Transatlantic Repositioning Cruise - thoughts & experiences

[Hobson1754]

I’m thinking of booking a Transatlantic cruise - Ft Lauderdale to Barcelona - beginning of March 2024 for my ‘special’ birthday and, never having done this cruise before I’m wondering if any of you out there would care to share your experience of a) weather in Atlantic beginning of March and b) how you found 6 sea days in a row. Having recently returned from my first Viking cruise (loved it)& already booked another for next September I’m really wanting another Viking cruise then but struggling to find one that both appeals to me & fits our budget.

[CILCIANRQTS]

Look at Southern Atlantic crossing - Buenos Aires to Barcelona.

Only 4 days at sea down there, and lots of interesting ports.

We loved it!

[Iloveketo]

3 minutes ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

Look at Southern Atlantic crossing - Buenos Aires to Barcelona.

Only 4 days at sea down there, and lots of interesting ports.

We loved it!

We are hoping to book that immediately after the South America and Chilean Fiords cruise.  

[Hobson1754]

Yes thanks I looked at that but it’s a 13 1/2 hours flight from UK which really fills me with dread

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Hobson1754 said:

I’m thinking of booking a Transatlantic cruise - Ft Lauderdale to Barcelona - beginning of March 2024 for my ‘special’ birthday and, never having done this cruise before I’m wondering if any of you out there would care to share your experience of a) weather in Atlantic beginning of March and b) how you found 6 sea days in a row. Having recently returned from my first Viking cruise (loved it)& already booked another for next September I’m really wanting another Viking cruise then but struggling to find one that both appeals to me & fits our budget.

 

Unfortunately, weather is always unpredictable, with early March having greater probability of hitting some snotty weather than April/May, but definitely better than some of my crossings in Jan/Feb. Heading into the Meddy, is a bonus as you avoid the Bay of Biscay and Western Approaches. Assuming you stop in the Azores also limits the Latitude, so theoretically missing the upper North Atlantic.

 

Surviving 6-days at sea is easy, with so much to do around the ship, or simply sitting in a nook or cranny and reading. On the Magical Mystery Tour we survived about 50-days without getting ashore.

 

One downside of an E'bd transit is the clocks moving ahead 5 or 6 hrs, which means a number of short days. Cloxs are traditionally moved at 02:00, which means an hour less sleep, but some Masters do move them at 12:00 on TA's. You may wish to consider a W'bd transit, flying home, as the cloxs move back, giving 25 hr days.

[Hobson1754]

10 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Unfortunately, weather is always unpredictable, with early March having greater probability of hitting some snotty weather than April/May, but definitely better than some of my crossings in Jan/Feb. Heading into the Meddy, is a bonus as you avoid the Bay of Biscay and Western Approaches. Assuming you stop in the Azores also limits the Latitude, so theoretically missing the upper North Atlantic.

 

Surviving 6-days at sea is easy, with so much to do around the ship, or simply sitting in a nook or cranny and reading. On the Magical Mystery Tour we survived about 50-days without getting ashore.

 

One downside of an E'bd transit is the clocks moving ahead 5 or 6 hrs, which means a number of short days. Cloxs are traditionally moved at 02:00, which means an hour less sleep, but some Masters do move them at 12:00 on TA's. You may wish to consider a W'bd transit, flying home, as the cloxs move back, giving 25 hr days.

Thanks for this - yes stopping at Madeira, where we’ve been before at that time of year but obviously open sea is a different kettle of fish

[MikeyB]

I have done TA's in both directions with Viking.  Also loved it.

I understand it's for a "special" birthday, otherwise I would also suggest (like Andy) going westbound.

Picking up an extra hour gave me no excuse to miss the gym in the morning.

[NanciEA]

We are looking at In The Wake of the Vikings for next September - Bergen to Montreal. I am hesitant about  this repositioning cruise. I am concerned about the North Atlantic at that time of the year, not only for the possible rough seas, but also the possible missed stops, especially the tender ports. Has anyone done this cruise?

[janetcbl]

12 minutes ago, NanciEA said:

We are looking at In The Wake of the Vikings for next September - Bergen to Montreal. I am hesitant about  this repositioning cruise. I am concerned about the North Atlantic at that time of the year, not only for the possible rough seas, but also the possible missed stops, especially the tender ports. Has anyone done this cruise?

We did this in 2018. We were sailing in the aftermath of a hurricane, so our trip may have been a bit rougher than other WoV. We missed two ports (the trip in front of ours missed three). Still, it was a great trip and our stop in Greenland (missed one) and the Faeroe Islands were on my “bucket list”. Go, but take medication for sea sickness if you are prone.

[The Other Tom]

4 hours ago, Hobson1754 said:

Yes thanks I looked at that but it’s a 13 1/2 hours flight from UK which really fills me with dread

If you have the time, you could break up the air portion.  Fly to , say, NYC, spend a few days, then to Miami, spend a few days, then to BA.

[travelbug11]

49 minutes ago, NanciEA said:

We are looking at In The Wake of the Vikings for next September - Bergen to Montreal. I am hesitant about  this repositioning cruise. I am concerned about the North Atlantic at that time of the year, not only for the possible rough seas, but also the possible missed stops, especially the tender ports. Has anyone done this cruise?

I have done North and South TA’s. The North Atlantic crossing can be rough but fun if you don’t tend to get seasick. We usually miss Halifax.  The Southern crossing is pretty calm in Nov, Dec.

[LindaS272]

1 hour ago, NanciEA said:

We are looking at In The Wake of the Vikings for next September - Bergen to Montreal. I am hesitant about  this repositioning cruise. I am concerned about the North Atlantic at that time of the year, not only for the possible rough seas, but also the possible missed stops, especially the tender ports. Has anyone done this cruise?

We did this cruise on the Viking Sun in Sept. 2019 and loved it. (I think this is the one @janetcblmay have been on, too.) True, it started out on the tail end of a hurricane that caused us to miss our first port at Shetland, but we were able to make it into the Faroes. The seas were a bit rough betimes, but we are not prone to seasickness. We had plenty of notice from Captain Olav for rough seas at night, and our room steward removed glasses and tied down a few things. Not to discourage you—it was exciting! And it was only a couple of nights like that. 😃.

 

We’re Arctic & Viking lovers anyway with my husband of Danish descent & myself having lived in mostly remote Northern climes, so we prefer the far flung ocean areas.

[Opinica]

We spent 10 sea days in a row last spring cruising from Montevideo to Barbados on the Octantis.  Got lots of reading done.  Met tons of interesting people.

 

I didn't want it to end.

[TayanaLorna]

22 hours ago, Hobson1754 said:

I’m thinking of booking a Transatlantic cruise - Ft Lauderdale to Barcelona - beginning of March 2024 for my ‘special’ birthday and, never having done this cruise before I’m wondering if any of you out there would care to share your experience of a) weather in Atlantic beginning of March and b) how you found 6 sea days in a row. Having recently returned from my first Viking cruise (loved it)& already booked another for next September I’m really wanting another Viking cruise then but struggling to find one that both appeals to me & fits our budget.

We did the Barcelona to San Juan crossing in 2021.  The one you are considering follows the same route but with less ports.  (We stopped in Valencia, Cadiz and Gibralter also.)  We had 20 knot winds from the E or NE and seas of 6 feet which is no big deal for a cruise ship.  However on board i could barely tell i was on a ship since the wind and seas were following and pushing us along.  The 6 sea days in a row were glorious.  There were lots of things to do or you could do nothing.  Once we were 3 days out of Maderia the temperatures became warm and humid to hot when we reached St. Martin.  You may want to consider this cruise as it is equally economical, stops in more ports and you can fly SJ to Miami (2 hrs 40 min) and then Miami to London (8 hrs) or vice versa.

 

Your FLL to Barcelona crossing goes from St. Martin to Maderia also so temperatures should be similar.  But the tradewinds blow from the East so you are more likely to feel the wind and seas since the ship is sailing into it.  However March to May are the months when all the mega-yachts begin their crossing from the Caribbean to the Med so the cruise is doing the passage during the right time frame.  It is anyones guess what the weather will be like in any given early Spring or late Fall for that matter.  Just assess your tolerance for heavy weather and seasickness.

 

 

[Hobson1754]

49 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

We did the Barcelona to San Juan crossing in 2021.  The one you are considering follows the same route but with less ports.  (We stopped in Valencia, Cadiz and Gibralter also.)  We had 20 knot winds from the E or NE and seas of 6 feet which is no big deal for a cruise ship.  However on board i could barely tell i was on a ship since the wind and seas were following and pushing us along.  The 6 sea days in a row were glorious.  There were lots of things to do or you could do nothing.  Once we were 3 days out of Maderia the temperatures became warm and humid to hot when we reached St. Martin.  You may want to consider this cruise as it is equally economical, stops in more ports and you can fly SJ to Miami (2 hrs 40 min) and then Miami to London (8 hrs) or vice versa.

 

Your FLL to Barcelona crossing goes from St. Martin to Maderia also so temperatures should be similar.  But the tradewinds blow from the East so you are more likely to feel the wind and seas since the ship is sailing into it.  However March to May are the months when all the mega-yachts begin their crossing from the Caribbean to the Med so the cruise is doing the passage during the right time frame.  It is anyones guess what the weather will be like in any given early Spring or late Fall for that matter.  Just assess your tolerance for heavy weather and seasickness.

 

 

Many thanks for this - yes I’d looked at this cruise as I’ve never been to San Juan & have often fancied it.  However, my husband’s not keen on the flight.  We’d have to fly to London, then Miami & on to San Juan.  I’d looked at flights to San Juan and we’d be travelling over 21 hours. Think there’s always a compromise somewhere along the line. I’ll keep on searching 😂

[TayanaLorna]

6 minutes ago, Hobson1754 said:

Many thanks for this - yes I’d looked at this cruise as I’ve never been to San Juan & have often fancied it.  However, my husband’s not keen on the flight.  We’d have to fly to London, then Miami & on to San Juan.  I’d looked at flights to San Juan and we’d be travelling over 21 hours. Think there’s always a compromise somewhere along the line. I’ll keep on searching 😂

I hear you regarding travel time.  We tend to look at connections and travel time before reserving a cruise.  For our return from Brazil next year we decided to stay 2 extra days so we could catch a twice a week itinerary of 2 flights/12 hours total travel rather then 3 flights/28 hours travel.

[janetcbl]

17 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

We did this cruise on the Viking Sun in Sept. 2019 and loved it. (I think this is the one @janetcblmay have been on, too.) True, it started out on the tail end of a hurricane that caused us to miss our first port at Shetland, but we were able to make it into the Faroes. The seas were a bit rough betimes, but we are not prone to seasickness. We had plenty of notice from Captain Olav for rough seas at night, and our room steward removed glasses and tied down a few things. Not to discourage you—it was exciting! And it was only a couple of nights like that. 😃.

 

We’re Arctic & Viking lovers anyway with my husband of Danish descent & myself having lived in mostly remote Northern climes, so we prefer the far flung ocean areas.

You are correct…it was 2019.

[deec]

On 10/28/2022 at 11:43 AM, Iloveketo said:

We are hoping to book that immediately after the South America and Chilean Fiords cruise.  

we did this last year on the Jupiter...disappointingly  Covid altered our ports on both the SA and TA portions and for much of it we were in a VKING bubble but we still had a great time....we stayed on the Jupiter and did Trade Routes ( Barcelona to Bergen) and then Footsteps of the Vikings  ( Begen to Amsterdam)....It was the absolutely perfect Spring time cruise!!! We were able to have the same stateroom for the entire voyage....Captain, Cruise Directors, Guest Service Manager, Financial officer came and went but we stayed :).......we would do it again!!!

[Mich3554]

28 minutes ago, deec said:

we did this last year on the Jupiter...disappointingly  Covid altered our ports on both the SA and TA portions and for much of it we were in a VKING bubble but we still had a great time....we stayed on the Jupiter and did Trade Routes ( Barcelona to Bergen) and then Footsteps of the Vikings  ( Begen to Amsterdam)....It was the absolutely perfect Spring time cruise!!! We were able to have the same stateroom for the entire voyage....Captain, Cruise Directors, Guest Service Manager, Financial officer came and went but we stayed :).......we would do it again!!!

We did the reverse, starting in Athens and winding up in Santiago last fall.  Our original trip was supposed to end in Buenos Aires, but we had another cruise cancel plus DH was laid off.  So we tacked South America onto this cruise, taking it to 54 days.  
We lost a lot of ports, especially on the Barcelona to Santiago leg, but managed to pick up Madeira and Cape Verde.  This was our ‘warm up’ for the WC, to see that we wouldn’t get stir crazy being on a ship that long.  They had to drag us off the Jupiter, kicking and screaming.  I think we are good!  I do want to repeat it though, with the ports we missed.

[broker1217]

We have done St. Marten to Barcelona and FLL to Barcelona on Viking, both times in March.

The sea days are the best part for us--but we love tranquility, a good book and staring at the water.

 

We stopped in Madeira both times. Once we did the included bus tour and once we paid to do an individual Jeep tour. Do the Jeep tour---less frightening and you get to see some areas that busses cannot access. If you stop at Cabo Girao on the bus--it will be packed and not as enjoyable as if you go on a small tour. Even the stop for poncha was much, much better on the smaller Jeep tour.

 

There was a little motion both times in the first couple days. By motion, I mean that sometimes you needed to use the handrail in the hallways and lots of people needed patches. We are not prone to motion sickness and actually enjoy feeling the roll.

Weather was warm (shorts and t-shirts) for the first half, then cooler (long sleeves and long pants) for the second half. We did not experience any rain during the cruise, but had some overcast days.

Pack in layers and take advantage of the self-laundry or pay to have laundry done.

 

[deec]

mich 3534....the WC will be so much more than 54 days aboard mostly because of the Community that builds on a WC as opposed to multi segments!  On the WC there were many "local" entertainers brought onboard for evening shows!  I think the tours were a notch above what we experience on "normal" cruises with Viking!  If the stock market can ever rebound we would consider doing another!  The MED portion has improved too!  Repeating ports would be fine....there was ALWAYS another choice that I would have liked to do!  When is your WC? 

As others have said going east to west is better for sleeping.

[Mich3554]

28 minutes ago, deec said:

mich 3534....the WC will be so much more than 54 days aboard mostly because of the Community that builds on a WC as opposed to multi segments!  On the WC there were many "local" entertainers brought onboard for evening shows!  I think the tours were a notch above what we experience on "normal" cruises with Viking!  If the stock market can ever rebound we would consider doing another!  The MED portion has improved too!  Repeating ports would be fine....there was ALWAYS another choice that I would have liked to do!  When is your WC? 

As others have said going east to west is better for sleeping.

I know that the atmosphere is different, but ironically there were several people on this cruise that are going to be on our WC.  DH was mainly concerned about being on the ship for so long.  
We get on the WC in Dec.  It’s hard to believe that when we booked it, it was over 700 days.  Now it’s 50ish.

[deec]

this YEAR...so exciting! 

 

[cruzzzinma]

On 10/28/2022 at 4:34 PM, LindaS272 said:

We did this cruise on the Viking Sun in Sept. 2019 and loved it. (I think this is the one @janetcblmay have been on, too.)

Us, too. We had a fantastic time and met several other “Viking Sky survivors.”

[LindaS272]

3 hours ago, cruzzzinma said:

Us, too. We had a fantastic time and met several other “Viking Sky survivors.”

Hi Carolyn, 

We had a great time with you and Bob on our Iceland excursion with guide Stephan at the Golden Circle and the tomato restaurant! Are you going on any Viking cruises coming up?

~Linda (&Dave) from Bainbridge Island, WA.