What to Expect on a Transatlantic Cruise

What is it like to cross the Atlantic Ocean on a cruise ship? What should you expect on a Transatlantic Cruise? Before our transatlantic cruise we were very awed by the idea that we would spend a week sailing across the Atlantic. Would we get bored on all the sea days? Would there be rough seas? What type of weather would we have?

We had tons of questions about what the experience would be like, but the reality is the cruise was very smooth.

We did a transatlantic cruise from Barcelona to New York City on the Carnival Venezia in June. These were our thoughts on that June crossing.

No rough seas

The ocean wasn’t smooth, but we have had MUCH worse and much choppier waters in the Caribbean. I’m sure that the ocean conditions are really just the luck of the draw, but it is very possible to have good luck on a transatlantic.

It was cold

I knew it would be cold, but it was colder than I was expecting. There were several days in a row where we were unable to sit up on deck and hardly able to go outside because it was freezing. Not only was it freezing, but it was super foggy.

The fog horn is actually for fog

The ship spent an entire morning blowing the fog horn at regular two minute intervals. I assume this was so that smaller ships could see us. We never saw anyone else in the fog, but the visibility was absolutely awful. We couldn’t even see the front of the ship from our mid-ship balcony!

The fog also just hung on the ocean and was such an interesting concept. It would roll in and out or we would drive through patches of it. The fog was very interesting at first, but as the day went on the constant fog horn became annoying and the cold, omnipresent damp also became very tiresome. But luckily this only lasted for about a day and then we were back to relatively normal weather.

On board entertainment is important

The on board entertainment becomes very important when you have five sea days in a row. With this many sea days in a row and sea days where you really aren’t spending your time outside in the sun or water, the entertainment staff is very important. If you are someone who needs to be constantly entertained, make sure you plan your days out and bring something to entertain you!

We read or talked to people a lot, but we also made sure to go to any trivia competitions that were interesting to us and stop by programs throughout the day.

No icebergs

Just in case you were wondering, we didn’t see any icebergs. I think I saw Titanic at a young and impressionable age and was a little concerned about icebergs. But there were none.

Would I do another transatlantic cruise?

Absolutely! We had a great time. Now that I know what to expect on a transatlantic cruise, I would do another one without any hesitation!

Sure the weather wasn’t the same as a Caribbean cruise, but we had a lot of fun on the ship and we really enjoyed the peace and quiet that comes from multiple sea days. Nobody is in a rush and it is so relaxing!