Last week’s post was all the philosophical wisdom one gains from a grand trans-Atlantic crossing. This week: the practical stuff, ie, Handy Tips for Younger Passengers, or What the Savvy Traveler (but Non-Cruiser) Needs to Know.
1) Book early. We booked in early summer for the first week in September, and at that time the cheapest fare (about $1,100 per person) applied to the three lowest room categories, which includes the rooms with balconies cut into the hull.
These balconies are supposedly not as nice as the proper-balcony rooms on higher decks, but I could sit outside and not stare at the sea and contemplate how terrifyingly far from land we were, which was a bonus in my book.
2) Board late. The older-skewing demographic means there’s a big easily worried, early-arriving camp. We got to Red Hook Cruise Terminal at 3:10pm for a 4pm sailing, and didn’t have to wait in line at all. One woman even said, “You got here at the perfect time!”
3) They’re not kidding about formalwear. I just assumed everyone would half-ass this. Lordy, no! I’d also misread the materials, and thought there was only one truly formal night. Actually, no to that point too. Five out of seven nights are formal. I honestly have no idea how you really pack for that, unless you also have a coolie to tote your steamer trunks.
[Public apologies to Heather, who helped me pick my formalwear at the Salvation Army. I promised her a photo of the ridiculous red polyester with red glitter dots, but failed utterly.]
But as I said in my last post, you can opt out and eat at the buffet restaurant, which actually feels better for your health anyway, as you can eat as much salad as you want.
4) The Todd English restaurant is worth it. You can pay $35 per person extra and eat here. Do it once, at least. It’s what the main dining room is trying to be, but is automatically better because they’re only doing 40 covers a night, not 800.
I kind of scoffed before our dinner there: “Humph–Todd English! He has a restaurant at La Guardia!” But even the prosciutto-and-fig pizza tastes better on a ship than in the main terminal at LGA.
5) Be sure to go to the buffet restaurant the night it’s in Lotus, the Asian zone. Because that’s when they might have the Filipino pork belly with adobo. Hot damn, that was good. They need to let more of their Asian staff cook.
6) The library is great. The real pro cruisers were all in there in a mob the first day, snapping up the John Grisham books, I guess. The library didn’t have a copy of A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, but they did have The Pale King, which I should’ve read instead of Freedom. (Sorry, thought I got over that–I think I’m done grumbling now.)
7) Feeling seasick? Go to the pool. We bought a three-day sauna pass, and the first day we went was the “real ocean weather” day. It was a little icky sitting in the steam room, in the dark, and in fact a guy who was in there when I was went from cheerful to miserable in a matter of a minute. But floating in the pool, even though it was crashing around dramatically, was instantly relaxing–call it the aqua-gyroscopic effect, I guess.
8 ) If you’re young, introduce yourself to other youngish people. We should’ve done this more. There weren’t very many of them, but I imagine they were all feeling as out of place as we were. Or…they might’ve looked at us and thought, Why are these old people talking to us?
9) Going solo is fine. Think of all the reading you could get done! You can order room service, and the Caesar salad is pretty good. But, yeah, it is pretty solidly couples all over the ship.
10) Don’t plan on doing anything important in the first four days off the ship. Just when your inner ear gets all groovy with being on the water, you’re dumped off on dry land. And everything seems to tilt way this waaaaay, and then way that waaaaay. Exercise and walking helps, but sitting still is difficult.
Also, the time change going east is surprisingly a drag–they set the clocks back an hour on every night but the first and the last. These shorter days, plus the world tilting, makes you feel jet-lagged even though you’re not exactly, and you can’t cop that excuse.
Any other questions? Ask in the comments.
“Five out of seven nights are formal.”
Nope, sorry. On a current crossing, typically three nights are what Cunard labels as “formal”, but which are only black tie; and since dark suits seem to be acceptable alternatives to dinner jackets, it isn’t even that elegant. Two are “semi-formal” (gentlemen are asked to wear jacket and tie), and two “elegant casual” (gentlemen are asked to wear a jacket). Ladies can get by with a simple, flexible wardrobe for such a schedule should they wish, though some may still bring a parade of steamer trunks full of gowns (which the unlimited luggage allowance permits).
Well, I guess every night I started to think maybe we’d go eat at the sit-down restaurant, it turned out to be formal night… Or else my husband was just gaslighting me.
Hi, Thanks for posting this. We’re thinking of doing a last minute deal on a NYC to Southampton crossing in May and was wondering what’d be like a) because we’re young compared to most that do the cruise / crossing (35 & 42) b) I was wondering what we’d do all day and c) I wanted to know what a recessed balcony looked like and was it worth paying an extra £100 for a glass one?
So your blog has been great on all counts, except when you say you’ll still have a kind of jet lag at the end depsite the clock changing, plus wierd sea legs – we’d be going back to work the next day :0(
Hi Kath– Short answer is, yeah, you will be young! (Peter turned 40 on Day 1 of the crossing; I’m 39.) Almost everyone’s 60+. But we did meet some interesting people regardless. We are not naturally chatty with strangers, but many people on the cruise were quite outgoing and nice.
As for what to do all day: read? I really enjoyed doing that–the library is well stocked and a great place to sit. You can walk around the whole ship outside on one of the decks. There are swimming pools, and the sauna at the spa is not so expensive. Plus there’s a whole ridiculous schedule full of activities every day…and we did none of them. Still, they’re there, if you get really stir-crazy.
The recessed balcony is what I’m sitting in in the last photo of the post. I think when we booked, the upgrade to a glass balcony was more than 100 pounds, so it didn’t seem worth it. And it was coldish when we crossed, so we wouldn’t have sat outside much more than we did anyway. The glass balcony means you’re higher up on the ship–better views overall, I guess?–and you can sit and look at the water. On the recessed balcony, you have to stand–but I kind of preferred that, as early on, I got a little panicked thinking about there being nothing but ocean all around.
The sea legs issue is not to be discounted! I found it disconcerting–I’d be sitting at lunch, and then feel like I was tilting waaay back in my chair. Peter just kept telling me to enjoy it. Maybe you just need to warn your colleagues that you’ll be a bit woozy for a week and not to be alarmed if you start holding onto desktops for dear life!
Oh, and, re: the age of people: You get assigned a seat at a dinner table in the main dining room. But you’re under no obligation to eat there every night. We liked our table-mates (they weren’t much older than us–in their 50s–maybe they’d been selected on purpose), but we preferred eating at the not-trying-so-hard-to-be-fancy restaurants. So we would’ve had built-in people to talk to…but we sort of blew them off. Oops.
Hi – we did a cruise on a P&O ship last Nov, so well used to the older generation on board and the formal sitting (we luckily had a 2 seater table, but were close to some very snooty types) and clothing (so thankfully no last minute shopping to do).
I think I’d be in the same mindset as you – bit panicked about the thought of all that water for miles and miles. Don’t think the recent cruise ship accidents, impending titanic anniversary and watching the film for the gazillionth time the other night has helped.
Trying to decide between this and a trip to an Egypt beach resort at the moment – we just want some R&R to chill out from work and read, sun would be nice which we know we might not get on the Atlantic, but very tempted by the whole transatlantic experience, not forgetting some shopping, eating and shows in the big apple.
Ha ha on the desk holding front – I like it. We had sea legs on our cruise, but jumped ship on to sunny caribbean islands every other day to keep our land legs in check.
Hello All… very useful reading all your info re cruising im shortly off to purchase some sea sickness medication and a couple of books ive never quite got around to.
im making the trip to the BIG apple via southampton on the 15 Dec which im V V excited by. having bought the cruise for a bargain price for myself aged 50 and my lovely daughter aged 25 im now hoping that we are going to enjoy the the trip hoping for a smooth crossing ???. one thing i dont get though as this is my first cruise ,Gratuities ??? does this mean you dont pay tips ..and are drinks on board extortionate !!!!!!..
Hi Jacq! You’ll have a great time. Re: drink prices, we didn’t find them horrible, though we’re used to NYC prices: maybe $7 or $8 for beers, $10-ish for cocktails? When you sign for them, there’s a line for a tip on the bill, for you to add in. In our room somewhere, there was something that said that housekeepers were explicitly NOT supposed to accept gratuities.
But our woman was excellent (and we’re American, so it’s ingrained!), so Peter chased her down the hall on our last day and gave her $20 or $30, and of course she took it. But the sign does suggest that you’re not under any obligation to tip the general staff. Though I feel like I have read about people on other cruises leaving lump sums with reception at the end–maybe that’s normal? I really don’t know.
But even as over-tipping Americans, we felt like we did our part with a couple of bucks to bar staff with drinks, and that bit on the sly to our housekeeper.
Have a great trip! I envy you all the book-reading time.
Thankyou..zora im looking forward to christmas shopping in NYC.. a very merry christmas to one and all ;0)