Verandah or Ocean View cabin on a Transatlantic cruise?

[BlackJack2]

We are booked in an Ocean View cabin right now but are considering upgrading to a Verandah for our next cruise, which is a Transatlantic from Barcelona to FLL.  Is it worth the extra money for a verandah for all those sea days?  Appreciate any advice!  

 

[kazu]

12 minutes ago, BlackJack2 said:

 

We are booked in an Ocean View cabin right now but are considering upgrading to a Verandah for our next cruise, which is a Transatlantic from Barcelona to FLL.  Is it worth the extra money for a verandah for all those sea days?  Appreciate any advice!  

 

 

That’s a tricky question, Betsy.   😉   I say yes but….

 

Most times yes but no one can predict King Neptune and what the weather will be like.

However, I’ve done a number of TA’s and most days have been very nice and I was so glad to have a balcony.  

 

With those sea days and even the evenings, it’s nice to have a balcony to go and enjoy and, if you are lucky enough to have your side facing the port, that’s an added bonus 😉 

 

If you decide to book a balcony, remember generally speaking (depends on the path of the ship), the port side will be very sunny and the starboard side more shady.  Both do get sun, though 🙂 

[HELENPSL]

15 minutes ago, BlackJack2 said:

 

We are booked in an Ocean View cabin right now but are considering upgrading to a Verandah for our next cruise, which is a Transatlantic from Barcelona to FLL.  Is it worth the extra money for a verandah for all those sea days?  Appreciate any advice!  

 

Hi Betsy - we are also in an ocean view.  For us the price difference would be $900 per person to go to a verandah.  We would also have to give up some of the perks that we were able to get when we first booked this cruise.  When we first started cruising we always took a balcony cabin but we then realized how little time we actually spent out there.  That's why we now always book a mid ship ocean view.

Helen

[The-Inside-Cabin]

17 minutes ago, BlackJack2 said:

 

We are booked in an Ocean View cabin right now but are considering upgrading to a Verandah for our next cruise, which is a Transatlantic from Barcelona to FLL.  Is it worth the extra money for a verandah for all those sea days?  Appreciate any advice!  

 

It will typically be too breezy to get much use of a verandah on a transatlantic.     Get one if you think you will appreciated the extra natural light from a larger window.   

[BlackJack2]

Just now, kazu said:

 

If you decide to book a balcony, remember generally speaking (depends on the path of the ship), the port side will be very sunny and the starboard side more shady.  Both do get sun, though 🙂 

If we book a verandah, we want afternoon shade - so starboard side??

Thanks for the info!  ~Betsy

[ger_77]

I love having a balcony, while DH doesn't care, as he doesn't spend much time out there.  I enjoy having one when we arrive or depart from ports, and often will sit outside with a drink and a book, enjoying the sound of the ocean.   I've never found it windy on the crossings, so will continue to book them.   We've done 4 trans-Atlantics, with a balcony on each one, so I'm in the "go for it" group.

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

Gerry 

[AncientWanderer]

We have also done four trans-Atlantics and on all four we had a lot of sunny days and enjoyed our balcony.  It seems like they know how to plot out a course with nicest weather.  I've been really surprised/delighted each time.

[Mary229]

I usually book interior or outside and only take balconies on a very good upsell.   I have chosen a balcony for my transatlantic to pass those sea days.   The price difference was very small for my 21 day cruise.  

[albingirl]

Coming into ports, and leaving ports is a big deal for us to see, so we have booked lanai cabins on long transatlantics.  We love the view and easy access to the promenade deck.

[St. Louis Sal]

18 hours ago, HELENPSL said:

Hi Betsy - we are also in an ocean view.  For us the price difference would be $900 per person to go to a verandah.  We would also have to give up some of the perks that we were able to get when we first booked this cruise.  When we first started cruising we always took a balcony cabin but we then realized how little time we actually spent out there.  That's why we now always book a mid ship ocean view.

Helen

You bring up an important point. What kind of cabin you book depends on how you use your cabin. Choose wisely.

After our first balcony, we never went back to ocean view. My husband is not very sociable and adored sitting on his own balcony. He doesn’t do many shore excursions either and now he does his people watching from HIS balcony. While others complain about docking in container ports, he is always delighted and can spend the entire day watching the activity. He always shakes his head when people say they only use their cabin to sleep and change clothes. To each his own!

 

St Louis Sal

[Vict0riann]

We originally booked  an ocean view, but the more I thought about it, I decided that a verandah would suit us better for our TA, simply because of COVID.  Just in case… if we had to stay in our cabin for any length of time, I really wanted to be able to get some fresh air.  As it turned out, we were not allowed to do the TA, but I’m still happy with our verandah.

[kazu]

18 hours ago, BlackJack2 said:

If we book a verandah, we want afternoon shade - so starboard side??

Thanks for the info!  ~Betsy

 

Yes, normally starboard will give you more shade than port side (depends on the ship’s trajectory - but generally speaking on a westward crossing to America, starboard is shadier.

[kazu]

18 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

It will typically be too breezy to get much use of a verandah on a transatlantic.     Get one if you think you will appreciated the extra natural light from a larger window.   

 

Interesting comment.  Most of our crossings have been quite smooth and we have gotten good use out of our verandah.  We haven’t found wind to be a factor on most days.  The only verandah we found we could not use because of wind was the one that “juts out”.  Because of the “jut out” it gets wind on both sides.

[highscar]

Have done several eastbound trans-Atlantic’s.  We always book a sunny side varandah.   We spend time socializing with DS and BIL with the adjoining divider open,   Coffee in the am and wine and cheese in the pm. Sure missing those days.  Ho hum. 

[The-Inside-Cabin]

18 hours ago, BlackJack2 said:

 

We are booked in an Ocean View cabin right now but are considering upgrading to a Verandah for our next cruise, which is a Transatlantic from Barcelona to FLL.  Is it worth the extra money for a verandah for all those sea days?  Appreciate any advice!  

 

Most of future HAL crossings from Barcelona to FLL are in November.   Might be a little too chilly to be outside much

[kazu]

Just now, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Most of future HAL crossings from Barcelona to FLL are in November.   Might be a little too chilly to be outside much

 

Not in my experience.  And I’ve done a fair number of crossings in late October and early November.  No one can predict the weather but we’ve certainly had some very nice days 🙂 

[ger_77]

1 minute ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Most of future HAL crossings from Barcelona to FLL are in November.   Might be a little too chilly to be outside much

All of our TA’s have been late October, early November, and it’s been very pleasant on the balcony.  In fact on one crossing, it was so sunny and hot, the shops on the ship ran out of sunscreen and aloe!

 

Smooth Sailing! 🙂🙂🙂

[OlsSalt]

Center and lower decks works well for transatlantic if you want the most stability on often rough seas - that would preference an ocean view - plus consider sun location when traveling long distances in the same direction for which side of the ship you want to choose.  

 

Overall we like balconies, but honestly don't use them that often - however we like knowing we can go outdoors and feel the wind and fresh air any time we want. Enjoy them best coming into and leaving ports, or when we are in slow speed observation cruising locations. 

 

Best memories of a balcony on the Zaandam on one of its last Antarctic cruises where we were dazzled by huge numbers of feeding whale in a quiet bay, circling and bubbling right off our balcony.  Alaska is another area where balcony viewing is especially welcome. 

Edited October 22, 2021 by OlsSalt

[AncientWanderer]

1 hour ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Most of future HAL crossings from Barcelona to FLL are in November.   Might be a little too chilly to be outside much

 

I noticed that, too, with the most recently announced Europe 2023 schedules.  Ours have always departed earlier -- October.  They did the same with the two-week Alaska itinerary we like so much.  The only date offered is September 17, 2023.  I booked it, but doubt we'll go.  The weather just gets too dicey in Alaska that late.  Same might be true of the Atlantic crossing.  We'll find out. 

[OlsSalt]

For long distance at-sea cruising in cold weather, nothing beats being in the toasty glass-domed Lido pool deck area - like a sun room with views of the passing sea. And food just around the corner. Available for everyone, regardless of initial cabin choice. 

[kazu]

56 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

I noticed that, too, with the most recently announced Europe 2023 schedules.  Ours have always departed earlier -- October.  They did the same with the two-week Alaska itinerary we like so much.  The only date offered is September 17, 2023.  I booked it, but doubt we'll go.  The weather just gets too dicey in Alaska that late.  Same might be true of the Atlantic crossing.  We'll find out. 

 

Maxine there is a HUGE difference between the weather in Alaska and the weather in Europe and the southernly crossing on a Transatlantic, thankfully 😉   Europe is usually very pleasant at that time of the year as is the crossing weather.

[AncientWanderer]

3 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

For long distance at-sea cruising in cold weather, nothing beats being in the toasty glass-domed Lido pool deck area - like a sun room with views of the passing sea. And food just around the corner. Available for everyone, regardless of initial cabin choice. 

 

Agree 100 percent.

We did a Cal Coast cruise on Celebrity in spring of 2019, just to revisit that cruise line. We encountered bad weather and that made us long for the HAL ships.  On the Celebrity cruise, we had to huddle in a variety of places, none so lovely as Lido pool area on a HAL ship. 

[AncientWanderer]

2 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Maxine there is a HUGE difference between the weather in Alaska and the weather in Europe and the southernly crossing on a Transatlantic, thankfully 😉   Europe is usually very pleasant at that time of the year as is the crossing weather.

 

Oh, of course different.  I was more commenting on how the dates of sailings are being stretched in a variety of places.  I was surprised to see the later dates for the trans-Atlantics, because they are notably different than in years past.  I have to think the old "move-ship" dates became customary for a reason.

No matter.  I wouldn't let this hold me back from booking a crossing.  The fall crossings are favorites for us.  They are wonderful.

[OlsSalt]

We did a late Fall crossing on the Maasdam once and it was wonderful.

 

But the Nieuw Amsterdam was taking her maiden TA crossing  just a few days behind us and ran into a rogue wave which caused her to lose  power temporarily (scary for them) and had a very rough ride for the rest of their late Autumn crossing.  Just a few days apart. They should make TA cruisers temporary Club 21 members - it is always a gamble. 

 

HAL does a good job adjusting routes best they can to get around incoming bad weather. Another later season Maasdam cruise had to go way out of its way to avoid several incoming hurricanes off Florida once,  and then speed up later to make up the lost time - but  we had a relatively smooth sail on through the Panama Canal.

 

Except the dear old Maasdam would shake and rattle at anything over 20 knots - which led to a lot of rattling glasses and table ware. Miss her with all her quirks -she was the just right size ship. 

[kazu]

7 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Oh, of course different.  I was more commenting on how the dates of sailings are being stretched in a variety of places.  I was surprised to see the later dates for the trans-Atlantics, because they are notably different than in years past.  I have to think the old "move-ship" dates became customary for a reason.

No matter.  I wouldn't let this hold me back from booking a crossing.  The fall crossings are favorites for us.  They are wonderful.

 

I didn’t really think the fall crossings have changed that much.  Now admittedly, I selected specific itineraries on very specific ships (now gone from the fleet) and those sailings were traditionally later than the others so maybe that’s the difference.  That ship was usually the among the last to leave Europe in the fleet 😉   

 

Our sailings have been towards late October to early - mid November most times we have done a crossing but I do know other ships may have sailed earlier.  Eurodam still hasn’t not started her crossing (October 30th) nor has the Rotterdam but that doesn’t seem unusual to me. 😉 

Completely agree with you on the Fall Crossings - Crossings are always so much fun, especially when you have a great roll call 😄