Anyone go trans-Atlantic?

italian-link · Joined: 21 Aug 2006 Posts: 3 Location: Tampa, Florida

Hi

I have a cousin in Italy that wants to come here next year, but he is afraid of flying. And who can blame him these days with all the terrorists running around.

So he wants to take a ship across the Atlantic....I imagine that would probably take a week or so.

And then you probably have to deal with the motion sickness, and all. Let alone, all the stories now you hear about the Pirates.

Anyways, just wondering if anybody ever crossed the Atlantic via ship? How long did it take? Where did you depart from? How does the price compare to a flight?

Thanks

Larry

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

Right now there is only one regularly scheduled transatlantic service, on the Queen Mary 2 from Southampton (England) to New York.

In 1983 I took the Queen Elizabeth 2 on the same route. It took 5 days, and I personally didn't have any problem with sea sickness -- but then I am very used to motion and do not get sick easily.

As far as pirates go, the North Atlantic is not known for those sorts of problems -- recent pirate problems have been in Straits of Malacca (between Singapore and Indonesia, the busiest commercial shipping lane in the world) and off of Somalia (a country with basically no functioning government). I simply would not worry about it on a transatlantic run (if at all).

Several cruise lines make repositioning trips in the spring and fall to move their cruise ships from Europe (for the summer) to the Caribbean (for the winter). A travel agent can help you find out what is available when, and where they leave from. These trips take longer than five days (9-14 is common), and usually end up in Florida or Puerto Rico rather than New York.

As far as prices go, the cost is generally significantly more than a coach fare, but substantially less than a business class fare. You can get more information from the various cruise line web sites. See Queen Mary 2 for information on regularly-scheduled transatlantic service.