being served caviar and champagne as a "movie snack" by our stewardess........I wouldn't do it again with such a tiny ship.

Done this, er, more than a dozen times on SS. Have experienced rough weather (but not strap-yourself-in weather) a couple of times, in both cases for 2-3-4 days. Southern crossings (e.g. Caribbean to/from the Med) generally calmer than northern ones (e.g. Southampton-New York). We have experienced flat calm and mirror seas mid-crossing more than once.

So your chances of bad weather might be up to 20% based on that random sample. Time of year, e.g. hurricane season, might vary the odds.

We have experienced really rough weather only in more shallow waters, such as the eastern Med and the Baltic.

Apart from the weather, people who enjoy crossings tend to really, really enjoy them and people who don't, er, don't.

Exactly. There are so many variables.

I have done (too) many transatlantic and transpacific crossings on ships that were smaller than the Wind and some that were larger than the Muse. Sometimes it was ‘millpond’ and others it was ‘greenies over the bow’.

Some ships rolled and some didn’t.

The chosen route will factor in the current weather and sea patterns and be adjusted accordingly, and on a day to day basis.

We never had any serious problems.

As per JGibbs ... the Med can be ‘difficult’ at times.

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That being said, the roughest ocean I have ever been in was on Silversea Explorer (a very small ship) between Canada and Greenland. I felt I needed to lash myself to the bed on that one.

This is my fear of the Drake.

Those who had been on Explorer through the Drake and on this said the Canada to Greenland passage was by far the worst. There is a reason the chairs in the dining room are chained to the floor. We saw an entire lunch buffet go flying though the air. Thankfully I had already gotten my plate.

Those who had been on Explorer through the Drake and on this said the Canada to Greenland passage was by far the worst.

When I think back to the Explorer’s bridge windows being shattered in a Drake storm, it was at that moment I knew I’d never go to Antarctica until a bigger ship plied it’s waters. So, you can imagine how excited I was when SS converted the Cloud to an expedition vessel.

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Stumble foot, I wish I had had my phone on record when the lunch buffet went flying through the air. It was really impressive. Equally impressive was how quickly the crew got things cleaned up, and reproduced an impressive though somewhat smaller buffet spread. The one that met its demise was one of those with lots of dishes on multiple levels, pretty but not practical in rough seas.

Just another reason why we love SS, Rachel... the crew is always amazing. They are an incredible group of folks who make sure our memories last a lifetime.

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Did a TA on the Cloud a couple of years ago. Seas were fairly calm until we reached the Mediterranean. Had to cancel stop in Gibraltar due to high seas. Still enjoy all the days st sea on a TA cruise