Transatlantic - which direction ?

[Mr Luxury]

Which transatlantic do UK cruisers prefer.

West bound or East bound.

I'm UK based and going to book as I need to be in NY next August and it doesn't make a lot of difference to me which way around I do it.

Many thanks 

[Host Hattie]

I have moved your question to a new thread where you will get more answers. 

If you have the time I would sail both ways but others may have more practical suggestions!

[Mr Luxury]

Just now, Host Hattie said:

I have moved your question to a new thread where you will get more answers. 

If you have the time I would sail both ways but others may have more practical suggestions!

Thanks Hattie.

Ideally both ways I'm sure.

[exlondoner]

West for those wonderful 25 hour days. And get a cabin on the port side so you get the sun.

Edited September 25, 2023 by exlondoner

[Mr Luxury]

2 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

West for those wonderful 25 hour days. And get a cabin on the port side so you get the sun.

I thought the longer days might get the vote.

I'm OK with either but eager to get a feel.

QG port side if I can get one.

They do sell out fast.

Do suites become available in time if people have to cancel?

 

[exlondoner]

If you can get QG, the PG cabins on QM2 are pretty nice.

 

Sometimes people have to cancel, but you can’t rely on a particular grade becoming available. Avoid Q3s, which have no balconies, and, worse still, an awful lot of wind noise, if you are going west, I imagine.

[Victoria2]

East so you don't get any jet lag

[Mr Luxury]

3 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

If you can get QG, the PG cabins on QM2 are pretty nice.

 

Sometimes people have to cancel, but you can’t rely on a particular grade becoming available. Avoid Q3s, which have no balconies, and, worse still, an awful lot of wind noise, if you are going west, I imagine.

Thanks for the tip.

I'm still flexible for East or West

[Mr Luxury]

Just now, Victoria2 said:

East so you don't get any jet lag

Going that slowly across the pond does it really affect you?

[exlondoner]

12 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

East so you don't get any jet lag

But you will feel exhausted anyway, because of the sleep lost to 23 hour days. 

Edited September 25, 2023 by exlondoner

[Mr Luxury]

5 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

But you will feel exhausted anyway, because of the sleep lost to 23 hour days. 

I'm sure I'll be fine.

I only sleep for six of them anyway.

[exlondoner]

6 minutes ago, Mr Luxury said:

I'm sure I'll be fine.

I only sleep for six of them anyway.

Ah, but remember that dangerous sea air, which is very relaxing. Also it is said to make your clothes shrink.

[NE John]

I’ve crossed in both directions and I had no jet lag either way. You do need to manage your way around eastbound mid-day clock changes though. 
In either case, the week goes by so quickly and you’ll enjoy the journey. 
And yes, the PG level of accommodations are worth the premium. 

[Victoria2]

20 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

But you will feel exhausted anyway, because of the sleep lost to 23 hour days. 

Never bothered us and it's great to get home with no jet-lag, as I said,

[exlondoner]

4 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Never bothered us and it's great to get home with no jet-lag, as I said,

Bothered me, when I did it, but QE2 only took five days, so it was virtually every night. Not quite so bad on a seven or eight day crossing.

[3rdGenCunarder]

9 minutes ago, NE John said:

I’ve crossed in both directions and I had no jet lag either way. You do need to manage your way around eastbound mid-day clock changes though. 
In either case, the week goes by so quickly and you’ll enjoy the journey. 
And yes, the PG level of accommodations are worth the premium. 

 

I find the mid-day change difficult. I'll go to lunch, and suddenly, it's an extra hour later and I've missed a talk or some other scheduled thing I wanted to go to.

 

Ideally, I would sail both ways, but I want a gap between crossings to spend some time in England. If I can do only one TA, I want westbound, because that's going home.

[Mr Luxury]

24 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Ah, but remember that dangerous sea air, which is very relaxing. Also it is said to make your clothes shrink.

On as passengers,off as Cargo😁

[Victoria2]

48 minutes ago, Mr Luxury said:

Going that slowly across the pond does it really affect you?

Sorry, not sure what you mean. Going slowly across the pond is great at eliminating jet lag.

[NE John]

7 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I find the mid-day change difficult. I'll go to lunch, and suddenly, it's an extra hour later and I've missed a talk or some other scheduled thing I wanted to go to.

 

Ideally, I would sail both ways, but I want a gap between crossings to spend some time in England. If I can do only one TA, I want westbound, because that's going home.

Agreed. To answer OP original question, NYC bound is better. 

[Mr Luxury]

1 minute ago, Victoria2 said:

Sorry, not sure what you mean. Going slowly across the pond is great at eliminating jet lag.

Yes,that's what I thought.

I can stay before or after my meeting in NY so I'm still not sure which way to go

[Mr Luxury]

Just now, NE John said:

Agreed. To answer OP original question, NYC bound is better. 

Thank you 

[Victoria2]

2 minutes ago, NE John said:

Agreed. To answer OP original question, NYC bound is better. 

We never suffered from jet lag flying west to NYC or LA/SF but flying home after a few weeks away, dreadful, so if you are UK based and want to hit the ground running on your return, UK bound is best. If unaffected by jet lag or if being wiped out isn't an issue, then either way will be fine.

[Pushpit]

I would say West is Best. At least you get 25 hours on most days, which is helpful when you have nothing to do and not enough time to do it.

[Winifred 22]

I prefer Westwards . I did find 25 hour days tiring but on balance  preferred them to 23 hour days homeward. It was tricky fitting everything in losing the hour at lunch time. 

[delgirl]

Have done westbound twice and eastbound once. Must admit the flight to NY in the morning was much nicer than the overnight ones from NY going home. Made worse by having 4 nights in new york after crossing so was well and truly on NY time. Flights are early evening but they then go onto england time which is 5 hrs ahead. Land about 6am but only 1am in new york so couldn.t sleep. Absolutely knackered when we got home.🤣