Do Transatlantic Cruises follow the great circle route?

[LB_NJ]

We will be traveling New York to Maderia and wondering if the ship generally follows the Great Circle route or do they follow some other course?

[TheOldBear]

QM2 generally follows a great circle route - unless diversions are needed to avoid weather systems.

 

There is usually a sufficient speed reserve to complete the crossing as scheduled, even with medical evacuation & weather diversions. QM2 is _capable_ of 5 day crossings, but is usually scheduled for 7 days. [and we will wait and see how the current QM2 situation in Southampton is resolved]

 

Cruse ships doing a repositioning sailing may have less flexibility, or have scheduled some island hopping stops to constrain their sailing routes.

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

We will be traveling New York to Maderia and wondering if the ship generally follows the Great Circle route or do they follow some other course?

 

A Great Circle is the shortest distance and if everything else is favourable, many Masters will elect a Great Circle route. The advances in bridge navigation systems now make following a true Great Circle much easier than my deep sea time in the 70's & 80's. When following a Great Circle, the course steered changes continuously.

 

In determining the route, in addition to distance, the Master must also consider the currents and weather. The downside of a Great Circle is it takes the vessel to high Latitudes, which have the increased probability of experiencing rough weather. Therefore, an option is a composite Great Circle, which steers GC courses to a pre-determined Latitude, then steers a Rhumb Line along that line of limiting Latitude, until picking up the GC route.

 

Eastbound crossings also have GC courses generally following the Gulf Stream and then the North Atlantic Drift. When turning SE'ly they will pick up the Canary Current.

 

Without knowing the weather, it is impossible to determine which routing option the Master will select.

[LB_NJ]

36 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Without knowing the weather, it is impossible to determine which routing option the Master will select.

Thanks for the info.

 

Sounds like I can't really determine yet what the course will be.

 

I think I will look at the GPS on my phone periodically so I can plot the course when I get back to see what path we took.

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, LB_NJ said:

Thanks for the info.

 

Sounds like I can't really determine yet what the course will be.

 

I think I will look at the GPS on my phone periodically so I can plot the course when I get back to see what path we took.

 

When checking the position with GPS, make sure you are on an open deck receiving direct transmissions from the multiple sats. Bounced signals can introduce position errors.

[MBP&O2/O]

There may be a route style map on your in-cabin TV. If so it will probably show a track and a continuously update Lat / Long which you can make note of.