Transatlantic Crossing

Two very different products carry this name. The Queen Mary 2 line service links Southampton and New York in seven nights, from April to December, like a scheduled crossing. A repositioning cruise moves a ship from one continent to the other at the turn of the season, in twelve to sixteen nights with a few ports. Either way, you cross the ocean and fly home, or the reverse.

The line service: Queen Mary 2

The Queen Mary 2 is the only true transatlantic ocean liner still in service. The difference lies in the hull: thicker, a deeper draught, a higher freeboard and a service speed reaching thirty knots. An ordinary cruise ship is built to follow coastlines; this one is built to cross in any season.

The crossing covers about three thousand one hundred and fifty nautical miles between Southampton and New York, where the ship berths in Brooklyn. Seven nights, no ports. The service runs from April to December, with roughly one departure a month in each direction.

The fare covers the cabin, all meals, afternoon tea, the shows, the lectures, the cinema, the pool and the library. Alcohol, the spa and internet cost extra, and a daily gratuity is added to the onboard account. The ship carries kennels, which makes it the only way to bring a dog or a cat to Europe outside an aircraft hold.

Repositioning: the same ocean, differently

In spring the ships leave the Caribbean and Florida for the Mediterranean and Northern Europe. In autumn they run the other way. These passages sell as cruises, with calls in the Azores, at Madeira, the Canaries, Lisbon or Barcelona depending on the route.

What defines them is the sea days. Five, six, sometimes seven in a row. Lines fill those days with lectures, workshops and shows, and many regulars hold that this is where a cruise becomes interesting. A traveller who gets bored without a daily port should skip it.

Most large lines programme them: Celebrity, Princess, Holland America, MSC and Norwegian among the more accessible.

The one-way flight arithmetic

A crossing has to be paired with a flight the other way, and that detail often decides the total budget. A one-way transatlantic ticket sometimes costs nearly as much as a return, depending on the airline and the season.

Two ways around it. The first is booking the flight very early, as soon as schedules open. The second is extending the stay on the far side, which often turns up a more reasonable fare and gets more out of the trip. We run that arithmetic with you before confirming the cruise, because it sometimes changes the decision.

The clock and the body

Westbound, the clock goes back an hour on five of the seven nights. You gain sleep every night and reach New York with no jet lag. Eastbound it moves forward, which costs more, though an hour a night remains far gentler than the six hours of a flight.

This is the argument our clients remember most: a crossing sets you down in Europe rested and on local time, without the lost day that follows an overnight flight.

Seasickness, said plainly

The North Atlantic moves. In April and November especially, a crossing can meet a four to six metre sea for two days. The Queen Mary 2 takes it better than most thanks to her hull and stabilisers, but a lighter repositioning ship makes itself felt.

The advice that works: a cabin amidships and low in the hull, medication taken before departure rather than after the first symptoms, and the horizon watched now and then from an open deck. Anyone who already knows they take the sea badly should pick June or September rather than April or November.

Who a crossing suits

It suits travellers who like reading, walking a deck, following a lecture and dining at length. It suits people who hate flying, those who travel with a lot of luggage, and those who want to start a European trip rested.

It suits less well families with young children, for whom seven days without a port drag, and travellers who measure a trip by the number of countries visited. A crossing is measured differently.

Arranging it from Canada

For the Queen Mary 2 service, the usual build is a flight to London, a train or coach to Southampton, the crossing to New York, then a short flight home. New York is also reachable by train from Montreal, which appeals to travellers who want to avoid flying at both ends.

For a repositioning, the embarkation port changes each season, and it drives the logistics. Allow a night ahead at embarkation, as always, and keep slack on the return: a ship delayed by weather in the North Atlantic sometimes arrives a few hours late.

To compare itineraries and lines against your own profile, reach an advisor at 1 866 628-6241. See also our cruises and cruise lines, our other destinations and our Northern Europe guide.