Transatlantic cruise; the best and the worst of it
Mar 25th, 2008, 03:34 PM
#21
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My daughter and I did Barcelona to Boston on the NCL Gem last Dec. I had been on a cruise before but my daughter had the "jitters" about a cruise and she is a world traveler and has lived overseas. We both had a wonderful time and the weather cooperated until we were closer to Boston. If you wanted to keep occupied, activities were scheduled from early AM to late night. One of the highlights for me was seeing the Rock of Gibralter (silhouetted in the dark) from one side of the ship and the lights from the north coast of Africa off the other side. I have spent lots of hours trying to decide on the next transatlantic. I would like to have Morocco on the itinerary. Can anyone tell me about the ship Century of Celebrity Cruise Line? Thanks
Mar 26th, 2008, 08:27 AM
#22
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I made many transatlantic trips -- for transportation --in the 40's and fifties. Things were simpler. Much more relaxed than nowadays. I always gained a lot of weight.
Now I get as large a stateroom as possible, to avoid stir-craziness.
rjf
Now I get as large a stateroom as possible, to avoid stir-craziness.
rjf
Apr 1st, 2008, 03:55 PM
#23
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We did Oceania Insignia last year from Barbados to France with one stop in Funchal. We loved the days at sea and you can't beat the repositioning cruises for price. We had 2 for 1 price with free airfare.
We had 175 people on a ship that holds +650. They closed two decks and upgraded everybody. We went to a penthouse with our own butler.
I guess it just depends on what you are interested in. We sail to relax so six days at sea was great for us.
I think the worse cruise we ever did was a 12 day Med where we had a port almost every day. Having not been there before we felt it necessary to do something at every stop. I needed a vacation to rest up from my vacation.
We had 175 people on a ship that holds +650. They closed two decks and upgraded everybody. We went to a penthouse with our own butler.
I guess it just depends on what you are interested in. We sail to relax so six days at sea was great for us.
I think the worse cruise we ever did was a 12 day Med where we had a port almost every day. Having not been there before we felt it necessary to do something at every stop. I needed a vacation to rest up from my vacation.
Apr 23rd, 2008, 01:22 PM
#25
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TPAYIT: Yep, we have done that (Lisbon to Barbados, Barb. to Lisbon) several times and love it!!!But it's not for everybody...we went once with friends and they hated it...nothing to do/see.
For us, it is a chance to kick back, enjoy quiet hours, the surrounding sea, get to know each other better, and make new friends.
The Windsurf is an amazing ship...was a little tired last time we sailed but they were in the process of refurbishing it...Just know before you go.
We usually fly to Portugal, rent car, run all over that amazing country, and then drift on back home, easy, easy.
Hope you enjoy it, if you go. Anything else I can help you with, send your e mail.
For us, it is a chance to kick back, enjoy quiet hours, the surrounding sea, get to know each other better, and make new friends.
The Windsurf is an amazing ship...was a little tired last time we sailed but they were in the process of refurbishing it...Just know before you go.
We usually fly to Portugal, rent car, run all over that amazing country, and then drift on back home, easy, easy.
Hope you enjoy it, if you go. Anything else I can help you with, send your e mail.
Apr 25th, 2008, 07:33 AM
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SPITZ..except for an hour of rain crossing.. we had hot, hot weather crossing toSanJuan..and this was as N.E. was having three blizzards.As for Morroco we were cancelled because of political reasons in december but the Constellation we are going on in Sept. is stopping there and we have just this week booke a trip to Marrakesh.
Apr 28th, 2008, 04:49 AM
#28
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DAYLE..as the saying goes.. y ou cant get there from here1! They can take a trans/atlantic from Europe or the US...but you have to find a way to get home.. If they find getting through the airports is difficult there is one answer...ask for a wheel chair..Parrot Pop has a veyr bad ankle and there is no way he can walk the airports. and we ask for a wheel chair. We find going FROM Europe to the US is the best way to do it with the days at sea at the end.
Apr 29th, 2008, 01:27 PM
#29
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ParrotMom
Thanks for answering. Making it through the airports really isn't the problem. It's the actual flying, pressurization, confined space, restrooms.....
I'm formulating plans for a x country train, then ship, then trains.....
Thanks for answering. Making it through the airports really isn't the problem. It's the actual flying, pressurization, confined space, restrooms.....
I'm formulating plans for a x country train, then ship, then trains.....
May 2nd, 2008, 07:50 PM
#30
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I've been on 12 cruises and my favorite by far has been the Trans-Atalantic one. We went from Rotterdam to NYC via the North Atlantic. The weather was wonderful and I saw places I will likely never go to again like the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland. Sun shining in all of them. The only set back was a freak thing. As we were heading into Manhattan at 5:30 in the morning I noticed the lights of the city were not on....at all. Someone actually suggested it was because people hadn't woken up yet! In fact we didn't know it but we were arriving the morning after the huge East Coast Summer black out in 2004. The trip was wonderful, but it took two days to get home because of the black out.
May 5th, 2008, 09:51 PM
#31
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To Abram:
You can always tell the "type As." Taking a TA cruise to those of us who love being on the ocean and truly having the opportunity to do what we want to do and when we want to do it is heaven. There is nothing more beautiful than being on the ocean and being able to realize its enormity. To those of us who want peace and tranquility jumping on and of the ship, taking shore excursions and being in port for very short periods of time is not our desire. I respect those who like seeing new places and would never describe that as a waste of time.
You can always tell the "type As." Taking a TA cruise to those of us who love being on the ocean and truly having the opportunity to do what we want to do and when we want to do it is heaven. There is nothing more beautiful than being on the ocean and being able to realize its enormity. To those of us who want peace and tranquility jumping on and of the ship, taking shore excursions and being in port for very short periods of time is not our desire. I respect those who like seeing new places and would never describe that as a waste of time.
May 6th, 2008, 07:19 PM
#32
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Cruzman: Well, we just booked for another TA cruise, in Nov...which we will take after a couple weeks touring in Portugal....every day is a sea day, I sleep like a dead man, and love it, love it. Getting in touch with ones soul, I say...I can think, write, dream, rest, love better afterward.
May 6th, 2008, 09:41 PM
#33
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Clarasong,
Which cruise line did you book with and what is the intinerary?
I am booked on the CCL Splendor leaving Rome on the 29th of October. Lots of sea days. I won't even get off the ship in Baecelona, been there done that, or Funchal.
Just being on the ocean opens up inner channels which many people do not know exist within themselves.
Which cruise line did you book with and what is the intinerary?
I am booked on the CCL Splendor leaving Rome on the 29th of October. Lots of sea days. I won't even get off the ship in Baecelona, been there done that, or Funchal.
Just being on the ocean opens up inner channels which many people do not know exist within themselves.
May 7th, 2008, 05:49 PM
#35
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Just returned from a 20 day Transatlantic on the Grand Princess.
It was a fabulous itinerary with plenty of sea days but ports such as Dominica, Devil's Island, Fortaleza (Brazil), Dakar (Senegal) Casablanca, Cannes, Gibraltar and Livorno. We had fabulous weather (although humid) for the first couple of weeks. In Europe we still had wonderful weather in port although at sea it was certainly cooler.
Check your ports as we had to have a Brazilian visa and yellow fever shots. Many of the passengers were very upset about this, but if you don't want to visit these ports then other itineraries are available.
I would do it again in an instant.
If you travel on the QM2 go from Southampton to New York where you gain an hour each night instead of putting the clock forward if you sail over FROM New York!!!
It was a fabulous itinerary with plenty of sea days but ports such as Dominica, Devil's Island, Fortaleza (Brazil), Dakar (Senegal) Casablanca, Cannes, Gibraltar and Livorno. We had fabulous weather (although humid) for the first couple of weeks. In Europe we still had wonderful weather in port although at sea it was certainly cooler.
Check your ports as we had to have a Brazilian visa and yellow fever shots. Many of the passengers were very upset about this, but if you don't want to visit these ports then other itineraries are available.
I would do it again in an instant.
If you travel on the QM2 go from Southampton to New York where you gain an hour each night instead of putting the clock forward if you sail over FROM New York!!!
Jul 31st, 2008, 03:20 PM
#37
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like I said,we are taking the Windstar back from Portugal in Nov. We have done it before, and except for one windy day, seas were very calm, although one friend has "poo pooed" that, practically accusing me of 'fibbing' and finally said "you have heard of the Titantic, haven't you?"
Anyway, the best part, for me, is that it is a real adventure. One is 'captured', so to speak, on a very lovely boat, with just the folks and crew that comes with it. And you can make it what you will. Most assuredly, you will find folks that you might just as well advoid, some that want to be left alone, some that you will bond with, and you will find activities, maybe some you invent, that you can enjoy.
Best of all, you are miles and miles from anywhere, so you must accept it, get into the mood, or you will hate it. Seems like one finds another side to yourself, your soul, and what is in your quiet mind. So we go, just to be away from the 'hurley burley' of the cities and all the commotion that we humans make. A grand experience, that we can't wait to re-experience.
Anyway, the best part, for me, is that it is a real adventure. One is 'captured', so to speak, on a very lovely boat, with just the folks and crew that comes with it. And you can make it what you will. Most assuredly, you will find folks that you might just as well advoid, some that want to be left alone, some that you will bond with, and you will find activities, maybe some you invent, that you can enjoy.
Best of all, you are miles and miles from anywhere, so you must accept it, get into the mood, or you will hate it. Seems like one finds another side to yourself, your soul, and what is in your quiet mind. So we go, just to be away from the 'hurley burley' of the cities and all the commotion that we humans make. A grand experience, that we can't wait to re-experience.
Aug 1st, 2008, 11:29 AM
#38
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On September 22, 2001 I was scheduled to do Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale cruise with Celebrity Cruises in a balcony stateroom.
We all know what happened on 9/11.
My flight to London on 9/18 looked shaky as all the airlines were still down. Fortunately for me the airlines started flying domestically couple of days earlier and my international flight was one of the first ones that was given a go.
Had couple of fabulous days in London, flew down to Barcelona, and finally the day came to check in for my 14 day cruise.
I was mildly surprised to be upgraded to a fabulous corner 2 room suite with a balcony the size of football field. There were many no-shows (understandably). I hung an American flag plus a Manchester United flag on the balcony.
It was the most relaxing vacation I had in years. The 5-6 days at sea was just what the doctor ordered. I knew that because of what just happened, my job would take me to some of the troubled parts of the world and it has. The time at sea was just the most relaxing, calming, reflecting time of my life.
Here are couple of side stories.
In a middle of the night, somewhere in the middle of Atlantic, I woke up, walked out on the balcony with a glass of wine or whatever. There it was, a US Navy frigate going the opposite way, literally about 100 yards away. The young navy man doing the night duty on the frigate, saw my US flag waving and me standing there. He saluted and waved. I waved back. I held back my tears because I knew he was on the way to possibly engage and get killed in combat. Don't know what happened to him. Hope he's ok.
The second story is just fun.
Everyday I followed the posted chart and on the night we were in the middle of Atlantic, I took an empty wine bottle, put a note in it with my address, date and some other details, asking anybody that found the bottle to mail me.
1.5 years ago, or about 5 years after the cruise, just before Christmas, I received a letter from a woman in Arizona. Her and the husband were vacationing in Bahamas and they found the bottle on the beach one evening as they were doing the evening beach walk.
What are the chances of that happening?
Anyways, do the cruise. It's the most relaxing vacation you'll ever have. I was actually unhappy with the pit stops in the Caribbean once we made it there. I wished we had couple of more days at sea instead.
We all know what happened on 9/11.
My flight to London on 9/18 looked shaky as all the airlines were still down. Fortunately for me the airlines started flying domestically couple of days earlier and my international flight was one of the first ones that was given a go.
Had couple of fabulous days in London, flew down to Barcelona, and finally the day came to check in for my 14 day cruise.
I was mildly surprised to be upgraded to a fabulous corner 2 room suite with a balcony the size of football field. There were many no-shows (understandably). I hung an American flag plus a Manchester United flag on the balcony.
It was the most relaxing vacation I had in years. The 5-6 days at sea was just what the doctor ordered. I knew that because of what just happened, my job would take me to some of the troubled parts of the world and it has. The time at sea was just the most relaxing, calming, reflecting time of my life.
Here are couple of side stories.
In a middle of the night, somewhere in the middle of Atlantic, I woke up, walked out on the balcony with a glass of wine or whatever. There it was, a US Navy frigate going the opposite way, literally about 100 yards away. The young navy man doing the night duty on the frigate, saw my US flag waving and me standing there. He saluted and waved. I waved back. I held back my tears because I knew he was on the way to possibly engage and get killed in combat. Don't know what happened to him. Hope he's ok.
The second story is just fun.
Everyday I followed the posted chart and on the night we were in the middle of Atlantic, I took an empty wine bottle, put a note in it with my address, date and some other details, asking anybody that found the bottle to mail me.
1.5 years ago, or about 5 years after the cruise, just before Christmas, I received a letter from a woman in Arizona. Her and the husband were vacationing in Bahamas and they found the bottle on the beach one evening as they were doing the evening beach walk.
What are the chances of that happening?
Anyways, do the cruise. It's the most relaxing vacation you'll ever have. I was actually unhappy with the pit stops in the Caribbean once we made it there. I wished we had couple of more days at sea instead.
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