Transatlantic to Europe

[WVU_Neal]

I was excited by a recent HAL mailing listing all the transatlantic cruises to Europe next spring. My partner, not so much. Her concern is about motion sickness and rough seas out in the Atlantic.

 

What is your experience with the cruise over? And what's the weather like crossing the Atlantic in April or May?

Thanks!

 

Neal

[CruiserBruce]

Seas can be rough any time, any location. There is no way to predict what the seas might be for a given period of time, more than a few days ahead.

[sailingdutchy]

We have been more than a dozen times on a Trans Atlantic crossing out of about 80 days at sea we maybe had 2 or 3 days that it was a little rough . It can be rough anywhere at sea the Mediterranean can be rougher and so could be the North Sea . There really is nothing to worry about @WVU_Neal !

 

Tony 😄

[erdufylla]

I can’t speak to actual experience, as I’m booked on my first TA cruise next spring. But I will say that when I mentioned this same concern to someone, they pointed out that hurricane season doesn’t start til June, so while yes, seas can be rough and stormy at any time, and seasickness is a possibility, it’s maybe less likely for big awful storms in April/May than later in the summer.

[shipshapegirl]

We have done transatlantics the last two years from Fort Lauderdale to Amsterdam.  The water was very smooth during both trips.  This year the water looked glassy, it was so smooth.

 

Edited June 29, 2023 by shipshapegirl

[srndpte]

We have done 2 TA cruises and both times the seas were very calm.   They were however in the late fall, in October and in December. 

[crystalspin]

We have also done 2 TAs, both in April-May. Nieuw Amsterdam FLL to Venice (low Main deck and midship) and Zuiderdam FLL to Copenhagen (high Observation deck and forward). Seas were mostly like glass. My husband, who has a history of mal de mer, had no problems on either journey. YMMV.  

[rodndonna]

Would spring or fall make a difference? We are contemplating doing a TA in fall TA 2025.

[albingirl]

We've done them and we were well aware of our fearless captains navigating the seas so as to insure the smoothest sailings.  You never know what the weather will bring but I look at it as one big adventure! I love those sailings. I need to add that I never get seasick, so that is a fact that could affect your sailing. 

[Woofbite]

I did a Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona in April and had an exceptionally smooth trip.  Captain went far south of Bermuda instead of shorter route north of the Island to avoid a major storm.  As he said, ship would have been perfectly safe but he didn't like rough trips either.

 

[Haljo1935]

Thanks @WVU_Neal for posting this.

We're going on our first TA (Rome->FLL) this fall (Nov 26-Dec 10) and first TP (Yokohama->Seattle) next spring (April 27-May 12) and have been struggling with cabin selection; we've heard of not being able to use balconies due to rough seas. We are partial to the extra large balconies on deck 4 portside and have one for the TP, but after reading posts of high waves are rethinking and wonder if we should move aft while there's still availability. 

From these responses, it sounds like we (and your partner) likely should not be concerned. 

I'm so excited for both of these crossings...

[erdufylla]

I’m jealous about your TP trip, @Haljo1935! That’s one of my bucket list cruises, but it’s going to have to wait a few years. This 6-week Europe trip (2 14-day cruises, 1 week between them on my own, and 1 week visiting friends in Denmark after) is already making my eyes bulge when I look at the budget spreadsheet. 😂 I hope you have a wonderful time on both your crosses, though!

[jules815]

55 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

Thanks @WVU_Neal for posting this.

We're going on our first TA (Rome->FLL) this fall (Nov 26-Dec 10) and first TP (Yokohama->Seattle) next spring (April 27-May 12) and have been struggling with cabin selection; we've heard of not being able to use balconies due to rough seas. We are partial to the extra large balconies on deck 4 portside and have one for the TP, but after reading posts of high waves are rethinking and wonder if we should move aft while there's still availability. 

From these responses, it sounds like we (and your partner) likely should not be concerned. 

I'm so excited for both of these crossings...

Interesting! We have the Neptune suite with the extra large balcony on deck 4 (aft and starboard) for an east bound TA in April on Nieuw Statendam. Hadn't thought about balconies being closed, but it did happen to us once on a deck 2 cove balcony on a Carnival ship. There are 2 deck 7 Neptunes left on the Starboard side. Wonder if I should move? 

[RMLincoln]

We’ve done multiple TAs, mostly in the late summer or fall. Seas were not rough. We’ve had some very rough seas in Gulf of Mexico and northbound along Mexican Riviera and Mediterranean but not crossing the Atlantic. Captains have a lot of room to navigate around storms. 

Has your partner been seasick before?  We always bring Sea Bands and Bonine. DH has had more trouble than I but we put the Sea Bands on our wrists first sign of a bouncy ship. Rough seas can happen anywhere. 
 

Low deck and midship has lease movement. Mostly we were in insides or ocean view rooms on lower decks. Since COVID we’ve been cruising in balcony rooms which are higher. Getting a room on a low deck usually means an inside or ocean view but lowest balcony deck can be a good choice too. 

Edited June 29, 2023 by RMLincoln

[Haljo1935]

9 minutes ago, erdufylla said:

I’m jealous about your TP trip, @Haljo1935! That’s one of my bucket list cruises, but it’s going to have to wait a few years. This 6-week Europe trip (2 14-day cruises, 1 week between them on my own, and 1 week visiting friends in Denmark after) is already making my eyes bulge when I look at the budget spreadsheet. 😂 I hope you have a wonderful time on both your crosses, though!

Awe, thank you! I'm excited and nervously anxious. It's been a "maybe someday" itinerary that I really didn't think would come to fruition, but here it is!

I'm hoping the internet conversion is complete so Starlink is available as I'll have to work on both of them. So giddy 🙃🤭

[FlaMariner]

We've sailed across the pond 3 times. (Nieuw Statendam, Rotterdam (maiden voyage) and a Princess ship I'd rather forget about). 

 

The seas were no different than any other cruise.  On one crossing, I do recall rough seas a day or two prior to arriving in Fort Lauderdale but nowhere near the roughest seas we have experienced from a Caribbean cruise in January on the K'dam. 

 

Rough seas can happen anywhere. 

 

We love TA's.  Why?  the price.  the 7 days at sea.  the ports. the ability to tour Europe prior and then jump on a ship to get home and rest...or rest up before wearing ourselves out touring Europe.  And the most important benefit...no flight one way!

 

There is a TA forum on cruise critic.  Lots of helpful info regarding TA's.  

 

Enjoy the journey........

[Haljo1935]

2 minutes ago, jules815 said:

Interesting! We have the Neptune suite with the extra large balcony on deck 4 (aft and starboard) for an east bound TA in April on Nieuw Statendam. Hadn't thought about balconies being closed, but it did happen to us once on a deck 2 cove balcony on a Carnival ship. There are 2 deck 7 Neptunes left on the Starboard side. Wonder if I should move? 

I LOVE those aft wraps, have been blessed to be in the portside one on 4 a couple times in AK, but being new to this TA generally unsure about balconies.

I've also read that one should consider being port or starboard depending on how much daylight you prefer - do you want the sunrise or sunset? So that might be a consideration for you as well as you weigh the corner starboard vs true starboard. Then waves on 4 vs 7.

Congrats on the deck 4 corner wrap, I'm sure it will be lovely if you decide to keep it.

[Sir PMP]

38 minutes ago, erdufylla said:

I’m jealous about your TP trip, @Haljo1935! That’s one of my bucket list cruises, but it’s going to have to wait a few years. This 6-week Europe trip (2 14-day cruises, 1 week between them on my own, and 1 week visiting friends in Denmark after) is already making my eyes bulge when I look at the budget spreadsheet. 😂 I hope you have a wonderful time on both your crosses, though!

TP will be rough up north, Bering Sea..out of Hawaii much flatter, but expect rain.

[Haljo1935]

3 minutes ago, Sir PMP said:

TP will be rough up north, Bering Sea..out of Hawaii much flatter, but expect rain.

Which balcony cabin would you choose - port aft or true aft?

[kazu]

4 hours ago, rodndonna said:

Would spring or fall make a difference? We are contemplating doing a TA in fall TA 2025.

 

I’ve done a number of TA’s both ways and have seen no noticeable difference.  The Fall TA is nice as the clocks go back on a number of days at sea as opposed to the clocks going forward and losing several hours on the spring TA’s.

 

Generally speaking, weather is quite nice and in all of our sailings, I think there were only 2 rough days total.  And it wasn’t that rough 😉 

 

1 hour ago, Haljo1935 said:

Thanks @WVU_Neal for posting this.

We're going on our first TA (Rome->FLL) this fall (Nov 26-Dec 10) and first TP (Yokohama->Seattle) next spring (April 27-May 12) and have been struggling with cabin selection; we've heard of not being able to use balconies due to rough seas. We are partial to the extra large balconies on deck 4 portside and have one for the TP, but after reading posts of high waves are rethinking and wonder if we should move aft while there's still availability. 

From these responses, it sounds like we (and your partner) likely should not be concerned. 

I'm so excited for both of these crossings...

 

We’ve had balconies on all of our TA’s (mostly Neptunes) and used them on a regular basis.  The only times they are unavailable is a truly rough day and those days are rare - or at least have been on our crossings.

 

Your mention of the larger balconies on the 4th deck sounds like you are on a Pinnacle class ship.  Those are nice balconies 🙂 

 

For the OP - the last several crossings we did in the spring the ocean has been like glass most days.  My friends were new to TA’’s and shocked.  I think they were secretly let down that there was no serious motion of the ocean  😉. The ships tend to take southernly routes and on one sailing where there was a major storm, our captain went 200 knots out of the way to avoid it and we saw little effect from it.

 

 

[JeffElizabeth]

You just never know about weather, but the Bermuda and Azores voyages tend to be milder than the trips to Iceland and Greenland.

 

We are doing Voyage of the Vikings trip in July and August,  so we will be well stocked on sea sickness patches.  

[Sir PMP]

31 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

Which balcony cabin would you choose - port aft or true aft?

No preference

[just_cruising_along]

We have done multiple Transatlantic and 2 Transpacific cruise and mostly they were smooth sailing. And as noted by others, there can be choppy seas just about anywhere at anytime, just like there can be turbulence on a plane. We have booked two more of these type cruises. 

 

 

[Haljo1935]

Good to hear. I'm sure I'm over thinking the location. I tend to do all my "Buyer's Remorse" upfront...

I'm sure all the experienced "Crossers" are either laughing at me or frustrated by my seemingly unnecessary focus on cabin location, but doing a TA and/or TP is new for me and I know how much I use the balcony and how much a first experience can influence future decisions, so I'm trying to get it right. Especially while there's still an opportunity to change cabins.

I'm not new to cruising (4* HAL, 40ish days Carnival, 60ish days Princess), just new to TA & TP, so I feel like I've got the rest down. 🙄

 

Edited June 29, 2023 by Haljo1935
Typo

[Native Floridian 26]

We've done 4 Transatlantics and are booked for next April on NS. As someone else mentioned, this year the captain detoured to a more northern route to avoid rough seas.  Another time, there were rough seas and we had to miss the first port after crossing (Ponta Delgada).  Most of the time, the Atlantic is smooth as glass.  You get worse in the Western Caribbean.  Just bring Seabands.