Repositioning Cruise Questions

[Mackdogmolly]

Hello friends. Thinking of a 16 day repositioning cruise early next March. I know, I know, it might be early to be sailing again, but a person has to dream, right? It’s from Rio to Lisbon and has a total of 8 sea days (5 of them are in a row). Would we be bored? I am not a trivia person, so that’s out. Has anyone done this itinerary? I know that the weather in Rio would be warm, but not sure about the rest of the cruise. I would be fine if I could be outside on a warm pool deck, but not stuck inside for days on end. Advice? Are there other things to do?

[uktog]

We have done this itinerary.  It was warm to sit out for the whole trip.  Even when it wasn't warm, you have lovely woollen blankets you can use.  They have other events such as a choir you can join, there is usually a water colour teacher onboard, bridge classes, interest groups come together (eg knitters) and various talks.  They have a few brunches which changes the structure of the day and when the weather is good, they will have one of the entertainers/trio etc on the deck at lunchtime playing.  I loved the sea days all in a row and was quite sad when they ended and it was more usual port visiting the next day

[Mackdogmolly]

Thanks, uktog, sounding better and better! Especially to my DH.

[Baynanno1]

We did that itinerary on Pursuit last year and really enjoyed it.

Weather did become a little cooler in the latter part of the cruise that year.

[Mackdogmolly]

1 hour ago, Baynanno1 said:

We did that itinerary on Pursuit last year and really enjoyed it.

Weather did become a little cooler in the latter part of the cruise that year.

It looks like the weather is cool in Lisbon at that time of the year 

[donaldsc]

All depends upon whether you feel you can handle 5 days of doing nothing but staring at the open ocean.  Some people love sea days.  I would be bored out of my skull after 3 days.  Different strokes for different folks.

 

DON

[Bloodaxe]

Has others have said it all depends on how you feel about sea days, we once did 9 straight, I loved it but my Wife said never again.

[excitedofharpenden]

9 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Hello friends. Thinking of a 16 day repositioning cruise early next March. I know, I know, it might be early to be sailing again, but a person has to dream, right? It’s from Rio to Lisbon and has a total of 8 sea days (5 of them are in a row). Would we be bored? I am not a trivia person, so that’s out. Has anyone done this itinerary? I know that the weather in Rio would be warm, but not sure about the rest of the cruise. I would be fine if I could be outside on a warm pool deck, but not stuck inside for days on end. Advice? Are there other things to do?

I was on last year's Rio to Lisbon cruise (with Trish Baynanno).  I just had a look at my photos. It was warm out and lovely until we got up to Morocco and then cooled down considerably. It was a lovely trip made even better by the circle of friends on it. 

 

Phil 

[Grandma Cruising]

We did it the other way in November. The weather was not great for the first few days, cloudy & not hot, but those were mostly the days in Lisbon and when we were in port (Madeira, & Canaries) and it was good for sight-seeing. After that we had glorious weather right across the Atlantic. The only other bad weather we had was the day in Santiago de Bahia where it absolutely poured down all day. We were determined to see the old town there, so went out anyway in our cagoules and got soaked through - right down to our underwear. We had been supposed to have White Night there, but having looked at the weather forecast, the captain decided to hold it the night before, at sea, and it was great, very warm. On that cruise we had an itinerary change because there was a dock strike in Vitoria, so we went to Buzios instead - and loved it.

[Mackdogmolly]

6 hours ago, Bloodaxe said:

Has others have said it all depends on how you feel about sea days, we once did 9 straight, I loved it but my Wife said never again.

I think that 9 days would be a stretch for me too. But five days, especially if the weather was mostly good, I could handle!

[Work in to Cruise 2023]

We also had the same quandary - would we be able to handle a cruise with multiple sea days in a row?  As others stated above this is different for everyone and in my case will depend on how smooth the sailing is.   With that being said we just spent 28 days aboard the Pursuit - with 18 sea days in a row.  This was definitely an unprecedented situation and the crew were scrambling to keep the passengers entertained - they however did an absolutely phenomenal job!   We did have a few "exciting" days - watching the ominous day long task of loading much provisions by hand from a barge onto to the ship plus the day going thru the Panama canal.    The crew also made sure there were plenty of activities for us to participate in and put on some fabulous shows many written within a day!  Based on this cruise I believe a short 5 day sea stint will be no problem for us.  I strongly believe Azamara puts it's customer first, I know many of you have very negative thoughts right now with the refund situation, I to am waiting for my refund for my cancelled cruises.  I also believe if we should give them a chance - This situation is something no-one ever planned for and is changing daily.  I am due refunds from some of my privately purchased excursions, still do not know if I will get them. However I have chosen to stay optimistic and have booked two cruises on Azamara for next summer.  Positive attitude has a better chance of providing a positive outcome.  This is my belief and I imagine there are many who will disagree but I believe in Azamara and can wait to once again experience their phenomenal service.

[Fairgarth]

You have to go in with the mindset that the ship is the destination.  If you would rather be off the ship, then this won't work.  We have done six trans-Atlantics on Azamara, Seabourn, Celebrity and Cunard so obviously the first one did not put us off.  On these crossings, the cruise director earns his/her keep like never before.  So you won't get bored.  We also found on Azamara that we met lots of compatible, friendly folks and had a very social time.  Small ships are much better for this.  The north Atlantic can get rough but your route is so far south, you should have smooth sailing.  From Florida to/from Lisbon/Barcelona/Rome we had good weather every time.

[Bloodaxe]

5 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

I think that 9 days would be a stretch for me too. But five days, especially if the weather was mostly good, I could handle!

 

We did Malaga to Rio in Dec 2012 with the 5 sea days, it was a lovely cruise and the weather was fine all the way.

It was nice to be heading south in December, we returned a few days before Christmas.

[Mackdogmolly]

31 minutes ago, Bloodaxe said:

 

We did Malaga to Rio in Dec 2012 with the 5 sea days, it was a lovely cruise and the weather was fine all the way.

It was nice to be heading south in December, we returned a few days before Christmas.

Yes, and March would be a good time for us to take a cruise like this. Winters in northern New England are awfully long, and by March, we have just about had it, with still some time to go!

[Mackdogmolly]

2 hours ago, Work in to Cruise 2023 said:

We also had the same quandary - would we be able to handle a cruise with multiple sea days in a row?  As others stated above this is different for everyone and in my case will depend on how smooth the sailing is.   With that being said we just spent 28 days aboard the Pursuit - with 18 sea days in a row.  This was definitely an unprecedented situation and the crew were scrambling to keep the passengers entertained - they however did an absolutely phenomenal job!   We did have a few "exciting" days - watching the ominous day long task of loading much provisions by hand from a barge onto to the ship plus the day going thru the Panama canal.    The crew also made sure there were plenty of activities for us to participate in and put on some fabulous shows many written within a day!  Based on this cruise I believe a short 5 day sea stint will be no problem for us.  I strongly believe Azamara puts it's customer first, I know many of you have very negative thoughts right now with the refund situation, I to am waiting for my refund for my cancelled cruises.  I also believe if we should give them a chance - This situation is something no-one ever planned for and is changing daily.  I am due refunds from some of my privately purchased excursions, still do not know if I will get them. However I have chosen to stay optimistic and have booked two cruises on Azamara for next summer.  Positive attitude has a better chance of providing a positive outcome.  This is my belief and I imagine there are many who will disagree but I believe in Azamara and can wait to once again experience their phenomenal service.

I can’t wait either 

[Baynanno1]

16 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

I was on last year's Rio to Lisbon cruise (with Trish Baynanno).  I just had a look at my photos. It was warm out and lovely until we got up to Morocco and then cooled down considerably. It was a lovely trip made even better by the circle of friends on it. 

 

Phil 

 

It was indeed Phil. There is a bit of a difference I think in the camaraderie on a crossing.

March last year was certainly one to remember, cruising with both old and new friends. ☺️

[Mackdogmolly]

52 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

 

It was indeed Phil. There is a bit of a difference I think in the camaraderie on a crossing.

March last year was certainly one to remember, cruising with both old and new friends. ☺️

I love seeing posts like this. 😊

[jaxw17]

We are booked to do the reverse of this on the 14th November 2020. As we don't know yet if this will go ahead I am not doing any of my normal planning.

Have done transatlantic before find the sea days can be relaxing as long as you can get a sunbed

 

[Grandma Cruising]

13 hours ago, jaxw17 said:

We are booked to do the reverse of this on the 14th November 2020. As we don't know yet if this will go ahead I am not doing any of my normal planning.

Have done transatlantic before find the sea days can be relaxing as long as you can get a sunbed

 

No problems getting one on Azamara.

[Mackdogmolly]

23 hours ago, jaxw17 said:

We are booked to do the reverse of this on the 14th November 2020. As we don't know yet if this will go ahead I am not doing any of my normal planning.

Have done transatlantic before find the sea days can be relaxing as long as you can get a sunbed

 

If they don’t end up going to South America in November for their winter itineraries, then the March trip north might not happen either?