Bargain Cruises - Transatlantic Cruises
Here's how the cruise lines work. They have to put the ships where they make the most money. In the summer months that means the Mediterranean doing European cruises.
Then in the winter months they need their ships in the Caribbean where everyone wants to be during the cold and snowy months up north. This means that twice a year they have to move their ships. Around April they provide eastbound transatlantic cruises when they move their fleet from the Caribbean to the Europe.
Then in or around early December they do the opposite. The European season finished they offer westbound transatlantic cruises when they relocate their European ships back to work the winter season in the Caribbean.
We've done several transatlantic cruises in both directions and have enjoyed them all. The goods news is since very few people can get away for the two weeks plus needed to take a transatlantic cruise - the cruise lines are forced to offer special prices in order to fill the ships.
They have to move the ships - they have no choice and since they can't readily find customers they have to offer deeper discounts than they would prefer. Bad news for them - good news for us.
Some more good news: a veranda cabin can be very expensive on some cruises such as Alaska and Hawaii but on the transatlantic cruises the verandas go cheap - very cheap. On several occasions I've paid only around $100 for the added veranda which is a wonderful bargain. Of course there isn't a whole lot to see when you're traveling across the Atlantic, but the privacy is nice.
Two problems with the east-bound transatlantic cruises. First because you're not traveling in the European "off season", your air fare can be twice as high as the air fares for the December west bound cruises which occur smack in the middle of the lowest off season air fare season of them all.
And another problem has to do with the temperature. While the ocean temps you'll experience during a west-bound crossing are comfortable and mild, the temps on the east-bound trip can be downright frigid.
On the two eastbounds we did we hardly used our veranda at all. The evening temps were right down near freezing the whole way across and since the ship was moving quickly a cold, bone-chilling breeze added to the problem. On the westbound trips we spent long languid evenings relaxing on our veranda, the eastbound trips found us cuddling under heavy blankets inside our cabins.
My advice is - stick with the west-bound
transatlantic cruise if you want to save money and enjoy the weather (and
your veranda!).
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