An exception to my many articles, this one is a personal experience my hubby and I had this year cruising. I want to share it because it is not your regular round trip cruise with beaches to visit, etc. I thought maybe you’d like to read about our experience, and how it might relate to you and your
possible cruise style. For the most part, Ron and I have traveled on cruises that would travel the Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, around Hawaii maybe, or around
Japan. This time however, we did something different and I thought I’d like to share it with you all.
Well, Ron and I just returned from a Transatlantic cruise
on the cruise line Virgin Voyages. It wasn’t our first one, but
it was very different. It was our second time traveling with Virgin Voyages. We did the reverse trip in April cruising Miami to Barcelona. It was a 15-day voyage with a lot of AT SEA
days. This one was Barcelona to Miami. Like I stated earlier,
It is a trip that isn’t for everyone. Why,? Well, my experience selling travel has taught me that there are 2 types of cruisers. Those who are destination focused, others are considering the
ship as the destination. There are a good number of reasons for this difference. I am fortunate that Ron and I have both evolved as cruisers into the latter of those cruise types. Lots of sea days, and we loved it so much that we bought a 2nd trip during that first cruise. We got to meet great people and made new friends, got to explore a great ship and really experience it; what is there not to like about someone making your bed, fixing your meals, doing what you wanna do, getting up late, doing everything or nothing at all. Truly relaxing.
I thought it would be a good idea to explain what a REPOSITIONING cruise is, to show that it does not have to be simply a transatlantic experience, i.e. New York City on the Queen Mary 2 to Southampton for instance. By the way, the Queen Mary
is a unique experience in itself. We traveled on it years ago. It is like a floating museum, lots of history and a Planetarium to boot. I love that ship’s ambiance. The thing I don’t like about it, it has a CASTE system. There are areas of the ship that are not open to the lower-level cabin types. The cruisers on that vessel who are in those more expensive categories, are usually persons who do not want to be bothered by the crowds. They have their own dinning area, butlers, private events. The ship caters to those who want to basically travel without attention. Examples are a movie, music, political personalities-famous
people. Personally, Ron and I are more social and have a great time in the Britannia Class with normal people HA. But, I have to tell you, THE SHIP IS GORGEOUS!!!! You are treated very nicely no matter the cabin class you purchase. On that ship you can travel 6+ nights with no stopping of the ship since it is a transatlantic sailing. But, that ship and that experience is more formal. Interesting note: There is a kennel on the ship and you can take your dog/friend with you. There are theme nights and formal tea- time, very British.
Lots of cruise lines are offering the Transatlantic to reposition their ships between seasons. Many of them expand their itineraries to Europe during the summer, when the Caribbean is, from June 15-Nov.15th<> struggling with hurricane season. That’s why there are so many GOOD DEALS during the summer. Though hurricanes do not occur every week, it is hit or miss, and there are a lot of them.
You never know when one is going to strike. By the way, the worst time is AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER….as there tends to be more hurricane action during those months. The ships still sail, they just don’t guarantee you’ll stop at the original designated ports. It is the discretion of the Captain regarding the itinerary changes. Sometimes the ships will basically be SHIPS TO NOWHERE….it could happen. So, with summers in Europe very popular, the cruise lines are anxious to move inventory overseas, expand their capacity to explore Europe for instance. Consequently, the REPOSITIONING cruises are popular in that they have a lesser per diem…a 2-week transatlantic for instance can be 1⁄2 of the price of a 1 week
