Transatlantic : spring or fall?

[skrapngal]

just wondering if the seas and the weather are traditionally better on one or the other...

[TravelMadBrits]

Hi

We have only ever done 1 TA on 1st November 2014 on Independence from Southampton - 9 days at sea straight in to St Martin. The first 3 days were choppy (we have had far worse), the wind was the worst part and the top deck was closed off for a day or so, then on day 4 the temperature changed and we were off sunbathing the following day, and we never stopped! 1 morning around day 8 was wet but not for long. We researched and found that the balcony on the left side would get the better sun. It was the best relaxing 15 days we have ever had on a ship!

I have heard however Mother Nature has not been so kind, so there is always that risk.

Claudine.

[estofon]

My two transatlantic cruises have been in the spring. Both took a southern route to the Mediterranean, with Tenerife as the first port of call. The seas were very smooth both times, and the weather was mostly sunny. My next cruise is the 4/23/17 transatlantic on the Freedom OTS. Looking forward to another smooth crossing to Lisbon.

 

Luis

[pandvsmith]

I have done several both Spring and Fall, and the weather has been good on both. I prefer the fall due to I take an overnight flight over to Europe and sleep on the plane. When I arrive early morning, I am ready to go. You are adding time due to time changes and no jet lag when I get back to the US.

[TravelerThom]

just wondering if the seas and the weather are traditionally better on one or the other...

I have done maybe 10 TransAtlantics. Spring has essentially zero chance of Hurricanes, Fall TAs tend to run pretty late in Hurricane season and chance of much contact is still low. I have always had pretty calm seas going Florida to/from the Med,both spring and fall. I have always had some rough weather if the voyage was further north (eg Southampton, Amsterdam, etc). April 2004 from Southampton to NY we had 20 meter (70 foot) seas for half a day - I enjoyed the ride, but many had a different opinion:p. IME it is more a matter of where than the season, but on any given day who knows.

 

Thom

[Desert Cruizers]

We have done 1 TA back in 2011 out of Barcelona and the seas were pretty calm but we did encounter rain and some wind 3 of the 7 days crossing the Atlantic to FLL. We will be on our 2nd one out of Copenhagen this August so not sure of our weather. We prefer to go in the Fall then we get the long flight out of the way and can cruise back and relax.

[ImpulsivePuppy]

Go from Europe to US. Your days will be 25 hours long!

[ppfqp]

Go from Europe to US. Your days will be 25 hours long!

 

 

Yes, I was just going to say the same thing. When you are heading west from Europe to the US, you get extra hours due to the time changes.

We did a late fall transatlantic from Barcelona to FLL, and had perfect weather and smooth seas.

[Biker19]

Don't base a booking decision on weather - choose based on things you can control, like ports, cost,etc.

[wanderingjew]

Glad to hear I'm doing th 10/22 sailing

[Newbcruiser1]

I did both a spring and fall TA last year! The caveat is that the spring one was FLL to Southampton (more northern) and the fall one was Barcelona to Port Canaveral (further south).

 

I preferred the fall one - 25 hour days meant an extra hour of sleep at night (versus noon time changes forward to 1pm on the spring TA which cut the day's too short). The weather was also much better (high 60's the first 2 days and then 70's to 80's with no humidity for the rest), but that could be skewed because of the Barcelona start versus Southampton end.

 

Loved the fall one so much that I have the freedom booked for this fall!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[TravelerThom]

Don't base a booking decision on weather - choose based on things you can control, like ports, cost,etc.

When I sailed to Antarctica I most definitely based my timing on weather from December to March (summer) being considerably better than during June to September (winter).

[PSCruiser]

Getting ready for our 15th TA this fall, and I would say that spring vs. fall makes little difference - it is luck and how southern the route is.

We greatly favor fall TAs, because all the hassle of the flight and the travel in Europe is gotten out of the way first, then the easy cruise. Plus, adding those hours instead of subtracting makes a lot of difference.

A pleasant surprise - check those one-way fares to Europe on ChoiceAir, and compare to the listed rates, can be as cheap as 10 cents on the dollar!

[wallyworld583]

Having done both, we prefer the Fall. Get all the port visits and the attendant hustle and bustle of port days out of the way and then have the 6 or so days at sea to relax. As to the weather, we had beautiful weather all the way back to the point that I was able to sit on the balcony with my pre-dinner cocktail all the way back to the states.

[Biker19]

When I sailed to Antarctica I most definitely based my timing on weather from December to March (summer) being considerably better than during June to September (winter).

 

 

I meant in the context of a TA.

 

Biker, who realizes Thom is in no way your average cruiser.

[Deeliteful]

Done both a few times and been incredibly lucky with the weather. Love those sea days. Havent'done one in a while though so maybe next year. Enjoy whichever you choose.

[TravelerThom]

I meant in the context of a TA.

Biker, who realizes Thom is in no way your average cruiser.

I resemble that remark:)

[rcclmiami]

The main difference is when you prefer the sea days. Fall t/as usually do 6 or 7 ports first, then 7 sea days. Spring cruises tend to put the sea days in the beginning. Personally, we prefer the fall cruises, doing all we can in the ports and then relaxing for a week at the end.